Nearly a hundred elite Soul-Devouring Corpse-Wasps, led by their eight queens, pressed down upon the Ethereal Dao-Body. With orderly precision, they began a meticulous and sacrilegious carving upon that flawless chest. A cavity extended downward from the torso, created solely to hollow out a nest capable of housing a new master.

  The instant the cavity took shape, Chen Gensheng immediately clutched his head and collapsed straight to the ground. His six arms gripped his skull tightly, nails digging deep into the scalp, his face contorted in a mask of extreme agony. The human skin he had worn for so long was now peeling away from his frame, as if seeking to sever itself from him. Skin sagged, muscles atrophied, and bones wailed.

  "It’s finally coming out..."

  Though gripped by pain, a smile managed to pull at Chen Gensheng’s face. He could actually still laugh. That human-like body of his, now devoid of the strength to support itself, lay like a pile of boneless rotten meat. Then, the skin of his back split directly from the neck down to the waist.

  Within the rift, a disgusting shadow moved with difficulty, squeezing out bit by bit. It was a gargantuan creature, its entire body covered in a glossy black chitinous shell. Atop its head, two long antennae thrashed wildly with excitement at their regained freedom. It was a massive cockroach, the size of half a man—a creature resembling a nightmare creation, terrifying to behold.

  Particularly bizarre were the six human arms growing with perfect symmetry along the sides of this cockroach's body. At this moment, those six arms pressed firmly against the edges of the split skin, exerting force to pull the massive insectoid body out from its old nest within the former skin, spraying forth inexplicable blood and juices.

  Vague, viscous fluids flowed across the ground from the rift. Such a sight would likely drive even a sane man mad on the spot. Having shed the human husk, the cockroach shook its antennae, appearing somewhat unaccustomed to its surroundings. It turned, using its pair of pure insectoid compound eyes to look first at the old skin, then at the quietly standing Li Simin.

  Immediately, the massive insect body crawled rapidly across the ground, its six human arms exerting force in unison. In the blink of an eye, it rushed to the Dao-body and dove headfirst into the cavity located in the chest. Within the hollow of the Dao-body, the insect moved about, adjusting its posture. The six arms stretched out, pressing tightly against the inner walls of the Dao-body.

  "This new set of clothes—what do you think of it, Simin?"

  "It’s much more grand than the previous one!"

  "Jie-jie-jie..."

  This Ethereal Dao-Body was like a palace custom-made for him: spacious, bright, and sturdy. His massive and hideous true cockroach form was perched in the very center of this palace; every antenna and every joint could feel the pure, inexhaustible vitality. The only flaw was the eyes. That Void-Gazing Eye was the most valuable item on his person; how could it be thrown away along with those tattered clothes?

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Chen Gensheng controlled the Dao-body to stand up. He took two steps forward, his body staggering slightly, nearly toppling over. After spending some time circulating the Initial Scripture, he finally adapted to the rhythm of these new legs.

  "Indeed, this body is far better—sturdy and respectable."

  "Only these eyes are slightly lacking."

  With those words, his middle pair of palms again pinched a dharma seal, and black threads condensed from corpse-qi slowly emerged from his fingertips. He would be a stitcher once more.

  One hand pressed down on the still-warm head of the old skin, while the sharp nails of another hand reached without hesitation toward the old skin’s right eye socket. The eyeball carrying the power of Void-Gazing was easily gouged out, suspended in mid-air by a black thread of corpse-qi.

  Next, his other hand aimed at the right eye of this brand-new Dao-body. The same movement, the same decisive efficiency. The new eyeball was gouged out and tossed aside like a piece of useless trash. The black threads of corpse-qi wove expertly, re-stitching and connecting the severed nerves and blood vessels.

  He was far more skilled at changing his own eye than he had been when changing Li Simin’s. The moment the final nerve was connected, he closed his eyes. The familiar world had returned.

  Chen Gensheng raised his new hands to touch his new face, his six arms moving in unison as he felt the flow of every ounce of power within this Dao-body. Now that he had changed into this Ethereal Dao-Body, he wondered how its skeletal roots and aptitude fared. With a thought, he turned his vision inward.

  With one look, Chen Gensheng froze completely. His Sea of Qi was as clear as glazed glass, vast and limitless. And in the very center of that Sea of Qi, a pillar of light stood tall. The pillar was an extremely pure emerald green, filled with endless vitality and vigor. It took root in the deepest part of the Dantian, growing upward like a divine tree supporting the heavens and earth; as its branches and leaves unfurled, it seemed capable of evolving a world of its own.

  This was...

  A single Heavenly Spirit Root.

  The Wood Spirit Root.

  An aptitude seen in only one in ten thousand within the cultivation world. Those possessing such skeletal roots cultivated at a lightning pace and shared a natural affinity with the world’s spiritual qi; they were the core disciples that all sects would fight over.

  Chen Gensheng opened his mouth, a series of strange ge-ge sounds rasping in his throat. He turned around, his six arms suddenly spreading wide as he pulled the quietly standing Li Simin into a tight embrace. A suppressed laughter rolled from his chest, initially tinged with disbelief, but soon turning into a wild, unrestrained cackle.

  He held Li Simin’s corpse and spun wildly in circles at the bottom of the pit, as if trying to rub her into his own body.

  "A rotten insect like me, crawled out from the gutter, actually has a day like this!"

  Chen Gensheng stopped spinning. His six hands cupped Li Simin’s lifeless face, pressing his forehead against hers.

  "We’ve hit it big!"

  "This body, these eyes, plus the aptitude of a Heavenly Spirit Root! Below the Golden Core stage, who can stop me?"

  He shoved Li Simin away forcefully and sat down on the ground as if exhausted, his six arms propping him up as he laughed until he doubled over.