Despite the warning signal, Zac didn't swim to the surface. He confirmed with his internal clock that there were nearly six hours before the full week had passed. He technically didn't need to leave for another hour or two. That extra hour wouldn't make much of a difference for his newly formed soul since it had already settled. He had something else in mind.
Rather than swim up, Zac swam further down into the well. The mounting pressure or forgetfulness was handled by his evolved soul. With his soul able to carry more of the burden, the pressure on his Heart Realm also decreased. Still, Zac stopped at the very edge of the green layer. Going beyond would be extremely dangerous without genuine C-grade cultivation, and Zac couldn't guarantee keeping all his memories safe.
A vortex opened inside [Shrine of Kanba], and his Draugr half finally emerged from the Void Realm after a week in seclusion. Without closing the vortex, four new ones opened, all further down the well. This time, Zac didn't place the inlets and outlets next to each other inside the Void Realm. The vortex inside the [Shrine of Kanba] was used as an observation point for the large amounts of amnesiac water that rushed into the Void Realm.
Zac might not dare to wash his soul in the forgetfulness of the fourth layer, but his Void Realm was different. Even the Primo's Apocalyptic Death was helpless before its corrosion. Just as important, Zac had ferried large amounts of well water through his Void during his breakthrough, and some of it had accidentally been left behind inside the Void Realm.
The innocent mistake confirmed that the Void Realm could actually refine the waters of the [Well of Forgetfulness], though the process was exceedingly slow. Zac suspected that most of the realm's energy was already occupied with wearing down the Apocalyptic Death. Since the realm was outside his control, there was nothing to do but let nature take its course.
It was hard to say what the refined water would end up as—was there such a thing as Void Mental Energy? Still, Zac would have to be a fool not to stockpile some for himself before leaving. Whether it was accelerating his Soul Cultivation like the Moss Crystals or nurturing his Inner World, having a large batch of primal Mental Energy was invaluable.
Zac kept the gates open for nearly an hour, at which point six small lakes had formed. He would have kept going, but his Void Energy was running low. Maintaining gates inside the well was quite costly. More importantly, his Danger Sense was telling him that it was time to go. The notion barely had time to form before a tremendous current smashed into his vortices. It came from a lower level, sticking out like a sore thumb in the Early C-grade layer.
"Damn it!" Zac swore as he frantically turned around.
The well wasn't taking kindly to his actions. The current wasn't satisfied with closing the gates. It kept going, rushing toward Zac like an underwater dragon. He could vaguely sense similar rivers further in the distance. Zac didn't inspect the currents too closely out of fear they'd harm him from a distance. It was still clear that he absolutely couldn't allow himself to be caught. Their power of forgetfulness was well beyond what he could endure.
Zac rallied the forces of his body, activating [Skystriker] to cut through the waters. The movement skill wasn't quite as fast as [Abyssal Drive], yet Zac kept his Draugr half inside the shrine. Activating [Abyssal Drive] in such a hostile environment was a fool's errand.
The movement skill wasn't enough, and it wasn't just a matter of his speed. The well refused to let its quarry go. Zac felt like thousands of invisible hands were trying to drag him to the depths. The feeling was like what he'd seen during his bloodline vision of Eoz escaping the Abyssal Lake, and to a lesser extent, Zac's own experience in the Abyssal Pond.
The recollection made his Eoz nodes roar into action on their own, and the invisible hooks on his being weakened by half. While not enough to outrun the rising surges of amnesia, the difference in speed was no longer as great. When Zac felt the spirituality of the surrounding waters rise to dangerous levels, he slipped into a void vortex.
[Earthly Dome] couldn't reach as far inside the [Well of Forgetfulness], but moving a dozen miles in a single bound was not a problem. Zac reemerged diagonally above his previous location, this time ensconced in a domain of nothingness. The water dragon sensed Zac's presence through [Void Zone] and slowly veered toward him, as did another deadly stream.
