When Henry Clark recovered from his meditative state, he could clearly see the shapes formed by those flowing lights—they were a peculiar character-like pattern, full of an ancient and elegant aura, yet not resembling any script or symbol that Henry Clark knew.

Over the next hour or so, Henry Clark began various attempts. First, he tried to force those light particles into his body and absorb them with his mind. Unfortunately, the capacity of his own consciousness and willpower was limited, making it impossible to contain too many light particles. His first attempt failed easily.

Next, he tried to arrange the light particles inside his body into various characters or symbols. Indeed, when he entered a state of complete tranquility, he could control the light particles within, and even the stored lightning energy could be manipulated. However, when he tried to form these light particles into bands of light to create different characters or symbols—whether Chinese characters, English letters, Arabic numerals, or even geometric shapes—these bands of light would immediately explode. The more light particles involved, the more intense the explosion. The most severe incident occurred when Henry Clark tried to form a Chinese character with seven strokes; the explosion was so violent that it blew his body into two pieces. Fortunately, the surrounding area was filled with free-floating light particles, which saved him. Otherwise, that explosion would have utterly annihilated him. After that, he dared not attempt it again, and so his second attempt also ended in failure.

By this point, only about one-tenth of the nine-clawed, human-faced bird's body remained, and there was no more time for Henry Clark to experiment. He could only imitate the lightning rune and try to inscribe it at his dantian. The moment these streams of light formed the lightning rune, Henry Clark felt a suction in his dantian, as if it were about to draw his entire consciousness inside. But the sensation came and went in an instant. Soon after, another lightning rune formed in his dantian. Both runes slowly absorbed the streams of light, gradually storing up lightning energy.

After creating this lightning rune, Henry Clark felt his consciousness begin to scatter and lose focus. He was alarmed, knowing that his ability to sense and control the light particles within himself depended on the concentration and strength of his will. If his consciousness could not remain focused, he would no longer be able to sense or control the light particles within. Even if he created countless lightning runes, he would be no different from an ordinary person... Power that cannot be controlled is not truly power at all!

Then, by forcefully entering a meditative state again, Henry Clark once more sensed the composition and movement of the light particles within his body. This time, he remained in meditation for several minutes longer than before, making him even more cautious about forming lightning runes.

“So that’s how it is. To bind, utilize, or absorb these light particles, one’s own willpower is absolutely essential. When I created that lightning rune just now, about one-tenth of my willpower threads were consumed, right? Those threads of willpower were concentrated into the lightning rune, binding the streams of light there and keeping them running... So that’s how it works.”

Now that he understood the importance of his own willpower, Henry Clark no longer dared to create lightning runes lightly. Although it was a pity to see the free-floating light particles around him, he could only absorb as many as possible into his body and then slowly store them as lightning energy within the rune. Only after the entire corpse of the nine-clawed, human-faced bird had completely vanished did he emerge from his meditative state. However, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he found a hidden spot beneath a massive boulder and sat there, deep in thought.

The difference between humans and beasts or monsters lies in the ability to think and reflect. Henry Clark was always someone who liked to analyze and ponder. Now, having discovered the secrets of the light particles, the soul, willpower, and lightning runes, Henry Clark couldn’t wait to summarize everything—after all, these might be the very things he would rely on to survive... or even to return to the world of the living!

(First of all, a person’s soul consists of two parts. One part is personal willpower, or what could be called a person’s determination. For example, some people are resolute, others are lazy—everyone’s willpower is different. This willpower should be the most fundamental component of a person’s soul. Just like in many movies, if someone dies with a strong obsession—wanting to see someone, seeking revenge, or desiring something—their soul is not easily dispersed, and may even turn into a vengeful spirit. It’s the same principle: the strength of a person’s willpower determines the strength of their obsession.)