In the few days he spent waiting for his ring at the Universe First Bank, Luo Zhiyuan often met with his family in the Virtual Universe. He told them that he would be leaving Biyan Planet in a few days, and that Bulieni was currently searching for information and planning his cultivation path.
During those days, Luo Zhiyuan spent all his time in the Killing Space at the Killing Field, constantly asking Bulieni how to set up different opponents so he could train in the Lightning Shuttle's third-layer Combat Secret Technique as efficiently as possible. After two days of nonstop practice, he finally mastered the third-layer attack form.
The third layer was called Chain Shuttle. It required a Mental Power Amplitude of 18 to use and combined the first and second layers. Ninety-nine blades emerged from the Lightning Shuttle's main body, forming nine Light Shuttles and eighteen guard blades. Then, guided by the law markings, they combined into a long shuttle three meters in length.
Even this first step took Luo Zhiyuan a full day to practice. Using Spiritual Force to form nine Light Shuttles was far more difficult than forming the single Light Shuttle of the first layer. Then he had to combine the nine long shuttles into one, which made the task dramatically harder. On top of that, he had to control eighteen guard blades at the same time. He often practiced with a grimace on his face, giving Bulieni plenty of reasons to tease him.
For the second step, he had to make the eighteen guard blades form a spinning cone at the front of the long shuttle to increase its overall penetrating power. When it hit an enemy, the guard blades would scatter and fly outward, creating branching, chain-like attacks that further increased its lethality. The guard blades could also split off in different directions to attack.
After those two days, Luo Zhiyuan had gained much finer control over his Spiritual Force. His consciousness had already reached Star Level, but it had grown stronger still.
Bulieni was surprised at first. Then he remembered Luo Zhiyuan's Innate Secret Technique and understood why his consciousness was stronger than his actual level. He told Luo Zhiyuan that his consciousness had probably reached the ninth rank of Star Level.
Luo Zhiyuan could feel his consciousness growing stronger. He recalled that the Earth Lineage had a unique advantage when it came to cultivating the state of mind. But in the original Swallowed Star, only three different states of mind were mentioned in broad terms; there was little detail about how to cultivate or understand them. So after contacting his family again, he sought Hong's advice on cultivating the state of mind.
Hong had the highest attainment in cultivating the state of mind among the Earthlings. He was surprised that Luo Zhiyuan had come to him for advice, since the concept was only discussed among Earthlings. He had searched the Virtual Universe for similar information, but found no sign that it was known elsewhere in the universe, so he had never paid it much attention.
Still, he was glad to see that Luo Zhiyuan wanted to cultivate his mind. It was, after all, a Chinese tradition. Hong had also managed to comprehend a Domain at Planetary Level at an early age because of his own cultivation of the mind.
So Hong told Luo Zhiyuan everything he currently understood about cultivating the mind and the methods involved, then left him to draw his own insights. Of course, Luo Zhiyuan set aside Hong's ideas about the first and second stages. He knew they were simply three different methods, with no one method superior to the others.
Comparing what Hong had told him with the events of the original Swallowed Star, Luo Zhiyuan realized that he might currently be in the second state of mind: "yin and yang in harmony, heaven and man as one."
That was because Luo Zhiyuan's Innate Secret Technique, Soul Fusion Technique, was a method of merging souls.
To preserve his original nature and keep the souls and memories of other lives from disturbing him, he had to temper his mind until it was as sharp as a blade, cutting away every obstacle and seeing straight to his true self. That was the first state of mind.
But after using Soul Fusion Technique many times, his soul and will had come to embrace many different memories and emotions, changing his state of mind as well. When he needed to be sharp as a blade, he could be sharp; when he needed to be gentle as water, he could be gentle. Yin and yang came together, heaven and man became one, and he reached the state of a Childlike Heart. That was the second state of mind.
As for the third state of mind, Hong had no real understanding of it yet, so he did not tell Luo Zhiyuan about it. Luo Zhiyuan did not mind. He already knew what the third state was, but since the three methods had no hierarchy, he would not force himself to pursue it.
It was enough for Luo Zhiyuan to learn from Hong's experience and insights into cultivating the second state of mind. Now he had a direction for his own growth, and his mind felt clearer than ever before.
Over the next few days, Luo Zhiyuan focused on studying the Godly Evasion movement technique. Bulieni created one Virtual Warrior after another for him to fight, giving him repeated opportunities to battle, reflect, and train. Finally, on the day before the ring arrived, he broke through to the fourth layer.
At the fourth layer, Godly Evasion could instantly create a hundred figures, spread across an area up to ten kilometers in radius. Each figure could take on a different offensive stance: launching a close-range assault, attempting a long-range assassination, or joining a group defense. His true body could move freely among them, leaving his enemies completely unable to tell where he really was.
Seeing Luo Zhiyuan master the movement technique in such a short time, Bulieni once again marveled at his talent for cultivation.
