Domain 2nd Layer

For the next stretch of time, Lin Qingyu's life followed a very regular routine.

He spent two hours each morning studying various kinds of knowledge, then went to the research institute to check on the research progress and read through various documents.

After that, he headed to the Wilderness Zone to practice his Spear Technique, killing some monsters along the way to build up material reserves for the research institute. At night, he returned home and entered the Will Space, devoting himself to analyzing the process by which he had mastered his Domain. Once his will reached its limit, he collapsed into bed.

Especially the last part—Lin Qingyu discovered that after pushing his will to the limit to calculate the mysteries of his body, his will had actually grown slightly.

Though the increase was minuscule, his will was already at the level of an Undying god. Even the slightest improvement was good news to him.

Operating his consciousness and will at full power to process vast amounts of information was itself a form of pressure and tempering. It was similar to how Luo Feng had fully comprehended the Law Profoundness while merging with the Star Tower in the Original work.

It was only that Lin Qingyu had not pushed himself to the absolute limit.

Moreover, during this time, his mastery of "World Ending" had also reached a very high level.

Hong's "World Ending" contained more than just Spear Technique. It also taught people how to precisely control Genetic Force in order to manipulate the surrounding environment.

Although Lin Qingyu already possessed a Domain, he and Hong followed different paths, so Hong's methods still offered him some useful reference.

"I think I've roughly understood Hong's path." Lin Qingyu swung his spear as he contemplated how to further comprehend his Domain.

Hong was a martial artist. Though he also possessed Mental Force, its quantity could not compare to that of a Mental Master.

Therefore, Hong's comprehension of the Domain had followed the path of a martial artist from beginning to end.

Humans were flesh-and-blood lifeforms with souls, so the core and essence of human consciousness lay in the soul.

Although human martial artists primarily used Genetic Force, it was still the soul that mobilized and controlled it.

Continuously improving one's control over Genetic Force was, in essence, continuously improving the soul's control over Origin Force.

And the human soul consisted of a life imprint and Mental Power. Thus, using consciousness and the soul to control Genetic Force was essentially making Mental Power resonate with Genetic Force.

When a martial artist's control over Genetic Force reached its ultimate limit, the resonance between Mental Force and Origin Force would likewise reach its ultimate limit, naturally forming a Domain.

Although Lin Qingyu already had a Domain, analyzing the formation of a Domain from another perspective deepened his understanding of it even further.

"It won't be long before I break through to Domain 2nd layer. My Body Amplitude should also reach more than ten times. By then, I can go to Australia to search for Mist Island and Bata," Lin Qingyu said.

He truly wanted to obtain Meteorite Star's inheritance immediately, but some things could not be rushed.

After all, the Moyun Vine still guarded Mist Island. In the Original work, Hong had been able to suppress the Moyun Vine, but at that time, Hong had already reached Planetary level 6th stage and Domain 2nd layer. Furthermore, judging from "World Ending," Lin Qingyu estimated that Hong's exertion multiplier had definitely been no less than five times.

As for Lin Qingyu now, his raw strength was equivalent to Planetary level 4. Though his exertion multiplier was close to ten times, that only made him roughly comparable to a Planetary level fifth stage with an exertion multiplier of around four times. He was still somewhat inferior to Hong.

To be safe, he planned to wait until his exertion multiplier surpassed ten times, or his Domain broke through to the second layer, or he officially stepped into the Planetary level before heading to Australia in search of Mist Island.

At his rate of improvement, it would not take long anyway.

Lin Qingyu continued this "regular life" for more than two months.

Finally, during this time, his control over Genetic Force surpassed the ultimate limit described in the "World Ending" Spear Technique!

"World Ending" could guide one to the realm of unity between man and spear. Once one surpassed that realm, one could obtain a Domain.

Lin Qingyu already had a Domain, but this time, the method of starting from Origin Force, using Origin Force as the primary force to resonate with Mental Force, further deepened his understanding of Domains.

"Domain 2nd layer—I've finally reached it." Lin Qingyu sighed.

