From the end of the world

Chapter 632 Creating Souls

If it's destroyed to that extent, it's naturally impossible for it to continue to survive.

Admittedly, this is just common sense. In the world of Witcher, there are characters who can miraculously regenerate even when their bodies are destroyed to only one-tenth of their original mass, or even when only a drop of blood remains. There are also characters like me who can come back countless times even when both body and soul are destroyed. However, Little Bowl doesn't possess such absurd abilities; her durability against damage isn't much stronger than that of an ordinary little girl.

So what about relying on external forces? For example, using certain methods to force the incomplete little bowl not to die? Such methods also exist, and I can do it myself. As long as I forcibly command the little bowl "not to die" through the power of words, even if only one-tenth of the little bowl's spirit remains, I can maintain its structure and existence.

But that's all there is to it. While not completely dead, it wasn't truly alive either. In that state, the little bowl couldn't think, move, or converse. It's like a computer being completely disassembled; even if the last memory stick is preserved, you can't expect it to perform all the original computer's functions solely from the memory stick, can you?
"Master Diviner, since you specifically mentioned the special nature of Xiaowan as the embodiment of the out-of-control dream, there must be a way to break the deadlock by relying on this special nature, right? Please enlighten me," I asked.

“Of course there is a way. The way that girl exists now is the answer,” the fortune teller replied. “Since her unique self can operate on the spiritual structure of the mother and daughter, then we just need to replicate this framework.”

"A replica frame?" I asked.

"In other words, it's about transplanting her unique sense of self to another soul to function," the fortune teller patiently explained. "The heart cannot survive independently of the body, but it can be transplanted to another body to continue beating. This analogy isn't difficult to understand, is it?"

“I see, I understand… You mean I need to find a living sacrifice to make Xiaowan’s spirit possess the object?” I asked. “Regardless of whether Xiaowan is willing to do this, and whether the people around me will support this approach… This method itself is very contradictory.”

"Contradiction—what do you mean?" The divination master seemed to be guiding me to continue.

“Continuing with your line of reasoning, if transplanting the independent self of Xiaowan into another person’s soul is like transplanting a heart into another person, then who is the one who survives?” I said, “It’s not that as long as A’s heart is transplanted into B’s body, A will be resurrected from B’s body.”

"Although some news reports, whether true or false, depict patients who have undergone organ transplants as exhibiting the personality traits of organ donors, and sometimes even speaking foreign languages ​​that they shouldn't know... the one who survives is ultimately the patient who has undergone the surgery, not the organ donor."

"While Xiaowan's soul is indeed very special, possibly a unique case of a divine child in this era, it is incompatible with powerful concepts and lacks the aggressiveness to usurp the subjectivity of another's soul. Following the method you suggested, what we might end up with is just a stranger who resembles Xiaowan in some ways, rather than Xiaowan herself."

The divination master nodded and said, "You are right. Therefore, what you need to use cannot be the soul of another person with subjectivity, but must be a pure and flawless blank soul that has not been tainted by any color."

"You mean... the soul of an infant, or even a fetus?" My first reaction was that Zhu Shi would absolutely not agree with this approach.

Xiao Wan shares the same values ​​as Zhu Shi. Although she isn't particularly bound by the concepts of good and evil, it's hard to imagine her engaging in acts of possessing an infant or fetus just to survive. Ma Zao, on the other hand, might make judgments that don't align with modern moral standards, but I don't think she would impose her own views on Xiao Wan, who is directly involved, as something she considers evil.

"You've misunderstood, Zhuang Cheng," the divination master said. "Many people believe that babies are pure blank slates, but that's only in comparison to children and adults. In reality, a baby's soul cannot be said to be completely blank; it contains a large amount of primal animal instinctual information. Or to put it more bluntly, a newborn baby is a complete animal. The same goes for a fetus."

"And that girl named Xiaowan, she merely resembles a human in form, but is essentially a spirit constructed from dreams, distinct from humans. Although born from human thought, her mental structure is vastly different from that of humans. To put it more precisely... no, you might not understand if I put it that way..."

