Tim blinked slowly, trying to piece together where he was and what had happened. The familiar weight of his Earth body, the soft cushions of his apartment couch, the gentle morning light filtering through his windows—this was definitely his Tim body, not Lia.
The events of the previous day came rushing back in fragments: the sect war, Ami's death, the Beast King, the desperate escape through a spatial rift. And then... pizza, terrible Japanese TV, and Riku falling asleep against his shoulder sometime during a marathon of cooking shows.
His left arm was completely numb from her weight, pins and needles shooting down to his fingertips. She had shifted in her sleep, her dark hair spilling across his chest, one arm draped over his torso. Even in sleep, she looked younger somehow—all the teasing confidence stripped away to reveal the eighteen-year-old girl she actually was.
Tim carefully extracted his phone from his pocket with his free hand, wincing as the movement sent fresh waves of tingling through his dead arm. 6:23 AM. They'd been asleep on the couch all night.
He should probably wake her. She didn't have class as it was a Saturday, and he definitely needed to check on Lia's situation in the cultivation world. After everything they'd been through yesterday—the terror, and uncertainty. She deserved a sleep in.
Riku stirred slightly, making a soft sound as she nuzzled closer to his warmth. In her sleep, she'd managed to tangle their legs together, and Tim became acutely aware of how thin the fabric of her sports clothes was from yesterday.
Ah screw it i will concentrate on Lia for now. He managed to force Lia awake.
Tim carefully shifted his consciousness to Lia, leaving his Earth body motionless on the couch with Riku still sleeping peacefully against him.
Cultivation World- Battlefield Fragment
Lia's eyes opened slowly on the ancient battlefield, the purple sky still crackling with unnatural lightning overhead. Her body ached from the burns and exhaustion, but the healing pill had done its work overnight. The raw wounds had closed, leaving only tender pink skin and a bone-deep weariness that spoke to qi depletion.
She sat up slowly, wincing as her muscles protested. The thin nightgown robes clung to her skin, offering little protection against the strange atmosphere, but they were infinitely more comfortable than the rough sect uniforms would have been on her healing burns.
With nothing else to do and nowhere safe to go, Lia decided this was as good a time as any to examine the soul cultivation manual she'd obtained from the Sect Master. She pulled it from her storage ring, running her fingers over the worn leather cover.
"Ethereal Soul Refinement Technique," she read aloud, her voice hoarse in the empty landscape.
Opening to the first page, she found detailed explanations written in flowing script. Unlike the physical cultivation techniques she was used to, this manual focused entirely on mental exercises and visualization.
"The soul exists independent of the physical body and qi meridians," the text began. "While qi flows through the merdians as access to raw power, soul cultivation transcends these limitations entirely. Through focused meditation and symbolic visualization, any cultivator can begin to strengthen their soul."
Lia's eyebrows rose. Any cultivator? That was unusual—most advanced techniques required specific spiritual roots or bloodlines.
She continued reading: "Begin with the Symbol of Grounding. Picture in your mind a perfect circle with this particular pattern in it. Hold this image for as long as possible. If you can reach 1 hour you are now a level 1 soul cultivator"
It sounded almost... too simple. Just imagining shapes? Lia tried to imagine the symbol but it seemed to interact with her qi and the image quickly collapsed.
Lia frowned at the manual, her initial skepticism deepening as she read further into the technique. She tried again to visualize the grounding symbol—a perfect circle with intricate geometric patterns radiating from the center like a mandala. But every time she began to form the image in her mind, her qi would automatically respond, flooding the visualization and causing it to collapse like a house of cards.
"The first challenge all cultivators face," the next paragraph explained, as if the author had anticipated this exact problem, "is learning to separate soul cultivation from qi cultivation. The mind naturally tries to reinforce soul power symbols with spiritual qi energy, but this interferes with pure soul work. Soul cultivation must be performed with zero qi involvement."
"Great," Lia muttered, shifting to sit more comfortably against the boulder. "So I need to somehow not use the thing Lia has trained her entire life to use."
She read on, searching for practical guidance: "To achieve qi-free visualization, first enter a state of complete qi stillness. Empty your dantian through expulsion breathing, then maintain visualization while preventing any qi from entering the mental construct. This requires absolute separation of spiritual qi and the soul."
The manual provided detailed breathing exercises for achieving this state. Lia followed the instructions, focusing on pushing all qi out of her system rather than circulating it. It felt wrong, but gradually she achieved a state where her qi lay dormant.
Now she attempted the grounding symbol again. This time, without qi interference, the image formed more clearly in her mind—a perfect circle containing interlocking geometric patterns that seemed to pulse with their own inner logic. But maintaining it proved incredibly difficult. After only thirty seconds, her concentration wavered and the symbol dissolved.
"The untrained soul is weak and can typically hold basic symbols for mere moments," the text continued. "Building to one hour requires developing soul attunement that has never been exercised. This is why soul cultivation is considered a lifetime pursuit—not due to complexity, but due to the sheer mental and soul endurance required. The further in qi cultivation you have progressed the harder soul cultivation becomes."
