"Godhood?" Slime#47 tilted his body, doubtful.

Elder Slime nodded. "Yes. Godhood. After one becomes a god, they gain immortality."

He glanced at the young slime with a small grin. "Even after getting killed, they can resurrect themselves—or have backup plans to survive. And there are many tiers of immortality."

"Tiers of immortality?" Slime#47's eyes widened with intense interest.

But to his disappointment, Old Slime waved his hands, refusing to continue. "It's too early for you to know all that."

'He always stops at the interesting parts.' Slime#47 clicked his tongue, knowing there was no use begging.

"Elder, do you know any passive soul-defense skills?" he asked.

'I need a skill. If someone in the slime farm has a soul attack, it will deal more damage to me than normal attacks—and that would make everything even more troublesome,' he thought.

"Let me think," Elder Slime said.

He closed his eyes, sorting through a set of skills.

"Which type do you like?" he asked. "Mana, aura… or true magic?"

Young Slime recalled the problem. 'Ordinary skills might not work on me, since the remnant of authority is still lingering.'

He muttered under his breath, "Since it only allows attacks… it will definitely stop normal passive skills from working—unless they're authority as well."

After a few moments of thought, he requested, "I want one that doesn't require energy, but works directly with soul essence itself."

Elder Slime nodded. "Yes, I have one."

"But it's very dangerous to learn." His eyes narrowed. "Are you sure?"

Young Slime nodded.

'Well, I have no choice,' he thought bitterly.

"I'm not joking," Old Slime warned. "Touching soul essence is pain—hell itself."

"And the skill you want requires moving and shaping soul essence directly." He stared into Slime#47's eyes.

Young Slime nodded without hesitation.

"I'm already used to pain," he said, recalling his newly acquired divine skill—Extreme Pain Tolerance.

"Very well." Old Slime's voice turned serious. "I'll teach you… Soul Mantle."

"It uses soul essence to form a barrier around the soul." He spoke with calm authority. "After you form the barrier, it keeps protecting your soul until it breaks."

He added, sounding almost pleased, "If the barrier breaks, you'll have to form it again—meaning you'll experience the pain again."

"It shouldn't be an ordinary skill, right?" Slime#47 asked, thinking. 'He actually took time to choose it. Unlike before, when he taught spells instantly.'

Old Slime grinned. "This skill evolves."

"If you have one layer, it's common rank." He continued, "The more layers you create, the stronger it becomes—and the higher its rank. An evolutionary-type skill."

"Plus skills…" Slime#47 muttered, grinning. "How could I forget the extraordinary skills I gained from the elemental slime race skillset?"

He still remembered how absurdly strong those skills were—second only to true magic.

"Good. Let's start," Old Slime said sharply, waving his hand.

They bounced to the combat training area.

Slime#47 sat with his eyes closed and focused.

"Can you sense your soul?" Old Slime asked.

"No," Slime#47 answered bitterly.

"You're lacking perception." Elder Slime snorted. "Of course you can sense it. You'll need 'D-' rank perception to do it naturally."

"Still, there's another way." His tone softened slightly. "Use mana or aura."

"Spread mana throughout your entire body—leave no part untouched."

'As expected of Elder Slime… he knows solutions,' Slime#47 mused with a slight grin.

"Stop smiling and focus," Old Slime scolded sharply.

Young Slime slowly spread mana throughout his body.

With his control, he sensed every inch—every fragment.

Using mana, he entered his core.

Inside the core, his mana spread across the space.

'A hole…' he mused as a thread of mana discovered a dark opening leading deeper within the core.

He sent a ray of mana into it. The mana shaped itself like the young slime.

Soon, more rays followed.

Inside Slime#47's soul dimension…

"It's in such a sorry state…" he muttered.

Two huge dark-white spheres floated in an empty gray void.

Bulky golden chains wrapped around one soul—and half of the other—leaving not even a small gap.

He focused on the half-suppressed soul.

A white barrier surrounded it, extending from the other half of the soul that was sealed by the chains.

"It's utterly smashed," he whispered.

The barrier leaked, cracked all over.

Some cracks were large. Some were small.

He couldn't find even a few inches with a proper, intact barrier.

Wisps of white energy flowed out of the cracks.

Transparent white energy also pulsed through them.

"Those wisps are my soul essence leaking…" he muttered. "And that transparent white energy is the remnant of Time Authority."

[ Ding! You can now sense your soul! ]

A notification flashed.

If he had received this notification before this loop, he would have been ecstatic.

But staring at the miserable state of his soul, he stood still for a few moments.

He patted himself. "Focus on the present. Past is past."

He took a deep breath.

"Let's try moving the essence… yep, I can control it," he murmured as the soul essence shifted according to his will.

Then—

A jolt of chilling pain hit him. Bone-shattering pain.

Yet he didn't even blink.

"If I felt this pain in the first loop, I might've died from it," he muttered with a bitter smile.

After so many loops, he had become extremely tolerant of pain.

After a few minutes, he glanced at the delicate dark-white barrier he had formed beneath the cracked will barrier.

It was solid and thick, extending even under the golden chains.

"Good," he grinned, noticing the soul essence leakage had reduced by a lot.

'This gives me more time to live.'

A faint smile appeared. "A temporary solution."

Then his eyes narrowed. "It's a pity it can't stop the leak completely…"

Because the barrier itself was made of soul essence.

It would disperse little by little over time, and new soul essence would replace it from within.

But few wisps of dispersed essence wouldn't return back to the soul—because of the cracks, it would flow out instead.

[ Ding! ]

End of the chapter.

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