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The guard was a little perplexed to hear those words, and he said, “Not everyone has the power to withstand the Anima of Yearning, and those who haven’t made any contributions to the Sky of Drifting Specter are unlikely to earn any Anima of Yearning. However, if you really wish to do it, the Netherworld Palace has no reason to stop you. That being said, you’ll have to pay a fee of 10,000 Divine Coins for that.”

“10,000 Divine Coins?” Zhang Xuan nodded. “Alright.”

Qi Ling-er had passed everything that the clan head of the Qi Clan sent her earlier over to him. To most cultivators, 10,000 Divine Coins was probably their entire family fortune, but to Zhang Xuan, it was an easily affordable sum.

He took out his card and sent the money over.

After confirming that he had received the money, the guard led him into the palace.

The Netherworld Pool was located at the depths of the palace. Different from the Lucid Lunar Lake, the energy within it felt warm and soothing. It seemed to be constantly accumulating some sort of elusive energy that nourished whatever was within the pool.

Zhang Xuan could vaguely perceive the existence of elusive energy, but he found that he was unable to faze it at all. In that sense, it was kind of similar to an apparition, where one could only see it and nothing more.

“This is the Netherworld Pool. In order to leave a Soul Imprint in it, you’ll have to place a droplet of fresh blood on the stone tablet over there.” The guard pointed.

Zhang Xuan looked over and saw a small stone tablet standing by the side of the Netherworld Pool. There were peculiar inscriptions on it, reminiscent of something that one would use in rituals.

It looks similar to the altars of the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe at first glance, but there are also many differences as well.

He recalled how he had asked someone in the past which power in the Firmament specialized in the usage of altars, and the answer that he had received was the experts of the Sky of Drifting Specters. So, he wondered if the Sky of Drifting Specter was related to the Spirit God somehow, but the inscriptions on the stone tablet seemed to disprove it.

In terms of construct and content, it was obvious that the inscriptions on the stone tablet were vastly different from those used by the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe and Starchaser Palace.

It seemed like the Spirit God did not belong to the Sky of Drifting Specter.

Just as Zhang Xuan was about to walk over to the stone tablet to drip a blood droplet on it, the Netherworld Pool suddenly began bubbling furiously. A series of apparitions gradually rose from the surface of the pool.

There were many different types of people among the apparitions. There were those who were almost a zhang[l] tall, and there were those whose height barely reached that of a thumb. All in all, there were more than a thousand people.

As the water beneath them bubbled, they moved in response.

The elusive energy that he felt previously scattered down on the apparitions, almost as if sunlight was shining on them. The larger apparitions slowly became more and more tangible whereas the smaller ones flickered like candlelight, seemingly on the verge of extinguishing.

Po!

A thumb-sized apparition suddenly dissipated, vanishing from view.

“What happened?” Zhang Xuan asked doubtfully.

“Those larger apparitions have more people thinking about them, so they receive more Anima of Yearning, which bulks them up. In contrast, the smaller apparitions are probably remembered only by some family members and friends. As time passes and their kin pass away, no one else in the world remembers them. Naturally, they run out of energy and extinguish.”

The guard glanced over at Zhang Xuan and shook his head. “There are quite a few people who pay a hefty sum in order to leave their Soul Imprint here each year. They hope to somehow come back to life after their death, but the splendor of life only lasts while you are alive. Life is already tiring enough. How many people have the time to constantly keep you in their minds once you aren’t around? More often than not, the Anima of Yearning that one receives comes solely from their closest kin and friends.

“It’s actually a waste of money for most people to leave their Soul Imprint here. Only a very small proportion of them eventually earn sufficient Anima of Yearning to come back to life. But I guess it’s still comforting to leave a spark of hope here. Death is something that is feared after all.”

Zhang Xuan could relate to those words.

All sentiments—be it gratitude, love, or hatred—were transient. There are things that we tell ourselves never to lose sight of no matter what happens, but time has the mysterious ability to dull out those emotions and make us forget.

