Chapter 2352: Lost

Leonel could feel his soul almost compressing. If before it was like an accordion stretched thin and playing a note that was as shrill as it was high pitched, now it was an extended, rhythmic hum.

It was almost like a piano with the pedals pushed down, each note resonating longer and layering atop the next note that was played. The notes played first began to slowly decompress and fade, while the latter ones thrummed with a vibrant boom.

These images that coated his mind were more figments of his thought, almost like artistic conceptions that were leading his action. And yet, it was exactly this artistic conception that held so much strength and power. Just how much had he learned about the art of thought. His grandfather's methods built atop of this, starting from the power of the word, progressing to the power of a verse, to the power of a painting and a resonate note.

These were all artistic conceptions and even until now, they were a core part of why his Spear Force was so powerful.

But why was it that such a thing could impact his Spear Force? Leonel had deduced this matter long ago. Weapon Forces were far more malleable than other Forces. A Force like Scarlet Star Force had its own personality, its own will, its own life, so to speak. However, what differentiated Weapon Forces from other Forces was that while they had their own character, they could be molded.

Leonel had come to understand that the impetus for the creation of Weapon Forces had to rely on the same impetus that created life itself. Weapons wouldn't exist without the will of humans. It took unique intelligence to create weapons. However, this intelligence didn't just manifest weapons out of nowhere. It relied on the laws that the world had already created. The two worked hand in hand.

On one hand, there were the humans who created weapons for the sake of hunting, of protecting themselves. And on the other hand, there were the laws of the universe. How could a weapon work without the concepts of sharpness? The concepts of momentum? The concepts of swiftness and flexibility?

A sword could only be sharp because the universal laws dictated that a blade, when refined enough, would find it much easier to cut through things. This was a crude explanation, and yet it was a true one.

Leonel found himself understanding the connection between the two all the more... the connection between the life that was humans and the life that was Forces... the line that separated what was the soul, what was the very core of a being's, well... being, and what was simply a law of the world, one that would exist even without the input of life.

When he understood this, Leonel felt his body tremble at the same instant his soul reached 100% separation. His Spear Force and his Bow Force had both entered the Impetus State. Not only had they entered the Impetus State, but they had entered the Middle Impetus State, a step beyond even that of his Dream Force.

However, this didn't last for long as his Dream Force took one step, and then another. His Dream Force entered the Higher Impetus State, a step beyond that of his Weapon Forces, and just a step below the very peak of the Impetus State... just two half steps from the Life State.

Leonel felt as though his body was floating on a cloud. He felt both disconnected from it, and somehow more connected to it than he ever had before. He realized that the true core of his life wasn't his body at all. Rather, his body was just a conduit of nature and its laws. His body was a vessel through which his soul could impose its will onto the world, but it was not his soul, and it was not the root of his life.

At that moment, Leonel felt that his soul could travel endlessly through the Dream Plane. Of course, if the Life Force of his body ran out as he did so, his body would "die" and he would have to reconstruct a new one. But ultimately, the bounds that had been placed on him were no longer present.

What Leonel didn't know quite yet was that there were even some Life State Dream Force users that could not accomplish this. Reaching the Life State didn't mean that you could separate your soul from your body perfectly. And those that relied on treasures to do the same thing would not have this privilege either unless they came to understand the truth.

It could be said that Leonel had opened up a clear path for himself toward the Life State. All he needed was time and accumulation. But what he was more interested in wasn't the state of his soul, he already knew he had succeeded. Rather, he was far more interested in his Weapon Forces.

His Spear Force and Bow Force had taken such an enormous leap forward, but he had a feeling that it was a bit... hollow. The comprehension that Leonel had just come to could be applied to any and all Weapon Forces. Technically, if he used Glaive Force right now, it would be at the Middle Impetus State as well.

'This is... a bit of a problem.'

Without even circulating his Spear Force and Bow Force, for fear of what it might do to his body, Leonel knew that he had lost his True Sovereignty. If he used either right now, or used his Mage Core to gather it from the surroundings, it would no longer have its golden hue. Instead, it would be the normal white-silvery color.

Leonel hadn't known that this was even possible. He assumed that it would be permanent. Even so, Leonel wasn't worried. If he wanted to regain his True Sovereignty, he just had to bring his precise comprehension of the Spear and Bow, to the same level as his holistic level of Weapon Forces in general.

He grinned. That was far easier than what he had just done.