Fusion

The spaceship hovered beyond the clouds.

Li Dui adjusted his condition, then took a Xueluo Crystal from the wooden box beside him.

The method of fusion was no secret. He had found it in the books he'd read earlier.

He gathered Origin Force in his finger and cut open his left palm. Blood immediately welled up.

Grimacing slightly, he pressed the Xueluo Crystal hard against the wound and waited for the pain to come. He remembered how much Luo Feng had suffered because of this.

"Hm?"

The familiar sensation surprised Li Dui. Then he suddenly understood. Right—the fusion of a Xueluo Crystal began by striking at one's will.

A fierce will surged into Li Dui's sea of consciousness, roaring and snarling. The word "Kill!" echoed again and again through his mind.

But it was no use. Li Dui had the Hula Hoop connected. This trick wouldn't work on him.

Li Dui focused his will and clashed with the fierce force. With every impact, it weakened, while Li Dui grew bolder. At last, he shattered that will.

As the fierce consciousness dissipated, thin red threads emerged from the Xueluo Crystal and wound through the wound in Li Dui's palm, burrowing into his body.

Li Dui braced himself. He knew the pain was coming this time.

"Hm?"

What was going on now? Li Dui was confused.

He only felt a little uncomfortable. It was as if his body had developed a mind of its own and wanted to make some strange movements. But he could easily suppress the urge.

That wasn't right. This was supposed to hurt terribly. His body was supposed to twist into all kinds of strange shapes, and he shouldn't be able to control himself.

"Unable to control myself?" The phrase jolted Li Dui awake. Oh, right! He had the Hula Hoop connected. How could a single Xueluo Crystal make him lose control?

So, if he could control himself, it didn't hurt? And he wouldn't transform?

Made sense.

Li Dui nodded to himself. But would it still work?

Time passed, second by second. Li Dui waited in silence.

The Xueluo Crystal on his palm grew smaller and smaller until it vanished completely. The discomfort and strange urges in his body faded away, too.

Success! With the Ring connected, Li Dui had a keen sense of his own body. Now he could clearly feel a power lying dormant deep within his cells.

He tried to activate that power. It took him a long time to find the right method.

Simple blood-red patterns appeared on the skin of his chest. The world seemed to have changed.

Metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, light, time, space.

The Ten Great Universe Origin Laws became clearer to him.

Of course, that was no use.

So what if they were a little clearer? Even if they were crystal clear in 360 degrees, with no blind spots, and he could zoom in a hundred times and spin them around at will, so what?

Could they ever be as clear as his Hula Hoop?

So he ignored that.

What he wanted was a higher Gene Multiplier. He was finally done being a weakling! Li Dui laughed aloud.

He had never expected the Xueluo Crystal to work this way. He had been prepared for a drawn-out battle, slowly grinding away at it over time.

He glanced at the other Xueluo Crystal in the wooden box, reached over and picked it up, then narrowed his eyes at it.

He drew a deep breath and let it out. This time, he cut a wide gash in his right palm and pressed the Xueluo Crystal against it.

"Urgh!"

A muffled groan escaped Li Dui.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

A terrifying will battered his mind.

This time, Li Dui deliberately severed his connection to the Ring. He had come here to suffer.

"Come on!" Li Dui roared inwardly. He forced himself to focus his will and clash with the fierce, savage force.

Again and again. Each impact left Li Dui dazed and his mind scattered. He gritted his teeth. Though he had never said it aloud, he knew in his heart that willpower was his weakness.

He couldn't even get past the Sixth Island of the Illusion Sea.

Hong could pass twenty islands. Thor and Luo Feng could probably pass more than ten, too.

Willpower wasn't like anything else. Why should he be so much worse than them? Ordinary people could have strong wills. Why couldn't he?

After countless clashes, Li Dui's consciousness began to blur. Still, he hurled himself at that will with all his might.

At last, red threads streamed out of the Xueluo Crystal.

Li Dui was on the verge of losing consciousness, and before he could finish exhaling—"Aah!"

A cry of pain burst from his throat.

His body changed violently in an instant. He swelled like a balloon, growing until he seemed about to burst, then shrank as if punctured and deflated, until he was nothing but skin and bones. Sharp bone spurs slowly grew from his knees, elbows, shoulders, and other joints. His entire body was completely out of his control.

The pain was indescribable.

"Bang!" A hole burst open in Li Dui's chest. A large amount of Blood Luo Power rapidly flowed back into the Xueluo Crystal.

Li Dui's body returned to its normal shape. Gasping for breath, he slowly used Origin Force to heal the wound in his chest.

"Ptooey." He spat out a mouthful of blood.

It had taken no more than twenty minutes. But the hardship and agony were unlike anything he'd experienced in either of his two lives.

It was worth it! He'd been right. This really could temper and strengthen his will.

Li Dui decided he would do this again every so often.

In that case, he couldn't cheat by fusing with a second crystal for now. Each successive Xueluo Crystal was harder to fuse with. This second one was perfect for training. As for the ones after that, if they knocked him unconscious right from the start, the training would be pointless.

Sixteenth Cloud Layer.

The E9-Grade Spaceship was parked not far behind Li Dui.

After resting enough beyond the clouds, Li Dui returned to the Xueluo World. Then he suddenly felt like getting out to stretch his legs.

The cloud layer was vast, so the odds of running into an Immortal God-level native were tiny. And if he did, he could always run.

The long blade in his hand flashed. Giant Axe Third Blade.

The blade light swept silently through the clouds, carving a rift that stretched an unknown distance.

This was Li Dui's first time using a secret technique of this level. The move that had killed Kuang Yu earlier had only been a peak Fourth Layer technique of the Heaven's Bridge. Its power was nowhere near this one.

"Wait, I'm an idiot. I keep saying there's nothing to cut. Isn't there something right here?" Li Dui suddenly turned to look at his E9-Grade Spaceship.

This would work. With the protective shield up and the defensive runes activated, it could withstand several attacks from an ordinary Immortal.

He immediately ordered Xiao Le to activate all the spaceship's defenses.

"Clang!"

Giant Axe Third Blade. Its power was just enough to reach the Eleventh Layer of the Heaven's Bridge, wielded by Li Dui, a peak Universe Rank fighter with a twofold Gene Multiplier.

The spaceship's defensive shield rippled as if brushed by a gentle breeze.

"No damage. Energy consumption: 0.077%," Xiao Le reported.

Li Dui nodded. That result made sense. At most, the strike was equivalent to the power of a World Lord just entering the Ninth Layer of the Heaven's Bridge.

"Clang!"

This time, he struck with a blade infused with the Origin Law of Space.

The spaceship's shield trembled slightly.

"No damage. Energy consumption: 0.36%."

Huh? Had he gone too easy on it? Li Dui had to admit he had no experience.

Again.

"Boom!"

The spaceship's shield swayed.

"No damage. Energy consumption: 0.98%."

With the previous strike as a test, Li Dui had gauged this one more precisely. It could reach the Twelfth Layer of the Heaven's Bridge—enough to suppress 99.99999% of World Lords in existence.

Again! The power of the spatial laws, chilling to the bone, surged along Li Dui's blade.

"Bang!"

The spaceship was knocked back dozens of kilometers. Its protective shield shuddered violently, nearly breaking.

"No damage. Energy loss: 15.92%. Defensive limit nearly reached. Danger! Danger! Danger!"