Crossing the Threshold of Law

After leaving the Universe First Bank, Luo Zhiyuan planned to explore Qiu Long City. He wanted to buy a Lightning Shuttle, a cultivation secret technique, and cultivation resources, so he needed to find out where he could get them.

Of course, he could buy them through the Virtual Universe, but Babata's auxiliary intelligence had told him that the Lightning Shuttle was a fairly common second-tier Telekinetic Weapon, so its secret techniques were widely known and relatively cheap. Buying one from a shop could also cost about half as much as buying it through the Virtual Universe. He had only just started to build up some capital, so naturally, he wanted to save wherever he could.

Exploring the bustling streets of Qiu Long City broadened Luo Zhiyuan's horizons. The wide variety of human races left him wide-eyed.

As he browsed the shops, he had Babata's auxiliary intelligence search the Virtual Universe for unusual Planetary Level races. He had begun considering what his first clone would be.

Luo Zhiyuan had spent a long time thinking about his clones. He could have five in total, so he had to make the most of this advantage and use them to round out his abilities.

Based on some of the information in Swallowed Star, Luo Zhiyuan had chosen several promising candidates for his clones:

First, he needed a clone that could rapidly increase his strength. The growth potential of his human body was probably limited, so finding a clone with a bloodline like one of the twelve great bloodlines of the Starry Sky Behemoths was essential. He already had the Golden Horned Behemoth's scales as a candidate.

Second, to improve his chances of survival, he would ideally find a clone with a spatial talent that would help him comprehend Teleportation. The Mosha Clan was one option he favored, but they were extremely rare energy life-forms, making it exceptionally difficult to obtain their body tissues.

Third, to ensure he had abundant divine power after reaching the Immortal stage, he needed a clone with a sufficiently large body. The Sea of Jiuyou was unquestionably his first choice. Its endless expanse made it one of the largest life-forms in the universe. But obtaining a piece of it would be extremely dangerous, and would be almost impossible without Luo Feng's protagonist's luck.

Fourth, his Innate Secret Technique involved the Law of Time, so he needed a clone skilled in the Law of Time. He didn't have a suitable candidate yet, though perhaps the World Tree was worth considering. Its innate ability was Control of Space-Time, after all, which was quite impressive.

Fifth, although he followed the Illusionist path and had a relatively powerful soul, he could still be attacked by Soul Secret Techniques. It was therefore necessary to find a clone that was immune to such attacks.

For now, Luo Zhiyuan had only thought of these five abilities, but they were all rather "overambitious" for someone at his current level. He had a plan for the first, but the others would be incredibly difficult to achieve. Still, as someone who had died once and come back to life, Luo Zhiyuan would never bow his head just because something was difficult. He would find a way to overcome every obstacle and do his very best!

As Luo Zhiyuan wandered and pondered, he happened to come to a large shop. He looked up and saw the words "Rare Treasure Shop" hanging prominently above the entrance. He remembered this shop: in the original story, it was famous for its wide selection. It seemed like a good place to broaden his horizons, so he stepped inside.

The Rare Treasure Shop was enormous, almost as large as a major plaza on Earth. Inside, it was divided into sections for combat suits, beast taming, Telekinetic Weapons, unusual fruits, robots, and countless other odds and ends. Each item had a simulated projection, and every price was exorbitant.

Luo Zhiyuan went first to the Combat Secret Technique section. It offered an overwhelming variety of techniques, and he grew dizzy just looking at them. After a while, he asked one of the shop assistants, "Do you have a Combat Secret Technique for the Lightning Shuttle?"

"Yes, sir. The Lightning Shuttle is a fairly common second-tier premium Telekinetic Weapon in the universe. The price is one hundred million Black Dragon Coins. Are you interested?"

The price matched Babata's estimate, and he couldn't be bothered to check other stores. Luo Zhiyuan answered without hesitation, "I'll take it. Can we make the transaction now?"

