The Secret of the Small Cauldron

The night deepened, and Baruch Manor fell into a silent slumber.

Lin Yun sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes closed, yet he was not asleep. He was attempting something of great importance.

The Qi Cultivation Style practice during the day had confirmed one thing for him—cultivating in the Coiling Dragon World truly could strengthen his body and perception. But he was even more curious about what kind of connection could be established between these two worlds.

The Small Cauldron rested quietly against his chest, its bronze surface casting a faint, eerie luster under the moonlight.

Lin Yun took a deep breath, focusing all his attention on the Small Cauldron at his chest. He tried to "touch" it with his intent, just as he had tried to sense the Gene Energy in the air back in the Swallowed Star World.

At first, nothing happened.

The Small Cauldron felt like a piece of ordinary copper, cold and unresponsive.

But Lin Yun did not give up. He adjusted his breathing, slowing his rhythm to enter a state of semi-meditation—a method he had fumbled his way through over his six years in the Swallowed Star World. Although there were no systematic meditation techniques there, he knew from his past life that focus itself was a form of power.

Time ticked away, second by second.

Just as Lin Yun was about to give up, he suddenly felt a faint connection.

It was a strange sensation—like an invisible thread extending from the Small Cauldron to some distant place. The thread was ethereal, flickering in and out of existence, yet it was undeniably real.

Lin Yun's heart rate accelerated sharply.

He cautiously extended his perception along that thread, just as he had when he first tried to touch external objects with his Spiritual Force, careful and focused.

At the other end of the thread, another body was connected.

He could feel that body's heartbeat, breathing, and body temperature—it was his body in the Swallowed Star World, currently lying on a small bed in a low-rent housing unit in Yangzhou City, fast asleep.

Two bodies, one soul.

Lin Yun opened his eyes, the light within them brighter than ever before.

He could feel both worlds now. It was not that vague, passive perception from before, but a clear, active connection. It was as if the Small Cauldron had built a bridge between his two bodies, allowing his consciousness to switch between the two worlds at will.

He tried shifting more of his attention to his body in the Swallowed Star World.

The next moment, he felt a slight wave of dizziness, and the world before his eyes shifted instantly.

The moonlight of Yangzhou City spilled in through the dilapidated window, shining onto Lin Yun's face.

He opened his eyes to see the mottled ceiling of the low-rent apartment and a spiderweb that had gathered in the corner. The sound of his grandfather's steady snoring drifted in from the next room, accompanied by the occasional bark of a dog in the distance.

He sat up and looked down at his hands—they were slightly larger than those in the Coiling Dragon World, the knuckles more defined, and the skin marked by a few scars left from playing in the ruins.

Lin Yun took a deep breath, assessing the condition of this body.

For six years, while he had been waiting for the Small Cauldron to reactivate, he had never stopped training this body. Lacking a systematic technique, he had figured it out himself—the knowledge he had gained in the gym in his past life, combined with a vague understanding of the cultivation systems in the Swallowed Star World, allowed him to piece together a set of basic training methods that suited him.

Daily morning runs, horse stance training, push-ups, and pull-ups, coupled with focused training of his mental strength—these seemingly simple basic exercises had yielded considerable results after six years of persistence.

Lin Yun clenched his fist, feeling the power contained within his arm muscles. Although there was still a gap compared to the innate physical talent of someone like Luo Feng, he was already far stronger than the average child his age.

More importantly, the "breath" he felt while practicing the Qi Cultivation Style in the Coiling Dragon World could also be faintly sensed in this body. Though much weaker, it was definitely there.

What did this mean?

It meant that his cultivation achievements in one world would be reflected in the body of the other world in some form!

Lin Yun's heart raced again.

He closed his eyes once more, switching his consciousness back to the Coiling Dragon World.

In the room at Baruch Manor, Lin Yun's "other self" opened his eyes.

The moonlight remained, and it seemed as though only an instant had passed.

But Lin Yun knew the switch just now was no hallucination. He had truly and surely completed a transfer of consciousness between the two worlds.

He touched the Small Cauldron on his chest, a bold thought rising in his mind.

If consciousness could switch freely, then... what about objects?

If the Small Cauldron could carry his soul across two worlds, could it also carry other things?

Lin Yun looked around the room, his gaze falling on a Small Wood Carving sitting on his nightstand. It was something Linley had carved for him out of wood a few days ago; although the craftsmanship was rough, Linley had put his heart into it, carving the shape of a small dragon.

