Chapter 417 - First State
Even for non-cultivators, when their muscles were put under enough stress like shock therapy, for example, they could contract with such force and power that breaking a few bones here and there was completely normal.
So for someone like Hao Xuan whose body had been reconstructed from the ground up and had enough power to go against most beasts around his realm barehanded, the result was a constant struggle between his muscles and his bones to see who would break first.
The muscles expanded and contracted repeatedly, each time more powerful than the last, sending mini shockwaves throughout his internal systems. The bones bent and squeaked trying to hold on and fight against the overwhelming pressure being exuded by the other organs.
Hao Xuan felt like he was about to burst open. He thought after all the times he had done something like this, the pain wouldn't be so strong but once again he was proven wrong.
This continued for over 30 minutes as the black substance released waves upon waves of scorching Qi that tempered his body. The black substance was the hammer and his body the anvil that it struck repeatedly.
Tears fell out of his eyes like raindrops but evaporated instantly. His vocal cords burst so he couldn't even scream anymore. But then the pain started to lessen slowly until it disappeared. The black substance retracted and back into the meridian on the forehead.
"Hah...hah..hah..."
Hao Xuan laid on the floor, naked. Dried blood stains covered the entirety of his outer body along with some still open wounds. Wisps of black shadow-like Qi escaped from the wounds and evaporated, making for a strange sight.
Both his arms and legs were broken from several places as they twisted at 180-degree angles, making for quite a sorry sight. Normally even torture wouldn't leave a man this broken, yet what was to be a simple process left him in this state.
He laid there for over an hour, completely conscious but incapable of any movement. Even breathing was painful. His Demonic physique showed why it was named so as it kicked into top gear on its own and started the healing process automatically.
The wounds slowly closed and the bones aligned on their own, reconstructing without any outside help. Within 20 minutes everything was as it should be.
Hao Xuan took in a deep breath and slowly sat upright. He felt so weak that just this simple action was enough to leave him exhausted.
*Beep*
"Are you....okay?" Baracus asked in a wooden tone, sounding almost human. This was the first time he was worried about Hao Xuan...or was it curiosity?
"Ye....ah..." he murmured.
"Alright," Baracus replied before going silent once again.
Although Hao Xuan's expression didn't show it, he was angry beyond belief. He wanted nothing more than to reach out into his meridian and grind that god damned dragon to paste, but he knew she did nothing wrong, at least not according to her.
She truly believed that this was necessary and it was good for him, otherwise the constitution's power would have kicked in by itself and stopped her. Yet it didn't do anything and let her do "that" to him for over half an hour.
This was one of the major downsides of the constitution that Hao Xuan often overlooked.
The constitution's power used his own word as law. If the sever went against it then it would kick in. But if the sever truly believed, without a shadow of a doubt, that what it was doing was what Hao Xuan wanted, then nothing would happen.
That's why he needed to be as exact in his wording as possible.
There were of course exceptions. The sever could never kill Hao Xuan, not even if he ordered them to or if they believed that it was what he needed or wanted. His life was of the utmost importance that overwrote everything else.
"Nidhora, is it done?" he asked through gritted teeth, trying to remain calm but failing miserably.
"It is," she confirmed before explaining in detail.
"There are two states in which you can use the power. The first one is a simple activation. It will show itself in the outer world but won't put any pressure on your body since that would affect the physique center negatively."
"The second state is when you start using it. Then it will move according to your orders but you can't keep doing that for long. From what I have gathered, the most you can last is 30 minutes before your body started breaking down. That is your limit."
"All Contractors must have a mark on their body from which they use the contracted creature's power. This mark can appear in any form and in any place and can be used to identify the type of creature they are contracted to. Since we don't officially have a contract, there is obviously no such mark on your body. But since you said it needs to look like you're one of them, I left my mark on your back."
"This is a much better option because you can control when the mark becomes visible. If you don't want to be identified as a contractor, simply hide the mark and no one will know. Try it now."
Hao Xuan waved his hand and summoned a sword which he used to stand up. He went up to the cracked mirror on the wall looked at his back. There was absolutely nothing there, it looked completely normal.
But when he circulated some Qi through his shoulders and willed, a tattoo of a pair of black dragon wings appeared on the upper side. It looked like they were moving on their own but could just as well be an illusion. (Google dragon wing tattoos to get an idea of what they would look like).
Hao Xuan nodded, it didn't look too bad and he could control it so it was perfect. He opened his mouth and mumbled, "Activate".
*Whoosh*
A black shadow shot out of his back, taking the shape of the dragon wings on the tattoo, only they were about four times his size at about nine meters in width with razor sharp talons coming out of every size.
*Crack*
*Crumble*
They pierced through the roof and the sidewalls, breaking every single formation placed around the room.
"Ah shit, no-" Hao Xuan turned around in a panic and destroyed another wall. Everything that came into contact with the wings just fell apart.
"STOP! DEACTIVATE!" he yelled but heard Nidhora's voice in response, "You don't have to say anything, just will it and it will be gone."
"For fuck sakes!" he quickly closed his eyes and just thought about them going back into his body and they disappeared in a flash.
*Crumble*
A piece of the roof that was hanging on by a thread fell down with a gust of wind and evening light fell on Hao Xuan's haggard face.
"Oh crap," he muttered under his breath, looking at the completely wrecked second floor. Another source of yelling came from downstairs followed by heavy footsteps.
"OI, WHAT'S GOING ON?! ARE WE UNDER ATTACK?" Jin Wang appeared at Hao Xuan's doorstep. He had a small towel around his waist hanging on for dear life and bubbles on his head. It looked like he was in the middle of taking a bath.
"What the fuck happened? Who was it? Where is that bastard! Let me at him!" he yelled while waiving a mop around in the air, splashing dirty soap water onto Hao Xuan's face.