"It's more or less like this," Gua Tianshi admitted.

"I still feel there's something unreliable about this method," I expressed my true thoughts.

"Your thoughts are reasonable. It's indeed unrealistic for you to immediately put this method into practice now," Gua Tianshi said. "Even if you yourself can equate soul with flame, establishing your consciousness on the foundation of fire, others may not be able to take the flame as their dwelling like you can.

"Just setting your flame to be harmless to others isn't enough. The soul has a structured theory, at least for others. A soul without structure is no different from being scattered. As for you, being an Innate Manifestation, it's fine no matter how you decompose or restructure your soul. You might find it hard to simulate the structure that a normal soul should have without this requirement.

"Moreover, the soul you create will be based on your own personality, and your current form of personality is likely still largely human, right? That default setting is likely to appear in the soul you later synthesize with flame, and thus it wouldn't be a completely blank soul. You need to learn how to craft a soul without that default setting.

"Fortunately, the reference answer is right in front of you, and that is the girl's own soul. You only need to closely observe her spiritual body structure, memorize it, and then recreate it with Flame Power in the future," he paused slightly and then added, "This approach is also optimal for the girl, as even though she has her own independent components, her ideology is likely built on her elements as a mother and daughter.

"Luckily, she has lived for a long time without the memories and self-awareness of being a mother and daughter. Those memories can support her personality shape from the inside when she loses those two parts in the future, but the new soul foundation would still be better inheriting the old framework."

"If it's just to observe and memorize, it's fine with me..." I said, "But to recreate..."

To be frank, just using fire to remodel my body to fit my imagined appearance and physique was already challenging enough. Now, being asked to recreate such a complex and mysterious internal structure is truly daunting.

Even putting it another way, this is nothing as simple as directly copying something. Gua Tianshi's requirement is akin to putting an extremely precise machine in front of me, asking me to understand its production principles and assembly process by just looking at it several times. During this process, I can't dismantle it—I can't just go and dissect Little Bowl's soul, can I?

Gua Tianshi seemed to have full confidence in me, believing that I would naturally be able to create a soul.

All Legendary Realm states have some connection, more or less, with self-verifying the existence of True Spirit, and Manifestation is the same. If the Great True Spirit is God, then me, as an Innate Manifestation, my existence is said to be closer to the Divine Domain than any other Impermanence in Luo Mountain.

"Creating a soul," for others, is an infringement of the Divine Domain, but for me, it seems to have some rationality.

"Though you are a Manifestation, your understanding of your manifestation nature is still not deep enough. Because this power is innate for you, like a child of the nobility inheriting great power, it may not be as well understood as the essence of power by someone who starts from scratch. That's why Manifestation must be achieved through later efforts to be orthodox," Gua Tianshi commented. "If you want to save that girl by creating a soul, you must delve deeper into the path of Manifestation.

"The way of Manifestation is the ultimate soul path. Upon reaching the depths, you will naturally grasp the essence of the soul. Through understanding one aspect, everything becomes clear. By then, the things that once puzzled you will become effortless.

"Simply put, as long as you become strong enough, any problems will be resolved—doesn't this kind of thinking suit your taste better?"

Become stronger...

After becoming an Impermanence, I have been through two instances of becoming stronger. Once, I acquired the Ash Weapon, and another time, I devoured the Catastrophe Demon. Although my power has long been strong enough to easily crush the self that had just become an Impermanence, to be honest, my power hasn't truly evolved. Those are just evolutions on the level of weapons and techniques.

However, the road pointed out by Gua Tianshi appears to be a path to greater insight, seemingly confined to progress on the level of techniques and knowledge, but I have an intuition—it is definitely not just that simple.

To delve deeper into the path of Manifestation, I must undergo a true strengthening, a genuine evolution and transformation. Only in doing so can I reach new realms, develop new perspectives, and gain the insight I desire.

But my potential is already fully realized, how can I advance further?

The words of the Old Fist God flashed through my mind.

——"Without the determination to relinquish greatly, one is destined not to achieve any real gain."

If I want to become stronger...I must give up the most important thing to me.

The most important thing to me is...

"...Thank you for your guidance, Gua Tianshi, I already understand what I should do." I could only temporarily conclude the topic with this polite phrase.

