"Even 5 grown mortals could not eat this fully! Not to mention the speed you ate at! Tell me, are you a human or disguised as one?" Heng Tan shouted at Tang Peng in disbelief. No normal person could eat this quick.
He suddenly thought of the book, "Heaven and Earth Body Types". He was reminded of one of the physiques that was mentioned in the earlier chapters! That physique was one where the practitioner used up large amounts of food to further their cultivation.
He browsed through the stack of books on the table, before he took out the "Heaven and Earth Body Types" book. Flipping through the yellowed pages, he finally arrived at the chapter which he wanted to check.
"Devouring Body Type. Rarity: Uncommon. This body type is one where instead of the meridians forming at the various points throughout the body, the meridians are concentrated in the stomach. Therefore, cultivators of this body type often eat lots of Qi increasing immortal meat, herbs and pills, as it helps them to improve faster than normal cultivation. This is also the perfect body type for martial artists."
"Benefits: This body type can improve faster than other cultivators with a steady stream of resources. Cons: Without enough resources, this type of cultivator is slower than normal cultivators." Exactly! Tang Peng was exactly acting like this type of cultivator! However, it was weird that he did not have any potential. Even if he was a Devouring Body Type, he should have some meridians. Even the legendary Yin Body Type had meridians.
However, only the Devouring Body Type offered this type of devouring ability. Other body types only offered a boost to cultivation or special skills, such as transforming into a dragon, or being able to change the properties of materials. There was no doubt that he was a Devouring Type.
"I can't believe you're actually a Devouring Type cultivator! Here, have a look!" Heng Tan handed the book over to Tang Peng. When Tang Peng read the book, he felt happiness come over him.
Wasn't this body type like giving him another chance? He had thought that cultivation was doomed for him. However, it seemed that if he would accumulate enough resources, he can overturn his current situation on its head!
"This Devouring Body Type is indeed powerful! The problem is, where will I get the resources to train myself?" Tang Peng complained, while winking at Heng Tan. Even though he learned that he still had meridians, this was too much. He needed a bunch of resources for him to succeed.
"Calm down, kid. Since you're such a unique fellow to possess this uncommon body type, our sect will spare no effort to nurture you!" Heng Tan assures Tang Peng that there would be no problems.
"However, we need to do a retake of your test already. Maybe there was an error with your test? A Devouring Body Type should have loose meridians. Here, I have a Nine Star Calculator right here." Heng Tan took out the marble ball Tang Peng had seen earlier from a cabinet.
Heng Tan laidTang Peng's hand over the ball, before he injected his Qi inside the ball to activate it. "What the... There's still no results?... Strange." Heng Tan muttered to himself, as he pondered over the results.
"Again." Heng Tan injected multiple bursts of Qi, but the results always showed back as negative. "Again." "Again..." Heng Tan wanted to vomit blood at this very moment. How could someone with a Heaven and Earth Body Type not have the chance to cultivate. This was simply too ridiculous... unless the unthinkable happened to the kid in front of him.
"I think... your meridians might have be crippled from that possession. This can be fixed with Reestablishment Pill, but that pill is something even our Sect Leader needs to risk his life for. No one would fork out a price like that." Heng Tan could only shake his head in shame. What a pity, such a talented person would be robbed of his chance to cultivate.
"No worries, I'm getting used to my misfortune. It's like someone is purposely raising my hopes up before crushing them." Tang Peng just shrugged indifferently upon hearing Heng Tan. He had already expected the result to be like that.
"However, this Body Type seems to suit the martial expert profession. Even though our sect does not want to raise a martial expert, maybe you can find chances outside in the empires." Heng Tan explained Tang Peng's options to him. There was no point in retaining Tang Peng now, since the effect of the possession had been revealed.
"You know that if you go into the open world, You cannot reveal any secrets here. I will have to put our sect's failsafe on you." Heng Tan warned Tang Peng with utmost seriousness. If Tang Peng was exposed, he would be implicated as well.
"I have no reason to expose the secrets. No one would even know I would be here. I will just live the rest of my life as a normal villager." Tang Peng did not want to antagonise the Nine Step Sect for any reason. They were a powerful force to be reckoned with. It would be akin to shooting oneself in the foot if he revealed anything.
"But... I would like to ask a favour of you. Would you bring me back to my village? I would like to pay my final respects." Saying this, some tears leaked out of the corner of Tang Peng's eyes, but he wiped them away.
"No." Heng Tan simply flat out rejected Tang Peng's request. "Wait, why?" Tang Peng could not figure out Heng Tan's mind. If he couldn't get out of the sect, how would he be able to change his destiny?
"Why? Well, it's a waste of my time. Unless you can promise me something of equivalent value, I won't go. There is no free lunch in the world." Heng Tan sat down on the chair, turning his back to Tang Peng.
Tang Peng gritted his teeth. Now, Heng Tan here was getting on his nerves. He was not sure if he should reveal his secret. The secret was really the most valuable thing he had to offer.
"I can make you a deal. The cultivator from earlier left an arrow on me. It should go back to the cultivator's body. Don't you want to know what treasures are on him?" Tang Peng tempted Heng Tan with the promises of treasures.
"Oh really? Stay here first." Tang Peng suddenly felt himself being constrained by something. He was rooted to the ground, as Heng Tan stood up from his chair and examined his body, poking around. When he saw the arrow inside Tang Peng, he was contented.
"Since you have offered me something, we should go now. But still, do either of us even know the route back to the village?" Heng Tan asked. He was certain that Tang Peng had passed out when he had arrived here. There was no way for him to know the route back! Maybe there was a map somewhere? He started to rummage through his collection of books again.
Tang Peng licked his lips. He indeed did not know about how to get back to the village. Since that was out of the option, then next was the strange attraction. He wanted to follow the direction towards the source of this attraction. Being a martial expert... it sounded like refining the body. Could someone who refined the body possibly resurrect his family? The answer was a definite "No!".
"Wait! I have a map! Since we're done, let's set off right away." Heng Tan pulled out a goatskin map. It marked the locations in Si Xiu mountain that were important to the Nine Step Sect. A place of interest was Tang Peng's own Quan Family Village.
Heng Tan pulled out a flying sword from his scabbard, and widened it to the point that both of them could sit on it. After that, Heng Tan assumed a criss-cross sitting position on the sword, while Tang Peng walked on it, before the sword lifted off the ground with a large noise and started flying.
Tang Peng was a bit disappointed. He could not lead Heng Tan near the attraction now, but at least he had finally gotten one step closer towards his goal of the legacy.