Zac kept switching between swimming and teleporting to narrowly avoid being caught. Soon enough, he was surrounded by towering pillars cast in red and black. The water gouts had too much upward momentum, and they weren't able to loop around to pincer him. Zac felt helpless as he crossed the gaps between underwater geysers, knowing he'd probably caused a scene on the surface.
A few close shaves aside, Zac safely crossed the green and purple layers. At that point, the pillars were gone, either diluted by the vast reservoirs of water or having fully left the well. Zac wasn't interested in finding out if the [Well of Forgetfulness] was preparing for a deadlier follow-up, and he continued to the surface without pause.
Zac only slowed down when approaching the surface, carefully sensing if anything was amiss. He breached the waterline and was surprised to see the small town square around him. The well's water level had risen all the way to the well mouth. Not only that, the waters had clearly spilled over. The hamlet looked like it had endured a monsoon rain, and the lingering traces of amnesia were no weaker than what Zac had stockpiled in his Void realm.
The commotion hadn't scared away the local residents. On the contrary, dozens of elders were seated in the square in silent meditation. Some had already woken up, and their focus appeared to be on an old lady sitting in the corner. Zac was afraid of disturbing them, so he silently climbed onto the well.
The old lady who'd given him the alarm clock was still there. She waved for him to stay put before turning her attention back to the other Grandma. Zac wasn't sure if he was in trouble. It didn't seem like it, not that knowing would make a difference. He was certain that every single elder gathered in the square was much stronger than Castain Estruvo. Escape was impossible.
Zac took the opportunity to perform an inward sweep. Beginning with his Heart Realm, nothing was amiss. In fact, things were looking up. A week of unrelenting pressure had helped expand his Heart Realm by around ten percent. The borders were still expanding thanks to [Warbringer Dharma]. While escaping death wasn't as effective as winning a pitched battle, it still provided a noticeable boost to his Heart Cultivation.
Next, Zac went over his cultivation. With his harmonized path, it would be easy to notice if something was missing or forgotten. He also performed a mental check to confirm his memories remained intact. Everything appeared to be in working order. Finally, he turned his attention to his upgraded Soul.
It was hard to say if his Soul could be considered fused back into one core or not. The Evolutionary and Inexorable Cores were both separate entities and connected as one, forever trapped in conflict. Not only that, the cores were constantly cycling Mental Energy between them as part of the refinement. The only real delineation was that Life kept to one side and Death to the other.
This state was naturally different from the original [Nine Reincarnation Manual], which maintained its "nine supporting the one" in the fifth layer. The fourth reincarnation wasn't a major step, and it wasn't supposed to add any earth-shattering changes. The transformation was all due to the changes introduced by Zac.
Zac initially considered discarding the original method altogether. By combining the insights he'd gleaned from the life-death arrays in Hollow Court, Fuxi's library, and Ultom's supreme enlightenment, Zac figured it would be possible to stake out an entirely new path. He even had a schematic that would split two Soul Cores into hundreds to match the array in the miniature mountain.
Ultimately, Zac decided to continue to lean on the [Nine Reincarnations Manual]. For one, it was less work, allowing for a quick solution to his needs. Secondly, he'd barely scratched the surface of the [Grand Unity Canon]. His foundations were not solid enough yet to create an entirely new cultivation manual. Fuxi's Library and the Chaos Library imparted by A'Zu and Be'Zi showed just how minuscule Zac's foundational knowledge was compared to cultivators who'd honed their paths for millennia.
Even if he managed to create a workable cultivation layer based on his own ideas, there was an unacceptably high risk it would have limited potential. In comparison, the [Nine Reincarnations Manual] could be cultivated all the way to the Peak of Autarchy, though Zac couldn't imagine anyone making it that far without making major alterations of their own.
In other words, Zac felt it was too soon to take off the training wheels, and his caution paid off. With the final spurt provided by sacrificing two sets of remnants, he halfway finished the fifth layer's late stage. The finish line was so close that he could taste it. If he could harness the Mental Energy trapped in his Void Realm, he'd reach the goal in less than a decade.
