Chapter 146: Comprehensive Evolution

However, the terrifying thing was that as his full-body injuries healed, a nauseating stench unexpectedly emanated from him as well.

At this moment, no relevant information was transmitted into his mind; he only had limited reading experience, which vaguely told him that this should be the bodily impurities being excreted after a body-refinement process.

Amidst the unbearable stench, he seemed to understand something, and his mood lifted accordingly.

If this truly was body-refinement, did it mean that his cultivation realm had advanced once more?

Because body-refinement could strengthen one's physical constitution and physique, gradually bringing out the further benefits of cultivation, human skin would slowly become as hard as wood and stone, while both strength and speed would experience significant improvements.

Moreover, without needing any prompts, he understood that True Qi had varying levels of quality, and the True Power within the Dantian would also be compressed into a more formidable and potent energy.

According to his understanding, the most distinct hallmark of a True Qi expert was the condensation of a Origin Pill, allowing the transformed True Qi to become increasingly substantial.

As for what kind of realm existed beyond the complete substantial state of True Qi, that remained a blank space in his current understanding.

Yet, there was no doubt that the suspected body-refinement at present should be a high-quality physical constitution reserve prior to condensing the Origin Pill; otherwise, his original physical strength would not be able to withstand the impact of the more formidable and potent energy.

However, right now was clearly not the time to ponder these things, because the stench brought not only a sense of nausea, but also a congested feeling currently trapped in his chest.

With a thought, he guided that active lump of congestion. Just as Liu Qingshan felt an intense itching sensation in his throat, a mouthful of thick, dark blood was uncontrollably spewed out.

He completely disregarded his surroundings, caring only for the comfort of his throat, his sense of smell, and even his chest, letting the even fouler dark blood splatter all over the floor.

Following this came a full-body comfort and smooth breathing, though unfortunately, the entire room was now completely filled with the foul odor and the filthy substance.

Simultaneously, the True Qi within his body suddenly grew active at this moment, and a faint warmth gradually grew fiercer as the True Qi circulated through his body.

Subconsciously shifting his thoughts, the True Qi inside his body gradually merged with that increasingly intense warmth.

He attempted to disperse the warm True Qi throughout his entire body. The warmth at every spot was relatively thin; while it scorched his body, he also struggled to maintain control over it via the True Qi.

Right at this moment, through a momentary distraction, he noticed that at the very same instant the warm True Qi overflowed from his body, the stench filling the room was also quietly changing.

Meanwhile, the True Qi that constantly circulated back and forth within his body was continuously moistening his physique. Under the diffusion of its warmth, it was just like forging a rare metal, repeatedly calcining every single part of his body.

Fortunately, that internal forging did not bring the slightest hint of pain; on the contrary, it gave his body a wave of warm, cozy comfort that grew stronger with each passing moment.

Furthermore, areas with already knotted muscles saw their color grow increasingly rich as the warmth deepened, and his skin tone was actually trending towards a fairer complexion.

Unbeknownst to him, an inexplicable aura of dominance was slowly radiating from his entire body.

It was as if his extreme-yang and ultimate-gang physique possessed even more prominent, knotted muscle bulges, yet compared to before, they were much more rounded, losing their previous razor-sharp edge and gaining a wisp of gentle, natural softness, looking as three-dimensional and lifelike as if they were born that way.

He could even vaguely sense that sinews were growing out of the muscles across his whole body. With the generation of every single sinew, the raw strength of his physical body increased by more than a fold, and the feeling of possessing mighty strength within his heart grew even more pronounced, to the point where he felt he could almost flip a horse and topple an ox with a single hand.

At this moment, as he grew increasingly comfortable, Liu Qingshan sank into a certain state of deep immersion in mind and spirit, as if completely oblivious to all the changes happening inside and outside his body, entering a wondrous realm of emptiness and self-forgetfulness.

After an unknown period of time, a sudden crisp sound of "crack" echoed from within his body, as if something had been shattered.

For a moment, his body actually illuminated the entire room with a dazzling brilliance. Although it flashed and vanished instantly, the luster of his entire physique faintly carried a layer of inexplicable halo.

Only then did he realize that the foul odor in the room had also gradually thinned and finally dissipated, just like the injuries all over his body, which had now vanished without a trace.

However, the clothes all over his body were still unwearable, because they had become as stiff and rigid as starched canvas, while faintly exuding an unusual, lingering odor.

He immediately understood that the filthy, mud-like stench that had previously clung to him like thick grime had been transformed into vapor by the warm True Qi and fused into his clothing.

Realizing this, Liu Qingshan hurried in two or three steps to the bathroom, tore the clothes into pieces, and threw them into the toilet to flush away.

After washing his entire body until it was thoroughly clean, he abruptly noticed that the warmth within the True Qi could no longer be sensed at all.

Suddenly, at this very moment, the Super Star-Making Instrument poured a surge of information into him, and Liu Qingshan began to understand the reason behind his body's changes.

Just as he had thought in his heart, the changes he had just experienced were none other than the body-refinement process in cultivation.

The so-called body-refinement, simply put, was the training of the physical body, allowing one's physique to gradually strengthen, moving ultimately from the outside in.

When the tendons, bones, and marrow within the body strengthened to a certain level, they would give birth to a wisp of Origin Power Seed. Only when the Origin Power Seed naturally appeared in the human body could one truly become a cultivator.

The Origin Power Seed could allow the True Power within the Dantian to gradually transform into Origin Power, which was the completely substantial state of True Qi.

Only when the True Power within the body was completely transformed, and nourished by pure Origin Power, could the Origin Pill be condensed within the body.

Strictly speaking in terms of realms, Liu Qingshan's current cultivation state was the Foundation Establishment stage, and the realm beyond Xiantian—which he had previously been unaware of—was precisely the Foundation Establishment realm.

Only by advancing to the Foundation Establishment stage could one be considered the true beginning of cultivation, or it could be understood that the legendary land-immortals of Chinese myth who could tread upon swords and fly really existed.

That was true cultivation, but Liu Qingshan at this moment could only be considered as having just crossed the threshold.

As for the distinction between the Houtian and Xiantian stages that he had heard from Yu Chenhui, it was merely the foundation-building phase prior to Foundation Establishment. Yet, the gap between Houtian and Xiantian was already as vast as a chasm, and those who reached Foundation Establishment from Xiantian were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

Only the cultivation techniques provided by the Super Star-Making Instrument could be considered true methods of cultivation; all the cultivation techniques still existing in the world today had been simplified countless times, reducing them to mere martial arts forms meant solely for physical fitness.

Yet Liu Qingshan felt quite puzzled: clearly, he had not truly entered the Xiantian realm before, so why had he skipped it and advanced directly this time?

As this thought crossed his mind, the Super Star-Making Instrument unexpectedly provided the answer immediately.

"In the previous stage, the host experienced a phenomenon of internal True Yang leaking outward, while Gan Fengchi's combat technique conceals an entire set of Pure Yang cultivation methods. Because your Pure Yang Qi and Extreme Yin Qi completed their initial fusion, it catalyzed the qualitative change of the host's primordial yang, thereby triggering the host's body-refinement to activate prematurely, making an opportunistic breakthrough into the Foundation Establishment stage a matter of course!"

"So you can actually speak? After hearing you twice before, I never got a response again."

The intelligent prompt tone, which had previously only appeared when acquiring skills, brought Liu Qingshan immense surprise.