Truth be told, Wu Guang had awakened almost a full day before he spoke up. Still, he truly did not have the opportunity to signal this. Especially as he was assaulted by the flood of information, like the one he had received after breaking into the Spirit Realm.

This time, it took him an entire day and night to fully process and understand both the matter about his condition and the information he obtained about his cultivation method, 'Master of Everything, Ruler of Nothing'.

As for the reason for him losing consciousness and remaining in an almost comatose state for this entire time, it was none other than Bai Qi's soul fusion. It did go far better than he expected, with him having no trouble to cultivate in the future, but... He had obtained a Soul comparable in both power and form to an Earth Realm cultivator, while his body was not ready for it. This being the main reason for his state during the last week or so.

A resume of what he gained was currently present in Wu Guang, if he could be called as such, was present right at the moment. First, Wu Guang's original soul was still present. Granted, he had confined it with the power of Bai Qi's soul, but still... It would not interfere with his feelings or mental state anymore, but it was there. The reason for going with such a way in place of forcefully dispersing it, something he could have done with his overwhelming soul, was to later find a use for Wu Guang's soul. It may appear a bit evil to contain someone's soul, but it was not. The current Wu Guang, or Bai Qi's reincarnation, intended to infuse the soul into a weapon or a treasure, granting this last remnant of the body he occupied to at least experience some things before dispersing. After all, nobody could say if there truly was a reincarnation circle like the one some priests preached about.

The soul-awakening, or fusion as it stood, also brought with it the relieving of all the remaining strong feelings at the moment of the separation. In this case, nothing else than hatred and anger. Then former was directed at the four forest lords that assassinated him, while the latter to Bai Qi himself. After all, with his wisdom and knowledge, how could he had not even suspected that such could take place?

But what stood over everything were the advantages and gains he obtained from his breakthrough. His soul was comparable in power to an Earth realm cultivator, so no suppression below that realm could even hope to work on him. If he overexerted himself and used his full power, his own suppression would be able to make practically any cultivator in this plane submit.

Such an enormous soul strength and the fact that he was the actual owner of the soul almost made him continuously breakthrough to the peak of the Soul realm, something that would make him suffer or even cripple his future prospects, if not for the fact that his unique, heavenly-granted, cultivation set had a special requirement for every Soul realm.

So if anyone, by some chance, asked him what was the best decision he had made in both lives, Wu Guang would respond that it was to cultivate this set during his actual rebirth. After all, not only it forcefully restrained his soul and did not allow him to meet any danger, but it also was capable of improving his, already, overwhelming soul ever further.

The objectives for a breakthrough were very basic, requiring him to master a Soul power, technique, or martial skill during each. Thus, the fact that he memorized and now ran enough simulations for it to be counted as learning a martial skill, made his cultivation not only stop but also stabilize on the 2nd level of the realm.

There were a few other details, which were the reason for his forced meditation during the last full day, but they were mainly related to the abilities his cultivation set provided him. In short, they were a set of mantras for controlling one's Soul strength and a set of aura techniques to improve it until the limit of one's soul. Both of these were extremely useful for him, but he would need to find a way to carefully experiment and train in their usage. For now, by using his basic understanding of the former, he forcefully suppressed his soul to an equivalent of an advanced Soul realm cultivator, to avoid damaging his body, and chose to awake.

So his last phrase about being allowed to awake referred mostly to his own, Bai Qi's soul, and the information he learned.

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After hearing Wu Guang's words, the lady was thrown into a slight stupor. Who were the ones that allowed him to awaken? His soul? And what else?

Still, he had awoken, and her aura indicated that he was in almost peak condition. The fact that his actual soul power was by far over his current, 2nd level of the Soul realm, cultivation was shocking... But, wasn't it good? After all, Wu Guang was their, 'Three Hill Sect' chosen. She would not know what to do if he actually never awoken or even worse died, after all, there was no time to find a replacement. Even more, there were no real candidates for the role!

________________________________________________________________________

The first thing the awakened Wu Guang, or in reality a mostly complete Bai Qi, did was to look around. He was laying on a luxurious bed inside a similarly opulent room.

Apart from a beautiful young lady, there was no one present, so obviously he had no other choice but to ask her for an update on where he was, what amount of time had passed, and other details relevant to his status. So after quickly throwing all of his questions, he inquisitively looked at her.

