The Witch Hunter System -
Chapter 1138: Comprehending Thought, Controlling the World
Without the mysterious power to control Vaan, the ghostly, demonic woman could only stare at him silently. Not a single trace of emotion, life, or intelligence could be detected in her, which further confirmed his suspicion.
She was just a composition of soul essence, given form. Besides the mission to eliminate him, she had no thought of her own. She was just a soulless soul body.
However, Vaan was curious about why exactly the ghostly, demonic woman had taken on such a familiar form.
If the Astral Soul Realm considered him an outsider and mobilized the power of law to eliminate him, it could have manifested in any form. Yet, it took on the form of a human woman.
’Is it because my life mostly revolves around women?’ Vaan wondered.
If the Astral Soul Realm’s governing laws could gauge such information from him, it would make sense. This was more surprising than the fact that they were trying to eliminate or remove him.
After all, he was a disruptive foreign element that didn’t belong in this world of eternal rest and peace.
Moreover, he was stealing this world’s soul essences.
It would be strange if he didn’t trigger the world’s natural self-defense mechanisms.
Even the human body’s self-defense mechanisms would act when harmful bacteria invade it.
Nevertheless, since the ghostly, demonic woman had been reduced to a harmless state, Vaan took the opportunity to study her.
"Hm, feels quite soft and real..." Vaan muttered.
Despite being a composition of soul essence, the small, ghostly, demonic woman felt no different from a real human body when he poked her in various areas.
However, since there was no warmth, she was also no different from a corpse.
Even so, this was quite the contrast to what Vaan had imagined a concentration of soul essence should feel like. Even if a bundle of light didn’t feel like cotton, it shouldn’t feel like a block of rock, just as frozen water shouldn’t feel like lava.
Suddenly, Vaan felt as if he had grasped something incredibly profound.
However, he couldn’t quite put an exact finger on it.
It was as if a cloud of fog obscured his vision; he could only see its shadowy form, not its exact details.
Perhaps it would become clearer once we returned to reality and utilized his super thought-processing and comprehension.
Nevertheless, he couldn’t stop dwelling on the subject for a long time.
After what seemed like days had passed, Vaan could only grasp that it was something related to misperception and thought. He couldn’t elaborate on them. ℟Ἀ₦𝐎𝔟Ęȿ
’To think my comprehension is this appalling without my god-given talents. Am I actually a dumb fuck?’ Vaan felt both frustrated and amused.
Although becoming inept made him feel helpless and frustrated, it was also a rare opportunity to experience things from the perspective of the talentless.
If he couldn’t understand the feelings from this side, how could he claim he could sympathize with talentless people and know how they feel towards talented people like him?
During this time, the ghostly, demonic woman remained motionless, simply glaring at Vaan. No matter what tricks he pulled on her for her study, she did nothing to resist.
However, Vaan was also unable to learn anything regarding her ability.
Feeling frustrated at the lack of progress in learning anything, Vaan ultimately decided to distance himself from the ghostly, demonic woman and look elsewhere, seeing if he could discover anything new in other parts of the Astral Soul Realm.
Unexpectedly, after moving several hundred meters away and glancing back at the ghostly, demonic woman, locking eyes, Vaan instantly lost control of his body again.
’Mother fucker!’ Vaan mentally cursed as his body flew through the air, returning to the ghostly, demonic woman.
However, at this point, he had already grown accustomed to the ghostly, demonic woman’s terrifying vibe. Thus, there was no more fear in his heart.
With their distance closed, the ghostly demonic woman, who had recovered her original size, shrank once more, becoming a pipsqueak in front of Vaan. All she could do was silently glare as he broke free from the invisible control, again.
Just as Vaan considered whether to carry the pipsqueak and bring her with him, he was suddenly thunderstruck by another idea.
’Why do I need to look elsewhere? There’s still much to learn here!’ Vaan’s eyes brightened as he stared at the pipsqueak.
Although he had spent much time studying her without any progress, his approach had been incorrect from the start. Since he was too stupid to make any progress with observations, he should focus on physical experiences.
If he continued to experience the ghostly demonic woman’s absolute control with his astral form, he would surely pick up something, even if he didn’t really understand it.
With that thought in mind, Vaan again created distance between himself and the ghostly, demonic woman.
’There must be a reason why she shrinks and becomes powerless when we get close...’ Vaan pondered.