Lin Yun picked up the wood carving, held it in his palm, and then closed his eyes, focusing his attention on the Small Cauldron.

Take it across, he whispered in his heart. Take this wood carving to the other world.

The Small Cauldron grew slightly warm, but other than that, there was no reaction.

Lin Yun frowned and tried a few more times, but still, he did not succeed.

He thought for a moment and changed his approach. Perhaps it wasn't about "taking it across," but rather... storing it inside the Small Cauldron first?

He refocused his attention, and this time, he tried to "store" the wood carving into the Small Cauldron—just as the Small Cauldron had once contained his soul.

The bronze patterns on the surface of the Small Cauldron suddenly lit up.

The light was very faint, barely visible under the moonlight, but Lin Yun felt it clearly—the wood carving trembled slightly in his hand, and then, it vanished.

It hadn't fallen, it hadn't been moved; it had truly and completely disappeared.

Lin Yun opened his eyes abruptly and looked down at the Small Cauldron in his hand.

On the surface of the Small Bronze Tripod, those ancient patterns seemed to flow slightly, as if digesting something. At the center of the patterns, one could vaguely see a tiny speck of light, shaped... like a wooden carving.

Lin Yun's heart felt as if it were about to leap out of his chest.

He switched his consciousness to the Swallowed Star World—

In the room in Yangzhou City, he looked down at his hands.

His palms were empty.

But the moment disappointment set in, the Small Bronze Tripod on his chest glowed faintly, and a small object emerged from the mouth of the tripod, landing gently in his hand.

It was the wooden carving.

Lin Yun stared blankly at the wooden carving in his hand, taking a long time to regain his senses.

The Small Bronze Tripod could teleport objects.

He understood what this meant better than anyone else.

Resources from two worlds—magic materials and Battle Qi techniques from the Coiling Dragon World; gene serums and technological products from the Swallowed Star World—could be exchanged through the tripod!

He took a deep breath, struggling to calm himself down.

This discovery was too important, important enough to change the trajectory of his cultivation in both worlds. But now was not the time for excitement; he needed to test the capabilities of the tripod more systematically.

Was there a size limit for teleported objects? Was there a weight limit? Was there a distance limit? What did teleportation consume? Was the number of uses limited?

These questions all needed to be verified one by one.

Lin Yun placed the wooden carving on the bedside in the Swallowed Star World and switched his consciousness back to the Coiling Dragon World.

He decided to start testing with the smallest of objects.

A pebble.

He picked up a small stone from a flowerpot on the windowsill, held it in his palm, and attempted to store it in the tripod.

Success.

The stone vanished from his hand and appeared within the patterns of the tripod. He switched to the Swallowed Star World and retrieved the stone.

Then came the second, the third...

Next was a copper coin, a leaf, a cup of water...

Every attempt succeeded, but Lin Yun noticed a pattern: the larger and heavier the object, the slower the tripod's reaction, and the dimmer its glow. When he tried to teleport a stone the size of a fist, the tripod's light dimmed significantly, and the teleportation time stretched from instantaneous to nearly three seconds.

There was a cost.

Lin Yun noted this observation in his mind. The tripod was not omnipotent; its energy seemed finite, and the larger the object, the greater the consumption.

Then... how did the energy recover?

He pondered, thinking it likely had to do with soul power. The tripod was bound to his soul, and its energy likely came from the nourishment of his soul power. As he practiced meditation and strengthened his soul, the tripod would recover its energy.

This was a positive feedback loop.

The corners of Lin Yun's mouth curled up slightly, and the light in his eyes grew brighter.

Over the next few days, Lin Yun spent his days in the Coiling Dragon World following Hillman to practice the Qi Cultivation Style alongside Linley, while at night, he used the tripod to travel freely between the two worlds, continuing to test the boundaries of the tripod's abilities.

He discovered several important things:

First, the tripod's teleportation consumed energy, and the rate of recovery was linked to the cultivation progress of his two bodies. The longer he meditated in the Coiling Dragon World and the harder he trained in the Swallowed Star World, the faster the tripod's energy recovered.

Second, there was a limit to the distance of teleportation—at least for now. He tried to teleport an object to a slightly more distant location in the Swallowed Star World, but the tripod could only deliver objects within a one-meter radius of his other body. This meant the tripod was more of a "personal teleportation device" than a long-range transport tool.

Third, teleporting living things—he tried to put an ant into the tripod; the ant survived for about ten seconds before dying. This meant the space inside the tripod was currently unsuitable for storing living things. Or perhaps, he had yet to master the method for doing so.