Lia leaned back against the stone, processing this information. If anyone could theoretically do soul cultivation, why wasn't it more common? The answer seemed vague at first. Most cultivators probably found it easier to just get stronger through qi techniques rather than spending much longer on the soul with little results.
But for Tim's situation, this could be perfect. On Earth, where qi was nearly nonexistent, soul cultivation might be the only viable path to real power.
Earth- Tim's Apartment
Riku's consciousness slowly drifted back as she became aware of warmth beneath her cheek and the steady rhythm of breathing that wasn't her own. Her eyes fluttered open, and for a moment she was disoriented—this wasn't her bed, and that definitely wasn't her pillow.
The events of yesterday came flooding back as she realized she was curled up against Tim's chest, her arm draped across his torso and their legs somehow tangled together on the couch. Heat flooded her cheeks as she became acutely aware of how intimately they were positioned—and how good it felt.
Tim's breathing was still deep and even, suggesting he was asleep, though she couldn't see his face from this angle. Part of her wanted to stay exactly where she was, enjoying the comfort and closeness after yesterday's trauma. But the rational part of her mind was screaming about boundaries and propriety.
Carefully, trying not to wake him, Riku began the delicate process of extraction. She slowly lifted her arm from his chest, biting her lip as the movement caused him to shift slightly. His arm had been draped over her shoulders, and she had to duck under it while simultaneously untangling her legs from his.
The couch wasn't exactly spacious, making the maneuver awkward. As she tried to slide away, her knee accidentally brushed against his thigh, causing her to freeze with embarrassment.
Please don't wake up, please don't wake up, she thought desperately, her face burning as she realized how this would look if he opened his eyes right now.
Finally managing to create some space between them, Riku perched on the edge of the couch, smoothing down her rumpled sports clothes and trying to tame her messy hair. She glanced back at Tim's peaceful sleeping face, feeling a confusing mix of emotions—gratitude for his comfort yesterday, embarrassment at their current situation, and something warmer that she wasn't quite ready to examine.
She should probably go home, she realized. Let him sleep properly without her crowding his space. But as she started to stand, Tim's eyes began to flutter open.
Tim kept his breathing steady and eyes closed as he felt Riku carefully disentangling herself from their sleeping position. Through his lashes, he could see her flushed face and the way she bit her lip in concentration, clearly mortified at being caught cuddling with her teacher.
He decided to give her a few more moments to compose herself before "waking up," not wanting to add to her embarrassment. The poor girl had been through enough yesterday without having to deal with awkward dynamics on top of everything else.
After she'd settled on the edge of the couch and seemed to have gotten her breathing under control, Tim allowed his eyes to flutter open naturally, stretching with a theatrical yawn.
"Morning," he said casually, as if waking up with his student draped across him was perfectly normal. "How'd you sleep?"
Riku's blush deepened slightly, but she seemed relieved that he wasn't making a big deal of their sleeping arrangement. "Better than I expected, considering..." She gestured vaguely, encompassing everything from the couch to the previous day's trauma.
Tim sat up properly, working some feeling back into his previously numb arm. "Yeah, same. Though I think we both needed it after yesterday." He paused, then his expression grew more serious. "Actually, I've been thinking about something that might help us going forward."
"What do you mean?"
"I spent some time this morning reading that soul cultivation manual Lia got from the Sect Master. It's... different from what I expected." Tim reached for his phone, checking the time. "The techniques don't require qi at all. They're purely mental exercises that anyone can supposedly do."
Riku's interest was immediately piqued, her embarrassment forgotten. "Anyone? Even here on Earth?"
"That's what it claims. Want to try it? The basic technique is about holding mental images—symbols—for extended periods. If we can both learn it, it might give us an edge in both worlds."
Riku nodded eagerly, scooting back toward him on the couch. "Show me."
Tim explained the grounding symbol as Lia had learned it—a perfect circle containing intricate geometric patterns. "The key is keeping all qi out of it. Pure mental visualization only."
They both closed their eyes and began attempting to form the image. At first, it was frustrating—the symbol would appear for a few seconds before dissolving. But gradually, with practice and mutual encouragement, they found they could hold it longer.
"I can see it!" Riku whispered excitedly after about twenty minutes of practice. "It's like... it wants to stay there."
Tim nodded, not opening his eyes. "Same here. Keep going."
Minutes turned into an hour as they sat side by side, deep in meditation. The symbol grew clearer and more stable in their minds, until suddenly—
Both of their eyes snapped open simultaneously.
"Did you feel that?" Riku gasped.
Tim nodded, looking stunned. "It's... it's still there. Even with my eyes open, I can see the symbol burned into my mind."
The grounding symbol now existed as a permanent fixture in their consciousness—a golden circle that pulsed gently behind their thoughts, providing an odd sense of stability and focus they'd never experienced before.
"We're level 1 soul cultivators," Tim said in amazement. "In one sitting."
"Wait," Tim said, sitting up straighter as the implications hit him. "This has to be highly abnormal. The manual mentioned it typically takes years or decades of practice to achieve one hour of sustained visualization."
