In every direction as far as I could sense, stretched a fleshy mass of pure white. It was difficult to tell for sure given the astronomical scale of the being, but I instantly knew what I was looking at.

  A worm rger than anything I’d ever known.

  Telling the true size of everything I was seeing was hard, being a sliver of consciousness in an almost empty void. We could’ve been shrunk down to the size of an atom for all I knew, but something told me that wasn’t the case.

  The rumbling hiss was the sound of the worm exhaling, the mist excreted from within its body. As I watched, its maw split open, white flesh peeling back to reveal an even deeper, more endless void than the one we currently occupied. Within the worm’s gullet I glimpsed at the endless mysteries of the cosmos.

  If I could retain even a fraction of what I was seeing, my own knowledge and comprehension would advance in leaps and bounds. Teeth more numerous than the stars in the sky lined the worm’s maw, each one sharper than a sage’s sword intent and rger than a pnet.

  This creature was the single most powerful entity I’d ever encountered. I wondered if I was even in the same world as before or if my consciousness had travelled an infinite distance.

  Perhaps none of this was real—the crazed hallucinations of a dying man. The vivid image and the pressure I felt told me that was unlikely to be the case, but I was no fool to rule out any possibility without undeniable proof.

  The mist continued to spill out into the void, filling every single gap. I was reminded of a lecture I’d had on infinities during a brief period where I’d been fascinated with maths.

  Even though infinity was meant to stretch on forever, there was actually a difference in the scale of infinities. Some were rger than others.

  To me it seemed that this infinite void was on a smaller scale than this worm. The void within was that vast and incomprehensible.

  Yet that was only the beginning. As I watched, the mist settled and sunk into the void. In its pce I saw endless wonders being birthed. The creation of stars and nebue, gaxies and bck holes, and even civilisations in the trillions that rose and fell like mere spshes of paint on a boundless canvas.

  The rumbling hiss of the worm’s breath halted. In its pce I heard the vibrant sounds of a universe come to life. The human mind was only able to understand the scale of a universe in the simplest of terms, yet that pure white worm was greater still.

  I was lost in what I saw. Witnessing the birth and death of pnets and stars, entire gaxies consumed by bck holes with nothing left behind. It was magnificent—the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.

  Even though I struggled to connect this to my own abilities or my physique—which I suspected the void in my dantian was part of—I was making endless gains nonetheless. The pursuit of the grand Dao was vast and ever expanding, with a single cultivator unable to grasp the entire tapestry, unless they exceeded the limits of this small world.

  As soon as it had begun, I heard a sharp hiss that snapped across the cosmos like the twang of a zither. Nearby, I saw a solid, swirling sphere of energy, green and yet colourless, spinning faster than the speed of light.

  Everything nearby was drawn towards the sphere, pulled into its rapid rotations as though it were the centre of a sor system. However, any pnet, star, or celestial body that touched the sphere was obliterated and absorbed into the swirling mass.

  It grew and grew, devouring everything in the infinite universe the worm had created until there was nothing left but the endless void and a colossal swirling sphere of deep green energy. It reminded me of the process through which my refined stomach condensed energies, but on an infinitely grander scale.

  As I watched, I heard a deafening groan as the sphere started to shrink. The energy and mass of an entire universe being compressed as easily as closing a fist.

  It shrank and shrank until it was a miniscule sphere, the size of… a pill. My mind almost shattered as I realised what the worm had done. The tiny sphere was a pill refined from the birth, life, and death of an entire universe.

  The worm’s inhale sucked the pill into its maw, where it vanished into the endless void. My mind was bnk, unable to even put words to what I’d witnessed.

  Simply seeing the act of creation and destruction of a universe was more than I’d ever believed a human mind could perceive, yet the purpose of such grand acts was the same as a common alchemist tossing herbs into a cauldron…

  To treat this scale of energy and life with such little regard, just how ridiculously lofty was this worm’s point of view? I was reminded of that strange voice that had spoken to me during my breakthrough.

  Was this worm the owner of that voice? Or perhaps was the entity that spoke to me on a greater level. That idea was insanity to even suggest, but the limits of my comprehension had been broken.

