Luo Zhiyuan's Cultivation

After a few days, once Luo Zhiyuan could perfectly coordinate his movements with his mind, he began his first proper cultivation session.

In the room, Luo Zhiyuan sat with his five hearts facing the sky. Yunmo Planet's cultivation method didn't require any particular posture, but he'd decided to sit this way because it felt more formal. Luo Feng stood beside him and shook his head. The little guy had a mind of his own, so he'd let him be. He would just stay nearby, ready to crush a Muya Crystal for him.

That was Babata's plan. He said it was best to have as much energy as possible for this first session, because the first time the body transformed its genes using Origin Energy would have the most dramatic effect. After all, the human body had never consciously absorbed cosmic energy since birth, so it was always in a state of hunger. The first time it absorbed cosmic energy, it would take in the most, and its strength would improve the fastest.

After all, Earthlings had poor physical bloodlines, and the concentration of cosmic energy in Earth's environment wasn't very high, making it difficult to cultivate on their own. When Luo Zhiyuan first began absorbing cosmic energy, crushing a single Muya Crystal would create a high-energy-density space that could aid his absorption and cultivation.

This would effectively accelerate his progress and help him overcome some cultivation bottlenecks. And since he wouldn't be absorbing the Muya Crystal directly, excess energy wouldn't build up in his body, so he could use it to assist his cultivation again soon.

After all, Muya Crystals were cultivation treasures in the universe. If an Earthling at Apprentice Level 8 or 9 absorbed one directly, they could be transformed into a Planetary Level Martial Artist in a month. Of course, this would be a waste. A single Muya Crystal could buy a great many Planetary Level slaves in the universe. But neither Luo Feng nor Babata cared at all about using them to aid Luo Zhiyuan's cultivation.

Luo Feng watched Little Zhiyuan's cultivation, ready to crush a Muya Crystal at any moment.

Once Luo Zhiyuan had calmed his mind, he began sensing cosmic energy. Maybe because he'd once felt cosmic energy inside Xu Xin, this time he sensed it with remarkable ease. But it was a little different from before: instead of individual points of light, it appeared as thin threads of light. Luo Zhiyuan drew the threads into his body and began refining them.

Luo Feng was astonished. He hadn't expected his son to sense cosmic energy so easily. He himself had spent quite a while learning to sense it. Without wasting time marveling, he quickly crushed a Muya Crystal and scattered it around Little Zhiyuan. The crystal's powder transformed into rich life energy, filling the room, and entered Luo Zhiyuan's body along with the cosmic energy.

As the energy continued pouring in, some even entered Luo Zhiyuan's brain region. One portion transformed into Spiritual Force and spread through his cells, constantly strengthening his body, while another portion of the cosmic energy continued tempering and expanding the Soul Space within his Consciousness Ocean. It took about three hours for Luo Zhiyuan to complete his first proper cultivation session.

Luo Feng stayed by his side the whole time, though his expression was a little strange. He himself had finished his first cultivation session in less than two hours. This little guy had cultivated for almost an hour longer than him, which showed just how much progress he'd made. It seemed his son really was quite a bit stronger than his old man!

When the cultivation ended, Luo Zhiyuan started to get up, but accidentally put too much force into his step and cracked the floor. Luckily, he stopped at once, or one of his legs might have sunk right through. Luo Feng looked at the crack and the corner of his mouth twitched. Seeing Luo Zhiyuan freeze in place, afraid to move, he couldn't help finding it a little funny. "Come on, son. Your dad will take you out to get some exercise!"

Luo Zhiyuan felt helpless. He hadn't done it on purpose. But still, his body kept getting out of control every so often. When would he finally be able to control it perfectly?

With a long face, he let Luo Feng carry him to the Training Ground, a gravity room modified by Babata. Luo Feng set Little Zhiyuan down inside. He didn't turn on the gravity, but the room was made of a special material, so he didn't have to worry about his son damaging anything.

