"Oh, you'd finally decided to break through."
Mentor Oris was a man.
He knew Li Qi's bottleneck had loosened more than ten days ago, but Li Qi had never submitted an application.
As a mentor, he could not force a student to break through either. If anything went wrong, he could not bear the responsibility.
Oris took a box from the refrigerated cabinet and set it on the desk. "These are the Red Dew Fruits you'll need for your breakthrough. There are fifteen inside. See if that's enough. If not, you can apply for another five."
Hearing that, Li Qi went along with it. "I'll apply for another five and make it a round number."
Oris did not mind. As long as he asked, students would usually take the opportunity to request five more Red Dew Fruits, and he had already prepared for that.
He put away the box on the desk and took out another box that emitted waves of cold air. "This box contains twenty Red Dew Fruits. Scan the identification code with your communicator, and you can take it."
"Thank you, Mentor Oris."
Li Qi took the box, scanned the identification code with his communicator, thanked him, and prepared to leave. Yet after walking out of the office, he turned back.
Oris asked curiously, "Student Li Qi, do you need something else?"
Li Qi scratched his head. "Mentor Oris, I'd like to apply for another set of breakthrough resources."
"Another set?"
Oris looked puzzled, but he quickly understood. The student before him was a Spirit Reader.
"You intend to break your Mental Force through to the Planetary Level first, then bring your physical fitness up to the Planetary Level as well?"
"Yes." Li Qi nodded.
"That's fine."
Oris agreed and took out a box that gave off cold air. "After you apply for the breakthrough resources, some information will be sent to your communicator. I recommend that you read it."
Li Qi nodded and thanked him. "Thank you, Mentor Oris."
"Go on. I hope that after your physical fitness breaks through to the Planetary Level, you'll obtain a powerful special ability," Oris said.
Li Qi thanked him again, took the two sets of breakthrough resources, and returned to his room to prepare for his breakthrough to the Planetary Level.
Back in his room, Li Qi set the two sets of breakthrough resources aside and sat cross-legged on the floor.
He opened his communicator and carefully checked the two new messages. He opened the one titled "Detailed Explanation of Spirit Reader Breakthrough."
Looking at the information on his communicator, Li Qi thought, To break through to the Planetary Level, a Spirit Reader needs to compress and condense part of the Mental Force within the sea of consciousness, then detonate it just as the Mental Force is about to transform from liquid to solid.
The detonated Mental Force will form a singularity, drawing all the Mental Force in the sea of consciousness into it. What I need to do is compress that drawn-in Mental Force until all of it forms a miniature planet.
After reading the first message, Li Qi shut off his communicator without looking at "Detailed Explanation of Martial Artist Breakthrough."
"Let's begin the breakthrough."
Li Qi brought the box containing one set of breakthrough resources to his side. When he opened it, a wave of cold air rushed at his face.
He took out a Red Dew Fruit, stuffed it straight into his mouth, chewed a few times, and swallowed the icy juice and pulp.
Then he took out another Red Dew Fruit and consumed it. Only after taking ten Red Dew Fruits in total did he stop.
The effects of the ten Red Dew Fruits were obvious. Before long, he felt mentally exhilarated and closed his eyes.
Sea of consciousness.
Within the transparent mist formed from Mental Force, Li Qi saw countless droplet-like liquid forms of Mental Force, along with a small amount of solid Mental Force, scattered throughout the sea of consciousness.
Gas, liquid, solid.
All three forms of Mental Force were present in his sea of consciousness.
Gather!
Li Qi muttered inwardly.
The droplet-like liquid Mental Force scattered throughout the sea of consciousness began to converge, surging toward its center like soldiers responding to an order.
Splash, splash...
The droplets gathered into tiny streams that flowed in from every direction toward the center of the sea of consciousness.
At its center, the tiny streams flowed into a transparent water sphere that continuously rotated and grew larger as it spun.
As it grew, it not only gathered liquid Mental Force but also absorbed the gaseous Mental Force floating in the air, forming several long, transparent dragons of mist.
Begin compressing.
The transparent water sphere formed from Mental Force stopped absorbing the liquid and gaseous Mental Force. It began spinning rapidly and gradually shrank as it rotated.
As the transparent water sphere shrank, the scattered Mental Force within it became denser, showing signs of slowly merging together.
Now!
Explode!
Suddenly, Li Qi's thoughts jolted.
Within the sea of consciousness, the compressed transparent water sphere violently exploded. The Mental Force that had nearly condensed shattered into mist, spreading rapidly in all directions like the aftershock of an explosion. In moments, the mist filled the entire sea of consciousness.
Immediately afterward, at the former center of the transparent water sphere, where the explosive force had been strongest—
Like a collapsing star, a black hole formed!
With the singularity as its core, endless gravitational force began pulling the gaseous, liquid, and solid Mental Force within the sea of consciousness toward it.
Spinning madly, all the Mental Force in the sea of consciousness was drawn together, then condensed and fused.
Buzz!
With a tremor through the sea of consciousness, all gaseous, liquid, and solid Mental Force vanished.
Only darkness remained, like a universe that had lost every source of light—empty, dark, and deathly silent!
Suddenly, a sphere of light slowly rose from the singularity where the Mental Force had gathered.
Like a star in a dark universe, it illuminated the entire empty, dark, silent expanse.
The sphere of light was incomparably beautiful. It was built around a thirty-two-faced crystal core, supplemented by countless pyramid-shaped crystals. A halo shimmered across its surface, making it even more magnificent.
The moment the sphere of light appeared, an invisible yet peculiar fluctuation continuously spread from it.
Buzz, buzz—!
