Xia Xiu took out the Petroshapian species DNA template solution. It was held in a glass syringe, through which he could see the liquid's indigo sheen.
Xia Xiu inserted the syringe into a vein in his left hand and slowly pressed the plunger.
Before long, the entire dose of Petroshapian species DNA template solution had been injected into his body.
Gurgle, gurgle-
The veins in Xia Xiu's right hand bulged. His blood began boiling violently, surging like a waterfall. He immediately activated [Flesh Sculpting] to manipulate his blood, channeling the boiling blood throughout his body.
Schlik-
Schlik-
Six indigo crystalline spikes protruded from his back, followed by two from his chest. Countless scale-like silicon-based crystals spread from Xia Xiu's neck across his entire body.
Hiss... that really hurt!
Enduring the pain, Xia Xiu raised the suppressant.
Gulp, gulp.
As Xia Xiu's throat bobbed, he swallowed the entire vial of Divine Feast Elixir.
After Xia Xiu swallowed the Divine Feast Elixir, his rampaging blood began flowing smoothly, and the mutations across his body slowly subsided.
At that moment, Xia Xiu's spirit began separating from his body. He entered a state of ascension once more, his spirit siphoned into the [Ether Sea].
Melodious singing echoed in Xia Xiu's ears. He seemed to see a figure seated upon a throne, with six imposing figures surrounding it, guarding the enthroned figure like governors.
"The power of the gods has been seized
Yet turned against the gods themselves
And so the multitudes fell for unjust glory
Into mud and dung;
The carrion eaters began their feast
To fulfill the tyrant's vision."
A chorus of male and female voices kept reaching Xia Xiu's ears. He involuntarily began singing along at the top of his voice, his individual will gradually growing hazy with the song.
Xia Xiu saw the figure on the throne rise and address His multitude:
"I have walked the drifting ice of dreams; faced the ancient ones in their desolate domains.
I have endured their unbearable power, traversing endless ages.
I have witnessed countless dead worlds and slain Death herself.
I have journeyed through the innards of our maker and watched eternity unfold.
Know that our paradise draws near.
And with our own hands, we shall build it."
As those words ended, the world before Xia Xiu's eyes abruptly overturned. When he opened his eyes again, he was inside an endless flesh-colored space. It writhed like a worm, constantly dripping mucus capable of corroding any metal.
Indescribable terror filled Xia Xiu's mind. To his horror, he discovered that his feet were sinking. By then, half his body had already sunk into the flesh.
As his body sank, a strange hunger suddenly filled his spirit. He instinctively opened his mouth and bit into the flesh.
The parchment of the Flesh Supremacy Lineage appeared in the flesh-colored space. As Xia Xiu took his first bite, deep crimson lettering began appearing on the parchment of its own accord.
[Nälkä Subsystem temporarily installed-] [Divine Feast Moment-] [Conflicting anomalous organism detected-Petroshapian] [Flesh Blessing → Flesh Embrace] [New entry-Flesh Sculpting-Pedrosapin]
As Xia Xiu gnawed at the flesh like a starving, vicious dog, the sixty seconds of spirit vision came to an end.
An enormous black hole suddenly appeared beneath him, dragging him downward.
His spirit kept falling, as though he had plunged into a bottomless abyss.
Time became extraordinarily indistinct. He had no idea how long he had been falling.
A year?
Ten years?
Or a single instant?
Just as Xia Xiu's consciousness began to blur, he was expelled from the black hole, his spirit drifting through the Ether Sea.
What... was that?!
Xia Xiu instinctively reached out.
At that moment, he saw that indescribable, colossal creature. He saw a star being enveloped and devoured by boundless flesh, thousands upon thousands of tentacles and eyes writhing around it.
As the star was devoured, wordless terror devoured him too.
So I was inside Him just now...
[Spirituality loss of control detected!!!] [Initiating forced logout-]
The Red Book appeared, blocking Xia Xiu's spellbound gaze.
Bang-
The physical world · Room Six.
The star tracks inside the room were spinning wildly. Their rings spun so fast that they gave off hissing sounds of friction, accompanied by brief but brilliant sparks.
"Cough, cough, cough-urgh-"
Xia Xiu knelt on one knee, clutching his throat with both hands as he retched repeatedly. His face was ashen, and his entire body was drenched in sweat.
"Sixty cans... two hundred cans of Fire Liquid, twenty curse steles-place them around the island... one can of Red Death..." Xia Xiu's eyes were bloodshot as he muttered words whose meaning was unclear.
"Damn... it... I didn't expect the aftereffects to be this strong..." Only after five minutes did Xia Xiu slowly recover.
This was no longer a game, and he was no longer a player.
Advancement within the Flesh Supremacy Lineage differed from advancement within the Normal State Lineage. It did not progress through learning, but through repeatedly communing with the [Ether Sea], meeting [He Who Covers the Boundless], and performing the guidance of flesh and the Divine Feast.
Put simply, advancement within the Normal State Lineage meant studying and taking exams, progressing steadily one step at a time.
Advancement within most Anomaly Spectrums, however, meant paying with your lifespan-gambling with your life.
In his previous life, quite a few players had switched to Flesh Supremacy, but not one had made it through an expansion alive and smiling. The further they progressed, the more attention they drew from the Six Governors of the otherworld.
[He Who Covers the Boundless] Himself was blind and driven solely by instinct, but six governors, entities from another world, accompanied Him.
Legend had it that only after Yarn passed the six trials of the Six Governors did he fully master the rituals and practices of Flesh Supremacy, ascending beyond the "bonds" of mortal limitations.
Ultimately, when players in his previous life performed the [Divine Feast], they merely watched their game systems update their entries, as though playing a text-based game;
[You are performing the Divine Feast] [You have gained such-and-such ability] [You have gained such-and-such curse] [You have died]
That was what players saw when performing the Divine Feast. Naturally, Xia Xiu was not naive enough to think he was still a player. He had found this containment ritual in a guide in his previous life, and its success rate was as high as 79%.
A success rate that high was worth a try. Besides, he was now at Deer College. Even if he lost control, he trusted Deer College to contain and manage him. Either way, he would not die.
The result was just as he had expected: he succeeded.
The aftereffects were indeed severe, though. He still had not quite recovered.
His memories of [He Who Covers the Boundless] began fading. He could no longer recall that terrifying figure, but the fear He had brought Xia Xiu would not dissipate so easily.
Xia Xiu patted his cheeks, then summoned the parchment and looked at the new entry.
[Flesh Sculpting-Pedrosapin] Cost: 100 spirituality/minute (entry cost reduced by 50% after entering Siliconization) [Subsidiary entries: Crystal Blade Projection, Limb Regeneration, Siliconization]
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