“I… I am glad that I planted the demon tree beforehand.”
Breathing heavily, Aksai opened his eyes and looked at the demon tree with gratitude. The tree’s branches swayed gently, as if acknowledging his unspoken thanks.
“But this… I never thought the demon tree could help me recover from soul-based injuries.”
He marveled at the rapid recovery, feeling the demon tree’s energy coursing through him, revitalizing both his body and soul.
“Thank you, my friend,” Aksai murmured, resting his back against the tree trunk. He watched as the demon tree continued to feed on the Flesh Pumpkins, its branches moving gracefully.
With a renewed sense of determination, Aksai thought about his next steps. “Luck came back to me after I became unlucky. Hehe,” he mused aloud and chuckled.
His face then became serious as he thought of what had just happened to him. “The Anahant Soul Splitting Technique is profound, but it’s also incredibly risky.”
He closed his eyes again, allowing himself to rest and recover fully. The connection with the demon tree gave him a sense of security, knowing that he had a powerful ally in his endeavors.
“I now have the demon tree to rely on. Let me see what happens in my second attempt,” Aksai murmured to himself before restarting the whole process once again. Now that he knew he could recover from his soul-based injuries quickly, he didn’t want to waste time.
After making sure that he was in his best condition, Aksai began with a newfound determination. The first phase of the technique was finished without any hiccups.
Drawing upon the neural link fabric’s suggestions, Aksai started making various Essence Equations with his Mudra, wrapping them around the black ink blob.
The blob transformed into a spectral cocoon, which began stretching vertically as more and more Essence Equations revolved around it. The cocoon grew until it matched the size of Aksai’s phantom soul once again.
Layers of Essence Equations covered the incomplete Soul Fragment, forming a protective shell. As the cocoon reached its final size, the Essence Equations began to unwrap.
The spectral cocoon’s layers gradually vanished, revealing a stable phantom soul image. This image, though slightly less potent than the original, had a distinct shape and form that mimicked Aksai’s own.
Aksai could also feel some form of connection with the Soul Fragment. It was as if it was an entity on its own and yet a part of him at the same time.
[Anahat Soul Splitting Technique has been completed. Anahat Soul Fragment has been created successfully]
The Spirit farmer breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his haggard face. The neural link fabric confirmed what he already knew: the Soul Fragment had been successfully created.
“Damn. It was still difficult even with the demon tree’s help. I… I just barely made it,” Aksai whispered, his voice filled with a mix of triumph and exhaustion. He observed the phantom soul image, marveling at its distinct features.
“Thanks to the demon tree, I can make a few more Soul Fragments from my soul phantom. But I should avoid that for now. Who knows what might go wrong? I shouldn’t take unnecessary risks.”
Aksai thought to himself and dropped the idea of making another Soul Fragment. He then closed his eyes and connected his consciousness with the demon tree telepathically.
The demon tree swayed as if recognizing Aksai’s request. One of its thick roots popped out of the ground like a restless boa serpent. It approached Aksai before leaving a demon tree seed in Aksai’s open palm.
“The top-grade demon tree seed,” Aksai murmured to himself as he observed the seed in his hand. This demon tree seed was like a black apricot with several Essence Equations etched over it in blood-like red ink. It was half as big as Aksai’s palm and carried a distinct Spirit essence pulse within it.
This demon tree seed was special and Aksai could only ask the demon tree to make two more of them in their current conditions. After all, these were the seeds that could enable Aksai to create three demon tree guardians.
“The corrupted druid could easily produce more than three demon tree guardians, but in my situation, I can only produce three? Why is that? Is it because I am not using the natural barrier as the Devil’s Den?” Aksai thought to himself while recalling his fight with the demon tree guardians.
Aksai had to admit that the demon tree guardians were exceptionally strong compared to the rest of the tree devils. Plus, they could regenerate and heal their injuries using the demon tree’s help, turning them into pseudo immortals.
Due to these peculiarities of the demon tree guardians along with their strong mortal forms, Aksai had obviously chosen the demon tree guardian seed to implant his soul fragment in.
Aksai then waved his hands and made his Soul Fragment enter through the shell of the demon tree guardian seed. He performed some hand signs before sealing the seed away with some protective-type Essence Equations.
Aksai then summoned a 2nd-order Barrier Bypass Talisman that he had already used on the 2nd-order Everwood farm’s isolation barrier before.
“Please work for me one last time,” Aksai made a silent prayer before wrapping the demon tree guardian seed with the 2nd-order Barrier Bypass Talisman. With a flick of his fingers, Aksai summoned the 2nd-order gray veil just a few meters away from him.
Aksai then got up from his position and approached the fog-like gray veil that was as big as a slightly larger door frame. He stopped only a few steps away from it before raising the sealed demon tree guardian seed in his hands.
“I hope this way of exploring the world beyond this veil works,” Aksai murmured to himself before letting the sealed seed float, releasing his grip over it. With his two fingers, he pointed at the door and the sealed seed immediately flew in the gray veil’s direction.
Chi. Chi. Chi.
The faint Essence Equations on the Barrier Bypass Talisman lit up as the sealed seed made contact with the gray veil. A tunnel small enough for only the seed to pass through was created in the gray veil.
In the next moment, Aksai activated the Essence Equation over it and the sealed seed dived right into the gray veil, passing through it as if it was a fish swimming in water.
This time, the Barrier Bypass Talisman didn’t fail Aksai. It enabled the seed to cross through the gray veil and appear on the other side.
“Now let me see what this second world is all about.”
Aksai murmured as he looked at the gray veil with eager and excited expressions.