The fluctuation traveled from the sphere of light in the sea of consciousness into Li Qi's body, then spread beyond him.
"I've finally broken through to the Planetary Level!"
"So this is the gravitational pull of a Planetary Level miniature planet's magnetic field?"
Li Qi looked at the miniature planet constantly rotating within his sea of consciousness. His body broke free of the planet's gravity and floated in midair.
"According to the information, after breaking through to the Planetary Level, a Spirit Reader can use Mental Force to strengthen the body. Let's try it first."
After testing flight, he moved his thoughts, and streams of refined Mental Force flowed from the miniature planet and spread throughout his body.
When Planetary Level Mental Force filled his entire body, Li Qi felt his once-stable body undergo an earth-shattering transformation!
The bones, marrow, meridians, muscles, fascia, skin, and everything else within his body underwent an unbelievable metamorphosis at that moment. His genetic makeup was also rapidly breaking down and recombining!
This was a leap in life!
This feeling! It's wonderful!
The leap in life filled Li Qi with incomparable delight. It was an indescribably wonderful sensation.
Most visibly, his vitality had become more vigorous. He could survive without breathing, and his body could continue growing stronger.
Previously, after his physical fitness reached the Apprentice Level Ninth-Order Peak, he had been unable to improve it any further. His life level had determined the limit of his physical fitness.
But after breaking through to the Planetary Level, his life level had undergone a leap. This made his physical fitness as foundational as that of an infant, allowing it to continue growing.
"My Mental Force has broken through to the Planetary Level. Next is my physical fitness."
Li Qi muttered to himself, but then he felt something was wrong with his own words. "My life has already undergone a leap, and my physical fitness has reached the Planetary Level. Can I still complete a Martial Artist's breakthrough?"
Puzzled, he opened his communicator and began reading "Detailed Explanation of Martial Artist Breakthrough."
After reading for a while, he finally understood. A physical fitness breakthrough to the Planetary Level was merely a customary term. A Martial Artist's breakthrough actually meant breaking Gene Origin Energy through to the Planetary Level.
Gene Origin Energy came from cosmic energy. Since everyone's body and soul differed, the cosmic energy each person absorbed was also different.
Yet in the end, it all transformed into one of the eight major attributes: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and light. None of the eight attributes was superior or inferior to another.
Special abilities came from Gene Origin Energy and the gifts of the universe. They were likewise divided into eight major attributes, and the special abilities within each attribute varied in strength.
For example, the metal-attribute special ability Diamond Body could be immensely powerful, strengthening every part of the body until it was exceptionally tough. A weaker version would only make the skin, flesh, and bones somewhat harder. The difference between the two was worlds apart!
Seeing the final explanation of special abilities, Li Qi clicked his tongue. Although the original novel mentioned that special abilities varied in strength, the gap is far too great.
He shut off his communicator amid his amazement and prepared to break his Gene Origin Energy through to the Planetary Level.
But thinking of the vast difference in special abilities, he could not help praying, I hope my special ability won't be too weak.
After praying, he swallowed all ten remaining Red Dew Fruits from the first set of breakthrough resources, then swallowed every Red Dew Fruit in the second set as well.
Only now did he understand that the breakthrough-assisting effect of Red Dew Fruits was extremely useful for Gene Origin Energy breakthroughs, while their aid to Mental Force breakthroughs was much weaker.
Therefore, he simply swallowed all the Red Dew Fruits at once. This would provide greater help for his Gene Origin Energy breakthrough to the Planetary Level.
After completing his preparations, Li Qi stood and performed the movements taught in "Detailed Explanation of Martial Artist Breakthrough."
There were two sets of movements in "Detailed Explanation of Martial Artist Breakthrough." One set consisted of twelve movements to open the dantian, while the other consisted of nine movements to condense a miniature Planetary Level planet. The latter had to be repeated three times.
As soon as he performed the first movement, his body grew slightly warm. As he continued through the movements one by one, the cells throughout his body seemed to boil. The Gene Origin Energy that had not been absorbed within those cells began gathering like droplets, forming streams that flowed into the dantian in his abdomen.
When Li Qi performed the last of the twelve movements, all the streams of Gene Origin Energy gathered in his abdomen and rotated into a sphere.
Boom!
As he finished the final movement, the sphere of Gene Origin Energy in his abdomen instantly exploded!
The dantian that had not existed before was opened by the explosion of Gene Origin Energy. Within the newly opened dantian was only emptiness, along with countless mist-like traces of Gene Origin Energy.
After opening his dantian, Li Qi did not pause and began performing the second set of movements.
When he completed the first movement, the mist-like Gene Origin Energy at the center of his dantian began to rotate.
As he continued through the movements one by one, the mist-like Gene Origin Energy at the center of his dantian spun faster and faster. By the time he finished the first round of nine movements, all the Gene Origin Energy in his dantian had gathered together and undergone multiple compressions.
When he finished the second round, the Gene Origin Energy in his dantian had transformed into liquid and become a constantly rotating sphere, continuing to compress toward a solid state.
When the third round of movements was complete, only a miniature planet remained in Li Qi's dantian—a green miniature planet composed of countless hexagonal crystals. This miniature planet also emitted waves of peculiar fluctuations.
"Success!"
Feeling the fluctuations emerge, Li Qi was overjoyed.
Now let's see what my special ability is!
With a thought, the green miniature planet within Li Qi's dantian released Gene Origin Energy that spread throughout his body.
At that moment, a strange phenomenon occurred in the Special Training Camp. A flower seedling that a student had brought from his hometown and had only recently taken root and sprouted was now growing at a speed visible to the naked eye!
Before you continue