The energy started to rip apart the qi that was now circulating through my body. Yellow tendrils were slowly growing darker as they fed.

I looked deeper within my core. The energy leaving the fissure didn't stop the barrier around it that prevented me from investigating it too closely. I had been happy to ignore the otherworldly fissure before. Now I would have to engage with it and the possible things behind it.

The prime had dealt with his fair share of otherworldly beings. Of course, they weren't coming from inside his body in those cases, but the basic principles would apply.

It could just be a dimension of boundless energy. Still, even with nothing, life usually finds a way. Remnants of souls getting stuck crossing from one existence to the next often get caught in such realms, slowly congealing into great remnants of power.

Beings that would have the ability to destroy our little existence with ease if it had so chosen.

I didn't want to anger any of those beings. I doubted the tiny amount of energy I had absorbed would have got anyone's attention. As I grew stronger, that might change.

For now, I would have to make guesswork about would or wouldn't work.

My soul sense was useless, still couldn't generate enough power to breach the shield around my core. I would have to wait and get help from my prime when we soon reconnected.

The tendrils were finally satisfied with the feast of qi they were subject to. They were seemingly dancing as they returned to the fissure and slowly started to spiral around it. The pattern was very different from before. The breakthrough was close at hand.

I just had to get the energy to do what I asked. My spiritual sense expanded over them, subjugating them into the shape I wanted for the core.

They weren't great listeners, but after a bit of cajoling, they started to reply and submit. The spiral slowly moved inwards and circled the fissure, giving it a further point of stability in the world as the framework around it began to solidify.

The energy began to condense even further, slowly growing solid as I worked it.

The core supplied itself from there as the increased stability of the framework allowed for far greater energy to emerge from the fissure.

A howling began to emerge from the core as the fissure stabilized even further. The energy all at once seemed to explode out, forming a startling yellow core. The density of which was like nothing I had ever seen for a core just after a breakthrough.

My constitution allowed for incredible stability, with the added knowledge of the framework I had produced for the energy, allowing for a massive boost of power from the get-go.

The massive boost of energy surrounded my body. Strengthening it, energizing it. The energy that was purifying my body even further encroached on my soul.

The pain that came from that was immense. It was only the experience of my soul that allowed me to hold on any further than I already had.

It wrapped around my soul, squeezing, and trying to see what would happen. The energy had become a whole lot smarter in the transition, which worried me a little. Nevertheless, after playing around the edges of my soul, it began to stream inside it. It was adding a strange quality of power to my soul that was not expected. Usually, qi and soul cultivation were different. Working through both required a lot of extra time.

Now though, this new energy seemed to be energizing not only my core but all three centers of power. The body, the soul, and the core. It was miraculous. It also made me worry about what was to come. Would I still be able to reconnect with the prime, my soul having been changed in such a fashion?

I stopped paying attention to the process by that point. Any chance of it going wrong had long since passed. I now just had to meditate to consolidate the power I had gained. To wait for my soul to break through the threshold and regain the connection with the prime.

Then it was just a waiting game. Watching the power grow inside me was addictive, as usual. My prime had got addicted to the process, and now I felt very much the same. It had been rapid growth. It had only taken this long because I had gone out of my way not to make use of the absorption properties of the energy.

I could feel my soul growing to fit my new vessel. A vast amount of energy was being fed into it by the fissure to make it even with the rest of my centers of power.

It was intoxicating. The threshold of my soul was, of course, extremely high by this point. So getting closer to using the full extent of abilities I had access to as an offshoot of the prime was great.

My new core pulsated, offbeat with my heart, which was slightly annoying while cultivating, having to account for the asynchronous beats between the two.

Now was the time. I felt my soul reach a certain point. The world seemed to open up before me, as all my powers reached the core formation stage. I also felt a connection with a higher power once again.

The rush of being back where I belong went through. Feeling the familiar contours and vibration of the soul so far away from me yet so close was incredible.

I felt like crying. It had come far quicker than I could have ever expected.

A wave of power seemed to overwhelm me from the other side as I felt him marvel at our connection.

I could feel his titanic presence move across the soul strings that now connected us once again.

"You were faster than I expected."

The judging voice echoing all around my soul, quickly sent me from my meditative pose to my knees.

"My Prime, I have news."