"What do you mean by shadow, brother?"
"It should be when light hits an object it can't penetrate, leaving a shadow behind it."
John Chou nodded slightly.
"The reason ghosts have no shadow is because they no longer exist in the world of the living—or more precisely, they don't exist under the light. The real reason is that light passes through a ghost's body, so no shadow is cast."
I swallowed hard, gradually beginning to understand what John Chou was trying to say, but even though thoughts formed in my mind, piecing them together was still difficult.
"So why do you still have a shadow after death? Have you thought about the reason?"
"Isn't it because of those guys from The Dark Banquet?"
John Chou shook his head.
"The real reason is that your ghost soul is based on your human soul. Even if the soul fragments separate, when they recombine as a ghost, the Three Souls and Seven Spirits have already undergone a second fusion. The only flaw is the lack of a physical form, because the body that once carried the Three Souls and Seven Spirits is gone."
I responded with a hum, and John Chou continued his explanation.
"And among the Three Souls, the Human Soul alone belongs to the yang side, so it naturally retains some of the substance from when you were alive."
"Wait, how do you know all this? Did those guys from The Dark Banquet tell you?"
John Chou nodded.
"Their research into the Human Soul and Ghost Soul is extremely advanced, and their theories have real evidence to back them up. They didn't show me everything, but I followed what they said and managed to shift between ghost and shadow."
At this moment, John Chou turned around, picked up a piece of chalk, and drew another line on the board, then wrote the character for 'light.'
"What you need to do now is release the power of the Human Soul within your Three Souls and Seven Spirits, then use it to oppose the surrounding darkness, creating a stark contrast. In other words, let the shadow appear under the light, and let the light appear in the darkness—something like that."
I swallowed hard.
"So what does this have to do with Ghostshift?"
"It's related because your transformation is led by your Ghost Soul. If you want to become a shadow, you have to rely on your Ghost Soul. Now, they should have already removed part of the restraints placed on us, so you should be able to examine your Ghost Soul."
I hummed in response and closed my eyes. After a while, I could sense my Ghost Soul—this was the clearest I'd felt it in nearly ten months.
"Recall the feeling you had during Ghostshift. That feeling is very important—practice slowly. Remember the relationship between soul, spirit, and darkness. All three are indispensable and must be coordinated to a certain degree."
"It's so hard."
Although John Chou had explained almost everything, I just needed to find the power of the Human Soul within my Ghost Soul—that fading spark of yang fire. But after that, I had to extract it and reveal it in the surrounding darkness, ultimately balancing soul and spirit, and linking it to the power of darkness.
I accomplished nothing for an entire day. Instead, Earthly Soul seemed to have found some trick already.
I was exhausted. I kept using ghost energy, compressing it inside me, hoping to find the remnants of the Human Soul within my Ghost Soul. Several times I almost felt it, but couldn't grasp it precisely.
My ghost energy was nearly depleted. John Chou said the whole process is Ghostshift—letting the Ghost Soul release what doesn't originally belong to ghosts, then using those remnants to guide the Ghost Soul's transformation, which ultimately becomes a shadow.
The method John Chou and I used before was completely useless here. In this place, without the power of shadow, you can't move. The reason the Watcher could move us was by wrapping us in shadow's power. That guy pretended to be dumb and tricked me—John Chou seemed to know all along.
After I entered the laboratory where Earthly Soul was, John Chou immediately caught me, but quickly revealed the location for The Unreal Covenant and made a deal with The Undertaker. Only after the people sent out confirmed the location did The Undertaker teach John Chou this method, but only for moving—nothing else was shared.
The reason we couldn't enter the space by the big pillar before was because we couldn't use the power of shadow.
One day, then two days passed. Soon it was the fifth day Earthly Soul mentioned. He did it—he successfully turned into a shadow, merged into the ground, moved out, and then came back in.
As for me, I couldn't do anything. Revealing light in the darkness is the foundation of this power. Even though I'd already found traces of my Human Soul's remnants, I still couldn't bring them out. Controlling ghost energy within my Ghost Soul was far more difficult than I imagined.