"Come on, son. You can play in here. Don't worry about breaking the floor!"

Luo Zhiyuan looked around curiously, guessing that this was where Luo Feng trained. He wondered what was special about it, so he asked, "Dad, where are we?"

"This is a gravity room. Your dad trains here. You'll be training here too."

"A gravity room?"

"That's right. We can adjust the gravity in here. Training in a high-gravity environment helps us improve faster. I'll explain how it works when you're older. For now, run around the red circle in the middle. Try to run as fast as you can!"

It was Luo Zhiyuan's first time seeing the high-tech equipment from Swallowed Star, and he looked around curiously. He slowly walked to the red area in the middle. It was about five meters across. He crouched and touched it. It was made of some kind of metal he didn't recognize. Strangely, it wasn't cold; it felt as if it were kept at a constant temperature. He stood up, ready to try jumping, but... he hit his head. He'd jumped straight up to the ceiling, and after bumping into it, he landed on the floor and sat there, rubbing his head with a dazed look.

Luo Feng was startled too. Once he saw his son was all right, he quickly contacted Babata. "Babata, check what level my son reached after his first cultivation session. How did he jump more than six meters into the air?"

"Just a moment. Hmm, his body is at Apprentice Level 4. Not bad. Also, he can project his Spiritual Force now. It's at Apprentice Level 6. Very good."

"Oh? You can project your Spiritual Force now? Zhiyuan, try keeping your body still and bringing that bottle of water over here."

Luo Zhiyuan was excited. So he could project his Spiritual Force now. In his old world, they'd have called it a superpower! He wanted to see what it felt like.

Luo Zhiyuan turned his head and spotted the bottle of water. Then he thought, Bottle, come here!

A burst of Spiritual Force shot out from his brain, instantly enveloped the bottle, and sent it flying toward his head. Startled, he quickly shut his eyes, raised his hands to shield his face, and shouted, "Ah, stop!"

After a long moment, Luo Zhiyuan felt no impact. He opened his eyes and saw the bottle hovering motionless right in front of him. He lowered his hands and studied it closely, looking at it from one side, then the other. He even waved his hand around it, but there was nothing there.

Luo Feng almost burst out laughing. He'd found his son's startled reaction hilarious, and now he watched the boy study the bottle with such curiosity after it stopped safely in midair. He nodded. His son had pretty good control of his Spiritual Force, much better than his control over his body. At least there was no need to worry about him hurting himself.

According to Babata, some races in the universe had poor physical constitutions, and after awakening their Spiritual Force, many of them had injured themselves or broken bones because they couldn't control it properly. It looked like his son wouldn't have that problem.

Luo Zhiyuan was thrilled. He had one of those legendary superpowers now! He knew that in the world of Swallowed Star, it wasn't anything special, but having something yourself was different from seeing other people have it. For nearly thirty years, he'd only experienced this feeling in his dreams. Now his dream had actually come true. Excited, he stood up, grabbed the bottle, and took a big gulp of water!

Remembering that he still needed to practice controlling his body, Luo Zhiyuan started running around the red area. He began slowly, then picked up speed as he got used to it. At the same time, he used his Spiritual Force to make the bottle pass over his head from his left hand to his right, then back over his head from his right hand to his left. He was having the time of his life.

Seeing how Little Zhiyuan was doing, Luo Feng nodded in approval. His son liked to play, but he had excellent self-control, far better than other children his age. Sometimes he didn't even seem like a child. It really made Luo Feng proud!

After nearly an hour of exercise, Luo Feng had also made Little Zhiyuan chase a ball he controlled, without letting him use his Spiritual Force. Luo Zhiyuan had basically mastered control of his body and no longer made any accidental movements. Then they practiced his Spiritual Force for another half hour, with Luo Zhiyuan trying to snatch a bottle of water away from Luo Feng's control. He didn't succeed even once, but Luo Feng seemed to have fun.

