The essence of the soul.
At first glance, it was an abstract and elusive topic.
In his original world, Lucas would have scoffed at such a discussion. To him, it would have been a complete waste of time—after all, no one could definitively prove whether the soul even existed.
But this world was different.
After personally witnessing souls with his own eyes, Lucas had no choice but to take the matter seriously.
Hela watched him in contemplation and continued speaking:
"The soul—also called the spirit body, the consciousness form, or even a dimensional aggregate—has many interpretations."
"Every civilization and race has its own understanding of what a soul is."
"You already know that Asgardian souls grow more deeply intertwined with their bodies as we age."
"That is why, after death, our souls can linger within the body for a long time. Unless the body is destroyed outright or the soul disperses on its own, it usually requires a being who holds the authority of death to claim it."
"To me, the soul is your core will. The body is merely a vessel."
"Different civilizations perceive the soul differently due to cultural and technological differences."
"So in the end, what matters is your understanding of the soul. That is something I cannot teach you."
"If your understanding of the soul's essence is flawed," Hela warned,
"then no matter what you do, Lois's soul will inevitably detach from her body again."
Lucas listened carefully, deep in thought.
In the past, his understanding of the soul had been rather simple—he had viewed it much like a computer's hard drive, storing all data and records accumulated during operation.
Even if the hard drive were removed from its original machine, the data would still exist. Insert it into another computer, and everything would still be there.
From that perspective, the soul was simply the sum total of a person's memories, along with the thinking patterns formed through their original body.
If that's the case…
A new idea suddenly formed in Lucas's mind.
He turned his gaze toward Lois's soul, and the Red Lantern Ring on his right hand suddenly flared with crimson light.
In the next instant, Lois's soul was enveloped in a layer of red energy.
Lucas closed his eyes and began to observe carefully. Using his nanoscopic vision, he penetrated deeper and deeper into the structure of her soul.
In his perception, the soul expanded infinitely—until he finally saw it.
The soul, too, was composed of countless unique particles.
These particles were fundamentally different from the ones he had seen while reconstructing Lois's physical body.
"Razorback," Lucas suddenly called out to the ring spirit.
"What is it?" Razorback replied immediately.
"Does a living being's soul also possess emotions?" Lucas asked.
"Yes. Without question," Razorback answered decisively.
With that confirmation, Lucas's thoughts became much clearer.
He raised his hand, using energy to gently lift Lois's body from Clark's arms, suspending it in midair.
At the same time, Lois's soul was also lifted by energy.
The two slowly moved toward one another in the air, gradually overlapping.
This was the most critical step—the decisive moment in Lois's resurrection.
Lucas's powerful spiritual force surged forth as he initiated the final intervention.
This phenomenon had been demonstrated before—
In the films, the Ancient One had once knocked Bruce Banner's soul out of his body with a single strike, only to return it moments later with no lasting effects.
That alone proved that a connection existed between soul and body—and that it could be severed and restored.
Now, Lucas was attempting to locate and rebuild that connection himself.
Hela watched silently from the side, but her internal energy was already in motion, ready to stabilize Lois's soul if anything went wrong.
Buzz—
At Lucas's command, the energy surrounding Lois activated.
The unique particle structure of her soul began to loosen.
Sensing the change, Lucas immediately increased the output of his spiritual power.
He realized that raw energy quantity or quality was not the deciding factor here—
What truly mattered was the strength and precision of his spiritual control.
Lucas was grateful. He had practiced meditation and mental training since childhood, and later received the Book of the Thane from the Ancient One.
His mastery of spiritual power had long surpassed ordinary limits.
As his spiritual force poured in, changes began to occur between Lois's soul particles and her body.
Lucas's consciousness acted like a surgeon's scalpel, constructing a bridge between soul and flesh.
He first guided the soul particles, then extended his influence into layers even smaller than cells.
The body—previously sustained only by unconscious biological functions—reacted the instant it sensed the return of its soul.
At the particle level, change erupted.
The particles composing both soul and body began to resonate.
Lucas now had only one task: synchronize both sides to the same frequency.
This was his understanding of how soul and body truly merged.
But to achieve this, the entire soul and the entire body had to be processed simultaneously.
The required spiritual power was staggering.
Lucas felt his mental energy burst forth like a dam breaking—
A vast reservoir of spiritual force surged outward in a torrential flood.
Fortunately, nearly twenty years of mental training had given him an extraordinary foundation.
At last, after consuming nearly four-fifths of his total spiritual energy, Lois's soul and body finally aligned to the same resonance.
In that instant, they fused together as if a chemical reaction had occurred.
When Lucas withdrew his power and returned to normal vision, he opened his eyes—only to find Hela staring at him with a puzzled expression.
"What's wrong?" Lucas asked, worried.
"Did I mess something up?"
Hela approached Lois and examined her closely, frowning in thought for a long moment before speaking:
"This body… it doesn't look like it belongs to an ordinary Midgardian."
"Well," Lucas admitted, slightly embarrassed,
"I optimized her body a bit when I reconstructed it."
Realization dawned on Hela's face.
"So that's why," she said.
"Then when you merged her soul and body, the energy cost must have been enormous."
"Yes," Lucas nodded.
"But shouldn't this step be fairly simple for beings like you?"
Hela gave him a complicated look.
"You enhanced her physical body to roughly twice that of a normal Midgardian," she said,
"and then used the most complex method possible to fuse soul and flesh."
"It would be strange if it wasn't difficult."
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