[Do you want to bond with "Lin Hualan" and receive all of her cultivation gains from now on? (With Reward Amplification of 10x)]
He had been hesitant because of greed and some misgivings, but no longer.
His mother was a brilliantly talented woman, and he loved her—if he could grow along with her, he would only be happier!
And he was also curious about the evolution of Bonds. If it could be evolved with Love, he and his mother would have a lot of that inbetween them!
Yes!
He wanted to bond with his mother.
"Yes," he muttered to the system.
Suddenly, his mother, who had been watching the stars, turned to look at him. He didn't even need her consent—it all just happened in clear silence and nightly warmth.
Suddenly, he could feel his connection with his mother deepening.
And she, in turn, felt it even more.
After all, she had incredibly sharp senses.
She smiled.
Then patted his head.
"So you decided to Bond with me after all. I wanted to see you bonding with three Golden Talents, you know?"
"Nah, they are not as good as you, mom," he said with pride. "Not to mention all of them are old and dying. Who needs em when I can have my young and still lively mom?"
She seemed tired and old, but his mother had a lifespan of 500 years!
She was only 30. To look so tired already, it hurt his heart.
He held her hand in reassurance.
That caused Lin Hualan to stare at him in wonder.
Her son!
Even if Lin Shuhan hadn't gained full emotional bandwidth, he was already behaving like a normal kid his age. He could feel, he could love—though only a bit—and he was human.
She felt overwhelmed.
Then ruffled his hair. "You better take me to the Heartland, you brat," she said. "If you can't even do that with your talent, I'd be pissed off."
"Hehe, of course!"
[You have successfully bound yourself with "Lin Hualan"]
[You will receive all of her cultivation gains as your own from now on]
[Current Gain Amplification: 10x]
…
The forest night was quiet—eerily so. Only the occasional whisper of wind against the towering leaves broke the stillness. Above their treetop dwelling, the moon hung like a pale silver coin, bathing the world in gentle light.
Lin Shuhan lay against his mother's lap, listening to her slow, steady breathing. The warmth of her hand ran through his hair, a rhythm that soothed his still half-numb heart.
"Mother," he said softly, "what's the next step? After Skin Clearance?"
Lin Hualan smiled faintly, her expression illuminated by the moon. "Normally, after clearing the skin, you move on to the muscles. And they continue until Soul Awakening, then their Meridians will be born and they will be able to sense Qi."
She opened her eyes, gleaming with an almost mad excitement. "However, in your case…"
Her lips curved into a grin—wild, unrestrained, the kind of grin only a genius cultivator could have when faced with the impossible.
"…you don't need all of that to sense Qi. You're already connected to me. My Qi is Nascent Soul-level Qi. Usually, Body Clearance cultivators can't even sense Qi properly, let alone absorb or store it. But you—through this Bond—you can borrow mine. Fully refined, fully pure. 10x of what I gain."
Shuhan blinked, silent. His calm silver eyes reflected the stars. "So what happens if I use Nascent Soul Qi now?"
Lin Hualan grinned. "What happens? You'd be rewriting the fundamentals of cultivation, my son."
Then, leaning forward, her tone dropped, excitement brimming in every word.
"Usually, Qi Gathering cultivators accumulate Qi in their dantian—the center of their energy. Nascent Soul cultivators can circulate it freely throughout every part of their body, even their soul veins. But Body Clearance cultivators?" She scoffed. "Their bodies are empty shells in comparison. Only when they awaken the Soul would their Qi Meridians be born."
"Oh…"
"And you know what? The more suitable a body is to Qi, the more Meridians they will awaken when their Soul Awakens."
He blinked.
"How many meridians did you awaken?"
"Me? I awakened 13 Meridians. And that is a phenomenal thing, as even the Three Suns of the Heartland only awakened that much when they were at that stage. I was only capable of that due to the nature of my Divine Skill, I was very attuned to Qi."
Then she looked at him with interest. "But your case is even more monstrous. You can fully aash your body with Nascent Soul Qi before ever Awakening your Meridians!"
Shuhan smiled faintly. "So we're doing something never done before?"
She nodded. "Exactly. The world fears the impossible. We're going to be it."
