Alex had been surprised multiple times today. He was surprised at the fact that Death had been a Sword God, and surprised that he had the key to bringing sanity from her mindlessness.
And yet, none of that seemed to compare to the emotions he felt right now.
He was in the presence of a Primordial.
He stared at the beast, unable to believe it. The tiny cub was a Primordial, a God realm being. It was a shock for certain.
Alex had heard of Guardian Tiger a few times before, but the most important piece of information about it was something he had gained from Rosemist.
The Guardian Tiger was the predecessor to the White Tiger. In a way, Pearl was a descendant of the beast before him.
Or... at least a beast that the thing before him used to be.
"You... are a Primordial, senior?" Bladedance asked, her breathing growing ragged. She knew of Primordials, of course. She had seen the floating Dragon Turtle and the Headless Immortal in space. She was aware of the Yellow Dragon corpse in the Stone God’s cult and had heard rumors about the Nineheaded Phoenix having something to do with the Fire God.
But those were all dead Primordials. This was the first one she was talking to.
The cub looked toward her. "I was a Primordial."
Bladedance frowned. "What are you now?" she asked.
"A memory of the Primordial. A remnant," the cub answered.
"Are you different from a regular spirit?" Bladedance asked, confused.
Alex believed he understood what the Primordial was. It was similar to the spirits of beasts that formed in his mind, similar to blood beasts that formed from the beast cores, similar to Sun Wraiths.
Similar to the Dragon Emperor’s spirit that Bai Jingshen pulled out from his corpse using the Godkiller’s gifts.
The Primordial was formed from the spiritual aspects left behind in a corpse that was used by a thoughtless mass of energy to gain intelligence. It had its memories, but it was not the real thing.
"What is a regular spirit?" the cub asked. "I was formed of energy, and have the memories of when I was alive. Does that make me a regular spirit or not?"
Bladedance paused.
"To go further, if I can converse with you back and forth, just as I would’ve when I was alive, does that mean I’m still alive?" it asked.
Bladedance wasn’t sure. "Are you?"
The cub smiled. "That is not something I can answer. You decide what’s real and what is not."
Bladedance had nothing else to say.
"Senior, what is this place? What is up with this fog?" Alex asked. "Are you the one suppressing our cultivation, or is this a formation?"
"This place is the only thing holding this world together," the cub said. "Without this place, this world would likely crumble away, destroyed. For that same reason, everyone in here is suppressed so that you may not endanger the ones living in this world."
"Are we not allowed to go in further?" the old man asked.
"Of course you are," the cub said. "I am here to take you all to the island at the center of this sea."
Alex and the other two prepared to leave with the cub, but it didn’t look like the suppression around them was getting lifted any time soon.
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