There was also no need to perform another implosion before reaching the limit of the fifth layer. There was no equivalent of forming a Peak Cosmic Core when it came to his soul. By the end of the layer, his soul would simply be strong enough to support the next reincarnation. In fact, the two implosions following the initial reformation of his Soul Cores weren't in the original method.
They were additions that Zac intentionally added to suit his circumstances. It was a way to fully take advantage of the ancient pill and the well's limitless Mental Energy. Without those boons, his soul would instead gradually increase its potential as he cultivated.
"Congratulations, Lady Vasita!"
The declaration was followed by many more while the old lady nodded to the gathered elders with a radiant smile on her face. Zac didn't understand what was going on, beyond that this old lady definitely wasn't about to defend her Dao. Still, he bowed with the others and offered his congratulations.
It was as if the old lady noticed him for the first time at that moment. The next second, she stood right before him. Zac could barely breathe as he caught a glimpse of her soul in the depths of her eyes. Its terror blew Vilari's soul out of the waters, and it was filled with boundless Killing Intent—not at him but toward the Empire's enemies.
"Good child," the Vasita said with a smile, and the pressure disappeared when she patted Zac's cheek. "But remember to pace yourself. Don't throw away your life unless it's for cutting down our enemies."
"I'll be careful in the future," Zac said, embarrassed at how hollow the promise sounded.
"Good." Vasita gave the old apple-peeling grandma a bow. "Senior Meng."
"Go on, lass," the grandma said with a wave.
Vasita nodded, and she was gone the next second. Senior Meng then turned to Zac. "So you remembered to return."
"Thanks to Senior's reminder. I almost had a heart attack," Zac wryly said, looking at the grinning old lady.
"If it works, it works," Senior Meng said as she looked Zac up and down. "That madwoman was right. You're in trouble."
"I'm sorry?" Zac said, confused.
"You've swallowed quite a bit of water, didn't ya?"
"Is that a problem? I don't recall there being any rules or warnings against it," Zac replied.
"Because who'd do such a thing? Doesn't the well provide more than enough on its own without you clamoring for more?" the grandma countered.
Zac scratched his chin in embarrassment.
"It's fine. Your greed helped a dear junior of mine to forget something unpleasant, and she asked me to return the courtesy," she said, leisurely walking away with her hands clasped behind her back. "Come on then, I don't have all day."
"Is there something wrong with me? I can't feel anything missing," Zac asked urgently after catching up.
"Would you even remember if you did?" the old lady said with a mischievous wink. Before Zac could start to worry, she added, "I'm just joking. I can tell from the shape of your soul you lost nothing of import. A few old memories might have gotten blurred at most."
"Then what?"
"It's easier to show you. Come inside," the grandma said as she stepped into one of the thatched huts.
Confused, Zac followed her inside after sending an update to Esmeralda. He was rooted in place the moment he stepped inside. The interiors were vastly different from what could be seen from the street. Rather than a cramped open space without any adornments, he'd appeared inside a palatial hall. Zac shook his head. So much for ascetic cultivation. These elders weren't suffering in the mortal world, they were just hiding their wealth.
"The well has a spiritual nature," Senior Meng explained, understanding Zac's thoughts. "While it's evolved beyond its origin, it is still based on an important memory of the Daynight Dreamer. We realized that changing its surroundings made the well run dry. So we had to at least maintain appearances on the surface, whether it's the village's buildings or its residents. Most of the brats out there actually don't look like that."
"I see," Zac said, pondering the implication. From what he'd seen so far, this Meng might very well be one of the court's hidden masters.
"As promised, I'll help resolve your issue. Don't worry, it won't take long," the grandma said.
Before Zac could ask for details, the elder waved her hand. Six wraiths looking like undertakers appeared out of nowhere and lunged straight for him. Zac could feel genuine danger from their attacks and took measures to respond. However, he almost froze as he launched his counter. It felt so wrong. Was this even his body? Had the increased power of his soul caused an imbal—
A punch imbued with the strength of giants squeezed the air out of his lungs and thoughts out of his head. A follow-up swing by another wraith crashed right into his back with enough force to make his viscera shift. They just kept going, and Zac felt like he was trapped in a nightmare where he couldn't wield his strength at all.
