Chapter 375: Concealing the Past

Chapter 375: Concealing the Past

In Irene’s final words, Zheng Yichen felt tricked again. He scratched his head and thought there was nothing more to say. As long as the matter was resolved, the process did not matter much. Irene had many ways to preserve a True Spirit. After all, in this world, there were many methods to scatter someone’s soul and erase their True Spirit.

As a magic expert, Irene mastered even more methods. Extracting those shattered True Spirits from Lily’s body was like drawing blood. Within a safe extraction amount, it had no effect on the body. Those shattered True Spirits meant nothing to her. The reason they remained was like water scale—they existed because they were trapped there. Without this body, those shattered True Spirits would have long scattered into nothing.

Zheng Yichen discussed this matter with Lily separately. Her emotions were still very unsettled, but after listening to Zheng Yichen, she forced herself to calm down. “If that’s the case, I have no objections.”

Her expression was complicated. On one hand, she feared the Soul that belonged to her; on the other hand, she did not want that Soul to be directly disposed of. Even though she would feel relieved if it were disposed of, her past experiences had been rough enough. She endured them, yet now she faced a new situation. She had too many things she could not bear to part with now. She did not want to be replaced, yet she also did not want to cut off another ‘self.’

Therefore, upon learning there was a better solution, she immediately agreed!

“Then prepare yourself first. Although extracting the shattered True Spirits won’t have much impact on you, the process will make you feel a special kind of panic,” Zheng Yichen said. Irene had already explained to him. Even though the True Spirits were shattered, they were still deeply connected to Lily’s body. Being extracted would make her feel the same as when she encountered her own Soul.

Both involved a strong sense of negation of her own existence, along with an irresistible panic.

“Speaking of this method, if someone masters it in the future to target Lily, would it be considered her weakness?” Zheng Yichen asked Irene when he went to find her.

“After extracting the shattered True Spirits, I will teach you how to handle the remainder,” Irene said. “After processing, the remaining shattered True Spirits will completely become part of her body, fully absorbed, with no possibility of extraction.”

“…”

Noticing Zheng Yichen’s conflicted expression, Irene could guess what Zheng Yi was thinking. “Don’t worry. Your assimilation of the undead Witch’s power is only a surface-level operation. The existence of a True Spirit is deeper than special powers. It’s not as profound as Threads of Fate, but it’s also very difficult to interfere with using conventional means. You had no way to interfere before.”

“Now I do?”

“Your power is already sufficient; you just lack the relevant knowledge to utilize it. That’s not a problem.”

Zheng Yichen initially thought extracting the True Spirits would be troublesome. After seeing Irene operate, he realized he had overthought it. For others, it might be troublesome, but for her, the process was simply patting Lily’s head once. That light pat scattered Lily’s pupils, and her whole person fell into an unconscious state that should not have occurred.

This was the reaction of gathering the shattered True Spirits inside her body. However, without a Soul, even if the True Spirits were forcibly gathered, they had no power to drive the body… like a hard drive with a system program, but the host computer carrying it no longer existed. It was basically useless.

Then, several Light Ribbons wrapped around Lily’s body—likely some kind of binding Magic. Finally came the extraction process. Bits of shattered light were pulled out from Lily’s forehead and bound within a layer of transparent film. That film somewhat resembled the sphere Zheng Yichen currently used to contain the Dark Element Heart. During the extraction, Lily showed no panic reaction… her body remained astonishingly calm.

Zheng Yichen estimated it was probably because Irene’s binding Magic was too powerful. He had experienced binding Magic before; even though it only immobilized parts of his body, his entire body could not move at all, as if his muscles were paralyzed.

“Alright, let’s go.” Watching the light points inside the film gradually fill up, Irene withdrew her hand, which had been slowly pulling away from Lily’s forehead, and walked toward her room. Zheng Yichen placed Lily, who had not yet woken up, on the bed and immediately followed. The subsequent operation required some assistance.

These bits of shattered True Spirits were for ‘forging fake credentials.’ However, for these fake credentials to be truly usable, the most important part was counterfeiting the anti-counterfeiting mark. This was the most difficult operation. The False True Spirit had to completely merge into this portion of shattered True Spirits… correct, not the shattered True Spirits merging into it, but the former merging into the latter.

The process was reversed; while the meaning was the same, the result was completely different.

