Chapter 65: Chapter 65: The Soul Problem

“I can’t even control my own power,” Runar said aloud, the realization hitting him like a bucket of ice water. “Something is very, very wrong.”

His new body was incredible—possibly the strongest physical form anyone had ever constructed in this universe. His Universal Seed dantian contained energy that defied measurement or comprehension. By all rights he should be unstoppable.

But he couldn’t use any of it properly.

Every movement came out too strong, overshot his intentions by absurd margins. Every technique he tried overcharged beyond recognition, simple exercises becoming cosmic-level attacks. He couldn’t walk without accidentally achieving relativistic speeds. Couldn’t touch anything without risking its complete destruction.

Why? he thought frantically, reviewing everything he’d done during the breakthrough. The process worked perfectly. Body constructed correctly from fused Rules, dantian formed exactly as designed, micro-universe stable and functional. Everything should be working, so why can’t I…

Then understanding crashed down on him like a physical weight.

My soul. It’s my soul.

He pulled up his system interface with a thought, focusing specifically on soul-related metrics and diagnostics.

[Soul Strength Assessment]

Current Soul Power: Peak Early Supernova Realm

Soul Density: 8.7 (Supernova scale)

Consciousness Threads: 100 (from HDCM)

Processing Speed: +20,000% (from HDCM)

Required Soul Power for Current Body: Early Black Hole Realm MINIMUM

Required Soul Power for Universal Seed Control: Early Neutron Realm MINIMUM

Gap: Approximately 3-5 major realms insufficient

⚠️ WARNING: CRITICAL IMBALANCE DETECTED ⚠️

Body Power >> Soul Power

Energy System >> Soul Control

Risk Level: SEVERE – Cultivation deviation possible if not addressed immediately

Runar stared at the notification, his mind racing through the implications.

His soul had definitely gotten stronger during the breakthrough process. The fragmenting and recombining had tempered it significantly, pushed it to Peak Early Supernova level which was genuinely impressive by any normal standard. Most cultivators would be thrilled with a soul that strong.

But his body and energy had jumped leagues beyond that. His body was constructed from the fusion of 3,333 fundamental Rules of reality. His dantian was a functional micro-universe containing galaxy-destroying levels of power. The gap between his soul’s strength and his actual power was catastrophic.

“It’s like building a supercomputer and then installing only a fraction of the RAM needed to actually run it,” he said to the empty void around him. “The hardware is incredible but the operating system can’t keep up.”

The comparison was apt. He had a Formula 1 race car capable of incredible speeds, but only the reaction time and coordination of a normal human driver. The vehicle could do amazing things, but the person controlling it couldn’t keep pace with its capabilities and would just crash the vehicle.

The breakthrough enhanced my body and energy by astronomical amounts. My soul got tempered through the fragmentation process, but it didn’t get enhanced enough to keep up. The three-pillar power system is completely out of balance.

Body, energy, soul—they all need to be roughly equivalent for proper cultivation. When one pillar is drastically weaker than the others…

He looked around at the shattered and rapidly-repairing formations, the spatial distortions still visible from his simple movements and failed techniques.

This is what happens. I can’t control myself properly. The soul isn’t strong enough to process all the sensory information from a Rule-fused body. Can’t direct the cosmic energies from a micro-universe dantian with sufficient precision. If I go out into normal space like this, I’ll accidentally destroy everything I touch just by existing near it.

Runar floated in the white void, carefully not moving while he considered his extremely limited options.

He couldn’t leave the Infinite Qi Realm, that much was clear. Not in this unbalanced state. One wrong move around normal cultivators and he’d kill them by accident—a friendly handshake would crush their bones to powder, a casual movement would level a planet, just walking normally would create space cracks that ruptured spacetime for kilometers around.

But he couldn’t just sit here indefinitely either. Celestia was still waiting in the Pocket Universe, probably worried about why he hadn’t come to get her yet. The combat assessment was scheduled for tomorrow. Prime Origin Academy had already started its term, and he was supposed to be there as one of their top candidates.

I need to strengthen my soul to match my body and energy. But even with the Comprehension Space’s thousand-times time dilation, that would take decades of focused tempering work to close a gap this large. And that’s assuming I’m doing it optimally with perfect technique the entire time.

