Five souls floated calmly within Li Yuan's Soul Comprehension space, their green-white light trembling in delicate harmony. Each wisp hovered in its own position, not actively interacting yet somehow complementing one another—like different musical notes that form a beautiful chord when played together.
Li Yuan stood in a forest that now felt... different. Without the five spiritual presences that had floated there for four thousand years, the energy of the place had subtly shifted. Not dramatically, not conspicuously, but significant enough for his sensitive consciousness to perceive.
"Five of millions," he whispered, feeling the weight of the task that remained. "And each collection will affect the world in small ways that humans may never know."
Systematic Mapping
With the first five souls safely stored, Li Yuan began to strategize for the upcoming global operation. Using his pure soul's ability for long-range spiritual perception, he started to map the distribution of soul wisps across the entire planet.
His detection was like a spiritual radar operating in a dimension inaccessible to the normal eye. Each soul wisp emitted a unique energy signature—a green-white light that flickered at a very slow rhythm, like a spiritual lighthouse operating at an almost imperceptible frequency.
First continent: around twenty thousand soul wisps scattered from the northern coast to the southern desert. Second continent: fifteen thousand wisps among the mountains and plateaus. The eastern archipelago: three thousand wisps spread across various large and small islands.
"The distribution pattern follows the population density from four thousand years ago," Li Yuan analyzed with his full, focused Soul Comprehension. "Areas that were once densely populated have a higher concentration of wisps. Remote areas have fewer."
This analysis made him realize that four thousand years ago, his global resonance had touched human civilizations at the peak of their development. Major cities, trade centers, fertile agricultural areas—all places where human life thrived at that time had now become locations with the highest concentration of the touched souls.
The Optimal Route
Li Yuan began calculating the most efficient route to collect these millions of souls. This wasn't a standard geographical calculation—physical distance was not very relevant for a pure soul that could move at spiritual speeds. What was more important was energetic efficiency and minimal impact on the world.
"Start with the highest concentrations," he decided, "then move systematically to areas with lower density. Like harvesting a field—start from the ripest part."
This plan would first take him to the remnants of the major cities that were once centers of civilization four thousand years ago. Places that might have now completely changed—perhaps turned into ruins, perhaps reverted to forests, perhaps become new cities built without knowing the spiritual history buried beneath them.
The Journey Begins
Li Yuan released his consciousness body, returning to his pure soul form for the long-distance journey. In this form, he could move at a speed not limited by conventional physical laws, crossing continents in a relatively short time.
His first destination was a location that was once a huge metropolitan city—a trade hub that connected various civilizations four thousand years ago. Now, the place had transformed into a vast grassland with the remnants of stone foundations almost covered by soil and vegetation.
Upon arriving, Li Yuan immediately detected an extraordinary concentration of soul wisps. Hundreds of them floated at various altitudes over an area of several square kilometers. Some floated high, some low, some among the remaining ruins.
"This used to be a hub of life," Li Yuan reflected as he resumed his consciousness body form for the collection process. "A bustling market, streets filled with merchants and travelers, homes full of family life. And now... now there is only silence and delayed souls."
The Mass Collection Process
With hundreds of soul wisps in a relatively confined area, Li Yuan had to develop a more efficient method than the one-by-one approach. He began to experiment by forming multiple "tentacles" of Wrapping Comprehension—spiritual extensions that could operate in parallel.
Like an octopus using all its tentacles to catch prey simultaneously, Li Yuan developed the ability to wrap several soul wisps at once. It wasn't a rushed process—each wrapping was still done with care and gentleness—but it was more time-efficient.
Five wisps were wrapped together, then transferred through an expanded spiritual portal into the Soul Comprehension space in his Zhenjing. Then five more. And five more.
With each batch collected, Li Yuan felt an increasingly significant change in his Zhenjing. The Soul Comprehension space not only became more "full" in a quantitative sense but evolved in qualitative complexity.
The Evolution of the Zhenjing
Ten souls. Twenty. Fifty. With each addition, the harmonious resonance within the Soul Comprehension space became increasingly rich. It was not like growing noise but like an orchestra gaining new members—each new sound adding depth and richness to the overall symphony.
Li Yuan began to realize that this process was not just about "storing" the touched souls. Every soul collected contributed to the evolution of his Soul Comprehension in a way he had never anticipated.
"You are teaching me," he spoke to the non-responsive wisps, "about aspects of the soul that I couldn't comprehend through abstract concepts alone. Your passive presence gives... substance to my understanding."
A hundred souls were collected. His Zhenjing began to vibrate with a different quality of energy—not stronger in terms of power, but more... full. Like an empty space slowly being filled with meaningful presences.
Impact on the Environment
As Li Yuan collected hundreds of soul wisps from the former metropolitan city, he began to observe subtle changes in the surrounding environment. The grassland that previously had spiritual "strangeness"—places that animals would avoid or seek out, areas that gave a sense of discomfort or causeless peace—slowly became... normal.
Birds that had previously avoided certain areas began to fly through them without unease. The grass that had previously grown in strange patterns at certain spots began to grow in a more natural pattern. Even the air in the place felt different—more neutral, less spiritually "charged."
"Four thousand years of spiritual strangeness are being erased," Li Yuan observed with a mix of satisfaction and melancholy. "The world is becoming... more plain. Humans will lose the source of their local myths and legends without ever knowing why."
Mid-Journey Reflection
After collecting five hundred soul wisps from the first location, Li Yuan paused for a moment to reflect on the process he had undertaken. The Soul Comprehension space in his Zhenjing now held five hundred and five souls—a number still very small compared to the millions that remained, but significant enough to have a tangible impact.
"Five hundred souls inside me," he reflected with awe, "and I'm already feeling a fundamental change in the quality of my existence. Not a change in power or ability, but a change in... essence."
Li Yuan realized that he was no longer just Li Yuan, an individual soul pursuing comprehension. He was beginning to become something more complex—an entity that houses and protects the existences of others, a guardian who carries a responsibility for souls that cannot protect themselves.
"And this is just the beginning," he reminded himself as he looked toward the location of the next soul wisp concentration. "There are still millions waiting. There are still continents unvisited. There are still thousands of years of travel to be done."
But instead of feeling burdened, Li Yuan felt... purpose. For the first time in ten thousand years of his existence, he had a clear mission, a concrete responsibility, and a measurable impact.
The systematic journey to collect millions of touched souls has truly begun.
Five hundred and five souls are safe.
Millions more are waiting across the planet.
And Li Yuan, with a patience honed over millennia, is ready for a journey that will change not only the fate of millions of touched souls but also the fundamental nature of his own existence.