Chapter 277 - The Different Physiques
Lin Mu was a bit confused about this Xiantian physique that Senior Xukong was talking about. While he knew about physiques and had learned about them from Senior Xukong, he still did not know how he would be getting it.
He thought that physiques were something that people were born with and were not something that could be gained. Besides, the only other physiques he knew of right now were the 'Broken Fate Physique' that belonged to the lost immortal and the 'Garden Of Karma' which could be considered as a physique as well.
"Senior, but didn't you tell me that physiques are something that a person is born with?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Indeed, that's true. But, that's just one of the categories of the physiques. In total, there are three categories: Innate physiques, that a person is born with, acquired physiques that a cultivator can gain after fulfilling certain conditions, and then finally the unique physiques, which contain the ones which cannot be put into the other two categories.
The 'Broken Fate Physique' that belonged to the lost immortal is a type of an innate physique. The 'Xiantian physique' is a type of an acquired physique that can be gained by a cultivator once they reach the peak of the body tempering realm and cross all thirteen stages of it.
The final type, which is the unique physique is harder to define. But the best example of it is none other than the 'Garden Of Karma'. We do not exactly know if it is even a physique or something else, thus it is placed into the Unique physique category.
Of course, these categories are not fully fixed and certain exceptions can arise. For example, certain acquired physiques can also be naturally present in a person upon their birth, thus becoming an innate physique. But on the other hand, none of the innate physiques can be acquired." Xukong explained.
After listening to Senior Xukong's explanation, Lin Mu felt enlightened and his doubts cleared up. But soon he wondered about the characteristics of this 'Xiantian Physique'.
"Senior, what is the benefit of the Xiantian Physique?" Lin Mu further questioned.
"Xiantian physique is also known as the Congenital physique. It returns your body to the original state that it was born in. You see, after a human is born, they start accumulating impurities within their bodies. These impurities would have no impact on common humans, and they would be able to live out the rest of their lives with relative ease.
But for cultivators, this is entirely different. These very impurities become a hidden obstacle in the progress of their cultivation. While these impurities may seem similar to the ones you acquire from the pills or even food, they are vastly different.
Because these impurities are accumulated over a long time, they change the very structures of the cells of a cultivator, making them weaker. Most cultivators do not have the Xiantian physique and thus compensate for these hurdles by simply increasing the resources that they use and also the effort. Even the requirement to enter the qi refining realm that is the eighth stage of the body tempering realm is because of this reason.
The eighth stage of the body tempering realm is 'just enough' so that a person can handle spirit qi in their bodies. But the higher they go in their body tempering realm cultivation, the better their cultivation becomes. This is another reason why better cultivation techniques have a higher requirement for cultivators to practice them.
Still, the Xiantian physique is not something that just anyone that reaches the thirteenth stage of the body tempering realm can acquire. There is also a certain aspect of luck involved in this. There are chances that a cultivator, even after putting great effort and reaching the peak of the body tempering realm, may not begin their transition to acquiring a Xiantian physique and may simply be stuck with their normal body." Xukong explained in depth.
Lin Mu paid full attention to Senior Xukong's explanation and ensured that he comprehended it properly.
"I understand now, Senior. Then this means that my aptitude had increased once more and my pace of cultivation should increase as well." Lin Mu said, feeling motivated.
"Yes, you are correct," Xukong affirmed.
Lin Mu stood up, wanting to test out his newly increased cultivation. But upon standing up, his attention went to the glob of black tar that was now lying in the corner of the wall. In all this time, it had somehow rolled off to the side.
"Senior… what exactly is this? I mean, I can tell that they are the impurities expelled by my body but they seemed different, they are… not corrosive?" Lin Mu asked with furrowed brows.
"To be honest, I can't exactly tell what it is either, except for that it is the impurities. It is not the normal impurities as they would have been rather liquid and would not have stayed in a globule like that. And it does not seem to be the usual impurities from your body either, as those were corrosive." Xukong replied.
"I see…" Lin Mu said, before bending down to get closer to the glob of black tar.
He then removed a small vial from his ring and pushed the globule into that vial. He then closed the vial and stored it back into the ring. The vial that he had used was none other than the vial that was used to store the toxin cleansing pills.
Lin Mu didn't know why he was doing this, but he just felt like this was better than simply throwing the glob away. Xukong meanwhile watched Lin Mu do this, but did not question his reason behind it. He had already seen Lin Mu do far more weird and some outright stupid things before, thus this was nothing out of the ordinary for him.
At this point, he just attributed everything strange Lin Mu did to his unnatural curiosity about things. Xukong didn't know whether this was a curse or a boon; but at least until now, everything had been fine.