After figuring out the situation with the Tongbi Spirit Ape Bronze Corpse, William Carter pondered silently while putting away the bronze corpse, then quickly left the Taoist temple.

That very night after William Carter left the temple, two tall, thin men in black arrived at Xiaolong Mountain. Behind each of them followed an attendant completely shrouded in a black cloak, their faces impossible to see, and their movements stiff.

Chapter Five: Focusing the Spirit

Late at night, all was silent.

William Carter spread the scripture of the “Immortal Star River Visualization Method” on his desk, as if it were a large calligraphy painting.

The characters in the scripture were very small, but each stroke was vigorous and powerful, as if the brush danced like a dragon or snake, penetrating the paper with force. It gave an incomparably grand and majestic feeling, along with a spiritual and mysterious quality that words could not describe. Simply looking at these characters brought great enjoyment and inspiration.

In the center of the scripture was a vast star river composed of countless suns, moons, and stars. In the void at the center of this star river sat a majestic man in meditation.

The man was draped in a robe of starlight, his hands forming a mystical seal.

No one knew who had painted this image in the scripture. Although the man was clearly just a painting, he appeared vivid and lifelike, almost as if he truly existed. When people looked at him, they even felt as if he was opening the heavens and earth, creating all things, countless suns, moons, and stars.

William Carter calmed his mind and, by candlelight, read the scripture word by word, comparing each line with the fragmented memories of the scripture in his mind.

Very soon, William Carter understood that the soul cultivation method was divided into realms: Focusing the Spirit, Out-of-Body, Possession, Manipulating Objects, Dividing the Spirit, Seizing the Body, Manifesting the Saint, Thunder Tribulation, and Celestial Immortal.

The cultivation method was very simple: just sit cross-legged like the man in the scripture, form the hand seal, and then meditate on the image of the vast star river.

But the Great Dao is found in simplicity, and enlightenment comes naturally.

The simplicity of the cultivation method was precisely where its complexity lay.

Henry Clark, a generation’s demonic overlord, obtained the “Immortal Star River Visualization Method” and spent ten years just to get started, merely stepping into the Focusing the Spirit realm. After another seventy years, he finally reached the late stage of the Dividing the Spirit realm, barely touching the threshold of Seizing the Body.

Because of this, even though William Carter was just a martial artist who trained his muscles, Henry Clark failed to seize his body, resulting in both sides being severely injured, and ultimately, William Carter from another world fused with him.

The soul is the most ethereal and intangible thing—untouchable and invisible—so the term “Focusing the Spirit” seems simple, but to stabilize such an elusive soul is anything but easy; in fact, it’s almost impossible to even begin.

But if the soul is not stabilized, sitting cross-legged and meditating on the star river image is just for show, a mere pose, and this method cannot truly strengthen the soul.

For this reason, the threshold of Focusing the Spirit has already blocked the vast majority of people from the path of soul cultivation.

And every breakthrough after Focusing the Spirit is also extremely difficult.

Compared to the difficulty of breaking through realms, the power of the early stages of soul cultivation is actually very weak, completely disproportionate to its difficulty.

For example, Focusing the Spirit merely allows one’s mind and soul to enter an incredibly mysterious and ethereal state, but this cannot be used to fight enemies.

Out-of-Body simply allows one’s soul to leave the body and wander the world, like a ghost drifting about. It can only use illusions to confuse and frighten ordinary people with weak wills, but cannot harm their bodies. In fact, if it approaches someone with strong vital energy, it will be burned by their vitality.

Only when the soul grows stronger and reaches the Possession realm does it gain some offensive power. But even then, it can only possess creatures with ordinary vitality; otherwise, even if it manages to possess them, the soul itself will be greatly damaged.

Only when the soul is strong enough to manipulate external objects—that is, the Manipulating Objects realm—can one control deadly weapons, coming and going without a trace, appearing and disappearing like a ghost. At that point, killing becomes impossible to guard against, and the power of the soul path finally makes a qualitative leap.

The entry to the soul path is so difficult, requiring extremely high talent, and even after entering, one may never be able to cultivate powerful spells in a lifetime. Over time, the soul path and its practitioners have become nearly extinct. Coupled with the unique, ethereal nature of soul techniques, by now, the soul path and those who practice it have become incredibly mysterious, as if they belong to another world.

With William Carter’s current status, if he hadn’t fused with the remnant soul of Henry Clark, who just happened to have cultivated the soul path, he would never have had the chance to come into contact with it in this lifetime.

And now, right in front of him, lay a secret soul cultivation method shrouded in mystery since ancient times.

“According to Henry Clark’s memories, Focusing the Spirit is a state where the mind becomes utterly ethereal. In this state, one completely forgets the outside world and the physical body, and only then can one sense the existence of the soul and use soul methods to visualize the Immortal Star River.”

“To enter the Focusing the Spirit state, one must first train the mind through meditation, contemplation, and other spiritual exercises, and during training, use precious incense to calm the mind. Only by repeating this day after day, year after year, is there a slim hope of entering the Focusing the Spirit state.”

“As for precious calming incense, I shouldn’t even think about it. That’s a luxury only the wealthy can afford.”

Thinking of this, William Carter shook his head with a bitter smile, and continued reading the scripture while comparing it with the fragmented memories of Henry Clark in his mind.