Chapter 124: Soul Projection
2015-03-25
Author: Floating Tower
The sensation of the soul leaving the body is a very peculiar feeling!
Although Soren was not trying to project his soul for the first time, experiencing it in reality was still a first. The most intense feeling was the sensation of weightlessness, as the soul lost the constraints of gravity and became light as a feather. However, what left was not a complete soul; at the moment of contact with the light pillar, Soren’s soul had already been shaped by the spell into a soul projection and was then directly sent to the Astral Gate.
A soul projection is just a part of the soul.
It does not carry the weight of a complete soul, so if it were to die, it wouldn’t necessarily mean that the physical body in reality would die as well.
But it would definitely cause considerable soul damage!
If the damage ratio is too high, it could render a person into a fool, and might even directly impact the real world, leading the entity projecting the soul to perish on the spot! This can be simply understood according to Oriental beliefs, where the death of a soul projection is akin to a fragment of the three souls and seven spirits dissipating, potentially causing a person to become delusional, or even directly turn into a fool, or worse, become a vegetative state or die instantly. Generally, such soul projections are only used when heading to very dangerous places or locations inaccessible to the physical body, significantly reducing the cost of death.
The two souls were reshaped into semi-energy entities!
The power of the soul projection was greatly weakened; Soren retained about 80% of his capabilities, and all equipment below the legendary rank remained on his physical body.
He was not fond of going to the Astral Realm precisely because of this!
Low-level extraordinary items cannot complete the semi-energy transformation; only legendary gear and above can be transferred to the soul projection, and upon death, they will remain at the position of the soul projection. Therefore, even a legendary wizard in a soul projection state wouldn’t carry their most powerful legendary equipment. But Soren couldn’t just leave his gear on his physical body. All the legendary equipment on him directly influences his combat level, and going to the Astral Realm without it was akin to seeking death.
A brief feeling of dizziness!
When Soren and Gloria’s consciousness returned, they had already arrived in front of the Astral Gate.
At this moment, around the Eye of the North, there were about twelve witch projections gathered. As these soul projections noticed the appearance of Soren, expressions of surprise crossed their faces. They then turned to Gloria with puzzled gazes. Upon seeing her expression, the other witches couldn’t help but reveal a smirk. It seemed Gloria was quite well-liked, unlike her mother, who was less than charming.
All the witches present were at least high-tier wizards, with at least one-third at the quasi-legendary wizard level.
As for a witch like the Eye of the North, with a profession level of around 25, there probably aren’t many like her in the entire world, making her the most powerful among them.
That said, Soren turned out to be the weakest in this soul projection and a half-hearted wizard at that.
Regarding Soren’s arrival, the Eye of the North made no excessive remarks, merely glanced at him and lightly nodded to Gloria, then spoke in a serious tone: “Prepare for teleportation! Everyone concentrate!”
The already opened Astral Gate suddenly enveloped them, and they were immediately drawn into a shimmering passageway. Countless light spots darted by, indistinguishable to the naked eye, leaving only many rainbow-like rays visible. Soul projection is the simplest method of inter-dimensional travel, and many abyssal demons and hellish devils use this method to reach other planes. Dying in a soul projection state merely reduces a portion of one’s power and usually doesn’t lead to the death of the physical body.
Wizards are very protective of their lives!
Therefore, even in the face of great danger, the Eye of the North did not ask the other witches to go to the Astral Realm in their physical forms.
…
A sensation of the soul passing through a membrane was felt.
Or rather, it was a bit like someone submerging their face into water. When Soren reopened his eyes, he found himself standing on a desolate piece of land. Above this land flowed a silver river, and there were almost no visible plants around. It felt as if he were standing on the surface of the moon, gazing at the universe, with an endless silver river before him, resembling the Milky Way filled with countless stars. Around this relatively small piece of land, innumerable astral materials could be seen, as well as objects streaking by like meteors.
It could be just a comet or even the body of an Ancient God!
The Astral Realm had turned into a massive junkyard.
Over countless ages, many people had entered and died here, along with various beings who entered the Astral Realm for other reasons, ultimately transforming it into an immense garbage dump. In this junkyard, one could discover the corpses of ancient gods, hidden demi-planes, fallen divine realms, and perhaps even come across a wrecked floating fortress or gigantic astral warships. Almost anything one could think of could potentially be encountered here.
Because this is indeed a vast, all-encompassing junkyard!
And the most dangerous junkyard.
There is no air in the Astral Realm, so corporeal life finds it challenging to survive here; they must rely on the demi-planes floating in the Astral Realm. Thus, many travelers entering the Astral Realm are often in a semi-energy state as soul projections or are powerful beings close to saintly forms. Within this endless Astral Realm exists a type of energy that wizards refer to as ‘source matter,’ which they believe is the fundamental structure of the universe.
However, Soren preferred to call it by another name.
—“Dark Energy!”
