In retrospect, William found that his latest battle had been a poor idea. He hadn’t been sure of how dangerous his opponent was. It had been possible that Song Ping had not used his full power on Yu Huan, which meant that he could have been much more dangerous than William expected. William still thought that people couldn’t be that dangerous, because they were little more than children, but here they were children with ki and magic… like children with access to a gun. On the other hand, William’s confidence had been more than correct, he’d just had only a small amount of evidence on his side beforehand.

However, what bothered William most was the counterattack he had done. He wasn’t bothered at what he had done, which he imagined was likely a crippling injury to Song Ping. Instead, he was bothered at how he had done it. He had countered with a soul attack. Not only that, but one that obviously came from a technique, if one that wasn’t trained much at all. Except, William could remember every technique he had learned in the past 6 years, and none of them were a soul attack. That bothered him, and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Then, he remembered. He wasn’t incorrect- he hadn’t learned that technique since he had knowledge of ki and how to train it. However, there was one technique he had learned before, and forgotten about. All of the recent events had muddled his mind, and made him forget the very first ki technique he had seen… from his previous life.

William hadn’t forgotten about the technique itself, but since he had learned it before he was truly able to use ki, he hadn’t considered that he might already be able to use it. There wasn’t much to the flowery description: “Convert the soul to power. Destroy the cycle of reincarnation. Shattering of the soul.” In this case, much of the insight into how to use it was on the technique scroll itself, there weren’t instructions. Thus, if William had the scroll that contained it, he could look at it to get some glimpses of how it should be used, and learn that way. As it was, if he wanted to learn to use it, he would have to find the small fragments of thought that were still inside his head… or his soul, perhaps.

William did want to learn it. He didn’t plan to use any trained version against any foes he would be facing in the short term, but there was only one reason to learn that particular ability in the first place. To use on the Demon King. There was no point in destroying the souls of anyone else. William couldn’t be sure anyone else would learn the technique, or even if the scroll still existed. People might not even know it needed to be done. William could at least get a partial answer to the last point, however.

He went to find Grand Elder Jian, his grandfather, technically, and a member of the Order of the Watchful Sentry. Once they were alone where no one could overhear, he asked. “Do you know why the Demon King is such a big problem?”

Yu Jian stroked his chin. “Well, he certainly grows more powerful every time. He obviously has only ill intentions, and must be guarded against. Though, since you ask, you must have further reasons?”

William nodded. “He needs to be destroyed- not just killed, but destroyed in body and soul. That is because he does the same thing every time he appears. That is, he destroys the souls of many. As for what effect this has… people are still born, as normal. However, I observed in Ostana that the percentage of people with the talent to be a wizard dropped after every invasion by the Demon King.” William paused for a few moments. “This led to the conclusion that the ability to use magic is tied to the soul, somehow. I don’t know how this relates to the ability to use ki, but I suspect that it has some effect on the population as a whole as well. It seems to me that it is likely tied to the soul… since I seem to have subconsciously trained to a minor level of ki proficiency in my previous life, and that carried over into this one.”

Yu Jian nodded. “That’s very serious. The Order has a number of records, they may be able to provide that information. As far as I know, nobody has observed the reduction in skilled martial artists specifically, but if they were not specifically looking for it then it could easily have been missed. Either way, destroying the soul of the Demon King does seem like the only permanent solution. However, I doubt that it will be easy.”

William nodded. “There is a technique… however, I am not trained enough in it to inscribe it on a scroll or teach it. The scroll itself is in Ostana… or it was. I don’t know if there are any other copies, but even if there were… the original source would be impossible to track down.”

“Oh? What was this original source?”

William pondered for a time, then shook his head. “I shouldn’t say. The point is, though, that the only copy that I know existed was in Ostana, in the possession of the Cyril family. I’m not sure if they have managed to survive and keep it… but I’d like to find out. I think it’s time for me to go to back. I’d also like to bring Big Sister Li with me.”

Yu Jian sighed. “What, you want me to be alone with only one exceptional grandchild?” He sighed again. “It is important, though, if the Demon King can appear at any time. Plus, as the source of many of the Song clan’s recent embarrassments, it might be best for you to leave the city. As for your sister… It might be good for her to see and be around other wizards, no offense to yourself. You can’t go alone though. Our relations with your mother’s family are somewhat strained… but they have caravans that travel to Ostana regularly. At the very least, they are always willing to accept paying customers.”