Greater Insight

"Shall we keep going and start cultivating the second layer?" Xiao Si asked eagerly.

"I'm afraid not." Bai Muye shook his head. "After completing the first layer, my genes were strengthened tenfold, but that's the limit my body can handle in such a short time. If I keep going, there's a much greater chance my genes will exceed that limit and collapse..."

Having just completed the first layer, his control over his body was at its peak. After sensing his condition, he continued, "I'll need to wait at least ten years before I can cultivate again. And..."

"And what?"

"Time might not allow it." As soon as he finished the first layer, Bai Muye had checked how long it had taken him. "The first layer took about three years. The second will take at least ten times as long—thirty years. I don't think Dongluo will let us rest for thirty years."

"Fine. What should we do next?"

"Keep cultivating, of course." Bai Muye smiled. "You still have twenty percent of your energy left. Wouldn't it be a waste not to use it?"

"True. Once you've used it all, I'll absorb more during the battles..."

During the battle against the Zerg a few years ago, he had already advanced to the Domain Lord Second Stage. If he had started absorbing energy to cultivate as soon as he returned, he might have reached the Domain Lord Ninth Stage by now.

But it was worth it. He could acquire more energy in future battles, while cultivating the Body Refining Technique was what would truly lay the foundation for his strength.

Tenfold life-gene strength meant more than a tenfold increase in physical power. His soul and consciousness had also grown tenfold. If he faced that Tiger Armor Zerg from a few years ago now, he would handle it far more easily.

Xiao Si released a stream of pure energy, and Bai Muye began absorbing and refining it.

A month later, he had used up all the energy, but had only reached the peak of the Domain Lord Third Stage, just short of the fourth.

He didn't continue. Cultivation required a balance between exertion and rest. He left the Training Room and met up with Zhan Qiu and the others, his comrades. After spending a few days wandering around, he returned to continue cultivating.

When he met his comrades, he hadn't gone out of his way to ask questions. Still, thanks to Feng Yi's nonstop chatter, he'd learned most of the interesting stories and gossip from the past few years.

Aside from one member of their legion advancing from Domain Lord to Universe Master, there was nothing else worth noting.

Back in the Training Room, he sat cross-legged and sank his consciousness into the Singularity.

"You've absorbed so many souls over the years, including quite a few Universe Masters. Did any of them earn the recognition of a Law?"

"None earned the recognition of a Law, but all the Universe Masters had crossed the threshold of one..."

"Same as always. I'll look through the memories first, then merge with them after you've purified them. I've only been browsing for more than a decade; I haven't had a chance to merge with them yet..."

When he had been at Universe Rank, merging with cultivation insights had taken a long time. Since each rest period between missions had been brief, he had only been able to browse them so far, never actually merging with the insights.

He spent several days browsing the memories of the deceased Universe Masters.

"With your Soul Will now, merging with them will take far less time," Xiao Si said as it purified the memories. "Besides, some of the cultivation insights from Universe Rank are completely useless to you now. You can quickly filter them out as you merge."

"Good. Let's start with the Universe Rank ones."

Xiao Si flicked a root, sending a vast mass of memories into his Soul Crystal. It had actually combined all the Universe Rank cultivation insights into one bundle.

That didn't matter to Bai Muye. The memories contained only cultivation insights; not a trace of emotional memory remained.

Three days later, Bai Muye opened his eyes. With his current strength, he easily absorbed the essence of all the Universe Rank cultivation insights, discarding the worthless parts for Xiao Si to "recycle."

"Don't be so heavy-handed with the Domain Lord Rank ones. Send them over one at a time..." Bai Muye reminded it.

After cultivating the Hunyuan Body Refining Technique, his soul power had increased considerably, and he could merge with the insights much faster. Maintaining a pace of one every three to five days, he finished merging with all the Domain Lord cultivation insights in less than half a year.

When it came to the Universe Master insights, Bai Muye slowed down. Every Universe Master possessed World Force, and the universal classification of techniques was: basics, Artistic Conception, domain, and world.

Only after fully mastering a domain could a Universe Master's Singularity evolve into a world. So every Universe Master's cultivation and insights offered something useful to Bai Muye, who was still a Domain Lord.

He started with the ordinary Universe Masters, spending anywhere from ten days to a month merging with each one.

As expected, the memories of Universe Masters differed from those of Domain Lords. A longer lifespan naturally brought richer combat experience and more cultivation insights.

Even after merging with the insights of these ordinary Universe Masters, Bai Muye could feel himself improving in every respect. Even his Mixed Domain had gained many inspirations and new directions he'd never considered before.

"Only seven had crossed the threshold of a Law: two of fire, one of water, two of wind, one of earth, and one of gold. Which should we start with?"

"The Wind Law and Lightning Law are both lower laws of the Time Law. Let's start with wind..."

Xiao Si readily complied, sending him the cultivation insights of a Universe Master who had crossed the threshold of the Wind Law.

A little over a month later, Bai Muye opened his eyes and shook his head slightly, thinking, Other than having crossed the threshold of the Wind Law, he had little else worth noting...

He glanced at the wall of the Training Room and flicked a finger. A cyan wind blade shot from his fingertip at incredible speed, striking the wall and making the protective barrier ripple violently.

He continued with the insights of another Universe Master who had crossed the threshold of the Wind Law. This one was clearly stronger than the previous one and had greater understanding of the Law. His grasp of the Wind Law had now caught up with his grasp of the Lightning Law.

Then he continued merging with the other Universe Masters' cultivation insights. In less than a year, he had finished with all the rest.

He was now only a Domain Lord Third Stage, but he had crossed the thresholds of six Laws: lightning, wind, gold, water, fire, and earth. Of the eight lower laws, only light and wood remained.

His understanding of the Lightning, Wind, and Gold Laws was about equal, while his grasp of water, fire, and earth was somewhat weaker.

"No matter how many Laws I understand, I still have to turn that understanding into strength..." Bai Muye sighed.

"Of course," Xiao Si said lazily. "The Dao is the source of technique, and technique is how the Dao is applied. Without the Dao, technique can go no further; with the Dao, one can create techniques..."

"With the Dao, one can create techniques? Are you suggesting I create my own secret techniques?"

"It's a little early to create secret techniques at the Domain Lord stage, but you've merged with all those cultivation insights, haven't you? Some of them must include secret techniques that work with the Laws. If they don't suit you, you can improve them and make them your own..."

"Can I try merging two Laws, the way domains are combined?" Bai Muye knew of the Path of the Beast God, but that involved combining an Upper Law with a lower law. Once they were completely fused, one became a Universe Master.

He didn't know whether two lower laws could be merged, or what such a fusion might lead to.

"In theory, of course. But without guidance, you could exhaust your entire lifespan without gaining anything. It would be a terrible waste..."

Bai Muye nodded silently.

He sent most of his consciousness into the Virtual Universe and kept experimenting in the Martial Arena, modifying the secret techniques he'd learned from the merged insights. To his surprise, the process went remarkably smoothly. He combined the best parts of the staff, spear, halberd, and saber techniques he'd cultivated into one.

Bai Muye was surprised by how smoothly it had gone. He had thought it would take at least decades, if not centuries, to achieve anything.

After the two of them discussed it for a while, Xiao Si concluded, "Maybe cultivating the Hunyuan Body Refining Technique greatly increased your insight. Maybe it's because you've merged so many insights. More likely, several factors worked together..."

Bai Muye nodded, unable to stop himself from imagining, Maybe one day, I'll make it to the summit and see what it's like up there?