Almost all demi-planes are necessarily connected to the ‘Astral Realm’ and the ‘Aetheric Plane’, demi-planes are a very unique existence that’s difficult to explain in simple terms. But one point can be easily understood, that even legendary wizards cannot provide the massive energy required to open a demi-plane. So demi-planes all ‘grow’ gradually, which is quite similar to the realms of gods; however, the energy to sustain the growth of a demi-plane comes from only two sources.
One is the Astral Realm.
The other is the Aetheric Plane.
The relationship between these two planes is nebulous, and the structure of energy remains unknown, although the Astral Realm is closer to the outer planes, while the Aetheric Plane is nearer to the inner planes.
What lies beneath Soren’s feet is a demi-plane!
Because the Astral Realm rarely exhibits material structures. This is almost beyond doubt; most of the materials in the Astral Realm originate from other planes.
Hence, it is always referred to as a junkyard!
Even the demi-plane under Soren’s feet is essentially a colossal waste floating in the boundless Astral Realm.
Demi-planes are the carriers.
Without this demi-plane to support them, Soren and the other witches’ soul projections would directly be exposed to the source matter of the Astral Realm, which is the silver current overhead. This would be quite problematic, as the energy currents originated from distorted space can harbor many incredibly dangerous astral creatures. The secrets of the Astral Realm may not even be known to the gods, but they understand how to harness the energy of the Astral Realm, which originally birthed the world through these ‘source energy’.
There are many things Soren is not fully aware of.
What he could remember was actually quite limited, but he knew that beyond that energy current resembling the Milky Way was an endless expanse of dark energy and a certain something referred to as the [Crystal Barrier].
The soul entered the Astral Realm!
Before Soren’s eyes, a wealth of data appeared in an instant:
“Soul projection complete!…”
“Soul entered the Astral plane!… Soul touching dark matter energy!… Soul touching source matter energy!…”
“You have acquired the partial specialty information of the epic background specialty [Astral Traveler].”
“You have acquired the partial specialty information of the epic background specialty [Plane Explorer].”
…
“Soul structure complete!”
“Soul projection converts to dark energy!… You automatically gain the [Spell Instantaneous] specialty!… All spells below 6th level enter instantaneous status!…”
…
From the moment they stepped into the Astral Realm.
The spellcasting energy of everyone began to surge wildly, as if some shackles had been broken. They forcefully broke free from the ties of matter.
Then, they accessed the rawest and most fundamental form of energy.
This energy was omnipresent, granting them the ability to automatically master spell instantaneous casting; although they could still feel the magic network, it seemed as though they bypassed its influence. There was no longer a need for the magic network to gather energy. All spellcasters entering the Astral plane automatically acquire the [Spell Instantaneous] specialty, where all spells below 6th level are instantly cast, and legendary spells only require half the casting time.
This was still without approaching the source matter ocean.
If they were to approach the gaseous river resembling the Milky Way or come into contact with the energy dissipating from distorted space, then even legendary spells could potentially be cast instantaneously!
As long as your soul can endure this power, the Astral Realm can provide you with infinite energy.
Because it is the place closest to the essence of the universe!
…
A world appeared before Soren.
It was a massive demi-plane, with an outer layer resembling a grayish iris, looking much like a semi-transparent eggshell. Inside was a complete world, but it was not structured like a planet. Instead, it resembled a continental shelf. This demi-plane was born in the Astral Realm, using the endless energy of the Astral Realm as sustenance, developing lands, rocks, mountains, seas, air, plants, etc., ultimately evolving into a relatively complete demi-plane capable of sustaining intelligent life.
This enormous demi-plane sped past!
Just like Halley’s Comet streaking across the sky above Earth, it quickly faded from Soren’s view. The Astral Realm is nearly endless; it is a plane immense to the point of near-limitlessness, but if one were to keep ascending, they would eventually encounter a layer of [Crystal Barrier]. However, before encountering the existence of the [Crystal Barrier], one would see countless divine realms, and with good luck, even catch sight of the legendary [Pantheon] plane!
Rumbling!
The ground beneath Soren trembled slightly.
This demi-plane seemed to exist for a short duration; with a single glance, Soren could see the edge of the land, and jumping off it would send him into the void’s current.
Through the ages!
There has never been a shortage of unfortunate souls lost in the Astral Realm, swept away by the currents, drifting for hundreds or thousands of years.
Thus, the Astral Realm is often referred to as the [Exiled Land]!
It connects all planes, but you may not necessarily find a passage; without a demi-plane as support, getting caught in the void’s currents is akin to a mortal being swept away by a flood.
A demi-plane that hasn’t existed for more than a few hundred years trembled!
As if something were attacking it, Soren could sense the gravity and concern on the Eye of the North’s face. That even the most powerful witch in the North felt worried meant that the appearing enemy was likely a form of intelligent being that Soren loathed most!
…
（PS: I spent the entire day writing this chapter, sorting through the database. It was quite slow, and much of it required me to fill in myself, killing off many brain cells. From legendary books and upwards, the data provided starts to be full of holes, especially since the Tower is a stubborn person. Today there’s only one update; I want to draw a three-dimensional diagram of the Crystal Barrier Universe. If it turns out to be decent, I’ll show it to you for your opinion.） (To be continued ~^~)
