Watching Luo Zhiyuan and his Space Phantoms against the starry backdrop, Bulieni couldn't help smiling.
While in the Time Chamber, Luo Zhiyuan's Shadow Race Clone had already been able to create more than fifty Space Phantoms. As for his Human Main Body, this was its first time entering the beginner level of Shattered Space.
Shattered Space was divided into three parts: Space Lock, Space Strangulation, and Teleportation. Luo Zhiyuan had only cultivated the Teleportation part so far, but he had already reached the beginner level.
His Time Flow had reached the minor mastery stage of the first layer.
He had just begun to grasp one Space Law and one Time Law, two supreme laws. For a little fellow at Star Level, Bulieni was very satisfied.
"Good! Not bad. You've finally entered the beginner level of the Space Law."
Luo Zhiyuan turned to look at Bulieni, grinning from ear to ear, utterly pleased with himself.
Unable to stand how smug he looked, Bulieni called out, "All right, all right. Get over here. It's time to start the next test!"
Luo Zhiyuan pouted and muttered as he flew back. Couldn't he enjoy himself for a little longer?
"All right, I'm here. Which one's next?"
"The Shadow Divine Weapon, then the Divine Illusion Bead. We'll test them all."
After agreeing, Luo Zhiyuan chose the Shadow Divine Weapon, one of the Nine Great Divine Weapons for Mental Master Controllers, as his weapon. A heavy black light wheel appeared beside him.
Using the Shadow Divine Weapon in the Virtual Universe didn't require nurturing it before imprinting it with a Spiritual Imprint. Luo Zhiyuan controlled the weapon, shrank it, and wore it around his wrist. He had already grown used to controlling it in this form while in the Time Chamber.
"Pay attention. The Virtual Warriors will also use the Shadow Divine Weapon, but their control will range from weak to strong. The twenty-first one will have mastered the second layer. Begin!"
Two light wheels, one bright and one dark, clashed in the air. They flashed past in an instant.
Gradually, Luo Zhiyuan's panting grew clear.
The fifteenth Virtual Warrior killed him.
Bulieni roared, "You're not even proficient at using the first layer yet. Go back and keep practicing!"
"Now we'll test how well you've mastered the Divine Illusion Bead. You may only use Mental Shock against the Virtual Warriors. If you can shatter the consciousness of the hundredth Virtual Warrior, it means your Divine Illusion Bead has reached the first layer and doubled your consciousness strength."
This time, the Virtual Warrior stood motionless opposite Luo Zhiyuan, waiting for his Mental Shock to arrive.
Luo Zhiyuan put the Divine Illusion Bead into his Consciousness Ocean, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. Then he used the strongest Mental Shock he could control against the Virtual Warrior.
One Virtual Warrior after another fell before him, until the forty-fifth withstood Luo Zhiyuan's Mental Shock.
"All right, that's enough testing for today. You know where your cultivation stands, don't you?"
Luo Zhiyuan nodded. "I have a clear idea. I can still improve my Law Comprehension, and I need to get better at controlling the Shadow Divine Weapon. But as for the Divine Illusion Bead, I honestly don't know how to improve it right now. I haven't made any progress for a while."
Bulieni considered this, then said, "Using the Divine Illusion Bead mainly depends on your consciousness strength and Mental Power Amplitude."
"To wield the first layer's power, you generally need consciousness strength at World Lord Level and a Mental Power Amplitude of at least 70."
"With your current consciousness strength at Universe Level 8 and a Mental Power Amplitude of 60, it really is difficult."
Luo Zhiyuan scratched his head. "Then what should I do? Do you have any secret techniques for increasing Mental Power Amplitude? I could practice one."
After thinking for a moment, Bulieni said, "You already have movement techniques, Telekinetic Weapons, and Law Comprehension. Compared with a qualified cosmic warrior, what you're missing is soul defense."
"I have some Soul Secret Techniques. They can increase your Soul Amplitude and teach you soul defense and several offensive Soul Secret Techniques."
"It's settled, then. From now on, your main body will ignore everything else and focus solely on cultivating Soul Secret Techniques. They'll improve your strength in every way. Leave the Light Wings and Law Comprehension to your other bodies."
"Once you make up for this last weakness, I'll arrange a trial for you. You'll go out into the universe and experience it firsthand, gaining some practical experience."
Luo Zhiyuan clenched his fist, turned around, and logged out of the Virtual Universe.
Over the next few days, Luo Zhiyuan's main body began cultivating Soul Secret Techniques. However, the Soul Secret Techniques created by the Light Beast God were extremely difficult. His cultivation level didn't even meet the requirements for practicing the soul defense technique, so he could only start with the Soul Amplitude techniques.
Soul Amplitude techniques were secret techniques that directly increased Mental Power Amplitude.
Generally, once someone had perfect control over their Spiritual Force, their Mental Power Amplitude could reach 100. But this was only the general case. Some special secret techniques could raise Mental Power Amplitude even further. Secret techniques that broke through this limit and increased Mental Power Amplitude again were called Soul Amplitude Secret Techniques.
The theoretical limit allowed by the universe was a hundredfold increase in Soul Amplitude, which meant a hundredfold Mental Power Amplitude. Of course, those who could cultivate their Soul Amplitude to a hundredfold were generally at least Universe Venerable level.
