Chapter 193 - The Sword Cuts the Flesh, the Mind Cuts the Soul

"Uhhh..." Gao Li wanted to tell Lu Ran that he was too diversely talented. He was a forger on top of being a chef?

However, although Gao Li was grumbling to himself deep down inside, he could only reveal a helpless expression in the face of Lu Ran's enthusiasm to contribute to the cult. If he didn’t show some support, and Lu Ran’s ascended to a high position one day, it could very well be considered treason.

Finally, Gao Li responded, "The soul-calming stone I lent you is a soul-type ore, and I have some more with me."

He often used those stones to test the soul talent of potential recruits.

"Thank you, Brother Gao Li. I kept feeling that something was missing while I was researching Soul Cuisine. If I can forge a kitchen knife with a weapon spirit capable of cutting souls then it could turn out to be the key to eliminating the disadvantages of the Undead attribute!"

That’s impossible. You’re too funny, kid.

Gao Li thought to himself.

But even if I don’t believe in it, I still have to support him...

"Okay, I can give you another soul-calming stone to aid in your research. That’s all I have even if you need more," Gao Li said.

He really wanted to slap himself. Why did he open his fat mouth and tell Lu Ran so much about weapon spirits? If he kept his mouth shut then Lu Ran wouldn’t be asking him for more ore.

"Thank you." Lu Ran smiled.

Black Feather remained silent as she felt that Gao Li was being taken advantage of.

Soul kitchenware...

Lu Ran honestly didn’t think of it at first. His original plans for the Soul-cutting Blade was just for it to be capable of damaging souls. It didn’t necessarily need a weapon spirit. However, now that he thought about it, a spirit blade would make the perfect kitchen knife.

This was all that Lu Ran could only think about at the moment. Under Gao Li's instructions, Lu Ran and Black Feather returned to the City Lord's Mansion, while Gao Li himself sent people to surveil the imperial army’s camp.

The imperial army taking the initiative was not good news for the cult member in Ming An City.

"I hope everything goes smoothly.” Gao Li sighed.

***

After Lu Ran got back, he didn’t ask Black Feather to keep taste testing for him, and decided to train by himself. Although he had obtained another soul-calming stone, he wasn’t in a hurry to forge the spirit blade and Soul-Cutting Blade.

It was impossible to cut apart a soul’s consciousness with just the Soul-Cutting Blade. Otherwise, someone in the Undead Cult would have done it long ago. He couldn't forge the spirit blade right now, but Lu Ran could understand the thoughts of the Undead Cult's forger.

They wanted to create a vessel for attracting vagrant souls of the land of death that were suitable for them to repair themselves in. Through this process, if the weapon and vagrant soul could harmonize, then a spirit weapon was born.

Lu Ran understood the theory, but he didn't have a land of death suitable for nurturing such a weapon right now. Even if he did, it wasn’t something that could be achieved overnight. It could take a few months or even dozens to hundreds of years.

The most important thing was that he didn't know how to forge the foundational vessel for the spirit weapon. Similarly, even if the spirit kitchen knife was created, it was unknown whether it was capable of cutting the soul consciousness.

They were ultimately just tools. It could very well be dependent on the user’s comprehension of soul consciousness. Only the perfect tool combined with the right wielder could achieve the right results and cut soul consciousness.

As such, Lu Ran decided to work on himself first. Captain Doofus was training its Soul Sword Intent while Lu Ran started his own training.

Luckily, he had the foresight to prepare hundreds of Soul Cleansing Fruits. It would’ve been too difficult to find cultivation resources in a war-torn backwater like Feiming Province.

"Sudden Death King!"

Roar?

Sudden Death King appeared with a confused look.

"Spar with me."

Sudden Death King thought about it and asked how Lu Ran wanted to spar.

"Simple. Just stand there, and I’ll cut you with this kitchen knife,” Lu Ran said as he took out a knife.

Huh?

"Don't worry, I won't use any strength. Besides, I couldn’t break through your defenses even if I put all my strength behind it."

Sudden Death King was stunned but nodded when it realized that it was true.

"In short, you only have two tasks."

Lu Ran found a piece of black cloth and covered his eyes before slashing at Sudden Death King’s scales.

"First, keep your mind active, and let me know if you feel pain. I don’t mean physical pain. I mean spiritual pain."

Lu Ran closed his eyes and ramped his telepathy up to full power to hone in on Sudden Death King’s mental fluctuations as he swung a knife.

“I’ll remember this grudge,”

Sudden Death King repeated mentally.

Lu Ran used the knife to help Sudden Death King “sever its hatred."

"The knife to cut the flesh, and the mind to cut the soul."

Although Lu Ran's telepathic ability wasn’t combat-oriented, it was still a powerful tool. For instance, Space Mouse hadn’t hidden its mental fluctuations earlier, allowing Lu Ran to detect their ambush. Now, he was applying telepathy to aid his training in Soul Sword Intent.

He aimed to use telepathy to lock onto a target’s mental fluctuations and attempt to cut them with a sword. While unsure if it would work, the idea seemed plausible. If he could spiritually harm Sudden Death King with a beastmaster’s kitchen knife, wouldn’t that qualify as Soul Sword Intent?

Naturally, Lu Ran didn’t rely solely on this approach and explored multiple methods. After getting no results from swinging the knife a few times, he retrieved the soul-calming stone and projected Sudden Death King’s soul.

Throughout the process, he used telepathy to monitor Sudden Death King’s mental fluctuations. By comparing its reactions to different techniques, Lu Ran gained a deeper understanding of how to damage the soul.

It didn’t end there.

Although the kitchen knife didn’t harm Sudden Death King, it was certainly irritated. Finally, Lu Ran set the knife aside and summoned flames, using the Flame Spirit to attack Sudden Death King.

The goal remained the same: pinpoint when Sudden Death King experienced spiritual pain. If successful, Lu Ran would have made progress toward creating a soul flame with telepathy.

Just like that, five days flew by.

Lu Ran trained for eight hours daily, consuming a Soul Cleansing Fruit each hour. By the end of five days, he and Captain Doofus had burned through hundreds of thousands of crystal coins.

Captain Doofus needed Soul Cleansing Fruits too. Although its training method wasn’t as structured, its Weapon Control trait combined with a high comprehension ability made it effective. Lu Ran leveraged this trait to enhance his own training through Reverse Super Beast Mimicry.

Meanwhile, Sudden Death King continued enduring daily "abuse." Though the knife attacks were irritating, it had grown accustomed to them, treating the experience like being pestered by a persistent mosquito.

Then, unexpectedly, a glimmer of blue light flashed in Lu Ran’s pupils.

Sudden Death King let out a cry, jolting from sharp mental pain.

Boom!

Its massive body stood up abruptly, startling Lu Ran as well.

Lu Ran quickly checked his ID and noticed that his information had been updated.

[Species: Human]

[Beastmaster Rank: Level 1]

[Beastmaster Skills: Super Beast Mimicry, Flame Spirit]

[Special Abilities: Telepathy, Blizzard Sword Intent, Flame Dragon Sword Intent, Psychic Sword Intent]

[Psychic Sword Intent: A special attack that can directly attack the enemy's mind. Derived from combining swordsmanship with telepathy!]

"Holy Shit!" Lu Ran exclaimed.

Woof?

Captain Doofus rushed out of the house with the swordgrass in its mouth.

"Haha, sucker! I beat you again, Captain Doofus!"

Lu Ran grinned excitedly while still holding the knife.

Thank god! Investing five days, and 800,000 crystal coins worth of Soul Cleansing Fruits was worth it.

Psychic Sword Intent? If it works, it works!

Lu Ran looked at the soul-calming stone and felt that the next step was to attempt forging it into a Soul-Cutting Blade. What kind of result would combining it with the Psychic Sword Intent yield?

Woof, woof, woof!

Captain Doofus was stunned.

It worked? Why did Captain Lu get to it first?

"You want me to teach you?" Lu Ran smirked at Captain Doofus.

If I don’t show this dog who’s boss then it would really think that it has godly comprehension abilities.

Sudden Death King also looked at him with anticipation.

"Too bad. I’m not going to teach you." Lu Ran pouted.

"Just wait. Let me see if I can cook Soul Cuisine without side effects. If the opportunity arises, I’ll even roast some dragon souls for you. Speaking of which..."

Lu Ran gazed into the distance.

It's been almost a week. Why aren’t there any movements from the contestants on the Empire’s side?

After some investigation, Missionary Gao Li discovered that the army was recruiting beastmasters from nearby areas. This confirmed the army’s intent to recapture Ming An City, prompting the necromancers to begin preparing for war. However, the imperial forces were slow to take action.

Lu Ran grew anxious. Although stalling the enemy could technically complete his mission, it likely wouldn't yield a high score.

"I have to take the initiative. If this drags on, it won't end well. I spend all my time training—I'll continue working on my Psychic Sword Intent after clearing the ascension realm. Right now, the most urgent task is getting an SSS score on this mission.

"Since the other side won’t make the first move, I’ll take a page out of an assassin's playbook and ambush the Empire’s camp to trigger an all-out war."

The plan was both ambitious and dangerous, but Lu Ran was more worried about getting bad drops from a poor score. Since the ascension realm could only be cleared once, missing this opportunity meant losing it forever.

"The enemy attempted assassination because he was confident in his space attribute—no one could pin him down or prevent his escape.

"If I want to launch an ambush, I need to plan my retreat first. Our advantage should be... air superiority."

After fusing the Nature Manipulation trait, Captain Doofus had perfected its control of the wind. Not only could it walk rapidly through midair, but it could also summon powerful winds to hinder pursuers. Lu Ran figured Captain Doofus could carry him to a high altitude and drop a "gift" onto the imperial camp.

***

While Lu Ran pieced together his plan, the princess' team was also busy with their own preparations. Over the past few days, they had gained an in-depth understanding of the Undead attribute and developed counter-strategies.

They also reached out to persuade the imperial army. Knight of Sunlight's assassination attempt had triggered a fierce response from the Undead Cult, leaving the imperial camp tense and constantly fearing retaliation.

"Captain Kai En, we're here to answer the imperial army’s summons to fight against the Undead Cult, hone our skills, pursue justice, and protect the weak. We're not here to sit idle in camp.

"The nine of us plan to assault Ming An City on our own. Are you sure you don't want to join us? There are still many innocent people there, and countless beastmasters will suffer under the Cult’s torment. Will you just stand by and watch them suffer?"

Knight of Glory appealed to the highest-ranking commander stationed there, a Level 2 beastmaster.

"We really can't stand it anymore. This is our final request—no, our plea—for the Beast Taming Corps to attack with us."

"Relax, Brother Glory." Captain Kai En wiped the sweat from his brow, visibly torn. Waiting for reinforcements was clearly the safest decision. The military order only authorized them to garrison outside the city; charging in now was completely irrational.

Yet Knight of Glory's rhetoric tugged at Kai En’s heart. The sooner Ming An City was liberated, the fewer citizens would suffer under the necromancers' control.

"Hmph, like I said—if you're afraid, we’ll just go alone."

"It's not about fear," Kai En responded, his expression tense.

What bothered him most wasn’t the safety of the citizens—though he felt guilty for thinking it. So many had already died over the years, and saving them all was impossible. What truly frightened him was the potential fallout if Knight of Glory's powerful party came to harm.

Princess of Light and her Knights of Light had previously demonstrated their formidable abilities to the imperial army. Despite being a Level 2 beastmaster, Kai En was especially wary of the Princess.

He suspected that these individuals had prestigious backgrounds, likely second-generation beastmasters from some influential force seeking real-world experience.

If this group were injured attacking Ming An City alone, and word reached their powerful backers, the camp would be doomed. The consequences might be far worse than disobeying military orders and attacking the city prematurely.

On the other hand, if they succeeded with the group's help and earned their favor, the rewards could be substantial.

"Okay."

After days of indecision, Kai En finally relented.

"Brother Glory, my heart burns for those suffering under the Cult in Ming An City. Screw the military orders!

"The undead forces in the city are mobilizing and seem to be retreating. To stop them from scattering, we must launch a preemptive strike!

"Please assist us with a coordinated attack!"

"With pleasure," Knight of Glory smiled.

They could finally launch an official assault on the city.

He was curious—would the mysterious man who injured Sunlight appear during the attack? They hadn't forgotten about that wound, and revenge was still on the table.