Void Cultivation-Chapter 213-Soul Severing Dao

Grey summoned the phantom a few more times. Each manifestation was unstable, flickering between existence and illusion. However, without any mutated creatures or abominations to kill, he had no way of fully testing its combat capabilities.

Still, every time the phantom appeared, something inside Grey shifted.

It wasn’t knowledge in the traditional sense, no sudden enlightenment, no flood of information. Instead, it felt instinctual, as though his body already knew how to command the phantom and was simply waiting for his mind to catch up.

This realization made Grey pause.

"When I go out to the Dead Sea, I’ll continue cultivating the Life Demon Art," Grey muttered softly.

His gaze then shifted to the jade slip resting beside him, the Soul Severing Dao.

According to the records within the slip, a cultivator was not meant to practice more than two cultivation arts simultaneously. Attempting to do so would place an unbearable burden on both the soul and the cultivation base, often leading to mental collapse or irreversible damage.

Grey quickly realized that this warning was not exaggerated.

Each time he attempted to comprehend the Soul Severing Dao, his thoughts would instinctively drift back to the Life Demon Art. The moment he tried to memorize the inscriptions, the Life Demon Art would surface in his mind instead, as though it were forcefully pushing everything else aside.

A deep frown gradually formed on his face.

But Grey did not give up.

He continued to study the jade slip relentlessly, forcing himself to focus even as resistance built within his consciousness. One full day passed in this manner, his mind locked in a silent struggle.

When that day ended, fragments of the Soul Severing Dao remained in his memory.

It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

Encouraged, Grey persisted.

For some reason he couldn’t explain, he felt that both the Soul Severing Dao and the Life Demon Art suited him perfectly, as though they had been carved specifically for his existence. Because of this, he refused to divert his attention or abandon either path.

Three more days passed within the cave.

By then, Grey had comprehended nearly ninety percent of the Soul Severing Dao. His mental exhaustion was immense, yet his eyes remained sharp and focused.

Three hours later, comprehension finally reached completion.

Grey’s eyes snapped open.

Without hesitation, his consciousness dove inward.

He entered his sea of consciousness and immediately noticed something new.

At its center floated a single black thread.

The thread looked ethereal, almost unreal, as though it existed halfway between the physical and the void. Tiny black wisps continuously drifted away from it, giving the impression that it could disperse at the slightest disturbance.

This was the Soul Severing Thread.

As Grey stared at it, the words he had read at the beginning of the jade slip echoed clearly in his mind:

"Sever the thread from your life, and you will live apart from the world.

Sever your life from your soul, and you will become void.

Sever your Dao from fate, and you will be... lost from destiny."

The words were strange. Bizarre. And even unsettling.

Yet, the more Grey reflected on them, the more fitting they felt. It was as if the Dao itself rejected clarity, demanding understanding through experience rather than explanation.

Keeping his focus steady, Grey began cultivating the Soul Severing Dao.

When his consciousness withdrew from the sea of consciousness, Grey found a tiny black thread resting in his palm.

The thread was faint and illusionary, constantly releasing wisps of dark energy, as though it would vanish if exposed to the slightest breeze.

To an ordinary observer, the thread would be completely invisible.

After all, it was formed entirely from Grey’s spirit energy.

This was only the first step.

Next, he would need to use this thread to sever a portion of his own soul. Once separated, that fragment would be refined into power, power he would later use to forcibly open spirit perforations.

Although the process sounded simple on the surface, the reality was far more brutal.

The difficulty was extreme.

The margin for error was nonexistent.

And the chances of failure... were terrifyingly high.

Grey stared at the faint black thread resting in his palm.

It trembled slightly, as if reacting to his thoughts.

Taking a slow breath, Grey sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. His consciousness once again descended into his sea of consciousness.

The moment he arrived, the Soul Severing Thread in his hand vanished.

In its place, the black thread within his sea of consciousness began to move.

It stretched outward, drifting toward the core of his soul.

Grey’s heart tightened.

Unlike spiritual energy, his soul felt fragile, like thin glass suspended in darkness. Countless invisible layers overlapped and intertwined, forming the foundation of his thoughts, memories, and existence.

The Soul Severing Thread hovered before it.

For a moment, nothing happened.

Then, the thread wrapped around a thin layer of his soul.

Instantly, Grey felt something go wrong.

It wasn’t pain.

It was detachment.

A strange numbness spread through his consciousness, as though a part of him was slowly drifting away. His thoughts became sluggish, and for a brief instant, Grey felt as if he no longer fully existed.

His breathing grew heavy.

"This is it..."

Grey gritted his teeth and activated the Soul Severing Dao.

The black thread tightened.

The moment it did, a violent tremor shook his sea of consciousness.

An unbearable sensation surged through him, some of his memories flickered, overlapping and distorting. Scenes from his past surfaced uncontrollably, only to shatter into fragments the moment he tried to grasp them.

His vision darkened.

Grey almost lost control.

If he allowed the thread to tighten any further, it would tear too deeply into his soul. And if that happened, he wouldn’t merely lose a fragment, his entire soul could collapse.

’Focus!’

Grey forced his consciousness to stabilize.

Instead of pulling, he guided the thread.

The Soul Severing Thread slowly began to peel away a thin fragment of his soul, separating it layer by layer. Each movement felt like removing something essential, something that was never meant to be touched.

A cold emptiness formed where the fragment once was.

When the separation was complete, the fragment drifted free.

