Breakthrough to Earth Rank

The two Universe Rank Light-Deriving Snakes were evenly matched, which was why they had been fighting for so long.

If they moved the fight to the ground, Autumn and the others could still be crushed to death even if they were hiding inside a B9 Grade Star Blue Gold safety pod!

No one knew whether there were any other powerful members of their race near these two reckless Light-Deriving Snakes.

There was no reason to risk offending the Light-Deriving Snake Race by sending a powerful warrior close to rescue these dozens of miners, while disregarding the safety of the trillions of people in the eight satellite tribes of the No. 3 Main Mine!

Although humans helped their weaker kin whenever they could, all they could do now was watch helplessly as these dozens of miners faced imminent death. That was how cruel a world ruled by the survival of the fittest could be.

As for the miners' families who wanted to risk a rescue, the mine wouldn't stop them as long as they weren't Universe Rank.

That was why Yuan was hurrying to the mine: to comfort his mother, stop her from joining the rescue if things got dangerous, and even take her place if necessary!

No matter what, Yuan had to get out through this city gate!

"Can't we wait until the target reaches Earth Rank, then find another opportunity to guide him out of the city?"

"If any method would work, why would we go to such lengths?"

"Have Tuowei give the target the 'Spirit Condensation Method'! Find an opportunity to act in person and secretly drip the 'Mandala Liquid' onto the target's crown!"

"The 'Spirit Condensation Method' already gives peerless geniuses a chance to comprehend a Conception, and even form a Domain! The target will just think he's exceptionally talented and won't get suspicious..."

"..."

This was the early age of the Primitive Universe. Many precious treasures with abundant yields, such as Mandala Liquid, weren't completely barred from reaching the lower levels by the powerful—as long as you had the money.

By the era in which Luo Feng was born, the Primitive Universe produced fewer and fewer rare treasures. Even when one occasionally appeared, it would be claimed by the upper echelons of powerful races.

As a result, treasures that aided Law Comprehension were sold for astronomical prices across the universe. Often, even if you had the money, you had no way to buy them.

Some treasures of the same grade, with effects similar to Mandala Liquid, could even force an ordinary genius all the way to Domain Lord Rank in later generations.

And with enough resources to support them, they would have a good chance of eventually reaching World Rank!

Even Luo Feng, who would later inherit the legacy of the Master of Yunmo Star, had only been someone Babata thought he might be able to train to World Rank at first!

Luo Feng's path as a cheat-level genius, practically as if he had a game editor, only began after he successfully took over the Golden Horned Beast.

The bargaining didn't take long. After receiving instructions, Tuowei played his hand, advancing by retreating. "You can leave. I can't do this deal."

Thinking he'd just angered Tuowei during the negotiations, Yuan hurriedly said, "Come on, don't be like that. I'll pay the price you just named."

Tuowei put on a helpless expression. "It's not that I don't want to do business with you. I just got word that another Scavenger Team tried to get an Apprentice out through the city gate and failed!"

"Normally, the Tuka Tribe's guards turn a blind eye, but today's situation is special."

Yuan furrowed his brow, anxious. "Then what do we do? Is there no other way?"

A smile appeared on Tuowei's face as his bait took. "Unless you break through to Earth Rank right now!"

Yuan stared at Tuowei as if he were an idiot. "Even if I started training in the Seven-Tier Divine Mind Tower right now, each tier would take me seven hours. Even if everything went smoothly, I wouldn't reach Earth Rank until two days from now."

Universe Rank powerhouses moved incredibly fast. The strong gravity of Dongyuan Planet had no effect on them anymore. By the time Yuan got through the city gate two days later, it would be too late.

Tuowei gave him a look that said he was terribly uninformed. "I have a way to get you to Earth Rank quickly!"

Yuan, who had been disappointed moments before, brightened. "What way?"

Tuowei glanced around, as if checking that no one was eavesdropping, then lowered his voice. "Have you heard of the 'Spirit Condensation Method'? I happen to have a copy. I can sell it to you cheap."

Yuan understood, but his spirits sank again. "Of course I've heard of it. But if I had the talent to practice the 'Spirit Condensation Method,' I'd already have become a Reserve Warrior and reached Earth Rank!"

Tuowei coaxed him. "Sure, failing to practice the 'Spirit Condensation Method' would badly damage your Consciousness Sea, and you'd lose your chance to reach Earth Rank as a Spirit Reader."

"You just said your talent as a Spirit Reader was mediocre. So even if you fail, you can still follow the Genetic Warrior path and use external aids to break through to Earth Rank."

