For at least half an hour, Shen Li struggled on the cold floor, trying to get up.He twisted, shifted, groaned — but no matter what he did, the sheer mass of his new body betrayed him.
The best he could manage was rolling slightly to the side like a bloated beast. Turning? Impossible.Standing? A myth.
He stared at the ceiling, defeated.
Shen Li lay there…Flat on his back. Arms out like a corpse. Belly rising like a hill.
"How did I end up like this…"
Not in a philosophical way — just pure disbelief.
He had simulated death. Outwitted Gao. Used bandits. Survived as ghosts.
And now?He was stuck in a bloated, half-immortal flesh-suit, unable to sit up, sweating under the weight of his own power.
He tilted his head and looked down—or tried to.His vision stopped at his chest. His stomach blocked everything else.
He couldn't even see his legs.
"God… damn it…"
For a moment, the thought crossed his mind.
"Should I just cut it off? Carve myself back into something usable?"
"Okay... first of all, relax," he muttered aloud."Think, Shen Li. Think."
He closed his eyes, forcing his breathing to slow.
"You have at least ten years of medical expertise.""You have total tissue and muscle control over your own body."
He repeated it like a mantra, trying to remind himself who he was
.....
Shen Li lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling with dead eyes and bloated limbs.
"Alright. I'm not cutting anything. I'm not giving up. I'm folding it in."
He reached toward his satchel with a trembling hand and pulled out a single iron needle — the same one used for corpse weaving
You served me in death. Now do something useful in life."
He stabbed the needle directly into his forearm — not deep, just enough to target a cluster of nerve channels.A sudden numbness spread through the entire arm.
He let out a sharp exhale.
"Good. Pain's gone."
One by one, he began hitting pain-node clusters across his body: thigh, lower back, side of the neck, ribs. He didn't need full numbness — just enough to shut down the screaming.
Once the burning and twitching stopped, he focused.
"Compress. Fold. Internalize."
His fingers twitched, then his skin rippled like liquid under pressure.Thick slabs of meat began crawling toward his back, spiraling down his sides, compacting between his ribs and spine.
He gritted his teeth — not from pain, but sheer mental effort.
"Pull it in, not off… tuck it beneath the scapula… good… now, hide the leg mass above the thigh joints… collapse the surface…"
It was grotesque.Like watching a boulder try to fold itself into a paper scroll.But slowly, inch by inch, his form began to shrink.
After nearly an hour of work, Shen Li rolled onto his side—and for the first time in what felt like forever—stood.
He was still huge. His belly hung forward like a swollen drum, and his thighs rubbed when he walked.
He still couldn't see his legs.
But he could move.
That was enough.
Shen Li stood alone in the quiet room, his body still warm from the internal shifting he'd performed. The once-empty spaces of human anatomy — under ribs, between spine joints, behind organs — were now stuffed with folded meat and compressed skin. It gave him some internal storage space… but it wasn't enough to bring back his original, lean physique.
He turned to the bronze mirror nearby.
A huge belly. Thick arms. Massive shoulders.
He stared for a second, then smirked.
"Well… at least I can justify the image of the county's richest man now."
He grinned.
Shen Li had long since hardened his mind. His psychological resilience was already high-grade — forged in ghost form, carved out by death, and remade in darkness. He had once lost his entire body. This? This was nothing.
The only real inconvenience was movement.
"Still, I should calculate gain and loss," he muttered, voice calm.
First, in this current mortal world, he was nearly unkillable.Unless a 1st-grade martial artist came in person.
Second, his body had now fully shifted toward Yin alignment. The tightness and spiritual interference he'd felt before was gone.This balance meant he no longer had to keep burning energy on soul stabilization.
The result?He could finally resume cultivating the soul path again. Properly.
as for the disadvantages:
First, his mobility was severely reduced. He couldn't jump, run, or move quickly without strain.Before any fight, he'd need to manually close pain receptors again using needles — just like before.
