The Secret of the Five Abyss Altars

"Boss, what's that thing beside you?"

Pei Chao's hoarse voice carried over. Startled, Shadow turned to look at the bearded Pei Chao lying on the ground, then quickly drifted before him. "You can see me too? Has your spiritual realm also reached the Subtle Realm?"

Pei Chao frowned at the cloud of black smoke before him. "Boss, this thing... it seems to be the one giving off those Weird murmurs. What is it?"

Hearing Pei Chao's voice, the surprise on Shadow's face faded somewhat. "It looks like his spiritual realm is still at the Clear Mind Realm, though he's taken another step forward from before. Otherwise, he couldn't possibly sense me. How did his spiritual realm improve so quickly?"

Faced with Shadow's confusion, Feng Buzhi explained, "Moments between life and death can temper one's mind and draw out the potential within the body. Last night, he probably experienced more than twenty such moments. That may have improved his state of mind somewhat."

Pei Chao had not realized Feng Buzhi was talking about him. He merely stared at that strange cloud of black smoke with a face full of confusion.

Suddenly, he realized something.

Pei Chao said in surprise, "Boss, are you talking to this thing?"

Feng Buzhi nodded. "It actually appeared in the cave yesterday, but you couldn't see it then. After night fell, it left because of some restriction. If you want to speak with it, you must deepen your understanding of the Weird."

Pei Chao came to a sudden realization. "No wonder you kept talking to yourself back then, Boss. So that was it. Then, when you were at the Plaza Crystal last night, you didn't immediately use the [Repair] function and started eating instead. Was there some special reason for that too?"

Feng Buzhi said, "When you use the crystal later, choose [Basic Cultivation Assistance] first, then exchange for and eat an [Extravagant Meal]. You'll understand why I did that."

After saying this, Feng Buzhi lifted Pei Chao onto his back. There was no point in staying here any longer, so he decided to return to town at once to cultivate.

However, before he had taken two steps, Shadow blocked his path.

Looking at the Goblin corpses strewn across the ground, Shadow said, "It would be such a pity to leave like this. If you can, you should bring some Goblin heads back to the center of town."

Feng Buzhi looked at Shadow in confusion.

Shadow continued, "These heads can be sacrificed at the central crystal. After the sacrifice, they can strengthen this town and offer some help to the Human Race as well. You..."

Before Shadow could finish, he discovered that Feng Buzhi, with Pei Chao on his back, had already passed straight through his body.

Feng Buzhi said, "Next time. Collecting the heads from these corpses would take too long, and I don't have any container for them."

Seeing this, Shadow once again moved in front of Feng Buzhi. "This kind of sacrifice is beneficial to you as well. You haven't fused with the Weird yet. If you do, these sacrifices can help you sort out the Weird's power and make it more docile. Moreover, it will also benefit your entry into the Endless Abyss..."

Shadow was still speaking when he noticed Feng Buzhi had already gone farther and farther away.

Shadow hurried after him and heard Feng Buzhi continue, "For now, I have no plans to come into contact with the Weird's power. Before I do, I will first raise my body to its limits and solidify my foundation."

Shadow said, "Solidify your foundation? What foundation? Your spiritual realm has already reached Subtle, and you're even in the late stage of the Subtle Realm. You can directly fuse the Weird into your body.

"Since you're at the Subtle Realm, you should have already sensed the locations of those four and a half altars outside town, right?

"Just choose one that suits you and fuse the Weird into your body.

"You've reached the Subtle Realm, so you can even choose the type of Weird you obtain.

"If possible, I hope you acquire the Weird as soon as possible. The first person to leave this town through [Promotion] will receive additional rewards, and those rewards are extremely generous.

"The altar closest to town represents the limbs. After activation, some part of your limbs will fuse with the Weird, creating an aberrant limb.

"Over the past few days, some people have already successfully fused with the Weird at that altar.

"The second altar is southwest of town. It represents the five senses. After activation, one of your senses will fuse with the Weird, granting you an aberrant sense.

"The third altar is near the Spider Cave where you were tied up yesterday. Pei Chao seemed to have been drawn there by that altar.

"That altar represents the internal organs. After activation, one of your internal organs will fuse with the Weird, granting you an aberrant organ.

"The fourth altar lies northwest of town. It is the strongest and most dangerous altar, and it represents the brain.

"After activation, your brain will fuse with the Weird. You will gain certain abilities related to the mind and soul. It is extremely powerful, but you will also be more easily controlled by the Weird and ultimately become a Monster.

"Your spiritual realm has reached Subtle, so I recommend that you use this altar.

"Fusing the Weird into the brain may be very dangerous for others, but it should be nothing to you.

"As for the final half-altar, I don't know how to define it either. It fuses with certain special organs, such as hair, blood, nails, teeth...

"This altar is the most unusual. After fusing with the Weird, you may gain some powerful aberrant organs, or you may get trash.

"However, since you have entered the Subtle Realm, you can choose the Weird you fuse with. Perhaps you can give it a try as well.

"The only problem is that this altar's function is not very complete, so some accidents may occur..."

"So that was it. No wonder one of the five places in the Mist where power could be gained was so blurry."

Listening to Shadow's words, Feng Buzhi murmured softly.

Under Shadow's incessant explanations, he had already reached the southern town wall.

Perhaps it had been too long since Shadow had had anyone to talk to, and it was too lonely. Ever since discovering that Feng Buzhi could communicate with him, Shadow had talked without pause, showing no sign of stopping.

Shadow said, "What are you going to do next? If you want to enter the town, you should head east. The city gate passage is there. Why have you come here?"

Before Shadow could finish speaking, he saw Feng Buzhi climb onto the wall with Pei Chao on his back.

Feng Buzhi broke through his body's shackles once more.

As he used [Basic Cultivation Assistance] to improve his physical qualities, the length of time his body could withstand breaking through its shackles grew longer and longer.

Before his first [Basic Cultivation Assistance], the total time he could maintain that breakthrough was less than a minute—more precisely, just over forty seconds.

Even that had already been difficult for him to endure.

After undergoing [Basic Cultivation Assistance] once, he sat cross-legged in the center of the plaza and broke through his shackles, enduring for a full three minutes.

Now that he had undergone [Basic Cultivation Assistance] twice, if his body were at its peak, he could endure for five to seven minutes.

However, factoring in last night's exertion, he could probably stimulate it for another two minutes now.

Feng Buzhi decided to spend those two minutes on his way to the center of the town plaza. By the time he arrived, he could use [Basic Cultivation Assistance] to cultivate...