"You want me to turn off a part of my brain? Isn’t that dangerous?"
Jason felt worry bleed into his heart when he heard that he would be turning off something in his head, and he didn’t gain any confidence at all when Esdeath responded in a grave tone.
’No, no, as long as you don’t mess this up, it’s safe. But you must not mess this up. This is one method that I am certain will take care of the voice, but if you make a mistake and pick the wrong meridian, you could speed up the corruption process and lose all your sanity, or worse, you’ll lose all mental functionality.’
Jason felt his teeth grind together in anger once he heard this. What the fuck did Esdeath mean by ’this is safe’!? This isn’t safe at all! In fact, this might be the most dangerous thing that Jason had ever done! The chance of losing all your mental functions means that you would effectively become a vegetable for life! Right now, Jason was being bombarded with constant headaches, and there was a voice distracting him in his own fucking head! Jason didn’t know if he could even focus enough to find the right meridian!
"I don’t even know what a meridian fucking looks like."
’Yes, you do. Those nerve endings that you felt all across your body after your Qi awakened. There are billions of them down your hand and up towards your brain. Those aren’t nerves. They are meridians. Follow those meridians upwards and find the right one. I know you can do this. It might be difficult for anyone else, but you and I—we’re built differently from the rest of these mortals. We are prodigies. If there’s anyone other than me that can do this on his first day as a cultivator, then it is you.’
Jason almost scoffed at the amount of confidence that he could hear in Esdeath’s tone. Esdeath really believed that Jason could do this! And in a way, that confidence bled into Jason, and Jason felt his own assurance growing. This was possible for him. He just had to make sure he was careful.
Jason took one last deep breath before he slowly focused on his internal consciousness, and he felt his entire body relax slowly as he fell into his Qi pool. Jason didn’t know how to explain the sensation that he was feeling right now. It was almost like he was floating and swimming at the same time, and as he moved, he felt his consciousness passing through the various parts of his body. Esdeath had been right about there being billions of meridians. Jason moved up through hundreds of billions of them as he made his way to his brain, and he crossed past his heart and then the base of his neck before he finally reached the brain. This part of his body was lit up by billions of meridians, and Jason almost went fucking blind just from looking at them! There were meridians everywhere, and Jason wondered how in the world he was going to be able to pick out one of them from all this!
Complete! Complete! Complete! Complete!
Make me complete!
Make me complete!
Kill! Kill! Kill!
Jason grunted as he felt another psychic attack slam into his skull, and he could feel the vibrations from the voice echoing through his brain. Jason took in another deep breath, and he moved along the various meridians in his mind. Jason knew that the best way to find the one he needed was to follow the voice, but the problem was that the voice was echoing through every inch of his mind, so it was almost like the voice was everywhere.
’I can’t do this the normal way. Feeling for it like it’s a regular entity won’t work. What if I... used the shadow?’
Jason felt his brow furrow when he thought about this. Jason knew that this voice was something that originated from the shadow, and right now, Jason was connected with the shadow far more closely than ever before, so that meant that if Jason wanted to find the voice, the only way might be through the shadow. But Jason didn’t know if he would be able to control the shadow like that at all. It was a gamble that might not work, but Jason decided that he would take it.
Jason felt for his connection with the shadow inside him, and he could feel the darkness flowing all across his body! The [Land of Lost Shadows] had literally bonded with Jason’s physical body so he could summon it at any time, so right now, Jason’s body was literally a walking alternate reality. But Jason ignored the shadows that were all around his body, and he shifted his focus to his brain! Jason could feel his concentration slipping as he tried to hold onto the feeling of both his Qi and the shadows at the same time, but he held onto it by sheer will alone, and Jason’s eyes narrowed when he saw a single meridian a far distance away pulsing with the darkness of the shadows! Jason immediately started to head towards it, and he grunted as he heard the screeching intensify!
COMPLETE! COMPLETE! DON’T YOU WANT TO BE COMPLETE!?
DON’T YOU WANT TO BE COMPLETE!? COMPLETE! COMPLETE!
Jason cursed at the shadow as he finally got close enough, and he saw a single meridian pulsing with a dark light! Jason reached out for the Qi in that meridian, and the meridian began to wiggle as it felt Jason reaching for it! It was almost like the Meridian knew what was about to happen, and it was trying to run from Jason, but Jason grabbed it roughly, and he grit his teeth and pulled with all his strength!
RIPPP!
BZZTT!
"NGH! FUCK!"
Jason cursed out loud as he felt an electric shock pass through his brain, and Gina quickly rushed forward and held his shoulders while asking what was wrong! Agiel took a step towards Jason with a frown on her face, and Fredrica watched with a sense of both foreboding and anticipation. Fredrica could tell even without being told anything that there was something wrong with Jason right now. This was the first time Fredrica had seen Jason in so much pain, and in a way that was both good and bad in Fredrica’s mind. It was good because deep down, Fredrica didn’t like Jason at all, and anything that could hurt him was more than welcome in her books. She was still pissed at Jason for how he treated her before, and she saw his pain as a good thing! But on the other hand, this was bad for Earth as a whole! This was the strongest man in their fucking world, and he was the only person that they could realistically depend on if Earth was attacked by a power beyond their control. If anything happened to Jason...
’Fuck, he better be fucking okay.’
Fredrica bit her inner cheek in worry, and she continued to watch Jason closely.
Jason was breathing heavily as Gina held him and asked him if he was okay, and for a moment, Jason didn’t answer her. Gina felt intense worry fill her heart as she shook Jason and sent him various mental messages to try and get him to talk to her! Tears were gathering at the edge of her eyes from how worried she was, and she didn’t even care about looking weak! She just wanted him to be okay!
’Jason! Jason, come on, please! Jason!’
Gina was about to even start calling out physically, but she stopped when Jason’s hand suddenly rose and wrapped around her shoulder. Jason nodded slowly with a small smile on his face, and he let out a harsh breath as he nodded to Gina.
"I’m fine. I’m fine. It’s alright."
Gina felt an intense surge of relief fill her body, and she immediately pressed her face into Jason’s body and hugged his waist tightly! Jason ran his hand into Gina’s hair, and he held her close before kissing her head with a sigh. That was fucking crazy.