"Of course. Please wait a moment, sir. We'll transfer it to your Auxiliary Optical Computer right away." Luo Zhiyuan paid the one hundred million Black Dragon Coins, and his Auxiliary Optical Computer received a Lightning Shuttle Combat Secret Technique.

"Show me where I can buy cultivation resources. I'd like to see if there are any suitable items to help me cultivate."

"Certainly, sir. This way, please." The shop assistant cheerfully led Luo Zhiyuan in another direction.

"May I ask what kind of cultivation resources you're looking for, sir? For Martial Artists, or Spirit Readers?"

"Spirit Readers."

"In that case, I recommend these options. First, this one is called..." The shop assistant carefully explained the various resources suitable for Planetary Level cultivators. After comparing several options, Luo Zhiyuan chose a miraculous fruit called the Azure Fruit.

At the Planetary Level, eating just one of these fruits could raise a Spirit Reader's cultivation by one level, with absolutely no adverse effects. After eating two, it could even raise one's physical cultivation by a level. It was a treasure for Planetary Level Spirit Readers, but it was also terribly expensive: four hundred million Black Dragon Coins apiece. Luo Zhiyuan bought four.

Four hundred million Black Dragon Coins could buy four thousand Planetary Level Nine Spirit Reader slaves, making the Azure Fruit an extremely extravagant cultivation resource. Choosing a gentler alternative could have cost much less, of course, but its effects would have been far weaker too.

Luo Zhiyuan wanted to improve quickly, so he considered it money well spent to save time.

In the Rare Treasure Shop's reception room, Luo Zhiyuan asked about the method of consumption and any restrictions, then immediately ate an Azure Fruit. It tasted sour, with a hint of sweetness as it went down. The flavor wasn't bad.

A moment later, an intensely cool sensation spread deep into his mind, and his Spiritual Force rose by one level, reaching Planetary Level Six.

After his Spiritual Force improved, he felt invigorated from head to toe and wonderfully refreshed. Looking satisfied, he left the Rare Treasure Shop and continued exploring.

As he walked, Luo Zhiyuan casually tested his abilities and discovered that his Domain had advanced to the Third Stage. He tested his physical state as well. After activating his Innate Secret Technique, Flowing Time, the rate at which time passed had increased. He could now maintain a fivefold acceleration, and a sudden insight came to him: at most, his Innate Secret Technique, Flowing Time, could increase the rate tenfold!

Closing his eyes, Luo Zhiyuan carefully sensed his body while under the effects of Flowing Time. An extraordinary feeling came over him. He realized he could slightly control the flow of time in the area around him. But this wasn't the effect of Flowing Time, because the Innate Secret Technique could only speed up time for his own body; it had no effect on the surrounding environment.

Now, he could manipulate the flow of time in the area around him. The change was slight, but it meant he had crossed the threshold of the Time Origin Law!

Luo Zhiyuan's eyes flew open. The unexpected discovery left him stunned. He had no idea how it had happened. His earlier comprehension of the Light Domain had at least had a possible explanation: perhaps he had sensed the cosmic energy's light attribute while attached to another soul. But how had he managed this with the Time Origin Law?

He had never successfully comprehended the Law of Time. He had only used his Innate Secret Technique, Flowing Time, frequently. Could his body have sensed the Time Origin Law after he had used Flowing Time for so long?

The Law of Time was one of the two superior laws. Comprehending it was incomparably harder than comprehending the lower Law of Light—thousands or even tens of thousands of times harder.

And his comprehension of the Law of Light had only reached the Third-Stage Domain. He hadn't even crossed the threshold of the Light Origin Law. How could he have crossed the threshold of the Law of Time? Could it be that he was a genius favored by the Primal Universe? Luo Zhiyuan laughed at the thought.

Whatever. He had gained another powerful ability. Since he already had an Innate Secret Technique, comprehending the Time Origin Law wasn't so hard to accept. It was a perk of being a transmigrator. Heh.

But if he had already comprehended the Time Origin Law, why was his Light Domain still only at the Third Stage? He still hadn't crossed the threshold of the Light Origin Law. It seemed he needed to work harder at comprehending the Light Domain.

