*CrAcK*
*cRaCk*
Li Shen watched in horror as fractures appeared across his entire skeletal structure.
The sound was grating to the ears as his bone cracked audibly.
His skin was ruptured by the jagged bones that eventually broke apart and stab their way up to the surface of his skin.
His blood flowed from those injuries to pool on the white ground in the outside world.
His father who had been watching him convulsing uncontrollably had restrained himself, hoping that whatever was happening to him his son would eventually overcome it. But when he saw his body and flesh being violently ripped apart his heart shuddered and he couldn’t hold himself back anymore and rushed towards him.
“UGH!!!”
Li Shen let out another guttural cry of anguish and his eyes widen as the brutal pain racked his entire body. But his eyes weren’t focused and it seemed to be an instinctive reaction to the pain.
“Shen’er!!”
Li Shu quickly appeared by his son's and not minding the pool of blood he knelt down before he placed his palm flat on his chest.
Li Shen let out another cry of pain as even that small contact made him feel as if a thousand needles hand dug into his chest.
“I’m sorry Shen’er.”
Li Shu apologized before he continued to send his Divine Will inside his body.
What appeared before his eyes were his son’s strange golden color bones, but something else was there. Some type of black energy he had never felt before was ravaging the insides of his body.
He soon come to realize that this energy wasn’t malicious, but was rather reconstructing his bones and flesh. The process of deconstruction was just happening first causing this horrific scene.
However, this deconstruction process was too exaggerated, his son looked to be in immense pain. If this continues his body might give out before the reconstruction phase can even begin.
From what Li Shu saw, the only thing stopping that from happening is the strange physique his son has. The deconstruction process was only happening around it, avoiding this strange physique.
But even then his important organs were included in this process. If something isn’t done his son might die from this.
“Father, why not place little Shen inside the Ancestral Life Spring? If he doesn’t receive any outside help he might die from this.”
Fu Wei who had woken up in this white world some time ago said to his father.
However, a hesitant look came over Li Shu’s face upon hearing his suggestion.
Despite being the Emperor, he can’t just use his position to have his son enter the forbidden Ancestral Grounds, let alone the sacred Life Spring, only Fu Wei his heir was qualified once. But Li Shen’s screams entered his ears and batted against his heart, as a father he couldn’t let his son suffer like this.
“Shen’er bare the pain.”
Li Shu said before he used his Divine Will to slowly lift Li Shen up.
Even this movement caused a surge of pain to shoot through Li Shen’s body and his eyes clench close tightly because of it.
Heaps of flesh and blood splattered about, dyeing the white ground a crimson color. At the same time, one can see a reconstruction process happening and most of his flesh was regenerating back quickly. However, the deconstruction would destroy any progress of his healing.
This was a brutal form of body reshaping. Destroying and then forming back the body’s flesh, organs and bones repeatedly.
It was extremely effective in every way, but what was happening to Li Shen right now was going out of control. It was more destroying than reconstruction.
The pain Li Shen was feeling due to it was unimaginable.
He barely had a sense of self to view the Chaos Qi rampaging through his body. He tried to exert control of it, but it seem to ignore his commands to stop or at least slowdown.
Li Shen heard sounds from the outside world but the pain caused him to only hear muffled noise. He then felt his body being moved and he couldn’t control the screams of pain passing his lips.
Several seconds passed when Li Shen felt his body being soaked in something warm. It encapsulated and embraced his entire body. The relief he felt after the intense torture-like pain caused him to almost climax.
It felt as if his body was inside a body of water, but an absurd amount of wood element vitality was around him, seeping into his flesh and bones healing them.
The deconstruction process was still ongoing but it had become balanced, his body’s regeneration could keep up with it.
Li Shen felt that he was in control of this process now. All of this had happened so suddenly it completely caught him off guard.
He sent his perception inside his body and saw the strange Chaos Qi going around reshaping his organs, bones, and flesh. But his Heavenly Physique was barely getting any of this benefit, it was as if it was already in perfect condition and had gotten a free pass for the Chaos Qi reshaping it. Only his Spiritual Physique was being affected by this benefit since it was filled with so many flaws.
‘This is unbelievable. To think that strand of Chaos Qi had come along in the reincarnation process, such mysterious power, I can’t even fathom the why that’s the case. I studied it, or rather my past self studied it intensely, and came to the conclusion there were several hundred Laws within it including the Laws of the six elements. Maybe even more, because he couldn’t figure it out due to a lack of knowledge.’
Sensing the changes his body was going through, Li Shen had no idea what to think of it.
He could sense that his Spiritual Physique had changed immensely and had gained strange properties, but what those are is a mystery to him.
Speculations could be made, and he had several.
But one thing he knew for certain was that his Fleshly Body was a lot stronger. The reshaping hadn’t finished yet, but when it does his imbalance physique issue will be fixed allowing him to harmonize both his Heavenly Law Comprehension and his Internal and External Cultivation.
But Li Shen can't help but feel that keeping track of his different cultivations had gotten quite complicated.
Normal cultivators spent decades or even centuries only being able to focus on Internal and External cultivation.
But Li Shen not only have to focus on those two, but he had his Law Comprehension as well as his Soul cultivation.
Also, he could sense another form of power inside of him. The one he had used to kill the Cardinal Sins Goddess.
The source came from between his eyebrows, he can feel the seven sins plum blossom there.
Though he guessed he could categorize this form of power as his Soul Cultivation.
