Chương 153: Chapter 152: A Dive into the Sea

Awareness came to him slowly, beat by beat, like waking up after a long, deep sleep. He first became aware of the thrumming within his veins before he had even gained full awareness. His whole self felt as if it had been revitalised. It took him a moment to realize his eyes were closed, and when he opened them, he found himself blinded by the light. A pulsating light. He looked around and realized he was actually in his sea of consciousness.

The glow was too much for even his consciousness, and it took a moment for him to be able to comprehend anything more. He also realized that it was not his body that was brimming with energy, but rather his consciousness or soul. Whatever change that had occurred was being sensed by his inner self rather than his body The luminance across the sea of consciousness was actually the pulsing of the web that had overtaken his sea of consciousness long ago.

Right now, the light was pulsing through the web like blood being pumped through the veins of a living person. He turned to look at his soul and found it to still be glowing, giving off its faint smoke and bubbles as he went through different emotions and trails of thought. But there was something different. The first time he had noticed any change had been when he had returned from the Cardwright World. When there was a slight gold of the webbing mixed in with his soul.

At the time, it was so little that he could barely even see, let alone name the difference. But now that it seemed like the merging had progressed, he could clearly see the two lights coming together Or rather, attempting to merge with his soul, as looking at it more closely, he could still distinguish between the two. It felt like the two lights were trying to blend into one, but so far, all they had managed was to form swirls of two different-toned lights. Looking at it now, it looked almost hypnotising.

Yang stared at it in a trance for who knows how long, losing his train of thought, completely lost in the movement of his soul. He didn't know how long it took before he finally managed to peel his attention away, only to notice another bright light in the corner of his vision. Brighter than his soul and definitely brighter than the web overtaking his sea of consciousness. It was the bud. The new one. It was larger and brighter than before, and the thump in it was stronger, faster, and more insistent.

The bud had appeared completely lifeless when he had first discovered it in his sea of consciousness and had barely begun to stir at his last examination, but now it looked like it was teeming with life. The web connected to it pulsed steadily, feeding it, the energy flowing in thicker and thicker as he watched. Yang let his consciousness approach and felt the pull. Strong and insistent. A draw that reached into him and wanted to pull him in entirely, and Yang knew exactly what would happen if he allowed it.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He had this forced on him before. He had been constrained to spend decades in the Cardwright World. He refused to be pulled in. He dug in and pulled back. No. Not now. But as he backed away, he knew he was only delaying the inevitable. He looked around and took in the sea of consciousness as a whole.

Now that he had looked at the most obvious changes, he noticed that the sea of consciousness itself seemed to have gone through some changes as well The size of the sea of consciousness seemed to have increased. The space had become so saturated with the webbing that now there was new space he could clearly see the webbing slowly reaching out to overtake that as well.

Looking at the webbing's movement, Yang had no doubt that if he hadn't seen the new space just now, he wouldn't have had the opportunity to noticed it after. This made him wonder if there had been similar changes in size before, and he just didn't notice due to the web. It was difficult to gauge the size of the sea of inner consciousness, especially with the webbing occupying space in every direction. Anyway, there is no point in dwelling on it since there is no way to know now.

But he made a mental note to keep a closer eye on the goings on in his sea of consciousness from now on. Giving a final look to everything, Yang decided it was time to go back to his body. He couldn't. He tried again. And again. Each attempt failed in the same way. But he still kept trying methodically. He was not really frightened or too worried.

The bead had put him through stranger and more challenging things before, but the outcome had always been survivable, even if extremely unpleasant, as he thought back to the Cardwright World. Long or painful way, ultimately, he always came to a safe and better outcome. But he hopes he doesn't have to spend years in his sea of consciousness. That would make him even more miserable than his impromptu trip to the Cardwright World. There was also the real world to consider.

He could only imagine the pandemonium going on in the sect because of his actions. Even if not the whole sect, he had definitely screwed over the poor True Talisman Peak with his actions. He looked at his soul, giving the impression of being inside an invisible Kitchen Aid mixer and the newly turned on nightlight in his sea of consciousness. He didn't know how long he was forced to stay in his sea of consciousness.

Time lost all meaning there, and there was nothing to keep track of it either, but after a while, he felt a pull. Not to the bud. From somewhere outside. His consciousness responded to a call from somewhere in the physical world, being drawn to the surface, and he followed it without any resistance. He slammed back into his body with the full impact of re-entry.

He really hopes this method of resurfacing doesn't become the norm, or else his recent decision to keep a closer eye on his sea of consciousness can just be forgotten. He tried moving, only to find out he could not move. His body felt like it weighed a ton. The effort of even opening a sliver of his eyes was enormous, and when he managed it, the light was too much, and he had to immediately close them back again for a moment.

Finally, he managed to adjust to the light and looked up with bleary eyes, only to become aware of someone leaning over him, a face he could not resolve into focus as he blinked back, trying to see clearly. His ears were ringing, and his throat felt like it was packed with cotton, and when he tried to speak, he could barely get his jaw to work.

Something round was placed in his mouth, dissolving immediately, and the relief to his throat was instant, the dryness resolving as the medicinal warmth spread from his throat to the rest of his body. Then darkness followed before he could even make an effort to hold on to his awareness. Yang stretched out his leg as he turned on his side, looking for a more comfortable sleeping position, and felt the light on his face. He opened his eyes and lay there for a moment, confused about how he had slept past dawn.

He needed to water his plants. He tried to get up. He could not. It took him another few seconds to register that the ceiling above him was too flat. This was not his cave residence. He tried sitting up and finally managed after a few tries. He was back in the infirmary on the True Talisman Peak. The same place where he had spent some time after being barbecued a few days back. He looked around, wondering if he should try calling out when the door opened.

"Oh, good, you're awake."