Chapter 604 Retracing the steps (2)
Yang Qing's moon eyes had complex runes appearing in them as they let out a white smokey glow.
Soul Lake Memory Lock Seal was a soul-based cultivation spell that was a top-tier blue-grade art close to reaching the gold grade.
Despite being a blue grade art the degree of difficulty in mastering it was the same as a gold grade art. You needed at the bare minimum to be at the middle stages of the core formation realm for you to practice it and even then one couldn't do it without a strong soul.
Su Jinjing among Yang Qing's team had the strongest soul so she could practice the technique at the middle stages of the core formation realm but as strong as her soul was even with her cultivation base being at the later stages of the core formation realm she can only sustain the art for ten minutes at most and even then her soul would be left severely overdrafted.
A cultivator's soul was an invaluable attribute to the cultivator. It affected important aspects that control the well-being and growth of a cultivator. One of those things is a cultivator's mental sea of consciousness and subsequently the spiritual sense.
Either of these two is extremely vital towards the growth and survival of a cultivator, and the stronger soul you have the more powerful the mental sea of consciousness or the spiritual sense would be.
Be it an alchemist, weapon, and artifact maker, formation master, or talisman maker, they all needed a powerful mental sea of consciousness and spiritual sense to do their work. In a job where every detail mattered, a powerful sea of consciousness and spiritual sense that would help them monitor every single detail of the process was extremely vital to their growth and success, which was why most alchemists tended to have powerful souls either naturally or slowly built up through meditation techniques that aimed at strengthening the soul.
There are ways and things that could fool your body's senses and even your spiritual senses, but the soul always keeps a true record.
It was with that thought that the Soul Lake Memory Lock seal cultivation art was created. It draws out the memory of everything your soul recorded within a particular time. The stronger the soul, the more is recorded by the soul.
Cultivators had perfect recall and memory of things. They can remember things with extreme clarity no matter how far back they happened.
However that memory is based on what they consciously perceive and there are techniques, special physiques, artifacts and other means out there capable of interfering with that perception. Such a memory is susceptible to tampering but the soul remembers everything even things you yourself may not consciously be aware of.
Extracting those memories was dangerous as it involved digging into your soul, any misstep and your soul could get injured either temporarily or permanently. The Soul Lake Memory Lock Seal reduced those risks to an acceptable level but in return, it was extremely demanding in aptitude and strength of one's soul.
Other than extracting memories, those from the Order used it to seal certain memories as a safeguard should they be captured. That was its primary purpose and what Yang Qing was using it for presently was but an offshoot of its intended use.
Yang Qing slowly replayed everything that happened inch by inch from the moment he stepped into the assembly hall.
He would pause every so often and stare at the different images for a substantial amount of time. He had spent close to half an hour examining the frames that were there the instant he stepped into the assembly hall up to the point the Imperial Secretary stepped in to make introductions.
He then spent the next one and a half hours reviewing the scene where the banquet had started before he finished with the reactions everyone had when Consort Meng Zhi stepped in.
He reviewed everything within her eyes as she rushed in before his attention shifted to the reactions of every single member at the table with his attention settling specifically on the family heads.
When the two hours were up the candle wick from the blue-white clover lamp of stillness went out along with the radiant rune that was rotating at the bottom of the whirlpool. Yang Qing waved his sleeves and the scenery along with the lake immediately transformed and went back to normal.
Yang Qing's gaze and hair turned back to normal immediately afterward.
"It's still strenuous.." he said as he felt mental fatigue wash over him. His mind felt foggy and a little bit dizzy while every part of his body experienced extreme exhaustion.
He quickly took out a few herbs that released a chilly and misty glow and consumed them. His pale sweat-dripped skin along with his fatigue-filled eyes slowly looked rejuvenated after he had consumed the herbs, albeit slightly.
Yang Qing wasn't too surprised by the results as overdrawing the soul wasn't something that could immediately be restored by consuming a few herbs even though said herbs were of high quality. You can only completely recover through sleep or meditation. Yang Qing opted for the latter.
Sleeping in the nest of the celestial nesting weaver had ruined his ability to sleep anywhere else. Nothing seemed to come close to its comfort so whenever he wasn't around his abode he would prefer to meditate as opposed to resting.
Time quickly flew by with Yang Qing in silent meditation and before he knew it was already midday the next day.
Luo Meili and Su Jinjing had been alarmed when they saw him miss supper and even breakfast which prompted them to look around for him in case something happened only to find him peacefully meditating next to the lake he had been in.
"Because of how he usually is, I sometimes forget he is even a cultivator.." wistfully said Su Jinjing as she took in the visage of Yang Qing silently meditating.
"It's always surprising to see him like this.." added Luo Meili.
Yang Qing was usually goofy but when a case started or when he was cultivating he always seemed to transform into a completely different person for example presently Yang Qing emitted a transcendent air like that of a banished immortal as he sat there in silent meditation. The elements and everything around him seemed to gravitate towards him.
"Is that any way to talk about your boss.." said Yang Qing with a tone that was familiar yet mystical.
As he opened his eyes, Luo Meili and Su Jinjing so the reflection of the stars, the sun, the moon, the ocean, the land and the vegetation all revolving around each other in a delicate balance before it disappeared.
In that brief moment, they felt a vast ancient aura leak from Yang Qing before it disappeared.
"What time is it?" Yang Qing casually asked as he stretched his back overlooking the surprised looks on the duo's faces.
"Noon.." answered Luo Meili with a strange gaze.
"Noon?! Noon, Noon as in Noon Noon!!!!" Yang Qing frantically yelled destroying whatever immortal image he had.
"Yes, noon.."
"How many meals have I missed?" Yang Qing muttered as he started counting his fingers before it stopped on eight.
"Eight?! I'm afraid that's not right.." Yang Qing said as he stepped onto a mad dash to the kitchen.
"I'll be stepping out for a bit, in case administrator Mo Guang asks, tell him I've left to look into matters concerning the previous branch chief..."
Even though Yang Qing had long disappeared from the vicinity, his voice echoed in the area.
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