This reminded Zhang Xuan of web novel authors in his previous life. If they just stopped updating for a few days, the readers would have already forgotten about them.

Once a person was forgotten by most people, the Anima of Yearning that they received would become so small that even maintaining their current state was difficult, let alone coming back to life.

Just as the guard had said, it was probably just the possibility of it happening that comforted people from the fear of death. In the entire history of the Firmament, there were probably no more than a handful of people who had succeeded in doing so.

“Who is that tallest apparition here? He looks like he’ll be ready to revive soon!” Zhang Xuan asked curiously.

Based on what had been said thus far, it seemed like the size of the apparitions was indicative of the amount of Anima of Yearning they had accumulated. Those who had gotten beyond a certain size should be able to be revived.

He could not help but wonder what that towering apparition of over a zhang in height had done, such that he would be so dearly remembered by those around him.

“I don’t know who he is exactly. He suddenly appeared forty years ago. We aren’t able to see his appearance clearly, and we couldn’t find a record that corresponds to him. As such, we aren’t too sure about who he is,” the guard replied.

“Even an anonymous person is able to receive Anima of Yearning in the Netherworld Pool?” Zhang Xuan was slightly surprised.

“The Anima of Yearning is generated based on those who remember him. As long as there are people who keep him in their heart, he will be able to receive the Anima of Yearning. There isn’t a need for everyone to remember him. After all, there are God Kings whose souls have been in the Netherworld Pool for over a thousand years, and it’s inevitable that most people have already forgotten about them.”

Nodding quietly, Zhang Xuan walked up to the stone tablet, bit his thumb, and dripped a droplet of fresh blood on it. Weng!

As soon as the blood droplet landed, energy began rippling across the stone tablet. Following that, he felt something linking up together with his soul.

At the same time, a small apparition roughly the size of a thumb appeared in the Netherworld Pool.

“This is my Soul Imprint?” Zhang Xuan was a little speechless at how small it was.

The guard took a look at it and said, “It’s not too bad given that you have just created it...”

Most people would not even be able to form an apparition when they first left their Soul Imprint on the stone tablet. The fact that the young man was able to create an apparition the size of a thumb showed that there were quite a few people who constantly thought of him.

“Are there usually differences in sizes when the apparitions are first formed?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“Most cultivators have smaller apparitions than this, and there were quite a few that can’t even be seen with the naked eye,” the guard replied. “In the twenty years that I have worked here, the largest apparition I have seen upon formation is that of God King Bai Yi. He was killed during the Flood of Spiritual Energy, and his subordinates placed his possessions in the Netherworld Pool. The next instant, an apparition of the size of a palm appeared inside. It really shocked quite a few people back then!”

“Is God King Bai Yi extremely popular among the people?” Zhang Xuan asked.

“Well, that’s not really the case. It was mainly because he had quite a few powerful subordinates under him. They were probably the ones generating the bulk of the Anima of Yearning,” the guard replied.

“Hmm? Does the Anima of Yearning generated have something to do with the strength of the people thinking of him?”

“Of course! The stronger one is, the greater the sway they have over the world. Furthermore, their longer lifespan means that they will be able to generate more Anima of Yearning over the course of their life. Typically speaking, the amount of Anima of Yearning generated by a Celestial God is hundred times that of a God, and the amount generated by a God King is hundred times that of a Celestial God, and so on!” the guard replied.

Zhang Xuan nodded in realization.

If the Anima of Yearning was depicted to be a force of nature generated by a cultivator, it stood to reason that the strength of the cultivator would affect the amount of energy generated.

It was common for humans to associate themselves with those who were like them. The reason it was more likely for those with higher cultivation to revive was not just because of how well-known they were, but more importantly, their circle of family and friends were mostly powerful experts. With that, they would likely be able to revive.

