The Hollow was silent.
The weight of time and death pressed in around Arthur like a suffocating fog. He sat cross-legged in a vast chamber of the sunken catacombs beneath the Forsaken Hollow—a place whispered about in frightened legends. His hands trembled as a pulse of heat surged through his veins.
Not from exertion.
From transformation.
The scroll—no longer a lifeless relic—hovered before him in an ethereal glow, floating like a star slowly collapsing into itself.
"Absorption process complete," the voice echoed in his mind. "Knight's cultivation technique has been devoured. An adaptive path has been reconstructed."
Arthur exhaled, his breath shimmering. Around him, the walls of the chamber began to crack, as if rejecting the pressure his body now emitted. His muscles tensed as the scroll's energy poured into him, reinforcing and reshaping his bones, tendons, and blood.
From the ashes of an ordinary mortal body, something else was being forged.
The energy inside him didn't just flow—it pulsed with intention. It wasn't an external force. It was him.
The scroll had rewritten the foundation of his being.
He didn't feel like someone who was simply cultivating anymore. He felt like he was becoming something new—like his flesh and soul were the brush and ink for a path never before drawn in this world.
---
Arthur's thoughts were broken by a crackling sound. A surge of power flared from his core. His back arched, his vision went white.
It began.
The transformation of his very physique.
He gritted his teeth, fists digging into the stone beneath him. His body was burning from the inside. His skin grew red, then blackened with strange patterns that shimmered and vanished.
"Scroll—what is this?!"
The response came, layered and calm. "You are forming your physique. Unique trait detected: Devouring adaptation. You are no longer bound to the natural order. Your body is evolving into the Devouring Physique."
Devouring Physique?
He remembered the stories told in low whispers in the outer towns. Physiques were birthrights. One was born with them. They defined one's ability to progress in cultivation.
Most people were born without any special traits. The lowest class were known as Basic Frames—no better than iron trying to imitate steel. Rarely, someone was born with a Battle Frame, granting higher physical resilience and strength. Fewer still were born with an Elemental Frame—aligned to fire, wind, water, or earth.
Some legendary cultivators possessed Celestial Frames, allowing them to absorb energy from nature or even heal rapidly.
But no one—no one—had ever heard of a physique that changed after birth.
Much less one that could adapt, grow, and absorb the very paths of others.
"You mean I can become stronger… just by devouring techniques?" Arthur asked aloud, voice rough.
"Yes," the scroll answered. "Each consumed technique, each worthy treasure, each opponent vanquished and absorbed will empower both your body and your cultivation path. This is the root of your Scroll Realm."
He shivered.
Not from fear.
From anticipation.
---
The process continued. His muscles twisted painfully. His bones snapped, then realigned, reinforced by the energy of the scroll. His senses sharpened. His heartbeat grew louder in his ears. Time lost meaning.
He blacked out.
---
When he awoke, he was lying in a crater of fractured stone. The entire lower chamber had been destroyed by the pressure of his transformation.
Arthur stood slowly.
He no longer felt like the same person.
He looked down at his hands. Veins pulsed with power. His skin was tougher, darker in hue, almost like steel polished in fire. A strange hunger throbbed deep in his gut—not for food, but for energy. For growth.
He could sense energy in the world differently now.
Like everything around him was edible.
"Current status: Devouring Physique—Stage One. Scroll Realm: Initial Foundation established," the scroll informed.
Arthur's breathing was steady.
"What's next?"
"Construct your core. Stabilize your body. Seek resources that fuel your realm."
He turned his gaze downward. The scroll pinged again.
"Rare energy fluctuation detected. Subterranean depth: 70 meters."
Without hesitation, Arthur began digging through the debris.
---
He uncovered a sealed chamber beneath the Hollow. Inside was a stone pedestal. And atop it—a glowing orb.
The moment his fingers brushed it, the orb cracked open and dissolved into streams of violet mist, which poured into his chest.
An explosion of clarity overtook his mind.
---
The treasure had no name. It was not a technique, nor a manual. It was raw potential—cultivation essence that hadn't yet been molded into form. Something left behind by a being who had never finished their path.
