TheLazyDreamer
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59. Incomplete Transformation
🕑 Added 2025-05-08 13:48:45 +0000 UTCEven after his uncle informed him of his parents' impending return, Su Kang did not slacken his rigorous training schedule. Each day was dedicated to practice. Under the silent gaze of the mountain’s night sky, he sat cross-legged.
He focused, drawing a fine thread of silver-black Astral Qi into his specialized meridian. It flowed smoother now, the profound cold and subtle weight becoming familiar sensations, no longer triggering the immediate violent rejection.
He guided the thread alongside the warmer, gentler current of Star Qi. One by one, he meticulously drew in more threads. Past one hundred, then one hundred fifty. Around the one-hundred-eightieth thread, he felt the first distinct warning – a slight pressure building, a subtle straining within the meridian walls.
He gritted his teeth, his focus sharpening even further, sweat beading slightly despite the cold night air. He pressed on, pulling in more threads, forcing the channel to endure the mounting strain.
Two hundred.
Two hundred ten.
The pressure mounted, becoming a biting ache threatening to split the meridian wall.
Almost there... he thought, the effort showing in the tight line of his jaw.
Two hundred twenty.
Two hundred thirty... A sharp, biting pressure flared intensely within the meridian, a feeling like over-pressurized ice threatening to shatter the channel from within.
My body has reached it's limit.
With practiced speed, honed over countless nights, he immediately expelled the excess threads he’d just drawn in, the dangerous throb within the meridian easing as the pressure stabilized just below the breaking point. He had hit this same ceiling for days now, a frustratingly solid barrier preventing him from pushing beyond roughly two hundred and thirty threads without risking severe internal injury.
“Fate, my capacity is smaller than anticipated. I can absorb only around two hundred and thirty Astral Qi threads safely at the moment,” Su Kang sighed, opening his eyes after the strenuous session.
"It appears the physical transformation was incomplete," Fate concluded. "You acquired a spiritual body, but it is not powerful enough because of the accident. A significant amount of Qi leaked from your body before the transformation could complete."
The reconstruction had been meant to grant him a spiritual body capable of naturally processing small amounts of Astral Qi. Unfortunately, the transformation had ended a few hours earlier. That brief loss of time had cost him dearly.
“How much of the Astral Dewdrop did you manage to collect?” Su Kang inquired.
"I managed to collect less than five percent of what was in the vial,” Fate stated. Astral Qi was rare in the cultivation world, and during the body reconstruction, a large amount had drifted into the atmosphere; Su Kang had barely utilized 1-2% of the Astral Dewdrop's potential.
That single drop of Astral mist was far more precious than a third-grade spiritual vein, Su Kang thought, a flicker of awe mixed with regret passing through him.
Yet Fate had used something like that, along with another Healing Elixir, for this transformation.
“Fate, I don't think I have enough destiny points to pay you for that,” Su Kang expressed his thoughts aloud.
“I know. If I didn't do it, with your talent, you would not be able to stand against the chaos of the future. I need your help in absorbing the destiny of Heavens. You can repay me later.” Fate responded coolly.
For Fate, cultivation techniques held little intrinsic value; they were the result of a cultivator's personal comprehension, not direct blessings or fortune from Heaven, and thus they don't have much destiny for it to absorb. The same logic applied to Astral Qi—it wasn't a creation of this world's Heavens. While rare within the cultivation world, it existed abundantly in the deep void.
Spiritual pills and spiritual artifacts, however, were different. They were created from ingredients that were results of the blessings and fortune bestowed by Heaven.
These ingredients were rare and often took a long time and significant fortune to be born. They were refined using spiritual or Heavenly fire, itself a product of Heaven's grace.
Fate had already depleted the destiny within the pills and artifacts in its possession; it needed to nurture them back using stolen destiny points. Returning these items to their peak state was impossible, but they could become usable enough for someone like Su Kang.
Fate, however, wouldn't explain these nuances to Su Kang. It had only gained a few meager destiny points from his marriage with Bai Yunxi. That was far from it needs, so Fate would offer these damaged cultivation items in exchange for more destiny points.
“Fate, thank you. I will try to repay you as soon as possible,” Su Kang said, feeling genuine gratitude.
