Soul Trigger

Chapter 17 The Front and Back of the World
"What is a spirit core?"

"The Soul Well, Soul Trigger, and Soul Core are a trinity. The Soul Well is the root of the ectoplasm and the source of energy. The Soul Trigger is the medium through which the awakened ectoplasm communicates with the world, and the Soul Core is the source of the awakened's power and the embodiment of their abilities."

"To put it bluntly, it's a superpower. You should have seen Agent Jin's spiritual core ability, right?"

"shadow……"

The Ascension Protocol retrieved a visual record for Ji Li, which was the scene where Jin Misha and he were running for their lives. Shadows gathered under her feet and turned into sharp chains all over the sky.

...Then his soul core is Odin? His past?

Then the Odin existing in the soul space should be the spiritual aggregate composed of his own spirit, desires and thoughts for the past 299 years.

If this is the logic, then it is indeed as Jin Misa said, the older the soul, the more powerful it is.

Because the years give birth to a more resolute spirit, a more ardent desire, and a deeper thought.

The body that he transformed into a faceless skeleton was naturally made of spiritual essence. The energy used by the Ascension Protocol should also be spiritual essence.

He clearly remembered that when he used the Ascension Protocol to overclock for the first time in this world, his transformed faceless bone body suffered considerable damage. At that time, his Well of Soul had already dried up once, so the spiritual essence required for overclocking should be extracted from the transformed form.

After Ms. Filin's explanation, many of Ji Li's previous doubts were answered, but he had new questions.

The faceless bone is not his own spirit core, but it seems that under the effect of [materialization] of the gray space, it can be used as a spirit core?

So what is the special ability of the faceless bone? Ji Li thought of the screaming black bones, but it seemed that because of the four-dimensional attribute, he could not control it well.

"Then let's continue. Let's go back to the three examples. The mother, the hypoxic person, and the brave man. All three of them are likely to burst out with extremely strong spiritual essence at that moment and become awakened. If we rank these three people, who do you think is most likely to awaken at that moment?"

Ji Li, an old man, gave the answer without even thinking: "First, exclude those who are suffering from hypoxia. The answer is the mother."

"why?"

"Lack of oxygen will cause confusion within 5 minutes, and the lack of oxygen is continuous. Without the necessary conditions for an emotional outburst, the result is more likely to be gradual coma and death, like a frog in boiling water."

"As for those who are brave enough to do what is right...it depends on how much justice they have in their hearts and how hateful the violence they committed is. The former is human nature, and human nature cannot stand the test. The latter is an objective condition, and there are many variables."

"But mothers are more likely to have an emotional outburst, and whether it is from a biological instinct or a realistic factor of the cost of the mother's investment in the child, she will make a decision for the child in an instant. In terms of probability, there are more examples of maternal love."

"That's better than I thought." The hands clapped lightly. "That's it. Whether or not one can awaken depends on complex subjective and objective factors. Didn't you awaken under a strong will to survive? And having such a strong will to survive is itself a necessary condition and a talent. Most of the people captured by the Red Whip Society either turned into evil beings or died in a deserted corner, leaving their families in tears."

Although I don’t know what Jin Misha told you, or what legendary experiences you made up in your mind about me, I was cheating in a strict sense, because I didn’t seem to have experienced such a serious awakening process...

However, Ji Li believes that his 299-year-old soul is still very valuable.

Ji Li secretly complained, and at the same time noticed the key information from the other party:
"Become 'malicious'?"

"Abnormal means abnormal, and evil means evil spirits. This name comes from the 'malice' you think of. Abnormal creatures full of malice are 'evil'." Ms. Filin said, "Maternal love, survival, and justice, these are what make people awaken and become awakened. Then, where do you think the evil comes from?"

Ji Li thought for a moment: "If the other world is the opposite of the present world, according to this logic, the birth of evil also comes from the opposite side... If we have to correspond these three emotions, then they should be selfishness, self-abandonment and evil?"

Ji Li also noticed that Ms. Feilin seemed to be quite patient in guiding him to understand these contents, and he naturally cooperated. But for some reason, the other party's mood seemed not as indifferent as at the beginning, and became a little cheerful.

Does she seem a bit like a know-it-all?
He continued thoughtfully:

"So, to expand on this, the outburst of positive emotions awakens people, while the outburst of negative emotions degenerates people and turns them into 'evil'?"

clap clap.

There was another round of applause in front of him, this time louder than before: "You're really smart, you get it right away."