And to make sure that the answers would be genuine, Wu Guang transmitted practically the same questions to Chun Hua. After all, even if she was not present on the plane, she still was able to see and hear what was happening around.

________________________________________________________________________

The sudden questioning brought the young lady from her frozen state. Thankfully she was knowledgeable enough to understand that such a reaction was normal for anyone who was disconnected from reality for a few days, so before asking her own, she answered Wu Guang's questions.

"I do not know how many days you have been in such a state, but today is the 5th day since you were brought here. As it happened right on the last day of your week seclusion, then no more than 12 days have passed" After making sure that Wu Guang was listening and understood her words, she continued

"You are currently in a room of fortress located a few miles from the courtyard you were training. It's called 'Crow Nest' and responsible for the road that connects the small port you landed in and the Imperial Capital, the 'Heavenly City'. As for the last question... Well, the key has not yet finished refining, so there have been no movements on that side. As for the overall situation, the only thing that I can inform you is that the Eagle Kingdom army assigned to Half-Island is being gathered in the 'Red Talon' military port"

"I see" As Wu Guang acknowledged her explanations, he also confirmed with Chun Hua. Granted, the latter did not know the Eagle Kingdom and such, but for the rest, there was no issue to confirm his, Wu Guang's, status. What's more, Chun Hua had overheard all that had happened in the room, something that she promptly shared with Wu Guang.

So when he next asked

"Excuse me for being so uneducated, but how I should refer to miss...?" He already knew the answer.

"You may call me Xue Ru. As for honorifics, there is no need for them"

"I see, then... Miss Xue, could you please explain to me what I should do next?" She did not lie about her name, as for her saying that he could refer her without honorifics, it was indeed a grand gesture. From Chun Hua's words, Wu Guang had found out that the young, not more than 20, lady in front of him was none other than the commander of the fort garrison, basically a small army general. Granted, it was a temporal position that she could be relieved off... But! Having such status and strength, being at the 2nd level of the Sage realm, at such age was for lack of words, shocking.

"Mmm, let me do so then. Still, I hope that you may answer a pair of my questions before"

"Agreed" With nothing that could not be hidden to hide, Wu Guang immediately accepted.

"First, what is your actual strength right now?"

"I... don't know" Noticing that Xue Ru expression turned sour, he quickly added

"It's the truth. I have only awakened and my senses tell me that I am at the 2nd level of the Soul realm, but I truly can not assure that without at least some testing"

"I see, well, we can solve that with no problems as soon as you feel ready. As for my second question, it is about what do you want to do right now. You have a few options, as the key will be ready only in four days more. One would be to spend the time resting and looking around, while the other would be to take part in some military exercises and sparrings to get familiarized with your current cultivation"

"Mmm" Wu Guang grew pensive. Both options were good for him, as resting meant time for him to sort everything and at last start, his practically forgotten plan to learn potions. While some action would help him quickly get familiarized with his new powers. So he decided to go with a mix of the options if that was possible.

"Is it possible for me to rest for two days and then have some action for the other two? I do not think sightseeing will do me any good, but some time to get a feel at everything before using it seems reasonable"

"It is indeed so. Well, let's do it like that then. You can continue using this room as your own and anything you need will be delivered. If you change your mind and want to go out, then simply ask any of the guards in the corridor. I will come to pick you in two days and arrange something for you"

"Thank you, Miss Xue"

"There's no need for honorifics, you can treat me as an equal with no problems. No one will say you anything either if that is what worries you. In the Empire, there is no issue to speak directly to anyone that allows you to do so"

"Then, thank you..." The end of the phrase sounded blurred, as his mind was trying to get a grip on a memory that involved the original Wu Guang and the lady in front of him. Seemingly, she could be someone that knew him.

"What?" As if noticing Wu Guang's being hesitant to ask something, she asked directly.

"I'm sorry, but, have we met before? I do not know why, but I feel some kind of familiarity"

"We may have, albeit I will not tell you" Xue Ru jokingly answered, before adding

"Do try and remember yourself. Anyway, I have another question that I want to ask you, but that will be when I feel that you are ready"

"Understood"

"Then, I will be taking my leave. Someone will come later to ask for your needs"