"You greedily drank the soup of forgetfulness, and amnesia has seeped into you," Senior Meng said. "Your body has forgotten the harsh lessons of war it has been through."
Zac was aghast at the revelation. His ample experience in life-and-death encounters was almost as important to his combat strength as his techniques. Being able to act without hesitation and adapt to any circumstances was a deciding factor for an elite combatant. Not only that, his techniques greatly relied on his battle intuition.
"It's not the end of the world," the elder laughed. "The body remembers things differently from the mind. It's carved into muscles and bone, where shape and function hold meaning. The well can't easily erase that; it just blocks the mind-body connection. Although the loss will be permanent if you don't deal with the issue."
"So what should I do?"
"Easy. I'll help your body remember, and while doing so, squeeze out the hidden pockets of amnesia," the elder said, her grin only growing wider.
"Wait," Zac croaked.
"What, don't like my prescription?" she snickered.
"No, it's not that," Zac said as his Draugr body emerged from the [Shrine of Kanba].
"Not a problem," she laughed, an obvious gleam of excitement in her eyes. "The more the merrier. Go on, show me what you're made of."
Three days later, an absolutely mauled Zac stumbled out of the hut. His whole body was different shades of yellow and purple from compounded bruising. Moving hurt, breathing hurt. Blinking hurt somehow, as did standing in place. Senior Meng didn't even spare the soles of his feet in her thrashing. There was never any talk of a turnaround. When he recovered enough to launch a counter, four wraiths turned into eight. Later, their strength increased by half to ensure constant torment.
Still, Zac only had gratitude in his heart for the hidden elder. The physical damage would heal in a day or two. The hidden threat was dealt with, and his body was forced to remember its battle instincts. Zac had even gained valuable combat experience. While the wraiths didn't cultivate technique, they'd been endowed with combat skills that surpassed Zac's Late Integration.
Sparring against opponents like that was bound to lead to new insights, especially since Senior Meng urged him to go all out. The benefits were especially pronounced when it came to the cooperation between his bodies.
From the day he'd emerged from the Perennial Vastness, his two bodies had largely remained apart. In fact, the times he'd fought with both his bodies could be counted on one hand. Not only that, the few times his bodies joined hands, Zac mostly relied on the element of surprise. His battle against Jalach was a perfect example. Only his fight with Kator had truly forced his bodies to work together to face a stronger foe.
Fighting together was not just a matter of combat efficiency, either. His techniques were reflections of his path. Figuring out how to best integrate his Evolutionary and Inexorable Stances also meant getting closer to unifying his soul cores and even his bodies. It was all connected, and Zac already knew he was a physical learner. Fighting side by side was more effective than pondering the fusion of Life and Death in secluded meditation.
Zac had a feeling he'd get more such opportunities soon enough. Everything in Anima Court was done and dealt with. He met up with Esmeralda and returned the way he came. By the time he returned to Soulwrest Crest, Vilari had already left for the Daynight Nexus. Zac was happy to see it. The event sounded grander than Sevona's hunt, and it would be a shame if she missed the opportunities within.
After leaving a message informing Vilari of his successful breakthrough and departure, Zac spent the last of his Erudition on pills. While he was too poor to buy anything that would boost his cultivation, he had just enough to get a few bottles of soul-recovery and soul-mending pills. They were much better than the things he'd bought in Transformation Docks, let alone what he brought into the trial.
Finally, Zac headed straight for the teleportation hall. There were barely any people trying their luck by this point, and Zac appeared before the teleporter within ten minutes. There were no surprises this time. The brand on Zac's left hand came alive on its own as Zac approached, causing the teleporter to activate autonomously. Zac took a last look around before stepping inside.
It was time to find what it meant to become another chain in the link.