Chapter 71: Chapter 71: Soul Tempering

The pain was indescribable.

His soul didn’t just break—it disintegrated into billions of fragments. Each piece contained a sliver of consciousness, and each one experienced the explosion simultaneously.

It felt like dying a billion deaths at once. Like having his existence erased and rewritten. Like every atom of his being was on fire while simultaneously being frozen, crushed, torn apart, and dissolved.

The agony transcended anything physical. This was spiritual torment—consciousness itself being shattered, the very foundation of his existence coming apart.

Runar’s awareness scattered across the gray void. Billions of soul fragments, each one screaming silently in agony, drifting in chaos.

For a timeless moment, he ceased to exist as a unified being. Just scattered pieces of torment floating in emptiness.

Then the prearranged Chaos Droplet dissolved.

The primordial essence flowed through the scattered fragments like liquid reality, coating each piece. The pain didn’t stop—it changed. The agony of dissolution became the agony of forced transformation.

The fragments began pulling together, but not gently. They crashed into each other with violent force, compressing under pressures that would have destroyed normal matter. The Chaos essence guided the recombination, but guidance didn’t mean gentle—it meant brutal efficiency. It was called a chaos droplets for a reason. It’s was freaking chaotic.

Two fragments merged with a spike of pain. Four. Eight. Sixteen.

Each merger brought new torment as the pieces were forcibly integrated, their individual agonies combining and amplifying.

Billions became millions. The pain intensified.

Millions became thousands. Runar’s awareness was returning, which only made him more conscious of the suffering.

Thousands became hundreds. He could think again now, could process what was happening, which meant he could fully experience every microsecond of the torture.

The final fragments merged.

His soul reformed completely, collapsing inward with crushing force. The structure compressed far beyond what Peak Supernova realm allowed, density increasing exponentially, fundamental principles of his consciousness being rewritten.

Peak Supernova → Early Neutron Star Realm

The transformation was qualitative. His soul had become something fundamentally different—denser, heavier, more real in the spiritual sense.

When it finally stabilized, Runar hung in the gray void, consciousness intact but utterly exhausted.

The pain had finally stopped. But the exhaustion was absolute.

His soul felt like it had run a marathon, fought a war, and climbed a mountain simultaneously. Every aspect of his spiritual existence was drained, depleted, barely functioning.

I need… to sleep…

He didn’t fight it. Couldn’t fight it even if he wanted to.

Runar’s consciousness drifted into deep sleep—not normal sleep, but soul-recovery deep sleep. His mind shut down completely, his awareness going dark as his transformed soul began the slow process of healing and stabilizing.

Years passed in the Comprehension Space while he slept.

Five subjective years of complete unconsciousness while his Neutron Star soul recovered from the metamorphosis trauma.

When Runar finally woke up 5 years later, his soul felt stable and it had recovered. The exhaustion had faded, replaced by the strength of his new realm.

First metamorphosis complete. One Chaos Droplet used. One remaining. And that took… five years of recovery sleep. Worth it, but I can’t afford to do that too often.

He checked the external time through the soul connection. Only about 1.8 days had passed outside. The clone was still conducting the combat assessment.

Good. Plenty of time left. Now to continue tempering toward Peak Neutron Star.

Runar resumed soul tempering immediately, now working from an Early Neutron Star foundation.

He began consuming the Primordial-grade treasures systematically. Soul Crystals dissolved into his soul, providing massive qi infusions. Soul Essence Pills enhanced spiritual density. Soul Tempering Jades created passive strengthening effects.

Cut. Heal. Integrate. Repeat.

The grinding work continued for decades.

After fifteen years of tempering (20 years total with sleep): 1,125,000 cycles. Middle Neutron Star realm.

After forty years of tempering (45 years total): 3,000,000 cycles. Late Neutron Star realm.

After seventy years of tempering (75 years total): 5,250,000 cycles. Peak Neutron Star realm.

Runar had consumed all the Primordial treasures he’d allocated for this stage. His soul vibrated at the threshold of another major breakthrough.