Caught up in the greedy thought that he wanted more even after swallowing an elephant, Luo Zhiyuan continued his shopping trip with a foolish grin. Before long, he arrived at the slave market.

The slave market covered a vast area of dozens of square kilometers. The sun was shining and the sky was a beautiful shade of purple, but the place was steeped in darkness and despair.

From a distance, Luo Zhiyuan could already see countless cages of all sizes. Inside their cold, black metal bars, countless lives trembled.

"Please, let my sister and me stay together! We don't want to be sold separately!"

"Come and take a look! Beautiful women from the Youmao Clan, five thousand Black Dragon Coins each! Discounts for bulk purchases!"

"Great Theseus, please bless the people of our village with a kind master. Don't let us end up like the people of Lesi Village, who were all made into specimens."

"Super-practical Heilun Clan slaves! They're naturally as strong as ninth-level apprentices, making them ideal miners! Fifteen Black Dragon Coins each—buy a hundred and get five free!"

Even before he reached the market, he could hear countless cries and pleas mixed with the slave owners' loud sales pitches and shouts. Luo Zhiyuan, who had lived in peace for thirty years, stopped dead in his tracks.

The cages held countless apprentice-level slaves who looked like lambs waiting for slaughter, tens of thousands of restless Planetary Level slaves, and thousands upon thousands of Star Level slaves with cold expressions. He had even heard that there were a few Universe Level experts among them!

Some of the slaves' bodies were similar to those of Earth Humans. Some had beastlike features, some were tall, and some were covered in scales. No matter how different they looked, there was no mistaking what they were: members of the human race!

Yet they were starkly different from the other humans on the streets. Those passing by wore fine clothes and were full of energy, while the people in the cages had no light in their eyes, no desires, not even the instinct to survive. All that remained was the shadow of deathly stillness.

Until they reached the Planetary Level, no spacefaring civilization recognized them as legal citizens. They had no rights at all. Luo Zhiyuan could almost see Earth being discovered by a spacefaring civilization and then enslaved. The thought shook him to the core.

No wonder Luo Feng had been frightened back then. Luo Zhiyuan, too, was jolted awake by the cruel reality of so-called spacefaring civilization. The glittering world he had seen on Qiu Long Planet was only one side of the universe. Now, its other, brutal side had finally been revealed to him.

Strength was the foundation; the strong ruled. The universe had always followed the law of the jungle. Luo Zhiyuan had thought he'd understood this truth when he read Swallowed Star, but he had lost sight of it amid the dazzling splendor of the spacefaring civilizations. Only now did he truly feel its bone-deep chill.

The slaves locked in those cages were members of the human race too. Luo Zhiyuan had naively thought that, as one of the Six Great Peak Races, humanity treated all its members equally. But without strength, a person might not even count as "human"!

Watching the slaves for sale from afar—from apprentice level to Planetary Level, then Star Level, and even Universe Level if you had enough money—Luo Zhiyuan's smile vanished. He turned to look at the Star Level Seven Spirit Reader who led his bodyguard squad, but the man was unmoved, as if he had seen it all before.

Luo Zhiyuan couldn't change what had already happened, but he would never allow Earthlings to end up like the slaves in those cages. He would grow stronger. Like Luo Feng, he would become powerful enough to hold up a free sky over Earth.

Because on this Earth, he had family and friends who cared for him and loved him. He had already lost one Earth. He didn't want to lose another!

Luo Zhiyuan stopped exploring Qiu Long City. He boarded the L-1 and set off back toward the Solar System. But instead of returning directly to Earth, he stopped on Venus, the planet closest to it.

He activated the ship's exterior simulation and sat cross-legged, floating inside the control room. As he looked at the blue planet not far away, he kept wondering how he could grow quickly and give Earth a free sky.

His thoughts churned. The lifeless eyes of the slaves in the market returned to his mind, along with the scene from Swallowed Star, hundreds of years in the future, when the human race discovered something unusual about Earth and seized half of its ownership. They would even oppress the people of Earth.