The moment it detached, Grey felt an overwhelming wave of weakness crash over him. His consciousness trembled violently, and the sea of consciousness churned as if on the verge of imploding.

Before things could spiral out of control, Grey acted.

The Soul Severing Thread wrapped around the detached soul fragment and compressed it.

The fragment shrank.

Its original form dissolved, transforming into a dense mass of dark, unstable energy.

Severed soul energy.

The moment the refinement finished, the tremors within Grey’s consciousness subsided. The empty space left behind by the severed fragment stabilized, though it felt disturbingly hollow.

Grey exhaled sharply.

Only now did he realize his entire body was drenched in cold sweat.

When he withdrew from his sea of consciousness, Grey opened his eyes.

A faint black mass floated above his palm, releasing weak fluctuations of soul energy.

This was the result of his first severing.

Grey stared at it silently.

He could feel it.

This energy was dangerous.

If mishandled, it could damage his soul beyond repair. But if used correctly, it would become the key to forcibly opening his spirit perforations.

Grey clenched his fist, dispersing the soul energy back into his body for safekeeping.

"This art..."

A trace of solemnity appeared in his eyes.

"...is not meant for ordinary cultivators."

Grey’s expression remained solemn and devoid of emotion. His face was calm, almost unnervingly so, yet within him, a violent storm raged.

Only now did Grey truly understand that the Soul Severing Dao was anything but a simple cultivation art.

Just severing a fragment of his soul had nearly pushed him into madness. During that brief moment of instability, his consciousness had wavered on the edge of collapse. If he had hesitated, or if even the slightest disturbance had occurred, the outcome would have been disastrous.

He might not have merely lost control.

He might have lost himself.

A cultivator without a complete soul was no longer truly alive.

Grey slowly clenched his fist.

Yet despite the danger, he could feel it clearly.

The severed soul energy within his body was dense, violent, and fundamentally different from ordinary spiritual energy. It carried a sharpness that seemed capable of tearing through obstacles rather than flowing around them.

Because of this, Grey instinctively knew that with this energy, he could forcibly open spirit perforations.

Without hesitation, Grey sat down and steadied his breathing. His consciousness sank inward once more, this time toward his meridians.

Within his body, countless nodes remained sealed shut. These nodes had been sensed by him when he was breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm earlier.

These nodes were like tiny, invisible barriers that restricted the circulation of spiritual energy. Normally, opening even one required long periods of accumulation of spirit energy, guidance, and stability.

But Grey did not intend to follow the normal path.

The black mass of severed soul energy that was inside his body stirred.

Grey guided it toward his meridians.

Previously when Grey first broke through to the Foundation Establishment Realm, he had managed to open twenty-five perforations in one go. Those twenty-five spirit perforations formed his first ball of spirit fire and he was able to activate his Special Brilliance form.

The moment the soul energy made contact with the twenty-sixth spirit perforation, his body shuddered violently.

A sharp pain erupted, not in his flesh, but deep within his existence. It felt as though something was being torn open from the inside, forcefully and without mercy.

Grey’s jaw tightened.

Cracks immediately spread across the sealed perforation.

Before Grey could react, the soul energy surged forward on its own, ramming into the barrier again.

Boom.

The node shattered.

An overwhelming rush of spiritual energy flooded through the newly opened pathway, spreading rapidly throughout his body. As soon as the Spirit energy entered into the node, it turned into his spirit perforation that let out a bright light. Grey’s breathing turned erratic as his cultivation base surged uncontrollably.

But before he could even stabilize himself, the severed soul energy did not stop.

It rushed toward the twenty-seventh spirit perforation.

Grey’s pupils shrank.

"This is too fast!"

The twenty-seventh node cracked open almost instantly. Spirit energy gushed in and it became his twenty-seventh spirit perforation.

Then the twenty-eight followed.

And then the twenty-ninth.

Spirit energy rushed in immediately, filling the newly opened nodes and transforming them into fully formed spirit perforations.

Each one shattered violently, sending waves of backlash through his meridians. Blood slowly trickled from the corner of Grey’s lips as his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

His cultivation base rose sharply.

Yet his consciousness grew increasingly unstable.

Grey felt it clearly.

If this continued, his body might advance, but his soul would not be able to endure the strain. Even his sea of consciousness shook dramatically.

At that moment, the emptiness left behind by the severed soul fragment began to react.

A deep, hollow sensation spread through his consciousness, weakening his mental defenses. His thoughts blurred, and a wave of vertigo assaulted him.

Grey immediately bit down on his tongue, forcing himself to stay awake.

"Enough!"

He forcefully cut off the flow of soul energy.

The remaining severed soul energy dispersed reluctantly, sinking back into his body. The violent surge finally came to a halt.

Silence returned to the cave.

Grey collapsed to one knee, panting heavily. His entire body felt as though it had been shattered and forcibly pieced back together.

Slowly, he lifted his head.

His cultivation base had risen noticeably.

Four spirit perforations, forcefully opened.

Grey let out a low, hoarse laugh.

"So this is the price..."

His soul felt lighter, and at the same time, disturbingly incomplete.

The Soul Severing Dao did not simply grant power.

It took something in return.

Grey wiped the blood from his lips and slowly stood up. His gaze was calm, but a dangerous glint flickered deep within his eyes.

If he continued using this method recklessly, he would grow stronger at an absurd speed.

But sooner or later...

He would reach a point where there would be nothing left to sever. And that was the part that scared him.