Huo Hengxuan only needed a glance to know that Chen Kuang had already achieved the first manifestation.
This first form drew from the origin of the Buddha himself, who, before attaining enlightenment in the human world, descended from the fourth heavenly realm of the desire realm, known as Tusita Heaven.
The sign of this attainment, aside from the faint golden sheen that spread across the skin, was a more subtle but definitive one:
Within a foot of his body, not a single speck of dust could settle, not even a feather could cling.
The moment Chen Kuang entered meditative focus, the scabs on his face and the grime on his clothes began to slough off, flaking away of their own accord.
At the same time, the dust that lazily drifted through the air was suddenly pushed outward by an invisible force, gathering into a sheer film, thin as cicada wings, and blooming outward like petals.
These petals formed a dreamlike lotus around him, hazy as mist, soon scattered by the air.
This change, though fleeting as a blink, was undeniable to Huo Hengxuan's eyes.
The old man's expression remained stoic.
He himself had taken a full month to achieve the first manifestation, and that alone had earned him the praise of his monastery brothers as a rare prodigy, destined to rise during the era of great conflict.
Yet this blind brat, on his first attempt, less than a quarter of an hour in, had succeeded?
Even with guidance and insight, this was beyond belief.
Such talent... could he truly be the reincarnation of a Buddha?
Which meant that ridiculous display of clumsiness earlier, was it all an act?
Huo Hengxuan fell silent.
Then, ever so slowly, he turned his head toward the little princess and said with a sigh:
"Princess, would you like me to teach you arithmetic?"
The little girl nibbled her finger, her dark eyes filled with untainted innocence.
"What's arithmetic?"
"Then please listen closely, Your Highness-"
...
Chen Kuang opened his eyes, exiting the meditative state.
His entire body felt refreshed, overflowing with qi and blood, his skin tight and smooth.
Even the faintest breeze brushing through the cell was now crystal-clear in his senses. Every movement stirred the fine hairs on his arms, they now felt almost alive.
The good news was, he'd entered the legendary realm of "Untouched Skin and Hair."
This wasn't to say his body had become indestructible, but that his senses were now so keen, his awareness so sharp, that even a strand of hair could warn him of danger in time to evade unscathed.
The bad news however, were that his legs had already healed too fast.
Only now did he begin to truly grasp how absurd the passive skill "Flesh Reishi" really was.
A broken bone, shattered beyond recognition, should've taken three months to recover.
Now, the bone was already whole again, with only blotches of red-purple bruising to hint at the trauma it had endured.
Chen Kuang sighed.
If he didn't want to be discovered... he'd have to break them again.
Wrapping his hand in his tattered sleeve, he reached for his shin.
At that moment, he heard the voice of an old man and a child.
"Your Highness, answer me this: Suppose you are stranded on an island. Someone brings five apples, and there are six people including you. How do you divide the apples?"
"Goose goose goose..."
The little bucket girl furrowed her brow in deep thought. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
"Cut three apples in half, and divide the other two into three pieces! That way, everyone gets one-half and one-third!"
But Huo Hengxuan shook his head gravely.
"Wrong."
"Anyone who poses such a question must be plotting treachery, an attempt to stir strife like the story of the two peaches and the three noble warriors."
"The correct answer is to kill the person who brought the apples. Then the remaining five can each get one whole apple."
The little princess' jaw dropped.
Chen Kuang: "..."
He remembered clearly that this old man had promised to teach her arithmetic.
What kind of insane arithmetic is this?!
Naturally, the princess noticed something was off too. She protested vehemently, asking for more questions.
And of course, every question was even more bizarre than the last.
Soon, she looked like she might cry.
But moments later, she gave a big yawn, curled up in Chu Wenruo's arms, and just drifted to sleep.
The old general still had a faint smile on his face, less clouded by gloom now. He looked like a normal old man teasing his grandchild.
When he noticed Chen Kuang watching him, he cleared his throat and quickly straightened his expression.
Chen Kuang gave a crooked smile.
A bit speechless, but also a little amused.
This old bastard's actually kind of adorable.
When life gave him no dignity, he went and bullied a child for comfort.
Childish to the extreme.
The musician's slender fingers stroked the body of Dragon Gums.
Now, the Wither-Bloom Sword Manual was no longer incomprehensible. The sword in his mind grew sharper, clearer and almost eager to fall from the heavens at his command.
Ever since gaining the passive "Fasting Body", Chen Kuang had noticed he no longer felt fatigue. Even now, he remained wide awake.
If food was for maintaining energy, and he no longer needed food, it made sense his stamina had improved.
He looked around the prison with narrowed eyes.
Every detail stood out in sharp relief.
Dim candlelight swayed against the dark and lifeless stone walls.
Chu Wenruo had said, beneath this Heavenly Prison... was a Demon Suppression Vault.
And yet, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. No hidden mechanisms, no suspicious objects. The place had been scrubbed clean.
If Li Hongling had known about the Vault, she'd have torn this place apart by now. Why waste days interrogating prisoners?
But 50,000 Zhou troops were stationed here.
Too many for simply questioning a few captives.
What were they doing, just standing around?
Chen Kuang didn't think so.
Just earlier, while attaining the first manifestation, his senses had been heightened immensely.
And he'd heard something... strange.
Hidden amid the howling corridor winds, was a thread of irregular noise.
His hearing, already sharpened by blindness and now empowered by cultivation, picked up the sound more clearly.
A single footstep.
Hollow. Damp. Not far.
More footsteps followed, messy and disorganized. Those clearly belonged to civilians.
Then came the clang of armor stemming from the soldiers.
Reverberating echoes, likely from an underground passage.
Wet soil clung to their boots, slap, slap, sluggish sound suggesting low ground.
It hadn't rained and the sun was still shining, that soil should've dried.
Thud.
Something heavy was dropped. Then another. And another.
Then came a rustling sound. Soft and dry.
Chen Kuang's nose twitched as a strange and familiar scent wafted in.
What was that?
He turned toward the back wall and reached out to touch a crack he'd noticed earlier.
The smell... it was coming from inside the wall.
Rubbing his fingers against the surface, he sniffed them.
Damp, but not just water.
Oil..
Chen Kuang's heart skipped a beat.
That rustling sound wasn't gravel.
It was sulfur and saltpeter..
It was Gunpowder!