A Hundredfold Gene!

"That's how it is. It's not that the commander doesn't want to take you along; it's just that you're a Domain Lord now, so you can't form a squad and operate with us..."

Zhu Ang had specially invited Bai Muye out for a drink to tell him about Dongluo's plans.

He looked at Bai Muye and sighed. "If you were a Realm Lord now—even just a First Stage Realm Lord—I'd ask the commander to let you come with us..."

"Thank you for thinking so highly of me, sir."

Bai Muye fell silent for a moment, then asked, "Sir, what will happen to the rest of us?"

"We'll be split up and assigned to other legions. Most likely, we'll end up in Commander Gong Nuoxiao's legion," Zhu Ang told him honestly.

"Actually, if you don't want to keep fighting with a legion, there's another option..."

Bai Muye's eyes lit up. "Please, tell me."

"If you're confident you can become a Realm Lord within a hundred years, you can apply to the Military System for an extended period in seclusion. If you make it within that time, you'll naturally have the right to choose what to do next. If you don't, you'll have to accept whatever assignment the Military System gives you..."

Zhu Ang glanced at him. "You've earned quite a bit of Military Merit. You can exchange it for treasures that aid cultivation. There's a good chance you could reach the Domain Lord Ninth Stage within a few decades. Given your current level, breaking through to Realm Lord shouldn't be difficult..."

"Thank you for letting me know, sir." Bai Muye was overjoyed. He hadn't expected the Military System to have a rule like that.

"But you don't get many chances like this. Each Domain Lord can apply only once, and usually it's a Domain Lord Ninth Stage who applies so they can break through," Zhu Ang said, giving him a long look. "When you become a Realm Lord, remember to contact me."

Bai Muye returned to the Training Room and checked the Military System. Sure enough, every Domain Lord was eligible to apply for one extended period in seclusion, for up to a hundred years. During that time, they didn't have to go out and fight.

Bai Muye applied at once. His application was approved soon after, and he was assigned a private residence to use as his cultivation grounds during his seclusion.

First, he went to say goodbye to the friends he'd gotten to know over the years, including Zhan Qiu and Feng Yi. Though they were clearly reluctant to see him go, they all wished him a swift breakthrough to Realm Lord.

After packing his things, he headed to the place assigned to him by the Military System.

Scattered across a vast ocean lay countless islands. Each was small, and they were packed fairly close together, so there were a great many of them.

He flew over the water between the islands and soon found his own. After verifying his identity, he became the island's temporary owner. No one else could enter without his permission.

"At last, I've got a decent stretch of time to cultivate..." Bai Muye let out a long breath.

After Zhu Ang told him the Dongluo Legion would be disbanded, he'd considered retiring. With his current Military Merit, he could apply for retirement right away.

But he still hadn't decided where to go or what to do after retiring.

He had to take revenge on the Domain Lord who had caused Luoluobai Muye to become a slave. But with his current strength, he wasn't sure he could do it.

After all, the Human Territory wasn't a place where people could kill freely like the Outer Battlefield. To kill a Domain Lord, he'd need to be a Realm Lord at the very least. Ideally, he'd be able to end the fight quickly and decisively.

Xiao Si, inside his Singularity, had played an indispensable role in helping him reach his current strength. Without Xiao Si's ability to devour and purify memories, he could still have cultivated to his current level on his own—but it would have taken countless times longer.

Xiao Si needed to devour souls in order to grow. That also provided Bai Muye with an endless supply of cultivation insights and pure energy. Where could be better for that than the Outer Battlefield?

As for the danger, the Human Territory wasn't necessarily any safer. He could bump into some powerful figure just walking down the street and end up dead without even knowing why.

Joining one of the major powers was an option. With his strength, he could do it. But he was tired of taking orders and being controlled by others.

