Chapter 550: The 999 Power Limit

Over seven years ago, Kai had been in the wastelands with Zae Zin Nim, contemplating a barrier within his soul, and now he found himself in basically the same place. True, he was an order of magnitude more powerful, and they were married, and this was as elites instead of as exiles, but the parallel amused him.

In theory, actually obtaining the soul-expanding material was the difficult part and the process happened naturally. When Kai had eaten the soul fruit years ago, however, there had been additional complications due to his monstrous soul. Even though he had embraced his nature to a far greater degree now, they were still prepared for something to go wrong.

Things might go wrong because of that acceptance.

They sat opposite one another, finishing a session of meditation and cultivation. Zae Zin Nim wore her combat robes and was fully prepared, since it was always possible that he would black out and attempt to attack her. Kai was fairly confident that wouldn't happen, though: he felt mentally solid, spiritually unified, altogether ready to move forward.

"I can think of no complications for this part," Zae Zin Nim told him. "Omilaena has already created a breakthrough pill, and she did not seem interested in taking blood before and after."

"Guess I should get to it, then." Kai took a deep breath, then placed the dark pill in his mouth.

Instantly power exploded within him, but he was far more experienced than he had been the last time he expanded his soul. It wasn't anything like mana or qi surging within the channels of his body, otherwise simply being overstuffed with energy could make someone break through. Instead, it was as if those channels themselves were tingling with a different sort of power.

He tried to capture the feeling, to discern the real differences, but as it surged through his soul, the sensations were joined by something new. This time, he didn't resist the monstrous power and it didn't try to overwhelm him. How could either happen, when they were one and the same? Kai embraced it and let his entire soul grow without hesitation.

Then came hunger.

Up to that point the breakthrough had been smooth, even enjoyable, but as the process finished, the bottomless hunger surged within him. It was as if an entire horde of monsters had been set free, howling to fill the voids within them.

Zae Zin Nim must have sensed it, because she tensed, but Kai was completely in control... just empty. He'd never felt such a gulf... it was as if his monstrous abilities had believed that 999 Power was all they could eat, but now they became aware of 9999. Even though that was far beyond him, potentially even impossible, the monster didn't know that, it wanted to consume everything.

"Kai?"

"I'm fine." He took a deep breath and smiled at her. "Easier than last time."

"It looks like it was successful." Zae Zin Nim nodded, and her statement reminded him to check his soul, since that had been the entire purpose.

<

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 0959

Monstrous Hunger - XV (omicron)

Cultivation: Nascent Foundation 51% (261)

Savage Heart: 25 (257)

Physique Level: C-9 (345)

Beggar King's Robes: +3 (15)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

>

His Power hadn't advanced immensely, but the zero in front of his rating was incredible, and he could feel the new potential available to him. In fact, ranking up his Physique seemed almost trivial now, as if he had previously been trying to climb a mountain with both arms tied behind his back.

"Can we proceed to Physique?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

"Actually, there's one other thing first," Kai said, "and an important one. Omilaena believed that I would increase my capacity to handle more monstrous essence at once, but it was just a hypothesis before now, and my case is unprecedented, so..."

"I see. You had best check then, no?"

Kai did so, feeling the essences he carried within his soul, and quickly felt the new potential. Omilaena would be glad to hear that - she might not be able to figure out every part of him, but she was getting a handle on his monstrous soul. The more insight they gained, the more he learned to navigate the unwritten laws, the better he could actually make use of it.

Now that he had the new capacity, he needed to make a strategic decision. It required serious thought, but with Zae Zin Nim waiting, he soon settled on a set to carry by default.

<

Direboar's Strength - XV (omicron)

Behemoth's Heart - X (kappa)

Thunderbird's Wings - X (kappa)

Isulfr's Bite - X (kappa)

Manticore's Spine - V (epsilon)

Baleful Breath - VIII (theta)

Void Gaze - VIII (theta)

>

With seven slots available, he could afford to carry three different enhancements: Direboar's Strength, Behemoth's Heart, and Thunderbird's Wings. That left him with four options for techniques, which was a somewhat harder decision, but for the incursion he went with Isulfr's Bite, Manticore's Spine, Baleful Breath, and Void Gaze.

Aside from the situational abilities he'd gained, Kai had left behind Tyrant's Claw, judging it redundant with Manticore's Spine, and Famished World - powerful as it was, he wasn't likely to run into any enemy cultivators during the incursion. Given enough time he could swap them out, of course, and he hoped to continue increasing his portfolio.

