Chapter 276 - Xiantian Physique
The energy that was currently emanating could not be identified and was different from spirit qi and vital energy. Its source seemed to be the numerous characters that made up the net that was covering the stomach. With each passing second, the energy seemed to be increasing and with it, the net was slowly fading away.
As the energy spread around in Lin Mu's body, it healed every injury that was within it. The injuries that were caused by the raging vital energy were repaired and the hidden sequelae were also being healed. The bleeding apertures of Lin Mu stopped, and the blood that was staining his face also seemingly dried up.
The blood dried and flaked away before turning to a fine powder in the air. Lin Mu's expression eased up, and the pain dispersed.
Inside his bones, the vital energy that was pouring in like a raging river smoothed up and the barrier had completely disappeared. Now it was as if the bones and marrows were linked through the reservoir of vital energy.
All the layers of Lin Mu's body that contained the vital energy were merging. The vital energy within his skin, muscles, blood, bones and finally the marrows joined and became a single complete entity. Also due to the massive amount of vital energy that had appeared, Lin Mu had directly shot to the peak of the thirteenth stage of the body tempering realm.
Normally the vital energy should have only been enough to break the barrier to the thirteenth stage and would have started tempering his marrows. But now the vital energy had completely soaked his marrows in it and was fully saturated. Lin Mu had gained an entire stage's worth of vital energy in one go.
"This… energy… what is it?" Xukong questioned, feeling confused.
He looked back at the ethereal altar, having calmed down with no qi fluctuations around him.
"Did you already know this was going to happen? Or perhaps… you planned this from the very start?" Xukong questioned the nearly nonexistent altar.
But as expected, he received no response and sighed with helplessness.
'At least he's gotten through this ordeal, I just hope there are no more surprises.' Xukong thought, feeling a bit relieved.
Back in the real world, Lin Mu's heartbeats had returned to normal and his breathing was rhythmic as well. He slowly opened his eyes as they faintly glimmered. The graying blue net that was composed of the obscure characters had completely faded away by now and Lin Mu's stomach had returned to its normal look.
~Cough~
~Cough~
~Cough~
~Cough~
Lin Mu's face turned a bit red as he started coughing. At first, the coughs were low, but they soon increased in loudness and became like the hacking coughs that a chronic smoker would have.
~Splat~
Then at the end with a loud cough, Lin Mu spat out a large glob of thick liquid that looked like black tar. It fell to the ground, but upon touching the ground it did not spread around but rather clumped together like a blob of mercury would look like.
Lin Mu controlled his breaths and looked at the black tar-like blob with apprehension. Unlike the previous times where he had expelled impurities, this time they did not seem corrosive. Although they definitely did look quite bad.
~Phew~
Lin Mu let out a breath of relief as he checked his body. The vital energy within his body had reached an equilibrium and was circulating within itself. It would move from the uppermost layer that was the skin to the bottom most layer that was the marrows and then go back up.
This cycle continued endlessly, and no loss of vital energy could be perceived. His vital energy had become even more hidden than before and from the outside, it looked like he was a common teenage boy that had no body tempering realm cultivation.
~Sigh~
Lin Mu took a look at his soiled clothes and sheets before letting out a sigh.
"Seems like I escaped by the very edge of my life." Lin Mu muttered to himself.
"That's very accurate," Xukong suddenly spoke.
"Huh, ah yes… this break though was rather dangerous. Seems like I was still a bit unprepared." Lin Mu agreed.
"No, it is not that," Xukong said as he briefly thought and then continued, "rather no amount of preparation would have helped you with what you just went through. This was no common breakthrough, I have no doubt the nameless technique of the lost immortal was the cause behind it."
Lin Mu was a bit surprised and did not say anything. Instead, he used his spirit sense and closely observed his body. His dantian was the same as before and there was no change, but the other parts of his body that had undergone tempering had become strengthened.
He observed his marrows and could feel a strange activity within them. He could feel as if something was growing in them. Lin Mu continued observing the activity and after a little while felt the growing matter move into his blood.
Then in the blood, the matter started circulating. It moved to all parts of his body and changed to resemble that part of his body. Lin Mu finally identified this matter as some kind of cells. These cells that changed to become part of his different organs and tissues were much more active than his preexisting cells.
With the growth of these cells, Lin Mu could feel his strength increasing bit by bit in tiny fractions. Unlike the previous stages of the body tempering realm, where Lin Mu had directly gained a large increase in his strength, this time the growth seemed to be slow and eventual.
"What is happening Senior?" Lin Mu question knowing that Xukong had most likely seen his memories.
"Your body is replacing its cells. Usually, this should have happened much later, but since you have directly reached the peak of the thirteenth stage of the body tempering realm, your marrows are making new cells that are improving the rest of your tissues and organs. Eventually, they will replace all the cells of your body and you would have practically obtained a new physique, The Xiantian Physique." Xukong answered.