"BLECH—"
Inside Yang An’s residence at the Life Crane Sect, the Corpse Slave, Fugui, held up a spittoon, precisely catching the acidic bile Yang An vomited.
His Second Senior Brother, Fu Ming, had certainly been right. All that food was highly nourishing; in fact, it was digested the mont it entered Yang An’s stomach.
As a result, all he could do was retch up bile, which was incredibly unpleasant.
The more normal-looking items were fine. Even though they had bizarre nas, he at least had no psychological burden eating them, treating them as ordinary food.
But the bizarre, living things and chunks of flesh were a different story. The psychological impact on Yang An was imnse, but he could only steel himself and force them down.
After he finished eating, a thick, foul, coppery stench lingered in his mouth and nose, refusing to dissipate. This was the main reason for his nausea and vomiting.
Not to ntion, while these things were all highly nourishing, eating them ca with all sorts of strange and unusual costs.
Fortunately, Yang An had used Purification before taking a bite; otherwise, he would probably be feeling even worse right now.
But discomfort aside, stuffing so much into his stomach had benefited Yang An imnsely.
As soon as he finished eating, he bolted, rushing back to his residence without stopping. After only the ti it takes for an incense stick to burn, Yang An felt his entire body heat up as if he had been thrown into a furnace.
His body seed to be undergoing so kind of wondrous transformation.
At the sa ti, his Mana was rapidly and autonomously refining itself, even more intensely than if he had taken a potent elixir.
Yang An quickly ordered Fugui to guard the main door while he began to ditate and regulate his breathing in his room, adapting to the benefits these items brought.
anwhile, inside the Golden Sun Pavilion.
After Yang An’s departure, the master-disciple ceremony banquet naturally ca to an end.
The guests took their leave of Elder Life Crane one by one. Soon, only Elder Life Crane and his disciples remained in the Golden Sun Pavilion, with no outsiders left.
"Twelve!"
Elder Life Crane’s gaze shifted to the female disciple standing at the end of the line.
That was his twelfth disciple, nad Wen Yin.
"Master!"
Wen Yin took a step forward, coming before Elder Life Crane and respectfully awaiting his instructions.
She was tall and slender with a well-proportioned figure, dressed in a tight-fitting black uniform, her hair tied back with a red cord.
Her figure alone could easily spark one’s imagination.
On her face, however, despite her well-proportioned features, countless tiny, blood-red filants erged from her eyes, completely obscuring them and making them look as if they were covered by a red veil.
"...Over here."
Elder Life Crane beckoned again. Wen Yin had stepped forward, but her back was to him; she had clearly gotten the direction wrong.
This twelfth disciple of his was congenitally blind. Even though entering cultivation allowed her to perceive the outside world, what she "saw" was already distorted and misplaced due to her innate condition, giving her an extrely poor sense of direction.
Hearing Elder Life Crane’s voice from behind her, an embarrassed expression appeared on Wen Yin’s face, and she hurriedly turned around.
Her fellow disciples nearby couldn’t help but stifle a chuckle, but they were used to it and said nothing.
"In two days, I want you to make a trip to Yulan City. I have a task for you. Take your Thirteenth Junior Brother with you this ti and let him get an early start familiarizing himself with the sect’s affairs."
"Yes! Your disciple obeys!"
Wen Yin imdiately nodded in agreent, but then she seed to think of sothing, hesitated for a mont, and added:
"However, your disciple’s Cultivation Level is still shallow. If we encounter a situation I cannot handle, I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect Junior Brother. I can only guarantee my own safety."
"No matter."
Elder Life Crane waved his hand dismissively.
"If he dies, he dies. Just rember to bring his physical body back."
"Yes!"
Wen Yin obediently agreed and imdiately took her leave.
After receiving their own instructions from Elder Life Crane, the remaining disciples also left the Golden Sun Pavilion one by one.
Soon, Elder Life Crane was the only one left in the Golden Sun Pavilion.
After everyone was gone, Elder Life Crane remained seated, lost in thought.
Just then, He Tou let out a sly chuckle.
"Old man, you noticed it too, didn’t you?"
"Mm..."
Elder Life Crane nodded slightly, deep in thought, his gaze fixed in a particular direction.
"It seems this new disciple of ours is not so simple. There’s sothing strange about his physical body!
To eat so many things and still act as if nothing’s wrong... this boy is very likely the legendary, rarely seen Innate Flesh Mushroom!
When we first t him, he was completely unaffected by the Lighting Technique. We should have realized it back then!"
