All Shackles Cast Off

"Heh, hahahahaha! At last, this damned fusion is finally over! From now on, the sky is open for birds to fly, and the sea is wide for fish to roam!" Lin Qingyu sprang up from his wheelchair.

The fusion of will and body had ended. His soul and flesh had fully adapted to one another, and he could now control his body freely. The excruciating pain that had tormented him for fifteen years vanished along with it. He was finally free!

Though he had never walked under his own will since birth, he could still walk smoothly. Because his body and will had fused, he had an exceptionally high degree of control over his body. Even without training, there were not many people on Earth who could compare to him.

Moreover, the benefits of a powerful will went far beyond merely controlling one's body. It was just that Lin Qingyu had yet to begin cultivating, so those benefits had not revealed themselves.

"My body hasn't absorbed even a trace of Cosmic Energy, yet my physical fitness alone is no worse than that of a High-level Warrior! And because of the transformation of my Life Imprint, my Gene Level is at least thirty times that of an ordinary person—definitely higher than the Golden Horn Beast's. I still don't know the exact figure. I'll need to see how much force I can exert after reaching Planetary level." Lin Qingyu pondered silently.

The cultivation system of the Swallowed Star universe was already highly mature. At the Apprentice level, there could still be differences due to individual strength, but once one reached Planetary level, a powerhouse's strength came from the miniature planet within their body. Without factoring in Law Comprehension, the approximate base strength of each stage was actually very clear.

For example, a Planetary level 1st stage warrior could exert between 2 million and 4 million kilograms of force.

Of course, that applied to ordinary people with a Gene Level of one times. Beings with higher Gene Levels had greater base strength at the same level. Generally speaking, however many times one's Gene Level was, that was how many times stronger one's base force would be.

Once he reached Planetary level, Lin Qingyu would be able to estimate exactly how many times his Gene Level was through the force he could exert.

"Right, I should tell Mom the good news first. Hopefully I won't scare her too badly. Too bad Dad isn't home—I can't let him know right away." Lin Qingyu opened his bedroom door and skipped toward the living room.

He vaguely remembered that his mother had said an extremely important guest was visiting today.

But that was fine. Since the guest was important, they had to be an acquaintance of his parents. Naturally, they would be happy that he could move freely.

"Mom, I can move freely now." Lin Qingyu ran straight into the living room and shouted joyfully.

In the living room, Zheng Xinyi, dressed in a long gown, watched Lin Qingyu skip in. Her eyes widened, and she shot to her feet before rushing over to embrace him.

"X-Xiao Yu! Y-you can walk! Th-this... this can't... No, is this Heaven's blessing? That's wonderful, truly wonderful! Waa..."

Zheng Xinyi was nearly forty, yet she hugged Lin Qingyu and burst into tears like a child. Her tears even soaked his hair.

It took Zheng Xinyi quite a while to calm down.

Then she remembered that their guest was still there, so she immediately turned and apologized to the middle-aged-looking man seated on the sofa.

"Commander Jia, I'm sorry. I was too excited just now. I never expected Xiao Yu to recover on his own."

"It's all right. This is a good thing." Jia Yi, who had come to deliver the Spirit of Plants and Trees, did not mind much.

Lin Meng was his personal disciple, and Jia Yi had met Lin Qingyu several times as well.

In Jia Yi's eyes, Lin Qingyu was like one of his own grandchildren. Naturally, it was a good thing that he had recovered.

"Hello, Grandpa Jia." Lin Qingyu obediently greeted Jia Yi as well.

In Lin Qingyu's eyes, Jia Yi truly was an elder worthy of respect. He had genuinely devoted himself utterly to protecting his country until death.

"Xiao Yu, come over and let me take a look at you." Jia Yi beckoned to Lin Qingyu.

"Okay." Lin Qingyu quickly walked over.

Jia Yi placed a hand on Lin Qingyu's shoulder, and Lin Qingyu sensed a fluctuation of Origin Force sweep across his body.

"Your body is very healthy. Although you have never cultivated Origin Force, Xiao Yu, your physical fitness should already be comparable to that of a veteran High-level Warrior. That's remarkable. You are extremely talented, Xiao Yu," Jia Yi said seriously.

If he had initially merely wanted to check whether there were any hidden problems with Lin Qingyu's body, he was now even considering taking him as a disciple.

Lin Qingyu was only fifteen this year. He had essentially never undergone any training, much less cultivated Origin Force, yet his physical fitness had already reached the threshold of the Warlord level!

In Jia Yi's understanding, there was only one possible reason for someone who had not cultivated Genetic Force to possess such a strong body: a Mental Master using their innate Mental Power to strengthen their physique.

But strengthening was one thing. Jia Yi knew of only Lin Qingyu who could strengthen his body to the level of a veteran High-level Warrior before cultivating Genetic Force or awakening Mental Power.

Even Earth's current strongest Mental Master—the Fourth Councillor, Yister—had not been this outrageous.

"Xiao Yu, Grandpa has a few questions for you." Jia Yi looked at Lin Qingyu. "Have you recently felt your head swelling, or have you suddenly become able to control objects from a distance?"

"Before yesterday, my entire body hurt. When I woke up today, the pain suddenly disappeared, and then I was able to move freely. But from what I could feel, the pain in my body had been weakening bit by bit. You should know about that as well. As for controlling objects from a distance, no." Lin Qingyu answered honestly.

He knew Jia Yi was asking whether he had awakened Mental Power. After all, his previous condition did resemble the suffering experienced before a Mental Master awakened due to innate Mental Power.

Of course, he himself knew his current situation. He had even clearly told his parents not to worry about him, that his body was improving, and that he would certainly become a powerhouse in the future.

It was just that his father, Lin Meng, and his mother, Zheng Xinyi, had probably taken his words as an attempt to comfort them.

After all, what parent could bear to watch their child have a perfectly healthy body and healthy limbs, yet be unable to move at all, like someone paralyzed?

In front of him, they naturally acted full of confidence in what he said, saying things like, "It's good that Xiao Yu has confidence," and, "You'll definitely grow up healthy like the other children." But behind his back, who knew how many doctors they had sought out and how many favors they had called in.

There had even been a time when he planned to tell his parents directly that his current condition was the fusion of his will and body, the starting point on the path to becoming a supreme powerhouse.

At the time, his parents smiled and agreed on the surface, brimming with confidence and speaking with absolute certainty, as though he would be on the same level as Hong and Thor by the next day.

Yet the next day, and for the following several months, the psychologists who had originally come once a week under the names of "Dad's friends" or "Mom's colleagues" began visiting the Lin Family every day to pester him with conversation.

That left Lin Qingyu both amused and helpless.

Of course, although Lin Meng and Zheng Xinyi's excessive concern, in Lin Qingyu's eyes, left him somewhat helpless, he could still feel the deep love his parents had for him.