Thunder Drake Explained with a grave tone, "Anyone could interfere with their advancement, and anything could kill them while they remaines stunned trying to pursue the understanding of the great truth. That was what usually caused their failure and death."
As the patriarch said this, he shook his head and said, "Those ancient days were not good days. Fortunately, things have become better. Nowadays, we cultivators can make preparations to maximize our chances of success."
"Instead of waiting for some chance encounter, we cultivate powerful techniques that liberate our souls for us. Then we pick the time and place to advance. So we have ten times higher chance of success."
"Now only those who don't have a choice still use the ancient method. But they will have to be geniuses to even get the chance to use it."
This made the patriarch chuckle. He asked Arthur, "Can you imagine that? The process is very bad and deadly, yet it is only for the geniuses to experience."
Before Arthur could reply, the Patriarch said, "I guess you can imagine it. After all, you just experienced it. If I didn't stop you, you would have died just like the many ancient cultivators in the past."
Arthur felt enlightened by what the patriarch had said. But he still had some things he didn't understand.
So he asked, "You said earlier that the process couldn't be stopped. So how did you stop me and save me?"
Patriarch Thunder Drake became serious when he heard this question. He said in a solemn tone, "It is impossible to stop the new internal method. That's one of the disadvantages. Once you begin to push the soul out, the soul has to adapt to its new higher state or collapse."
"But the ancient method can be stopped in its earlier stages. Since you didn't use an energy that isn't yours to interfere with your soul, all I needed to do was disconnect the connection between your soul and your golden core."
When Arthur heard this, he felt a chill go through him. He felt shocked because if the connection between his mind and his golden core could be disconnected at any time, it meant that he could be crippled by a nascent soul cultivator at any time.
This made him ask in shock, "You can do that?"
Thunder Drake replied, "Yes, I can. It is nothing special. Every nascent soul cultivator can do something like that. We can even possess your body and use it as ours."
The chill that Arthur was feeling intensified. He asked in disbelief, "Then how can golden core cultivators fight and kill nascent soul cultivators?"
Thunder Drake sighed and replied, "As long as you are a spiritual artifact for protecting your soul, you will be safe from spiritual interference. You will get one when you leave the sect for the exchange program."
"Now let's get back to the matter of your suicidal attempt to break through to the nascent soul realm. I saved you, but it should not have been so easy, and you should not be fine after the ordeal."
"In truth, the consequences of failing the attempt are dire enough. The fact that you failed due to external interference should have caused you to lose half of your soul."
"To be honest with you, you shouldn't have woken up for at least a year. During that time, your body will try to heal your soul. Even when you wake up, your soul will still be injured and unstable. You would have needed spiritual treasures to heal your soul completely, and sometimes, the injury might be permanent."
"But here you are. Fine and good, as if you are recovering from drinking too much wine. It makes me admire your talent even more. I believe that you can achieve great things in the future."
Arthur bowed and said humbly, "Thank you for your kind words."
Patriarch Thunder Drake shook his head and said, "They are not just kind words. I truly meant them, and I am willing to bet that if you don't die, you can reach the sixth mortal coil."
"I have seen your records. Apart from your affinity for less mana, your talent for energy refining is mediocre. But the talent of your body and your soul are impressive, and this is the time for you to display the effects of those talents clearly."
"Your powerful soul will help you a lot in advancing to the fifth mortal coil. You will definitely have more than a 10% chance of success."
Arthur let the praises get to his head and asked jokingly, "So just the sixth mortal coil? What about the seventh mortal coil?"
What he said made the Patriarch laugh. It was a hearty laugh that took Arthur aback. He was surprised because he had never seen the Patriarch laugh before.
As he laughed, he said to Arthur, "You're making jokes now, huh? That's very funny."
Arthur didn't know what to say because he was partly serious with that question because he wanted to know why the Patriarch didn't think he could achieve the seventh mortal coil. So he kept quiet.
When the Patriarch finished laughing, he said, "I wasn't laughing because I thought that you couldn't reach the seventh mortal coil. That wasn't what I was thinking about at all."
"I was laughing because you thought that I knew enough about the seventh mortal coil to make a judgement about your chances of success. That's just hilarious."
Thunder Drake Shook his head and said, "I am in the dark about the seventh mortal coil. But if there is one thing I know for us, it is that the vessel sigil techniques can improve your chances of reaching the seventh mortal coil."
"I don't know exactly how they can help you reach the seventh mortal coil. But I know that the vessel sigil techniques must be higher than the fifth rank. I've heard that they are at least at the sixth rank and are very powerful even then."