External ghost energy is easy to manipulate thanks to the Specter Web, but inside my body, the dominant force is Deathbane Aura. Having tangible Deathbane Aura has become my stumbling block. Trying to use ghost energy to extract the remnants of the Human Soul from this substantial Deathbane Aura is extremely difficult.
"I'll go out first, John Chou. At least let me check outside. If anything happens, just leave everything to me."
Earthly Soul said this, clenched his fist, and slowly sank into the ground.
I lay on the ground, panting as I stared at the ceiling. Still couldn't do it. It's truly hard for me to master such precise manipulation—it's already the tenth day.
"Rest for a while and keep trying, brother."
I sighed helplessly.
"It's just like before. You always teach me so seriously, but I never learn anything—still just a half-baked amateur."
John Chou sat down beside me.
"There are many people who never learn anything. The difference between a genius and an ordinary person is that a genius can do many things in very little time, while an ordinary person may spend a lifetime to achieve just one thing. Maybe you're just an ordinary person."
(This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Please click 'Next Page' to continue reading the rest of the exciting content!)
I hummed in response, not arguing. John Chou was right—I really am just an ordinary person.
"But, brother, you've embarked on an extraordinary journey. So what do you do now?"
I sat up, crossed my legs, and smiled as I spoke.
"Just keep doing it over and over. That's all I can do."
John Chou nodded with satisfaction, then leaned against the big jar and quietly closed his eyes.
"What you believe in has never wavered, so you have to put in a hundred, a thousand, even ten thousand times more effort than others. That's your greatest strength, brother. Maybe you used to think about things in a narrow or incomplete way, but now you can consider much more, can't you?"
I kept trying again.
I finally succeeded—the remnants of my Human Soul, the light, were right inside my Ghost Soul. I could see it whenever I closed my eyes. It made me incredibly excited. It was the thirteenth day.
But by the twentieth day, I was still stuck, unable to accurately balance the forces among soul, spirit, and darkness. That bit of light couldn't be put to use at all.
During this time, I hardly spoke to John Chou, but every day I kept trying earnestly, again and again. This feeling was very similar to what I experienced in the Forest of Desire—no matter how many days it took, I was determined to succeed.
John Chou kept observing patiently, always smiling.
I don't know why he believed in me, and I trusted him too. From the very beginning, we've gone through so much together, and even now, in these circumstances, he's never once complained about me.
"You're almost there, brother. Keep going."
I nodded excitedly. It had been a month and a half, and I could already sink into the ground like Earthly Soul. But in the end, the balance among the three forces was disrupted, and I was bounced back out of the ground.
"Tomorrow will make it a full year, right?"
I looked at myself excitedly—I could completely merge into the ground now. And after entering the ground, I could see the busy people in black outside.
"Alright, brother, let's go out together. You did it—congratulations."
After the excitement, we left the laboratory. As soon as we stepped out, Earthly Soul rushed over, along with The Undertaker.
"It actually took that long."
Earthly Soul muttered something. I sighed and shook my head helplessly, but at that moment, I felt a subtle change in my body compared to before.
"Alright, let's go to the other room. We'll drink and eat, and talk in detail about what comes next."
In a spacious room filled with food, I started eating and drinking. The Undertaker sipped his wine, quietly watching us.
"First, tell us about Synthetic Souls. Even if we know, we don't have the means or technology to solve it, right?"
The Undertaker nodded.
"Let me make one thing clear first, John Chou. Since we're partners now, we hope both sides cooperate sincerely. If you ever betray us, I'll deal with you myself."
There was a hint of threat in The Undertaker's words.
"First, we're not enemies. I'm not like the people in The Immortality Society who only care about their own interests, nor am I like Wraithshade, who wants to control everything. Right?"
The Undertaker nodded, raising his glass.
"May our cooperation be successful."
Glasses clinked together. John Chou seemed relieved and smiled slightly.
"Bad news, Undertaker! Duskfall and Nightfall have arrived. They say we need to give them a reasonable explanation, or they'll get rough."
With a bang, The Undertaker smashed his glass and laughed coldly.
"I want to see what kind of explanation they demand. All this time, it's been our cemetery diligently collecting experimental data, while they've only provided manpower and resources. Fine, I'm done putting up with this."