Death... and me

Roan looked at Kafan and just nodded. Whether Kafan was telling the truth or not, the fact was that he would completely lose the ability to feel and use Death Energy. Since that's the case, he might as well just accept it. Kafan was right at one point. He truly doesn't need to use Death Energy anymore. He is a cultivator now.

"Alright, I'm not a Death Spirit anymore. Let's leave at it," Roan said. "But that makes me want to ask you another thing. You are a Death Spirit. How come you didn't try to take the system for yourself so that you could change into a living being?"

Kafan shook his head and pointed at himself. "Do you really think I'm a Death Spirit?"

Roan was taken aback for a moment. "You are, aren't you? I've seen your Death Spirit form. It uses the same Death Energy that I used when I was a Death Spirit. Didn't you say only Death Spirits can use Death Energy?"

Kafan smiled in response. "Yes, if you think like that, then it is not wrong to say that I'm a Death Spirit. However, I'm different from the others. There are a few other Death Spirits here in the Universal Transition Organization who are like me, too. First, look at me. What do I look like now?"

"A member of the Humanoid Races?" Roan answered without thinking much about it. Yet, he soon noticed a problem. "Wait, even when I had reached my high rank back when I was a Death Spirit, I was never able to change into a physical humanoid form."

"Exactly," Kafan confirmed. "Death Spirits do not have the capability of changing into humanoid forms. Yet, here am I, a Death Spirit in a humanoid form? Why? Because I'm a real Death Spirit, not a copy."

"Copy?" Roan was surprised to hear that. "Does that mean all Death Spirits are copies?"

Kafan nodded. "Yes. I told you, didn't I? We created Death Spirits so that we could take care of the Dead Souls of this side of the Universe. Naturally, there had to be a design for them. Something that we knew it would work. That's when we came up with the idea of creating Death Spirits similar to us, the Real Ones."

Kafan continued. "Real Death Spirits like myself are extremely rare. We are not like the Soul Devils, which can appear as long as you have a big enough concentration of Dead Souls. Think about us as something similar to the Essence Race. We need very strict conditions and a lot of luck on top of that for us to take form. You could say that that's the reason Huban and I get along quite well."

"We obviously have the ability to use Death Energy. It is a natural ability that allows us to transform Dead Souls into Death Energy. The Fake Reincarnation Path is basically a device capable of copying our ability to transform Dead Souls into Death Energy."

"That's also why we can transform into Humanoid Forms. Well, the Essence Race can't do it, but we are not the Essence Race either. We are just similar. Oh! Perhaps it would be better to simply call this energy Death Essence instead. Hahahah!"

Seeing that Roan didn't find his words very funny, Kafan could only continue. "Ahem! Anyway, the Death Spirits, like your old self, are just copies created by trying to simulate the conditions where we are born. At first, we were quite excited to have succeeded. I mean... We, Real Death Spirits, have such a terrible multiplication ability. How good was it that we could now give birth to so many of our companions? We could finally stand side by side with all the other races in the Universe."

Kafan's excitement then disappeared right after. "Unfortunately, we soon noticed the huge flaw in these Death Spirits. They could live a long time, but other than Death Energy, they couldn't use any other energy for cultivation or actions. The strength they were born with was the strength they would have for life. You probably noticed it as well. You have lived for tens of thousands of years. Yet, your strength hadn't increased even an iota."

Roan agreed with Kafan. The only thing Roan improved in his many years as Death Spirit was his ability to control Death Energy. Yet, when it came to rough power, it all depended on how far he was from the Death Energy Source of the Universal Transition Organization. He was definitely many times stronger here in the Organization than in the corners of the Universe. Roan... didn't really have a strength of his own.

"So I was also a copy, uh..." Roan didn't seem to take the news that bad.

"You were," Kafan looked at Roan's expression. "However, when I say copy, I'm only talking about your Death Spirit Form and ability to control Death Energy. The Death Spirit Souls, even though they are different from normal souls, are still one of a kind, just like any other soul. They all have their own thoughts, desires, worries, etc. Of course, we also have a little something to prevent them from rebelling, but I believe you understand this was necessary."

"I do," Roan admitted. He had always been very rational. "With a single organization to take care of the entire half of the Universe, there is a need for countless Death Spirits. If you don't want this side to be completely dominated by Soul Devils, you can't afford the Death Spirit Copies to rebel. It is a logical train of thought."

Kafan was happy that Roan understood. "Exactly. Don't worry, though. You are not under the same control anymore. It seems like once you were taken by Soul Gem's little system, it completely got rid of anything it considered harmful to your soul."

Roan knew that. Sister Orb told them time and time again that the system made their soul completely immune to any external influence. Naturally, that also counted the influence he had as a Death Spirit.