Mortal Transformation

"Ma Cai told me." Chen Mo did not deny it.

"What are you planning to do?" He Ma Guan looked toward Chen Mo.

More than a month was not enough to see through a person, but it was enough to discern a few clues.

Chen Mo was different from the other soldiers who simply went with the flow. He had more ideas of his own, and his mind was more nimble.

He also followed the rules and knew his place. His hands and feet were fairly diligent and capable, while he himself was honest and dependable.

He had kept Chen Mo's performance in his eyes and his heart throughout this time, and he was quite satisfied with him.

It could be said that aside from eating a little too much, Chen Mo had no shortcomings.

"I don't have any particular plans. I'll go give it a try when the time comes. It won't cost me anything, after all." In truth, this was not just Chen Mo's thinking. Most of the soldiers in the camp thought the same way.

Whether they succeeded or not, there was no loss in giving it a try.

"But what if you aren't selected? How about coming back and continuing to feed the horses for me?" He Ma Guan seemed to be asking casually.

Chen Mo did not think much of it. He smiled and replied, "Then I'll definitely come back and feed the horses for you, Old He. Otherwise, what else could I do?"

"All right, go eat." He Ma Guan nodded lightly, watching Chen Mo's figure disappear into the room.

He was already old. He had spent his entire life in the army and had neither wife nor children. He needed an apprentice to pass on all his skills and care for him in his old age and see him off at the end of his life.

Originally, he had intended to take Ding Bao, but Ding Bao had previously conspired with Ma Cai to secretly sell horse manure without telling him. This had disappointed him far too much, and only then had he begun considering replacing him.

Now, Chen Mo seemed fairly good. He simply needed to be observed for a while longer—at the very least, until He Ma Guan understood his character.

After more than a month, he could recognize a person's face, but it was difficult to know their heart.

Chen Mo returned to the dining table in front of the shed and laid out the remaining twenty-four copper coins, counting out eight coins for each of the two men.

The money allotted for a single day was naturally not much, but after accumulating it over time, it still became a rather substantial sum.

After eating the commandant's radishes for nearly a month, they had finally finished them all. Thus, today they were eating potatoes stewed with cabbage.

Though there was not a trace of oil, there was at least enough salt.

Even though the food before him was hard to swallow, Chen Mo still ate quickly. So what if it tasted bad? It was still far better than when he had been a refugee.

At night, he slowly ate the leftover steamed corn buns as a midnight snack. When adding the horses' nighttime feed, he also found an opportunity to steal and eat a pear.

To accumulate more qi and blood, he never let pass a single opportunity to eat even one more bite of food.

Over the following days, Chen Mo repeated roughly the same routine: delivering manure for money, finding chances to steal horse feed, and going to the market to get some meat.

Whenever he rested at home, he steamed corn buns for the horses and fed them fine grain, while finding opportunities to sneak bites of their feed.

When there were only five days left until the recruitment of personal guards began, the Mortal Transformation Pearl finally accumulated enough qi and blood!

Chen Mo carefully sensed the Mortal Transformation Pearl in his abdomen. It had become blood-red all over, and its interior was filled with the power of qi and blood.

Putting away the six corn buns he had not finished eating, Chen Mo did not hurry to undergo the Mortal Transformation.

He was not sure what would happen during the process. If there were major changes, people would inevitably notice something unusual about him, and that would be no good.

It would be better to wait until night, when everything was silent, and secretly find an opportunity to undergo the Mortal Transformation.

He poured the other cooled corn buns into the small cart used for delivering feed, then pushed it into the stable.

When the horses saw him arrive, they could not help snorting cheerfully.

After pouring out the corn buns for the horses, he cleaned up the stable and shed, then did some odd jobs.

When it was time for the meal, he picked up the wooden basin used to serve vegetables and walked toward the kitchen.

Today, the kitchen had made a rare improvement to the food: cabbage stewed with tofu. It tasted far better than cabbage and potatoes stewed in plain water.

Chen Mo filled the basin with food and walked back beside the stable. Ma Cai and Ding Bao had just returned from delivering manure as well.

"Oh? We're having tofu today!" Ding Bao was quite surprised. Even after serving as a soldier for several years, the number of times he had eaten tofu in the military camp outside of festivals could be counted on one hand.

The meal was good today, and everyone was in high spirits.

"Mo-ge, I saw that the bathhouse in the market has opened. How about we find a chance to go wash up?" After eating, Ding Bao made the suggestion.

When the weather had been warm some time ago, they could heat water under the midday sun and use it to wash up and bathe. But over the past month, the weather had begun turning cold, and they had not bathed again.

"Don't go. General Sun will be recruiting personal guards in a few days. What if washing makes your body go soft?" Ma Cai stopped him.

Although he did not know the specific requirements for recruiting personal guards, he was taking this matter extremely seriously, striving to pass the selection and become one.

His family did have connections, but he still had to prove himself worthy before those connections could be used. If he could not make anything of himself, then he would have nothing.

"Let's wait a few more days. It's only a matter of a few days anyway." Chen Mo smiled and agreed.

After eating, they washed their hands and feet with cold water, then each returned to his room to rest.

Late that night, although Chen Mo was unbearably tired, he gritted his teeth and got up from the bed.

There was also a curfew in the military camp. Once curfew began, everyone except the sentries on night duty had to remain in their own barracks. Even if they needed to defecate or urinate, they had to deal with it inside the barracks.

The stable was in a remote location, and because they did not want to disturb the warhorses, sentries rarely patrolled there. If he found a secluded place under cover of night, he could complete the Mortal Transformation.

Chen Mo quietly slipped out of the room and came to the haystack beside the stable. It was piled high with bundles of the dry grass and coarse feed the warhorses ate every day.

He found a visual blind spot where sentries could never discover him, then sat down inside it. With his eyes slightly closed, he looked inward at the Mortal Transformation Pearl in his abdomen.

The Mortal Transformation Pearl, originally transparent and colorless, was now scarlet all over.

"Mortal Transformation." With a thought from Chen Mo, all the qi and blood accumulated inside the pearl erupted, continuously surging out from his abdomen and flowing toward the flesh, muscles, sinews, and bones of his four limbs and entire body.

The scorching, restless qi and blood surged through his body, strengthening and enhancing his flesh, muscles, sinews, and bones, causing them to undergo transformation.

Wave after wave of qi and blood continuously poured from his abdomen into every part of his body. He could sense his own changes with extraordinary clarity.

His muscles, which had become slightly tough from prolonged labor, were now turning soft and resilient.

Chen Mo knew that the reason his muscles had remained tense for so long was because they had developed inflammation from not receiving sufficient rest. Now that the inflammation had vanished, his muscles had become full of vitality once more.

It seemed that the Mortal Transformation did more than increase his physical strength. If his body had injuries, it could apparently heal them through this process as well.

The transformation did not last long. The qi and blood within the Mortal Transformation Pearl gradually ran dry. If he wanted to undergo the Mortal Transformation again, he would have to accumulate more qi and blood.

Each Mortal Transformation was more difficult than the last, because every transformation made him stronger.

The transformation ended, and wave after wave of hunger immediately assailed him. Chen Mo took out the corn bun he carried with him and swallowed it down in barely three bites.

Only then was the hunger in his stomach slightly relieved.

He now felt light and comfortable all over. His flesh, muscles, sinews, and bones were clearly more than a level stronger than before.

As for exactly how much his strength had increased, he had no way to test it at present and could only find out later.

He stood and walked out of the haystack. Chen Mo's expression suddenly changed.