Immortality begin with Alchemy Grandmaster Chapter 2650 - 978: Life Soul Incomplete, Fierce Battle with Qing Shuang

Every human is born endowed with a soul.

The soul serves as the master of the spirit, while the body functions as the vessel for our physical form.

Specifically, the soul consists of three distinct components: the Heaven, Earth, and Human attributes. Within the path of cultivation, the Human Soul acts as the primary foundation.

While the Heaven and Earth souls perpetually exist in the external expanse, the Human Soul remains permanently anchored within the mortal frame.

Cultivation for a practitioner of the Qi path is essentially the rigorous process of evolving and tempering the Divine Soul. Should the three souls merge into the singular Primordial Spirit, the cultivator achieves a state where the physical body may wither away, yet their consciousness remains eternal.

Before reaching this transcendence, the death of a cultivator results in the natural dissipation of the soul. Even possessing a Nascent Soul as a backup vessel merely forestalls the inevitable.

This is the reason why low-level Ghost Cultivators often suffer from crippled intelligence; their Human Soul was destroyed, leaving only the two exterior souls to animate a rudimentary form of consciousness.

As these Ghost Cultivators progress, they may occasionally recover fragments of their Human Soul, gradually reclaiming a semblance of their original sentience.

It is evident that among these three, the Human Soul is paramount for one practicing Qi refinement and cannot be compromised.

Consequently, when Mo Shouzhuo suddenly declared, "Luo Chen, do you desire the return of your Human Soul?" the implications were painfully clear to all those in attendance.

The first to respond was not Luo Chen, currently positioned far away at the Netherworld Sea, but the Qi Xia Emperor!

Her expression darkened instantly, and she unleashed an attack without a moment’s hesitation.

Her target was clearly Mo Shouzhuo!

With a singular strike of her palm, she invoked the Nirvana Sacred Fire.

Facing such a lethal onslaught, Mo Shouzhuo’s eyelids twitched, forcing him into a swift retreat.

Seeing this, Zhan Buqi, Liancheng, and their cohorts surged forward in sync, interjecting themselves to deflect the Qi Xia Emperor’s divine technique.

Boom!

A single impact caused the Spirit Light powering the grand formation to shudder violently.

The Qi Xia Emperor followed this with a relentless, tidal-wave intensity assault.

In the distance, Luo Chen, cloaked in the robes of Withered and Flourishing Fire, rose from the depths of the Netherworld Sea.

A grim intensity filled his gaze as he stared into the distance.

"Sect Master Mo, provide an explanation at once!"

With his fellow members of the Sect absorbing the immediate pressure, Mo Shouzhuo regained his composure and replied coolly, "Given that your cultivation is approaching the peak of the Late Stage Nascent Soul, you must have sensed the deficiency in your Human Soul, have you not?"

Luo Chen seemed to have anticipated this revelation, his frame trembling uncontrollably despite his disciplined nature.

He had long been unable to fully integrate his ninth soul. Even as his Main Soul expanded in strength, he dared not force the union, instinctively sensing that once performed, the process would be irreversible.

Though he had cultivated the 'Soul Cleaving Technique' to perfection and reached a state of Finalization during his trials on Soul Island—surpassing even Han Zhan’s prowess—he had always felt a lingering void. He previously attributed this to an imperfect technique, but it appeared he had been gravely mistaken.

Furthermore!

Even with eight severed souls, his Divine Soul endowment far surpassed any other practitioner in the Late Stage Nascent Soul realm. If measured by the tenfold expansion of his Divine Consciousness, he was practically on the threshold of Divine Transformation.

Yet, even with such staggering power, he still failed to manifest a true Primordial Spirit, a baffling absurdity. Now, all these mysteries found their解答 in Mo Shouzhuo's chilling admission.

Luo Chen stepped away from the Netherworld Sea, his eyes locked onto Mo Shouzhuo.

"When did you do it?"

"The moment you joined the Star Gate, and again when you entered the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven," Mo Shouzhuo admitted with cold frankness.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle!

The green Withered and Flourishing Fire Robe expanded of its own accord, erupting into scorching flames that veiled Luo Chen, concealing his raw emotion. Only his low, muttered voice emanated from the inferno.

"So that represents the truth..."

It explained why his Divine Soul had been jarred into a sudden stupor when he entered the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven years prior.

Fu Qinglan, whom he had protected, had possessed a cultivation base and soul endowment inferior to his own, yet she had shown no signs of distress.

At the time, Fu Qinglan claimed that any cultivator entering the area would be 'washed' by the remnants of the Mirage Dragon’s consciousness, causing temporary fainting. The only way to traverse the illusion was through the "passport" Mo Shouzhuo had distributed—the Illusionary Chess.

She argued that the Daoist Sect cultivators were unaffected because they had been baptized by the Mirage Dragon Qi in advance. Looking back, such claims were riddled with glaring oversights!

A baptism of Mirage Dragon Qi is entirely distinct from a baptism of consciousness; how could they possibly remain unaffected?

At the time, he was preoccupied with the Tianji Pill gifted by Alchemy Saint Chu Yan, and he had harbored no suspicion that his own sect would harm their protector. He hadn't questioned it further.

But as the pieces aligned, the sinister truth was laid bare.

When he entered the Mirage Dragon Cave Heaven, his Divine Soul was not merely subjected to the residual consciousness of the dragon; his Human Soul had been partially extracted by Mo Shouzhuo using the Illusionary Chess.

This was the true catalyst for his withering soul and the resulting lack of foundational integrity.

"You are despicable!"

"Hardly. You pledged yourself to the Star Gate, and in doing so, your fate was tied to the Heaven and Earth Peak. That portion of your soul could be restored at any time without hindering your pursuit of the Divinity Transformation Realm. It was you, Luo Chen, who chose to betray the Star Gate and the Tianyuan Daoist Sect!"

"Arguing is pointless. What must I do to have that fragment returned?"

Mo Shouzhuo had no opportunity to answer.

Because... Boom!

A deafening explosion erupted, followed by Liancheng being sent tumbling across the ground like a rolling gourd.

As he coughed up a spray of blood, a look of sheer terror was plastered across Liancheng’s face.