15 Reforged

A normal human body runs on ATP (Adenosine triphosphate). For carrying out any activities, muscles and neural cells need to act in tandem, which uses ATP as fuel. All of our body's major bodily functions like eating, breathing, heartbeat and blood-flow are carried out for solely for the purpose of producing ATP. Repeated usage of cellular functions cause wearing out of cells and new cells are produced after consumption of protein. As a mortal's age increases, the process of regeneration slows down which leads to ageing and eventually death. But what if another type of energy is used, like qi? Qi is a primal type of energy born directly from chaos. It has intrinsic properties and it is very pervasive. If qi could be used to power the cells of a human body, then most bodily functions could be toned down or even halted.

Currently, similar changes had occurred in Vidyut's body. The 7 chakras in his body had completely integrated with his meridian system. His dantian began to shrink until it completely disappeared. He no longer possessed the ability to convert his inner qi to true essence like other martial artists of 7 Star Continent. 7 chakras now acted as hubs and regulated the flow of qi in his body. Due to this, the qi underwent a comprehensive change and was directly absorbed by all his cells as nourishment. This caused his metabolism to slow down to a snail's pace as his heart almost stopped beating, reduced to 3 beats per hour. His oxygen requirement plummeted as one breath lasted for half an hour. His body temperature reduced abruptly from 36 degrees Celsius to 12 degrees Celsius. All his sweat pores decayed and closed and the blood vessels underneath his skin vanished, leaving only the major arteries and veins. The meridians in his body expanded and grew in number. His flesh turned pearly white, devoid of any blood. All melatonin in his skin disappeared and all hair besides that in his eyebrows, eyelashes and in his head were permanently lost. With complexion as white as porcelain, the only redness on the skin was near the orifices like nose, lips and ears. His hair was black as the night and lustrous as diamonds. His irises also underwent a change as it turned as yellow as gold. In the darkness, Vidyut's irises turn emerald green giving a cold, eerie light. A layer of qi congealed on the surface of his skin which sparkled under sunlight. His current appearance was close to those devilishly handsome vampires acting as leads in western T.V. shows that capture the hearts of countless female earthlings.

When the Vajra family saw Vidyut, they were scared shitless. They thought that he had contracted some deadly disease, his mother even burst in tears. Vidyut quickly pacified the situation by saying that all of it was part of his experiment using mystical beasts and that his body is normal. From an outsider's perspective, considering that he has yet to start training and his meridians and dantian were not open, no one bothered to do an extensive check into his body using true essence because his outward appearance except his complexion hadn't changed much. This was because he reigned in his qi and used it to form a layer on his iris to change it back to its original black colour. Without any qi movement, he was no different from his counterparts. He even consciously quickened his breath, which increased his heartbeat and body temperature. This took a lot of conscious effort but in the end was able to mostly satisfy any suspicions.

At the end of two months on the eve of Vidyut's birthday, he was called by the king into his chamber...