"But what if you succeed? You'd immediately become an Earth Rank Spirit Reader. You might even cultivate a Conception and become a once-in-a-century genius for our Tuka Tribe!"

"You could keep training and become even stronger..."

As Tuowei recited the instructions word for word, he wondered what the people above him were thinking. Perhaps they'd help this little Apprentice Rank kid, at least enough to let him master the 'Spirit Condensation Method.' He really couldn't tell whether the boy was lucky or unlucky.

Yuan was tempted, but put on a skeptical look. "Why are you helping me? Why would you even tell me about a forbidden cultivation method like the 'Spirit Condensation Method'?"

Tuowei spread his hands. "To make money! I'll earn money for telling you about the 'Spirit Condensation Method,' and if you succeed, I might earn even more by helping you leave the tribe!"

Yuan thought about it. That made sense. The 'Spirit Condensation Method' was practically an open secret in the tribe, and Tuowei probably had a way to make sure no one traced it back to him.

After transferring Credit Points to an anonymous account Tuowei had specified, Yuan received the cultivation method. Tuowei took him to a lavishly decorated training room and left.

Yuan didn't have the energy to look at the room's furnishings. He sat cross-legged on the floor and began reading the famous 'Spirit Condensation Method.'

The principles behind the 'Spirit Condensation Method' were actually simple: the spirit, or soul, consisted of spiritual power, or soul power, and consciousness!

Spiritual Force was like soldiers spread throughout the Consciousness Sea, a tangible presence! Consciousness, which was intangible and untouchable, was the commander!

Ordinary geniuses trained in martial arts, such as boxing and swordsmanship, to gradually improve their mastery: from Basic, to Specialized, to Perfected, and finally to comprehending a Conception. Yet ninety-nine percent of geniuses got stuck just before that final step.

If they reached Universe Rank without comprehending a Conception and cultivating a Domain, they would have virtually no hope of advancing to Domain Lord Rank.

The first step of the 'Spirit Condensation Method' was to use a special technique to squeeze the potential from the soul, temporarily bypassing the first three stages and forcibly seeking to comprehend a Conception. Failure would severely damage the soul.

How many geniuses could comprehend a Conception at Planet Rank, let alone possess a Domain? Even if they could, there was no need to use such an extreme method.

That was why the 'Spirit Condensation Method' had gradually been banned. Besides, not many people were foolish enough to practice it.

"But this method is perfect for me right now!" Yuan took a deep breath to calm himself. He knew that if something really happened to his father, Autumn, he wouldn't want his wife to put herself in danger again!

All three of them knew that if things really came to that, Doris would do exactly that.

So Yuan had to reach the mine first!

Yuan carefully read through the rest of the method. It seemed simple, yet once successful, it allowed one to comprehend the elusive Conception. He couldn't help marveling at the creator's ingenuity.

Yuan looked up some publicly available information about the 'Spirit Condensation Method' online and easily confirmed it was genuine...

Without another moment's hesitation, Yuan moved the Spiritual Force in his Consciousness Sea, following the method's instructions and the nature of his Genetic Origin Energy—light.

He guided his consciousness, step by step, forcing his Spiritual Force to sense the light that seemed elusive yet was everywhere.

One second, two seconds, three seconds. Yuan still had nothing to show for it, and the pain in his soul was growing more intense.

If he didn't gain anything within ten seconds, he wouldn't even need to give up—the agonizing pain would severely damage his soul and knock him unconscious.

A shadow suddenly appeared in the training room. It hovered in the air, extended a hand, and dripped a drop of liquid glowing with an enchanting blue-green light onto Yuan's crown. The liquid was absorbed instantly.

After glancing at Yuan, who was immersed in deep cultivation and seemed unaware of everything, the shadow vanished in an instant. The whole thing took less than a tenth of a second.

The moment the shadow disappeared, the mysterious Purple Crystal that had sat in Yuan's Consciousness Sea for eighteen years without showing any sign of movement suddenly emitted an unusual pulse.

The pulse absorbed the strange liquid that had seeped in, leaving behind only a tiny amount dispersed throughout Yuan's Consciousness Sea.

"I can feel it! I can feel it!" Yuan, eyes closed and immersed in deep cultivation, suddenly sensed the light beyond his body, which was everywhere, as if it had acquired speed and weight.

He even tried to use his Spiritual Force to influence it, but it felt like trying to push a mountain. The light didn't budge.

Daring not to try anything else, Yuan quickly followed the instructions in the 'Spirit Condensation Method' and used that strange power, which could influence the light, to compress his Spiritual Force.

