Chapter Ninety-Nine: Master Yang?

At that moment, Yang Yan’s heart was nothing short of a storm-tossed sea.

Not only had that bizarre thing usurped his body, it could even know what he was thinking. If that were so, then from now on would he not be as transparent as glass before it?

“Heh. I’m inside you, of course I can sense a few things. Blame only yourself for being too weak right now to hide from my probing...”

The aged voice sounded again, though this time it carried a trace of schadenfreude.

“Who are you, exactly? And what do you want by entering my body?”

Yang Yan drew a deep breath. Much of his shock and tension had already faded. With his current strength, he could do nothing at all to the strange bead within him. And if it truly meant him harm, then he would have already been reduced to smoke and ashes long ago; there was no way he would still be alive now.

Having thought this through, Yang Yan gradually calmed himself.

“Kid, not bad. Forbearance like that is rare indeed. No wonder you possess the Taiyin True Body, which appears only once in three thousand years...”

The old voice rang out, and this time it did not hide the approval in its tone.

“The Taiyin True Body?!”

Muttering the unfamiliar term, Yang Yan was once again astonished.

“You boy truly know nothing of your own body, do you? Very well. Today, this old man will broaden your horizons...”

From the aged voice, Yang Yan also caught a hint of smugness, but he had no mind to care about that now.

Among cultivators, innate spiritual bodies were ranked from first grade to ninth grade. The highest type Yang Yan had encountered so far was Sun Zhixin’s sixth-grade innate fire body. Though he had never seen anything beyond that, many books recorded such things clearly and could be verified.

But this so-called Taiyin True Body was something Yang Yan had never even heard of before, and so he was greatly astonished. He held his breath and waited for the old man to continue.

“The previous owner of the Taiyin True Body was originally the person most likely to reach that final step. Before the age of forty, he had already attained the peak of the Return to Origin Realm. Regrettably, even he could not escape the end of downfall...”

There was no disguising the old voice’s desolation and disappointment.

“The peak of the Return to Origin Realm?!”

Hearing those five words, Yang Yan could not help but have his pupils contract. A powerhouse of that level could incinerate mountains and boil seas, cleave the earth and split the heavens with a mere wave of the hand. Even across the vast and boundless Azure Origin Continent, such a being would be an overwhelmingly formidable existence!

“What is the Return to Origin Realm? If you can cultivate diligently under my guidance, surpassing that realm will only be a matter of time!”

Having also sensed the shock in Yang Yan’s heart, the old voice took on a tone of exasperation, and the slight desolation from before was already thrown beyond the ninth heaven.

Yang Yan could not help but curl his lips. By now, he finally understood that the old fellow within him was truly no different from a child in temperament...

“I have spent this lifetime going head-to-head with you Yangs...”

“The senior you mentioned earlier also bore the surname Yang?”

Sensing that the old man’s words carried an implication, Yang Yan immediately asked.

“Heh, not only did he bear the surname Yang, he was your ancestor!”

Ignoring the storm rising in Yang Yan’s heart, the old man continued:

“The so-called Taiyin True Body is an inheritable physique. In all this world, only one person may possess it, and your Yang family is the lineage chosen by fate to bear that inheritance...”

“The Taiyin True Body passes on through bloodlines to the next generation. With each successive generation, that bloodline grows stronger. By the ninety-ninth generation, it will be fully awakened, and the one who possesses the Taiyin True Body will be born!”

At this moment, the aged voice had become incomparably serious and solemn.

“So according to what you’re saying, my constitution is not an ice attribute body at all, but the one-of-a-kind Taiyin True Body in all the world?!”

Yang Yan’s voice, stirred by excitement, had risen to a somewhat sharp pitch.

“What nonsense ice attribute spirit body? In front of the Taiyin True Body, it doesn’t even count as hair. Chaos gives birth to yin and yang; yin and yang transform into the five elements. Ice is nothing more than a mutated form of water...”

Though the old man’s words were hardly pleasant, Yang Yan could not refute them. They also explained perfectly why the pale blue spiritual power within his sea of qi had been able to suppress the five elemental attributes.

“Boy, that pale blue spiritual power in your body is only a trace of Taiyin power produced by your unawakened physique. Once your body is fully awakened, the destructive force of that spiritual power... heh heh...”

The meaning behind the old man’s words needed no further elaboration.

“How do I awaken my body?!”

A surge of excitement rose in Yang Yan’s heart as he hastily asked.

Since he had begun cultivating, he had sensed that his cultivation speed seemed far faster than that of others his age. He had found it odd before, but now he understood. That speed must have been due to his special physique. Even before awakening, it had already brought him so many benefits. It was hard to imagine what would happen once it was truly awakened...