Breaking through from the first layer to the second had involved a bit of cleverness on his part, but it was not entirely a shortcut.

After all, in the later stages of cultivation, Genetic Force and Mental Power would ultimately need to merge. Whether one formed a Domain with Mental Power as the main force or with Genetic Force as the main force, both were things one would have to learn sooner or later.

"Domain 2nd layer provides less of an increase in strength than going from no Domain to having one, but my Body Amplitude has improved again. I can already head to Australia to search for Meteorite Star's inheritance." Lin Qingyu was in an excellent mood. "To celebrate, I'll kill two King level monsters and bring them back."

After making his decision, Lin Qingyu began slaughtering the nearby advanced Lord level monsters.

Very soon, several advanced Lord level monsters were killed and dismembered by Lin Qingyu.

Naturally, Lin Qingyu's slaughter also provoked the fury of the nearby King level monsters.

"Squeak, squeak, squeak—"

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"

Noisy sounds rang out beside him.

Rats dozens of centimeters long, covered in messy fur, began burrowing continuously out of the ground.

Before long, an enormous rat swarm had surrounded Lin Qingyu, dense enough to make anyone with trypophobia faint in terror.

"The King level monster around here is actually a rat?" Lin Qingyu could easily reach several times the speed of sound, so the place he chose for cultivation was not near Kyoto Base City.

After all, at his hunting speed, there might not even be enough advanced Lord level monsters around Kyoto Base City for him to kill.

"It'll be a bit troublesome if it gathers a Beast Tide. Looks like I'll be going back a little later this time."

What Lin Qingyu feared least was a King level monster directly launching a sneak attack. After all, he could take down an ordinary King level monster with a single spear strike.

But if a King level monster gathered a Beast Tide, it would be somewhat troublesome. To avoid affecting the surrounding Base Cities and martial artists, he would have to wipe out the Beast Tide first.

Normally, before an ordinary King level monster was killed by him, it could not gather more than a few thousand monsters. This time, however, perhaps the nest of this King level rat lay directly beneath the ground where he stood. Before long, the rats gathered here numbered several million, and their numbers were still increasing.

"Fine, I'll treat this as some pest control!"

As he spoke, Lin Qingyu grabbed his spear and swept it horizontally. The spear tore through the sound barrier, turning the air into a Shockwave that swept outward like an iron wall, instantly grinding countless rats into mangled flesh.

The entire land was stained red with blood and chunks of flesh, while the stench spread for over a thousand meters.

Yet Lin Qingyu's attack did not make the rats retreat. Instead, the deaths of their kind aroused their ferocity.

Large numbers of Beast Soldier and Beast General level rats charged at him as if their lives meant nothing.

"Heh. If having more cannon fodder was useful, then why would I cultivate Mental Power or train Gene Energy?" Lin Qingyu sneered. He raised his spear and continued sweeping through them. With every swing, thousands of rats were shredded into pulp.

The King level rat commanding the entire Rat Tide had also witnessed Lin Qingyu's performance. With its considerable intelligence, it quickly judged that this human was a Councillor level expert.

Though it did not know why this Councillor level expert was not flying away to escape, it believed this was a good opportunity.

Even a Councillor level expert had limited strength. As long as it first used enough cannon fodder to exhaust this Councillor level expert's strength, then personally launched a sneak attack, there was a strong chance it could kill him!

If it killed this expert, it would be able to feast on his flesh and blood. After consuming a Councillor level expert who stood at the same level as a King level monster, it might even evolve another level!

The way monsters evolved was by killing and devouring one another.

What the Rat King did not know was that Lin Qingyu had actually discovered its presence long ago.

"Should I kill that rat?" Lin Qingyu, who had detected the Rat King through Mental Power, pondered.

Killing the Rat King would be easy, but after killing it, the rat swarm that had already gathered might riot.

He himself was not afraid of a Beast Tide, but if there happened to be a martial artist squad nearby, that would be a tragedy.

"Let me think. Right, this move might not work on Hong and the others, but it should be no problem against these rats." Lin Qingyu thought of a way to deal with the Rat Tide.