Compared to Witch Qi Fei's carefree life, Swallowing Qi Fei had it a little rougher... though maybe not by much.
Swallowing Qi Fei had also been born through reincarnation.
Not long after he was born, his mother in this life abandoned him.
However, Earth was still in the midst of its war against monsters at the time, and every country had plenty of facilities such as orphanages.
So Qi Fei managed to grow up, more or less without incident.
When he was eleven, some of his memories from his previous life awakened along with a mysterious power.
From that day onward, Qi Fei discovered that he could move small objects with his mind.
He also learned that this world was called Swallowed Star.
At first, Qi Fei was pretty excited.
He'd crossed over into the world of a web novel, where he could seize the protagonist's opportunities and reach the pinnacle of life... Among the fragments of memory he'd recovered were several novels with similar plots.
But before long, Qi Fei gradually came to terms with reality.
Unlike Luo Feng, the protagonist, whose Spiritual Force awakened at the Junior War General level—at least eight tons—Qi Fei's Spiritual Force initially had only about a hundred kilograms of force behind it.
Based on what Qi Fei remembered, the greater a Spirit Reader's potential Spiritual Force, the harder it was to awaken, but the stronger they would be once they did.
At his level, his talent was only marginally better than nothing.
Steal Luo Feng's opportunities?
Setting aside whether he could cultivate with his own talent after taking them, or whether he could handle the crises to come, even the artificial intelligence guarding Black Ink Star's inheritance—the first opportunity Luo Feng came across—might not consider him worthy.
So he'd better give up on that idea.
He would cultivate diligently, then find a way to run into Luo Feng and pretend he'd recognized Luo Feng's talent. He'd do his best to train him.
Once City Lord Luo made it big, tagging along and becoming an Immortal shouldn't be a problem.
Compared with the ambitions of other transmigrators, that goal was indeed a little modest.
But an Immortal could live forever and wield enough power to destroy stars. That was more than enough to get by in some backwater place.
After settling on his plan, Qi Fei cultivated diligently, became a warrior, joined the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, and hunted monsters...
Finally, when he was already thirty-seven, Qi Fei successfully "ran into" sixteen-year-old Luo Feng at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall.
The thought that he could finally put his plan into action brought tears to Qi Fei's eyes.
He'd finally made it.
After that, Qi Fei said he had taken a liking to Luo Feng, and would offer him advice from time to time, along with a little inspirational pep talk.
Luo Feng was deeply moved.
More than half a year passed, and the two gradually became both friends and mentor and student.
Once they had grown close, Luo Feng finally confided a secret he had kept buried in his heart.
He had lost consciousness twice in the past, and each time he woke up, his physical fitness had improved.
Luo Feng wanted to know what kind of illness he had. Would it affect his college entrance exams in the future?
Qi Fei was overjoyed.
He'd been waiting for a chance to "discover" it himself, but Luo Feng had come clean on his own. What a delightful surprise!
So Qi Fei immediately explained the concept of Spirit Readers to Luo Feng.
He told Luo Feng that it wasn't an illness, but an innate talent.
Then Qi Fei took Luo Feng on as an official disciple and began teaching him how to cultivate.
As a middle-grade War General—called Apprentice fifth rank in the universe—and a Junior War God-level Spirit Reader—Apprentice seventh rank—Qi Fei found it easy to instruct Luo Feng, who wasn't even a Junior Warrior yet.
However, Earth had few cultivation resources in the early stages, so Luo Feng's strength didn't improve quickly, even with Qi Fei's guidance.
Not long ago, Luo Feng had finally become a warrior and awakened his own Spiritual Force.
In his happiness, Qi Fei's last remaining memories had awakened too, and he entered the Shared Space.
"...You may not be as chaotic as Witch Qi Fei, but you're hardly a paragon of propriety yourself."
After looking through his memories, Shen San Qi Fei couldn't help making that remark.
A Junior War God-level Spirit Reader could already throw his weight around in many places on Earth.
On top of that, he had the pressure of betting that Luo Feng would be able to face all the crises ahead.
So Swallowing Qi Fei had enjoyed himself quite a bit over the years.
If Luo Feng hadn't been secretly in love with someone, Swallowing Qi Fei might have led even this innocent protagonist astray.
"Mine was a pure, consensual transaction involving money. That's way better than her kind of thing, where she deceives people into falling for her."
Swallowing Qi Fei immediately defended himself.
"If both sides are willing, how can you call it deception?"
