Free Web NovelChapter 380: Chapter 367: Discrete Soul
"You actually managed to find it?"
Teacher Tang emerged from the library and took the Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul, a rare sight as one of his eyebrows arched on his otherwise composed face.
When the Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul appeared, it brought the Ghost Cat out with it.
It was tiny and completely transparent, emitting a faint, ethereal blue glow. This was the light of its soul, not the color of any fur—perhaps it had no physical color at all.
Its pupils were golden slits. Its name was Mo Ying.
After a brief glance, Teacher Tang recalled it to his Beast Taming Space.
"Teacher Tang, can my Ah Ji learn the Possession Technique?" Gu Ming asked.
After experiencing the immense power of the Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul’s Possession, Gu Ming had developed a keen interest in such Skills.
This Two-star Ghost Cat represented the most accessible source of a Possession Technique he could find.
Furthermore, it was a cat of both the Ghost and Undead Elements and possessed a Dark Attribute Spiritual Root.
Theoretically, Ah Ji met the prerequisites. But as for the specifics, he wasn’t sure. He had to ask an expert like Teacher Tang.
Upon hearing this, Teacher Tang pondered for a few seconds before shaking his head.
"He can’t learn it.
"The Possession Ability it uses is very unique."
Teacher Tang went on to explain what the Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul hadn’t told Gu Ming.
"Your Ah Ji is missing two core requirements.
"First, he is a corporeal Spirit Pet, whereas the Ghost Cat’s Possession requires a Spirit Body form as its foundation. It’s like how water can seep into a sponge, but not solid rock.
"Second, Ah Ji’s soul is a coalesced type, but this Cultivation Technique requires a soul that can disperse like grains of sand.
"Have you ever seen a corporeal Pet Beast that can shatter its own soul into a million pieces, then embed them one by one into another’s Spirit Sea?"
Teacher Tang’s explanation was quite profound. One would need a solid foundation in Ghost Element knowledge to fully grasp it.
Gu Ming looked dazed. He didn’t understand everything, but he got the general idea.
The gist of it was that this Cultivation Technique was tailor-made for Ghost Element Pet Beasts.
Although Ah Ji could transform into a shadow, he ultimately couldn’t scatter his soul like countless grains of sand. This was the main reason he couldn’t master this particular Cultivation Technique.
As Gu Ming mulled over these facts, Ah Ji’s tail drooped as if all the air had gone out of it, and he let out a soft whimper.
He had thought for a moment that he’d have a chance to learn the Possession Technique, but now it seemed far too difficult.
When Gu Ming glanced toward Teacher Tang’s Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul, Teacher Tang stated plainly,
"My Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul’s Possession Technique is different.
"The Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul has a coalesced soul, while this little cat follows a different path.
"I’m interested in this other path, which is precisely why I got involved and sent my Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul to capture it."
Realization dawned on Gu Ming, and he asked,
"So, you’re saying you want to adapt this Cultivation Technique for your Profound Celestial Beast Ghost Soul to learn?"
Teacher Tang nodded. "That’s the idea."
Just then, a system notification appeared.
「Tang Tianyi nods. As an Eight-star Beastmaster, he needs to forge a new path, not simply walk the well-trodden roads of his predecessors.」
「He is interested in researching dispersed-type Possession Techniques. Seeing your interest, he has recommended several Ghost Element textbooks for you to read in your spare time. He will test you on them later.」
A hint of a smile touched Gu Ming’s lips as he looked at the books the system recommended.
Spirit Body Form Basics and Ghost Possession Principles
Analysis of Coalesced and Dispersed Souls
...
After Teacher Tang left, Gu Ming immediately went online to search for the books the system had recommended.
He found some of the titles, like the ones on spirit body forms and possession principles.
But out of the five recommended books, one of them yielded no search results at all.
The ones he did find were all incredibly valuable tomes, rated at Tri-Colored Holy Light tier at a minimum. They weren’t sold online; you had to either buy them in person at a bookstore or read them in a library.
Gu Ming searched his university’s online library catalog and found that it carried copies of them, which solved that problem.
However, he was surprised that he couldn’t find the one titled Analysis of Coalesced and Dispersed Souls.
Unwilling to give up, Gu Ming returned to the university library and asked the Artifact Spirit to perform the search itself.
"Hello, do you have a book called Analysis of Coalesced and Dispersed Souls?"
The elderly Artifact Spirit, who had an encyclopedic knowledge of the entire collection, had the result instantly. It told him to his face, "There is no such book. You must have remembered the name incorrectly."
But from the system’s perspective, the Artifact Spirit revealed the book’s exact location.
「The book is located on the third floor, shelf 190, position B23.」
Gu Ming’s expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, he breathed a sigh of relief.
’Good thing the system’s perspective shows that the book is already in the university library,’ he thought. ’It seems it’s probably a paper that will only be published in the future.’
Since it was there, all he had to do was go to the shelf location provided by the system.
It hadn’t yet occurred to Gu Ming to wonder who the author of this book might be.
When he reached the shelves on the third floor, he found the book with the title the system had mentioned and took it down.
The book seemed to have absolutely nothing to do with Ghost Pet Beasts.
It was a research report on a phenomenon observed in environments with extremely high concentrations of spiritual impurities.
But as he opened it, knowledge from a treatise on the analysis of dispersed souls slowly began to fill his mind.
「Knowledge of Souls +10!」
「You are systematically learning about coalesced and dispersed souls. Entering a state of Enlightenment.」
The library of a top-tier university possessed a powerful atmosphere conducive to Enlightenment.
Simply by being within its walls, Gu Ming found himself becoming engrossed in the book.
He read for an entire evening and felt as if he had just consumed an Epic Level masterpiece; his mind was completely saturated with new information.
As expected of a book kept on the third floor. Just reading it had nearly drained his Spiritual Power, even as a Two-star Beastmaster. He had no choice but to close the book and rest.
Just then, as Gu Ming stared at the book, a dislocated memory seemed to surface. The author’s name appeared faintly before his eyes—the two words "Tang Tianyi."
This left him stunned for a long moment.
’This is Teacher Tang’s work?’
’Is this some kind of serendipity? A fortunate accident?’
’No, that’s not right. This work hasn’t been published yet. It’s from the future.’
’If I can understand this book first, and then turn around and teach it to Teacher Tang, wouldn’t that be...?’
Gu Ming murmured to himself.
He’d experienced something similar with other Cultivation Techniques, like the Cyan Pine Unmoving Technique and the Earth Shifting Technique.
After all, those were Cultivation Techniques that had already been published in the real world.
After Gu Ming studied them and they were perceived by the Hall of the Great Dao, they transformed into brand-new, upgraded versions of the original techniques.
Now, as Gu Ming looked at the foundational thesis in his hands, he realized that if he were to write it out, he might just turn it into an advanced version.
’This feels a bit like stealing Teacher Tang’s future research before he’s even written it,’ he thought. ’It doesn’t seem right.’
’But then again,’ Gu Ming considered, ’I have no other way of obtaining that Possession Technique right now.’
