Wind Domain

The ink-black color of the Dark Universe is the only background.

The starship Black Dragon Mountain X4396 is like a lonely speck of dust, drifting slowly through the boundless clouds of dark energy. The Star Pattern Dark Steel on the ship's hull occasionally reflects the faint glimmer of the dark energy clouds; other than that, there is no light at all.

There are no twinkling stars, no swirling nebulae, and even the passage of time becomes blurred. Only the indicator lights on the main console blink at a fixed frequency.

Tang Ping sits inside his personal Cultivation Chamber, having just finished placing an order on the interstellar shopping platform: a batch of Planetary Rank breakthrough resources like Star Essence Grass and Thunder Pattern Crystal. He filled in the mining station in the BX10081 Star System as the delivery address and specifically selected "Standard Shipping." Since the voyage through the Dark Universe will take another year anyway, expedited shipping would just be a waste of money.

The moment he confirmed the order, he tapped his fingertip on his personal terminal, and his consciousness instantly connected to the Virtual Universe.

The training ground of the Virtual Universe is a boundless gray space. Beneath his feet is an alloy floor emitting a cold light, and in the distance, only a blurred energy barrier serves as the boundary.

As soon as Tang Ping stood steady, a pair of translucent Wind-Thunder Wings unfolded behind his back, the surface of the wings flowing with pale blue wind-element energy and silver-white lightning patterns.

"Let's begin." He took a deep breath, and with a thought, the Wind-Thunder Wings flapped violently. His entire body shot out like a blue bolt of lightning, flashing back and forth within the training ground.

The chaotic, ultra-high-speed changes in direction left behind almost nothing but afterimages. The "swish, swish, swish" sound of breaking the air echoed through the empty training ground. Every turn was accompanied by violent energy fluctuations, and even the surrounding air was torn into fine, visible lines.

"Wind, faster!" Tang Ping gritted his teeth, forcibly driving the force within his body, attempting to break through his current speed limit.

But the next second, a tearing pain surged through his body. The pressure generated by the high-speed maneuvers exceeded the limits of his physical form. With a "crack," the bone in his right arm was the first to snap, followed immediately by a mouthful of blood. He fell to the ground like a kite with a broken string, his form instantly collapsing and dissipating into a stream of data.

The next second, Tang Ping re-condensed his form at the entrance of the training ground. The wounds and fatigue on his body had vanished without a trace. This is the advantage of the Virtual Training Ground: it can simulate extreme states infinitely without the need to suffer permanent damage in reality.

However, the pain of the bone shattering and his internal organs being shaken remained vividly in his perception, making him unable to help but frown.

"Most people really wouldn't train like this." Tang Ping rubbed his chest, yet a smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

Others worry about the disconnect between virtual and real-world feel, but he knows that the core of the Wind-Thunder Secret Canon lies in the mastery of "wind." As long as he maxes out his proficiency in the virtual space, he only needs a little adaptation in reality to master it quickly.

He unfolded the Wind-Thunder Wings once again, and the blue figure shuttled through the training ground once more. The "swish" of breaking air repeated, and the cycle of collapse and rebirth continued to play out.

I don't know how much time passed, but when Tang Ping was reborn at the entrance of the training ground for the 370th time, his personal panel suddenly popped up a notification: "Secret Technique: Wind-Thunder Secret Canon proficiency +1, current progress (1000/10000000)."

The moment his proficiency increased, he suddenly froze in place, his eyes tightly shut. An inexplicable realization surged into his heart. The telekinetic power, force, and will within his body seemed to be connected by invisible threads, and the three began to fuse spontaneously. Pale blue energy overflowed from his body, forming a thin energy field around him.

This fused energy carried the agility of the wind, brushing gently against the floor of the training ground, causing even the hard alloy to ripple slightly.

Tang Ping could clearly feel that he had established a connection with the "wind" around him. He could even manipulate the air currents in the training ground, making them flow according to his will.

"Is this... a domain?" Tang Ping opened his eyes abruptly, and the law column on his personal panel refreshed instantly: "Law: Wind Domain Level One (1/1000)."

He tried to expand the domain, and the pale blue energy field instantly spread to a ten-meter radius.

When he activated the Wind-Thunder Wings again, the whole world became different. The physical burden of high-speed maneuvers from before had vanished. He felt as if he had truly turned into a gust of wind—ethereal and unpredictable. At times, it was as gentle as a spring breeze, flowing slowly along the ground; at other times, it was as wild as a gale, flashing dozens of times in an instant within the training ground. Every turn perfectly matched the trajectory of the air currents, without the slightest sense of resistance.

"My speed has increased!" Tang Ping pulled up the data panel, a flash of pleasant surprise in his eyes.

