Chapter 899 - Zhang Tianlong

A few hours later, Aria and Darlene lay on top of the broken grass bed with satisfied looks. Shortly, they took a nap to absorb his essence.

The grass bed had all four legs broken, but Leon couldn't care less unless it was his third leg that broke.

Leon removed himself from the grass bed to let Aria and Darlene sleep comfortably and found a spot on the ground to sit.

After taking his seat, he closed his eyes and absorbed the essence he received from Aria and Darlene.

He hadn't noticed it in the past, but he could now perceive the invisible law comprehension he collected from Aria and Darlene after his soul quality improved.

They appeared like intangible strands of information, gathering around his soul core like multiple orbiting rings.

Over time, bits and pieces of the information ring branch off and integrate with the law seeds in his soul core.

Even if he did nothing, his elemental abilities would improve after assimilating the strands of law comprehension on their own.

Of course, Leon could manually speed up the assimilating process if he wanted.

However, Leon withdrew his consciousness from the soul core region and entered the Archive. Then, he summoned the towering bookshelves with records pertaining to out-of-body experiences.

Leon didn't expect much, but the result quickly surprised him.

The Archive recorded 548 books with cases on the out-of-body experience. Furthermore, there were another 3285 books with indirect mentions of it.

'I could work with this…' Leon mused thoughtfully.

He had underestimated the vast knowledge recorded in the Archive. It was, after all, a divine artifact that predated back to the primordial era.

However, after flipping through several books with out-of-body experiences, Leon realized they were more recent cases that took place in the Divine Realm.

'Hm? These dates… These cases were recorded during my lifetime in the Divine Realm…' Leon was taken aback for a moment.

Half a breath later, his eyes flickered with realization.

'These cases were recorded by…'

"It is as you suspect; some of these cases were recorded by your late father," Maya suddenly interjected.

"To be exact, he recorded a total of fifty cases. Although they are only limited to one case per book, he recorded each case in great detail. I never understood his purpose for studying mortals' out-of-body experiences, though."

"Why the sudden interest in out-of-body experiences?" Maya asked shortly after.

Leon shifted his gaze to the side and glanced at Maya's spiritual form oddly before he asked her, "You don't know what happened to me earlier?"

"I was busy translating the primordial techniques for you. Why?" Maya asked with furrowed brows before she added, "They're all translated, by the way."

"I see, thanks," Leon nodded.

Shortly after, he recounted his entire experience in the suspected Astral Soul Realm to Maya without leaving out any detail.

Given her knowledge, she could give him some insights into the matter.

"The Astral Soul Realm, huh? I find it hard to believe. But seeing how your spiritual strength has recovered, I have no choice but to believe it," Maya replied with surprise.

"Now, I understand why the Divine Medicine King researched out-of-body experiences among the mortals. He must have drawn some conclusions regarded the Astral Soul Realm or entered it once himself."

Leon nodded.

Seeing how his father researched the out-of-body experience so extensively, he suspected the same thing as Maya.

Nevertheless, his late father's efforts made things easier for him.

'Father… even in death, you are still looking out for this useless son of yours…' Leon mentally sighed while thinking about his late father.

Why is it that people don't start living in earnest and cherish the important things they have until they lose them?

'Just you wait, Father. I will make them pay; every last one of them,' Leon steeled his resolve, and his eyes glinted with a red hue.

Maya didn't dare to speak when she saw the hidden malice in Leon's eyes.

She found the darkness buried deep in his heart to be startling and worried for the future of the world.

To be the world's destroyer or its savior, the choice was in his hands.

…

Nevertheless, Leon wasn't aware of Maya's thoughts.

He reorganized the bookshelf to show only his father's research results on the out-of-body experience.

Then, he picked out several books and absorbed their information at once.

…

<Patient name: Zhang Tianlong>

<Age: 27>

<Occupation: Alchemist Servant, Herbalist>

<Location: Southern Divine Region, Ancestral Yuan Star Realm, Planet Tianyu, Great Yuan Kingdom, Red Willow City>

<Special Note: the patient is an ordinary mortal with no talent for alchemy and cultivation. The patient has crippled meridians and cannot cultivate in this lifetime. However, the patient has some talent for identifying and cultivating spirit herbs>

<Day 1: the patient came into the clinic for a check-up. He described last night's experience as terrifying. An evil spirit visited him in his dream and wanted to snatch his body>

<Notable symptoms: sleeping paralysis, hallucination>

<Conclusion: Patient experienced out-of-body experience>

<Special Note: the patient studied the Ten-Thousand Herbs of Yuan and drank Tranquil Blossom Tea the previous night>

…

Reading up to that point, Leon didn't think there was much more to learn about the out-of-body experience from patient Zhang Tianlong.

However, the book continued with his father's long observation of the patient's life.

…

<Day 4: the patient returned the Ten-Thousand Herbs of Yuan to his alchemy master and requested more herbal books to study>

<Day 67: the patient returned the Hundred-Thousand Herbs of Tianyu and Myriad Herbs of Ancestral Yuan. The alchemy master decided to teach the patient alchemy techniques>

<Day 69: the patient displayed an incredible capacity for learning. The alchemist master promoted the patient to Alchemist Apprentice>

<Day 93: the patient mastered the basics of alchemy and took the Alchemist Association's alchemy exam, becoming a Rank 1 Alchemist>

<Day 181: the patient successfully refined his first Tier-3 Spirit Pill and advanced to Rank 3 Alchemist>

<Day 994: the patient refined the Tier-5 Inner Rebirth Pill and resolved his crippled meridians, and embarked on the path of cultivation>

…

'Am I reading the medical documentation of a patient or the story of a rising protagonist?' Leon wondered with surprise.