Inside his Consciousness Sea.

"Crash! Crash!" A dazzling river of stars formed a vortex, its waters spinning wildly into ring after ring of whirlpools.

The vortex abruptly expanded, and the water thinned considerably, like a transparent curtain of water.

The transparent, spinning curtain that had expanded suddenly contracted, turning into a huge, rotating sphere of water!

The sphere was translucent, with strange threads of light flickering within it. A few silvery-white fragments were mixed in as well.

Expand, contract! Expand again, contract again!

The flow of Spiritual Force was like a beating heart. It expanded and contracted again and again, as if it had come alive. In this strange rhythm, the silvery-white fragments gradually dissolved, making the entire flow more powerful.

"Expand until it's as thin as a cicada's wing, then contract until the sphere is crystal clear."

"The final step!" Yuan felt a little excited. No matter what breakthrough method one practiced, this final step was always the most important—and the hardest.

Inside Yuan's Consciousness Sea, a completely transparent sphere of water spun ceaselessly, like a planet rotating on its axis. No mist dispersed from it, and the sphere's size didn't change at all.

"Begin!" At Yuan's command, "Rumble!"

The enormous transparent sphere floating in the boundless Consciousness Sea began to tremble from its core, sending out streams of Spiritual Force mist.

The mist pierced through the entire transparent sphere! Ten streams of mist, twenty, thirty—more and more appeared. Before long, the entire transparent sphere was covered in Spiritual Force mist.

Time passed second by second.

Under Yuan's control, the transparent sphere kept changing in subtle ways, while the mist swirling over its surface grew denser and denser. It even formed a huge ball of mist, making the sphere of water within impossible to see.

Who knew how long had passed? The ball of mist had grown a hundred times larger than the original sphere of water.

"Neither dispersed nor gathered. This is the moment!"

"Explode!"

Yuan roared inwardly!

"Boom!"

The enormous ball of mist in the boundless Consciousness Sea suddenly expanded wildly! It was like a star going supernova in its final moments. The ball of mist instantly expanded to its limit!

It spread to every corner of the Consciousness Sea. At the instant it reached its limit, a tremendous suction force formed at the core of the sea.

Vast quantities of mist and water rushed together in a frenzied swirl, as if falling into a black hole, converging on a single point at the core!

"Hum!" The entire Consciousness Sea trembled.

It was empty. All the mist and water had disappeared.

In the boundless Consciousness Sea, only the "point of light" remained, like a lone planet in an infinite universe.

"A layer of radiance still surrounded the planet's surface, like a sphere of light.

At the core of the Consciousness Sea, a single sphere of light.

It was a dazzling sphere of light. Aside from the radiance on its surface, it was made up of countless transparent, pyramid-shaped crystals.

The densely packed transparent crystals had fused together into a planet! An intangible, peculiar pulse continually spread from the sphere.

The sphere of light in Yuan's Consciousness Sea kept rotating, sending an intangible force throughout his body and beyond.

"I did it! Is this Earth Rank?"

"Is this sphere of light the core of an Earth Rank powerhouse?" Yuan willed it, and streams of refined Spiritual Force immediately flowed out of the sphere, spreading throughout his body.

The instant Yuan's Earth Rank Spiritual Force spread through his body, the body that had always been calm began changing dramatically!

His bones, bone marrow, meridians, muscles, fascia, skin, and everything else underwent an inconceivable transformation. The genes within his body rapidly broke down and recombined!

A transformation of life! "This feels incredible."

As his transformed Spiritual Force triggered the transformation of his body, he felt more shaken than ever before.

It was as if his body had gone from that of a grown man who had reached his limit and could grow no more to that of a "baby." His muscles, bones, and internal organs were all undergoing a fundamental change!

A change in his level of life!

"An Apprentice's strength increases with each rank, from Apprentice Rank One to Apprentice Rank Nine, but each improvement builds on the body as it already is. Reaching Apprentice Rank Nine is the limit.

"Once I break through, my level of life will rise to a higher level. I'll be Earth Rank One, then grow stronger step by step, all the way to Earth Rank Nine."

Physical strength was only one aspect. Most importantly, Earth Rank warriors could now begin to resist Dongyuan Planet's gravity!

Yuan drew on the power of the Micro-Planet in his Consciousness Sea and focused it downward, counteracting some of Dongyuan Planet's gravity.

The constant sensation of restraint finally eased, and Yuan felt a relief even greater than the increase in his strength.

From this day on, Yuan had officially become a top genius, with cultivation talent comparable to Luo Feng's after he took over the Golden Horned Beast!