While Liam calmly observed the chaos within the cauldron space, the archaic voice sounded in his mind. "Brat, you have some skills, I must say. This is entertaining. I have not been this entertained for a long time. Liam's lips curled into a subtle smirk. "I aim to impress," he replied inwardly, keeping his focus on his soul avatar wreaking havoc in the cauldron's depths. Using the cauldron itself wasn't that complicated as all he needed was to use his will but creating a soul avatar on the other hand… However, unexpectedly Liam had somehow managed to grab the interest of the senior. He needed to make this interaction count. He needed this chance to learn more. A technique casually dropped by the senior was so powerful. He needed more. The cauldron spirit chuckled, a sound that sent a ripple of power through the mental connection. "Entertainment aside, you've managed to extract more from that divine puppet than I expected. But understand this, what you're treading into now… isn't some mid-tier power struggle or clever plan." "You're poking the rim of a throne that's stood for eons. The sacred lineage of the divine priestesses is a long one. It is bigger than your world, even this entire sector. The divine rulers belong to one of the ancient clans and as a high-priestess, she is bound to have their blessing. If she comes for you, and she will, it won't be as prey. It'll be to annihilate." Liam nodded. "Then I'll be ready." There was a pause, and then the voice became serious. "Then you'd best get stronger, brat. Much stronger. And quickly. Because whether you realize it or not, she and me, we've already placed our bet on you." Liam's heart thudded. Was he referring to the stone tablet? "Senior," Liam quickly spoke up before the archaic voice disappeared without any notice. The man only spoke when he wanted to and only revealed himself on his whim, so it was best to not delay anything. "Senior, about the soul avatar technique, is it possible-" "Let me stop you right there, brat. You are a greedy little rascal, aren't you? Do you always aim for what is beyond you?" "Please forgive me, senior. I must ask. If my soul strength is high enough, then is it possible for me to project more than one soul avatar at a time? And project it outside?" There was silence for a moment, like the cauldron itself was weighing the absurdity of the question. Then, a low rumble of laughter echoed through Liam's mind, genuinely amused. "Hah! You really are a mad one," the cauldron spirit laughed. "You think you're ready to split your very essence and throw it around like a child playing marbles? You are still in the awakening realm. What you are talking about is something that Dao lords barely dare to try. Only the Dao masters are capable of such a feat." Liam didn't respond. He stood there, eyes calm, expression resolute. The silence on his end said everything. He wasn't joking. He wasn't fantasizing. He was asking because he was already halfway down the path. After a long moment of silence, the archaic voice sounded again. "It is possible… but it's not merely about soul strength. The technique you performed just now was an echo, a projection, anchored and fed by this cauldron. Without my support, your soul would've torn like paper in a storm. To make an avatar on your own, you would need control, balance, and a comprehension of your Dao so complete that even a moment of hesitation could unravel you." "But… it is possible. I've seen it before. There were once awakened kings who walked the myriad realms with three avatars roaming three battlefields at once, one gathering resources, one spreading their doctrine, and one unleashing slaughter." Liam's eyes gleamed. Then, almost fondly, the spirit rumbled, "Fine. I understand why you want to walk down this path. As a soulmancer, this path is ideal for you. I will teach you the next step. Survive your next breakthrough and I'll show you how to make the first real soul avatar. One unanchored. One fully your own." Liam took a deep breath and bowed his head, his fists clenched with anticipation. "Thank you, senior. I won't disappoint you." There was no response in return which meant that the cauldron had gone silent again. Liam spared one more glance at his Soul avatar sitting inside the cauldron and torturing the paladin. His gaze turned cold and he started to walk out of the system shop. On his hand, the two divine droplets floated. Whatever was happening inside his being, inside the cauldron was one thing, but there were other matters on the outside he needed to pay attention to. Liam connected to his spatial artifact, placing the two divine droplets. He was not sure how to remove the restrictions on these. It was going to take some time. After depositing the droplets, he let his senses probe the spatial artifact one more time before closing it. Nothing inside had changed at all. The dragon lady was still acting or maybe she really was in some deep meditation. Either way, she showed no signs of reaching out to him. His army was still inside. Now that the system event was complete, he needed to head to the nether half of the world and release them. As for completely unlocking the spatial artifact and merging Crawford's complete soul with it, he still did not feel comfortable doing it. He has a feeling doing something like that might trigger some sort of tracker. Ultimately, the item was something he had taken from within the game. He did not want to press that trigger unless he was ready to face consequences. Especially now that the world was safely hidden for the time being. "Everything in due time." He mumbled to himself as he walked out to meet Tilia. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢 "How did everything go? Are you alright?" The fairy was waiting for him, right by the doorstep, her face full of worry. Liam smiled as he gently patted her. "I am fine. See."