Chapter 38 - 35: Cowhide Realm

Chapter 38: Chapter 35: Cowhide Realm

A strange, unsightly dark-yellow hue spread across the surface of his skin, visible to the naked eye. The color was uneven, resembling coarse, untanned rawhide, and possessed a primitive, tough quality. At the same time, Xu Mo could clearly feel his skin thickening and growing denser at an incredible rate. His pores contracted, and the very grain of his skin seemed to become coarser and deeper.

The Cowhide Realm!

’This is the Cowhide Realm! My skin is yellow and as rough as old cowhide. I’ve finally crossed the threshold!’

However, before the joy of his breakthrough could even surface, an unprecedented and extreme sense of weakness poured over him like ice water.

Xu Mo felt the wildly surging vital energy and blood within him, along with his rapidly transforming and strengthening muscles, bones, and skin, devouring his body’s energy at a terrifying rate, consuming his most fundamental essence and life force.

The sensation was terrifyingly clear. It was like an oil lamp that had been burning steadily, only to have its wick suddenly pulled up. The flame flared brilliantly, but the oil began to burn away at several, even dozens of times the normal rate. Xu Mo could "feel" his own "lifespan"—or rather, the very source of his life—draining away as quickly as sand through an hourglass.

’So a breakthrough is achieved by burning my life’s potential, forcibly exchanging it for the energy to complete my body’s instantaneous, qualitative transformation!’

’Not good!’

Xu Mo’s eyes snapped open, filled with horror. His normally bronze skin now had an unhealthy, dark-yellow and flushed-red sheen. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably—a sign of extreme energy deprivation, of his very life force being overdrawn.

Xu Mo had no doubt that if this continued, it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes for the breakthrough process to "suck him dry," turning him into a desiccated corpse that had been utterly consumed the very moment it entered the Cowhide Realm.

Survival instinct overrode everything. Xu Mo practically scrambled and crawled to the corner where his food was stored. Ripping open his backpack with no regard for decorum, he grabbed the vacuum-packed braised beef, marinated chicken legs, and compressed biscuits inside. He frantically shoved them into his mouth, not even taking the time to chew properly, simply swallowing with all his might in a desperate attempt to replenish his energy in the most direct way possible.

However, it was a drop in the bucket. The rate at which normal food could be digested and converted into energy was nowhere near fast enough to keep up with the terrifying, Black Hole-like consumption of the breakthrough. Xu Mo felt as if the food he ate was but a single drop of water cast into a raging inferno, evaporating in an instant. The feeling of weakness only intensified, and the horrifying sensation of his life force draining away didn’t lessen in the slightest.

’Not enough! Not nearly enough!’

Xu Mo’s eyes became bloodshot. He suddenly remembered the potent tonics he had scavenged—items containing immense medicinal essence and power.

He staggered to another storage chest and roughly threw open the lid. Inside, laid out neatly, were the ginseng, Antler, and Cordyceps he had previously treated as priceless treasures.

At this moment, Xu Mo couldn’t care less about proper medicinal combinations, gradual dosages, or potential waste. Survival was all that mattered!

Xu Mo first grabbed the finest-looking ginseng root. Without bothering to wash it, he shoved it directly into his mouth, bit off a large chunk with all his might, and began to chew frantically, like an ox devouring a peony. A rich, bitter, yet uniquely fragrant taste of ginseng instantly filled his mouth. It was followed by a warm current, infinitely hotter and purer than any normal food, that slid down his throat and into his stomach like a small stream.

’It’s working! But it’s not fast enough!’

Xu Mo grabbed a large handful of Deer Antler Slices and, without a second glance, stuffed them into his mouth, swallowing them down with the rest of the ginseng. The Deer Antler Slices had a gamy, pungent odor, but once in his stomach, they transformed into another scorching current of energy that merged with the Ginseng Power.

But he wasn’t finished. Xu Mo then started shoveling handfuls of the precious Cordyceps into his mouth as if they were roasted soybeans.

If any knowledgeable herbalist had seen him "wasting" precious medicinal ingredients in such a way, they would have been utterly appalled. But how could Xu Mo care about such things now? He was like a drowning man, desperately grabbing for anything that could keep him afloat.

A massive, violent wave of medicinal power erupted in Xu Mo’s stomach, as if several fire dragons had awakened within his body, roaring and rampaging.

Ordinarily, such a reckless act would be no different from suicide. The violent medicinal power would have been enough to rupture Xu Mo’s meridians, causing him to bleed from his seven orifices and die. But at this moment, his body was in the Black Hole state of its breakthrough into the Cowhide Realm, and its craving for energy had reached an unbelievable level.

The moment this pure and immense medicinal power erupted, it was frantically drawn in and devoured by the Black Hole. It merged into the torrential flood of his vital energy and blood, then was rapidly transported to every inch of his skin, muscles, fascia, and even bones—all of which were undergoing a qualitative transformation.

Xu Mo felt that his breakthrough process—which had slowed and was even on the verge of faltering due to the lack of energy—had been joined by fresh reinforcements. It instantly accelerated again, becoming smooth and unimpeded.

The terrifying feeling of weakness and the sensation of his life force draining away finally began to slow, and then... stopped.

Xu Mo collapsed onto the floor, his back against the cold wall, panting heavily. He was completely soaked in sweat, as if he had just been pulled from water. His face was still pale, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.

He could clearly feel the violent vital energy and blood within him begin to calm down, now that they had been amply replenished. They no longer rampaged recklessly but had transformed into a heavier, more majestic power, flowing obediently through his wider, tougher meridians and nourishing his brand-new body.