Journey Through the Dark Universe

In the vast, boundless Dark Universe, this is a massive expanse where the only things present are points of light that glow like fireflies. It is an ocean of "light points," and aside from these beautiful specks, the only thing in this vast space is a saucer-shaped, stone-gray C6-Class Spaceship flying silently at a constant speed.

The ship now houses over a thousand people. The interior is divided into three levels—upper, middle, and lower—with each deck standing over ten meters high. Because of this, many rooms inside feature bunk beds stacked four levels high. A room of only a dozen square meters, thanks to its ten-meter height, can house eight people without feeling crowded.

Fortunately, most of them are Planetary Rank powerhouses with astonishing physical constitutions, so even the cramped living space has no impact on them. They do not need to breathe, and eating is not a necessity; they can survive by absorbing cosmic energy. Aside from cultivation, they are not entirely idle on the ship. Su Ke was very considerate toward these slaves; before leaving Purple Phoenix Planet, he bought each of them an auxiliary light brain and a Virtual Universe account, so they can pass the time in the Virtual Universe when they have nothing to do.

"You can still see different scenery in the starry sky, but everything you see in the Dark Universe is exactly the same. This place is narrow and stuffy; staying here for too long could really drive us crazy."

"Yeah, interstellar travel is very boring. The scenery outside never changes."

"It's a good thing the master is considerate and lets us enter the Virtual Universe to play."

"Indeed, we've met a good master."

"Let's go into the Virtual Universe and play some games later."

"No, I still plan to cultivate for a while longer."

In one room, a group of Planetary Rank slaves gathered to chat.

As for Su Ke's friends and family—the family of Zuo Mu, Eloy and her daughter, and his own parents—their living conditions are naturally the best. They live on a different deck than the slave guards, and they even have their own individual rooms, which are not crowded at all.

In one of these rooms, a pair of blue-haired women are talking.

One possesses long, deep blue hair like the ocean, flowing like a waterfall over her fair shoulders, adding a touch of softness and charm. Her face is almost a carbon copy of Eloy's, only much more mature, and her figure is even fuller.

"Daughter, you've known Su Ke for so long. What do you think of him? Do you have any ideas?" Eloy's mother seems to be having a heart-to-heart with her daughter, though there is a hint of helplessness in the young woman's eyes.

Eloy bites her thin lips. Ever since arriving on the ship, her mother has been dropping hints, seemingly trying to set her up with Su Ke.

No, to put it bluntly, she is trying to seduce him.

She understands her mother's mindset—that it is no shame for the weak to rely on the strong—but in her heart, she instinctively resists such an approach.

Being so impatient, making it seem as if she is coveting something from him—Eloy is still a girl who values independence and self-improvement.

She touches the stone necklace on her chest, thinking involuntarily of her late uncle, and feels a slight sadness in her heart.

On the other side, the Zuo Mu household is not as quiet as Eloy's. His family is larger, and the children have more active personalities. If Zuo Mu's parents don't keep an eye on them, these little ones often end up in a chaotic mess.

"This brother Su Ke is truly incredible; he actually gave me so many cultivation resources." Zuo Mu, who has already broken through to the Planetary Rank, says boisterously.

The cultivation resources Su Ke purchased, after supplying his parents, were shared with his two best friends, Zuo Mu and Eloy.

"Brother, my dear brother, you can't forget your cutest sisters now that you've got the good stuff." Three younger sisters surround Zuo Mu, acting spoiled.

They are currently only apprentices, and seeing this "good-for-nothing" brother break through has made them very envious; they want to enjoy the same treatment.

They originally wanted to pester Su Ke, but while the adults know their boundaries, these children do not quite understand and do not hold much awe for the current Su Ke.

They are only kept at bay by the guards, and Su Ke finds them quite a headache.

As for their relationship, they have known each other since childhood, and they are practically like Su Ke's own sisters.

So, he avoids them whenever he can, to prevent himself from inexplicably becoming a son-in-law to the Zuo Mu family one day.

Zuo Mu's two older sisters are also envious of their brother's fortune, but as older sisters, they cannot beg him like the younger ones, so they can only think of other ways to squeeze some benefits out of him.

Zuo Mu grins foolishly.

He feels as if he has become the center of the family, and even his parents now value his opinions.

Of course... he isn't a complete fool; he knows this is all because of his brother, Su Ke.

Otherwise, why would those Stellar Rank powerhouses be so polite to him?

