Since his rebirth, William Carter’s senses had become extremely sharp, and his mind agile—he could focus on multiple things at once, and his reading was nearly photographic.

So very quickly, William Carter skimmed through the densely written scripture from beginning to end. Coupled with Henry Clark’s fragmented memories, the “Indestructible Star River Visualization Method” was firmly imprinted in his mind, even the visualization diagram etched itself into his memory.

William Carter stored the scripture in the Corpse-Nurturing Ring.

Ever since the Corpse-Nurturing Ring had been refined, it had transformed into fine lines wrapped around his pinky like a tattoo, only appearing when in use—truly mysterious.

After putting away the scripture, William Carter opened the window, looked up at the star-filled night sky, gazed deeply for a few moments, then sat cross-legged beneath the window. Forming a hand seal, he followed the method’s instructions and Henry Clark’s cultivation experience, emptied his mind of all distractions, forgot the outside world, forgot his physical shell, leaving only his spiritual soul, unbound by space, sitting beneath the starry sky. Starlight shone down, slowly merging into his soul, constantly nourishing and strengthening it.

William Carter had barely sat cross-legged for long when he seemed to truly see himself sitting beneath the stars, starlight streaming in through the top of his head. Suddenly, he felt a coolness throughout his body, an indescribable comfort that penetrated to his bones, even a sensation of floating as if ascending to immortality.

The soul avatar in his meditation had originally been vague, like wisps of blue smoke, as if it could dissipate at any moment. But now, it gradually became clear and condensed, its form identical to his own, as if another living version of himself existed—so much so that he couldn’t tell if this was reality or illusion.

“This…” William Carter quickly opened his eyes.

“When the false is taken as real, the real becomes false; when the real is taken as false, the false becomes real! What is real, what is false? People take what they see as real, what they don’t see as false, yet they don’t realize their minds are clouded by distractions. They only see the physical shell, not the soul residing in the mind’s palace, and thus dismiss the soul as illusory.”

“To enter meditation and see the true soul in the mind’s palace—this is the state of ‘Soul Stabilization’!”

“I’ve already reached the Soul Stabilization realm!”

William Carter was utterly shocked and in disbelief.

Henry Clark, a grandmaster of the demonic sect, had meditated for ten years just to reach the threshold, and even then needed rare incense to assist each session.

Yet he, simply by sitting cross-legged and forming a hand seal, had directly entered the Soul Stabilization realm—this was far too fast and easy!

Chapter Six: Manipulating Objects

After a long while, William Carter finally calmed his mind, sat cross-legged again, and formed a hand seal.

This time, he once again quickly stabilized his soul. Starlight merged into the top of his head, making him feel not only refreshed all over, but also as if a power within him was steadily growing.

“According to the ‘Indestructible Star River Visualization Method,’ the world is like a sea, the body is the boat that crosses it, and the soul is the person riding inside. If the soul does not reside within the body, it will drown. But if the soul is strong and firm, it can leap out of the boat and ride the waves. Now that my soul is growing stronger, I wonder if I can leap out of the boat?”

A thought flashed through William Carter’s mind, and then the method for the soul to leap out of the boat, as described in the “Indestructible Star River Visualization Method,” surfaced in his mind.

He imagined himself walking step by step to the bow of the boat, then leaping into the sea.

With that leap, William Carter suddenly felt his whole body lighten, and found himself floating above his desk, as if weightless.

He could see everything outside, including himself sitting cross-legged at the desk.

“I can see myself?” William Carter was startled by the bizarre scene before him, then realized he had successfully projected his soul out of his body, and was both overjoyed and incredulous.

“I’ve already reached the Out-of-Body realm!” Overjoyed, William Carter floated lightly beside his physical body, then tried to flip through the books on the desk.

A soul is formless and intangible, so logically it should pass right through objects. But when William Carter tried to flip a book, not only did he not pass through it, he actually managed to turn the page.

However, what was once a light book now felt extremely heavy to move, as if it were bound with thick iron sheets.

“To be able to move physical objects—this, this is already the Manipulating Objects realm!” William Carter stared at the scene, as if an ordinary person had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

Henry Clark had cultivated arduously for eighty years, only to reach the realm beyond Manipulating Objects—the Divided Spirit realm. Of course, Henry Clark had reached the peak of the Divided Spirit realm, touching the threshold of body possession. Not only could his soul manipulate objects with ease, he could also split his soul to condense seals and imprint them on zombies. Combined with blood rituals, even without leaving his body, he could easily control multiple zombies with his soul’s will.

William Carter found even flipping a light book to be extremely heavy, far from Henry Clark’s effortless manipulation.

But Henry Clark had cultivated for eighty years, while William Carter had only spent a short while to directly cross the Soul Stabilization, Out-of-Body, and Possession realms to step into the Manipulating Objects realm. In comparison, the gap between Henry Clark and William Carter was like heaven and earth.

It took quite a while before William Carter finally calmed down.