Chapter 24: Reborn Once More

The night was silent; Chen Mo lay quietly on his bed. This time, the Mortal Transformation went better than the last.

At the very least, he was able to be in his room, and he was the only one in this room.

In his hand sat a Copper Gong, which he had previously snuck out from the military camp's storage.

The Personal Soldiers responsible for night patrol had to strike this Gong and Drum every night; even though there were only a few dozen of them left now, they still struck the gong to mark the time every single night.

Before, when there were many people, several teams were arranged to patrol and keep watch, so two or three or even more gongs and drums were used at once, but now only one was used, so there were extras left over.

Chen Mo had quietly snuck it out; if he fell into the Grey Mist during this Mortal Transformation, he was prepared to strike the gong himself to see if it worked.

Besides this, the Steel Spear he usually practiced with and a short blade he carried on his person were now placed by his side, ensuring he would absolutely not face the predicament of being empty-handed like last time.

Confirming these things were all there, Chen Mo sat up cross-legged, focused his mind on a single point, and activated the Transformation Pearl.

Inside the Transformation Pearl, the power of Qi and Blood he had accumulated over this period continuously spread out, beginning to perform another Mortal Transformation on him.

The Mortal Transformation performed this time was no longer a simple enhancement of his muscles and bones.

The power of Qi and Blood first merged into his internal organs; this place was the foundation of the human body, and only if the internal organs were strong enough could they withstand a sufficiently strong physical body.

Otherwise, if the physical strength was high but the internal organs were weak, it would instead cause an extremely serious burden.

If the internal organs could not withstand the physical body, they would begin to collapse, and the person would naturally find it hard to escape death.

As the Qi and Blood merged into his internal organs, every beat of Chen Mo's heart became increasingly powerful and firm.

With every breath, he could take in and absorb more air; these were just the most intuitive improvements and changes.

As for other changes like those to his liver, kidneys, and stomach, he could not yet fully perceive them.

Especially after his stomach and intestines were strengthened, he would inevitably be able to eat more food and digest more food.

In this way, he could also absorb more Blood Qi from his food.

Moving forward, besides food, he could also try many medicinal soups used to supplement Qi and Blood.

It was just that the price of these medicinal soups was much more expensive than food.

A single piece of high-quality ginseng cost at least ten-odd taels of silver, and it wouldn't last three days for supplementing Qi and Blood.

Yet, ten-odd taels of silver used for meals could last more than a month, even if he ate meat every day.

Drinking medicinal soup was certainly a good thing; it could speed up the rate at which he improved his Qi and Blood.

But if he wanted to drink medicinal soup, he had to solve one problem first: money.

Chen Mo couldn't exactly say he had nothing to his name, but he was essentially destitute.

The reason he had been able to drink medicinal soup before was entirely because Sun Jiangjun had sent someone to deliver it.

Otherwise, based on his own financial means, it would have been basically impossible for him to afford medicinal soup.

As the Qi and Blood merged into his internal organs, another portion of Qi and Blood began to flow into his skin, flesh, tendons, and bones; Chen Mo had been practicing the Greedy Wolf Seven Kill Fist during this time, so it was inevitable that he would have lingering hidden injuries and ailments.

Even with health-preserving medicinal soup to drink, this was still an unavoidable matter.

Otherwise, how could this technique manage to be worth ten years of hard work in an internal cultivation art within a single year?

It relied on the excavation and consumption of the Martial Artist's physical potential to bring about the greatest improvement in the shortest amount of time.

At this moment, nourished by his own Qi and Blood, these hidden injuries and ailments were all wiped away and smoothed over; his physical body returned to a perfect state once more, leaving no defects behind.

This was the benefit brought by Mortal Transformation; regardless of the size of the improvement, Mortal Transformation would cause his physical body to undergo a metamorphosis from the inside out.

As the hidden injuries were healed, the remaining Qi and Blood began to truly improve Chen Mo's physical strength.

The improvement brought by the internal organs could be said to have extended Chen Mo's stamina and increased his body's potential to bear power, allowing him to unleash stronger force at once without being affected, and even more so, without bringing hidden dangers upon himself.

But the direct improvement to his physical strength was actually not very large, and now that the power of Qi and Blood began to nourish his muscles and bones, this was the direct improvement to his physical strength.

Chen Mo carefully felt this Mortal Transformation; his entire body was enveloped in a feeling that was warm and radiating vitality, his entire spirit was left only with clarity and vigor, and his perception of the world was clearer than ever before.

As the Mortal Transformation ended, Chen Mo confirmed before even opening his eyes that he had definitely not fallen into the mist this time.

Because this time, he happened to hear the sound of the Gong and Drum being struck, the crisp and resonant sound echoing within the military camp.

Even if there might have been Grey Mist, it had certainly been dispersed by now.

He lay on the bed and let out a long sigh of relief.

The Gong and Drum beside him was something he had snuck out; he would just find a way to return it tomorrow.

The management of this Gong and Drum was quite strict, even stricter than many common military weapons.

If it weren't for the fact that most of the Personal Soldiers were not in the camp right now, it would never have been so easy for him to get his hands on this Gong and Drum.

But in a few more days, they would all be back.

The twentieth of the first lunar month was the latest date for all Personal Soldiers to return to camp; most people certainly wouldn't wait until then to return, so people should be returning one after another on the eighteenth or nineteenth.

It was easy for him to get the Gong and Drum this time, but it wouldn't be so simple to get it again next time.

He moved the Steel Spear off the bed and carefully hid the Gong and Drum under the bed, preparing to return it later.

Chen Mo let out a long breath, only then daring to relax and lie back down on the bed.

However, just as he closed his eyes, his eyes suddenly snapped open, and he sat up from the bed as if spring-loaded.

Something was wrong, very wrong.

Chen Mo frowned deeply, his mind once again focused on the Transformation Pearl.

There was nothing abnormal about the Transformation Pearl; having just undergone Mortal Transformation, the power of Qi and Blood accumulated inside had been completely consumed, and it had turned transparent and colorless again.

Yet, Chen Mo could perceive the existence of a wisp of aura within the Transformation Pearl.

This wisp of aura was incredibly faint, but it appeared extremely tough and heavy, and it seemed to be incomparably sharp, capable of breaking through everything.

The most critical point was that this wisp of aura belonged to him; Chen Mo could even see the space where the Transformation Pearl was located through this wisp of aura.

Of course, the "seeing" here was not true sight, but just another way of perceiving.

Before, he could perceive that the Transformation Pearl was in his abdomen, but he could not determine its exact position in his abdomen, nor which space it was actually in.

But now, through this wisp of aura, he could roughly sense that the Transformation Pearl was located three inches below his navel.

If he remembered correctly, that seemed to be where the human dantian was located; he was not surprised by this, as he had already had this suspicion earlier.

The Transformation Pearl is in his abdomen, so in all likelihood, it is coiled within the dantian.

As this wisp of Inner Qi enters, he can roughly observe that the dantian where the Transformation Pearl resides is a hazy gray, devoid of any color, as if all things are silent.

Only this wisp of breath emits a faint light, and his consciousness can only perceive this wisp of breath, unable to perceive the entire dantian.

The reason he can see the general state of his dantian is entirely by relying on this wisp of breath to conduct an inspection within his body.

Then, what exactly is this wisp of breath that suddenly appeared in his dantian!

Could it be Inner Qi?

A conjecture arises in Chen Mo's heart.

(End of this chapter)