Treasure-hunting: Into the Unknown

After a while, Sara stepped into a room in the Sage Hall, where Katrina was usually found cultivating.

Katrina, for her part, wasn't the least bit startled to find her there. She merely asked, "What is it now, then? Did he mess up again?"

"Well, it looks like you're a prophet!" Sara nodded with a sigh.

"Very well then. Tell me all about it. What did he do this time?" Katrina asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Zachary defeated a disciple this morning. It wasn't just any disciple; he beat one at the second grade of Heaven Level," Sara responded, some disconcertion on her face.

At that revelation, Katrina felt rather startled. Recovering quickly, she said, "Did a similar thing take place during the freshmen contest? For all we know, he may just have had a lucky shot."

"I don't know, but Rebecca did say that Zachary was more likely to use his real strength in such a situation, and not use other means." While she hadn't seen how he had managed such a feat personally, Sara couldn't be sure how or why it happened. But Rebecca, who was at the King Level, had sound judgment, and Sara was inclined to believe her.

"Oh, really?" Katrina stared at empty space in deep consideration. She couldn't help but be a little suspicious as such an achievement made very little sense. A disciple at the Earth Level couldn't possibly have the strength to leap up and defeat someone at the Heaven Level in just half a month. Even if he had utilized some kind of treasure, there simply shouldn't be a way to do that.

"Do you want me to test him and make sure?" Sara asked, puzzled. Perhaps the best way to test Zachary's power was to pit him against her own hands and abilities.

"No, that wouldn't work. He's too clever for that, and he'll take notice of what you're really trying to do." Katrina just shook her head, knowing that Zachary was canny as a fox and would probably be on his guard at all times, trying to keep people from discovering whatever secrets he had.

"Then, maybe I could find someone else to test him and see what he's capable of," Sara suggested, not quite willing to give the idea up.

"Well if he really is hiding something, it's highly unlikely that he won't let anything slip or get exposed unless he is backed to a corner and has no other recourse. So if we want to force this guy to reveal his true strength, we'll have to give him a situation where he has no other option." Katrina smirked to herself, cold and calculating.

"What do you mean?" Sara asked, trying to figure out what Katrina had planned.

"If I remember correctly, there's an incarnation test tomorrow, isn't there? In the Soul Testing Pagoda? L

he gazed up at the ornate pagoda before them.

"We're here at the Soul Testing Pagoda, Zachary. This is where warriors of Heaven Level take their incarnation test," Sara replied coolly, without any expression on her face.

"A what? Incarnation test? What do you mean?" Zachary stared at her, completely bewildered.

"Haven't you even wondered why spiritual souls form after deaths of certain warriors?" Sara asked him, not the least bit perturbed.

"Those spiritual souls are from warriors who had unimaginably great power. It's that power that refuse to dissipate even after death, so strong that even their consciousness couldn't fade away. That power and awareness then condense and transform into spiritual souls." Zachary hesitated before carefully answering what he knew.

"Hmm...a reasonable explanation, though not entirely correct," Sara replied. "In the Supernal Continent, there are numerous theories about how spiritual souls form and come to be. The most widely accepted explanation is that a warrior would cultivate another self, creating a new incarnation of themselves during the cultivation. Warriors of Divine Level, in fact, can summon incarnations of themselves, which are equally as powerful as they are. And after warriors who have managed to create such incarnations pass into death, the incarnations are left behind to form spiritual souls," Sara explained to him.

"Is that what an incarnation is? That sounds fascinating," Zachary answered thoughtfully, rubbing his chin in contemplation. He wasn't entirely knowledgeable in matters of spiritual souls, so upon hearing Sara's explanation, he couldn't help but be intrigued. Mostly, this was also because his Holy Bone Bracer itself had a warrior's spiritual soul merged into it.