As Azalon sunk into unconsciousness, the black pill’s medicinal liquid traversed through the entire body of Azalon, before converging at the Soul Root. The medicinal liquid did not fill up the Soul Root, but instead it spread across the walls of the Soul Root, completely covering the interior of the Soul Root, like a black coating.

After the entire liquid reached the Soul Root, the black coating suddenly started shrinking. This is the way the medicine is supposed to work. It will first form a coating on the walls of the Soul Root, and then it will start shrinking gently forcing the separated Soul parts into the Main Soul. It may be crude but it is definitely the most effective and safest of various methods, particularly when dealing with something sensitive like a Soul.

Under the gentle pressure from the ever shrinking black wall, whatever things scattered across the Soul Root slowly converged towards the tennis ball sized black sphere slowly rotating in the center of the Soul Root as if oblivious to whatever changes happening around it…

‘That was the most relaxing sleep I ever had in my two lives!’ this is the first thought that appeared in his mind as he regained his consciousness. But even though he was awake, he couldn’t open his eyes or sense his surroundings. After the initial panic due to the blindness, he slowly calmed down and concluded that even though he was conscious, he was still cut off from his senses.

‘Hmmm… This should be that part where only my subconscious will wake up, right? So, the medicine was successful?’ With that thought, he tried to sense his body, and sure enough, that alien and bizarre world once again opened before his eyes in its full glory.

He did not waste any time before selecting a White meridian, and following the roller coaster ride, to reach his Soul Root. The moment he entered his Soul Root, his eyes popped out and his jaw broke the floor. His entire consciousness felt as if hit by lightning, as he brain froze, due to the number of emotions and memories suddenly flashed through his nerves.

This… this… this… WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE????

The previous time he was in his Soul Root, he saw his Soul as well what should be his Spirit’s Soul, slowly revolving around his Soul. But right now, seeing the scene in front of him, his entire thought processes froze, let alone provide a reason or argument.

Under a thin film of a black membrane, he could faintly see his Soul Sphere as well as his Spirit’s. But what shocked him was that apart from these two, he could see 7 distinct colors around his Soul in the shape of 7 disks. As he stared at the scene in amazement, suddenly under the 7 colored rings, he felt a silver color flash by just for an instant. But under his shock, his mind did not register the flash of that silver color.

7 colors…

7 disks…

7 Primal Energies…

Memories of his previous life played out continuously in his jumbled mind. These 7 disks were the results of his entire life’s work. He had sacrificed almost half of his life time to construct these 7 disks to prove his theory. His memories fluttered to that day, the day his life was ruined, and he was labeled ‘The Mad Scientist’, all because of that single incident…

It was a sunny afternoon, and the entire city was shuffling about in their works. The advancements in the various fields of Science and Technology, made the life styles of the people to be somewhat relaxed and luxurious, as the human involvement in various industries was drastically reduced with the introduction of fully automated robots and assembly machines.

The streets were bustling with activity, with the young people trying out the new gadgets and toys, the old generation shuffling about with their robotic helpers in tow, the shops filled with the clamor of beautiful women and young girls shopping for accessories while gossiping; but at the current moment, in a large building, a somewhat tense atmosphere was ruling the situation.

“Your theory that the Cosmos is comprised of only 7 Primal Energies, not 12 different Energies, as accepted by the Society of Advanced Cosmology, cannot be accepted, Mr. Rex. You were given this chance to present your theory in front of the Society, but I did not expect that your theory is based on some wild observations and baseless assumptions.”

This building was one of the important buildings of this time. It was the headquarters for the Society of Advanced Cosmology, the branch of Science that focuses on the study of Universe and the Cosmic Energy and its applications, as well as researching the methods to harness the Energy for the needs of Earth.

As such the Society, after countless experiments and terabytes of readings and observations, developed a theory that the Cosmos was comprised of 12 kinds of Energies that were dubbed ‘Primal Energies.’ The theory was later cross referenced with all kinds of departments. With the theory gaining their approval, the reputation of the Society instantly sky rocketed in the scientific community. But today, there’s someone’s challenging the credibility of the well accepted theory…

In the presentation room in that building, currently a large group of people were present in the audience section of the room. Every single person in that room can be considered a prominent figure in their own right, as this boring convention became interesting, as they wouldn’t usually see a scientist challenging something that has been accepted by the entire community of scientists of the Society.

On the stage, two podiums were arranged facing each other and the speaker was a handsome man in his forties, dressed in a crisp blue suit. His thick grayish black hair, that was impeccably groomed, his brown eyes that radiate confidence as well as some arrogance, his straight and perfect nose, along with that natural charisma, made him a crowd pleaser.