Witch Qi Fei said, with no real justification but all the confidence in the world.
"Forget it. You two can stop competing over who's better at having fun and hurry back to digest your power."
Dou Po Qi Fei reminded them.
The Power of Destruction wasn't something they could digest just like that.
In truth, he didn't need to remind them. Both Qi Feis had already noticed the power surging inside them.
So they hurriedly left the Shared Space.
Witch World.
The first thing Qi Fei felt was her magic on the verge of running wild.
Before this, her magic had totaled nine thousand gongs, which was considered pretty good among witches.
With a few more lucky breaks, she'd most likely become a Great Witch—a Legendary Creature—during her second growth phase.
But after receiving the power of the other Qi Feis, the immense force inside her continuously transformed into magic, rapidly pushing her past the minimum of twenty thousand gongs required to become a Great Witch.
Her bloodline stirred in response to her rapidly increasing magic.
Dormant advantageous genes activated, stimulating Qi Fei's body to develop and accelerating the growth of her magic even further.
At that moment, the Power of Destruction joined in.
The power split into three portions: one merged with her magic, another joined with her soul, and the last latched onto the bloodline inside her.
Meanwhile, although the energy drawn in from outside was scarce, it continued flowing into her without end.
Qi Fei was on the verge of going berserk.
"No panic. I can still handle this."
With a single thought, she suppressed the restless magic, which was surging too quickly.
Witches and God Boundary Breakers alike wielded power with an Idealism aspect. With the two combined, suppressing her own power was a piece of cake.
Then Qi Fei took out the materials she had originally planned to use to strengthen her bloodline and began preparing a Magic Potion.
Since her bloodline was already evolving, she might as well make the most of it.
"Storm Dragon brain, blood essence, Feather-Wing Dragon spinal cord, and Sea Siren eyeballs, with seeds from the Life Fruit Tree as an additive..."
Thanks to the accumulated talents of all the Qi Feis, Witch Qi Fei had never found brewing a Magic Potion so easy.
She quickly adjusted the recipe to suit her condition and the materials on hand, then finished brewing it in just a few minutes.
Without waiting for it to cool, Qi Fei gulped down the potion, then jumped straight into the swimming pool at her home.
At the same time, the natural-environment simulator outside the pool activated as well.
Tides, waves, sea breezes... A fully realistic natural environment formed inside the swimming pool.
The furnishings, which had originally been there just to make things more comfortable, now played an important role in helping Qi Fei undergo her transformation.
Swallowed Star world.
As soon as Qi Fei returned, he ran into trouble.
In the Swallowed Star setting, Apprentice-level warriors had nothing but physical strength. They possessed no other special powers.
As a result, the moment the power from the other Qi Feis entered his body, it threw him into chaos.
At the same time, following the process it had gone through several times before, the Power of Destruction merged into Qi Fei's soul, drawing in the chaotic energy from outside along with it.
Then Qi Fei's Spiritual Force began to surge, growing and growing without end!
The two forces that had suddenly increased clashed, battling inside Qi Fei's body with quite a commotion.
"Since things have come to this, I might as well go all out."
Qi Fei raised a hand and suppressed both forces inside him.
Shen San Qi Fei had used this chance to advance straight to God Boundary Breaker. There was no reason Qi Fei, whose talent was now even better, couldn't break through too.
Qi Fei immediately decided to seize the opportunity and reach Planet Level.
First up was his Spirit Reader cultivation.
The original novel had made it quite clear: strengthen your will, and once it became powerful enough, a Spirit Reader would naturally break through to Planet Level, first rank.
The God Boundary Breaker's will was already sufficiently powerful, not to mention the chaotic energy drawn in by the Power of Destruction.
All sorts of energy merged into Qi Fei's mind, giving rise to countless chaotic images.
He saw the struggle between humans and monsters, the terrible hardships of the Great Nirvana period, World War II, World War I, and even the distant past.
He saw humans fighting one another in an age when Earth wasn't even called Earth yet...
But no matter how the images shifted, Qi Fei remained true to himself.
In this way, he strengthened his Spiritual Force and tempered his will.
No one knew how much time had passed before Qi Fei's Spiritual Force reached a critical point.
After that, it could no longer grow by even the slightest amount.
Qi Fei knew that this was the limit of the Apprentice level. All he had to do now was break through the barrier and reach Planet Level.
"A mere barrier like this thinks it can stop me?"