Fourth, he tried practicing the Qi Cultivation Style in the Swallowed Star World, and while the results were not as good as in the Coiling Dragon World, he discovered that the fruits of his cultivation in both worlds could achieve a certain degree of "overlap" through the tripod.

Specifically, the "sense of Qi" he accumulated by practicing the Qi Cultivation Style in the Coiling Dragon World strengthened his physique in the Swallowed Star World in a certain way; meanwhile, the physical fitness he gained through basic training in the Swallowed Star World made his Qi Cultivation Style practice in the Coiling Dragon World much smoother.

Two worlds, two bodies, connected by the tripod, forming a perfect cultivation closed loop.

Lin Yun even developed a bold conjecture—if he cultivated Battle Qi or learned magic in the Coiling Dragon World, could these abilities be "transferred" to his body in the Swallowed Star World through the tripod?

If this conjecture held true, his strength in both worlds would no longer be a simple addition, but a multiplication.

This thought made Lin Yun so excited he barely slept all night.

But he quickly calmed himself down.

He was still too weak. In the Coiling Dragon World, he was just a six-year-old child who had only just begun practicing the Qi Cultivation Style; in the Swallowed Star World, he was just an ordinary person who didn't even qualify as a Quasi-Warrior. Any top powerhouse from either world could easily crush him.

What he needed now was not to aim too high, but to keep his feet on the ground.

He had to solidify his foundation, push the Qi Cultivation Style to its limit, and integrate the basic cultivation methods of both worlds.

Only then could he talk about anything else.

On the seventh night, Lin Yun conducted another teleportation test.

This time, he tried something different—teleporting a Level 3 Magical Beast Core from the Coiling Dragon World (a small piece of a core left over after Hillman hunted a low-level magical beast years ago, which Hillman had given to Lin Yun for his birthday) to the Swallowed Star World.

When that fingernail-sized core appeared on the small bed in the Low-rent Housing in Yangzhou City, Lin Yun could feel the light of the tripod dim significantly; the energy consumed was several times greater than that of teleporting a stone.

But the core had indeed been teleported.

Lin Yun picked up the crystal core, feeling the energy contained within. In the Coiling Dragon World, such low-level magical beast crystal cores could only be used to craft simple magical items or sold to merchants for money. But in the Swallowed Star World...

He tried to use his consciousness to perceive the energy structure within the crystal core.

Then, he froze.

The energy structure within the magical beast crystal core and the Gene Energy permeating the air of the Swallowed Star World were, surprisingly, similar to a certain degree!

Both were a type of "source energy" that could be absorbed and utilized by the human body; they only differed in their form of existence and density.

What did this mean?

It meant that he might be able to use the magical beast crystal cores from the Coiling Dragon World for his cultivation in the Swallowed Star World!

Lin Yun forced himself to calm down.

This discovery was too massive, so massive that it needed to be treated with extreme caution. He was still too young and only understood the surface of the cultivation systems in both worlds; rashly conducting cross-world energy experiments carried too much risk.

He needed time. He needed to learn more knowledge, accumulate more experience, and explore slowly.

The Small Cauldron had given him infinite possibilities, but how to utilize those possibilities required wisdom and patience.

Lin Yun carefully put the crystal core away, then closed his eyes, switching his consciousness to the Coiling Dragon World.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water.

In the courtyard of Baruch Manor, that Dragon Stone Sculpture cast a long shadow under the moonlight.

Lin Yun lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, a faint, almost imperceptible smile on his lips.

Two worlds, two bodies, one Small Cauldron.

He already possessed the strongest trump card to rise in this universe.

All that remained was time and effort.

And the one thing he did not lack was patience.

The next morning, Lin Yun went to the courtyard to participate in training with Linley as usual.

Hillman was already waiting, and the other children arrived one after another.

"Today, we continue practicing the Qi Cultivation Style." Hillman's gaze swept over all the children. "Remember, there are no shortcuts in cultivation, only day-after-day accumulation. Anyone who thinks they can become an expert after practicing for a few days should just go home early."

The children answered in unison.

Hillman's voice rang out again: "Everyone, begin!"

The children immediately dispersed and began their day's training.

Lin Yun stood in the ranks, adjusted his breathing, and entered his state.

His heart was incomparably calm.

The secret of the Small Cauldron was something he would not tell anyone—at least not now. This world was too dangerous, and he was still too weak; protecting his secret was protecting himself.

But he knew that from today on, everything was different.

With two worlds running in parallel, his path was broader than anyone else's.