Chapter 173: Corpse Bone State

His body seemed immersed in a cold spring frozen for ten thousand years; bone-piercing chill seeped in from all directions, rinsing every single bone.

That grim chill was like countless tiny ice needles, shuttling between the marrow, stimulating the bones to grow at an astonishing speed.

They seemed to be eagerly yearning to break free from the shackles of flesh and blood, like bound bizarre monsters, impatient to escape this frail fleshly shell.

"Heh—"

Feng Mu, having experienced it once before, did not panic this time.

Inside his body, the Three Solutions State 【Blood Flesh Initial Solution True Art】 raged like a storm, operating madly.

The flesh and blood between skin and bone seemed like a group of pythons awakened from hibernation; they were full of vitality, surging and roaring like a tide, countless crimson writhing snake bodies tightly coiled around the bones, tightening circle by circle.

The feeling was as if, within his body universe, a white skeleton monster was wrestling with innumerable crimson snake swarms, while his "spirit" was immersed in the center of the universe, both a calm bystander and the referee of this battle.

However, this referee's stance was wavering; he cleverly maintained the balance between both sides, always extending a helping hand just as the weaker side was about to collapse.

Like a master Water Balancing Master, exquisitely adjusting the scales of power until both sides' strength was exhausted, each retreating to that "Chu River Han Border" dividing them, flags furled and drums silenced back to the initial balanced state.

【Pig Iron Trait — Molding Embryo, Essence Extraction successful!】

【System Detection: You have mastered this trait; Molding Embryo trait significantly strengthened.】

【Mold Embryo (White) sublimated to — Molding Embryo (Green).】

In an instant, like a surging tide, bizarre knowledge and primal instincts once again swept through the depths of Feng Mu's soul like a gale, merging as one with his fleshly body.

After a long two minutes, that cold qi rampaging inside his body slowly dissipated like a receding tide, leaving behind a forest of white bone thorns disguised beneath the flesh and blood.

Feng Mu gently twisted his wrist; several sections of exquisite retractable bone knives popped out from his wrist in sequence, staggered and layered together, like a blooming flower wreath.

These bone knives were about thirty centimeters long, completely encircling his palm, forming a wreath that was both bizarre and beautiful, like a man-eating flower.

Feng Mu nimbly manipulated that bone wreath, making it tremble; a buzzing resonance sounded in the air, sending chills down one's spine.

Then, with a thought, his finger bones instantly pierced through the flesh and emerged, sharp as a feline's claws, silently extending.

The length of these finger bones had not changed much compared to before, but their luster seemed to have undergone the sedimentation of years, revealing a deeper, colder metallic sheen, like rough pig iron forged through a thousand hammerings, ultimately tempered into tough refined iron.

The most critical change was that when Feng Mu slowly retracted those finger bones, he could still feel a swelling sensation at his fingertips, as if an invisible force was gathering between his fingers, ready to burst forth.

Following his body's instinct, Feng Mu curled his index finger, like pulling a trigger, and flicked lightly at the side.

Instantly, a finger bone shot out like an arrow leaving the bowstring, accompanied by a sharp "swish," accurately striking the tiled wall and embedding deeply into the hard surface, just like a bullet shot into the bullseye.

Feng Mu lowered his head slightly, his gaze focused for an instant, and saw the flesh of his index finger slightly concave; immediately after, that concavity rapidly recovered its fullness, a brand new finger joint grown and loaded.

Feng Mu walked to the wall and pried the finger joint down; then the bone returned to his palm and could actually sink back into his flesh.

"Recyclable bullet!" Feng Mu licked his lips, muttering a few more words, "Ten-finger rapid fire?"

Feng Mu subconsciously reached to touch the back of his neck; his fingertips lightly brushed the protruding contour of his spine, as if searching for some secret switch.

However, despite several attempts, the spine did not pull out easily as he had hoped.

His brows furrowed slightly, but then relaxed again, because from the subtle feedback transmitted by his body he knew this was not a complete refusal, but that the timing was not yet ripe, the strength still insufficient.

"Perhaps, just need 【Molding Embryo】 to upgrade one or two more phases to reach that level." Feng Mu talked to himself, his voice carrying a hint of anticipation.

An iconic scene from an anime in his previous life involuntarily surfaced in his mind; it was not simply pulling out the spine to wield, but a grander, more shocking spectacle:

Bones from his entire body pierced the ground like a violent storm, instantly transforming the surrounding small area of terrain into a grim white bone forest.

The name Feng Mu could not quite recall; the longer he stayed in this world, the more his previous life's memories would be diluted by the constantly filling present-life memories, growing increasingly blurred.

"If 【Molding Embryo】 goes up a few more grades, can it reach that realm, or even more tyrannical?"

Feng Mu's eyes flickered with blazing light; a desire difficult to describe surged in his heart, as if he had already seen the day he grasped that power.

Feng Mu's fingers lightly explored his body, perceiving the bone changes currently occurring.

On his shoulders, bone thorns pierced out from the flesh and blood like dense thorns, appearing even denser and more powerful.

The bone spurs on his back were arranged more tightly, the number of spurs doubled, forming a set of armor that looked like a case of "trypophobia."

And the serrated ribs on his chest exuded a heart-chilling ferocity; they could bite autonomously, like the compound teeth of an alien creature, making one involuntarily feel a chill.

"Different from (White) Molding Embryo which could only simply control bone length, after upgrading to (Green) Molding Embryo, I can perform fine morphological changes on every single bone."

Feng Mu's voice carried a trace of excitement difficult to conceal,

"Moreover, I can now simultaneously control all local changes, which means……"

As Feng Mu's thought moved, bones at all major joints throughout his body began to rapidly grow and deform; they crazily tore through flesh and blood, vying to extend outward.

In the space of a breath, the reflection in the mirror underwent an astonishing change.

Finally, a masked humanoid monster appeared in the mirror:

Thorny barbs on his shoulders, chest and back covered by ferocious bone armor, a circle of terrifying bone plates encircling his wrists, fingers turned into sharp hook claws, bone spikes surrounding his knees, toes turned into barbs gripping the ground tightly.

The remaining parts were still connected by flesh and skin, forming a monster woven from white bone and flesh, both terrifying and filled with a bizarre charm.

Feng Mu closed his eyes, deeply feeling the power liberated from the depths of his bones; it was an unprecedented powerful energy, surging in his body, as if wanting to penetrate the bones and pour out unrestrained to the outside world.

In this "non-human" state, he could clearly perceive that his attack power, defense power, and even speed had all increased enormously.

Feng Mu only vaguely felt it in his heart, but could not be certain.

The system panel could only display his data in normal state; those cold numbers could not accurately capture his true combat strength after transformation, or when stacked with various "aura buffs."

"Perhaps, current combat power is roughly double the normal humanoid state?" Feng Mu murmured softly, his voice carrying a hint of uncertainty.

He pondered for a moment, thinking: "I could go to the Martial Arts Hall and use the testing device to measure my strength, hmm, better not. After all, this form of mine appearing at the Martial Arts Hall would be too shocking; the testing device has a recording function."

Feng Mu sighed lightly, his gaze returning to himself in the mirror; beneath the snowy white mask were a pair of cold and gloomy eyes; he said faintly through the cold mask: "For now, let's name it — Corpse Bone State!"

(End of Chapter)