Second, although his body was Yin-based now, it lacked proper Yin defense mechanisms.Worse: Shen Li didn't even know the limits of what this body could resist.If he met another Yin-based being — something soul-born, spirit-warped, or corrupted — he might not be able to defend himself at all. Which is mean his body can be seized by other soul based beings easily, to prevent this best way is to having higher soul than those Yin being.
Shen Li stood in silence, feeling the weight of his new body—not just physically, but logically.
This body wasn't truly immortal.
But it was close.
His flesh, at least, had reached a mutated version of the Skincrawler trait. He could mend torn skin, regrow meat, and reconnect tissue, even if just a sliver of it remained. So long as the body remained alive, it would recover.
Overstretching? Muscle rupture? Skin tearing?
Irrelevant now.
This body wouldn't break from strain. At worst, it would simply gratify new tissue in the damaged areas—replacing it automatically like a living patchwork.
But the problem ran deeper.
Shen Li was preserveing his original human structure beneath all this. His skeleton and organs were still completely human. And that meant…
He still had vital points.
The heart.The lungs.The skull.The spine.All intact.All vulnerable.
if a blade pierced deep enough to reach his core, he'd die all the same.
He muttered under his breath:
A terrifying outer layer.A miraculous self-healing system.But a very mortal center.
Shen Li tapped his chest lightly.
The heart was still beating.Still breakable.
But not stationary.
Thanks to the Skincrawler's mutated abilities and his own mastery over flesh, he now had one unique advantage:
He could shift his vital points.
Not freely. Not without limits. But if necessary, he could temporarily relocate organs within a controlled range.
Heart from left to right.Kidneys a bit higher or lower.Lungs compacted into one side to dodge a strike.Even his liver could be tucked behind a rib for a few minutes.
It was exhausting. It took concentration. And it had a limit—maybe two or three times a day before strain and error set in.
But it meant one thing:
Predicting where to kill Shen Li just got a lot harder.
He grinned to himself.
"Yeah... come stab my heart. I dare you."
Still, it wasn't a perfect defense.
He couldn't move his brain, his spine, or the entire digestive tract.And if he ever forgot to return the organs to their proper positions... long-term damage was a real risk.
But it was a start.
A man hiding his soul in skin.A monster hiding his heart in the wrong place.That was Shen Li now.
After the initial adjustment period — the needles, the folding, the gritted teeth, and the endless sweating — Shen Li finally returned to his daily life.
He didn't announce anything. He just showed up.
Bigger. Slower.Heavier.
Some servants and business partners were visibly shocked. Whispers passed between a few mouths. One of his aides even dropped a scroll when he first walked in.
But no one dared say anything.
Because at the end of the day…He was Shen Li.
The man who controlled one of the fastest-growing merchant groups in the county.The man who held more silver than their entire bloodline would see in a lifetime.
He wasn't just a merchant anymore — he was a force of nature in human skin.
So what if he couldn't see his own feet anymore?
So what if his sleeves had to be cut and re-stitched overnight?
They still bowed when he entered the room.They still followed orders the moment he spoke.And they still feared what would happen if they didn't.
Because money speaks louder than looks.And Shen Li's coin spoke in thunder.
He sat at the head of his private counting hall, belly pressed comfortably against the table, and took a slow sip of hot tea.
"Some gains," he thought, "come with a little weight."
And no one questioned it.
.....
The next morning, Shen Li made his way to the front branch of his real estate business.
The sun hadn't even cleared the rooftops yet, but a noise was already waiting for him at the door.
Old voices.Rough voices.Angry voices.
A small group — maybe five or six — all of them older men and women. Two with walking sticks. One with shaking hands. Another holding what looked like a paper file, crumpled from being waved around too much.
They were yelling.
Loudly.With swears.With spit.
Shen Li didn't need to ask.
He already knew.
"Displacement fallout," he muttered to himself.
