Beastmaster of the Ages

Without any outside pressure, the days Tianming spent in the Violetcloud Imperium were peaceful. Peace meant that he had the luxury of improving various aspects of his abilities. Every five days, he went for a soul-nourishing session. After eighteen sessions, three months had passed. Tianming enjoyed the relaxing cruise through the clouds with Mu Ziyan leading him by placing her hands beside his head. The fog from her body continued flooding into his sea of consciousness, staining it violet. The little person that was his vita swam in the fog, absorbing the nourishment for growth. Thanks to the fog, the vita homunculus' eyes, ears, and nose grew even more sensitive. Its body also grew in size; it was no different from a growing infant.

"Little one, grow up big quickly. Your future is in the sea of stars above," Mu Ziyan sang. Her maternal instincts were stimulated, as if the vita homunculus was her own child that she had painstakingly raised. In fact, Tianming's vita was like her work of art.

Her soul power spread out throughout the wide hall, forming a figure behind her. The figure's back seemed to have eight strands of fog that resembled splayed-out spider legs. Despite its odd appearance, the expression on Mu Ziyan's face was a gentle, motherly one. As her hands moved, she hummed a dreamy song to comfort Tianming's vita, allowing him to completely relax and sleep. He had never been so relaxed all his life. He seemed to forget the existence of his physical body, focusing his entire consciousness inside his vita like a lifeform without a tether. The violet clouds around him were too soft and full, making all of his worries go away. One moment, he felt like he was in a sea or river. The next, it was like he had flown up into the stars and was witnessing the beautiful ground from up above.

"You're still too small and clueless. There's an order to life, and many things that you have to learn. As long as you're obedient, I'll teach you anything and everything. I'm willing to be your soul guide. I'll guide your soul to where it belongs. The tranquility of the soul is more important than anything else." Such words echoed in his dreams.

At his most relaxed, Tianming's body and mind were completely immersed in his puny vita. He was filled with desire as he ravenously absorbed the violet clouds at a startling rate. He could feel his vita growing until it reached a certain point, then the change finally happened. He clearly felt his body completely transform. It felt like being born again. A person only truly began existing as an individual entity at the point of its birth. Only then could it grow and develop survival skills of its own.

His vita left the proverbial womb and touched the ground. That instant, his senses were even sharper than before, something that would help his comprehension abilities and cultivation a lot. This improvement had made up for the most glaring shortcoming he had. It had become a second general soul! There were still two levels beyond that. While this was just the start, it marked a huge step forward. Before, his soul was just an infant that required the protection of the Soul Tower. Without it, he wouldn't have been able to deal with Lingfeng at all.

"Phew..." he exhaled as the sensation of his physical body returned to him.

Mu Ziyan also heaved a long sigh. She sounded utterly drained. "It finally succeeded.... Souls are really hard to raise. How do you plan to thank me, brat?" she said, stroking his head with both hands before giving his ears a hard pinch.

"Ouch!" He hurriedly stood up as his consciousness completely returned to his body. The pain helped quicken his focus on his body, so it wasn't just a senseless prank. He stretched and turned back to look at her.

She was indeed drained, given how pale her skin looked. She also had heavy eyebags. All that effort had been put in just to raise him to the second general soul level. "How would you like me to thank you, Astralqueen Ziyan?"

"Are you still calling me that?"

"Big Sister...."

"You heartless brat, give me back the essence you sucked away! All of it!" she snapped.

Tianming thanked her nonetheless. Then he used the Soul Tower to remove the new violet veins.

"Mmmmaaah!" Mu Ziyan stretched her neck and lay back into her chair and turned to her side, her dress covering her in a way that accentuated her curves. Supporting her head with one hand, she said with a groggy look, "Won't you rub big sis's shoulders?"

"Sure!" Tianming put a lot of force in it and almost shattered her bones.

"You're so rough!" She rolled her eyes and pushed him away. Seeing him still giggling like an idiot, she knew she wouldn't be getting anything out of him. "That's enough. Come again five days from now."

"I still have to come? Didn't you say I could train the Violetfog Rushcloud Mantra myself?"

"By yourself? It'll take ages for you to get anywhere with it. It isn't nearly that simple. Take five days to prepare. Then, we'll dual cultivate together. Each time might last an entire day. That's even harder than nourishing your soul. Let's see if you can take it."

"Dual cultivation?" That was the euphemism he used with Feiling not long ago, and it came out of nowhere. Could Mu Ziyan really be hinting at something?

"Get your mind out of the gutter, kid! Big Sis is talking about soul dual cultivation!" Her tired face immediately flushed red.

"Alright, if you say so...." But the 'dual cultivation' he had engaged in with Feiling had also taken place between their souls, not their physical bodies....