Murim's Weakest Princess-Chapter 267: Following the Soul Lanterns

After Lady Mang Yuan and the eight shrine followers disappeared, Anji remained with the remains of the great snake spirit’s bones for a long while. Something about witnessing a great crossing pulled Anji down a memory lane that did not belong to her.

Even if Anji had witnessed many sages ascending, it was probably her first time seeing the corpse of someone powerful. It was completely different from the corpses that lay strewn in bloody, mangled bits on a battlefield. It was different from witnessing the corpse lying in a coffin at a funeral parlour. Anji had no words to describe the strange feeling, so she sat with the motionless giant snake bones that glowed faintly with spells bound to them.

Yet, no matter how long she spent reflecting and soul-searching, Anji could not place a finger on the feeling. It was not admiration. It was not merely pity. The idea of being bound to the world while the soul escapes felt out of place. Although Anji knew Lady Mang Yuan would be unlikely to remember what happened to her in her past life as a great snake spirit, she felt awkward thinking about how it must feel to look at a body she had previously lived in.

"Maybe our sect founder would know the answer," Anji hummed.

If anyone knew what it would feel like to look at a past body before reincarnation, it must be Bi Yao, who was said to have reincarnated many times. The curse of Bi Yao’s soul coming back many cycles to complete her fragmented self must be difficult to bear, especially if she recalled every life she ever lived at the age of ten each time. Anji could not imagine it. After viewing three memory crystals, the rest of the memory crystals Anji viewed felt like a blur to her. How would it feel for Bi Yao, who had to view over two dozen lifetimes on her tenth birthday? Anji could not even begin to imagine what that would feel like.

According to Lady Mang Yuan, Bi Yao’s secret small world was woven into the trial chamber. However, it was something no other successors could locate. Anji was the chosen successor whom Bi Yao created the special chamber for, and the soul lanterns could be found only by using Anji’s blood added to a fire source.

Finding or creating a fire source in this place was more challenging than Anji thought it would be. Without kindling or flint, Anji wondered where she could find materials to start or create a fire. The oxygen level in the cave was also low. Any veteran camper would think it was a horrible idea to start a flame in this place that might have an occasional presence of explosive gases, thanks to the hot spring pool at the lower cave levels.

Still, she clambered back to the remains of Lady Mang Yuan’s temple and gathered the few pieces of melted wax from ancient candles. There were no candle wicks, so Anji fashioned some from the talismans she carried. Anji did not hesitate to prick her finger with her hair accessory to draw blood, adding it to the materials required. Then, she used her internal energy to start a flame.

Bracing herself for pain, expecting a flash of light from behind the blindfold when she started the fire, Anji looked to the side. However, the flame did not appear as Anji thought it would. Unlike physical fire, the flame that took shape turned blue and green. It changed colour and fluctuated frequently, confusing Anji for a moment until she understood what she was looking at.

According to her teacher, any fire was forbidden inside the successor trial chamber. It would instantly disappear the moment fire was created in this strange place. However, soul fire was different. What Anji was looking at must be soul fire, as she could see it clearly in her combined vision, but felt no heat from it. Her hands passed right through the colourful flame when she attempted to touch it.

Whatever trick this was, Anji found it highly fascinating. Even after a while, the flame showed no signs of extinguishing. The materials Anji used to create the fire did not burn. Her blood was the only requirement to activate the sight of this unique flame. Anji could not bring it along with her as it remained affixed to where it was first created.

Puzzled but confident she would not be lost in this section of the labyrinth, Anji walked around to see if there were other soul ’lanterns’ that would mysteriously appear now that she had activated the ability to view soul fire.

Unsurprisingly, she spotted her first soul lantern near what used to be a small temple courtyard in the ruins. Having spent several weeks in this part of the labyrinth with kind guides, Anji marched forward in search of the next soul lantern. Unfortunately, her luck ended when the soul lanterns took her away from the shrine ruins and into a new part of the labyrinth.

Here, Anji proceeded with huge caution. After almost falling into a large hole that she could not physically see, Anji walked, holding the edge of the walls and felt her way around. The soul lanterns became easier to locate as the terrain became more treacherous. Anji could tell she was climbing upwards with the number of steep rocks she had to scale up while grabbing onto stalactites. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Slowly and carefully, Anji made sure not to increase the number of injuries she had sustained. Even with the protective spells on her robes, Anji had small cuts and scratches on her exposed skin. Her splinted ankle throbbed too much for her to continue the physical climb, so she took frequent breaks to meditate and heal while drinking and eating. She still had enough rations, but by now, Anji had lost her sense of time. Unless she decided to meditate and revisit the sect’s main headquarters, Anji had no idea how much time had passed while following Bi Yao’s soul lantern trail.

The higher Anji climbed, the fresher the air felt to her. The dead and stale air felt cooler, and Anji was startled when she first felt a small breeze pass by. There must be an exit nearby. However, Anji ignored it. She could locate the trial chamber’s exit later.

After a winding road, Anji finally located the last soul lantern standing in the middle of what appeared to be a small pond in her second sight. Anji paused. She had never seen a pool, water, or pond in the spiritual world. The spiritual world was usually misty, and Anji could never see the ground until now.

Hesitating for just a moment, Anji wondered what she should do. There were no walls to hold onto. She might have to take the plunge and cautiously creep over to the still pool of water where the last soul lantern hovered over.

Unlike the vision from her second sight, the ground Anji stepped on in the physical world was flat. The girl was crawling and felt a little silly for taking such precautions. Still, she moved slowly and felt every inch of the way. The soul lantern was finally within arm’s reach. The pool of water in her vision was directly beneath Anji, contrasted with the solid rock she knelt on.

Reaching out to touch that soul lantern, Anji felt a sudden pull. Before she knew it, Anji screamed as she fell into what felt like a long drop. She no longer felt the cool rock beneath her. Instead, she felt as if she was plunged fully into the icy ocean.