Cultivating in the Womb

Some time passed, though Luo Zhiyuan had no idea how long. After all, he was probably inside Xu Xin's womb, where he couldn't see the sun, so it was hard to tell. He was starting to feel bored.

During that time, Luo Zhiyuan had gone into hibernation several times. He couldn't just sit around doing nothing forever, and his energy was limited. Even listening to sounds from outside wore him out after a while. His soul had nothing else to do, so he might as well sleep.

Now, Luo Zhiyuan didn't feel like sleeping anymore. Lately, he'd been thinking back on some of the exciting scenes from Swallowed Star. They often got his blood pumping, only for him to awkwardly realize that his excitement affected the fetus he was inhabiting, making it move a little and, in turn, affecting Xu Xin. So he didn't dare make too much of a fuss.

This time, a sudden idea occurred to him. This was a genuine superhuman world, where every race had its own way of cultivating. Humanity was one of the peak races, too. Could he try cultivating now?

If he absorbed some cosmic energy ahead of time, maybe he could raise his cultivation threshold. The Earth Human Lineage was a relatively weak race, after all. He didn't have Luo Feng's heaven-sent advantages. Was he supposed to be some rich second-generation warrior? No way—he wouldn't settle for that.

Luo Zhiyuan started recalling the contents of Swallowed Star. He remembered that, in the first few chapters, there was a method for absorbing cosmic energy. He could try it and see if he could cultivate. Right, that was the plan!

First, what was it again? Right, he needed to sense the cosmic energy, then absorb it into his body and let his cells take it in. That would make the cells divide and evolve—that was cultivation. He might as well give it a try.

Luo Zhiyuan ignored the required posture of facing the sky with all five points of contact. He had no idea how far along the fetus he inhabited had developed. For all he knew, its limbs might not even be fully formed yet. How was he supposed to get it into that position? So he simply disregarded it and focused on calming himself down.

But before much time had passed, a ripple came from the soul beside him, making it impossible for Luo Zhiyuan to stay calm.

He'd forgotten that he wasn't alone. There was another soul in the body he inhabited, and yet another not far away. Though they were both newborn souls, they still sent out waves of spiritual fluctuation from time to time. He didn't understand what they meant, but they made it impossible for him to calm down completely and sense the so-called cosmic energy. What was he supposed to do?

Luo Zhiyuan had no choice. He sent calming signals to the two souls. Don't ask how he did it; as soon as he thought about it, it came naturally. Maybe it was because he was still just a soul. Who knew?

It took quite a while before he managed to soothe the two newborn souls and get them to stop sending out spiritual fluctuations that disturbed him. Only then did he have a chance to continue trying to sense the cosmic energy.

After who knew how long, Luo Zhiyuan still hadn't sensed any of the so-called cosmic energy. He started to feel irritated. Just then, the soul beside him—perhaps sensing his frustration—sent out another incomprehensible spiritual fluctuation. That threw Luo Zhiyuan off again, and he had no choice but to soothe the little soul.

After repeating this countless times, Luo Zhiyuan still hadn't sensed any cosmic energy. He couldn't help worrying. Could it be that he wasn't from this world and couldn't cultivate? That would be a huge problem. Fine, he'd keep trying for a while longer.

And so Luo Zhiyuan kept cycling through calming himself, sensing, getting interrupted, soothing the souls, calming himself again, and trying to sense the energy.

In the meantime, he occasionally sensed Xu Xin's emotional fluctuations. Sometimes she was sad, sometimes happy, sometimes lost, and sometimes she felt things he couldn't understand. All of it made his attempts come to nothing.

It wasn't entirely fruitless, though. He'd still gained something. Luo Zhiyuan could now multitask, trying to sense cosmic energy while soothing the two little souls. That was right: two souls.

This meant he could now do at least three things at once. Not bad. He considered it a gain. If he had a body to use, he could draw a square with one hand and a circle with the other without breaking a sweat. Then he could sing at the same time, too. Heh.

Finally, after who knew how long, Luo Zhiyuan suddenly sensed something different.

He sensed scattered points of light. They seemed to exist somewhere between illusion and reality, passing through Xu Xin's body and the amniotic fluid surrounding him and the twins without any obstruction. That was right—the amniotic fluid. The points of light moved freely through it. Luo Zhiyuan guessed that they might be cosmic energy, so he tried to catch them.