Instead of waiting for his body to be brought in front of the ghostly, demonic woman when she triggered her absolute control, Vaan actively resisted from the very start, hoping to see if he could make any difference.
Surely enough, he managed to break free from the absolute control several dozen meters sooner.
After repeating the process dozens of times, Vaan continued to improve his control break record consecutively. Alas, although his ability to resist improved, he still hasn’t learned the absolute control ability itself.
Even so, since he found a direction to tackle the problem, he didn’t intend to give up so easily. He was determined to uncover the secrets behind absolute control.
If he could understand it, he might not be far off from becoming a Soul Master.
Of course, everything could be resolved if Vaan simply returned to reality and relied on his super comprehension to understand everything. Unfortunately, he didn’t even know how to return.
More importantly, even though he was confident that he could enter the Astral Soul Realm due to his connection with the original soul, he still didn’t dare to risk it. After all, the records stated this world was incredibly rare and difficult to chance upon.
What if he truly failed to re-enter after squandering his opportunity away?
Wouldn’t he be filled with regrets?
As such, Vaan had no choice but to rely on his current mediocre talents to make full use of his first visit to the Astral Soul Realm.
’I will definitely learn the secrets of this ability!’ Vaan stubbornly persisted.
After hundreds of attempts, Vaan’s resistance improved to the point where he could break free from the ghostly demonic woman’s absolute control instantly.
However, he still had yet to learn the secrets behind this absolute control.
Even so, Vaan understood that mindlessly challenging this problem was fruitless. Thus, he kept pondering over his limited understanding of misperception and thought.
With stubborn persistence, he would eventually clear that cloud of fog in his mind!
Why could a cluster of soul essence recreate the same feeling of human flesh in one moment, and become like air in the next?
Why did the ghostly, demonic woman shrink when they closed their distance?
Why were his movements and voice sealed under the ghostly, demonic woman’s control but not his thoughts?
Why was he completely helpless at first, but now he could easily break free from the ghostly, demonic woman’s control with a thought?
Although multiple factors were involved, everything ultimately stemmed from the power of thought.
’In the beginning, there was nothing. Then, from nothing, everything was born. However, everything wasn’t born from nothing for no reason. It began with a thought—One thought birthed all things.’
’Nothingness and everything is decided with a single thought. Even the difference between creation and destruction, real and imaginary, material and virtual, truth and false; everything can be determined and changed with a single thought.’
’The real can become fake, and the fake can become real. They are only separated by a thin line.’
Vaan’s eyes brightened increasingly.
He felt as if after he understood one thing, he understood all things. The power of thought could explain all matters and reasons.
Vaan felt so helpless during his first encounter with the ghostly, demonic woman because of his own fear of death and the unknown. It was his lack of knowledge and strong feelings that empowered the ghostly demonic woman.
Strictly speaking, the ghostly demonic woman didn’t manifest because the Astral Soul Realm’s governing laws wanted to get rid of him. She was just a byproduct of his subconscious thoughts and feelings detected by the Astral Soul Realm.
This is also why the ghostly demonic woman took on the form of a human woman and didn’t appear at the very start of his visit. It was because his subconscious thoughts and fear of the unknown had not grown to the point of affecting the world.
’Humans inherently can’t endure being alone, and yet, entering this unfamiliar and eerie-feeling world for the first time, I subconsciously feared that I wasn’t alone either. This mix of fears and thoughts ultimately gave birth to the ghostly demonic woman.’
’In a sense, she is pretty much an inner demon I created as a result of not knowing better,’ Vaan figured.
The Astral Soul Realm did not have a guardian, but because of his presence, one was created.
’I created this thing, so I should also be able to get rid of it.’
Vaan firmly stared at the ghostly, demonic woman, and with a dismissal wave of his hand, her human body dispersed into soul essences, returning to the natural flow of the world.
’The ghostly, demonic woman’s control is also just my own fear of death putting my astral form into a dead state. This is why it can’t move or speak, yet my thoughts remained unfettered.’
’If I had truly believed I was dead, that would have been truly disastrous.’
’Now that I have conquered that fear and understand the power of thought, such control no long exists.’
Vaan calmly glanced at the plain-looking, endless grassland, furrowed his brows, and, with a thought, the scenery quickly changed. Countless stone pillars rose from the ground, transforming the region into an ancient-looking ruin.
With another thought, a moon and countless stars began appearing in the night sky.
’Henceforth, I am no longer a mortal but the god of this space.’
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