First Cultivation, Genetic Optimization

"Next time. I'm heading to my master's place first to learn the Genetic Energy Cultivation Method."

Xu Ai waved a hand at Xu Gang, rejecting his plan to throw a banquet in her honor.

Even with Empress Ruthless brought into the conversation, Xu Gang could only nod.

"Alright then, I'll postpone it for a few days."

"No rush, no rush."

It would be best if he just dropped it, but in reality, that was impossible.

As the future pillar of the Xu Family, even if Xu Gang agreed, Xu Yunguo and the others would certainly insist on a grand celebration.

Forget it, I'll just stall for now.

Xu Ai waved her hand and then took her leave.

After leaving the Xu Family base, she spent a little time arriving at the villa of Empress Ruthless, pulling out her key to open the door and entering with practiced ease.

The basement served as the Martial Arts Hall, where Empress Ruthless was currently working hard on her own cultivation.

Over the past three months, the Five Qi Towards Origin cultivation method and the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown guiding technique had been quite helpful to her. On top of that, she had traded her knowledge of the Triple Domain with Hong for an Ancient Civilization gravity chamber.

Now, her strength had reached the third stage of the Planetary Level, with a five-fold domain, a 20-fold force amplification, and a 25-fold spirit energy amplification. She had also created three secret techniques: one sword-based technique for a Genetic Warrior, one offensive technique for a Spirit Reader, and one flight technique for a Spirit Reader.

Today, Empress Ruthless had already surpassed Hong and Thor, becoming the strongest person on Earth...

Of course, even Hong and Thor were unaware of this news, assuming that Empress Ruthless and Hong were roughly equal in strength, never suspecting that she could crush them at any moment...

Xu Ai sat cross-legged opposite Empress Ruthless, her head tilted slightly upward, the palms of her hands and the soles of her feet facing upward as she began to sense cosmic energy using the Five Hearts Towards Heaven cultivation method.

The reason she didn't use Five Qi Towards Origin was that Five Hearts Towards Heaven and Five Qi Towards Origin only differed in cultivation speed; the actual results were identical.

Whatever amount one could "eat" with Five Hearts Towards Heaven, one could eat with Five Qi Towards Origin; the latter simply allowed for faster consumption.

There was no need to chase efficiency during the first session; using the simpler Five Hearts Towards Heaven to sense cosmic energy made the entry process much more reliable.

With the cultivation experience provided by Empress Ruthless, Xu Ai quickly entered a meditative state. Wisps of cosmic energy were drawn into her body through her "five hearts," transforming into genetic energy to strengthen her cells.

When first coming into contact with cosmic energy, cells that had been in a state of "starvation" for so long would "eat their fill" all at once. In such a situation, as soon as a practitioner began their training, they would fall into a state of "self-forgetfulness."

Practitioners in this state naturally could not execute a guiding technique to expand the "appetite" of their cells.

But Xu Ai was different. Influenced by the transcendent state of mind of Empress Ruthless, Xu Ai did not become fully immersed. Combined with her ability to "multitask," she easily began to execute the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown guiding technique.

With the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown, she could compress genetic energy by condensing her "essence, energy, and spirit," accelerating the "digestion" of her cells and increasing the effectiveness of her initial cultivation.

This first session of cultivation took an unexpectedly long time for Xu Ai...

After a long while, Xu Ai slowly opened her eyes.

"The first session took nearly 14 hours. Not bad."

Empress Ruthless checked the time and nodded with satisfaction.

In the past, researchers had specifically studied the Five Hearts Towards Heaven method by testing many warriors of the same Low-level Warrior Rank with varying conditions.

They eventually reached a conclusion:

If physical fitness was similar and the subjects were in good condition, the results obtained from the same amount of time spent cultivating were nearly identical.

There might be slight variations due to individual differences, but these were basically negligible.

Therefore, warriors now simply treated the time spent cultivating as a measure of the results.

Xu Ai stood up, only to feel that the clothes on her body seemed a bit... short?

"My shirt and pants have both become short... Did I grow taller?"

The eyes of Empress Ruthless were still sharp, and she immediately judged the changes in Xu Ai.

"Your height went from 1.7 meters to about 1.75 meters. Your legs are longer, and your curves are more pronounced..."

"Could this be what they call genetic optimization?"

After all, genetic energy itself had the effect of strengthening and optimizing genes.

"But this change is too drastic."

In the memories of Empress Ruthless, her own first session only resulted in her legs growing a tiny bit; it was definitely not as exaggerated as Xu Ai growing 5 centimeters all at once.

"Wait, let me test my strength first..."

Xu Ai walked over to the Punch Strength Tester in the corner of the Martial Arts Hall. She gathered strength in her right fist, and the moment she swung, a piercing sound of wind-breaking followed as her fist landed on the target.

'BANG!!!'

The screen lit up, and a string of numbers jumped out--'5040kg'!!!

"First cultivation session, High-level Warrior. Not bad."

