Emily Brooks didn’t think much of it at first, but after William Carter closed his eyes for just over ten minutes, Emily Brooks keenly sensed a faint trace of spiritual energy slowly beginning to gather around William Carter.

It had only been a little over ten minutes—this brute, still a completely unremarkable waste soul, how could this be possible? An expression of utter shock appeared directly on Emily Brooks’s face; it was as if she had seen a ghost. This guy was simply a monster!

Chapter 5: A Monster That Crushes Common Sense

Even in the heat of fierce battle, a sniper needs to calm down in an instant, or else they can’t seize those fleeting opportunities. Likewise, a calm state allows a sniper’s hands to be steadier and their aim more precise.

The reason William Carter could become an ace was precisely because of this skill—his powerful psychological quality allowed him to calm down quickly and completely empty his mind.

Once calm and at peace, most of the work was already done; the rest was just to increase communication with the soul core, which didn’t consume much energy from William Carter.

Especially since, back on Earth, William Carter had practiced many Buddhist and Daoist breathing techniques for training, and had also studied visualization methods from both traditions, so the final step became simple.

In a tranquil, empty state, it was easiest to generate the sixth sense; with stillness comes wisdom, and naturally he sensed the existence of the soul core. Sensing its presence, he then used visualization to easily outline the contours of the soul core.

A thin, small white carp suddenly appeared in a certain space within William Carter’s mind. The carp was different from the red one he had seen in the lake: first, it had no color; second, it wasn’t real, just an outline sketched by lines; third, it was missing a part in the middle.

Though it looked rather pitiful, William Carter could indeed feel the image of his own soul core. However, when William Carter’s consciousness flickered to the side of the carp, he suddenly saw a mass of gray shadow.

The gray shadow resembled a seated human figure, sitting motionless at the empty edge, silent and ghostly. Even with William Carter’s boldness and composure, he was startled.

His well-trained nerves quickly calmed William Carter again. He had faced even more thrilling situations before—after more than a decade on the battlefield, with bullets whizzing just centimeters above his head countless times, the most dangerous was when a bullet grazed his scalp, leaving a mark. Even then, William Carter’s heartbeat never exceeded seventy-five beats per minute.

The gray shadow didn’t move, at least on the surface it seemed harmless. Sharp-eyed William Carter soon noticed that the way the gray shadow sat was exactly the same as his own sitting posture. With a thought, his consciousness immediately appeared before the gray shadow.

After a careful inspection, William Carter found that the gray shadow was just a mass of chaos, humanoid in shape but without facial features, and its head was just a lump. However, William Carter discovered that inside the gray shadow’s head, there also seemed to be a small, incomplete fish-shaped thing.

Not only that, but the little fish-like thing was moving as if breathing, opening and closing, while streams of gray energy rhythmically flowed into the fish with each movement.

Was this... teaching him how to use the soul core to absorb spiritual energy? William Carter instinctively thought along these lines. What was the connection between this gray shadow figure and that heaven-defying vision that had suddenly appeared in his mind?

As he was thinking this, the gray shadow figure suddenly moved. A series of fierce attack moves were executed smoothly, like flowing water. William Carter instantly recalled that this set of moves should be what Emily Brooks would perform if she could perfectly face an enemy. With a turn of thought, William Carter began to imagine George Brooks, and the gray shadow figure’s moves changed accordingly, switching to George Brooks’s style, even replicating the move where he smashed an enemy’s throat with a punch.

But it was obvious that the force conveyed to William Carter through the figure’s movements didn’t need to be that great. Thinking of how George Brooks once punched out half an enemy’s spine, it was clearly overkill. The force shown by the figure seemed just enough to kill the enemy, but not so much as to make it look so gruesome.

When William Carter thought again about outlining the soul core, the gray shadow figure instantly returned to its seated posture, once again mimicking the little fish’s breathing motion, absorbing gray energy.

William Carter was now certain that his new ability was entirely related to this mass of gray energy. He immediately followed the gray shadow figure’s movements, visualizing the soul core fish’s opening and closing motion.

The fish outlined by lines was very simple, and because of this, William Carter didn’t need to expend much energy to easily replicate the fish’s rhythmic movement. Soon after, William Carter noticed faint traces of spiritual energy beginning to gather on the soul core fish.

What Emily Brooks saw and sensed was exactly William Carter’s state at this moment. All in all, how much time had passed?

Looking at this young brute, Emily Brooks truly didn’t know how to describe her feelings at this moment. Compared to the monster that was William Carter, who communicated with his soul core in just over ten minutes, Emily Brooks suddenly felt that all those words people used to describe her—unprecedented genius, peerless talent—now sounded unbearably grating.