That evening, something funny happened at dinner. Luo Zhiyuan had gotten hooked on using his Spiritual Force, and insisted on serving everyone with the bowls and chopsticks. The family smiled as they watched the utensils fly around under his control. But when he tried to serve Luo Feng, the bowl suddenly dropped and spilled porridge all over Luo Feng's chest. Everyone except Luo Feng burst out laughing.

Luo Feng hadn't expected his son to play a trick on him, and now he was covered in porridge. He glared at Luo Zhiyuan, hoping to project his authority as a father, but Xu Xin gave him a hard kick.

Luo Zhiyuan wasn't afraid of Luo Feng's so-called paternal authority. As long as he wasn't being disciplined with force, he kept practicing his Spiritual Force. For the next couple of days, things around the house kept floating through the air now and then, making it feel like a real madhouse.

Luo Feng had no choice but to ask Babata to make a pile of magnetic balls for Luo Zhiyuan to play with. The balls could be controlled individually, or attracted to one another and combined into a single mass before being controlled. They were simple little toys for Babata, so he made them without any trouble.

Two days later, Luo Feng planned to have Luo Zhiyuan use another Muya Crystal to aid his cultivation. His body was now at Apprentice Level 4 and his Spiritual Force at Apprentice Level 6. Absorbing another Muya Crystal would probably raise his Spiritual Force to Apprentice Level 9. Then, if he absorbed one more Muya Crystal, he could break through to become a Planetary Level Spirit Reader in a month!

The only problem was that this would leave his foundation too weak and affect his future progress. But Zhiyuan was still young, so they could focus on improving his physical strength first. At least that would make him safer. Later, they could spend some time strengthening his foundation before he continued to advance.

That suited Luo Zhiyuan just fine. He wanted to get stronger as quickly as possible, so he began cultivating again. As he absorbed another Muya Crystal, his body's rate of evolution rose once more, and a huge amount of Spiritual Force surged from deep in his brain to temper his body. Suddenly, an idea struck him. What would happen if he used Flowing Time right now? He'd give it a try!

That mysterious feeling flashed through Luo Zhiyuan's mind once again. Since he didn't need to make any other movements to cultivate his genes' Origin Energy, he no longer felt a mismatch between his mind and body. However, he could only speed up time to three times its normal rate. He couldn't control the acceleration beyond that.

Luo Feng, standing nearby, immediately sensed something was wrong. His son was absorbing energy much faster than before. If the energy had previously seemed to be drawn in slowly, now it was practically being poured into his body. It had taken almost three hours to absorb the energy last time, but at this rate, he might finish in just one. What was going on?

Luo Feng quickly called out to Babata to ask if he knew what was happening. After checking, Babata began shouting in a trembling voice, "I-it can't be! T-time... a domain? No... the Law of Time! Luo Feng! Your son is a genius! An unparalleled genius!"

"A time domain? The Law of Time? What's going on? I don't understand. Babata, explain."

"All right. Remember the eight fundamental Origin Laws I told you about before? Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and light. These are the eight fundamental Origin Laws of the universe. But above these eight laws are two higher-level laws: the Law of Space and the Law of Time. The higher-level law of the five laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth is the Law of Space. The higher-level law of wind, lightning, and light is the Law of Time."

"As for the stages of cultivation, there are four, from easiest to hardest: foundation, conception, domain, and world. Luo Feng, your current stage is only the foundation. Hong and Thunder God have both comprehended a domain. Once a domain reaches the ninth level, breaking through turns it into a world. With World Force, one can break through to become a World Lord. As for comprehending laws, that's extremely difficult. Usually, only when someone has reached the eighth or ninth level of a domain can they vaguely sense the fluctuations of an Origin Law. It's easier to sense an Origin Law during the World Lord stage."

