Novel Full Chapter 586: Aurous Artist Zinnia
Chapter 586: Aurous Artist Zinnia
A few hours later.
Zinnia sat cross-legged on a white stone platform engraved with countless Essence Equations.
The runes faintly glowed as if responding to the rhythm of her breathing. Her silver Qi flowed around her like a mist, forming waves that occasionally rippled out in rings of light.
Aksai stood a few steps away, his hands behind his back, watching closely. His Spirit Sense spread through the room, reading every pulse of energy coming from Zinnia’s body. Her heartbeat, her blood flow, even the tension in her meridians—he could sense it all.
The silvery aura surrounding her was slowly changing. Threads of gold began to mix into it, faint at first, but growing stronger with each cycle of breath. The silvery glow was turning deeper, darker, warmer, as if molten sunlight was being poured into her veins.
Aksai’s eyes narrowed slightly as he watched her body tremble. “It… it is working,” he thought to himself.
Inside his mind, his thoughts flowed calmly, one after another.
“The first realm of body cultivation—the Bronze Body Realm. That’s where it all begins. A martial artist’s strength improves greatly compared to mortals, but it’s a fragile kind of strength.
In that stage, Qi only acts as an external force, like fuel poured on weak flames. The body gets stronger, yes, but it’s still mortal flesh pushed beyond its limits. Too much of it, and the body starts to crumble from within.”
He paused, his gaze softening as he looked at Zinnia’s trembling arms.
“Bronze Body martial artists grow powerful fast, but their strength burns them out. Their Qi acts like a stimulant—useful for a time, but harmful if overused.
That’s why many of them age so quickly. Their muscles strain, their organs weaken, and their bones rot even as they fight harder.”
The golden hue around Zinnia brightened. A thin line of blood ran down her chin as she bit her lip, trying to endure the pain. Her skin tore open at her shoulders, faint golden light spilling out before the wounds healed again, stronger than before.
Aksai’s Spirit Sense monitored every change with precision. Her pulse raced, her Qi channels screamed in protest—but her foundation remained firm.
“Then comes the Argent Body Realm,” the Spirit farmer said to himself.
“That’s where the real transformation begins. Qi stops being just a tool—it becomes part of the body itself. It reforges the flesh, hardens the muscles, strengthens the bones. The martial artist becomes something more than human.
But even then, it doesn’t make them live longer—not truly. It only keeps their youth intact for longer years. A man in his nineties can still move like he’s twenty if his Qi remains strong, but his life can still end like any mortal’s.”
He watched her breathe out, her exhale turning into a faint golden mist.
“But the Aurous Body Realm…” Aksai’s lips curved into a faint smile.
“That’s where things truly change. It’s the first step toward defying mortality. In this realm, Qi transforms the body from within. It nourishes the organs, rebuilds the bones, replaces the old mortal shell with something refined.
A martial artist who reaches this level can live for three centuries easily. Longer than many Foundation Establishment cultivators. The path of Qi may seem crude, but it has its own kind of perfection.”
Zinnia’s body trembled again. The silvery glow that once wrapped around her was now almost entirely golden.
Her back arched as the last remnants of the Argent Qi burned away, replaced by the purer, denser Aurous Qi that flooded her meridians like a roaring river. Her skin gleamed faintly, as if reflecting sunlight even in the dimly lit room.
Aksai’s expression didn’t change, but his Spirit Sense picked up the final shift—her pulse steadying, her breathing deepening, her meridians expanding to accommodate the new flow of energy.
Then, for a brief moment, everything went still. The air grew heavy, the light dimmed, and the entire platform began to hum as golden lines spread across the Essence Equations beneath her.
The next instant, a wave of energy burst outward—gentle, yet full of power. The silvery aura was gone, replaced by a golden radiance that shone like dawn.
Seconds turned into minutes.
Aksai stood silently, his arms folded behind his back, watching as the golden light around Zinnia grew brighter and thicker until it swallowed her whole. The glow pulsed rhythmically, each wave sending a soft tremor through the air. Her breathing was steady now, calm and deep, but the strain on her body was clear.
Then, faint cracks began to spread across her skin. It started at her forearms and crawled upward, like fine lines on sun-dried clay. The sound of faint cracking filled the room.
With each breath she took, the old layer of her skin hardened further before beginning to flake away. The golden light seeped through the cracks, filling the air with warmth and a faint hum that resonated deep in Aksai’s chest.
Her old skin began to crumble in pieces, falling from her body like the outer shell of a cicada. Beneath it, a new, soft layer of skin shimmered faintly with the same golden hue.
The wrinkles on her face smoothed out, her hair gained a richer color, and the stiffness in her limbs faded. Bit by bit, the frail seventy-year-old woman who had been sitting on the stone platform disappeared, replaced by someone who looked as if she had stepped out of her prime years—a woman in her early thirties, strong yet graceful, her aura brimming with life.
This was a metamorphosis achieved purely on the basis of Qi cultivation. Even Aksai had seen and experienced something like this for the first time. His Neural Link Fabric kept collecting data for future use.
Aksai’s eyes flickered slightly as he sensed the shift in Zinnia’s energy. The Qi within her had taken on a deeper, more refined tone, flowing like liquid gold through her meridians.
For the first time, he could sense her perception extending outward—she had unlocked Qi Sense without the use of any special martial technique, the mark of a true Aurous Body martial artist.