All this happened within the dazzling world of spacefaring civilization. In that brilliant universe, injustice and darkness existed everywhere. Light and darkness coexisted, born together...

Unconsciously, Luo Zhiyuan's Light Domain manifested and began to fluctuate. Within it, the light grew bright and dim, abundant and scarce. An unusual phenomenon appeared: half the domain was illuminated, while the other half was shrouded in darkness. His Light Domain continued to grow and break through... Suddenly, it blazed with light, dispelling the darkness entirely. A moment later, all kinds of chaotic images appeared.

The chaotic images that suddenly appeared around him brought Luo Zhiyuan back to his senses. He stared blankly at the Light Domain surrounding him, not understanding why all these incomprehensible images had appeared. But when he tried to control his Domain, he noticed that it had changed. He felt the same way he had when he first crossed the threshold of the Time Origin Law. This feeling... it was the Light Origin Law!

Once again, Luo Zhiyuan had crossed the threshold of an Origin Law without realizing it. In barely ten days, he had comprehended both the Time Origin Law and the Light Origin Law. If Babata found out, he would surely be shocked.

At Planetary Level Six, comprehending a Domain already made someone a top genius among the middle-level universe civilizations. Luo Zhiyuan would certainly rank near the top of the Black Dragon Mountain Starfield.

Someone who could comprehend an Origin Law at the Planetary Level would be a rare genius even in a high-level universe civilization. For example, in Ganwu Universe Kingdom, the direct suzerain state of the Black Dragon Mountain Empire, which ruled nearly a thousand middle-level civilization vassal states and more than a hundred million star systems, such a genius appeared only once every million years.

To comprehend two Origin Laws, one of them the superior Law of Time, made him an unparalleled genius among the entire human race in the universe. Across countless eras, humanity had established a total of only 1,008 high-level universe civilizations. Among all the humans in the universe, a Planetary Level talent like this might not appear even once in ten million eras. After all, one era was equal to—years!

Luo Zhiyuan was stunned by his own talent! He knew he might be favored by the Origin Will of the Original Universe, given that he possessed three Innate Secret Techniques. But he hadn't expected his cultivation talent to be so extraordinary too. He had crossed the threshold of an Origin Law with such ease—and had done it twice!

It seemed his body had undergone some incredible mutation, probably during that fusion inside Xu Xin's body.

Luo Zhiyuan used his Planetary Level Six Spiritual Force to carefully probe his body. He wanted to see what other changes he might have missed. So far, all the changes had been good, but who knew whether some hidden danger might be lurking within him? He wouldn't feel at ease without a thorough examination.

After more than a day of meticulous probing, his Spiritual Force scanned every part of his body, from the inside out and head to toe, from his bones to his skin. He even examined everything from his Consciousness Ocean to the inside of his dantian, making at least ten passes. He found nothing wrong and finally stopped worrying about his body.

Luo Zhiyuan began to experience the Time Origin Law and Light Origin Law. He alternated between comprehending the two, spreading his Spiritual Force and releasing his Domain.

Within a radius of fifty meters, he felt that he could control and alter both the light and the flow of time. The changes were still small, but as his understanding of the laws deepened, he would surely become more and more adept at controlling them.

As Luo Zhiyuan released his Spiritual Force and Domain to comprehend the laws, a subtle fluctuation spread across the surface of Venus. Then, deep within his soul, he heard a gentle, clear voice: "At last, you're here, mysterious visitor. I've been waiting for you for more than a hundred million eras. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Chenxi. I'm one of the eight Natural Beast Gods in the universe—the Light Beast God!"

P.S. Um, so... what do you think of this cliffhanger? Hehe!

The next part is difficult to write, so I need to think it through carefully. There won't be a new chapter today. I'll revise it tomorrow and upload it then.

You guys are awesome. I thought hardly anyone would read a niche novel like mine, but I've got 140 followers now. Having more than a hundred of you along for the ride is enough for me! By the way, I've written nearly 70,000 words in five days. That's pretty impressive, right? I'll pat myself on the back—haha.