He never had a plan, he just went with the flow

Chapter Sixteen

A heavy silence hung in the clearing; the tension was so thick that not even Bichen could cleave its way through. The three stood staring at one another as Xiao Xingchen's words hung in the air.

"Oh...did you not know?" Xiao Xingchen asked hesitantly. He raised his hand and shook his head, "No- I knew this the whole time. I'm just surprised you knew as well." How long had he known?

"I did notice something was off about you but couldn't truly figure out what it was until I came to Cloud Recesses." Wei Ying glanced at their surroundings; what could have given him away here? "Hanguang-Jun is a very talented cultivator."

Huh? What does Lan Zhan have to do with this? He blinked at his Shishu until he realized that being vague wouldn't help him. "His spiritual weapons, they've already formed partial souls. So, when I compared their state of being to yours, I realized that you also didn't have a fully formed soul. But, since you were once a living being, you must have had one before, which led me to conclude that your soul must have been shattered, and you're still missing some fragments."

Wow, how observant. Then again, he shouldn't expect less from a master of spiritual sight like Xiao Xingchen. Wei Ying crossed his arms, "I'm positive that the rest of my soul is in Lotus Pier." He guesses that Xiao Xingchen's advice is warranted; he remembers the resentment on the Burial Mounds. It was comparable to an all-consuming abyss; the only reason he had survived before was that there was nothing for it to fight, only something to conquer. But now, things are different. He has a new core and body, and his soul isn't fully here. He's been using Yin Energy to make up the difference and keep him intact, but he's known for a while that, eventually, the strain will wear and tear at his soul until it shatters again.

He knows his promise to return for the soul fragment has probably been weighing over Jiang Cheng for the last two years. So, he guesses it's time to start collecting again and to find something to give him in return.

"Give me a week; I'll have it done by the end of the week." He told them before giving them both one of his communication beasts. "They will help us contact one another during this time. So, you two don't have to spend weeks worrying about one another." They both blushed as they thanked him, "Just think about who you want to talk to, and it'll activate." He's been renovating them for a while, as Jiang Cheng sometimes lets him listen to meetings he deems important. Which is always important, as they keep him from accidentally running into troublesome people.

"Whether you think of your message or say it out loud, it will play in the head of the other person." He let a butterfly and moth land on his fingers, which glowed and turned into earrings. "You could wear them as an earring or have something that wraps around close to your ear." He explained as they changed back and landed on his head. He's been experimenting with turning them into gems they could put in their clothes. But, no, that's too far ahead in the future.

"So, what do you think?"

"It's amazing," Xiao Xingchen held the butterfly closer to his face. "They have so much spiritual energy that I can see every detail, including the pattern on their wings." He sounded amazed, which makes sense. When you've been only able to see qi for so long that you can only tell people apart by the qi and voice, being able to see something in detail isn't a normal occurrence.

"How did you make this?"

"Do you truly want to know? Because I'll keep you here for an hour to explain every single step of the creation process." He said in a deadly serious tone. In an equally serious tone, Song Zichen responded with a simple, "Yes."

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Wei Yuan was having a minor issue. He's been diligently reading the books given to him by his master, but he's finished them already. Three times. And now has a deep urge to explore them himself. But the storm has reached its apex, so everyone's forbidden from stepping outside except for Senior Xiao, Senior Song, and A-Niang, who all left yesterday.