After returning to his estate, Luo Zhiyuan stopped worrying about his identity and continued his cultivation. His main body nurtured the fifth-tier flying weapon, the Light Wings, while Xingxing continued soaking in Evolution Fluid. Meanwhile, he practiced using the Light Wings with Bulieni in the Virtual Universe.
Soon, Luo Zhiyuan gained basic control over the Light Wings, though he was still very clumsy with them. He was nowhere near as fast as he was with the Lightning Shuttle, but he would improve with time. Xingxing also evolved to Cosmic Level Third Order.
At last, Fuke arrived at Luo Zhiyuan's estate to complete the final step in creating his new identity: scanning his Spiritual Imprint.
The moment the scan was complete, Luo Zhiyuan's original records in the Virtual Universe System vanished. In their place was a thirty-year-old member of the Xuantong Race, born on Qingyu Planet. His parents had tragically died not long after his birth, and he had been fortunate enough to be taken away and trained by a wandering powerhouse. Now, he had returned to Qingyu Planet.
The Xuantong Race was the people in the Xuanyi Universe Kingdom most similar to the Chinese people on Earth. They looked indistinguishable from Earthlings, but their bloodlines were far superior. They reached Star Level upon adulthood. Luo Zhiyuan was quite satisfied that Fuke's company had found a race that matched his appearance so well.
He had wanted to tell Luo Feng and Xu Xin about it in the Virtual Universe, but then he discovered that all his old contacts were gone. After all, he had a new identity now, so none of his old information could possibly remain.
After thinking it over, he decided that if that was the case, he might as well make sure his new identity had no connection whatsoever to Earth.
So Luo Zhiyuan sent a guard to Qingyi City to obtain several anonymous Virtual Universe accounts. He then logged in with one of them, added Luo Feng's contact number, and requested a connection.
Another verification question came through. It was still the same question, and the answer was still the same. It seemed Babata really did have a thing for apples.
Soon, Babata sent him a message: "Hey, who are you? You're the second person to answer correctly. What's your deal?"
He shook his head helplessly and hurriedly replied that he was Luo Zhiyuan.
A voice call came through immediately. "Little Zhiyuan? You again? Why are you using an anonymous account this time? What are you up to?"
"Uh... Babata, there's a reason for it. Bulieni told me to do this."
Turning to look at Bulieni on his shoulder, Luo Zhiyuan gave him an apologetic look for making him take the blame.
Bulieni curled his lip and waved it off.
"Babata, don't ask yet. Let my dad talk to me. I'll explain what's going on to him directly."
A moment later, Luo Feng's slightly breathless voice came through. "Zhiyuan? What's going on? You haven't logged into the Virtual Universe for a while. Your mom's been a little worried about you. Remember to keep in touch with us."
At the thought of Xu Xin, Luo Zhiyuan's heart tightened.
In this life, Xu Xin had truly been good to him as his mother, always taking care of him in every possible way. He, on the other hand, owed her a lot. Ever since he began cultivating, he had spent very little time with her.
To avoid causing unnecessary trouble for Earth in the future, he might not even be able to keep in touch with his family often through the Virtual Universe. The thought left Luo Zhiyuan feeling down.
"Dad, are you in the middle of training? I can hear you panting. Remember to rest, and spend more time with Mom. For certain reasons, I won't be able to keep in touch with you as much through the Virtual Universe from now on. You'll have to spend more time with Mom for me."
Luo Feng sounded alarmed and hurriedly asked, "What's wrong? Are you in danger?"
Composing himself, Luo Zhiyuan replied, "It's fine. We can handle it. It's not a big problem. The thing is, I'm currently in the Xuanyi Universe Kingdom. My teacher left behind some cultivation resources here, so we'll be training here for a while."
"But my master has a very powerful enemy with some influence in the universe. We were discovered by them a while ago, so I've changed my identity and am hiding somewhere safe to avoid them."
"And to keep Earth from getting dragged into trouble, I'll be in touch with you less often. Of course, I'll still use this anonymous account to contact you regularly and let you know I'm safe."
Hearing what Luo Zhiyuan said, Luo Feng felt somewhat reassured, but he still said, "Be careful and stay safe. Make sure you keep in touch with the family regularly. Talk to your mom about it yourself in a bit. Don't say too much that might worry her; just tell her it's inconvenient to stay in touch while you're training."
"Oh, right. How long will you be training over there? How's your cultivation coming along?"
Uh... Luo Zhiyuan blinked. What level was Luo Feng at now? It was around the time he had just resolved Earth's crisis, so he should be at Star Level First or Second Order, right? He couldn't quite remember. The Golden Horned Behemoth was only at Stellar Level Seven, too. Would telling him the truth be too discouraging?
"Don't worry, it won't take too long. I'll be done within ten years at most, then I'll leave the Xuanyi Universe Kingdom. After that, we can keep in touch normally."
