The Founder of Qi Cultivation, Reincarnates?

Looking at the damaged runes on the zither, Xi Shen scowled in disgust before he released his Divine Will and engulf the zither. He then destroyed the runes previously on it and without hesitation, he used a high-level inscription carving technique, where he used his Divine Sense instead of a special tool to inscribe new and better runes onto the zither.

Along with carving his own runes onto the zither, Xi Shen mended the broken strings by manipulating the wood element and metal element in the surroundings to combine them and create a flexible hair-like structure that was as strong as steel.

After making the repairs, Xi Shen placed the zither on his lap and plucked one of its strings. Immediately afterward a melodious note echoed out within his room.

Xi Shen didn’t stop and continued to pluck away at the zither, playing a rather famous song called – Falling White Snow- that his mother in this life had taught him to his reluctance.

This song was extremely popular due to the contrast of the soothing and peaceful notes as well as the powerful and overbearing notes it contains. Just the myriad of changes in it and if played correctly, the seamlessness at which the notes combine in harmony could form a breathtaking song. Which to some, sounded as if it was a symphony involving different instruments but in reality, it was only one.

Giving Xi Shen credit, his skill with the zither could be considered impeccable.

Reaching deep within the song, the mantra for the Soul illusion spell appeared within his mind. Xi Shen’s Divine Sense then entered the runes on the zither and they started to glow.

Suddenly, illusory images started to appear within the room, as Xi Shen's Divine Will meld together with the zither's notes.

At first, the images were blurry but as the somewhat emotional song echoed from the zither, and Xi Shen’s comprehension of the Soul Art deepened somewhat, the images became clearer and clearer until the figure of a boy and girl with indistinguishable features appeared.

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As the images came into being, a heartwarming story unfolded with the boy and girl growing up together, playing in their peaceful village and just being kids.

However, as the song switched from a soothing and peaceful melody to powerful and overbearing notes, the tone of the story suddenly shifted to one of sorrow as the boy and girl witnessed the tragic scene of their village going up in flames.

With the death of everyone they had ever known, they only had each other. Like this, years passed and the song’s notes turn peaceful once again as the images show the boy and girl overcoming their sorrow together. They both found comfort in each other's company and became closer, practically inseparable.

But once again, the song’s note changed. The images of Xi Shen’s Soul Art showed the slightly older boy reaching up to the sky in desperation and hopelessness, as the girl was pulled upwards. What she was being pulled towards was a shocking plum blossom that took up the entire sky.

It had six different color petals, and s they shone down on the boy, he watched as the girl entered the plum blossom before it was obscured by the dark clouds, which suddenly started to produce rain. This turned the scene into one that depicted loneliness that came from a place of anguished and heartbrokenness.

Xi Shen’s Divine Will spread around the room creating the illusions, and as his fingers slid across the zither plucking its strings, it caused the powerful notes of the songs to echoed out.

The image of the boy kneeling on the ground in the rain and mud while screaming at the heavens in helpless fury appeared within the illusions. Then suddenly, something within the boy’s heart awaken, and on his forehead the image of a plum blossom petal the color of orange appeared.

A consciousness of some sort appeared above within the clouds to observe the boy. The boy glared at the clouds as if he could tell the consciousness was watching him, but within his eyes, there was no longer anger or hatred, but greed. An insatiable greed that if given the chance, would devour everything in existence, even the heavens themselves.

Sensing this sort of will manifesting itself within the boy, the consciousness felt something, something that should have been impossible for its existence, what it felt... was fear.

However, before the images could depict what happened next, a loud “twang” suddenly echoed out as Xi Shen missed played a note, due to his intense emotions.

As the illusions in his room faded away, Xi Shen retracted his Divine Will from the runes on the zither that was helping his Divine Will meld with the zither’s notes, before he open his eyes.

And surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, the look in Xi Shen's eyes resembled the boy’s own when he stared at the heavens within the illusion.

Xi Shen let out a breath of air to calm his intense emotions.

After which he frowned and looked down at the zither, and said, “I hate that song. When played while using that Soul Illusion Art, it actually pulled me into a trance and brought out an unnecessary amount of my emotions. If I didn’t miss played that note when I did, who knows what might have happened to my consciousness. I have to be careful in the future when using Soul Arts, even with the current strength of my soul I was still affected due to carelessly casting that Soul Illusion Art.”

What had happened just now to Xi Shen was similar to Qi Deviation. Due to a momentary lapse of carelessness, the Soul Illusion Art backfired and he ended up putting himself in an illusion.

“At least I know now that if used with a soul as strong as Nascent Soul cultivator, the Soul Art will be extremely powerful. Although it will weaken significantly when I use it in battle since I have to use less of my Divine Soul and disguise it as a Sea Expansion Realm cultivator's Soul Sense. That’s the highest cultivation realm I can disguise it as without people being suspicious of its power. I’m known to have a Supreme-grade soul, so it’s natural for my soul to have a big difference in size and quality from normal cultivators who just started their cultivation.”

As Xi Shen said that, he nodded his head at his full-proof cover-up plan before he got up to stretch a little. The pressure of a 4th stage Qi Condensation Realm cultivator completely vanished. This made even high-level experts unable to tell his cultivation realm or even if he was a cultivator.

This was due to an inherent feature of Xi Shen's Time Dao Foundation.

As Xi Shen stretched his unusually aching body, he thought to himself, 'Damn, why does my body feel so stiff? It's only been a couple of hours since I sat down.'

However, as Xi Shen thought that, he suddenly looked through one of the windows in his room, and he couldn’t help but become dumbfounded when he saw the sun over the horizon.

If his eyes were working correctly, that sun which was blaring its light rays in his face was rising instead of setting.

“What?! How long was I in that trance, did it last for the entire night?”

As Xi Shen said that, he exited his room and went to the main dining area of the mansion. There, he saw Yang Su sitting around a stone table with a cup and a pot of tea in front of him.

Seeing Xi Shen, Yang Su smiled and said, “Elder brother Xi Shen, you finally came out of your seclusion.”

Hearing Yang Su’s words, Xi Shen frowned and said, “What do you mean, it’s only been a day?”

Yang Su's expression turned to confusion when he heard Xi Shen say that.

Seeing Yang Su’s confused expression, Xi Shen suddenly felt that something was wrong, so he asked, “How long was I in my room?”

Yang Su didn’t understand what was going on, but he still answered with slight hesitation, “Elder brother Xi Shen, you were in there for twelve days.”

Xi Shen's eyes immediately widened in shock when he heard Yang Su’s answer. Only then did he realize that Yang Su's cultivation had increased from the 1st Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm to the 4th stage, the same as him.

‘What the hell?! How was I trapped in that illusion for such a long time? The Soul Illusion Art can be considered powerful but to trap me inside an illusion for twelve days?! There is simply no way it should have been powerful enough for that to have been possible.’

As Xi Shen began pondering about this strange situation, he suddenly thought of something.

‘Was it because of the nature of my soul? Did its high purity increase the Soul Illusion Art beyond its original power? Hmm, if that’s the case then I made the right choice to become a Soul Cultivator. But this also means that I have to be very careful of how I use Soul Arts in the future. Luckily, the Soul Art that backfired was illusion-based. If it was something like a bedevilment Soul Art, then remembering unpleasant memories from my past life would have been the least of my problems.’

After coming to terms with what happened, Xi Shen came out of his thoughts and looked at Yang Su.

“Yang Su, I need you to swear a blood oath.”