  I suspected the voice that had spoken to me was on a much lower level than this worm, but I was thankful for the experience I’d been granted. I felt a heavy tugging on my consciousness and this time I didn’t resist.

  I flew through the void and in the blink of an eye found myself back in my own mind and body. I gasped, my eyes snapping open as awareness of the world around me flooded back.

  My body was still ravaged by poison. It seemed that barely a breath’s time had passed while I watched an entire universe be born, live, die, and then get refined into a pill.

  I didn’t know whether to ugh or cry. The worm was still crawling its way through my stomach, my heart was continually being refined, and I was approaching my death at a slow crawl.

  I felt all the insights and comprehension I’d gained witnessing the vision slipping from my grasp like water through a strainer. Keeping hold of them was impossible. In the end I felt as though I’d lost more knowledge than the universe could hold.

  However, I wasn’t left without gains. Even the miniscule fractions of insights I’d kept hold of were nuggets of jade—condensing my understanding into something greater.

  My actual cultivation hadn’t progressed, but I felt as though what I had gained was infinitely more valuable. It was as though my path had widened as it was id before me, clearer than ever before.

  Where I had been stumbling like a child taking its first steps, I was now a teenager—still unsure of my final destination but with a clear resolve, even if it was shaken at times. I realised that this was my comprehension of the Dao.

  Or perhaps not the Dao as a whole, but my Dao. The Dao of Healing. Healing was an act of defying death, gathering and guiding life. Watching the birth and death of a universe through energy remarkably simir to my own had been enlightening.

  All my techniques could be improved with the insights I’d gleaned. That would have to come ter. Right now I knew that I could overcome Gao Shan’s poison once and for all.

  Inhale. Exhale.

  The rate at which the poison was being refined had not increased by much, but it was approaching a tipping point. The worm had almost cleared all the poison from my stomach, every pellet of crystallised medicine it left behind a boost to my efforts.

  That sliver of consciousness that returned from the void remained a little separate. I felt as if I could control it with ease. This was what I’d been aiming for all along.

  I pushed it towards the worm. I didn’t want to dominate the creature, but rather open my mind to it in hopes of forming a connection. Neither I nor the former occupant of this body was learned in the ways of beast taming, so for all I knew this could be a suicidally reckless or utterly useless attempt.

  However, the moment my consciousness touched the worms I felt something. Its mind was far… lesser than my own, but there was a sense of kinship. I’d called the worm my brother and that feeling remained. We had a shared purpose and abilities—kindred spirits.

  The worm returned the connection, feelings of satisfaction and joy being sent back. I felt the consciousness return to my mind, along with a foreign drop of… not energy, but soul perhaps?

  I didn’t have the understanding, but I knew that I had formed a bond with the worm in some shape or form. I tried to convey that its burrowing hurt me and it sent back images, feelings.

  The worm didn’t communicate in words, but we managed to have a sembnce of conversation. The itching as it crawled through my body remained. It turned towards my chest, having cleansed my stomach.

  This time however, rather than chewing through the wall of my stomach it simply passed through it as though it wasn’t there. Did it possess that ability all along or had it gained it through our new connection?

  Either way I was gd. It would continue to cleanse and refine the poison, while no longer damaging my internal organs. I heard a shattering noise followed by a metallic cng like a gong being struck.

  I coughed blood, the poison still ravaging my chest, but cracked a grin. Looking upwards, I saw Gao Shan for the first time since he struck me.

  The man was panting and groaning, but firmly on his feet. He gred at his arm which was swollen and lumpy with tumours. That wasn’t all.

  I saw that the qi flows in his arm were disrupted, two slightly different signatures warring with each other. Turning his energy on itself and not simply corrupting the physical body had worked, though already I could see many improvements I could make to the technique.

  It was rough, imperfect. If I’d twisted my intent in different ways or used my qi more efficiently I might actually have stood a chance at killing Gao Shan.

  I could sense his cultivation now. Nine-star Qi Gathering Realm, a peak cultivator of our realm. That was great news.

