On the wooden boat, Innate Essence welled up within Fang Yang, tempering every aperture in his body. His physique had already improved when his inner and outer worlds converged after his ascent to the External Scene; now it underwent another transformation, shedding its old flesh and bones.
The corpse drifting down Lingyun Crossing was the mortal shell he had cast off. His already exceptional aptitude had risen beyond the ordinary, nearly rivaling that of a Dharma Body master.
Among the External Scene experts of the True World, Jiang Zhiwei's master, Su Wuming, had faced three tribulations when his inner and outer worlds converged. His physical aptitude might once have rivaled Fang Yang's.
But after Fang Yang entered Mount Ling and shed his mortal shell at Lingyun Crossing, it would be hard to find anyone in the True World whose physique could compare with his.
The improvement in his physique also refined Fang Yang's apertures, bringing his Primordial Spirit, body, and the power of heaven and earth into complete union. The Heaven-Severing Dharma Image manifested behind him: he had fully crossed the first Heavenly Ladder and become a peak expert of the fourth heaven.
Meng Qi and the others had gained something as well.
Jiang Zhiwei and Ruan Yushu, the most gifted of the eight, had shed their mortal shells, leaving their bodies ethereal and almost immortal, with an indescribable air about them.
Meng Qi and Zhang Yuanshan had caught up to Jiang Zhiwei's former aptitude, leaping into the ranks of those with the finest physiques.
Once Zhang Yuanshan recovered from his initial fright, immense joy rose in its place. He felt his aptitude improve as the apertures in his body opened one after another, carrying him straight into the ranks of Nine-Aperture Martial Artists.
"Patriarch Yang Jun, I—"
Zhang Yuanshan