"Let's talk about it in the context of Western psychology, which is currently quite popular and you may be more familiar with. If the human psyche is composed of the animalistic id, the mediating ego, and the superego that represents ideals and order, then it is a completely independent 'superego'."

"If you were to combine it with the soul of an infant, which contains a great deal of primal animal instincts, the final product would no longer be her consciousness, but a neutral, ambiguous new human consciousness. You probably don't want to pursue that outcome, do you?"

“Of course,” I said. “Then, according to this logic, where should I look for a ‘pure and flawless blank soul’? Since it can’t be used because infants have animal consciousness, it’s even more illogical to look for animal souls directly. Am I supposed to look for plant souls?” “That would only create more conflict with that girl’s soul,” the fortune teller smiled. “I’ll be blunt. Any naturally born soul can never be a pure and flawless blank sheet of paper. It can never become the cornerstone of that girl’s independent self.”

"Anything that is naturally born... is impossible?" I understood his implication. "You mean—"

The divination master said calmly, "Since none of the souls meet the requirements, why don't you just create a blank soul yourself?"

That's a really wild idea!
“I’m sorry, although I have basically not studied the knowledge of the soul, I do know a well-known fact: ‘creating souls’... isn’t that the real realm of the gods?” I said. “I also hope you won’t try to fob me off with things like ‘we, the Great Impermanence, are gods.’ I’m not talking about gods like us.”

In the world of common sense, thanks to science and technology, humanity can deduce the formation principles of all matter in the world. For example, gold atoms, which make up gold, are presumed to have originated from supernova explosions, while iron is generally believed to have originated from nuclear fusion in stars. People believe that nothing in this world "comes out of thin air," and that all matter can be traced and analyzed.

The soul, however, is different. No one knows how the soul was created, because no one can observe the process of its creation. The soul is "something that came out of thin air."

If the "soul" symbolizes the various roles played by the Great Spirit in this world, then "creating souls" is undoubtedly the domain of the Great Spirit.

“Creating a soul…that is indeed an enormous problem,” the divination master said nostalgically. “Since ancient times, countless geniuses have devoted themselves to exploring the path of the soul, wanting to know where the soul comes from and how it is created. For a time, I also embarked on this path with a heart full of naiveté, wanting to imitate the actions of true deities and create a brand new soul with my own hands.”

"In the long history of Luoshan, the demon hunters' exploration of 'artificial souls' cannot be said to have been fruitless. In fact, a very few geniuses have made some seemingly decent results. It's just a pity that those results all have more or less immature aspects, and their products all have clear design concepts that do not meet your requirements for a 'pure and flawless blank soul'."

“In that case…” I said.

"Don't worry, I have no intention of making excuses for you, nor do I intend to impose an impossible task on you," the divination master said. "'Creating a soul' is an act that infringes upon the realm of the gods, and naturally only those who are close to the realm of the gods can do it. Specifically, I believe there is only one person who can achieve your goal, and that is yourself."

“Me?” I pointed to myself.

The fortune teller smiled slightly, "The creation of souls—isn't that something you do all the time?"

These words were like a bolt of lightning, illuminating the dark corners of my consciousness.

Yes, "creating souls" sounds like a far-fetched idea, but I've done it countless times already. Whenever I'm in a battle and my soul is scattered, leaving me in an incomplete state of true spirit, I immediately recreate my soul. It's as natural to me as breathing, so much so that I didn't immediately connect it with my preconceived notion of the impossible task of "creating souls."

My soul is my flame, and my flame, as a pure aggregate of power, can have preset commands added to it, can be infused with killing intent to amplify its power, can store various memories and information, and even miscellaneous personal belongings, etc., but I can also choose not to do so. When it is simply condensed as a pure force, my flame can undoubtedly be regarded as a "blank soul".

"So... my correct approach is to use flames to create an avatar in the form of a young girl, and then use it as a vessel for the spirit to descend into the dream... so that the little bowl can possess it?" I asked tentatively.

(End of this chapter)