But for Arthur, it was perfect.
He felt it settle into his scroll, and immediately his body surged. The embryonic Scroll Realm expanded again, doubling in size.
His muscles quaked.
His breathing slowed.
He had begun forming the true foundation.
---
Within Arthur's inner world, changes were unfolding.
The scroll—his cultivation core—was no longer a mere floating relic. It now sat atop a throne.
The throne was forged from swirling fragments of everything he had absorbed. Golden strands of the knight technique formed its legs; swirling purple from the mysterious treasure wrapped around its base. It pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat.
Above the throne floated a slowly spinning orb of black and silver—the embryonic soul of his realm.
From this throne, Arthur could direct the energy throughout his body with increasing precision. The realm inside him no longer simply stored energy—it managed, refined, and prioritized it.
The scroll whispered, "Your Realm Throne has been forged. From here, the Scroll Realm will evolve through thirteen thrones, each ruling over a stage of your power."
Arthur's senses expanded. He could now 'see' the web of veins in his body like glowing rivers, carrying the energy wherever it was most needed. He tested it—channeling power into his right arm. It swelled with might.
Then his left. Then his legs.
This wasn't normal cultivation.
This was complete control.
He wasn't just forming a path.
He was sitting atop it.
---
He opened his eyes, heart pounding.
He had touched only the surface of what was possible.
He needed more.
More techniques to absorb.
More treasures to refine.
More power to shape.
His Scroll Realm had awakened.
His Physique had awakened.
And now—Arthur had begun walking a road no one else in this world had ever stepped on.
A devouring path.
And he would not stop until he consumed the heavens themselves.
In the Lower World, where cultivation is built around Western-style energy systems and innate talents, physique body ranks are considered the absolute determining factor of one's potential.
Most people are born with common bodies. A rare few are born with superior ones—granting them natural advantages in strength, energy absorption, defense, and regeneration.
---
⚔️ Physique Body Ranks in the Lower World (from lowest to highest)
1. Ordinary Frame
🟤 Born without any special traits.
Weak spiritual affinity, poor energy retention.
90% of the population.
Can only reach early levels of cultivation without external help.
2. Refined Frame
🔘 Slightly stronger than ordinary.
Cultivation is smoother but still limited.
Can barely reach 3rd Stage with enough resources.
3. Battle Frame
🔘 High bone density and muscular response.
Naturally enhanced reflexes and physical strength.
Typically seen in elite knights and physical cultivators.
4. Elemental Frame
🔵 Innate affinity to one of the four basic elements (fire, water, wind, earth).
Energy techniques aligned with their element are 2x more effective.
5. Sacred Vein Frame
🟣 Spirit veins allow faster energy absorption and deeper refinement.
Extremely rare; allows one to cultivate without pills or external aids.
6. Mystic Frame
🔮 Includes unique traits like regeneration, spiritual sensing, or automatic defense mechanisms.
Found in select ancient bloodlines or those touched by divine relics.
7. Celestial Frame
✨ Said to be blessed by stars or higher beings.
Auto-healing, natural law attraction (even in a lawless world), and accelerated growth.
Appears once in ten thousand years.
8. Transcendent Frame (Mythical Tier)
🌌 No known recorded individuals in the Lower World.
Believed to allow direct communication with the Will of the World.
Physique can evolve or mutate.
9. Devouring Physique (Unique: Arthur Only)
🖤 Unranked. Does not belong to the worldly system.
Can absorb traits of other physiques and techniques.
Evolves endlessly by consuming energy, bloodlines, and cultivation paths.
Begins as ordinary but surpasses Transcendent Frame with growth.
Devouring Physique – Stage One: Embryonic Core Formed
Relative Power: Already superior to a Celestial Frame.
Core Trait: Can absorb cultivation techniques, treasures, and even physique fragments from others.
Progress: Just awakened through the scroll + absorption of the Nameless Potential Core.
Evolution Path: With each major breakthrough, Arthur's physique mutates—gaining traits that normally require bloodline inheritance or divine favor.
Control: He can already redirect energy flow within his body, thanks to his Realm Throne and scroll-linked energy network.
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