Opposite this person, was a man in his mid-thirties. With his disheveled hair, blood shot eyes with the black bags under them, the result of excessive lack of sleep, and his shabby attire of jeans and t-shirt along with his lazy and careless posture, made his seem like a punk on the streets rather a scientist with 4 advanced degrees. He was Johnny Rex, nicknamed The Miracle Kid by some scientists. He was the first person to join the Society of Advanced Cosmology when he was still in his University.

His quick rise of prominence in the Society made some of the senior members of the Society dissatisfied, including the person on the stage. All these days, they could not find any opportunity to contradict this little genius, and hence they could only wait patiently.

But now that he openly contradicted the Society and that too on the day of the Annual Convention of various departments. The debate immediately ascended to the present situation, where one of them was trying to correct the mistakes of the theory, while the other was trying to damage the reputation of his opponent.

“You don’t understand, Mr. John. Yes, you are correct when you say that my explanation is based on some distant assumptions, but I can assure that they are not wild and definitely not baseless. With the current technology, developing the sophisticated equipment to back my readings cannot be designed. As such, I was forced to come to the stage with these non-conventional theories. But please, I request the Society to consider the problems I am presenting.”

“This is not something that can be changed according to your beck and call, Mr. Rex. Your attitude does not befit one of the scientists of the Society. You want the Society to accept your theory that’s based on some assumptions. If you have some solid proof, present it to the audience. Otherwise don’t drag the reputation of the Society with your mindless ramblings.” Mr. John replied hotly, projecting some righteousness in his posture, as if he was a knight defending the reputation of the Society.

‘Gah, I can’t argue with these kinds of fools.’ Rex was not in the mood to deal with these narrow minded fools, who can’t see the big picture. They can’t even imagine the disaster that will strike if this project was launched into the space. He has been arguing the past hour about the dangers of the collapse of Space, if the balance between the Energies was disturbed due to the faulty theory.

But he just couldn’t get his arguments across this selfish bastard. He turned his head, and met the eyes of the person he considers to be the second most important person in his life. The President of the Society of Advanced Cosmology, Michael Adams, and his mentor.

Rex was an orphan, whose mother left him in the dust bins in one of the numerous back alleys of the city. He grew up in the shadows of the bright and colorful city, living a hopeless and pathetic life. A life without a single thought for the future, except for the problem of solving the need of the next meal. He still remembered the dog fights with the other children over the leftovers in the trash cans, the cold nights he spent starving, and the occasional deaths of the malnourished children who couldn’t fight for the food… but all this changed when that person came into his life…

Mother Lilianna… the person who showed him what love means, what hope means, what peace means…

It was she who discovered his high intelligence, and introduced him to Michael Adams, who was a Head of Department in the National University. This man groomed and molded him to what he was today.

Rex silently pleaded with his eyes, to reconsider the dangers in the theory. He hoped that he would believe in him, but he was disappointed. With a dejected sigh, he got down from the stage and silently walked out of the building.

His reputation took a huge blow from that day onward, and the group of scientists under the leadership of John Adams, the same man who debated with Rex that day, added oil to the fire. The situation only degraded as Rex never bothered to address these kinds of rumors. But when he finally took notice, it was already too late.

Under the pressure of the son of the President of the Society, the credibility of Johnny Rex instantly plummeted down, and the Scientific Community that once called him ‘The Miracle Kid’, now changed that name to ‘The Mad Scientist.’ It was further proved with the fact that Rex has shut himself in his laboratory, doing God-knows-what.

But Rex never considered these things seriously, as he immersed himself in his completing his experiment. He decided to build the same project that the Society, but with some modifications based on his readings. It took him almost 6 years to finally finish the device, which can access the Primal Energies and enable them to study these Energies.

“Finally, we completed it, LILY.”

“Yes, Master. The observations and readings we calculated these past years further provides the fact that your theory is correct. There’s just the final step to complete the last part of the readings. If we could record these readings, you will have irrevocable proof that proves your theory.” A soft and mellow voice responded to his question.

If one could see the insides of this laboratory, they would be shocked speechless. In the center of the large laboratory was a huge machine. It was a strange contraption that couldn’t explain its function just by its look.

A black metal platform was currently suspended mid-air. But what’s strange about the platform was that it was surrounded by 7 large rings with the platform as their center. Each of the rings was arranged in a different orientation, and the overall arrangement made it look like an enormous cage instead of a scientific experiment.