The technique created by the Light Beast God was naturally a top-tier Soul Amplitude Secret Technique that combined the Law of Light and the Law of Time. It was called Nine Heavens. To help Luo Zhiyuan get started sooner, however, its entry requirements had been set very low: even someone at Planetary Level could cultivate it.
After Luo Zhiyuan began practicing, it took him more than a full day—equivalent to nearly four years in the Time Chamber—to increase his Soul Amplitude ninefold, raising his Mental Power Amplitude to 900. After that, he could no longer improve it.
Bulieni told him, "According to the notes your teacher left with this technique, you can begin cultivating the first heaven of his Nine Heavens Secret Technique once your soul consciousness reaches Planetary Level. It can increase your Soul Amplitude by up to tenfold, bringing your Mental Power Amplitude to 1,000."
"Once your soul consciousness reaches World Lord Level, it can increase your Soul Amplitude by up to fiftyfold. At Universe Venerable level, it can increase it by up to a hundredfold!"
"The nature of your soul is very different from your teacher's, and the Law of Light and the Law of Time haven't fused together. That's why you can only improve this much for now."
Luo Zhiyuan knew that he couldn't expect to get everything at once, so he chuckled. "This is plenty! Most people can't even raise their Mental Power Amplitude to 100 by the time they reach Peak Realm Lord Level. I'm already many times ahead of them, and I now meet the requirements for cultivating soul defense."
"All right. I was going to have you use the Beast God Essence Blood your teacher left behind to change the nature of your body and soul. That would have let you keep improving. But since you say so, we can discuss it again later."
Luo Zhiyuan nodded. "That's right. Let's leave the Beast God Essence Blood for later. I've been worried that using it would change my body and soul. If the Chaos City Leader noticed when I entered the Initial Universe, it could cause trouble."
"The Chaos City Leader? Who's that?"
"Oh, the Chaos City Leader is the head of the Virtual Universe Company. He's stationed in Chaos City, the only city in the Initial Universe. He's a powerful Universe Master who can rival my teacher. And in Chaos City, Initial Universe, he's said to be invincible!"
Bulieni exclaimed in surprise, "He can rival Old Mystic and is said to be invincible in Chaos City? Even the strongest beings in the universe can't do anything to him?"
Luo Zhiyuan thought it over. The original story hadn't explained this in detail, but considering all the methods Yuan Zu had left the Chaos City Leader, it should be right. So he said, "That should be correct."
Bulieni said cautiously, "All right. Then I'll have to be careful when we get to the Initial Universe and avoid exposing myself. Universe Masters can control the space-time around them and know it inside out. I'll just pretend to be an ordinary Intelligent Life."
"Come on, let's leave that for later. Now we'll practice soul defense. This technique is called Nine Mountains, and it has nine layers. You can cultivate it from Planetary Level all the way to Universe Venerable level. Once you've mastered it, even an ordinary Universe Master won't be able to shake your soul defense."
Luo Zhiyuan continued practicing the Nine Mountains soul defense technique. He quickly completed the first mountain, and a towering mountain appeared in his Consciousness Ocean, enclosing the whole sea within its bulk.
His entire soul felt heavier, as if he had put on a thick Force Battle Suit.
He continued practicing Nine Mountains. After spending more than a year in the Time Chamber, Luo Zhiyuan mastered the second layer.
Inside his Consciousness Ocean, another mountain formed around the first. The original mountain shrank and fit inside the second, but the first mountain's walls didn't grow thinner. They became much thicker.
Then he spent another three years in the Time Chamber and mastered the third layer. Three mountains, nested together, took shape in his Consciousness Ocean.
With his consciousness strength at Universe Level 8, he should have been able to cultivate the fourth layer. But just as with Nine Heavens, he couldn't make any further progress for now.
Luo Zhiyuan spent another two years learning several offensive Soul Secret Techniques. Then Bulieni announced that they would stop for the time being and test the results of his cultivation.
When Luo Zhiyuan emerged from the Time Chamber, he felt as if he had awoken from another life. He had spent ten years in the Time Chamber this time. If he hadn't occasionally been able to trade a few barbs with Bulieni, he didn't know whether he could have endured the monotonous training. After all, in terms of his actual age, he was only a little over three and not yet four!
After coming out, he contacted the Luo Family through an anonymous account. This time, he saw Xu Xin. Under her disbelieving gaze, Luo Zhiyuan grinned foolishly and called out, "Mom." Tears streamed down Xu Xin's face.
Xu Xin couldn't believe that after only a few days apart, her son had transformed into a tall, handsome young man! Though her heart was full of a thousand things she wanted to say, in the end all she managed was, "My baby!"
Seeing Xu Xin in tears, Luo Zhiyuan felt a little bad for her, so he cracked a few jokes to change the subject. Then he told her to take care of herself, ended the call, and logged out of the Virtual Universe.
Sitting cross-legged on his bedroom bed, Luo Zhiyuan took a moment to calm down. Then he logged back into the Virtual Universe to test the results of his ten years of cultivation.
I've hit a wall writing all these secret techniques. I spent the whole morning trying to figure out what would work, and ended up putting it off until now. Sorry.
You've all been amazing. Today we made it straight to fifteenth place in the light novel category of the new authors' signing-contract chart. I'm so excited!
I'll keep writing. Thank you, everyone!
Before you continue