  I wheezed breaths as I felt my heart beating faster and faster. It began to beat at a rate that felt unsafe, like drums of war. However, I knew this was not dangerous for me.

  I had been uncertain of the effects of completely refining my heart, but the moment it was finished I knew. My lungs were a refinery, purifying ingredients and toxins into medicinal and healing energy for my body to use.

  My stomach was a cauldron, turning all forms of energy and physical ingredients into new forms of energy or refining alchemical products. The heart didn’t have its own individual function per se, but it was still a boon.

  A stream of healing energy travelled from my lungs to my racing heart, entering through the atrium as my blood did. The heart continued to beat, the energy within swirling and writhing.

  A breath ter, pure spiritual energy was expelled from the aorta, spreading through my body. That spiritual energy entered my dantian where it was slowly refined into qi.

  The heart could take medicinal energy and turn it back to pure spiritual energy that could be refined into qi or used for any other purpose. Not a world shaking effect, but incredibly useful nonetheless.

  To be able to restore my qi internally, not having to rely on spirit stones or ambient spiritual energy, was a powerful asset. Many cultivators would be green with envy if they knew I possessed such a talent.

  As my heart beat, it extracted more and more healing energy from my lungs and even started to pull the writhing creation from my stomach. That energy was an odd blend of poison and qi, but it absorbed it nonetheless.

  Rivers and streams of pure spiritual energy surged into my body, most of it being absorbed and refined by my dantian, but part of it simply vanished. I realised it was being expelled into my surroundings.

  Not necessarily wasted, as I was giving back to the world. While that was not a direct gain, it felt right. Maintaining harmony with heaven and earth was equally as important as increasing my cultivation and refining my physique.

  Within a few breath’s time, all of Gao Shan’s poison had been cleansed or refined. The final pellets of crystallised medicinal energy burst and healed my body as I was able to crawl back up to my knees.

  I coughed blood, but it was no longer bck and corrupted. With another exertion of will I cmbered to my feet. My body was ravaged, the endless waves of healing energy not enough to restore me to full health.

  However, I felt stronger than ever before. I wasn’t a Body Tempering practitioner anymore, but each time my flesh and bones were destroyed and rebuilt, my physical body grew more durable and strong.

  Even my cultivation had benefited. I was right at the pinnacle of five-star Qi Gathering, needing only a small push to break through to the next star.

  As I reached my feet, I heard Gao Shan roar and watched as he gathered all of his qi in his right hand before jabbing two fingers against his shoulder. My eyes went wide, realising he had severed his own spirit veins, cutting off the flow of qi to his arm.

  It was a devastating move, dealing permanent damage to his circution of energy, but it effectively cut off his arm. Next, he jabbed his arm in three pces and quickly subdued the virulent tumours and rebelling qi.

  He spat blood on the ground before snorting and flicking his sleeves. Our gazes met, mine filled with defiance and pride while his burned with fury and wounded arrogance.

  Gao Shan had looked at me like a god looked at an ant. However, I had proven myself to be more than a paper tiger. I was in a far worse state, but I had still damaged a cultivator four stars above me and survived his most lethal technique.

  “My little cousin was right about one thing. You’re like a damn worm, always regrowing no matter how many times you are carved apart. I do not think you are immortal, Zhao Dan,” he sneered, though it cked the imperious arrogance he’d held before.

  Within my consciousness, I felt the affirmative satisfaction of my new wormy friend. I would need to give him a name. Whatever the bastard was about to throw at me, I wasn’t alone.

  “That st poison was the most potent technique I possess. However, it requires little sacrifice. The Gao Cn have a devastating technique, one that trades the vital qi of the caster in order to inflict an incurable poison on their foe. I hadn’t thought I would need to use it on five-star trash, but the patriarch must arrive in the city to find it firmly in my grasp,” he decred, taking a single step and appearing in front of me.

  I saw him gasp and shudder, the very essence of his life shrinking as he thrust his hand into my chest, ripping into my flesh as though it were tofu.

  “Die, worm.”

  A/N:

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