Give me a break. I'm Qi Fei Pro Max Ultra, with five layers of enhancement. A mere barrier to first-rank Planet Level? Get out of my way.
At Qi Fei's command, a singularity appeared at the center of his Sea of Consciousness, releasing an immense gravitational pull.
All his Spiritual Force was drawn into it, like matter being devoured by a black hole.
In the end, nothing remained in his Sea of Consciousness but a point of light, shaped like a planet, quietly giving off a dim glow.
It was black and translucent throughout. On closer inspection, he could see traces within it like rivers and mountains.
That was proof that he had become a Planet Level Spirit Reader.
A subtle sensation came from deep within the tiny planet.
"Special ability? I'll look at it later."
Qi Fei set aside the special ability that had emerged from his Spiritual Force and prepared to deal with the other power in his body.
After his Spirit Reader cultivation reached Planet Level, Qi Fei's body also underwent a rapid transformation.
His body, already strengthened by the Shared Space, quickly reached Apprentice ninth rank.
"It's time for the warrior side to break through too."
Qi Fei sat cross-legged and assumed the Five Hearts Toward Heaven posture, absorbing cosmic energy and converting it into Genetic Origin Energy.
As if guided by the Genetic Origin Energy, the suppressed power quickly transformed into energy of the same nature.
Then a green planet wreathed in flames took shape in Qi Fei's dantian.
A second followed, then a third. Only after the third had fully formed did the energy in Qi Fei's body finally run out.
"That was much easier than I expected."
Qi Fei slowly let out a breath, adjusting to his completely changed body.
Powerful. Perfect.
This was only Planet Level, and yet it was already this impressive. No wonder the Swallowed Star world was known for its numbers.
After marveling at his newfound strength, Qi Fei began inspecting his powers.
First, he checked the Life Bead he'd received from Heavenly Jewel Change Qi Fei.
But the moment Qi Fei summoned the Life Bead, a vast power descended right in front of him.
Unlike the Supreme God of Destruction that Coiling Dragon Qi Fei had seen, this power had no form, yet it made Qi Fei feel as if he had returned to his mother's embrace.
Qi Fei's mind nearly ground to a halt.
But the power didn't stop.
It swept over the Life Bead, paused briefly on the Will Jewel, then merged directly into Qi Fei's body.
The next moment, Qi Fei's Life Bead, the Mental Talent still being transformed, the special power born from the Power of Destruction within his Spiritual Force, and the ability he had naturally gained after breaking through as a warrior all began to undergo a metamorphosis.
Their structures were complex and intricate, yet incredibly elegant. They appeared within all four, then were perfected in the blink of an eye.
By the time Qi Fei came to his senses, that mysterious power had vanished. All that remained were four Innate Secret Techniques.
Qi Fei examined the changes in himself, still dazed.
He started with his Life Bead.
That power seemed to have been drawn in by it, so checking it first was definitely the right call.
"Physical Jewel: improves overall attributes. Nothing special. Will Jewel: records skills and removes all usage restrictions and limits on skills and secret techniques, but each Innate Secret Technique can only be recorded once..."
When Qi Fei read this far, he immediately understood.
Crap. The universe patched the bug.
After seeing the Power of Destruction strengthen Coiling Dragon Qi Fei's Life Bead, Qi Fei's first thought had been to record the Golden Horned Beast's Clone Secret Technique.
And not just once. He'd planned to record it on all twelve Will Jewels, or even more.
The Golden Horned Beast's innate cloning technique could use the genetic information of other species to create a clone of that species, up to a maximum of three.
In Qi Fei's hands, that would mean at least thirty-six clones.
Even if the Golden Horned Beast's Clone Secret Technique had a genetic-level restriction that prevented Qi Fei from creating clones of top-tier species, thirty-six clones would still be enough to solve most problems.
Now, though, it was over. The universe had sealed it.
"I was wondering why I suddenly got four Innate Secret Techniques. So this is my compensation for patching the bug."
Qi Fei felt like crying but had no tears.
It had four Innate Secret Techniques—one more than even the Golden Horned Beast, a race ranked among the most powerful in the entire Universe.
But when Qi Fei thought of what he had lost—33 bodies and the Innate Secret Techniques that came with them—his heart ached.
Thirty-three clones. Thirty-three possibilities.
"Alas..."
It took Qi Fei quite a while to get his emotions under control.
"Forget it. Clones are about quality, not quantity. Maybe now I can make clones of those top-tier races. What's so bad about that?"
Qi Fei did his best to convince himself.
Before you continue