In a cultivation room on the top deck of the ship, Su Ke, wearing loose training clothes and holding a battle saber, is silently and earnestly practicing the secret technique Eighteen Star Rays with perfectly standard movements.

It isn't too cramped; the walls made of C6-Class Spaceship materials, despite the small space, show no signs of damage even when he practices with all his might.

The attribute bar has very rigid requirements; one wrong movement or angle is equivalent to practicing in vain, and he has to start over from the beginning.

[Eighteen Star Rays: 12%/Level 3]

Half a month has passed since entering the Dark Universe. Su Ke spends a large amount of time every day practicing the secret technique while using treasures like Azure Marrow to improve his physical constitution.

They are now a full four star systems away from the Feiluo Star System.

Having found no signs of the Blood Spring Society catching up, Su Ke has immersed himself in cultivation.

Generally speaking, cultivation is very boring, tedious, and arduous, and many people cannot persist.

Cultivation is merely a means to become stronger, and becoming stronger is a process to achieve one's goals.

Therefore, the strong usually have unwavering willpower.

But Su Ke is different; he finds that cultivation can be addictive.

It is a form of real-time positive feedback. Whether it is using treasures and watching his physical constitution constantly improve, or practicing saber techniques and watching the progress on his attribute bar rise, he feels joy.

There is a sense that "my hard work has not been in vain."

To hell with everything else; he only needs to move forward along his path.

During this time, Su Ke has also been researching his so-called "Cultivation Alienation" talent.

He discovered that "Cultivation Alienation" should be the digitization of certain states of his cultivation, which are then separated and categorized.

He vaguely discovered that the cultivation progress after being digitized was different from his own actual cultivation progress.

In real-world cultivation, aside from constant accumulation, he might occasionally have a flash of inspiration that leads to a sudden, massive breakthrough in a certain area.

However, the data after Cultivation Alienation works differently; the attribute bar remains the same from 1% to 99% until the upgrade is reached, with no changes whatsoever.

It is just like a game where a character gains experience, and only upon leveling up from level 1 to level 2 do they receive stat points and new skills.

The cultivation progress bar can only be filled through honest, step-by-step accumulation; there are no shortcuts to take.

But after a breakthrough, information and changes corresponding to that level flood into his body and consciousness simultaneously, as if he had truly earned that progress through all that hard work.

It is somewhat inconceivable.

If a genius were to practice, they might reach level 99 on their own in a year, whereas if they had to grind this attribute bar, they might still be stuck at level 1... Su Ke complained inwardly.

Whether it is a tragedy or a stroke of luck, Su Ke is not a genius; he is just an ordinary person in the traditional sense.

Therefore, this golden finger is still extremely useful to him.

It requires no conditions; he simply needs to practice according to the manual.

As long as he hasn't reached the cap, there are no bottlenecks.

Thus, the second shortcoming of this golden finger is that it lacks creative ability; the limit of the manual is its ultimate ceiling.

Fortunately for Su Ke, creating manuals and such is still a matter for the distant future.

"Boom!" Su Ke threw a punch, feeling that powerful force.

"Triple force output!"

Su Ke felt a sense of being moved.

He had worked hard for so many years before, yet his force output was only a little over double.

And now, through this talent, in just half a month, his force output had actually reached triple!

As that inexplicable information and memory flooded into his mind, it seemed that his realm had also stepped from the Mastery level of blade technique into the Perfection level!

Practice a blade ten thousand times, and its meaning will reveal itself!

However, Su Ke was not sure if this was brought about by the Cultivation Alienation talent or the result of his own accumulated insights.

From level 1 to level 3 of the manual, Su Ke keenly noticed that the time required was increasing, or rather, the progress gained from practice was becoming slower.

Although it was not obvious at the moment, he estimated that at higher levels of the manual, the progress would increase even more slowly, and the time required would become ever greater.

Besides this, this "talent" might also have some secrets he had yet to discover.

For instance, is there a difference between him practicing an Apprentice Rank manual while at the Planetary Rank, versus practicing a Planetary Rank or even a Stellar Rank manual?

Su Ke was currently only practicing the Apprentice chapter of Eighteen Star Rays.

During the tedious time of the spaceship traveling through the Dark Universe, Su Ke thought to himself, feeling both pained and happy, finding joy in his own company. "Hmm, if I can live long enough, maybe I can grind my way to becoming an Origin Lord with this?"