“At the very least, you’ll have to wait until you’ve opened all five spirit apertures within your body...”

However, the old man’s next words made Yang Yan feel an urge to vomit blood. At present, not even a single water spirit aperture had been fully completed; who knew how long it would take before all five were opened!

“Heh heh, but if you can help me recover some strength, then with my aid, your cultivation progress will surely be much faster...”

There was a sly, fox-like quality in the old man’s tone.

“How can I help you recover your strength?”

After a pause, Yang Yan asked.

“Right now, both my main body and my spirit have suffered no small damage. If I want to recover, there are two methods. The first is to absorb the power of souls, which can hasten the recovery of my spirit...”

When he spoke the word souls, the old man even deliberately paused, clearly still harboring designs on Yang Yan’s soul power.

“Say the second.”

Yang Yan’s reply was utterly firm, leaving no room for negotiation. The feeling of hovering on the edge of death earlier had plainly left him with a deep shadow in his heart.

“Er, the second is to devour some high-grade magical treasures... For example, the sword in your cosmos pouch. Though it is also a damaged treasure, I imagine it should still taste rather good...”

There was no disguising the greed in the old voice, and by the end, Yang Yan seemed even to hear faint lip-smacking sounds!

Moonshadow Frost? Don’t you dare covet it!

At that moment, Yang Yan finally understood what the old man meant. His expression changed drastically, and he clutched the cosmos pouch with both hands as though he were an iron rooster guarding a trove of gold and silver.

No wonder Yang Yan reacted so fiercely. As the first high-grade magical treasure he had ever obtained, Moonshadow Frost carried an ineffable significance for him. Moreover, through many life-and-death battles, they had fought side by side; between him and it, a bond of mutual understanding had long since formed. They could even communicate sword intent in battle. To Yang Yan, it was not merely a magical treasure, but an indispensable companion!

“You little brat, if you don’t hurry up and find some magical treasures for me to devour, I’m afraid I’ll dissipate again before long. By then, no one will be here to help you!”

A slightly annoyed voice came from his lower abdomen.

“Then... take this first!”

“This thing’s spiritual energy is too weak. It’s not even enough to stuff between my teeth. If you can let me devour that sword, heh heh...”

The old man was still fixated on Moonshadow Frost.

“If you don’t want it, then forget it.”

Hearing this, Yang Yan grew angry all at once. This inexplicably appearing old fellow had quite the tone. If that bastard Xu Shaoguang had not been dealt with and had not taken his cosmos pouch, Yang Yan would still not have had a high-grade spiritual artifact to feed this fellow. One must know that even for the Azure Mysterious Sect, an artifact of that level was not as commonplace as cabbage and radishes!

Even though the Starfall Demon Hammer was something Yang Yan rarely used, if he sold it, he could still obtain a great many spirit crystals. Making such a generous decision had already pained him quite a bit. Yet the old man still seemed dissatisfied. Naturally, that stirred a measure of anger in Yang Yan’s heart.

“All right then. I’ll make do, and graciously devour it after all!”

There was an air of forced patience and reluctant concession in the old voice. That shameless act of taking advantage while pretending to be put upon made Yang Yan almost want to take the Starfall Demon Hammer back.

“Seems calling it the Treasure-Devouring Pearl isn’t entirely unreasonable...”

Yang Yan silently reflected.

“Hmph! Boy, when I was at my peak, I don’t know how many powerhouses brought immortal-grade treasures to me for devouring. I didn’t even spare them a glance. Now I’m giving you face and barely accepting this scrap of worthless metal with almost no spiritual energy. You ought to feel honored! And I don’t have some damned name like Treasure-Devouring Pearl. I am the Sun Pearl!”

What Yang Yan was thinking naturally did not escape the old man’s perception. An arrogant voice tinged with dissatisfaction immediately followed.

“Sun Pearl? That name doesn’t sound nearly as impressive as Treasure-Devouring Pearl...”

Yang Yan could not help but tease him upon hearing this. As for the old man’s claim of devouring immortal artifacts, Yang Yan naturally dismissed it as bragging.

“You little wretch, you dare make a fool of me!”

The old man seemed to realize this at last, and a furious voice echoed from Yang Yan’s lower abdomen. Yet strangely enough, those near-threatening words, once they reached Yang Yan’s ears, had no effect whatsoever. By now, Yang Yan had more or less guessed that this fellow was not some great evil being; otherwise, with such a temperament, he truly had no idea how it had survived until now.

“Hmph! This time, I’ll let it pass since you used soul power and Taiyin power to awaken me. But remember this: from now on, call me Lord Sun. Understood?”