Probably a family business. Probably in the way of a new warehouse or road expansion. Probably had some sentimental attachment to the land. They always did. Generational bakeries. Tea shops built by dead grandfathers.
Shen Li had foreseen it before.He had planned for it.
But what he hadn't expected was to see it in person.
He stood there for a moment, watching them. Their voices were cracked from age but loaded with fire. There was no fear in their eyes. Just fury.
Shen Li had no interest in causing a scene. Especially not here.Especially not with them.
These people weren't scammers or greedy tenants.They were just... right.He had used the simulation to acquire official, signed deeds as part of his reward
He slowed his steps, head low, hoping to pass by unnoticed.
But his massive physique, his distinct silhouette, and the golden rings stacked on both hands made that impossible.
He was a walking merchant flag.
Before he could slip away—
"Stop right there, Li! We saw you!"
A sharp, aged voice — raspy and loud enough to cut air.
One of the old men, bald and red-faced, stepped forward, cane in hand like a general with a saber.
Shen Li froze mid-step.
"Crap."
He picked up his pace, pretending not to hear.
But his thick frame and short stride weren't built for fleeing.
By the time he turned the corner, he could hear the heavy footsteps closing in.They weren't fast — but they didn't need to be.
He sighed.
"It seems like today…""I need to play the role of the shameless, hypocrite capitalist."
With a deep breath, Shen Li spun around slowly, plastering on the kind of expression one reserves for royalty and overcharging customers.
He looked at them like they were long-lost family.
He raised a hand in dramatic greeting.
"Ah! Friends! I was just about to come speak with you."
CRACK!
A cane struck him square in the face.
It wasn't a martial move.Just raw, aged fury delivered with full wrist momentum.
He staggered two steps back, hand clutched to his cheek, blinking in disbelief.
"Such—! Hey! You're not playing by the rules!"
Before he could even raise his voice again—
THWACK!
Another strike. From another direction.This one caught him on the shoulder.And just like that, the county's richest man was being boxed in by senior citizens.
For a moment, Shen Li didn't know whether to fight, flee, or pretend to faint.
He gritted his teeth, glaring down the mob of angry elders.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
Ever since gaining the Skincrawler abilities, Shen Li believed he no longer needed bodyguards. Why would he?His flesh could heal. His nerves were tough. His body was invincible… mostly.
So instead of wasting coin, he'd reassigned his guards to oversee merchant warehouses and real estate fronts."Profit is profit," he had thought.
But now, standing in front of his own branch office, being beaten by walking sticks, he realized something else:
None of this happened in the simulation.
There had been no angry elders. No public beatings. No humiliating confrontations.
Why?
Because in the simulation…his guards were still there.
His face twitched.
"Of course," he muttered. "All this because I got greedy for a few silver returns."
Embarrassing.Ridiculous.And unfortunately… very real.
Shen Li was prideful.Calculated.And above all, he understood the most important law of reputation:
If one farmer hits you today,a merchant will punch you tomorrow.And a noble might stab you the next day.
This had to stop now.
His face, still red from the cane strike, slowly reset into something colder.
Without a word, Shen Li raised his right hand — thick, heavy, fingers glittering with golden rings.
And he swung.
The old man who had struck him didn't even have time to flinch.
CRACK.
His face collided with metal.
There was a sickening snap of bone, a trail of blood in the air —And then he flew.
A clean arc.
Five full meters back.Crashing into the dusty street.Teeth scattered like dice across the stone.
The rest of the elders went dead silent.
Even the birds seemed to pause in the air.
Shen Li exhaled through his nose, adjusted the collar of his robe, and smoothed his sleeve over his enormous belly.
A woman screamed from the crowd.
"You… You've killed Yu!"
She rushed to the unconscious man, falling to her knees, hands trembling as she tried to lift his head. His teeth were still scattered across the street like broken pearls.
Shen Li looked down at her with a mixture of annoyance and disgust.
"Killed?" he muttered. "If he died from that, then maybe the heavens were just doing some early cleaning."