He Tou sounded extrely excited, for it had discovered a secret—a secret known only to beings of their level.
Everything one encounters upon stepping onto the path of cultivation cos with a cost. This is destiny!
Destiny cannot be defied!
Once tainted by the cost of anything and everything, it cannot be dodged, replaced, or eliminated. However, it can be suppressed, and it can be amplified.
A constitution that can amplify the eruption of these costs is called a Corpse Transformation!
This is the well-known fourth Great Realm of cultivation, an essential stage on the path of cultivation that can be achieved through postnatal training.
And a constitution that can suppress the eruption of these costs is called an Innate Flesh Mushroom.
As the na implies, this constitution is congenital. It is impossible to acquire through postnatal cultivation; one must be born with it.
Throughout history, it has only appeared a few tis. It is so rare that saying it is one in ten million would not be an exaggeration.
Furthermore, this type of constitution can only suppress the cost, not negate it, and it can only be suppressed actively, not released actively.
Therefore, once a person with an Innate Flesh Mushroom constitution enters the Corpse Transformation Realm, all the previously suppressed costs will be uncontrollably amplified by the influence of that realm, ultimately leading to a violent death from the cost eruption.
Suppress the cost, and you can never advance to the Corpse Transformation Realm. Advance, and it’s a dead end.
If you don’t suppress the cost, you’re no different from an ordinary person, and the constitution becos as useless as a chicken rib—tasteless to eat, yet a pity to discard.
Because of this, the Innate Flesh Mushroom gradually beca a hidden legend, known to very few.
If Yang An hadn’t eaten so many Spiritual Objects earlier and still walked away as if nothing was wrong, He Tou would probably never have thought of this.
Combined with the fact that Yang An had been unaffected by the Lighting Technique back on Golden Egg Jade Island, it all made sense. At the ti, both it and Elder Life Crane had assud Yang An’s mind was simply resolute enough, which was why they accepted him as a disciple.
Recalling it now and matching it with Yang An’s previous behavior, He Tou beca even more certain that Yang An was, without a doubt, the legendary Innate Flesh Mushroom!
"Although the Innate Flesh Mushroom is one in a million and can suppress all costs, if he cannot find a sliver of hope before reaching the Corpse Transformation Realm, the only outco is death."
"Unless he never steps into the Corpse Transformation Realm. But if so, he’ll just beco a useless piece of trash."
Elder Life Crane shook his head, clearly not very interested in the Innate Flesh Mushroom constitution.
On the contrary, the fact that Yang An possessed an Innate Flesh Mushroom constitution and had already begun using it to suppress costs ant his fate was sealed. Elder Life Crane found this to be a pity.
After all, he had been very satisfied with Yang An’s earlier performance. Such a vicious and decisive young man was a rare find who suited his tastes perfectly.
"However, it’s still too early to say. He still has a chance. We’ll wait and see."
Elder Life Crane said faintly, then spoke no more and vanished in the blink of an eye.
...
"WHOOSH—"
Yang An opened his eyes and let out a long breath of turbid air, instantly filling the entire room with a foul, coppery stench.
Nearly four hours had passed since he began ditating to regulate his breathing and adapt to the benefits from the nurous Spiritual Objects.
Although he had been disgusted while eating those things, the benefits he received were tangible and real.
In just four hours, after completely digesting those Spiritual Objects, Yang An’s Mana had skyrocketed to a level approaching the Late Stage Fake Food Realm. The Mana in his acupoints was condensed to the point of being nearly full.
This was equivalent to at least several months of his cultivation!
This made Yang An ecstatic. The growth of his Cultivation Level was of utmost importance to him.
Once his acupoints were full, it ant he would be able to fuse with a third Dao of Destiny Technique, and his strength would once again increase dramatically. It was impossible not to be overjoyed.
But besides the growth in his Mana, his physical body had also changed.
At this mont, covering every inch of his flesh and skin, including his face and its seven orifices, were countless tiny, silk-like black worms, densely tangled together. Each black worm had crawled out from his pores.
Although these worm-like living things lost their vitality after erging from his body, they had devoured all the stagnant impurities within him, carrying them outside.
It was just like the "marrow cleansing and muscle refining" described in novels, only achieved through an alternative thod.
Right now, Yang An not only felt his body had beco powerful and very light, but after brushing off the worms, even his skin and flesh looked much smoother and more delicate.
He was no longer as scrawny as before. He had undergone a huge transformation, as if he were a completely different person.
Beyond that, as Yang An inspected his body, he discovered that sothing strange had grown on him!
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