"Furthermore," he added, reflecting on his recent progress, "based on the results from the past few days, I believe my body is only a small step away from evolving into a high-grade spiritual body. Perhaps once my body reaches the fourth stage of body cultivation, the breakthrough will occur naturally."
“Then you must proceed cautiously,” Fate advised.
“Continue absorbing small amounts of Astral Qi each night and refine them slowly within your nine acupoints, using Star Qi as fuel. Once your body adapts further, you may begin incorporating Solar Qi, though its nature is far fiercer.”
With his current physique, Su Kang couldn’t handle larger amounts of Astral Qi directly. But he could continue refining his body by fusing small quantities of Astral Qi with celestial energies like Star Qi and Solar Qi. The speed would be slower than he had hoped, yet still progressive
The Starforged Physique technique required a body attuned to Astral Qi, but the primordial energy itself was never meant to be the primary fuel due to its raw, chaotic nature.
Instead, it acted like a special, rare catalyst that slowly transformed his body, making it fundamentally stronger. Star Qi and Solar Qi would be the main energies he'd use for his body cultivation skills and fighting techniques in the future.
Su Kang closed his eyes. His heightened senses detected the faint, elusive presence amidst the starlight – thin, silver-black threads of Astral Qi. With careful intent, he drew them inward, guiding them directly into his specialized Astral Meridian where they flowed with ease.
Simultaneously, he drew in the abundant Star Qi. Previously, absorbing starlight felt like gathering diffuse mist, requiring conscious effort. Now, after his transformation, the Star Qi flowed with greater density, like a cool, gentle stream moving effortlessly through a prepared channel.
He circulated both energies according to the Starforged technique, guiding them towards the nine acupoints along his Astral Meridian. Each acupoint pulsed with life, greedily drawing in the Star Qi to ignite their latent function.
They acted as miniature forges, meticulously refining the Astral Qi mixed with Star Qi. Slowly, the refined essence dispersed into his bones, organs, and muscles, enriching them with celestial power. With every cycle, Su Kang’s body grew stronger, more attuned.
Solar Qi, fierce and yang in nature, posed a different challenge. While Star Qi had traveled vast distances through constellations and celestial bodies, becoming influenced and refined on its path, Solar Qi radiated raw, unfiltered power from a much closer and fiercer source—the sun.
With his newly forged body, Su Kang would eventually cultivate Solar Qi as well, making him a unique individual capable of wielding both.
....
As the morning sun cast long shadows across the training ground paved with black iron tiles, Su Kang stood before a massive block of Black Steel—a metal renowned for its resilience.
His knuckles bore the faint marks of repeated impacts, yet the Blacksteel remained almost unscathed. Blacksteel was a common third-level material used for weapons and armor; even some middle-stage Core Formation cultivators would struggle to leave visible damage upon it.
Su Kang was testing his new body, adapting to his recently acquired strength. Star Qi coursed through his limbs like a stream, reinforcing muscle and bone. The sensation had become familiar, his body accustomed to it, but wielding this power with precision still required time.
He drew back his fist, muscles coiling, concentrating the celestial energy.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each strike, the ground trembled slightly. The impact rippled through his arms, his tempered bones absorbing the force effortlessly. His body had already reached the third level of Body Refining, edging toward the peak of its early stage. Su Kang was now only the third-level body cultivator in his family.
His clan possessed a body cultivation technique passed down from their first ancestor, but it was incomplete. Cultivators using it could not advance beyond the peak stage of the second level, as the methods for further cultivation were missing.
Even as his physical body grew stronger, the persistent block in his soul cultivation remained a challenge. That night, a cool breeze carried the faint scent of orchids mixed with the crisp air signaling the upcoming winter.
Su Kang sat cross-legged in his cultivation chamber. Closing his eyes, he sank his consciousness into his spiritual sea. He focused on the familiar, unwelcome sight: the stormy gray floor, the faint, star-like blue imprint shimmering at its center, and the network of fine cracks spiderwebbing across its surface.
When he first discovered the damage weeks ago, hairline cracks had spread across the platform. Now, nourished by the essence and aided by the resonance of dual cultivation, they had begun to heal slightly. The thinnest fractures were slowly closing, knitting back together but full recovery would still take many months.
I need a spiritual pill capable of healing soul injuries if I want to recover faster, he thought.