Godly Evasion was a movement technique suited to the Law of Light, completely different from the Phantom Bodies formed through the Law of Space.
A Spiritual Force scan of Phantom Bodies created through the Law of Space would make it feel as if every one of them were the real body, leaving one unable to tell which was fake. The figures created by Godly Evasion, by contrast, all felt like illusions, making it impossible to tell where the real body was.
After cultivating Godly Evasion to the fourth layer, Luo Zhiyuan vaguely felt that this could not be the technique's limit. If he could incorporate his understanding of the Law of Time, it should produce even more variations.
But his understanding of the Law of Time was too shallow for him to incorporate it effectively, leaving him frustrated by the feeling that he had strength he could not put to use.
On the final day, Luo Zhiyuan stopped thinking about ways to alter Godly Evasion and focused instead on continuing to train with the Lightning Shuttle.
Bulieni told him that although he could now fully use the Lightning Shuttle's Combat Secret Technique, he had only mastered its basic forms. In Bulieni's eyes, there was still plenty of room for improvement. As the only Telekinetic Weapon Luo Zhiyuan currently knew how to use, it deserved more work.
Luo Zhiyuan gladly took Bulieni's advice. But during breaks between bouts against the Virtual Warriors Bulieni had set up for him, he left the Virtual Universe and asked Bulieni a question in his mind.
"Bulieni, I told you that I want to enter humanity's Core Layer, but I haven't explained the details. Unless something unexpected happens, we'll be leaving Biyan Planet tomorrow after the ring arrives, right? So I'll tell you my general plan, and you can help me figure out how to arrange our journey from here."
Bulieni replied seriously, "I was going to ask you about that myself. I've been looking up quite a bit of information in the Virtual Universe these past few days, and I've also put together a rough training plan for you. Tell me your plan first, and then we can discuss it together."
"Humanity has a traditional talent-development program. Every five thousand years, all 1,008 higher-level Universe Countries take part in a massive competition. Anyone who performs exceptionally well is brought into the Core Layer of either the Virtual Universe Company or the Giant Axe Coliseum for special training. That also means gaining the protection of humanity's core powers."
Bulieni fell silent for a moment, then said wistfully, "It's good to have a power backing you. Back then, Old Mystic and the other Natural Beast Gods mostly acted alone. If they'd had a power to rely on, perhaps they wouldn't all have fallen. Go on."
Luo Zhiyuan knew that Bulieni still cared deeply about the Light Beast God, given all the years of feeling between them. But Bulieni was also proud and did not need much comforting, so Luo Zhiyuan continued.
"In three years, the Virtual Universe Company will hold its next major competition, called the Universe Human Peak Genius Competition. It's open to all humans at Star Level. Anyone who places in the top thousand overall will be admitted to the Virtual Universe Company as a core disciple. Naturally, the higher the ranking, the better the treatment."
"My plan is to get the best result I can in this competition and enter the Virtual Universe Company."
"But my dad will compete too, and he'll get a good result. If I compete as well, I'm confident I'll do well too."
"That could lead to a situation where two geniuses from the same unknown planet emerge at the same time. That might draw the attention of people with ulterior motives and disrupt the original History Trajectory."
"So I've been wondering what we can do to keep a low profile and stop other people from paying attention to Earth—or to the two of us."
Bulieni's voice grew more serious. "So that's why you suddenly left the Virtual Universe. Since this involves the future History Trajectory and Luo Feng, it's right to be cautious."
"Here's what we'll do. You're already away from Luo Feng, so let's put even more distance between you. We'll change Universe Countries, then change both your citizenship and your planet of birth. That should help avoid some of the problems you mentioned."
"Conveniently, the auction you asked me to find a few days ago is a mid-level auction in Xuanyi Universe Country, right next to Ganwu Universe Kingdom. We'll go there and have you compete in that Genius Tournament under a different identity."
Luo Zhiyuan nodded. That was a good solution. Xuanyi was a Universe Country that had never been mentioned in the original story, and it was extremely far from Earth. Surely that meant he wouldn't affect Luo Feng in any way.
"By the way, Bulieni, you said you had a training plan. What is it? Tell me."
"Well, my plan is to see whether there's anything you can use once you get Old Mystic's ring. If there's something you can put to use right away, we'll strengthen you with it first. If not, we'll have to do some practical training."
"I'll give you a little taste of how mysterious and vast the universe is. You'll venture into a few Universe Secret Realms that aren't too dangerous, face some life-and-death situations, and perhaps, by a stroke of luck, find treasures that can help you."
Hearing Bulieni's plan, Luo Zhiyuan felt his excitement surge. Ever since he learned that he had come to the world of Swallowed Star, he had dreamed more than once of exploring all kinds of places and seeing wonders the book had never described. Now, before long, he would finally be setting out on his own journey!
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