It could only be considered "not bad," as this initial session had to account for the contributions of the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown guiding technique and the Vegetation Spirit that boosted cell activity.

Otherwise, given the talent of Xu Ai's physical constitution, she would have topped out at 1-2 hours at most.

The vast majority of those whose punch strength reached over 2000kg during their first cultivation session were children of council members or War God level powerhouses, with a small portion being children of War General Level warriors.

A very small number of people who awakened as Spirit Readers during their first session could also achieve this, but Spirit Readers were rare to begin with, and those who awakened during their first session were even rarer.

Even Luo Feng failed to awaken his spiritual force during his first cultivation session...

Xu Ai's parents passed away at a young age. When they gave birth to Xu Ai, they had only just become martial artists, mere Low-level Warrior Rank, so naturally, she could not compare her physical talent to the group above.

But...

"An increase of over 4,000kg in punch force; this data is among the very best even for geniuses."

"That top tier of geniuses usually has parents who are either High-level Warlords or Councilors, so their genes are already extremely superior, meaning the changes after genetic optimization are minimal."

"As for me, my parents were just ordinary martial artists, so my genes can only be described as average. The fact that my physical fitness increased so drastically after my first cultivation session naturally means the changes brought about by genetic optimization were more exaggerated."

"Perhaps the process of genetic energy going from nothing to something also hides a leap in life."

In the original work, breakthroughs in major realms always involve a leap in life, but that only begins when breaking through from Apprentice Level to Planetary Level. Whether there is a leap in life for ordinary people becoming martial artists is never mentioned.

Immediately after, Xu Ai checked her speed as well.

The final results were: Punch Force—'5040kg', Speed—68m/s, Nerve Reaction—???

"Alright, I've reached High-level Warrior Rank. Next, I can use the Gravity Chamber to continue improving."

Having read the original work, Xu Ai naturally knew what resources were currently available on Earth.

Among these resources, for Empress Ruthless and the future Xu Ai, nothing was more useful than the Ancient Civilization Gravity Chamber.

After all, once one reaches Planetary Level, there are no miraculous elixirs left on Earth to use.

There are some resources with Babata, but Xu Ai did not intend to compete with Luo Feng for them.

No matter how much of a sister-complex Xu Ai had, she had to admit that no one was more suitable for her sister than Luo Feng, and the two were mutually attracted to each other...

However, as for marriage or anything like that, she would wait until a few dozen reincarnation eras had passed!

"I still can't use high-intensity Vegetation Spirits like the Millennium Willow Heart. I can only continue drinking Millennium Black Crow Root Wine or some milder Vegetation Spirits..."

Empress Ruthless looked at the usage instructions for Vegetation Spirits provided by Hong and shook her head.

This was quite a pity; these mild Vegetation Spirits were more effective at enhancing cellular activity, and their effect on improving physical fitness was not very significant.

Moreover, Xu Ai had been drinking Black Crow Root Wine for several months, so she likely already had a drug tolerance...

"It seems I can only rely on hard training in the Gravity Chamber for now. Perhaps I could drink some diluted Millennium Willow Heart..."

"Forget it, the dilution process always results in a loss of potency. Besides, I'm not that far from the War General level now; I just need to work a little harder."

With that thought, Xu Ai and Empress Ruthless went to the room where the Gravity Chamber was located.

The Ancient Civilization Gravity Chamber was quite large. When Hong had it delivered, this storage room was renovated to accommodate it, and the chamber was tucked inside.

"The limit a High-level Warrior can withstand is 6 times... but that assumes physical fitness is close to the Low-level War General level. I've only just crossed the threshold of High-level Warrior, so I should play it safe and go with 5 times."

Xu Ai cautiously activated the 5x gravity, and the numbers on the control panel screen began to jump.

'2, 3, 4...'

When it hit '5', an invisible pressure instantly enveloped her, acting upon her entire body. She felt a 'buzz' in her head, felt dazed for a moment, and then hurriedly steadied herself.

"I knew it, it really is caught off guard..."

Empress Ruthless stood firmly; after all, 5x gravity had no effect on her, but it was very uncomfortable for Xu Ai.

After all, the gravity in the chamber is generated instantly, without any gradual increase.

Being hit by this sudden force makes a moment of dizziness inevitable, and it is not uncommon for people to be pressed flat against the floor.

There is no way around it; gravity acts on every cell, and the brain is naturally not spared...

This is the reason why Gravity Chambers are not used to train students.

Perhaps the students' bodies could withstand 2x gravity.

The feeling would be very uncomfortable at most, but still bearable.

But if the brain, heart, and other organs were also subjected to 2x gravity, especially with that sudden, immediate onset, it would be easy for accidents to happen.

And even if nothing went wrong, training this way would easily leave behind hidden injuries...

Only martial artists who have cultivated genetic energy and used it to strengthen and reinforce their bodies can support training in a Gravity Chamber!