The Outer Battlefield had been a last resort. But once he became a Realm Lord, he'd choose Freedom right away. Then he'd be free as a bird in the vast sky: he could keep adventuring if he wanted, or stop and cultivate whenever he pleased. That was the life he wanted—doing as he wished, living as he pleased!

After taking a day to rest and unwind, he brought himself into peak condition. Next, he would continue cultivating the second layer of the Hunyuan Body Refining Technique.

Once he mastered the second layer, he'd have a hundredfold gene. Combined with a hundredfold perfect force output, he wouldn't fear a low-stage Realm Lord.

More than a decade had passed since he mastered the first layer. His body had long since adapted to the tenfold gene, and now he was ready to take the next step in his genetic evolution.

He sank his consciousness into the Singularity and studied the second layer of the Body Refining Technique over and over, rehearsing it countless times in his mind.

He had no choice. One small mistake could make his genes collapse. Xiao Si could protect his Singularity, but it would still have to expend energy to repair his body. He didn't even know whether he'd keep the gains from the first layer. If he had to start over from the beginning, who could he complain to?

After several months of running through the process countless times, he finally began cultivating in earnest.

Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he focused all his attention and poured his entire consciousness into the Singularity.

The Singularity glimmered faintly. Countless golden sigils appeared on its gray shell, and then three thousand strands of energy shot out from it, connecting to the three thousand apertures in his body.

His consciousness followed the strands into the apertures, where he began building an even more perfect structure on top of what was already there.

He followed the instructions in the Body Refining Technique to the letter. He didn't understand why he had to do it this way, or why it would make the structure of the Energy Apertures more perfect.

What he didn't realize was that as he rebuilt the Energy Apertures again and again, his comprehension was steadily improving without him noticing.

This step alone took more than ten times as long as building the apertures for the first layer. The structure of the three thousand Energy Apertures was also at least ten times more complex and perfect than before.

As soon as he finished building the final Energy Aperture, all three thousand apertures once again produced an immense pull, just as they had the first time. This time, however, the force was far stronger than it had been during the first layer.

Fortunately, Xiao Si had stored a tremendous amount of energy over the past decade or so. One reason was that Bai Muye had killed many enemies over the years, most of them high-stage Domain Lords. After each kill, he'd put the enemy's body into his storage space so he could absorb its energy completely.

But the more important reason was that Xiao Si had grown again.

In its own words, after its roots had grown a second time, it could reach a tenth of a light-second. Now they extended nearly half a light-second.

In other words, it could devour souls, memories, and energy from anywhere within a radius of nearly 150,000 kilometers.

During legion battles, the different battlefields were rarely more than 50,000 kilometers apart. So over the past decade or so, Xiao Si had devoured the souls and energy of countless Realm Lords.

It couldn't absorb energy indiscriminately, though. It had to choose parts that wouldn't draw too much attention, since those parts of a body would visibly change after their energy was drained.

Without Bai Muye having to say anything, Xiao Si released pure energy on its own. Bai Muye then controlled it, directing it into the three thousand apertures.

Only after an unknown amount of energy had been absorbed did the pull from the apertures finally fade.

Under his control, every Energy Aperture began sending out strands that connected to the others.

Before long, pale golden threads of energy covered the inside of his body. Some even pierced through his skin, making it look as though a pale golden cocoon had formed around him.

The flesh, muscles, bones, and skin throughout his body began trembling on their own. Deep within every cell, his genes slowly began to evolve.

As this happened, layer upon layer of golden sigils were branded onto the shell of his Singularity, each one disappearing into it as soon as it was inscribed.

Bai Muye was so immersed in cultivation that he didn't notice. But Xiao Si, inside the Singularity, did notice the sigils—there were far more this time than before. Even so, it had no idea what they meant.

A month... A year... Ten years...

Thirty years later, the golden cocoon around Bai Muye suddenly contracted, clinging to the surface of his body before finally disappearing into him.

He slowly opened his eyes. Feeling a body countless times stronger than it had been thirty years ago, Bai Muye smiled without a sound.