Was this the end of that road, and he would always need to balance seven monstrous abilities? Because Omilaena's theory had proven correct, he couldn't help but think that if he expanded his soul once more, into five digits, then surely he would gain another slot. A level of power like that, however, seemed absolutely insane compared to anything he'd seen before, so Kai set the thought aside. Unless he came up with an alternate way to strengthen his monstrous soul, he'd need to be strategic.

"I think I notice the difference," Zae Zin Nim said, scrutinizing him. "You seem... more monstery."

"I can use more combinations this way," he said with a smile. "But this is just the precursor: if I really want to grow, I need to advance my Physique. I'm feeling stable - any reason we shouldn't move on to the next part?"

"Perhaps we should take a moment to consider our strategy carefully. You could break through, I have no doubt, but we need to learn more for Omi."

"Right. You want me to attempt several different sorts of transformations?"

"And I will draw blood from you each time." Zae Zin Nim revealed several syringes and gave a self-satisfied smile. "I took these. Of course I'll examine your body and soul as closely as possible, but Omi will most likely be able to learn even more."

"That's a good thought." Kai stretched his neck in both directions, limbering up as he prepared for a trial. "Are we going to try to figure out any of the abstract trainee questions?"

"The what?"

"You know, the sorts of things that young warriors muse about before they decide that they're unanswerable questions."

Zae Zin Nim stared at him as if he was mad.

"Really?" Kai stopped his stretching to look back at her. "I mean things like... why does Physique exist in discrete levels, when physical conditioning is more variable than that? Especially at the higher ranks. Or why does the entire body have a single Physique level? Different body parts can have very different sorts of conditioning, depending on training, so why is it all one?"

"Cultivators do not ask such questions." Based on her expression, however, Zae Zin Nim was asking them now. "I believe... Physique is probably something like a physical dantian. After all, we have a single place to store qi, which is then distributed throughout the entire body. Physique is more than just strength training, it involves all forms of energy, so it must be concentrated and distributed in some way."

"That's a really good idea, actually. But I don't suppose any sort of organ like that has been found?"

"You cannot find a physical dantian, but it can still be injured with a precise attack. No doubt the heart of Physique is similar... though I cannot say where it might be."

"It could actually be the heart," Kai mused. "Someone losing a Physique Level is rare, but I've heard of it happening when serious injuries ruin someone's health. Then again, a blow to the heart is likely to weaken you no matter what."

"Perhaps Physique conditioning is like developing meridians, but for the entire body." Zae Zin Nim smiled as she got into the subject. "A dantian alone is insufficient, you need meridians to distribute your qi. If Physique is a core energy that needs to saturate your body, then you likely need to develop your literal body in order to accommodate it."

"Makes sense, but how does that get us to the difference between normal Physique and what you have?"

They discussed the theory for a while, getting well beyond what they actually knew into wild speculation. Most likely half of what they guessed was wrong, but what mattered was that they had some decent theories. When Kai advanced, he wasn't going to simply let his Physique develop naturally, he was going to try to control the process.

If he could: as Kai got out the Twisted Immortal Carnal Seed, he remembered his how vicious it looked.

Eventually they had discussed enough - Zae Zin Nim stepped back and gave him the signal, so Kai cupped the Carnal Seed and let its thorns grow into his flesh. First he let things progress naturally, his body becoming saturated with more intense energy. Zae Zin Nim pierced him with one of the syringes and drew blood, then Kai tried to reverse the process.

Behemoth's Heart beat back the thorns, preventing it from taking him over the edge. When he let go, this time Kai tried to do something different: he focused entirely on his qi, as if he was trying to refine his body like a cultivator. He immediately felt a tingling pain, like his entire body was going to sleep. All he managed to do was grunt, but Zae Zin Nim understood and quickly drew a second syringe of blood, letting him reverse the process.

This time, Kai didn't feel well. He'd endured the Carnal Seed's thorns tearing into him twice now, and though Behemoth's Heart could repair the damage, it couldn't perfectly repair something deeper that was tearing.

"Are you alright?" Zae Zin Nim asked. "Don't continue if it will harm your development."

"I can keep going." Kai gritted his teeth and then grasped the chakra resources they'd prepared, trying to draw them directly into his body.

