Chapter 1182: Inheritance
"It's a bit of a long story, but I was blessed with some strokes of fortune. Senior Vial Spirit, is it true that one's three corpse souls can be tamed," Han Li asked.
"Why would I lie to you about something like this? It's possible, but it's not very easy to accomplish," the vial spirit replied in a succinct manner, seemingly not wanting to dwell on this subject.
Han Li had always wanted to find out more about corpse souls, and he certainly wasn't going to pass up this opportunity.
"Senior Vial Spirit, why is it that there's a disparity in power between Patriarch Liu Qi's three corpse souls? Liu Tianhao is at the pinnacle of the Great Encompassment Stage, whereas Liu Zizai and Liu Haoran are only at the mid-Great Encompassment Stage. Could it be that just like cultivators, corpse souls can advance their own powers through cultivation?"
"Didn't I just tell you that corpse souls are no different from living beings? Of course they can cultivate! As for why there's a disparity between the cultivation bases of Liu Qi's corpse souls, that's obviously because his wicked corpse soul was able to attain his physical body, thereby allowing it to progress in its cultivation much faster than the other two," the vial spirit explained in an impatient manner, as if all of this should've already been abundantly obvious.
"Is the body of the host really that important for corpse souls?" Han Li asked.
"Of course. The body of the host concerns the limits of the Great Dao. Without attaining the body of the host, a corpse soul will never be able to become a Dao Ancestor. On top of that, the body of the host contains all of the host's insights in terms of law cultivation, so once a corpse soul obtains the body, their law powers will fuse with it, instantly giving them a drastic enhancement in power.
“Why else do you think all corpse souls are so intent on taking over the body of their host?" the vial spirit explained.
"I see. What kind of relationship exists between a cultivator and their three corpse souls? If the corpse souls are constantly plotting to take over their body, why don't they just kill their corpse souls to permanently eliminate this threat?" Han Li asked.
"The corpse souls are manifestations of a cultivator's attachments, so they're impossible to completely eradicate. Even if the corpse souls are killed, those attachments will return to the cultivator, significantly impacting their mental state and cultivation, so they'll need to be severed again. With each severance, those attachments will only grow in power, making each successive severance more and more difficult.
“Hence, the three corpse souls can't be killed, nor is it a good idea to release them and let them do as they please, so the best way to treat them would be to seal them away," the vial spirit explained, and it seemed to be quite happy to share knowledge on this subject with Han Li.