His full-speed flight had increased from the previous 5,400 meters per second to 6,480 meters per second. It might seem like an increase of only 1,080 meters per second, but at the Planetary Rank level, every 100 meters per second of improvement requires tremendous effort. A 20% increase is already terrifying.

He tried to condense his strength again and punched the test pillar nearby.

With a "boom," the value on the test pillar jumped instantly: "Base attack power 1.2 million jin (20% domain bonus), three-fold increase from Telekinetic Weapon, 12-fold increase from Spirit Reader secret technique, final attack power 43.2 million jin."

"Not bad, but still not enough to beat that girl." Tang Ping touched his chin, thinking of Luo Xiaoyu's strength.

As a Planetary Rank Level 9 martial artist, her base attack plus force attack reached 18 million jin. Coupled with the five-fold increase from her own secret techniques, her total attack power could reach 90 million jin—more than double his current strength.

"But that's okay." Tang Ping wore a confident smile. "Once I reach the BX10081 Star System, those Star Essence Grass and Thunder Pattern Crystals will come in handy. Breaking through to Planetary Rank Level 9 is just around the corner.

By then, with my base attack power increased, plus the domain bonus, my total attack power will reach at least 388.8 million jin. By then..."

In his mind, he pictured his cold wife looking puffed up after being defeated by him, and he couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Heh heh heh~

Suddenly, he felt a chill on the tip of his nose, and the light in front of him seemed to be blocked by something.

Tang Ping looked up abruptly, his heart skipping a beat: a tiny figure was hovering in front of him, so close it was almost touching his face.

The figure was wearing a black hooded cloak, from which a pair of red eyes glowing with cunning light peeked out. Two pairs of small, transparent wings on its back were flapping rapidly, creating a faint air current.

What made Tang Ping's scalp tingle the most was that the creature had a smile even more evil than his own just a moment ago, with two sharp fangs peeking out from its lips, flashing a cold light under the cold illumination of the Virtual Training Ground.

"Ba, Babata-sama!" Tang Ping reacted instantly, quickly putting away his smile and bowing respectfully.

Babata flapped its small wings, flew a circle around Tang Ping, then landed on his shoulder. It patted his shoulder with its tiny hands, its voice carrying an old, pretentious tone.

"You brat, you've got some potential. To have grasped the Wind Domain at Planetary Rank Level 1—this talent, if placed on Earth right now, would rank in the top three."

It paused, a flash of approval in its red eyes: "As expected of the successor chosen by me, Falling Ink Star. You haven't disgraced the old master."

Hearing the praise, Tang Ping's eyes lit up instantly, looking just like a child waiting for a reward, his breathing even subconsciously softening.

So...

Babata seemed to see through his thoughts, let out a "humph," tilted its little head, and deliberately glanced at him from the corner of its eye: "Don't look at me with those eyes. I was just praising you a bit.

Don't get too proud, either. The universe is huge, and geniuses are as numerous as the hairs on an ox. Not to mention other universe kingdoms, just within the Ganwu Universe Kingdom, there are plenty of Planetary Rankers who have grasped laws, and those who have reached high-level domains are a dime a dozen. Your little achievement isn't much to look at."

Tang Ping wilted instantly, silently complaining to himself: I'm just an ordinary human; how can I compare to those alien freaks who are naturally attuned to the laws...

But just as he was feeling down, Babata changed the subject, its small wings patting his ear: "However, your talent is considered top-tier even within the Luo Family.

According to the Luo Family rules, grasping a domain at the Planetary Rank is rewarded with 10 billion Silver Blue Coins, which converts to 10 million Black Dragon Coins."

It deliberately paused, watching Tang Ping's eyes light up again, before slowly adding: "I'll personally reach into my own pocket and add another 10 million Black Dragon Coins for you."

From now on, for every level you improve your Wind Domain, the family reward plus my subsidy will be this amount.

Work hard, and don't let me down."

After saying this, Babata winked her right eye at Tang Ping, casting a look that could only be described as charming, before flapping her wings. Her figure transformed into a streak of black light, vanishing from the training ground in an instant, leaving only a light, airy "Practice on your own, good luck~" echoing in the air.

Before Tang Ping could recover from this sudden surprise, his personal terminal suddenly emitted a crisp notification sound:

"Beep~ Black Dragon Mountain Empire Bank notification: Your account 98433********82138xewrw has received 20 million Black Dragon Coins. If you require wealth management or investment services, please click the link; if you wish to decline this payment, please reply 'R'."

Staring at the massive figure of "20,000,000.00 Black Dragon Coins" on the terminal screen, Tang Ping was stunned for a full three seconds before he finally reacted, overjoyed.

Lord Babata, loyalty! Falling Ink Star, loyalty!