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nTranslator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

nThe fatty glanced at them, as if sensing that the atmosphere had just gotten much more tense. He quickly smiled and said, “Actually… Actually, I’m pretty smart. I’ve been preparing to escape for many years. Although I can’t cultivate, I’ve memorized all of Imperial Sacred Sect’s cultivation techniques, so that I now know how to do many things. I managed to escape the main peak in the past because I set up my own transportation array and concealment talismans.” He seemed to be eager to prove himself. Visibly relaxing, he said, “Don’t worry. Even without you, those people would not have caught me. Hahaha… Ha… Ha… Ha…”

nHis forced laugh became less and less convincing under Lonemoon’s glare. He shrunk into a ball as if he was being threatened. Fellow Daoist Niu was pretty scary. He looked even scarier than those people who had threatened to eat him..

nUp till now, he still felt like he had dragged them down with him. He kept trying to persuade them to leave. Why were there so many white lotus flowers in this world? They looked like they were prospering.

n“Those cultivators needed your flesh and blood so desperately. It must be something similar to that blood array – they were trying to make use of you for their own cultivation.” Lonemoon sucked in a deep breath and tried to quieten his own thoughts. A moment later, he said, “In other words, your body might be different from others’. Do you know what’s the reason?” That reason must have something to do with the nomological disturbance.

nThe fatty shook his head, looking confused.

n“Then did you eat anything strange, or did you see anyone special?” Like an invader or something.

nThe fatty pondered for a moment, then shook his head once again. “I’ve always been in this sect, ever since I was young.”

nThat was strange. How did his flesh become so highly coveted? They did not discover anything strange about his body, even when they checked it through.

n“Chef, what do you think?” he turned to look at the man beside him.

nYi Qing frowned. “There are special meridians in this world, that can be used to refine pills so that one’s cultivation can improve.” Radish, for example, was a vegetation spirit. When he transformed into a human, his flesh could be cut up and used to refine pills. “But… I’ve never heard of meridians that can fend against divine lightning!”

nDivine lightning was meant as a test for cultivators. Nobody could sneak past it. Er… except perhaps Shen Ying.

n“Even someone who has accumulated huge merits can only use their own bodies to lessen the pressure on their bodies.” Rules were rules – the divine lightning was fair. Yun Heng, who had earned merits for saving the world, also had to use his own merits to save Song Ren, the unfortunate ghost. “I’ve never heard of someone who could use their flesh and blood to influence the divine lightning’s judgment.” The fatty’s flesh was a cheating mechanism.

nThe last ten bolts of lightning for that cultivator in the Imperial Sacred Sect had really been fended off. What’s more, they were right in the first place. The strength of that last bolt of lightning had been greatly reduced. When Yi Qing transformed into a dragon, he went to check the blood array. It was indeed just a normal defensive array. Divine lightning aside – any ordinary Soul Formation cultivator would be able to break that array into pieces if he tried hard enough. In other words, the lightning had really been fended off by fatty’s blood.

nThe gap in the rules seemed to be linked to this fatty. Yet, the more they studied him, the more he looked like an ordinary person. Apart from the fact that he had a lot more meat than average, there was really nothing special about him. He could not even cultivate.

nWait! He could not cultivate?

nLonemoon paused. Suddenly, he reached out and placed two fingers in the middle of the fatty’s forehead. He released a shred of his divine perception into the fatty’s consciousness.The next moment, he cursed aloud.

n“Holy **!”

n“What… What’s the matter?” The fatty felt a chill in his head. He looked absolutely confused.

nYi Qing and Shen Ying turned to look as well.

n“The Spirit-Repelling Array!” Lonemoon’s expression darkened. “it’s in his consciousness.”

n“The Spirit-Repelling Array!” Yi Qing exclaimed in shock as well.

n“What’s that?” Shen Ying asked.

n“Master, that’s an array that can completely isolate one’s spirit Qi,” Yi Qing explained. “The consciousness is the medium which the cultivator uses to control his spirit Qi. If this array is set up in his consciousness, that means…”

n“He will never be able to absorb even a bit of spirit Qi,” Lonemoon said slowly, emphasizing each and every word.

nIf he really had a rubbish spirit root, it would make no difference to him even if his body could not absorb even a bit of spirit Qi. Yet, although this fatty could not cultivate, he could create a concealment talisman and set up his own arrays. This meant that the spirit Qi in his body far exceeded other people’s. Even without the spirit Qi in the air, he could create dharmic talismans.

nAs for why he seemed to have a rubbish spirit root – it could be that his true spirit root had been maimed by someone from the beginning.

nIt was obvious who had done this to him.

nAfter the fatty heard this, he paled. It was as if he had just realized something extremely frightening. His entire body began to tremble. He looked like his spirit had just left his body. He continued to stare blankly at them.

nHe thought… he thought that even though these people needed his flesh and blood, they had after all raised him for so many years. When he was younger, he called them “Uncle”. He saw it as a form of repayment to them that he did not hate them for wanting to consume him. At least… At least they might be a little… a little sorry to consume him.

nBut it seemed like they had never felt that way.

nLonemoon watched as fatty curled up smaller and smaller into a ball. He frowned and could not help but reach out to pat him on the shoulder. “You’ve been wanting to cultivate, haven’t you? Let me get rid of this array for you.”

nThe fatty paused and looked up.

n“That… that’s possible? Fellow Daoist Niu?”

n“….” Yes, if you stop calling me that!

nLonemoon reached out and again placed two fingers in the center of his forehead. He sent his divine perception to the array in the man’s consciousness once again. As he broke the array, he said, “Let me make myself clear. The array in your consciousness is easy to get rid of, but your spirit root has already been maimed. If you want to cultivate, you have to use the surrounding spirit Qi to fix your maimed spirit root first. Thus, your cultivation level will grow very slowly. Given the quality of the spirit Qi in this realm, in tens of years, you might possibly not even…”

nBefore he could finish speaking, he felt a burst of spirit Qi around him. The still spirit Qi around them suddenly stirred aggressively, charging toward the fatty. It was like watching lovers being reunited after a long time.

nThe house could not contain the force of the spirit Qi rushing toward the fatty. The walls began to shake and crumble a few seconds later. With the extra space, the spirit Qi in the air seemed to be moving with even more force than before. It looked almost like a typhoon.

nLonemoon paused. It was a full minute later when he realized that this reaction was caused by Fatty absorbing the spirit Qi from the air. He was just about to remind him that he could not absorb spirit Qi this way, otherwise his soul might split, or worse his body might explode.

nHe turned and witness the spirit Qi splitting itself into five different portions around the fatty’s body. The waste spirit Qi was separated. Five different colors of spirit Qi could clearly be seen. Each of them was absorbed into the fatty’s body in turn.

nThe fatty remained still, seated on his bed in confusion, not being able to do anything. His cultivation was rising before their eyes.

nFirst, he was in the middle of the Qi Refinement stage… then the late stages… then the early stages of Foundation Establishment… the late stages… early stage Golden Core…. Nascent Soul…

nHe kept growing, until he was in the late stages of Nascent Soul cultivation. Then, the spirit Qi involuntarily stopped flowing into his body. This was caused by fatty suddenly standing up in a panic from the bed, so that the spirit Qi could no longer flow into his body freely.

nShen Ying, “…”

nLonemoon: “…”

nYi Qing: “…”

nThey were willing to bet that if he had not stood up at that moment, the spirit Qi would have sent him into the heavens immediately!

n“Chef…” Lonemoon turned to pat the shoulder of the person beside him. “I was wrong. You’re not the little cheat. He is!”

n“…”

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