And now.
A cascade of brilliant silver hair fell casually over his shoulders, and Flowing Silver Battle Armor, perfectly fitted to his frame, accentuated his tall, straight figure to perfection.
The armor reflected a cold, luxurious sheen beneath the lights. Paired with his already exquisitely handsome face, he looked like a holy knight stepped out of mythology—or a prince from some ancient kingdom.
Noble, mysterious, and powerful.
The few female customers in the shop stared at him, forgetting even to breathe.
Even the female attendant was momentarily entranced.
Ye Feng glanced at the mirror beside him.
The person reflected in it looked nothing like the one he had been before.
Tsk, tsk. Clothes really did make the man.
The money had been well spent.
He paid no mind to the awestruck reactions around him. After putting his old clothes into his Storage Bracelet, he left the shop under the crowd's complicated gazes. Ye Feng didn't wander around any further.
In a relatively secluded but peaceful part of the city, he spent several dozen Gold Soul Coins to rent a residence with its own small courtyard.
He paid three months' rent up front, took the key from the agent, and shut the courtyard gate with a creak.
Night fell.
Ye Feng sat cross-legged on the bed in his room, but didn't hurry to meditate and cultivate.
He took a jade box out of his Storage Bracelet.
As he lifted the lid, a strange, fishy stench hit him.
Inside lay a fist-sized, crystal-clear glob of gelatinous material.
Century Whale Rubber.
Ye Feng picked it up and examined it. They all said it should be refined before being consumed, but would eating it raw work? Only this way could he get the greatest effect!
Without the slightest hesitation, he swallowed it in one bite.
The Whale Rubber melted as soon as it entered his mouth, turning into a warm current that slid down his throat and into his stomach.
The next instant, an immense wave of heat exploded in his abdomen!
The searing current surged like rushing magma, instantly flooding his limbs and body, scouring every inch of muscle, every bone, every meridian!
At first, it was warm. Soon, it grew scorching, and finally, it turned into a tearing agony!
Ye Feng's body trembled uncontrollably. His skin quickly reddened until he looked like a boiled prawn, and beads of sweat rolled from his forehead, soaking the bedsheet beneath him in an instant.
His body felt like raw iron thrown into a furnace, undergoing a thousand hammerings and a hundred refinements!
His muscles were torn apart, then reassembled!
His bones groaned under the strain, then grew denser!
His meridians were stretched to the point of nearly snapping by the violent energy, then forcibly widened!
This pain was far worse than when he had absorbed a Soul Ring.
But he clenched his teeth and shut his eyes, relying on his powerful mental strength and willpower to endure.
He actively circulated his Soul Power, guiding the violent energy and directing it to temper his body in an orderly fashion, preventing it from spiraling out of control and causing irreparable damage.
Time passed, second by second.
He didn't know how long it took before the excruciating pain finally ebbed away like a receding tide.
In its place came an unprecedented sense of ease and strength.
Ye Feng slowly opened his eyes and let out a long breath of foul air tinged with a sickly sweetness.
Looking down, he saw a greasy layer of black impurities covering his skin, giving off a foul stench.
These were impurities buried deep within his body, forcibly driven out by the medicinal power of the Whale Rubber.
He stood up and loosened his limbs.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
A series of crisp pops, like beans frying in a pan, came from within him.
He could clearly feel that his strength, defense, and even the flexibility of his body had all undergone a qualitative leap.
If his body had been a piece of fine steel before, now it was steel tempered a hundred times over!
Just one piece of Century Whale Rubber had such miraculous effects.
What about the millennium-grade kind?
Ye Feng's breathing quickened.
Resisting the urge to rush to the bathroom and wash up, he sat cross-legged once more and took out the jade box containing the Millennium Whale Rubber.
As he lifted the lid, a richer, almost domineering fragrance instantly filled the room.
The Millennium Whale Rubber was a deep amber color, and inside, light seemed to swirl.
A look of resolve appeared on Ye Feng's face.
He shoved the piece of Millennium Whale Rubber into his mouth.
"Boom!"
If Century Whale Rubber was magma, then Millennium Whale Rubber was a sun detonating inside him!
An energy ten, even a hundred, times more violent than before erupted within his body like a world-destroying tsunami!
"Pfft!"
Ye Feng spat out a mouthful of blood, his body jerking backward.
Pain!
Pain beyond anything words could describe!
He felt as if that energy was about to burst his internal organs, while every bone in his body wailed as if it would shatter into pieces the next instant.
Amid the boundless agony, his consciousness began to blur.
No!
He couldn't pass out!
If he lost consciousness, the violent energy would go unguided and instantly burst his body into a puddle of flesh!
Ye Feng bit the tip of his tongue. The sharp pain jolted him back to his senses.
With every ounce of strength he had, he mobilized all the Soul Power in his body. Even Pupil of Light Dawn was triggered involuntarily, golden light flashing wildly deep within his pupils as he fought to hold on to the last thread of clarity.
Like an experienced helmsman steering a tiny boat through towering waves, he struggled to guide the torrent of energy that could destroy everything.
Channel it, suppress it, refine it!
This was an incomparably perilous process. The slightest mistake would leave him shipwrecked and dead!
Inside the room, Ye Feng was completely shrouded in dense white steam. Beneath his skin, veins bulged like writhing dragons, twisting with each surge of energy. The sight was horrifying.
His gums were already bleeding from how hard he clenched his teeth. Every cell in his body sent him a wail of imminent collapse.
But his mind was like a steel wire stretched to its absolute limit, tenaciously guarding the final line of defense.
If he could just get through this, he would be reborn!
The night was deathly silent. Only the crack of bones shifting and his stifled gasps mingled inside the room.
If he could just get through this, he would be reborn!
That thought was the only lighthouse still standing in the sea of Ye Feng's consciousness.
Clinging desperately to this last bit of clarity, he turned all his mental strength into countless invisible tendrils, frantically tugging at and redirecting the violent energy within him, powerful enough to burn mountains and boil seas.
The torrent of energy no longer rampaged unchecked. Under the force of his will, it was divided into countless tiny streams, each one passing through his body again and again like the most precise sandpaper, polishing every corner.
His muscle fibers were crushed under the extreme strain, then instantly rebuilt by the surging essence of life, growing tougher and brimming with explosive strength.
The groaning of his bones gradually subsided, replaced by a warm, jade-like texture. Their density and hardness rose to an unimaginable level.
Most crucially, his meridians, stretched as thin as cicada wings and on the verge of shattering, were repeatedly scoured, widened, and reinforced by the energy. Their width and resilience were now more than double what they had been!
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