Strongest Scammer: Scamming The World, One Death At A Time-Chapter 162: A Lotus

Nightfall

Han Yu sat cross-legged in his courtyard, the moonlight casting a silver sheen over the mossy tiles. The faint hum of insects buzzed in the background, but within Han Yu’s mind, a storm had begun to settle.

For days now, he had been cultivating Soul Qi in bursts—tugging at threads of wrath, pulling on sorrow, gathering surprise and joy, poking reverence out of gullible disciples, even suffering the occasional disgust from others. It had worked, yes. But not without consequence.

His Soul Sea had grown unruly.

It wasn’t dangerous, not yet. But he had felt it—a jittery edge, a tension he couldn’t explain. His thoughts had occasionally become foggy. His emotions would swing strangely when he cultivated. He chalked it up to overexertion... but now, with all eight types of emotional energy gathered in small but sufficient quantities, something clicked.

It began when he exhaled.

A long, slow breath, deeper than usual. It came from somewhere in his core, as if his very soul was sighing.

Then came the shift.

Within the sea of his soul—normally a tranquil, silvery void with a swirling pool of Soul Qi—colors began to emerge. Wisps of Red (Wrath), blue (Sadness), yellow (Joy), violet (Fear), grey (Surprise), indigo (Disgust), green (Reverence/Trust), and a strange Orange shade (Anticipation) danced around the pool.

They had never floated in harmony before.

But now, like birds returning to roost, they descended into the Soul Pool together.

WHOOMPH.

A deep, resonant pulse rippled through his consciousness. The eight wisps interwove—each circling, melting, then blending seamlessly into the Soul Qi pool. There was no violence, no rejection. Only resonance.

And with that, the liquid Soul Qi in the pool changed—it brightened, becoming clearer than ever before. It was like a muddy lake settling down after fierce rain and turning clear. The previous turbulence, that faint erratic tremor he had ignored until now, vanished.

Peace settled over him like warm spring rain.

Han Yu’s breathing slowed.

His thoughts became razor-sharp—without strain.

His emotions no longer tugged randomly at his mind. Even the subtle lingering stress he had carried for weeks evaporated.

He had not realized how imbalanced he had been until now.

"...So this is harmony," Han Yu muttered.

Before, each time he used a Soul Skill or tried to refine more Soul Qi, the emotional residue would tug at him in odd directions—his rage might spike for no reason, or he’d find himself suddenly laughing. But now, it was like his soul was sitting under a tree, drinking tea, unfazed by the world.

And with that balance, a change occurred within the depths of the Soul Sea.

The once formless center of his Soul Sea—the spiritual anchor formed by his Soul Qi—took shape.

A lotus.

An ethereal, eight-petaled lotus slowly bloomed within the pool. Each petal gleamed with a hue tied to one of the eight emotions. It pulsed once, and Han Yu’s entire body tingled.

"...Whoa."

Han Yu looked at the lotus wondering just what it was as there had been no mention of this before.

SHUA

Just as he thought of it though, it activated the trigger and new memories appeared in his mind.

"A Soul Core... A mark or anchor of sorts that only appears when all Eight Emotions energy have been gathered in sufficient amounts." Han Yu now understood.

This was completely different from the Qi Core of a Core Condensation Realm cultivator though.

It was something that didn’t have a set form and could appear in different shapes for different people. It’s appearance only meant one thing.

The Soul Qi had stabilized.

It now flowed more easily through his body, his senses sharper, his internal fatigue vanishing faster than before. The energy no longer felt like a volatile storm bottled up. Instead, it felt like a perfectly tuned instrument, ready to sing at a moment’s notice.

He raised a finger, conjuring a wisp of Soul Qi.

It obeyed perfectly.

No overreaction, no resistance. Smooth, like silk running over his skin.

He conjured another, then a third. Even manipulating multiple wisps no longer took effort. It was like breathing.

More importantly, he no longer had to fight emotional aftershocks every time he used the Soul Qi.

"...So this is the true beginning of Soul Cultivation," Han Yu whispered. "Only when the eight are balanced... can one stand steady." freewebnøvel.coɱ

He stared at the lotus gently spinning in his Soul Sea.

"Eight Emotions. One Soul."

A smile slowly spread across his face.

Han Yu learned a bit more about his cultivation now. In the Harvester Realm of Soul cultivation, only when one had formed this Soul Core would one truly be considered an Initiate.

It was no wonder one could match the peak of a Qi cultivation stage by merely entering a Soul Cultivation Stage.

In order to progress, he would have to collect even more Soul qi, until it filled up half of his Soul Space. At that point, he would progress to the next stage, reaching the Soul Adept Stage and his power would be equal to that of a Core Condensation Realm cultivator.

After that, he would need to not only fill up his entire Soul Space, but further expand it. Just filling it completely would put him at the Peak of the Core Condensation realm, but when he managed to expand it he would reach the Soul Expert Stage.

He would then be equal to a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, a true expert that could even start their own sect!

Of course, the path ahead would still be difficult—he was merely at the threshold of the Soul Harvester Realm’s first rank. But now, with balance achieved, he could cultivate properly. His Soul Core had structure. His path, direction. No longer groping in the dark.

"Well," he grinned. "That only took several prank wars, a fake beard, a pill cloud of eternal laughter, emotional theft, and near exposure to the sect elders."

He gave himself a sarcastic thumbs up.

"But you did it, Han Yu. You did it."

He leaned back and folded his hands behind his head, the stars glimmering above.

"...Now to see just how strong this new balance makes me."