Second Liberation Form

There was no love without reason in the human world, no hatred without reason, and certainly no power without reason.

The Law of Conservation of Energy popular on Earth basically applied in the Golden Cloud World as well. The amount of power within a person would not undergo exaggerated growth simply because they suddenly attained enlightenment or explosively awakened their inner cosmos.

To possess greater power, one had to plunder it from the outside world—in other words, "eat"!

What set martial artists apart from ordinary people was that the food martial artists consumed could be absorbed and converted by their bodies into tremendous power. Ordinary people, on the other hand, could not absorb it. If they ate too much, it would most likely go to waste; less likely, they would become fat or develop gastrointestinal problems.

As for Zhuang Hong...

His constitution was somewhat special. He did not need to open his hidden treasury and obtain "qi" to absorb the Void Spirits he devoured and convert them into power. It was just that part of that power had fused into his flesh and remained hidden until he opened the Secret Sea and released it.

That was why, after using qi to activate his body, he transformed into a long-tailed giant.

The transformation was an incredibly novel experience, without the slightest hitch.

It made him suspect that he had originally been meant to grow that way, and that the density of his body was greater than that of ordinary people.

Of course, none of that was Zhuang Hong's main concern. What he cared more about was whether he could return to normal after activating his physical power and transforming.

According to the theory Dancer had told him and the results of his own experiments, he could return to normal after transforming.

He only needed to draw back the qi scattered throughout his body.

Scatter qi to transform; draw qi back to end the transformation.

Very convenient.

After finishing his conversation with Dancer, Zhuang Hong traversed space to another barren world, intending to conduct more experiments.

After all, he was different from ordinary martial artists. The "truths" that applied to ordinary martial artists did not apply to him.

To understand qi's true effect on him, he needed to first grasp the basic theory, then test it himself.

"Dancer said that qi is a manifestation of life force. Proper use not only won't harm the body, but can also promote growth and speed recovery. That means I can test it more freely."

He took a deep breath, and with a thought, twenty percent of the qi mass within him immediately separated and spread throughout his body.

Thump, thump, thump~

His heart immediately began to pound violently.

Gurgle, gurgle~

Then every part of his body swelled as though inflated like balloons.

Pfft!

A thick, sharp tail suddenly shot out from his tailbone.

Crack, crack, crack~

Shiny shells began proliferating across the surface of his body.

In the blink of an eye, Zhuang Hong had transformed into a red-armored long-tailed giant. His entire body looked exceptionally agile and well-proportioned, as if it had been born for movement.

Zhuang Hong clenched his fists and carefully felt every corner of his body. He could not help sighing. "What tremendous power."

He stomped his foot.

Boom!

With an explosive bang beneath his feet, he shot forward at extreme speed, nimbly weaving and darting around the area, leaving only faint afterimages on the ground.

In this form, Zhuang Hong's overall strength increased enormously, but compared to his strength, the boost to his agility had reached an even more extreme level.

It was precisely with this extreme speed that he had Instant Killed that Flying Lian Monster.

If he encountered stronger Void Spirits in the future, even if he could not defeat them, he could still easily escape with the speed of this form alone.

Zhuang Hong called this form the "First Liberation Form - Agile Form."

Twenty percent of his qi could maintain the Agile Form for roughly a day.

After moving around for a while, Zhuang Hong stopped.

His purpose today was not to test the Agile Form's performance, but to see what would happen if he mobilized more qi and infused it throughout his body.

He had a vague feeling that the power hidden within his body was far from limited to this.

Zhuang Hong took a deep breath and gradually adjusted his mental state. Then he drew more qi from the qi mass and slowly dispersed it throughout his body.

Thirty percent, forty percent, fifty percent...

As more and more qi spread throughout his body, Zhuang Hong's heart began racing again. A warm current surged from every part of his body, the muscles all over him started to writhe, and he felt even greater power flooding out from within.

Yet his body's form did not change much.