"As for my cultivation, hehe, Dad, I've improved a lot. I'm already at Stellar Level Eight. Impressive, huh? Haha!"
There was a long silence on the other end. Then Luo Feng sighed, followed by Babata's shriek. "What? Little Zhiyuan, you're already at Stellar Level Eight? How could your cultivation have improved so quickly?"
"Luo Feng! See? I told you I regretted it! If I'd known, I wouldn't have taken you in. I should've waited another year or two and taken your son as my disciple instead! I! Regret! It! So! Much!"
Luo Zhiyuan didn't know what to say. Bulieni, however, wasn't pleased.
"What's the matter, little guy? Want to steal my student? Do you have the resources to train that kid? Don't tell me you'd train him the way you trained his father. I'd die laughing!"
"Just look at how you couldn't help him deal with Earth's troubles back then. You didn't have much of a fortune to begin with. Do you know how many resources I've used to train that kid? I'm afraid the answer would scare you, so I'll spare you the details."
"So, little guy, don't get ahead of yourself. Figure out how many resources you have before deciding which disciples to train. Hmph!"
Luo Zhiyuan really didn't know what to do with Bulieni. He was usually quite pleasant, but for some reason, he seemed to have it in for Babata. Was it because they were both intelligent life-forms? Some kind of innate hierarchy?
Babata didn't dare say anything in response. Luo Feng hurriedly said, "I'm sorry, Senior Bulieni. Babata didn't mean anything by it. He was just joking. Please don't take it to heart."
Bulieni snorted and said nothing more. Seeing this, Luo Zhiyuan exchanged a few more words with Luo Feng and ended the call. He then contacted his mother on Earth, briefly explained the situation, and reassured her that there was no need to worry. After saying goodbye, he logged out of the Virtual Universe.
When he arrived at the cultivation room, Luo Zhiyuan asked, "Bulieni, there's nothing else we need to worry about now, so we can start cultivating in seclusion. What's your plan?"
Bulieni took the Time Chamber out of the World Ring and set it up in the cultivation room. After having Luo Zhiyuan place the Immortal Crystals inside, he said, "Hehe, all set. Now get into the Time Chamber. I've planned out a series of training schedules for you. They'll definitely keep you busy."
With nothing weighing on his mind for the moment, Luo Zhiyuan was very interested in Bulieni's training plan. He had also never seen a Time Chamber before, so he stepped inside with some anticipation.
Inside the Time Chamber was a vast, barren wilderness, devoid of even a blade of grass. The gravity was so intense that even Luo Zhiyuan found it difficult to move freely. There was only one entrance and exit behind him; nothing else was there.
"Bulieni, how big is the space inside this Time Chamber? And why is the gravity so strong? How strong is it?"
Bulieni chuckled inside Luo Zhiyuan's Consciousness Ocean.
"As for the space, your World Ring is already a hundred million kilometers long, wide, and high. But the interior of this Time Chamber is a hundred billion kilometers long, wide, and high!"
"As for the gravity, it can be adjusted. I've set it to the highest level your body can handle while still moving normally. You've never lived in such a high-gravity environment before, so you won't be used to it at first. You'll get accustomed to it after a while."
"Then I'll increase it again until it reaches the highest theoretical limit your body can withstand right now. Once you can fully adapt to that level of gravity, your Body Force will improve considerably. That'll also help you cultivate your Combat Secret Technique."
Luo Zhiyuan agreed with Bulieni's approach. His body had improved through several doses of Evolution Fluid, increasing his physical energy, but his Body Force had long since fallen behind his physical growth. Training in a high-gravity environment could improve his control over his physical strength, which was quite useful.
There was just one thing he was worried about.
"Uh... Bulieni, I understand what you've said, and I have no objections. But I'm still growing. I'm only half an adult's height. Could living in a high-gravity environment for a long time affect my growth? I don't want to end up short for the rest of my life."
"Hahahaha!" Bulieni laughed so hard in Luo Zhiyuan's Consciousness Ocean that he could barely catch his breath.
"Ha... ha... What kind of logic is that? By your reasoning, wouldn't all life born on certain high-gravity planets or in secret realms be short? How could you come up with such a ridiculous idea? You're killing me!"
"Uh, good to know it won't affect my growth. I was just a little worried. You don't have to laugh at me like that." Luo Zhiyuan scratched his burning cheek and muttered under his breath.
"Enough joking around. Let's get started. When exploring the universe, the most important thing is staying alive. That Godly Evasion movement technique you practiced before is far too simple for you. You've already mastered it."
"So next, I'll teach you a movement technique that starts with comprehending the laws. As you continue practicing it, your Law Comprehension will improve considerably."
Luo Zhiyuan nodded, turned to look around the empty wilderness, and began cultivating in seclusion with Bulieni inside the Time Chamber.
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