A thousand souls.
The number resonated in Li Yuan's consciousness like a bell ringing in a spiritual cathedral that was steadily becoming more full. After spending weeks—or maybe months, time was becoming an increasingly blurred concept in this relentless journey—collecting soul wisp after soul wisp, he now carried a thousand existences within his Zhenjing.
A thousand out of the millions that still remained.
Li Yuan stood on a mountaintop that was once the location of a sacred temple, where fifty soul wisps floated among the time-worn ruins of a stone altar. His consciousness body showed no signs of physical fatigue—how could it, considering he had no muscles to tire or lungs to run out of breath.
Yet, something was different. Something he couldn't name as fatigue, but also wasn't just an ordinary change.
"A burden," he whispered, searching for the right word to describe this new sensation. "Not a physical burden, but... an existential one."
Gradual Transformation
With every soul collected, Li Yuan felt a subtle yet cumulative change in the nature of his existence. It was like someone who slowly accumulates belongings until, without realizing it, their spacious home turns into a crowded warehouse.
His Zhenjing, which was once a vast spiritual landscape with neatly organized spaces of comprehension, now had a different quality. The Soul Comprehension space no longer felt like one of sixteen equal spaces—it had evolved into a... spiritual center of gravity.
A thousand soul wisps floated in a complex yet harmonious formation, their green-white light interacting to create ever-changing yet always beautiful patterns. Their resonance created a kind of constant spiritual "background noise"—not disruptive, but always present.
"I am no longer just Li Yuan," the realization flowed into his consciousness with alarming clarity. "I am becoming... Li Yuan plus a thousand souls. Li Yuan who carries a thousand other existences in every aspect of my being."
A Shift in Perspective
The most striking change was how this transformation affected the way Li Yuan viewed the world. Before, when he observed the scenery from this mountaintop, he saw it from a single perspective—the perspective of Li Yuan, the individual spiritual being who had spent ten thousand years in the pursuit of comprehension.
Now, even though the thousand souls within him had no active consciousness, their presence somehow... enriched his perspective. It was like someone looking through a kaleidoscope—the basic image was the same, but there were layers of complexity and nuance that were previously unseen.
"I am seeing this world not just as Li Yuan," he realized with awe, "but as Li Yuan carrying the echoes of a thousand lives that once were. A thousand different viewpoints, even though they are unconsciously providing them."
The same view from the mountaintop felt... richer. More layered. As if he was seeing not only with Li Yuan's spiritual eyes, but also with the shadowy memories of the eyes of a thousand people who had lived four thousand years ago.
A Question of Identity
This change raised a fundamental question he had never faced in his ten millennia of existence: was he still "Li Yuan" in the same sense as before?
When he spoke—to himself, to the non-responsive souls, to the silence of nature—his voice still sounded like Li Yuan's. His thoughts still followed familiar patterns. His comprehensions still operated in the same way.
But there was... another presence. Not an active consciousness, not other voices speaking in his mind, but a kind of "spiritual weight" that gave a new dimension to every aspect of his existence.
"Am I still an individual," he asked the mountain's silence, "or have I become... a collective? A spiritual community consisting of one active consciousness and a thousand passive existences?"
The question had no clear answer, and Li Yuan realized that he might be entering a territory of existence never before explored by any being.
Impact on Comprehension
The most fascinating—and slightly worrying—thing was how the presence of these thousand souls affected Li Yuan's Soul Comprehension. The comprehension that was once about appreciating the uniqueness of each individual soul was now evolving into something much more complex.
He was not just understanding the soul conceptually, but... experientially. Each soul wisp in his Zhenjing carried with it traces of what they had experienced—locked memories, frozen emotions, stored fragments of personality.
Even though Li Yuan couldn't access the specific information of these souls, their presence gave a... texture to his understanding. Like an artist who not only knows color theory but also has access to a thousand different shades.
"My comprehension of the soul is no longer abstract," he realized while sensing the subtle resonance of a thousand existences within him. "It has become... alive. Enriched by the actual presence of the souls I comprehend."
Capacity and Limitations
As Li Yuan prepared to collect the fifty soul wisps at the temple ruins, he began to question the limits of his ability. A thousand souls had brought a significant change. What would it be like when there were ten thousand? A hundred thousand? A million?
"Is there a limit to how many souls I can contain?" the question flowed with rational worry. "Does my Zhenjing have a maximum capacity? And if so, what happens when that capacity is exceeded?"
These questions had no definite answers. There was no precedent for the situation he faced, no guide or reference he could consult. He was entering a truly unknown territory.
"But," he reminded himself as he began to wrap the first soul wisp of the fifty floating in the temple ruins, "I have committed to this path. A thousand souls in my care are proof that I am capable of handling this burden, at least up to this point."
Unexpected Evolution
What surprised Li Yuan the most was how this collection process was changing not only the quantity but also the quality of his existence. He was not just becoming "larger" in the sense of containing more—he was becoming "richer" in the sense of having a depth and complexity he had never before imagined.
Every comprehension in his Daojing now vibrated with a richer resonance. Water was not only about flowing and adapting but also about how to flow while carrying a thousand different perspectives. Silence was not only about the space for growth but also about having enough space to contain multiple existences.
"I am evolving," Li Yuan realized while transferring the latest batch of souls into his Zhenjing, "in a way I never foresaw. Not an evolution towards something more powerful, but an evolution towards something more... inclusive."
A thousand and fifty souls now floated in the ever-expanding Soul Comprehension space. And Li Yuan, their guardian, continued to change in ways he himself had yet to fully understand.
The journey is still long. Millions of souls are still waiting.
And Li Yuan—or the entity he is becoming—continues to evolve with every soul he collects.