This continued until he had mobilized ninety percent of his qi, when his body suddenly underwent a drastic change.

Thump, thump!

Gulp!

Zhuang Hong's body first swelled dramatically, then the muscles all over him bulged high. His arms became exceptionally thick, his legs became like pillars, and his waist and chest expanded sideways. In the blink of an eye, his neck was wider than his head, forming an upright triangle. His tail did not grow longer, only thicker, making it appear much shorter.

The shells on his body also rapidly grew larger and thicker, encasing him within them.

When the changes stopped, Zhuang Hong's body no longer looked agile at all. Instead, it had become incomparably bloated.

He looked like...

"A standing silverback gorilla!"

Zhuang Hong's mouth twitched. He had not expected this kind of transformation.

Though he was now nearly eight meters tall, he still felt that his limbs were "short and thick." The ease and flexibility of the Agile Form had vanished without a trace, and now he only felt that his body was far too heavy.

However, he could indeed feel an extraordinarily powerful force inside him, one that was almost bursting forth.

He spread his unusually thick legs and walked toward a nearby rock wall.

Thud, thud, thud!

His feet struck the ground with dull, heavy sounds, like a mountain of flesh walking.

When he reached the rock wall, he casually pinched and rubbed it.

Boom!

The hard rock immediately shattered, then was ground into powder.

The result made Zhuang Hong pause slightly.

It was as if what Zhuang Hong held was not a rock, but a lump of soft, sun-dried dirt.

"The increase in power exceeds my expectations."

He lowered into a bow stance and drew back his fist. Origin power surged from within him, covering his entire arm, and then he fiercely punched the rock wall.

Boom—

Accompanied by a violent explosion, countless fragments of rock burst outward. An invisible shockwave swept across the area, and even the Great Earth shook violently, as if an earthquake had occurred nearby.

Zhuang Hong's figure was instantly swallowed by Smoke Dust.

Crack~ Crack~ Bang!

Clear sounds of fracturing came from the rock wall, gradually spreading outward from where Zhuang Hong had struck.

When the cracking gradually ceased—

Boom—

The next moment, vast sections of rock shattered and peeled away from the rock wall in layers, crashing onto the ground with thunderous booms. Countless chunks of stone fell onto Zhuang Hong's head as well, quickly burying him as though in a landslide.

When the Smoke Dust was blown away by the wind, a pile of shattered rock stood where he had been, and Zhuang Hong's massive body was nowhere to be seen.

Crash!

Suddenly, a giant hand stretched out from the rubble and clawed about wildly. Then an exceptionally muscular giant strode casually out of the pile, shook his body, and dusted the lime from himself.

"Not only has my raw strength been amplified to the limit of this body, but the defensive power of these shells has also become incredibly strong. It gives me the feeling that I am invincible and fearless."

Zhuang Hong took several steps forward, then shook his head. "Unfortunately, while my strength has been greatly enhanced, my movement speed has slowed. Overall, it isn't as useful as the Agile Form. It can only be useful in special circumstances."

After considering it, Zhuang Hong named this form the "Second Liberation Form - Tank Form."

After testing the Tank Form's capabilities, he slowly drew back the qi he had dispersed.

As the qi returned, his massive body gradually shrank. In the blink of an eye, he had returned to ordinary human form, and the power within his flesh hid itself once more, returning to stillness.

However, after reverting to ordinary human form, Zhuang Hong felt a trace of physical fatigue, as if his body had been drained dry by all sorts of teachers.

Every cell in his body sent him a signal of "hunger."

Zhuang Hong thought to himself, It seems transforming into the Tank Form consumes a large amount of my body's latent power. I'll need to devour at least two Void Spirits to replenish it.

At that thought, Zhuang Hong involuntarily turned to look at Xiao Bai, who stood nearby with his eyes wide open.

Xiao Bai instinctively backed away two steps. "Woof?"

Zhuang Hong shook his head. "Forget it. There's barely any meat on you... I'd be better off looking around nearby for Void Spirits."