"Most races in the universe begin their cultivation with the eight fundamental Origin Laws. Only a very small number of exceptionally talented races or individuals begin cultivating and comprehending the Law of Space or the Law of Time. If it's an innate racial talent, that's one thing. But when an individual cultivator with such a talent appears, the five major organizations and the great high-level civilizations of the universe all compete to recruit and cultivate them.

"It seems these two laws involve secrets above the Immortal level. Your teacher once happened to hear another Immortal Expert mention it, but that person didn't say much. It must be an extremely precious secret, and even ordinary Immortal Experts might not know about it. So I don't know the details either."

"But there's one thing I'm sure of, Luo Feng: your son is a super genius. I think we need to revise his training plan. I'll make adjustments later. For now, we should ask your son how this happened."

After Luo Zhiyuan finished absorbing the Muya Crystal's energy, he felt that his body could keep cultivating, so he stopped using Flowing Time and looked at Luo Feng with a pitiful expression. "Dad, I want another Muya Crystal." Luo Feng hurriedly said, "Wait a moment. What happened just now? How did you absorb all that energy so quickly? You were three times faster than last time."

Luo Zhiyuan blinked. Had his dad noticed? It seemed that when time flowed three times faster, his cultivation also sped up threefold. That was pretty good. But how should he explain it? He might as well play dumb. It was only natural for a little kid to have trouble explaining things!

"Oh, I just wanted to absorb the energy faster, so I kept thinking, 'Faster, faster.' That was all. What's wrong?"

Luo Feng didn't know what to say. How could he expect a one-year-old child to explain the Law of Time? Zhiyuan didn't even know about these things. How could he explain them? Forget it. He'd talk to him when he was older.

"All right, we'll talk about this later. Why do you want another Muya Crystal? Once your body is saturated after a cultivation session, you can't absorb any more energy."

Luo Zhiyuan blinked again. "I know, but I'm not full yet. I can keep going."

Luo Feng felt a headache coming on. He couldn't understand his son at all anymore. He could still absorb energy? Well, they might as well try again. So he gave him another Muya Crystal, and then watched as the energy was rapidly absorbed once more.

When Luo Zhiyuan finished absorbing the energy, he felt his Spiritual Force suddenly begin spinning madly around a point in his brain. Then a tremor shook his Consciousness Ocean, and a crystal sphere of light appeared within it.

A halo shone across the sphere's surface, making it dazzlingly beautiful. Looking closely, the sphere was composed of countless transparent, pyramid-shaped crystals. An invisible wave continuously radiated from it, and when the wave passed from his Consciousness Ocean into his body, his previously calm body began changing rapidly!

The bones, bone marrow, meridians, muscles, fascia, skin, and everything else inside Luo Zhiyuan's body underwent an incredible transformation. His genes rapidly broke down and recombined!

Luo Zhiyuan felt as if he'd returned to Xu Xin's body. His muscles, bones, and internal organs were all changing at a fundamental level! This was a transformation of his life level! Luo Zhiyuan knew he must have reached Planetary Level—more precisely, the first rank of Planetary Level as a Spirit Reader.

Feeling the sphere's fluctuations in his Consciousness Ocean, he sensed it spinning constantly like a planet, with a magnetic field of its own. Instinctively, he knew that by controlling the sphere's magnetic field and changing the magnetic field acting on himself, he could create a magnetic force of a certain strength and direction, allowing him to fly freely with ease!

After Luo Feng watched his son finish cultivating, the boy suddenly began to float and fly freely around the gravity room. Luo Feng felt depressed. Compared with his precious son, he was hardly a genius selected by Yunmo Planet at all. He might as well be sent back for reprocessing.

When had he broken through to Planetary Level? New Year's Day two years ago, when he was twenty-one. He'd been the youngest Planetary Level Martial Artist in history. But now his son had reached Planetary Level at one year old. He remembered Babata saying that humans with the universe's most powerful bloodlines were already Planetary Level during infancy. Did that mean his son wasn't falling behind? He just didn't know if his cultivation would continue going this smoothly.