Her soul was still mostly covered in darkness, just like when she had broken through to the Nascent Soul Realm. A small ice hill reached the edge of the darkness, and an illusory, infant version of herself sat holding a scythe on that hill.
The infant had its eyes closed as if it were sleeping, but tremendous amounts of energy were pumped through its body every moment to sustain its existence. The presence of this darkness, the ice hill, the earth underneath it, and the infant within her soul raised questions about the very nature of her being.
A soul is, at its very core, the essence of one's existenceâ€"both physical and metaphysical.
It is an objective view of who you are, not who you or anyone else believe you to be. At the same time, it is also a view into one's fate. A fate that they both can and can't control.
This is often represented in the manifestations that appear during the three Soul Realms in the Mortal Cultivation system.
For example, if a soul was black on the outside but white on the inside, it could mean that the person had a good, inner moral code, but they failed to portray that in their actions. Should they fail to realize that disconnect, they may limit their cultivation potential.
Of course, it could also not mean that. The soul is very intricate; through the cultivation realms, one is supposed to explore those intricacies to learn more about themselves.
The Nascent Soul Realm is when this process first begins.
The primary objective of the Nascent Soul Realm is to gain a deeper understanding of oneself; to explore one's desires, needs, aspirations, powers, and chosen path in life. It is a journey of self-discovery, where cultivators seek to grasp the essence of their own Dao.
The Dao is an essential concept in cultivation and represents the fundamental principles guiding one's life and the natural order of the universe. Cultivators can harmonize their existence with the world around them by comprehending one's Dao, thus enhancing their powers and overall growth.
The Nascent Soul is a personified version of oneself that has taken on a spiritual form. It's a direct connection to the soul that allows one to peek into the objective mysteries within oneself.
It's often classified as a bridge between the body, Qi, mind, and soul.
However, right now, Mira's Nascent Soul isn't what's important. Rather, Mira was deeply intrigued by the miniature world that had taken shape within her soul and the significance of the various elements it contained.
Mira had some ideas about why her soul looked the way it did, but at this point, they were only that: ideas.
'I should be able to come to my own conclusions after I break through to the 2nd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.' Mira thought and immediately began circulating the overflowing Qi in her body according to her cultivation technique.
She didn't know if she had enough Qi stored to break through to the 2nd Stage, but it was worth a shot.
The Qi in her body surged through her meridians, scattering to every fiber of her being before heading toward her soul. From there, it split off into four different paths; one went to her Nascent Soul, one went to the World Core, another sent energy into her soul as a whole, and the last went into her scythe.
The World Core absorbed the most energy by far.
As Mira cultivated, the Nascent Soul perched atop the ice mountain and opened its eyes. The moment it did, a wave of profound enlightenment washed over her!
It felt like she was simultaneously experiencing two different perspectives, her own and an outsider's, providing her with a unique and extraordinary insight.
As small as it might be, the Nascent Soul stood up and stared into the darkness, her scythe grasped tightly within its tiny hands.
The Nascent Soul's empty eyes seemed to shine with life as it lifted the scythe and slashed at the darkness!
"Ugh!" Mira grunted in surprise, not expecting any pain, but it felt like someone had jabbed a sword into her brain and began wiggling it around.
Still, Mira gritted her teeth and kept circulating her cultivation technique.
The Nascent Soul didn't stop swinging the scythe around, digging its way into the darkness. However, each swing caused Mira more pain than the last, and drops of blood trickled down her eyes as she bore the self-torture.
Once the Nascent Soul had excavated a portion of the seemingly tangible darkness, it hopped off the hill.
Raising its hand toward it, the World Core thrummed as a torrent of Ice Qi left the Nascent Soul's hand, increasing the hill's size and density. In addition to that, the Earth and Magma beneath her feet also trembled and increased in density, as if they were improving themselves to uphold the weight of the hill on top of them.
Afterward, the Nascent Soul hopped back atop the hill and began excavating more of the darkness with Mira's scythe.
However, in this second round, Mira found a few odd things.
First, she didn't understand why the Nascent Soul had to "remove" the darkness when it was literally a part of her. The Nascent Soul should be able to walk right through it, but instead, it acted as if it were a tangible substance. Meaning there was more to the darkness than she originally thought.
Lastly, what the Nascent Soul did chop up didn't actually disappear. It merely merged with the rest of the darkness, increasing its density and toughness.
'Why is that?' Mira wondered, 'What does that mean? What am I missing? Does it have something to do with the fact that my path forward is shrouded in darkness, and all I can do is cleave my way through?'
Several different theories entered Mira's mind, but no matter what she thought of, she couldn't come to a concrete answer.
All she knew was that the Nascent Soul Realm she was experiencing was very different compared to what was normal. Instead of it being an inner exploration, it was more like a test of some sort.
Mira frowned slightly, 'The main problem is that I seem to be experiencing both the Nascent Soul Realm and Soul Transformation Realm at the same time.'
From what she understood about those realms, that was the best conclusion she could come to. Whether or not she had to go through the Soul Transformation Realm after all this was unknown, but Mira wasn't worried about that.
If she did have to go through something akin to the Soul Transformation Realm again, that was fine with her. It just meant more power in the long run. If she didn't, that was also fine since she didn't have to waste her time going through another 9 cultivation stages.
'I guess I'll just have to wait and see the differences when I reach the 2nd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm.' Saving those thoughts for later, Mira went back to cultivating.
The Nascent Soul kept ripping apart the darkness above it, making room for it to increase the size of the ice hill.
This went on for hours as Mira used up all the Qi she had absorbed from the battle with the Crimson Slayer Sect.
Before long, the Nascent Soul seemed to reach an impasse as it stopped attacking the darkness. The ice hill was much larger and denser than before, and the Nascent Soul had grown as well.
Now, it looked to be around a year or two old rather than a newborn.
The darkness still encompassed around 80% of her soul, but this time, there was something new.
Above the Nascent Soul, drops of water fell on it. However, this wasn't simple water.
Each droplet seemed to contain the weight of an elephant.
The Nascent Soul, seemingly understanding the purpose of these heavy droplets, allowed them to hit the ice hill.
As each droplet made contact with the hill, the ice shook and cracked slightly.
However, instead of being damaged, the ice seemed to become even more resilient after each impact, as though the droplets were tempering it.
The process continued for some time, and as the ice hill grew stronger, it was able to withstand the weight of the droplets with ease.
Eventually, the droplets no longer caused cracks in the ice, and they began to pool together, forming a small stream that flowed gracefully along the hill's surface.
This stream of water, infused with immense power, meandered through the ice, further strengthening it and imbuing it with new properties.
The Nascent Soul watched attentively, making sure that the stream was well-controlled and didn't cause any harm to the ice hill or the world within her soul.
*Crack!*
A sound akin to shattering glass echoed within Mira's mind. In the wake of that, a whirlwind of Qi materialized above her head, voraciously absorbing the energy from the surrounding area and even siphoning some from the Heartwood Corruptor.
This Qi entered her core and spread out to the rest of her body before heading for her soul, where things began to change.
Her Nascent Soul gradually developed, resembling a child of around 3 or 4 years old. Simultaneously, the grade of her scythe improved significantly, and the overall quality of her soul experienced a notable enhancement.
Mira's power and aura continued to climb until there was an explosion of Qi, and she officially stepped into the 2nd Stage of the Nascent Soul Realm!