The guard chuckled. “You’re not too bad. The fact that your apparition is the size of a thumb shows that you are remembered not just by Gods but by Celestial Gods as well.”

“Celestial Gods?” Zhang Xuan nodded contemplatively.

Qi Ling-er and Zhang Jia were both Celestial Gods, and they were both loyal to him. They were probably the ones who were generating his Anima of Yearning.

He focused his consciousness on his soul, and he could vaguely feel some sort of energy flowing through the connection between his soul and the apparition to nourish his soul, causing his soul cultivation to grow. Seeing that it was working, he clasped his fist and bade his farewell.

Shortly after Zhang Xuan left, a guard walked in and asked the guard from before curiously, “How was it? What do you think of that fellow?”

“His apparition is only around the size of a thumb. I reckon that it’ll dissipate within less than half a year,” the first guard scoffed.

“Well, that’s not too bad given that it’s his first time here,” the second guard replied.

“I beg to differ,” the first guard said. “If he’s already desperately thinking of ways to keep himself alive when he’s that young, I doubt that he’ll be able to do anything great in the future. Even I look down on coward like him, so why would people think of him and admire him? I reckon that the only reason there are people still thinking of him is because they don’t know his true personality. Once they learn who he is, their remembrance of him will probably stop right away!”

“That does make sense. Let’s see how it turns out,” the second guard replied with a slight chuckle.

In the Firmament, people carried great respect for the strong and the valiant.

It would have been understandable if the young man was already in his later years and wished to seek a way to circumvent death. However, he was only in his early twenties, and he had a long life ahead of him. Yet, out of fear of death, he had actually spent such a hefty sum to leave his Soul Imprint there.

From this, it was clear that the young man was a coward. How could a coward possibly win the respect of others and make others remember him?

Even if he was able to create a decent-sized silhouette, chances were that it would dissipate soon enough!

“Let’s go!” the first guard said as he turned around to leave the room.

Suddenly, the Netherworld Pool began to shake.

The two guards halted and turned around.

The apparition left behind by the young man was trembling nonstop. Despite its small size, it was causing the entire pool to tremble ceaselessly.

“This...”

The two guards were perplexed for a moment before the first guard suddenly thought of something. His eyes narrowed as he said, “Could it be that more people have thought of him, causing more Anima of Yearning to surge over?”

Boom!

Shortly after those words were spoken, the thumb-sized apparition suddenly jolted and became the size of a palm. At the same time, its translucent silhouette became more tangible, making it look more lifelike.

“Even though there are quite a few people who are thinking of him, they are mostly Gods. The effects are unlikely to be too long-lasting...”

Even though they had no idea why it took so long for this surge of Anima of Yearning to arrive, based on the concentration of it, they could tell that it mostly originated from God realm cultivators. While it did increase the size of the apparition, the increment was slight and unlikely to be long-lasting, given the short lifespan of Gods.

Boom!

Before he could even finish those words, the palm-sized apparition suddenly began growing frenziedly at a visible rate. This is...the Anima of Yearning from a God King?”

The first guard was stunned.

The other party was just a low-tier Celestial God, so why would he receive Anima of Yearning from a God King?

Huhu!

The apparition suddenly grew once more.

“Two God Kings?”

The second guard was stunned as well.

“Three God Kings actually provided him with Anima of Yearning... Is that fellow really just a low-tier Celestial God?” the first guard muttered with trembling lips.

It was just a moment ago that they had said that the apparition would disappear in less than half a year, but who could have known that the young man would suddenly receive such a huge surge in Anima of Yearning from innumerable Gods and three God Kings?

Boom!

The apparition suddenly grew once more, becoming the size of a normal human.

The two guards looked at one another with their bodies trembling uncontrollably, as if they had just witnessed something unbelievable. It took some time before words finally came out of their mouths once more.

“That is... the Anima of Yearning from a Conferred God King?”

[1] 1 zhang = 3.33m