After a long while—at least, that was how it seemed to Luo Zhiyuan, because he was almost ready to give up—a point of light was drawn toward him. It came close, then disappeared. Luo Zhiyuan was startled. Had he just absorbed cosmic energy?

Before he could figure that out, a desire rose from deep within his soul, urging him to try attracting more points of light.

Without hesitation, Luo Zhiyuan tried to draw in more. Perhaps because he'd done it once already, the next point came over with ease. In fact, several came at once, making him feel so good he wanted to shout—if only he had a mouth.

Just as Luo Zhiyuan was getting hooked on absorbing the points of light, something completely unexpected happened.

The points of light really were cosmic energy, and Luo Zhiyuan really had managed to absorb it. But he'd forgotten something extremely important. People generally began absorbing cosmic energy only after reaching the physical requirements of a Quasi-Martial Artist. Ordinary people couldn't absorb it.

What were the physical requirements for becoming a Quasi-Martial Artist? A punching force of 900 kilograms, a speed of 25 meters per second, and excellent neural reaction speed. Only after meeting all three of these physical benchmarks could someone begin cultivating cosmic energy. Otherwise, the human body couldn't withstand the tempering and would be burst apart by the energy.

And what was Luo Zhiyuan's situation now? He'd possessed the body of a fetus. A fetus—forget meeting the physical requirements of a Quasi-Martial Artist, its body hadn't even developed into that of an ordinary human yet.

Starting to cultivate so recklessly, with no protection whatsoever, caused the flesh of the fetus he inhabited to collapse. The fetus's newborn soul sent out terrified spiritual fluctuations, and even the other fetus beside it was affected. Its body began to collapse, too, and its little soul was left with nothing but fear and panic.

Luo Zhiyuan snapped out of the pleasure of absorbing energy and immediately sensed the disastrous situation. He was terrified, then instantly understood what a terrible mistake he'd made. He told himself he couldn't panic or lose his head. He had to find a way to fix this!

Luo Zhiyuan took the two fetuses' souls under his protection, sheltering their little souls inside his own. Then he tried to divide off a portion of his spiritual energy to wrap around their bodies.

He didn't know if he could do it or if it would help, but he began acting on instinct. After all, he'd caused the problem, and he had to find a way to solve it.

Soon, Luo Zhiyuan felt exhausted. The fatigue came from deep within his soul, and he began to grow afraid—afraid that his soul would collapse. Somehow, he sensed that if his soul collapsed this time, he would vanish from the world completely, without leaving a trace.

At that moment, Xu Xin suddenly felt a sharp, twisting pain in her abdomen. She let out a weak moan of agony, then fainted completely. The Luo Family fell into chaos. They hurriedly took Xu Xin for emergency treatment, with no idea what had happened. Luo Hua even took out a precious Spirit of Vegetation; if it was needed, he wouldn't hesitate to give it to Xu Xin.

By then, Luo Zhiyuan was almost in a daze. Suddenly, he thought of an unusual solution. If the fetus's body wasn't strong enough to withstand being transformed by cosmic energy, then he just had to make it stronger.

The umbilical cord was the fetus's sole channel for receiving the nutrients it needed to grow. If cosmic energy could enter the cord and transform it, perhaps it could quickly deliver nutrients to the fetus and accelerate the development of its body. Then even if the fetus's body began to collapse, it could stimulate the cells to divide and grow in time. That should—probably—be enough to solve the problem at hand.

As for Xu Xin, though she wasn't a Martial Artist, the Luo Family would certainly use a Spirit of Vegetation to save her if something went wrong. Luo Zhiyuan remembered that the Luo Family still had some Spirit of Vegetation at this point in time. Its energy was relatively gentle, so it would surely restore and heal Xu Xin's body.

Right, that was the plan!

With the little energy he had left, Luo Zhiyuan first sensed the umbilical cord's location. Then he attracted several points of cosmic energy and pushed them toward the cord. Once he sensed it evolving, he had no energy left to spare. All he could do was desperately shield the fetuses' bodies and souls and leave the rest to fate.

By the time the umbilical cord inside Xu Xin had evolved, she had already been wheeled into the emergency room. More than a dozen doctors crowded inside, busily operating various instruments to examine her. Every so often, they asked one another questions and discussed their findings.

The area outside the emergency room was packed, too. The people closest to the door were members of the Luo and Xu Families. Right behind them were members of the HR Alliance and Commander Li, a newly promoted Planetary Level powerhouse from the Huaxia Military.

