Chapter 264: Convoluted Cosmology

Kong Ye left with Xuan Zi, appearing so disturbed that none of the disciples dared to call him back. Once both of them had left the vicinity, Mu Ran, Yuen Zhou, and Xiao Wu scooted closer to Han Xuhan, their eyes wide with burning curiosity.

"Fascinating. This physical fusion seems really effective for combat," Yuen Zhou said, prodding at his external ribcage. Han Xuhan didn't really feel any sensations coming from the bony attachments to his body. So he wholeheartedly agreed with her. Having a layer of bones covering him from head to toe would indeed be impressive in battle.

"Underl-I mean, martial brother Xuhan, see? I still remember the day when I recommended that you should choose the Skeletal Monarch Technique, and you looked so unsure! See where that has gotten you? Now you can cultivate all you want in this fused form! Completely free from the burdens of your horrible physique!"

Mu Ran looked as ecstatic as Xuhan was after having that realization.

"So is this permanent? Are you gonna stay like that the rest of your life, Xuhan?" Xiao Wu asked the most important question of all. Han Xuhan himself was eager to test the ins and outs of his redefined cultivation technique. He poked Zhanxian's skull immediately with his tail.

"Hey, Zhanxian, we learned how to transform into this state by visualizing the glyph imprinted in our minds. How do we get out of it?"

"Ack-! Don't do that! That's my fucking spine, master. We can get out of it by visualizing the glyph from backwards. It's easy."

Han Xuhan was stunned. "What do you mean backwards? Go from a complete glyph to a blank space?"

"Yeah. Just try to recall the glyph you used to fuse with me. In this state, you'll be able to recall it down to its tiniest detail immediately."

He quickly proceeded to do exactly that, and his surprise mounted higher. Indeed, despite how much trouble he had to face the first time he tried to visualize the complex mass of patterns, now he could just think about it and find the entire thing embedded into his mental imagery like a photograph!

"You and I don't need to sync our mental actions together this time. If any of us manages to completely erase the glyph from our mind, our body will separate..."

Han Xuhan was being guided throughout the process by Zhanxian, so hearing the minion stop disturbed his mental state. Opening his eyes, he asked, "Zhanxian, you have to elaborate on how to-"

"Don't talk for a moment," Zhanxian said in a gloomy tone. "Something doesn't feel right."

"...."

What the fuck was wrong this time?

Han Xuhan waited with an enormous sense of pressure. Almost an entire minute later, Zhanxian groaned.

"Ah, shit. Tun Shi Tian, see if you can separate yourself from master's body!"

Even more alarmed, Han Xuhan waited another minute. His martial siblings realized something abnormal was happening again, and their gazes gathered on his nonplussed face once again.

From his forhead, Tun Shi Tian's beak moved, saying, "I can't do it! What's going on?"

"It seems like we can't control the separation..." Zhanxian said in a horrified tone. "Reversing the visualization isn't working!"

Xuhan decided to do it himself. Closing his eyes, he ordered Zhanxian to guide him through the exact process of erasing the glyph from his mind.

Step by step, stroke by stroke, he began to reverse the visualization. Less than a minute later, only the last stroke was left. Taking a deep breath, Han Xuhan erased it as well without a hitch, and...

"Ow!"

A strange jolt of electricity passed through his body. Immediately, he felt much lighter, much weaker. He opened his eyes and looked down at himself. The external ribcage was gone. So was the bone tail he had been swinging around. His arms and feet seemed less robust, fingers slightly shorter.

It seemed that all of Zhanxian's bones that had been fused with his body disappeared the moment he erased the last stroke of the glyph.

The separation was successful!

But why did it work only when he did it? Why was Zhanxian unable to do the same?

Han Xuhan decided to test it again by repeating the process.

"Tun Shi Tian, your turn!"

A minute later, Tun Shi Tian's bones disappeared silently as well, restoring Han Xuhan's original body. Feeling a bit lightheaded, he stood up and tried to move his limbs, unable to detect any problems.

There didn't seem to be any apparent issues with fusing and reversing the fusion with his undead minions. Seeing his contemplative look, Mu Ran coughed pointedly.

"Ahem... Xuhan, I think I know what might be going on, now that I've gotten a good understanding from the sect master's analysis of your dao foundation."

But as Xuhan stared at him with eager eyes, Mu Ran looked at Yuen Zhou and Xiao Wu shiftily. And the two of them didn't take the gesture well. With a displeased face, Yuen Zhou dropped a bomb.

"If this is about the zeroth layer of the Physique Transformation realm, just go ahead and say it."

Mu Ran's jaw fell open. "How do you know about that?!"

"What the hell is the zeroth layer? I thought that was just an inside joke between you two," Xiao Wu said, sounding flabbergasted.

Yuen Zhou snorted. "I heard you two discuss it a few times. It's not hard to guess that martial brother Xuhan's dao foundation anomaly might have something to do with this extra, secret minor realm of cultivation."

Face sour, Mu Ran gave up on trying to hide it and began speaking.

"From my understanding of the zeroth layer, it doesn't contribute to any direct changes in your dao tower. However, it still has to represent something inside your spiritual world. In the Heavenly Daoo Domain, it was hard to discern what it might have been.

But now that your dao foundation has been expelled to the Totality of Autonomy, I have a theory that the small island on which your dao tower stands on is the ultimate root of your abilities and potential as a cultivator.

Think about it, that island has to represent something in your spiritual world.

Since all techniques that you mastered, and all techniques that your minions mastered are rooted inside this island, giving you a secondary control over them, it naturally follows that the zeroth layer, the source of this authoritative power, is represented by the island! That's why, between you and Zhanxian, you have the ability to unilaterally reverse the fusion! Maybe you even have the power to initiate this fusion process as well, you just don't know it!"

"Wait," Han Xuhan said, finding the logic strange. "I made Zhanxian, Tun Shi Tian, and Hai Yin Zhe start from the zeroth layer as well. So that doesn't cancel my authority over them?"

Mu Ran shook his head, much to his surprise.

"The zeroth layer is different from the rest of the layers in the Physique Transformation realm. It's directly linked with authority and stabilization of one's dao foundation. Since the first person to initiate the technique in your spiritual world is you, you'll naturally have the greatest authority."

"This is actually quite easy to verify," Yuen Zhou added in, her eyes glinting. "Why don't you go inside your dao tower and pick up some sand grains from the island? Then call each of your minions and try to see whose sense of attachment to the sand is better?"

Han Xuhan felt that this idea wasn't too bad, just overly direct. Not expecting anything, he closed his eyes, absorbing and running qi through his meridians. First, he canceled Hai Yin Zhe's summon, and then entered the depths of his spiritual world again, ready to investigate it even more minutely this time.

Deep in his heart, he couldn't help but feel rather excited to be a witness to the perverse layers of the world of cultivation. He had barely begun his journey as a cultivator, and yet the world had already shown such enormous wonders... What else was hiding behind the veil of normalcy? Where did these secrets end?

Perhaps he shouldn't have been addicted to novels with convoluted world-building in his past life.