Riku nodded, still marveling at the golden symbol that now seemed permanently etched behind her thoughts. "And we did it in a single session. That can't be normal, right?"
Tim's mind raced as he considered the possibilities. "Think about it—we both got hit by that meteor fragment. Our souls were literally torn apart and reassembled when we gained our dual bodies. Maybe that process... enlarged them somehow?"
"Maybe something in the meteor empowered them?" Riku suggested, unconsciously touching her chest where she'd felt the meteor's impact.
"Exactly. Plus, look at our environment." Tim gestured around his apartment. "There's virtually no qi here on Earth. The manual kept emphasizing how qi interference was the biggest obstacle to soul cultivation. But we're practicing in an environment with almost zero ambient qi energy."
Riku's eyes widened as she understood. "So while cultivators in that world have to fight against their qi constantly trying to interfere with the mental constructs..."
"We get to practice in perfect conditions," Tim finished. "No wonder we progressed so fast. We're essentially soul cultivation prodigies by accident."
The golden grounding symbol pulsed gently in both their minds, a constant reminder of their newfound ability. Tim could already feel subtle changes—his thoughts seemed clearer, more focused, and there was an underlying sense of mental stability he'd never experienced before.
"This could change everything," Riku said quietly. "If we can master soul cultivation here on Earth where it's easy, then bring that mastery to the cultivation world..."
"We'd have abilities that most cultivators there could never develop," Tim agreed. "Soul techniques that don't rely on qi at all."
They sat in contemplative silence for a moment, both processing the magnitude of what they'd discovered. Finally, Riku spoke up with a slightly mischievous grin returning to her features.
"I don't suppose you have any techniques we can try?" Riku asked, her eyes bright with excitement at their unexpected breakthrough.
"Actually, yes," Tim said, pulling up the memory of what Lia had read in the other manual. "There's something called 'Soul Steps.' It's a movement technique that works completely differently from qi-based methods."
He closed his eyes briefly, recalling the instructions. "Instead of using spiritual energy to enhance your physical movement, you project your soul essence forward and let it pull your body along. It sounds weird, but supposedly it allows for movement that bypasses normal physical limitations."
Riku leaned forward eagerly. "How does it work?"
"You visualize your soul—your essential self—stepping out of your physical body and moving ahead of you. At first, the manual says you can only project it a few centimeters before it snaps back, but even that small distance creates a pulling sensation that drags your body forward."
Tim stood up from the couch, moving to the center of his small living room where there was more space. "The advantage is that it doesn't rely on muscle strength or momentum like normal movement. Your soul is pulling your physical form, which apparently can create some very strange effects."
"Like what?" Riku asked, getting up to join him.
"Well, according to the text, masters of this technique can move through obstacles that would normally block physical bodies, or achieve bursts of speed that seem to ignore inertia." Tim shrugged. "Of course, that's at high levels. For beginners, it's probably just a slightly more efficient way to walk."
Riku grinned. "Only one way to find out. Show me how to visualize the soul projection."
Tim explained the meditation technique—imagining their essential self as a translucent duplicate that could step forward independently of their physical form. The grounding symbol was the center of the projections body. "The key is maintaining that connection so when the soul moves forward, it pulls the body along with it."
They both closed their eyes and began the visualization, trying to feel their souls as distinct entities within their physical shells. The grounding symbol was able to be used as the Centre of this distinct entity.
By the time the afternoon sun was slanting through Tim's windows, both he and Riku had made surprising progress with the Soul Steps technique. What had started as awkward stumbling and failed visualizations had gradually refined into something that actually worked.
"Okay, one more time," Tim said, wiping sweat from his forehead despite the technique requiring no physical exertion. The mental strain of maintaining soul projection for hours was exhausting in its own way.
They stood facing each other across his living room, both focusing intently. Tim closed his eyes and visualized his soul-self stepping forward just ahead of his physical body. For a split second, he felt the strange sensation of existing in two places at once—then the pulling effect kicked in.
His body lurched forward about two centimeters in a sudden, unnatural burst of speed that bypassed his normal movement entirely. It wasn't smooth or graceful, more like being yanked by an invisible rope, but it was definitely faster than any normal step could achieve.
"I saw that!" Riku exclaimed, then immediately tried her own attempt. Her soul projection flickered forward, and her body followed with a similar tiny burst of accelerated movement.
"Two centimeters," Tim said, measuring the distance with his fingers. "That doesn't sound like much, but..."
"But it felt completely different from normal movement," Riku finished, her eyes bright with excitement. "Like I skipped the acceleration phase entirely and just... appeared two centimeters forward."
Tim nodded, already thinking about the implications. "In the cultivation world, where people are flying around on swords and moving at superhuman speeds, a technique that can bypass the normal rules of momentum and acceleration..."
"Could be the difference between life and death," Riku said soberly, remembering how Lia almost died yesterday.
They both looked exhausted but satisfied. Their souls felt stretched and tired in a way neither had experienced before, but the golden grounding symbol still pulsed steadily in their minds, providing an anchor of stability.
"Not bad for one day's work," Tim said, collapsing back onto the couch. "Level 1 soul cultivation and the basics of a movement technique."