Before today, Fang Ze actually had some understanding of the Yang Transformation stage and the Mortality-Shedding stage.
If Spirit Ascension is the process where humans begin to evolve into Extraordinary Creatures, then the so-called Yang Transformation stage is a true Extraordinary Creature.
During Awakening, Awakener burns all their flesh and blood to help their soul ascend. Thus, when they reach the Spirit Ascension stage, they are actually in a Spiritual Body state. To achieve the next stage, Yang Transformation, they need to gradually reconstruct their body.
This information came from the Security Bureau materials, but Fang Ze always had one question: if one needs to reconstruct the body, why burn it during the Spirit Ascension stage? Isn't this counterproductive?
Hence, he always suspected that the path of abandoning the physique might have major drawbacks, potentially even errors. That's why he ultimately chose to ascend using Faith and his own power.
After choosing this path, Fang Ze always wondered: does he belong to the Spirit Ascension stage or the Yang Transformation stage?
The Yang Transformation stage involves regathering one's flesh, turning illusions into reality, and transforming from Yin to Yang. Isn't he now the most "Yang" of "Yang"?
Because of this question, Fang Ze stopped cultivating after his ascension, waiting for an opportunity to understand himself and the differences between his state and the Yang Transformation stage. Only after thoroughly understanding this could he proceed with cultivation.
Now, he not only had a Yang Transformation stage model but also a Mortality-Shedding stage model. He could completely experience both and gain a comprehensive understanding of his path, avoiding detours.
Thinking this, he organized his thoughts on cultivation path, and his finger pointed to the miniature figure in his mind resembling Jiang Cheng.
In that instant, Fang Ze felt a terrifying heat wave engulf him, making his body seem to melt and burn. The pain and numbness were extreme.
Momentarily, the odd sensation receded like a tide. Fang Ze took two deep breaths and raised his hand, seeing a pair of much paler, more pampered hands.
Fang Ze realized he had completed the transformation.
He closed his eyes to perceive his current physical condition. Whether it was the magic of the Yang Transformation stage or not, when he closed his eyes, he could see inside his body: skin, blood vessels, every organ glowing faintly, filled with rule power. He looked like a glowing model.
Even within his bloodstream, he could see the blood flowing gently.
"Is this... internal perception?" Fang Ze opened his eyes, and the vision vanished.
He hesitantly closed his eyes again, and the vision reappeared. This confirmed to Fang Ze that it was indeed the legendary internal perception.
Fang Ze recalled reading about the Spirit Ascension stage's cultivation to the Yang Transformation stage.
Transitioning from the Spirit Ascension stage to the Yang Transformation stage had almost no bottleneck. One just needed to use rule power to reconstruct organs, skin, and capillaries.
This was an immensely time-consuming task that required an incredibly detailed understanding of human anatomy.
Luckily, before the Spirit Ascension stage, all Awakeners must cultivate Martial Arts, gradually refining their bodies, an inherent process of understanding one's physiology.
Though the process was intricate, with abundant data to assist, restructuring the body was achievable, merely laborious.
To expedite and improve body reconstruction, most Spirit Ascension stage Awakeners would preserve their blood, fluids, skin, and other tissues in advance to directly use them during reconstruction.
This also explains why Awakeners, despite reaching the Yang Transformation stage, could still bear children.
Moreover, due to bodily reconstruction and internal perception, female Awakeners could conceive more easily, monitor the child's development, and deliver smoothly.
Naturally, due to body reconstruction, most Yang Transformation stage Awakeners weren't ugly; even if not all could be strikingly attractive, they could maintain average looks.
Besides this, the key advantage of the Yang Transformation stage over the Spirit Ascension stage was the elimination of fatal injuries without relying on medication: upon reaching the Yang Transformation stage, as long as the body wasn't completely destroyed, even broken limbs or damaged organs could be regenerated without concerns of disability.
Thinking this, Fang Ze looked at his left hand, then expressionlessly extended his right hand, gripped his left index finger, and with a slight force, "snap," the finger broke off entirely, with the bone piercing through the flesh.
In that instant, Fang Ze felt a surge of acute pain. He closed his eyes, silently observing the transmission and healing of the pain.
When he broke the finger, nerves transmitted the pain signal to the brain, making him feel the agony. Blood vessels, muscles, and bones ruptured, blood flowed out of the vessels, spilling outside.
Fang Ze silently watched the situation and started to heal the injury.
He repositioned the finger, halted the blood flow temporarily, then controlled the rule power bit by bit to reattach blood vessels, muscles, and bones.
During this, whether due to insufficient mental strength or Jiang Cheng's weakness, merely this brief task left Fang Ze feeling mentally exhausted, and towards the end, he felt dizzy.
After five minutes, the finger's injury was finally healed. Fang Ze, exhausted, opened his eyes, took two deep breaths, then raised his hand to check—it had indeed recovered completely.
He tried bending and grasping, noticing no abnormalities, as if it was never injured.
"The Yang Transformation stage is truly miraculous." Fang Ze couldn't help but sigh. He felt that this might be the powerful aspect of the Yang Transformation stage: complete control over the body and remarkable regenerative ability, ensuring if the soul isn't destroyed, any injury could be healed gradually.