Through the soul connection, he checked external time: about 27 days had passed. The clone had finished the combat assessment 3 weeks ago and was in the academy now actively searching for treasures.

Good. The clone is gathering more resources. But I need to break through to Black Hole realm now. Can’t wait for more treasures.

Time for the second soul bomb metamorphosis.

He prepared another bomb from fused Rule-light, even larger than the first. Every Rule at 5% comprehension contributed its essence.

Some fraction of his consciousness had been comprehending his rules.

The sphere pulsed with catastrophic power.

Then he withdrew the second and final Chaos Droplet.

This will push me from Peak Neutron Star to Black Hole realm. Create the spiritual event horizon. And it’s going to hurt just as much as last time.

Runar braced himself and detonated the soul bomb.

ANNIHILATION.

The explosion was even worse than the first.

His soul shattered into quadrillions of fragments this time—more pieces, smaller pieces, more complete dissolution of his consciousness.

The agony was absolute. Every conceivable form of spiritual torture happening simultaneously across trillions of points of awareness.

Burning. Freezing. Crushing. Tearing. Dissolving. Reforming. Breaking. Each fragment experiencing its own unique hell while somehow still connected to all the others.

Runar’s unified consciousness scattered across the void, each piece screaming in silent agony.

The second Chaos Droplet dissolved, flowing through the scattered fragments.

But this time, the recombination was different. The pieces didn’t just merge—they collapsed.

The fragments pulled together with gravitational force, compressing past normal limits. As they merged, they created a spiritual singularity at the core.

The pain intensified. It felt like his entire existence was being pulled into a black hole, crushed into infinite density, consciousness itself being compressed beyond the breaking point. The Singularity.

A spiritual event horizon formed around the collapsing fragments. The boundary where soul energy couldn’t escape without permission.

Quadrillions became trillions. Trillions became billions. Billions became millions.

The compression accelerated. The singularity at the core pulled harder.

Millions became thousands. Runar’s awareness was returning, making him fully conscious of the torture.

Thousands became hundreds. The final fragments spiraled inward toward the event horizon.

The last pieces merged.

Peak Neutron Star → Early Black Hole Realm

His soul had fundamentally transformed into something new. A spiritual black hole with a singularity core and event horizon. Consciousness compressed to densities that warped spiritual space.

When stabilization completed, Runar hung in the void, utterly destroyed by exhaustion.

The pain had stopped. But the depletion was even worse than after the first metamorphosis. His soul felt hollow, drained, barely maintaining cohesion.

Sleep…Tired…. need to sleep…

He didn’t resist. Not even a sliver of resistance.

His consciousness went dark as he fell into deep soul-recovery sleep.

Twelve subjective years passed this time.

Twelve years of complete unconsciousness while his Black Hole soul slowly healed from the metamorphosis trauma, stabilized its new structure, integrated the changes.

When Runar finally woke, his soul felt even powerful and stronger. Stable. The exhaustion had faded, replaced by the immense strength of Black Hole realm.

Second metamorphosis complete. Both Chaos Droplets used. That was… twelve years of recovery. The transformations are getting more intense.

He checked external time through the soul connection: about 32 days had passed outside. The clone had been operating for over a month now.

The clone should have gathered significant treasures by now. I’ll check what he’s found after I reach Peak Black Hole with my remaining resources.

Runar resumed tempering with the remaining Primordial treasures.

After fifteen years total: 1,125,000 cycles. Middle Black Hole realm.

After twenty years: 1,500,000 cycles. Late Black Hole realm.

At Late Black Hole realm, Runar paused to test his body control.

Through the soul connection, he extended his awareness to the Rule-fused body floating motionless in the Infinite Qi Realm outside the Comprehension Space.

Move the right hand. Just curl the fingers.

The hand moved smoothly. No accidental destruction. No spatial warping. Precise control.

Good. Late Black Hole soul can provide adequate control over the body. Not perfect, but manageable.