This time it actually failed: the chakra ran through him, used as fuel but not sinking into his body. That meant the Carnal Seed was pushing him forward again, so he had to pull back. Kai refocused and tried again, once more trying to manipulate his Physique to produce something new.

Five experiments in, he was panting for breath and tasting blood in his mouth. When he attempted to mimic the Irunian Physique methods, he suddenly felt as if his blood was turning to sludge. Instantly he was light-headed and pain throbbed in his chest-

"Fire deviation!" Zae Zin Nim waved a hand urgently at him, not attempting to draw any more blood. "Go back, go back!"

Kai managed to claw his way back, but it was harder this time. The Beggar King's Robes were covered in blood now, and even though his muscles had been knitted back together again, he felt unpleasantly shredded. "I think... I have..."

"Yes, you've done enough. Try for real."

So he closed his eyes and let his body begin to transform, akin to the Savage Heart, yet deeper. His hope was that he could lean further into his monstrous Physique, work it into his soul on such a fundamental level that he would unlock something new.

It felt right... and then very wrong.

With horror, Kai realized that he felt the same thing he had before: this path would lead to stunted growth. His body wanted to take on a more monstrous form, but there wasn't enough power, and the hunger would devour him from within. He was exhausted and in pain, so there was no time to figure out if this was the wrong path, or if it was simply too early - he had to change course.

Pulling back, Kai reeled as the thorns stabbed deeper into his body. It was spreading now, branching into smaller thorns that pierced every part of him. The pain was bad, but the intensity of the power rushing through him was worse. He couldn't think about techniques or experiments now, it was the most he could do to hang on.

Suddenly the seed heated up and fire shot through all the thorns, flooding his body. Kai let out a cry as he seemed to combust, and suddenly it was over.

At some point he'd leapt to his feet, his fingers clenching claw-like. Zae Zin Nim stood nearby, cautious but not deeply worried. Kai didn't feel as good as he often did after a Physique breakthrough, but he also didn't feel like he'd ruined the process with all the experimentation.

Just in case, he checked his own soul before he let himself breathe.

<

Name: Kai Clanless

Total Power: 1121

Monstrous Hunger - XV (omicron)

Cultivation: Nascent Foundation 51% (261)

Savage Heart: 26 (264)

Physique Level: B-0 (500)

Beggar King's Robes: +3 (15)

Soul Level: 9 (81)

Direboar's Strength - XV (omicron)

Behemoth's Heart - X (kappa)

Thunderbird's Wings - X (kappa)

Tyrant's Claw - XII (mu)

Manticore's Spine - V (epsilon)

Baleful Breath - VIII (theta)

Void Gaze - VIII (theta)

-

Famished World - V (epsilon)

Mutefang's Stealth - XV (omicron)

Isulfr's Bite - X (kappa)

Sahagin's Soul - XII (mu)

Monstrous Tail - II (beta)

Wallcrawler's Feet - IV (delta)

Abominalgum - II (beta)

Rose Piranha - IV (delta)

Cloud Piranha - IV (delta)

Bloodtrap - III (gamma)

Slime's Immortality - II (beta)

Silver Demon - II (beta)

Voidmaw's Bite - II (beta)

Great Cetae - III (gamma)

Bloodtail's Armor - III (gamma)

>

Of course the first thing he noticed was that he'd moved up to B-0 Physique, which granted a dramatic boost of 500 Power. That put his total at 1121, which was incredible. And yet, compared to Zae Zin Nim's transformation that had fundamentally changed her and appeared differently in her soul, he couldn't help but be a little disappointed.

"Is that normal Physique?" Zae Zin Nim asked.

"That's hard to say." Kai threw up his hands. "It's not like I have a normal Physique anyway, with all the partial transformations."

"On that note, I see that the Savage Heart grew. It's abnormal to have a secondary gain during a Physique breakthrough, so perhaps that is the result of our experiments."

"Maybe so. Grab another syringe for Omilaena and see what she can make of it."

Zae Zin Nim did so, though she struggled to get even the ultra-sharp needle through his skin. Kai definitely felt a lot tougher, and he had the feeling that his body would respond even more to monstrous energy, though that was just the natural progression of the way he had been developing for a long time. It remained to be seen where all this would end.

Still, he had broken through and they had blood samples from experiments that might never have been done before. As far as he was concerned, all the pain was worth it.