"The result is correct, but the process is a little different. To be precise, it is an outbreak of 'passive' rather than 'negative' emotions. A more accurate term is 'corruption', such as the chairman of a company that loses money overnight and is in debt of hundreds of millions; the only child in a happy family who suddenly loses all his members except himself; the honest middle-aged man who has been defrauded of decades of hard work and becomes penniless."

"Whether a person is selfish, evil, self-destructive, or insane, or loyal, kind, selfless, and loving, has no direct relationship with whether he can be corrupted. The key lies in the accumulation of negative emotions." "A person with noble character will become a terrible demon after being corrupted. In fact, because of their noble morals, such a person will explode with more spiritual essence after being corrupted, and will become even more terrible when he becomes evil."

"In addition, there are also mentally ill patients. Because their mental world is extremely unstable and abnormal, their mood swings are also relatively large, so most mentally ill patients are dangerous and potentially corrupted."

"I saw a kidnapping list in the Red Whip Society's Prison of the Dead. It included a large number of patients with mental illnesses. So these people were kidnapped because they might turn into evil beings?" Ji Li thought of the kidnapping list. The original owner of his body was also on the list.

"More or less. But the Red Whip Society might not be trying to mass produce evil creatures, but to offer sacrifices, so they need to find sacrifices that meet certain conditions. You are lucky that you were not chosen as a sacrifice."

Ji Li understood the first half of the sentence, but he didn't react to the second half. However, this made him more determined to keep the matter of the curse of the inner world a secret for the time being.

"So the evil spirit in the Limbo was born from the objective practice of this theory... I saw her belly was swollen and she had an umbilical cord. Could it be that the mother who lost her child was corrupted into an evil being out of despair?"

"Probably."

At this time, Ji Li felt that the healing energy that filled his body had gradually become intangible. He looked up and saw a stream of gray-white air being drawn out of his body and entering the knuckles of Film's knuckles that were full of sutures:

"The treatment is over."

The inexplicable restraints on his body had been released, and the pain in his body seemed to have been completely gone. Ji Li was finally able to sit up and look around.

This is a gorgeously decorated room with a creamy white ceiling and neatly gilded wallpaper. If the room weren't so spacious, it would look a bit like a massage room in a hotel.

Standing beside his bed was an unusually tall woman with abnormally pale skin. It seemed as if there was no blood flowing in the blood vessels under her skin, and even the blood on her lips looked pale.

Her eyes were covered with a black eye mask with a highly reflective Gothic pattern in the same black color. She was wearing a star-studded high-slit dress, and the knuckles of her hands, which were crossed over her abdomen, were covered with neat stitches.

Mysterious, elegant, and strange, this was Ji Li's first impression.

And then there is this unusual height.

Ji Li raised his head. Judging from the calculation of the Ascension Protocol, his height should be about two meters and one. The curvature of various curves was straight and amazing. It seemed that tall people always have a natural advantage in terms of body shape.

"Hello." The other party bowed slightly and made an elegant lady's salute.

"The total cost of this treatment is HK$100,000. Do you want to pay by cash or electronically?"

"Jin Misha will pay the bill. We agreed on that." Ji Li remained calm.

He admitted that his mouth stiffened for a moment when he heard about spending money. You know, in his previous life, he had never worried about money since his 121st birthday.

"…It's just a little joke. This treatment is free." Filin sneered and laughed, "Rather than saying this is a commission from Agent Jin, it's better to say… this is my initiative."

Ji Li's eyes locked on the other person's smile:

"…The world there is really amazing. Not only did I get free medical care after I went in, but I was also noticed by a female doctor. I want to go there again."

What he meant was: There is no such thing as a free lunch.

The other party just smiled and said, "Please look out the window."

As Ms. Film waved her hand gently, Ji Li felt arcs of light seeming to fluctuate in the air. Turning back, he saw that the huge floor-to-ceiling curtains in the all-white room were drawn open, and outside was a bustling city.

In the modern city that stands like a forest, a row of office buildings reflects the blazing sunlight, and the high and low buildings are connected together. Not far away, the magnificent commercial center is bustling with people, and the faint noise of human voices and the sound of whistles can be heard from below.

A huge airship was playing an advertisement, floating slowly across the warm sun in a cloud of gas. From here, it seemed as if one could overlook the entire city.

Is this... the 21st century, or the 22nd century?

"This is the heart of Aurora City. Welcome to the 'Sparkling Hotel'."

(End of this chapter)