Chapter 89: Chapter 89 - The Accidental Body Cultivator and the Sect Competition

Nine days remained before the sect competition.

During these nine days, Su Bai did not waste time.

He cultivated, he trained, he was beaten by cloud clones, then he cultivated again.

The High-Grade Spirit Stones given by Sect Master Li Xuanzong finally began to show their value.

High-Grade Spirit Stones were not ordinary resources. The Qi inside them was super dense and extremely pure. Even a normal Foundation Establishment cultivator would need a long time to digest one properly.

Some needed half a month. Some needed several weeks. Even the fastest disciples, with good cultivation manuals, formation assistance, and medicinal support, would still need around a week to fully absorb one without wasting too much Qi.

After all, a High-Grade Spirit Stone contained too much energy.

For many Foundation Establishment cultivators, even thirty percent of one stone could fill most of their Dantian.

Absorbing too quickly was dangerous. Qi could stagnate, meridians could swell, and the body could overheat.

In severe cases, one could even suffer Qi Intoxication, where the body was filled with energy but unable to properly refine or circulate it.

That was normal.

Unfortunately, Su Bai was not normal.

He could absorb a High-Grade Spirit Stone in a few hours.

Then he looked at the remaining pile and frowned.

’Too slow.’

At first, he had been moved by his own speed. Then he remembered that with Shattered-Soul Oblivion Pills, it might have been even faster.

His standards immediately became unreasonable.

The small mountain of High-Grade Spirit Stones remained enticing. But no matter how fast he absorbed them, it was impossible to consume all of them before the sect competition.

So Su Bai could only do what he could.

Absorb. Refine. Train. Repeat.

Days passed like that.

Until the fifth day of cultivation, something unexpected happened.

...

Inside the hut, Su Bai sat cross-legged on his bed.

The Void-Sunflower Supreme Method circulated quietly through his body.

The nine Gateway Qi Reservoirs opened and closed with each cycle, helping his Qi flow through his meridians without obstruction.

Everything was stable at first.

Then, Su Bai’s skin slowly began to change.

A faint red glow appeared beneath his pale skin.

It was weak at first, then brighter, then hotter.

Soon, his entire body looked like iron being heated in a furnace.

The nine gateways hidden inside his body lit up one after another (Palms. Soles. Chest. Spine. Throat. Forehead. Crown.)

Each one shone beneath his skin like a small sun.

Heat poured through his flesh, and steam began to rise from his body.

Su Bai opened his eyes. His expression changed.

Then he noticed something uncomfortable.

He... felt hungry. A terrifying hunger rose from his flesh, bones, and blood.

Su Bai frowned. He only remembered feeling hunger like this when his Qi was nearly exhausted.

But right now, he was overflowing with Qi.

Su Bai’s eyes twitched.

He did not dare delay.

With a thought, three High-Grade Spirit Stones appeared in front of him.

Then he activated Devouring Maw.

The dense Qi inside them vanished almost instantly and poured into Su Bai’s body.

Boom.

The sudden energy nearly made his meridians roar.

Su Bai groaned.

He pushed the Void-Sunflower Supreme Method to its limit.

The Yin energy of the Void-Sunflower Supreme Method moved like a dark current, trying to suppress the violent heat inside his body.

But at the same time, the side effect of the method surged again. The backlash had always existed because he had not cut away his Yang root.

He noticed that after his nine gateways had been opened and mutated, the backlash had changed.

The nine Gateway Qi Reservoirs were like massive floodgates. Instead of letting the Yang energy gather in his outer body, they forced it through every muscle, every bone, every strand of flesh, and every drop of blood.

The Yang heat that should have erupted outward was being driven inward instead.

It was not burning him. It was forging him.

Su Bai’s eyes widened slightly.

Then he understood.

This was not a Qi cultivation breakthrough. This was body refinement.

His body was being forced into the Body Refinement path.

Su Bai’s expression became strange.

He had never intended to become a body cultivator.

Body cultivators were famous for suffering.

They broke bones. They boiled blood. They smashed themselves under waterfalls. They let beasts hit them. They willingly entered furnaces.

In short, they were a group of people with very questionable survival instincts.

Su Bai had always respected them from a distance.

