Zhou Bin’s eyes widened in disbelief, his expression uncontrollable, his speech lost. Ferocious by nature, the Wind Lion Beast only shows its gentle side in the presence of its master. Yet, even in gentleness, it would never bow its head as it was doing now. Let alone to Jiang Xiaobai, a stranger to the Wind Lion Beast.

At this moment, as Jiang Xiaobai touched the Wind Lion Beast, he felt his consciousness shifting. Yes, his primary consciousness was moving towards that ethereal soul. When the transfer was complete, a black mark faintly appeared on his forehead. The gaze of the Wind Lion Beast, now bowing its head, was filled with even greater reverence. Jiang Xiaobai’s pale face also carried an unusual expression. Even though his consciousness had moved to the ethereal soul, he could still control his body perfectly.

Suddenly, he seemed to understand something. Whether it was his original soul or the bizarrely condensed ethereal soul, both could perfectly control his body. It seemed that shifting his consciousness to the ethereal soul had a special effect on beasts. To verify his theory, he decided to shift his consciousness back. Upon doing so, the beast lifted its head, its blue eyes filled with doubt. And when Jiang Xiaobai’s consciousness moved back to the ethereal soul, the beast respectfully lowered its head again.

Jiang Xiaobai swallowed hard. It was true! This ethereal soul seemed to have a special affinity with beasts. Could this be what the big demon referred to as the attribute of the soul root? But why does this ethereal soul possess such an attribute? Suddenly, he remembered his eager desire to learn beast taming from Huang Lin Yuan, and how a black mark seemed to merge into his ethereal soul.

Could it be related to that? Jiang Xiaobai’s eyes became clear, his hand touching the Wind Lion Beast trembling slightly. This ability was somewhat…terrifying. And he remembered that this ethereal soul was cut out by that sword. Does that mean he could continue to cut out new ethereal souls and endow them with other attributes?

With this thought, Jiang Xiaobai withdrew his hand and said to Zhou Bin, “Big brother Zhou, I have something to attend to and need to go back. You go ahead with your work!” Without waiting for an explanation, he hurried away towards his dwelling.

When Zhou Bin regained his senses, Jiang Xiaobai was already far away. Turning his gaze back to the Wind Lion Beast, he found it staring fiercely at him again. Zhou Bin shivered and quickly left for another residence, while the Wind Lion Beast turned its attention back to grazing.

Meanwhile, after returning to his place, Jiang Xiaobai first set aside the egg, then sat down on the bed. He wanted to verify his speculation. As he closed his eyes and under the control of his will, the ethereal soul floated beside him. He controlled his breathing, attempting to draw out his original soul.

In an instant, Jiang Xiaobai’s mind went blank, and when he came to, he was floating beside his body, clearly seeing another ethereal soul and his own body seated on the bed. The black sword appeared in his thoughts, and as soon as he did, weird characters emerged on his original soul. The characters then receded, and the black sword drilled out from his original soul, orbiting around it.

Jiang Xiaobai was tense, his original soul stirring with turmoil, but he mustered the courage to reach for the black sword. When he grasped the sword, he tightly closed his eyes. However, after a moment, realizing he was unharmed, he reopened his eyes to find only one ethereal soul present, with his physical body still seated.

Something was amiss. According to his hypothesis, touching this eerie black sword with his original soul should have allowed the sword to replicate his soul, creating a new ethereal soul with corresponding attributes to the path of cultivation he desired most.

Had his speculation failed? Was the creation of this ethereal soul merely a coincidence? Jiang Xiaobai’s frown deepened as he recalled the circumstances of his first ethereal soul’s emergence. Then, he thought of that dream. He remembered that his first experience of floating was due to the black sword piercing his body. Did it need to pass through the soul body of his original soul?

With the black sword in hand, trembling slightly at the thought, he steeled his resolve and thrust the sword towards his abdomen. Boom! The moment the sword tip touched his soul body, countless black characters flashed, seemingly conjuring another ethereal silhouette… But then, his mind went blank.

The last thing Jiang Xiaobai was aware of before losing consciousness was a sighing voice near his ear: “Ah, Brother Jiang, why did you faint all of a sudden?” Wanting to open his eyes, the heaviness in his brain made it impossible, and he fell back into a deep sleep.

Time passed indeterminately until Jiang Xiaobai regained consciousness and opened his eyes, his brain still foggy, reminiscent of the sensation after pulling several all-nighters and then finally getting some sleep. Completely disoriented. After a while, his mind gradually cleared.

Furrowing his brow, Jiang Xiaobai struggled to sit up. Looking at the sky, he noticed it was dim. Had he been asleep for an entire day? Just as this thought crossed his mind, a pain in his chest triggered a fit of severe coughing. Once it subsided, the door opened, and Zhou Bin entered.

Zhou Bin glanced over at Jiang Xiaobai out of habit. Seeing Jiang Xiaobai sitting up and looking at him, his face lit up with surprise, and he quickly approached, “Brother Jiang, you’re awake!”

“Yes,” Jiang Xiaobai nodded, embarrassed to say more, he added, “Yeah, I didn’t expect to sleep until now.”

“Indeed!” Zhou Bin responded with a wry smile after hearing Jiang Xiaobai’s words, “You really can sleep; it’s been half a month already!”

“Heh…” Jiang Xiaobai laughed, thinking Zhou Bin was joking. But noticing Zhou Bin’s serious expression, his smile stiffened, “Half a month? Are you serious?”

“Absolutely,” Zhou Bin replied, “Elder Huang even came here to check on you, and specifically instructed me to feed you a Bigu Pill every day.” Saying this, he took out a bottle of pills to substantiate his words.

Jiang Xiaobai was stunned, disbelief plastered across his pale face. Half a month. He had been unconscious for so long, yet it felt like only a day to him. Had he succeeded then? With this thought, he tried to mobilize the ethereal souls within him. Upon his intention, two ethereal silhouettes separated from his body.