Despite the hassle to improve these different cultivations and not allow one to fall behind the others, maybe that outcome wouldn’t be possible, however, Li Shen was still excited to find ways to mix and match these powers in combat.
Just thinking about fighting someone using his Soul Arts only to whip out his godly physical strength in the middle of battle caused him to laugh darkly in his heart.
It was similar to what he had done back in the Demonic Cult’s hideout. That Core Formation Realm cultivator had fallen into his trap.
“Hehehe.”
Li Shen childishly chuckled, but because he was under water he felt bubbles coming from his mouth.
Thinking about that Core Formation cultivator caused a sudden thought to appear in his mind.
How strong was he now?
Back then he had crossed an entire major realm to battle him, however, that Core Formation Realm Demonic Cultivator’s main form of fighting prowess was his physical strength.
If he was a normal Demonic Cultivator who had focused on Internal Cultivation and using Daoist Magic or a weapon, Li Shen knew he wouldn’t have beaten him so easily with the Power of the World.
He wasn’t arrogant to think he was capable of defeating all Core Formation Realm cultivators as he was now.
In fact, without using his cheat, his Law Comprehension, it wouldn’t be a surprise if some late-stage Foundation Realm cultivators like that Demonic Disciple in the volcano can go toe to toe with him.
He couldn’t overestimate his abilities just because of his power-up and underestimate any future enemies.
“…”
“...Wh-what? Did I actually just think that?”
Li Shen did a double take.
His thought process just now felt off, he hadn’t once thought that he was overestimating his capabilities before, so what gives?
‘My mindset has changed slightly, no, this is actually a big change. Is this because of what happened previously?’
The events moments ago came to Li Shen’s mind and he thought about Avarice, his past self.
‘He said he manifested into being because the Chaos Qi interacting with the Sin of Greed plum blossom petal. But I wanted to ask him if he knew where this petal came from, or if it was the cause of our reincarnation. It appeared in our past lives and even though we studied emotions to get a better understanding of it up to this point its origins and it's nature of being are still baffling.’
In this situation, Li Shen thought about a lot of things and how he was going to move forward after everything that transpired. A sort of burden had been lifted off of his shoulders, he could feel it, his thoughts were clear and his emotions weren’t in constant conflict with each other.
In fact, they seemed too clear, like he had become more sensitive towards emotions including his own. He felt different because of this somehow.
Getting excited over learning new things about his cultivation and seeing the results of his exploration of it wasn’t anything new, but childishly thinking about tricking people was. That as well as him being cautious. He was actually starting to think things through which was unlike before when he would do it and then realized his mistake later.
‘Does this count as an improvement? I think it does, it’s like my heart and mind have become a blank slate.’
‘Is this how kids my age should feel? I think I lost that adult part of me when the reincarnation process was complete, but its effect of allowing me to make common sense decisions is still there. It’s like I’m an adult and a kid at the same time. A mature teenager?’
‘Hmm, it’s actually kind of hard to grasp my own state of mind right now. But at least this is better than before, having the innocence of youth but still retaining the maturity of old age to make wise decisions, the best of both worlds.’
While Li Shen was having these random thoughts he didn’t forget to focus on the Chaos Qi reshaping his body. His organs were finished, and his bones and flesh were about to be completed.
With that almost settled, he now wondered where he was at the moment. He remembered being in Fu Wei’s chambers but now he had no idea of his location.
Li Shen let his perception return to his physical body and he listened closely to the muffled voices.
He was inside a dense body of water so he barely made out his father’s voice.
‘If he’s here then that means most of my secrets have probably been revealed. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I still don’t feel like becoming Emperor.’
Li Shen listened more closely and this time he heard other voices that sounded like they were talking all at once.
‘Huh? What exactly is going on outside?’
Li Shen asked himself before he decided to open his eyes.
“Stop arguing about whether letting him in here is right or wrong, look, he’s starting to wake up.”
“That’s good, let’s ask him how he got that strange foundation, in all my years living I have never seen anything like it before.”
“Yes, that’s right, to be cultivating Time Qi is so baffling I can’t even comprehend how that is even possible.”
Li Shen’s face instantly darkened upon hearing those words.
‘Fuck, am I being held captive? What is father doing? Was I saved because I’m going to be tortured for my secrets? Is he just going to watch me get tortured? How should I escape? Wait, can I even escape this situation?’
Several questions cross Li Shen’s mind instantly as he fully opened his eyes.
He saw that he was indeed inside water, but it had a light green color due to the presence of life essence from the wood element.
It was also a circular blob water body about twenty meters wide, which was being suspended above a podium of some sort.
Li Shen look down below to see several old men staring up at him who were inside the water blob. His father and brother were standing respectfully behind one old man that was in the front.
‘What is this situation?’
Confused, Li Shen stared back at them blankly.
However, upon gaining back the senses of his physical body, he felt that something was extremely off.
Slowly moving in the water blob to position himself right, Li Shen looked down to check his current appearance.
“What the fuck?!!”
He immediately blurted out but only bubbles were seen coming out of his mouth.
He then hurriedly tried to cover up his exposed crotch with his hands since he was completely and utterly naked.
Li Shen couldn’t fathom why these old men were staring at his naked body, and so intensely at that. Just look at them! Christ.
However, his face went red and he died of shame inside when he realize he spent a good hour or two without clothes inside this body of water.
Wait, no, why should he feel ashamed?
It was these people that were just staring at him while he was naked and unconscious, like wtf?!!
Li Shen's ashamed looked turned to anger and he glared at these old men who were staring at him.
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