But after all, the amount of these shattered True Spirits was too small, like a few drops of water. With the slightest mishandling, they would directly merge into the False True Spirit. Once merged, the process could not be reversed. Therefore, that False True Spirit required precise handling!

Zheng Yichen was well-suited for this task. His Assimilation Ability wasn’t merely about assimilating other powers into his own, but about assimilating deeper imprints to make them controllable by himself. He could capture a Magic; that Magic would still retain its original form, even its structure would not change at all. The only difference was that ownership became his.

So, as long as Zheng Yichen ignored the ownership aspect and operated the False True Spirit using the same method, there was no problem. Under full control, he also had no lack of fine manipulation skills. With Irene’s guidance from the side, he easily resolved the matter. The reshaped False True Spirit was reinserted into that Soul belonging to Lily by Irene. The eyes of this expressionless Soul became lively.

Even though there were still no extra reactions, the feeling was completely different, giving a distinct sense of ‘coming to life.’

“Although it’s a shattered True Spirit, it still carries some of her experiences and memories. Plus, under the influence of your power, this True Spirit will be very special.” Irene’s words carried some deeper meaning. Under her subsequent operation, this Soul showed a phenomenon of ‘collapse.’ The entire Soul did not dissipate at all but was all concentrated into that False True Spirit. What remained before them was only a light point symbolizing the True Spirit. This light point, once Irene’s power shield was removed, immediately became ethereal…

What puzzled Zheng Yichen was that this process was very slow, completely unlike the instantaneous efficiency he observed when Souls dissipated and True Spirits vanished before. Just as that bit of True Spirit completely disappeared, a strange feeling emerged within Zheng Yichen. It directly transmitted to his main body through the Alchemical Puppet, causing him to shudder. He temporarily lost control of his Alchemical Avatar. After being disconnected for a few seconds, he reconnected. “What happened just now? An X-ray scan?”

“Hmm? X-ray?” Irene shook her head. “It was the power of the ‘River Styx.’ That False True Spirit has already returned to the River Styx. The feeling you had just now was just the power leaked by the ‘River Styx’ due to confusion. Don’t worry about it. Afterward, you just need to assist her body in absorbing the remaining shattered True Spirit parts according to the method above.”

Irene handed Zheng Yichen a thin booklet. This booklet was created by Irene pouring a bottle of ink onto a blank manual, imprinting it—a method of magical printing, simple and quick.

When leaving Irene’s room, Zheng Yichen felt somewhat dazed. The speed of handling this was too fast; the entire operation process took less than fifteen minutes!?

As Zheng Yichen returned to Lily’s room, Irene went to Loris’s room. Dan Marina was also there. Seeing her enter, Dan Marina tossed aside the storybook in her hand. Loris glared at her—these were all bought by Zheng Yichen; could you discard them so casually?

“How did the attempt go?” Dan Marina directly asked. After Irene proposed the win-win solution, she and Loris realized what Irene intended to do. The River Styx—that was where all living beings returned after death. No matter what kind of existence you were in life, as long as you were not a god, you could not avoid this process, including Witches. However, the conditions for a Witch’s True Spirit to return to the River Styx were very stringent.

As long as the Soul still existed, many Witches had secret methods to resist the pull of the River Styx while in a Soul state. But if the Soul shattered, the True Spirit would definitely be pulled back to the River Styx. The Soul possessed power, but the True Spirit was like willow catkins, very light, easily blown away by a gentle breeze.

“Rhetorical question.” Irene glanced at Dan Marina. “His power can also slightly interfere with the River Styx. He cannot achieve major effects, but concealing is sufficient.”

Did a few bits of shattered True Spirits serve as a pass to send the fake to the River Styx? That was thinking too simply. Doing so would result in the False True Spirit being left behind, while the shattered True Spirit parts were pulled away. Because they were already shattered, after falling into the River Styx, they would not reappear but become part of the River Styx.

However, the False True Spirit inside Lily’s Soul was completely pulled away, including the Soul that Irene squeezed into it using a Secret Method. Although that Soul was also interfered with by Zheng Yichen’s power, preventing any small tricks, it was sufficient to obtain much information.

“Even the River Styx’s detection did not conceal it. Heh, this is no longer an ability at our level.” Dan Marina chuckled. For a Witch to interfere with the River Styx… well, it wasn’t impossible, but it consumed a lot and required paying some price. Just like when Dan Marina recklessly manipulated the Power of Fate before, she also paid a significant price.