Chapter 195: Harvesting the Garden

Chapter 195: Harvesting the Garden

The two guardian cultivators once more appeared. Hui stopped, looking up at the two of them. He smiled cheekily and nodded at the two of them.

Ugh. Its them again.

What, finally decided to stop by and do your duties?

I came back the other day, Elder Brothers, Hui replied. To drop off my that is, Xiao Huis, dead body.

The other two cultivators frowned at him.

Oh shit! Right!

Hey!

Too many words! Hui shouted, throwing his voice into the other two ghouls.Updated from novelb(i)n.c(o)m

At that, the two cultivators relaxed. They shook their heads. Whatever youve got to do, youve come just in time. Its almost time to release them.

Of course.

Naturally.

I didnt want to wait.

The second cultivator nodded. Be quick about it.

Nodding his head, Hui twitched his fingers to make the other two nod as well. He leaped past the two guardians and down toward the garden patch below.

The two ghouls bounced clumsily off the tree trunks and plummeted toward the ground. Hui glanced over his shoulder at the guardians, but neither of them turned their heads to look at him and his brothers.

Crystallization!

If I crystallize my flesh, the plants shouldnt be able to puncture my skin if I even still have blood once Im crystallized. At the same time Theyre soft, fleshy plants! If I can absorb their life qi, I feel as if my comprehension of the other half of my body comprehension technique will grow stronger.

I must have that life qi. Therefore, I must comprehend the secret to crystallization, petrification, whatever you want to call it, right this moment!

He drew out the piece of Mount Mu and sat down just outside the reach of the soft loam of the garden patch. Crossing his legs, he began to meditate. The two disguised ghouls stood over him, acting as makeshift dao protectors.

Im not going to make it to see the lotus Oh well. Ive already seen the lotus! Erlan shouldnt be too bothered by my absence. I only obtained the permission to come because I passed the trial realm. Its not as if Im an inheriting disciple or the member of a highly-considered clan within the sect. They wont even notice a trifling cultivator like myself going missing.

Settling his thoughts, Hui guided his breathing and immersed himself in the piece of Mount Mu. As he immersed himself, he continued to guide the new, tiny qi passages through his flesh. Time passed. One hour. Two. Slowly, a resonance grew between him and the piece of Mount Mu. The piece of Mount Mu lifted off his lap and began to levitate in front of him, emitting a gentle green qi. With every breath, Hui absorbed some of the green qi and circulated it to his body. The green qi began to transform his flesh, altering it fundamentally.

But I want to be able to turn it off. With both my body cultivation techniques, I want it to appear as though I havent cultivated my body! Otherwise, cultivators might suspect that this small cultivator is faking death if I die too easily with an impressive fleshly body, or even dare to covet my fleshly body after death!

His hands began to move instinctively. His thumb began to bleed again on its own, and he scrawled symbols over his own body, marking his flesh and robes with talisman formulae. The red gem appeared from within his storage ring, the blood qi within resonating with his new actions. The symbols glowed alternatively red and green, strobing between the green qi in the scrap of Mount Mu and the red blood qi in the gem.

Brighter and brighter. Hui began to draw in qi wildly, absorbing it at a ridiculous tempo. The sprouts closest to him shuddered and gave up some green qi, as did the forest around him. Qi swirled around him, pouring into his body. His body began to crystallize, starting from his fingertips and toes up toward his core. Slowly, it crawled over his limbs, then toward his abdomen, up his core and to his head. At last, even his head crystallized. The last thing to turn to crystal was the red mark on his foreheadthe mark from the original talisman hed forged into his body.

As he crystallized completely, Huis eyes opened. Shocking green light poured out. He stood, his body creaking and shrieking as crystal rubbed on crystal, clattering like a glass windchime in a tempest, and spread his arms. Talisman marks wound around his entire body, forged in blood.

Forge the body into a talisman. Flesh becomes paper, blood becomes ink!

Burn blood crystalize the body!

All the light that had beamed out of him suddenly contracted into his body, as if he became a black hole. His body shimmered. Green and red light pulsed under his skin, and the bloody talisman marks squirmed. All at once, they all rushed toward Huis forehead, forming a second petal-like mark to the right of the first. Unlike the first, which allowed him to burn lifeforce to unlock shocking power in a pinch, this talisman allowed him to burn blood to harden his body, to make it impervious as crystal!

As it didnt burn lifeforce, the second petal could be considered weaker than the first in terms of sheer burst power, but in return, the second petal could be activated for longer. In addition, it didnt affect his longevity. Hui flexed his hands, looking down at the glittering crystal. His limbs looked rough and primitive, covered in flat planes as if he had a low-polygon body from an old video game. His skin shimmered, reflecting and refracting the light. A coldness burned in his stomach, and in the back of his mind, a vague awareness of his remaining blood jiggled. Although it doesnt burn longevity, that doesnt mean I cant die from using it. If I use it too long, I face the risk of burning all my blood and dying of blood loss.

He clenched his fists, mentally gauging his remaining blood. Right now, I can use it for about ten minutes. Its pretty obvious visually hopefully I can refine it to look more normal as I continue to develop the technique!

Hui looked at the sprouts, and his eyes flashed. He strode forward, joints clattering as he moved. Time to test out my new technique!