But “manageable” wasn’t the same as “full control.”

It wasn’t like the full control a had when he was in the supernova realm.

He still needed to focus more than he’d like. Some movements required conscious effort that should be automatic.

Quasar realm is still the real target. That’s when I’ll have true mastery over this body.

He continued tempering.

After twenty-five years: 1,875,000 cycles. Peak Black Hole realm.

Runar had consumed all the remaining Primordial treasures he’d started with. His soul was at Peak Black Hole—another major threshold.

But he’d used both Chaos Droplets already. Without another one, he couldn’t trigger the metamorphosis needed to break through to Quasar realm.

Time to check what the clone has found.

Through the soul connection, he reviewed the clone’s activities over the past hundreds of years(about 2-3 months externally).

The clone had been busy. Combat assessment. Treasure hunting in ruins. Trading with other candidates. Investigating black market contacts.

And he’d found treasures. Lots of them.

Divine-grade soul items: 73 additional

Supreme-grade soul items: 41 additional

Primordial-grade soul items: 28 additional

Good haul. The Primordial items will help me advance further into Peak Black Hole realm.

But more importantly—

The clone had stumbled onto something rare during a black market deal. A cultivator fleeing from debt had sold him a suspicious treasure for a fraction of its value. Talk about plot armor.

Pseudo-Chaos Soul Essence (×1) – Not true Chaos-grade, but close. Formed when Chaos energy partially crystallizes in dimensional rifts. Can substitute for weak Chaos Droplet in soul cultivation.

It wasn’t as potent as a real Chaos Droplet, but it might be enough to help trigger a breakthrough to Quasar realm when combined with massive Primordial treasure consumption and a soul bomb.

This changes things. I might be able to reach Quasar realm after all.

Runar had the clone transfer all the treasures through the soul connection—a function of the Runic Clone technique that allowed resource sharing.

The treasures materialized in his inventory within the Comprehension Space.

Alright. New plan: Use these 28 Primordial items plus the pseudo-Chaos essence to push toward Quasar realm breakthrough.

Runar began gathering an enormous amount of fused Rule-light—far more than he’d used for any individual blade. At 5% Rule comprehension, the golden-silver starlight was incredibly potent.

He compressed it into a sphere, tighter and tighter until it reached critical mass. All 3,333 Rules poured their essence into the bomb.

The bomb pulsed with barely-contained power, reality warping around it even in this stable Comprehension Space.

Runar positioned it at the exact center of his soul—the core where his consciousness resided most densely.

When this detonates, my soul will shatter completely. The pieces will recombine due to natural soul cohesion, but the recombination will trigger metamorphosis. My soul will transform into something qualitatively superior.

Or I’ll suffer catastrophic soul damage and die.

He took what would have been a deep breath, and detonated the soul bomb.

EVERYTHING EXPLODED AGAIN.

End of Chapter 71

Status:

Time absorbing Reality Fragments: 9 months subjective (~13 hours external) Rule Comprehension: 1% → 4.7% average (highest at 5.8%) Time soul tempering so far: 25 years subjective (~9.1 days external) Total time in Comprehension Space: ~25.75 years subjective (~9.4 days external) Soul Tempering Cycles: 1,875,000 completed Soul Realm Progress: Middle Supernova → Peak Supernova (Divine/Supreme treasures) Soul Bomb #1 + Chaos Droplet #1 → Early Neutron Star Early Neutron Star → Peak Neutron Star (Primordial treasures) Soul Bomb #2 + Chaos Droplet #2 → Early Black Hole Early Black Hole → Peak Black Hole (remaining Primordial treasures) Current Soul Realm: Peak Black Hole Chaos Droplets: Both used (Neutron Star and Black Hole breakthroughs) New Resources from Clone: 73 Divine, 41 Supreme, 28 Primordial, 1 Pseudo-Chaos Soul Essence Body Control: Adequate at Late Black Hole, need Quasar for full control Next: Continue tempering toward Quasar realm breakthrough

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