He didn't say it out loud. Not exactly.
But his face said enough.
In truth, Shen Li had measured the strike perfectly. He'd even reduced his shoulder rotation to avoid crushing the man's skull. It wasn't his fault the old fool's jaw was made of glass.
"If someone that weak flies five meters and faints from one slap," Shen Li muttered under his breath, "maybe he should've stayed home.
He took a deep breath and raised his voice, now filled with mock indignation.
"What?!" he barked, glaring at the woman."When he dared hit me, that was fine?""But now I defend myself, I'm the criminal?!"
It was never about justice.
It was about who looked richer.Who looked fatter.Who looked like the villain.
Still, he had to say it. Loud. Public. And unwavering.
"Tell me what your problem is with me!"
Let them say it out loud.Let them reveal the real bitterness.
Because once they spoke it,Shen Li could break it.
One of the younger men in the crowd stepped forward, fury in his eyes and a shaking finger pointed straight at Shen Li.
"You! You used your connections and bribes! You paid off those corrupt officials to forge some fake land decree and steal our land!"
The crowd murmured, a mix of anger and fear building beneath the words.
Shen Li's expression twisted with offense. His face flushed red — not with guilt, but sheer indignation.
"Fake degree?!" he barked."I wouldn't dare forge one — even noble families wouldn't dare! Idiot!"
He jabbed a thick finger toward the shouting youth.
"Those lands were under my grandfather long before your family even knew how to spell deed!"
That was when one of the very old men — voice raspy and loaded with hatred — stepped forward and spat right onto the ground between them.
"Hawk–püüü! Liar!"
His words cut through the noise like a blade.
"Our family's been on that land for five generations! We were there before your fat gold-wearing face was even born!"
Gasps. Some laughter. A few chuckles from behind hands.
Shen Li's eyes widened.
His lips curled back, red with rage and embarrassment.
"Then your ancestors must've been short-lived! My grandfather lived past a hundred! My father lived to a hundred! And I—!"
He pounded his chest with one meaty fist.
"I will live to one hundred too!"
There was silence for half a second.
Then yelling. Then more shouting.
The whole street burst into a storm of arguments, accusations, curses, and raised fists.
And just like that—
it escalated.
Again.
Thank the heavens — at some point, a city patrol finally arrived.
Clad in official robes and looking completely done with life, the guards moved in without asking questions. One by one, they started dragging people out of the crowd. Those who shouted, pointed, or even looked amused were swiftly pushed to the side and cuffed like common drunks.
"All of you, enough!" the captain barked."Public disturbance — all involved will be taken in!"
And just like that, the crowd was gone.Scooped up like spilled grain.
Shen Li, however, was forcefully escorted by two particularly large officials. His feet barely kept up as they dragged him down the street toward the magistrate's hall.
"Hey!" Shen Li barked louder now."Don't you know who I am?!"
One of the guards muttered under his breath.
"Hey! Don't you know who I am?!" Shen Li shouted, puffing out his chest as best he could while being dragged.
One of the guards sighed, not even looking at him.
"Yeah, yeah… 'pillar of the county,' 'unparalleled merchant' 'future immortal.' We've heard it all."
The other guard grunted.
"He's the fifth one this week to say that line."
A third one muttered as they pulled him harder:
"Next he'll tell us he's friends with the magistrate's cousin's dog."
They didn't even laugh. Just tired. Bored.Professionals in the art of dragging inflated egos through public roads.
Shen Li fumed in silence, face red and boiling.
But even he knew—
They weren't even trying to insult him.They were just… used to people like him.
As the guards dragged him forward, Shen Li stopped struggling.
His shoulders slumped slightly. His breath leveled out.
And for a brief moment, he looked… regretful.
His eyes drifted toward the magistrate's hall ahead, then toward the fading crowd behind him.
"Tch…" he clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath.
"I seriously need a few friends in the government…""For rainy days like this."