And so, under the moon's pale gaze, the mother began to cultivate normally.
The forest around them reacted immediately. The wind grew heavy. The leaves trembled. Invisible waves of Qi began surging from every direction, flowing toward her like rivers to the sea. Even the slumbering beasts in the distance stirred restlessly, feeling the pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator drawing in their world's essence.
One minute. Two minutes. Ten minutes.
By the half-hour mark, the air was thick enough that faint motes of light—pure Qi particles—danced visibly around her body.
Even for someone like Lin Shuhan, who couldn't sense Qi, it was quite visible. It felt like gaseous mist.
After an hour, she opened her eyes again.
They gleamed with brilliance.
She had gone through one full circle of cultivation and Qi accumulation. Just enough Qi to fully sublimate the body one time.
As soon as she did, Lin Shuhan felt something indescribably warm appear all over his body.
[Lin Hualan has circulated a Full Circle of Nascent Soul Qi throughout her body]
[Ten Circles Worth of Nascent Qi gained!]
Ten times that energy erupted inside Lin Shuhan's body.
He gasped, eyes wide. It was like being struck by a warm tidal wave that entered every pore, every nerve, every vessel. It didn't burn—it thrummed.
Yet the strangest thing—he couldn't feel Qi itself. He didn't have the senses for it. This was not like the Healing Warmth earlier. This was pure life evolving energy. Yet, he could feel no spiritual texture, no color, no rhythm. Only… motion. A deep inner instinct guided him, like muscle memory that wasn't his own.
"Guide it through your muscles," his mother said, voice steady, almost reverent. "Let it brush through every fiber. Imagine your entire body breathing."
He didn't have to do any of that.
What he gained from the Bond was ten full circulations, and that circulation included the nuanced movement of Qi too.
The flood of Qi flowed from his core to his shoulders, spreading down his arms, into his chest, his abdomen, his legs—threading through every strand of muscle like molten silver.
The process was excruciatingly beautiful. His muscles twitched, expanded, and contracted, his breath growing heavier. He felt his body drinking in that energy like parched sand devouring a single drop of rain.
Yet the more it drank, the thirstier it became.
Each muscle screamed—not in pain, but hunger.
His skin began glowing faintly, silver threads tracing along his veins. Then brighter. Brighter still. Until—
Lin Hualan's breath hitched.
His entire body was shining like a living crystal. The skin grew faintly translucent. Beneath it, she could see faint outlines of his veins, his flowing blood, even the ghostly shimmer of his bones.
"Shuhan—stop!" she gasped, alarmed. "Your body—!"
But then she paused, eyes widening.
Her hand trembled slightly as she stared at him. "Wait… this… this isn't damage…"
Her eyes narrowed, flickering with recognition. Memories flooded back—of her past travels, of ancient beasts and hidden tomes.
"The Frost Queen Spider…" she whispered. "When it cultivated, its body became almost transparent. I thought it was a Frost mutation, but no… it was a Soul Transformation Physique."
Her gaze darted back to her son—his translucent skin glowing like moonlight through water.
"He's… developing a Legendary Soul Transformation Physique."
Her words trembled in awe. "Those who possess that physique are said to have souls so pure, so in tune with Heaven and Earth, that their very bodies reflect it. Their flesh becomes light itself when they cultivate."
Lin Shuhan opened his eyes slowly. The glow in them had deepened, not silver anymore, but a deep chrome collr—serene and eternal.
"I feel…" he murmured, searching for the word. "…different."
He grinned.
Immediately, his muscles contracted in a weird way.
Muscle Clearance!
Puff.
Dark liquid exploded out of his pores. His muscles gained the innate nature of iron.
It was impossible to stop his growth even for himself!
Tendon Clearance!
His tendons became as flexible as rubber and as strong as wood.
Blood Clearance!
His blood became as red as the deepest possible crimson.
Organ Clearance!
He felt all the metabolic waste accumulated throughout his life ooze through his pores.
Bone Clearance!
Puff.
He fell limp on the floor, disgusting liquid all over him. And his body also left its translucent state.
His mother looked at him with complex emotions.
To have gone from Skin Clearance all the way to Bone Clearance in one fell swoop!
What was talent, this was talent!