Yet now, his own cultivation method had dragged him into the first step.

The hunger did not stop.

Su Bai gritted his teeth and took out more High-Grade Spirit Stones.

Devouring Maw swallowed the Qi.

The Void-Sunflower Supreme Method circulated.

The Yang backlash surged. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The nine gateways pumped heat through his body like nine furnaces hidden beneath his skin.

His bed finally caught fire.

Su Bai glanced down. Then ignored it.

The red glow intensified.

Su Bai fell into deep meditation.

...

Time passed.

The red glow grew brighter.

Then, at some unknown moment, the heat suddenly changed.

It became warm and comfortable.

Su Bai’s tense body slowly relaxed.

"Oof..."

A strange sound escaped his mouth.

Then, the blazing red light gradually sank into his body.

Finally, everything disappeared.

His body cooled and his skin returned to its usual pale color.

The hut became quiet again.

Except for the burnt bed.

Su Bai opened his eyes.

For a long moment, he did not move.

Then he looked down at his hands.

His fingers were still slender. His body still looked the same. He had not become a muscle monster.

But something had changed.

His entire outer body had become tougher, denser, and heavier.

Su Bai slowly stood up.

Creak.

The wooden floor under his feet cracked.

Su Bai froze.

Then he carefully lifted his foot.

A clear footprint had been pressed into the floor.

He stared at it.

Then at his body.

He was still the same size.

But he had become heavier.

Su Bai fell silent.

After a while, he wrote in his notebook.

[Unexpected development: entered Body Refinement.]

According to the records he had read, the Body Refinement Realm was usually divided into three phases.

Stages One to Three: Forging Skin and Flesh.

Stages Four to Six: Forging Muscles and Bones.

Stages Seven to Nine: Forging Internal Organs and Blood.

But the Void-Sunflower Supreme Method was strange.

Instead of forging the skin first, it seemed to temper all of them at the same time.

Su Bai sighed, then he stared at the burnt bed.

Then at the cracked floor.

His expression became complicated.

After a while, he nodded.

At least his body had become harder to break.

Su Bai took a step.

Creak.

Another crack appeared on the floor.

His face darkened.

’First problem. Control.’

If he could not adjust to his new weight, he would look ridiculous during the sect competition.

So Su Bai immediately went outside.

...

Su Bai began training again.

At first, his movements were slightly awkward.

His body had become denser, and his weight had increased. Even with Qi control, his timing had changed.

His first Frictionless Phantom Step sent him farther than expected.

He adjusted his balance.

Slowly, the awkwardness faded.

Then something surprising happened.

His Frictionless Phantom Step became faster.

Because his body was heavier and stronger, each step had more force. With friction reduced and Qi circulating instantly through the gateways in his soles, he could launch himself forward with far more explosive power than before.

After several rounds of practice, Su Bai stopped.

He looked down at his hands.

Then slowly smiled.

The weight was not a problem. It was an advantage.

His body had become stronger, and his control had caught up.

Su Bai was satisfied.

So he continued cultivating.

...

Days passed.

Su Bai consumed what he could.

His cultivation rose. His techniques sharpened.

Every day, Lu Canghai’s cloud clones beat him.

Every day, they beat him less.

By the final night before the sect competition, Su Bai sat quietly inside his repaired hut.

Su Bai opened his eyes.

The aura inside his body surged quietly.

Peak Foundation Establishment Seventh Stage. Just one step away from the Eighth Stage.

Su Bai let out a slow breath.

He had prepared as much as he could.

He still did not like danger.

He still did not like attention.

He still did not like fighting in front of crowds.

But there were only five Mystic Realm slots.

And if he wanted one, he had to take it.

Su Bai stood up and looked toward the direction of the main sect grounds.

The day of the sect competition had arrived.

Lu Canghai arrived soon after.

He looked at Su Bai for a moment, then stroked his beard with satisfaction.

Su Bai had managed to defeat three cloud clones at most. That was already ridiculous.

More importantly, his aura had grown deeper and steadier.

Lu Canghai’s eyes softened slightly.

"Are you ready, my disciple?"

Su Bai clasped his hands and bowed.

"Yes, Master."

Lu Canghai laughed.

"Good. Then let us go. Today, we shall let the sect see how much you have grown."