A single person stood below that strange machine, watching it with his head tilted up. That person’s appearance can only be considered pathetic. Almost skeletal physique, with long black hair that fell over the shoulders, thick beard covering almost half of the face and the remaining half was covered by the big black circles around the eyes. But those eyes were shining brightly emanating a vitality that was not shown on any other part of that person’s body. A small silver orb was whizzing around him almost energetically, and it finally settled down on that person’s thin shoulders.

Naturally, this person was Johnny Rex, The Mad Scientist. If anyone could see his appearance right now, they would feel that the nick name was aptly named. And that strange contraption was the project he has been working on these 6 years.

But the one thing that made him feel immensely satisfied and happy was the small silver orb that was sitting on his shoulders. This was ‘LILY’, an AI support system he has designed based on a new kind of metal he has invented based on the 7 Primal Energies. He named this system after the Mother Lilianna, as a kind of tribute for her, as she couldn’t be around to see his success. That had been the only regret of his life.

“Master… Master… when are we going to proceed to the next step? ” LILY asked gently, as she floated down from his shoulder and floated before him.

“Hmmm… based on my calculations, the Cosmic Energies around Earth will weaken considerably at the moment the Earth completes its daily rotation. We will commence the experiment in around 3 hours 12 minutes. So, get ready, LILY. This will be the ride of our lives.” Rex answered with a smile on his face.

“Yaayy~~~” LILY flew around the laboratory cheering excitedly. Rex simply watched with a smile, as he loved the child like behavior of her. LILY’s different from the conventional AI systems that were designed till now. She doesn’t have the pre-established data to develop a kind of intelligence in the machine. She has intelligence already programmed, but she learns by observing the surroundings, not based on some already happened incidents.

3 hours swiftly passed by, as Rex finalized the preparations for the experiment. He jumped onto the lowered black platform. As soon as he stepped onto it, the platform slowly rose while the 7 rings surrounding the platform started charging.

*Huuummmmmmm* the basic charging of the rings produced a constant hum, as the energy required to fill up these 7 rings was not small at all. But if this project succeeds, the rewards he can reap will more than compensate the cost.

The appointed time slowly approached, and LILY made the last minute preparations in the central terminal, before whizzing to him and landed on his shoulder. The rings slowly picked up speed as the timer ticked down. They reached the maximum speed just as the counter reached zero.

The black platform started vibrating slightly, and his vision suddenly blacked out because of a sudden bright flash. It took a long time before he got his vision back, but what he saw after he recovered his vision took his breath away.

The black platform he was standing on was suspended in a transparent sphere, which he knew was formed by the rings revolving around the platform at breath taking speeds. But what interested him was not the sphere or the platform, but the world that was outside the boundary of the sphere.

He could tell that he was still in his laboratory, but the world outside was not the normal world he knew. The world he saw was comprised of streams of Energies of various colors; most of them dull and even the streams of those Energies were small and shallow. But deep below those jumble of streams of Energies, he could see some bright colored and large streams of Energies. He slowly counted those major Energy streams, making sure that he did not miss a single one.

He counted 7 kinds Energies each with a distinctive color and property. He could name them based on their appearance and properties.

Quantum Energy --- Bright Red Color --- One of the basic building force of Cosmos, calm but destructive.

Chaos Energy --- Blue Color --- The counterpart of the Quantum Energy, fluid and wild.

It was the reaction between these two forces that resulted in the ‘Big Bang Theory’ that created the Universe, scattering these two forces into every corner of the Universe.

Positron Energy --- Bright Green --- The first byproduct of the reaction between the Quantum Energy and Chaos Energy, free and unrestricted, and also the major force behind the creation of stars in the Universe.

Dark Energy --- Pitch Black --- The remaining part of the Energy in the Explosion of the Quantum and Chaos Energies. The counterpart to the Positron Energy also named as Negative Energy.

If the Quantum and Chaos Energies created the Universe, then these two Energies are responsible for populating the Universe with the stars and galaxies by bringing together the remnant Energies of the Explosion.

Gravity --- Bronze --- Simple enough, the force created as a result of the conglomeration of the scattered masses brought closer by the Positron and Dark Energies.

Electro Magnetic Waves --- Purple --- Where there exists a fluctuation in magnetism, Electricity will be produced and vice-versa. The second force produced by the mass influenced by the Gravity.

Actuator Energy --- White --- The most mysterious Energy. No one understood how it was produced, but it has the most important function. It facilitates for the thriving of life on the masses produced. Without this Energy, no form of life can exist.

The 7 Prime Energies revealed in their full glory…

His goal reached…

His aspirations achieved...

With this his theory can be proved... With this Mankind will advance once again...

“LILY, I am not dreaming, right? Please tell me that I am not dreaming.”