After Jia Yi, the Huaxia Military's former strongest fighter, had sacrificed his life for Luo Feng, Commander Li had used the precious Muya Crystal to reach Planetary Level. Commander Li was also a Spirit Reader. He was carefully using his Spiritual Force to examine Xu Xin's body for signs of any deliberate harm, but suddenly his brow furrowed.

"Strange. Why is cosmic energy entering Xu Xin's body? She isn't a Martial Artist yet, so she can't cultivate." When Commander Li saw the precise location where the cosmic energy was transforming Xu Xin, he was even more surprised. "Huh? Her umbilical cord has evolved. Could that be why her abdomen hurts? But why can't I detect the fetuses? It's as if something's wrapped around them."

While Commander Li was still examining Xu Xin, her body underwent another change. Only a small amount of cosmic energy had entered the umbilical cord, not enough to evolve it perfectly. And restoring the fetuses' bodies required a lot of energy, so energy was constantly being drawn from Xu Xin's body toward them. As a result, Xu Xin began to weaken.

"This is bad. Xu Xin needs a lot of energy to recover. Luo Hua, quickly give her the Spirit of Vegetation you brought. If we delay, there could be serious trouble!"

Without a word, Luo Hua took out the Spirit of Vegetation and handed it to Commander Li. Commander Li quickly prepared it, opened the emergency room door, and gave all of it to Xu Xin.

After Xu Xin took the Spirit of Vegetation, her body's energy was replenished. The fetuses inside her received a large amount of energy through the umbilical cord, finally slowing the collapse of their bodies.

But by then, Luo Zhiyuan had completely lost consciousness. He could only instinctively shield the fetuses' bodies and souls. He kept protecting them, and even after they received enough energy to restore their bodies, he could no longer do anything more.

The twins' bodies had already begun to collapse, but once their cells received energy, they started dividing and repairing themselves. However, Luo Zhiyuan's soul had wrapped around them both, and they began to merge.

Slowly, the two fetuses fused together, forming a new body. Luo Zhiyuan and the two little souls were all attached to this new body.

Fortunately, they were still in the early stages of fetal development, before the twins had developed fully formed limbs. Otherwise, after merging, they might have become a conjoined baby with four arms and two heads.

But it wasn't over. Unnoticed by all the Earthlings, a mysterious and awe-inspiring will descended. It was the Origin Law of the Universe. It lingered over the newborn fetus for a moment, as if it had sensed something. Then, after a brief pause, it left behind some mysterious markings and vanished.

No one knew what had happened. Even Luo Zhiyuan, now inhabiting the new body, had fallen into complete silence. Only the two little souls occasionally sent out incomprehensible fluctuations, but no one was left to soothe them.

Xu Xin finally regained consciousness. Weakly, she asked the doctors, "How are my babies? How are they doing? Please, you have to save them. They're the only hope Luo Feng left me!"

The doctors looked at one another and exchanged a few uncertain glances. At last, the oldest among them said hesitantly, "Madam Luo, we've never seen a situation like this before. Your babies initially showed severe signs of a miscarriage, but after you took the Spirit of Vegetation, its energy may have eased and healed their injuries, allowing them to survive. But..."

"But what? Don't hold back. Any outcome is better than losing my babies!"

"All right. The ultrasound we just performed showed that the fetuses are out of danger, but the original twins have become a single fetus. We've never seen anything like this before. We can only guess that the Spirit of Vegetation had enough energy to restore just one fetus, while the other must have died and been absorbed. Being able to save one is already a blessing. Madam Luo, you..."

"I understand." Xu Xin fell silent for a moment, then said softly, "Thank you for saving my baby. I'm deeply grateful."

"Madam Luo, please don't say that. We didn't do much. The Spirit of Vegetation was what made the biggest difference."

Commander Li spoke up then. "All right. Madam Luo and the baby are safe now, so let her rest and take care of the pregnancy. Madam Luo, please take good care of yourself. This was incredibly dangerous. If you hadn't taken the Spirit of Vegetation in time, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

"I understand. Thank you for your concern, Commander Li. Dad, Mom, Luo Hua, let's go home."

However, no one—not even Commander Li—noticed that the fetus inside Xu Xin was now attracting cosmic energy on its own. Its cells were constantly being transformed and evolved by the energy, yet its body no longer showed any signs of damage or collapse.