I Am Become Gluttony

"Remember, Sir Zuliao, there are many variations that affect the decision of your base rank. The most important factor considered is how many Arts of Gluttony you are blessed with."

The Gluttonforce carefully instructed Ye Zuliao, who was standing where the rubble of the statue was, on the details.

"Don't I already have an Art of Gluttony? What does that make me?"

"As you are now, you can just barely be considered to have a Bellyful Value of 5."

"That must be quite good, right? Not great, but at least good... right?"

"You're twenty points shy of the required amount to qualify for the lowest rank."

Ye Zuliao shut up after that, then prepared to go on with the initiation. The Gluttonforce opened its mouth and heaved, producing a spoon full of a strange clear substance from its stomach. Bringing it over to Ye Zuliao, the Gluttonforce said, "In order to correctly determine your Bellyful Value, we must see what your stomach can handle."

Ye Zuliao folded his arms, seeming a bit skeptical once he saw where the spoon came from. The more he considered eating what was in the spoon, the more he remembered just how hungry he was feeling. "Let's do it!"

Mouth agape, Ye Zuliao received the spoon and sucked the contents into his own stomach. Once he did, his eyes shut tight and he tightened his hands into fists.

...

As a few seconds passed, it became obvious that there would be no side effect. The substance in the spoon did not affect him in any way, so he had been guarded against nothing.

"Bellyfull Value of at least 25, which puts you at the Hoggish rank for now."

Ye Zuliao grew a bit excited. It was apparent to him, now, that he had just easily passed the first test. Whereas some would fail, some would suffer hardships and some would pass with little difficulty, he passed without so much as a bead of sweat. For once, in his time within the forest garden, he felt like he was truly beyond extraordinary.

"Next!"

"Yes, Sir Zuliao."

The Gluttonforce barfed up another spoon, slightly larger and with a thicker clear substance. Ye Zuliao frowned upon seeing it, but then reminded himself of the lack of effects in the last bit of substance he had consumed. Once more, he inhaled it all and braced himself for the side effect- if any at all.

Yet again, there was none.

As you can probably imagine, Ye Zuliao was now full of pride and himself.

"Bellyful Value of at least 100, putting you at the Wolfish rank."

He felt unstoppable, he felt superior; he felt beyond what words could encompass. He licked his lips, rejoicing internally at the fact that he had so easily passed the first two tests.

The Gluttonforce could not help but say, "Remarkable. I've seen beings capable of swallowing entire planets still be unable to stomach Gluttony's Everlasting Ass-Juice. You are truly something else, Sir Zuliao."

"!!!" Ye Zuliao had been in the middle of a dance when the Gluttonforce said this, and his spirits were immediately eradicated. The emotions built in his heart, but he refused to believe it. He refused to believe what he had just consumed.

"I'm sorry, Gluttonforce, I must have misheard you. Did you say... Ass... Juice?"

"Mhm! After consuming the highest quality of foods, Gluttony was granted the ability to condense the essence of those foods into a stupendous liquid. This liquid was used to test the level of the spiritual stomach by assessing what level of essence it can handle."

"Right, yes- but what did you call it? Was it Grass Juice? Perhaps you said Fast Juice?"

"No, no, it's called Everlasting Ass-Juice, because Master Gluttony would produce it from his ass-"

"BLECH!"

Ye Zuliao stuffed a finger down his throat, trying to force himself to throw it all up. With totally furious abandon, he shoved his finger as far as it could go and then some. He even ended up with his entire hand in his throat at one point.

Sadly, he could do nothing to drain his spiritual stomach. Not even his actual, physical stomach, was capable of being drained in this manner. Such was the passive ability of someone with his kind of ability. It would take a ridiculous type of substance, or a mountain-toppling amount of power, to force him to throw up what he had already consumed.

Ye Zuliao fell over on the floor, the will to live fading from his eyes. All he could say, on repeat, were the two words that would surely scar him for life. "...ass...juice... ass...juice..."

The Gluttonforce looked over and saw Lord Gulon snickering and trying his best to hide it. In Lord Gulon's mind, Ye Zuliao was getting what he deserved. This was the perfect payback.

Though it took some time, Ye Zuliao surrendered to fate and continued with the tests.

"Piggish rank..."

"Ravenous rank..."

"Voracious rank..."

Before long, Ye Zuliao had consumed eight spoons of Everlasting Ass-Juice, including the first two. With each test he passed, the spoon size would grow bigger. By now, the spoon had become a ladle and was brimming with the most potent kind of Everlasting Ass-Juice.

The excitement had gone from him, leaving only an unsettling submissiveness to the situation. With resigned uninterest, he opened his mouth and devoured the liquid. However, there was something to be felt this time. His eyes widened, mostly due to the surprise of there actually being something to feel. Then, as a little time passed, he felt a burning within him in both his physical and spiritual stomachs that drove him into silent agony.

The Gluttonforce did not notice, but instead broke off into speech.

"This in the ninth and final test, where the initiate Glutton is fed the very Dao of Gluttony. Most do not make it to this level, less survive but none have succeeded in digesting it. It is the truest challenge to Gluttons everywhere, who aspire to one day be able to strengthen their spiritual stomachs to a point where they can digest the Dao of Gluttony."