Then, I glanced at the desolate, lifeless scenery around, wondering whether I should leave first.

In this ruined Eastern Coastal City, Gua Tianshi still had important matters to attend to. It seemed inappropriate to take up too much of his time.

However, I still have some questions I want to continue asking. Honestly, I don't really want to leave so soon.

"It's naturally best if I can help you," Gua Tianshi smiled, "You probably have more questions, right? We might have many opportunities to interact in the future, but after all, these are tumultuous times now, and no one knows what changes might occur next. Time to sit down and talk like this might become harder to come by. So, it's best to ask all your questions while you have the chance."

"Then I shall defer to your wisdom," I said, "I want to know how the post-mortem world was actually created. Do you know the truth?"

If anyone in Luo Mountain knows the truth about this, Gua Tianshi is the most likely candidate. That's what Weichi said too. If even Gua Tianshi says he doesn't know, then no one under the heavens does.

Even the Master of Divine Seal probably isn't an exception. Because the Master of Divine Seal seems to lack control over the various affairs of the post-mortem world.

Upon hearing this question, Gua Tianshi's expression changed immediately: "—Oh? It's actually this question..."

He fell into a deep contemplation.

"Is it inconvenient to answer?" I asked.

"It's not that. It's just... where should I start? I do know more about the origin of the post-mortem world than most others, but I can't claim that what I know is the absolute truth..." Gua Tianshi said after some thought, "Hmm... let me start with the parts I can be completely sure are truthful."

"I appreciate the guidance." I adopted an open-minded attitude.

Gua Tianshi nodded, but first posed an odd question: "Zhuang Cheng, what are your thoughts on 'gravity'?"

"Gravity?" I was puzzled.

"How do you perceive gravity as a force?" Gua Tianshi asked.

Although I didn't understand his motivation for this question, I pondered it sincerely.

Gravity is a power I had once mastered, and it was the most adeptly wielded power by the Catastrophe Demon. When Flame Power transitions into Earth Element Power, gravity is the first nature it exhibits. I believe "gravity" can be said to be the core element of the Earth Element Yellow Dragon Power.

The Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, Xuanwu, and White Tiger form a complete system, symbolizing all things in this world. The Yellow Dragon, as the divine beast presiding centrally over the Four Symbols and represented by gravity—or rather, attraction—seems fitting to me.

From the orderly workings of the cosmos to the fate and connections between individuals, gravity not only holds a crucial role in the science of astronomy and physics but is also an indispensable element in mysticism at all times. The Catastrophe Demon relied on this power to continuously target its prey, and I similarly used it to seal Huang Quan's fate, ensuring it was inescapably caught by my hands.

I explained my understanding, and Gua Tianshi nodded in agreement, then said: "Exactly, gravity is the power of the earth, the force governing all things. Its field of influence is unrivaled. This is why some scholars in the common world believe the essence of gravitational force is the deformation of spacetime caused by celestial bodies, thus everything based on spacetime is subject to its rule.

"And this force not only affects matter but also souls. Since you have wielded gravity mightily in the post-mortem world, you shouldn't find this puzzling, right?"

I nodded, "The post-mortem world is a realm of souls, where gravity functions normally. Naturally, it doesn't seem strange to me... But what does all this have to do with the origin of the post-mortem world?"

"Quite a lot," Gua Tianshi explained, "In human history after its emergence, whenever life ends, its soul is absorbed into the post-mortem world. Although a very few souls might remain in the Living World for various reasons, ultimately they decompose and settle into the post-mortem side.

"What about before the establishment of the post-mortem world? Where do you think the souls of deceased beings on this planet ended up?"

I could only speculate: "If there was no post-mortem world... then they'd have to settle in the material world, right?"

Saying this, I suddenly realized, "So, it's similar to now?"

Because the post-mortem world remains closed, the current Living World essentially resembles a state without a post-mortem world.

"This Eastern Coastal City has experienced the death of millions. As someone involved, this should be all too clear to you," Gua Tianshi surveyed the surroundings, "Their souls cannot return to the post-mortem world, settling only in the Living World. Would you agree?"

"...That should be the case."

As I said this, I sensed something amiss.

And Gua Tianshi pointed to the vast, empty ruins of the city, and asked solemnly, "Then where are they now?"