“Master, we did it. With this you can prove your 7 Primal Energy theory and this time, there will be proof to back your claim.” The orb on his shoulder replied excitedly.

But as he was enjoying the satisfaction brought by the immense success of his hard work, the first steps of disaster were taken.

The theory behind this experiment has been solid enough to proceed with the process; a simple misjudgment will prove disastrous. The theory was that the 7 Rings devised by Rex will revolve at high speeds to create a buffer zone that will break the boundary between the Vision Spectrum, as well as provide a safe zone to observe the Energies from within.

Energy acts just like water or air does. They flow from the high concentration area to a low concentrated area. As such, each of the 7 rings was made of a special alloy that matches it to a particular type of Primal Energy. The Rings will absorb that particular Energy and store that Energy, thus preventing the Energy rushing into the vacant space behind the sphere.

But even the wisest of the person will definitely make a single mistake. The same happened with the situation right now. What Rex did not incorporate into his calculations was the saturation point of the Rings. The only available Energy he could use to test these Rings was Electricity. In his tests, he found out that the capacity of the Rings is very high, and he equipped them, thinking that they will be enough for the experiment.

But the Energy he could supply to test the Rings was nowhere comparable to the Energy present in the Nature. But it was already too late when he recognized his mistake.

When the Rings reached their Saturation points, the pressure from the Energy flow from the outside could not be offset anymore. The pressure slowly increased making the sphere of the Rings slowly shrink little by little. It took only a few moments, before the Sphere started destroying his body.

Rex watched in horror as his body disappeared bit by bit under the relentless pressure of the sphere. He felt no pain, or more accurately, he didn’t have the time to feel pain. As he lost all hope whatsoever, he suddenly saw a bright silver flash before his eyes, before he felt a comfortable warmness spread through his consciousness.

He was reborn in this world with a new life as Azalon Wheld, as he regained his consciousness. He was not sad for the lucky second life, but his only regret was that he never sensed LILY or those 7 Rings till this day, before he saw those 7 colored Rings surrounding his Soul.

He now perfectly knew why he never managed to guide the Energy to achieve the Spirit Senses Realm. It was because of these 7 Rings. They were scattered all around the Soul Root, but the sphere that has been formed during the experiment never broke. It just adjusted its shape to spread across the Soul Root, making the Soul Root a world in itself.

With his current power, he was not strong enough to puncture this sphere and the Energies outside were not interested as these 7 Rings somehow became self-sustained. Just as the law goes, like poles repel. The Rings managed to repel the Energies in the surroundings, making his Soul unable to achieve the next Realm in the Cultivation.

As he watched in silence, with all kinds of thoughts and memories running through his head, the black membrane seemed to sense the different kinds of Energies in the Soul Root. It immediately split into small parts, and each part enveloped one of the Energies in the Soul Realm. As it finished contracting, suddenly there were numerous small black spheres revolving around his Soul.

Azalon was still in daze, as the small spheres suddenly flashed with different colors, making the desolate Soul Root light up brightly. When the lights receded, the puddle of the Life Force in a corner of the Soul Root suddenly stirred as the bluish green Life Force flew to the small spheres and started covering them.

Azalon started from his daze seeing the Life Force start covering the smaller spheres. He cleared his thoughts, and concentrated on forming the Soul Embryos, as he knew that this was the most important part of the Awakening Process.

As he concentrated on the Soul Embryo Cultivation Method, he counted the number of smaller spheres and tried to identify each of them. There was the central tennis sized black sphere which was his Soul. Next, he observed the smaller spheres and counted them to be 9 of them!

‘Wait a moment. There are 7 Rings, and one of them should be the Soul of his Petrified Spirit. That makes 8. But where did this extra one come?’ A bulb *Ping*ed in his mind, as excitement and happiness bubbled in his heart.

‘That is definitely her. That one is definitely her. Hahahaha… may be we will be meeting again not long from now. With her, I won’t have any regrets and we could freely explore this world. I wonder what her reaction would be when she sees me in this new world… Huhuhuhuhu…’

The Life Force completely enveloped each of the smaller spheres, but he could feel that something’s not right. He could feel his Soul forming a sort of connection with two of the spheres, but there’s no movement from the other 7 of them.

‘Ahh, so the 7 non responsive ones should be the 7 Primal Rings. They were already completely saturated with the Primal Energies, and moreover they were not living things to start with. And the pitiful Life Force of one-eighth of 25 years Life Force was nowhere near enough for them to Awaken. It seems that I had to think of a solution for this problem. Hmm… so that means there will be two of the 9 Spirits that will Awaken. One should be my Petrified Spirit, and the other should be…’