I also need soul treasures to accelerate the process. Spirit Cleansing Elixirs to purify and expand soul capacity. Soul Crystals to directly enhance soul power. Soul Tempering Pills. Basically anything that can boost soul strength through external resources rather than just cultivation time.

Then the solution occurred to him, obvious in hindsight.

I can create a clone to handle external matters while I stay here working on the soul problem.

The Runic Clone technique he’d designed months ago during his initial cultivation research. A sophisticated construct made from a carefully separated soul fragment combined with Rune-aspected energy, capable of independent operation and action while remaining connected to his main consciousness.

If he made a clone calibrated to his pre-breakthrough power level—back when his body, energy, and soul had all been properly balanced—it could function normally out in the regular world. Handle all the things that needed handling while his real body remained safely locked away in the Infinite Qi Realm, spending subjective decades tempering his soul until it caught up.

The clone would have my combat power from when I’d just completed Satellite Orbit Stage 3,333, he thought, running through the specifications in his mind. Before the Universal Genesis breakthrough. Still absurdly far beyond any academy student or even most teachers, but controllable. Balanced between body, energy, and soul the way cultivation is supposed to be.

It can retrieve Celestia from the Pocket Universe and explain the situation to her. Search the ship and academy for soul treasures. Attend academy functions and the combat assessment. Basically live my life for me while I’m stuck here fixing this mess.

The plan came together quickly as he thought through all the details:

First, create the Runic Clone at pre-breakthrough specifications.

Second, have the clone exit the Infinite Qi Realm and return to Suite 4701 on the ship.

Third, clone retrieves Celestia from the Pocket Universe and explains why the real Runar is temporarily indisposed.

Fourth, clone searches everywhere it can access for soul-enhancement treasures—ship stores, academy stores, trading with other students, black market if necessary.

Fifth, real body stays in Comprehension Space running soul tempering techniques 24/7 with the time dilation.

Sixth, any treasures found get transferred back to accelerate soul growth.

Seventh, once his soul finally catches up to his body and energy, he reabsorbs the clone and returns to normal life.

It’ll work, Runar decided. It has to work. The alternative is staying locked in here for years of external time while my life passes me by, or going out in this unbalanced state and risking catastrophic accidents every single moment.

He began gathering the necessary materials and preparing the technique arrays for clone creation, carefully not moving any more than absolutely necessary to avoid more accidental destruction.

The breakthrough had been successful. He’d achieved Universal Genesis, created a micro-universe dantian, built a body from fused fundamental Rules.

But now came the real challenge—balancing the power he’d gained so he could actually use it without destroying everything around him in the process.

Runar floated motionless in the white void of the Infinite Qi Realm, being very, very careful not to move more than absolutely necessary.

The last thing he needed was to accidentally destroy more formations by twitching wrong. His body was a loaded weapon right now, and his soul was the safety that couldn’t quite engage properly. Every movement risked catastrophic discharge.

Alright. Clone creation. I designed this technique months ago, so the theory is solid. Just need to execute it carefully.

He pulled up the Runic Clone technique from his mental library, reviewing the specifications he’d created back when he was still just planning his cultivation path. It felt like years ago now, even though chronologically it had only been weeks.

The technique was elegant in its design— but he upgraded it – Create a construct from a carefully separated soul fragment, give it form using Rune-aspected energy, program it with the necessary autonomy to operate independently. The clone would be connected to his main consciousness but able to make its own decisions within certain parameters.

The tricky part was the soul fragment separation.

End of Chapter 65

Current Status:

External time elapsed: 5 hours since entering Infinite Qi Realm

Subjective time experienced: Approximately 5.7 years

Cultivation Realm: Universal Genesis Stage 1 (Planetary Core equivalent)

Body Status: Reconstructed from fused Rule-light – OPERATIONAL

Energy Status: Universal Seed micro-universe dantian – OPERATIONAL

Soul Status: Peak Early Supernova Realm – CRITICALLY INSUFFICIENT

Primary Problem: Cannot control power due to soul bottleneck

Current Limitation: Cannot safely leave Infinite Qi Realm

Planned Solution: Create balanced Runic Clone for external operations while main body focuses on soul tempering

Next Arc: Clone creation, deployment, and Celestia reunion

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep