“Is it you?! Are you the one that woke me? You really do have the power to strengthen me, just like Core said!”

The eyes of the tiger looked a little foggy, as if it wasn’t completely awake yet. It blinked several more times as it waited for Bai Yunfei to respond.

“Er...”

Unsure of what to think, Bai Yunfei asked... “Are you...the spirit of the Soul Sealing Mandate?!”

“I am, can’t you tell?” The tiger batted a paw. “I am the spirit of the Regalia Soul Sealing Mandate.”

This spirit seemed vastly different to the spirit of the Core Stone by far, much to Bai Yunfei’s surprise. He blinked a few times as well. “Did you say ‘just like Core said’? Do you know anything about Xiao Fang?”

“He’s...” The small tiger scratched at its jaw ‘contemplatively’. “He’s hibernating. Breaking open the void isn’t easy, you know. He used up a lot of energy doing that.”

“Breaking open the void? What’s that mean? What happened?”

“What’s with all the questions? Hold on, let me take a look at you...” The tiger didn’t even bother to answer any of Bai Yunfei’s questions. It took an additional second to comb what non-existent hair it had on its body before looking Bai Yunfei all over. Bai Yunfei felt a warm glow emanate from the Soul Sealing Mandate when the tiger made eye-contact.

“Oh?!!! Our synchronization is perfect?! Did you make me into your lifebound armament?! How’d you do that!? I feel a little stronger too! Maybe twenty percent stronger? Wow...Is this the ‘Upgrade Technique’ Core talked about? So it really was as amazing as he said?”

“Oh? Xiao Fang told you about the Upgrade Technique?” An eyebrow was raised on Bai Yunfei’s face. “Could you tell me what happened now? I’d like to know.”

“Fine then, since you’re my ‘master’ and everything. I’ll allow it. You can take a look for yourself to see what happened.”

Speaking as though ‘resigned’ to its fate, the tiger suddenly leapt up from the ground to dive into Bai Yunfei’s forehead!

“Wha?!” Bai Yunfei nearly leaped back from surprise but the tiger was already right about to crash into him! But...then it melted into his head!

“Bzzz...”

Bai Yunfei felt his vision grew hazy before it went dark...

“Crap! Yunfei’s soul is super weak, he’s dying!”

Inside the Core World, a deathly-pale Bai Yunfei was laid there on the ground with the Fire-tipped Spear, Cataclysmic Seal, and even the Soul Sealing Mandate resting there with him. Lao Sha was hopping left and right around Bai Yunfei as it stared in great concern at him.

The figure of Xiao Fang was floating above Bai Yunfei and seemingly inspecting Bai Yunfei’s health.

“What kind of soul skill was that? Yunfei’s soul is...regressing?!” The last word was practically yelped. “No no no. His soul’s going to die at this rate! What do I do? What do I do?!”

Like an ant on a hot wok, Xiao Fang’s hologram was hopping about as it tried to think of a solution.

“Oh!! Soul Sealer!!”

It whirled around to stare at the Soul Sealing Mandate on the ground. “Soul Sealer!” Xiao Fang hollered, “Come on out now! Hurry up!!”

“Bzz...”

There was a flash of white as a small white tiger appeared in front of Xiao Fang.

“Hey there Core, long time no see—a thousand years maybe?” Stretching its back, the tiger spoke to Xiao Fang like a friend.

“Yunfei’s not doing well, use your energy and save him!”

“Hm?” Looking down, Soul Sealer glanced at the resting Bai Yunfei. “Is this your current master?” It looked interested. “Tsk tsk...he doesn’t look very strong...”

“Quit your yapping and save him!” Xiao Fang exploded anxiously.

But Soul Sealer still didn’t see the rush. “Why should I? He’s not my master...Besides, it’s not looking good for him. I doubt I’ll be able to save him unless I accept him as my master. Sealing his soul so he won’t die will use up a lot of my energy too. Going into hibernation doesn’t sound fun, so I’ll pass.”

“You!!”

Xiao Fang was speechless. It was infuriated by the cavalier attitude of the other Regalia. “Are you really not going to save him?”

“Nope.”

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

“Fine if you don’t then, but be prepared to accompany me into the void for the next several thousand years!”

“Hold on, what?! The void?!”

“You heard me, we’re in the void right now.” A vision of the outside world—currently a void—appeared in a spatial window. It was entirely black outside with all sorts of color mixing with one another and flowing in random directions. It was a very strange sight to see.

A surprised look appeared on the tiger’s face. “We’re really in the void!”

It rounded on Xiao Fang in exasperation. “You...of all places, why did you run into the void?!”

Xiao Fang ignored the tiger. “If you’re not going to save him, then it’ll be a trip into the void for the both of us.”

“No!!” The tiger roared with anger “Are you really threatening me, Core? What does it matter if I save him? We’d still be stuck here in the void wouldn’t we?!”

“You don’t need to worry about that. I’m much stronger than I was before. I’ll be able to break free from the void on my own.”

“Really?!” Though still a little suspicious, the tiger grew excited. “You can break out from the void by yourself? You’re lying!”

“I’m not lying.” Xiao Fang seemed to be calming down a bit now. “And do you know why I’m stronger now? It’s because of him. He has a strange power called the ‘Upgrade Technique’. It can strengthen the power of a soul armament! If you can save him and accept him as your master, he’ll be able to make you stronger too.”

“Really?!” The tiger’s eyes grew wide with disbelief.

“Really!” Replied Xiao Fang, “But there’s no time! Hurry up and save him! You’ll only hibernate for a few dozen years at most if you seal his soul, but if he recovers and upgrades the Soul Sealing Mandate, you’ll awake right away!”

“Fine...I’ll save him...” Resigned to its fate, the tiger accepted. Living in the void for several thousand years was a scary thought for the tiger. If he listened to Xiao Fang though, then it was possible such a horrid fate could be avoided...

“His soul’s extremely damaged. I can only seal it and stop the regression. He’ll...probably lose his memories and probably become an imbecile...”

“Shut up already! It beats him dying! If there’s a chance to save him, then save him!”

“Fine fine...eh?! A soul fragment’s lodged in his soul?! It’s not his...what’s it doing here? Well whatever...at least he won’t become an imbecile this way...”

“Lao Sha, I’ll have to go into hibernation after I break us out from the void. I don’t know when I’ll be able to wake up. Yunfei will most likely lose his memories, you’re the only one that can protect him until he recovers!”