Tears flowed from Ye Zuliao' eyes as he bit down on his tongue. He tugged at his pants until he almost ripped them, then his face started turning red. A thin steam blew out of his ears and nostrils, and his eyes became bloodshot as the moisture in them evaporated.

"By eating greater and greater foods, the spiritual stomach is refined and strengthened. Soon enough, someone will eat food of tiers beyond the Bussin'-Bussin' Tier. When that time comes, I believe the Dao of Gluttony shall be digested. Either that, or someone just like Gluttony will appear. Someone who does not walk the path of the Dao of Gluttony, but forges it. Someone who is not aligned with that Dao, but with the Grand Dao."

"Of course, that's just impossible. Only someone like the Young Master could do that, but he has no need to stoop down to this level. Anyway, how are you doing?"

The Gluttonforce finally looked over to Ye Zuliao who, at this point, was nothing but a dried shell of his former self. When he blinked, his skin cracked and dried flakes fell to the floor, yet he remained standing and breathing.

"Oh dear! Sir Zuliao, are you okay!?" The Gluttonforce was worried now. If Ye Zuliao died under its watch, Logean Wuji would blame it. Even though it would take less than an iota of effort for Logean Wuji to resurrect his disciple, that would not change the fact that he died in the Gluttonforce's care. Even Lord Gulon started panicking, and was about to cast the same healing spell he had used on the chocolate bar.

Luckily, Ye Zuliao managed to hoarsely say, "....I... ...okay..."

Thanking its lucky stars, the Gluttonforce moved forward and extended its divine sense in order to get a sense of what was going on. This was not an uncommon sight, as it had supervised the tests for every Glutton ever. They had all come to Lord Gulon's Forest Garden from wherever in the Infinite Expanses they resided, so the Gluttonforce had a lot of experience.

"He survived, that much is praiseworthy. Now then, time to remove the Dao essence and- Nani!?"

The Gluttonforce gave an uncharacteristic exclamation and then bent over to get a closer look at Ye Zuliao. Lord Gulon was intrigued, so he moved over to see for himself.

"But look at his condition! He clearly failed, did he not?"

Lord Gulon almost missed the fact that the Gluttonforce was speaking to him, so he rushed to respond, "Ah!? Uh- yes! It certainly does seem so."

The Gluttonforce turned around, focusing all its divine will on Lord Gulon and scaring him back into the kneeling position he had been in for quite some time.

"Then where is the essence!? Where is the Dao of Gluttony that he consumed!?"

Lord Gulon was a furred creature, but he clearly blanched once he heard the question and crept further and further away from the Gluttonforce. This was because he was scared of its reaction to what he was about to say.

"My Lord, perhaps he... digested it...?"

The Gluttonforce grew silent and did not move, worrying Lord Gulon so much that he felt the need to justify his claim. "We must remember, he is the disciple of the Young Master!"

"I know that, but that doesn't necessarily mean he can go against the Grand Dao, does it? If the Young Master gave him that ability, then he wouldn't even need to be here to take these tests in person. No, I think the explanation is far more complicated than this. It has to do with the boy himself; something inside of him and him alone. It is likely that the Young Master saw that 'something' and chose him because of it. This is the only sensible explanation."

Lord Gulon scoffed, "The only explanation sensible to you..."

The Gluttonforce immediately took offense and flew off the handle. It could express itself fully now, since Logean Wuji was no longer physically present and his disciple was not fully awake to observe his behavior. "What are you insinuating, Gulon!?"

"Ahh! No, no! I mean that the things of the Young Master are beyond even you, and they would not make sense to you. It is very possible that your explanation is not the true explanation either! I was not trying to disrespect you!"

The Gluttonforce could say nothing; this was the truth. Even it was skeptical of its reasoning, but there was nothing else it could think of that would be the case.

If it could into the Dimension Beyond, where non-existence existed, it would see Logean Wuji standing in their midst, in spirit form. This was one of the astral clones he had made, allowing him to take a physical incarnation in the forest garden but still have physical incarnations elsewhere. This would not be necessary usually, but Logean Wuji took special care to suppress himself when outside of the Omniverse.

The reason why is anyone's guess.

Logean Wuji laughed to himself as he looked at Ye Zuliao on the floor. He could see them and touch them, but they could not do the same to him. As he listened to the Gluttonforce and Lord Gulon carry on and on, he shook his head.

"Fortunately, I can suppress my curiosity as well. I'm eager to see what the 'something' inside of you is for myself, Zuliao."

Suddenly, Logean Wuji's ears twitched and he smiled.

"You've been laying down enough."

A large amount of natural energy gathered around Ye Zuliao's motionless, dried up body. He was out of it, but he could clearly feel the insane amount of natural energy as it approached his stomach. He wanted to run, to scream and fight, but there was nothing he could do in that state. The natural energy took the invisible form of a hand that smashed into his gut, causing his soul to explode to life with pain and suffering.

"Wake up," Logean Wuji chuckled, "time for you, Zhou Hua and the others to make your way to class."