Sublimation

After learning what had transpired during his coma, Lin Chenxing requested the Five-Heart-to-Heaven cultivation method from Xi Qing and began attempting to practice it.

However, before he could even stand up, stepping into the path of cultivation was entirely impossible.

While feeling disappointed, Lin Chenxing realized that he seemed able to return to the bamboo body he had previously occupied with just a single thought.

Since his current body was not yet capable of cultivation, he might as well go to that other body to explore its potential, which would also serve as preparation for the future.

During the three or four days he lay in the hospital bed unable to move freely, Lin Chenxing had carefully studied the unique characteristics of this bamboo body.

First, a bamboo forest, regardless of the number of stalks, was a single entity as long as they were connected by bamboo roots, sharing a single consciousness.

Second, the primary means of attack for the bamboo were nothing more than bamboo leaves, stalks, branches, and roots; once these were countered, it was essentially a dead end.

Third, the ability the bamboo forest had previously displayed—sacrificing a portion of the bamboo to strengthen the remainder—was known in the forest's memory as "Transference." After using this ability, nutrients from some stalks could be diverted to others, granting the recipient stalks the opportunity to alter their own traits.

Finally, there was the "severing the tail to survive" tactic: the bamboo forest could cut off a portion of its roots to form two separate parts, each becoming an independent individual that did not affect the other. This was the fundamental reason the bamboo forest had been able to survive, though Lin Chenxing had intercepted that outcome.

Among these, the most important ability for Lin Chenxing was "Transference." This capacity to alter one's own traits through nutrients could achieve many things that seemed impossible for a human.

For instance, continuously strengthening the bamboo leaves to form Bamboo Leaf Flying Daggers; the feasibility of this direction was extremely high.

However, given the current situation, it would be very difficult for Lin Chenxing to implement his plan.

He would wait—wait until his strength grew greater and he regained a portion of the base's authority. That would be the time to initiate his plan.

Finally, Lin Chenxing regained control over his body and entered the rehabilitation phase, though all of this was conducted in strict secrecy.

As Lin Chenxing's protector and caregiver, Xi Qing also began serving as the instructor for his rehabilitation training.

Once Lin Chenxing could adapt to a certain level of strenuous exercise, Xi Qing began sparring with him to help him recover the combat capabilities he possessed before his coma.

After medical checkups confirmed there were no issues, Lin Chenxing officially began his first session of Five-Heart-to-Heaven cultivation.

Lin Chenxing sat cross-legged with his soles facing upward, then gently placed his hands on his legs with his palms facing up, his head slightly raised, and his back straight.

"According to Xi Qing, this Five-Heart-to-Heaven technique is the standard among existing cultivation methods. All other methods are modifications based on it, yet none can help us significantly improve our physical fitness. Even this method requires a certain level of physical fitness to practice. However, our previous physical fitness already far exceeded the standard requirements, so there was almost no one who failed to cultivate it."

Lin Chenxing took a deep breath, relaxed his body, and began to practice according to the instructions of the cultivation method.

The first step, and also the most difficult step of the entire method, was sensing. Only by sensing the energy permeating the universe and the Earth could one step into subsequent cultivation. According to existing statistics, the fastest person in the entire base to sense the energy took only a little over three hours, while the slowest took about ten days.

In fact, this was related to the basic situation of the base; the Martial Artists in the base generally continued high-intensity training after reaching the standard physical requirements, causing their physical fitness to exceed the norm significantly. Under such circumstances, sensing cosmic energy naturally wouldn't be slow.

Because of the time he had spent in the void, Lin Chenxing's ability to control his consciousness was very strong, and he instantly entered a state of complete emptiness.

One minute, two minutes... an hour; time gradually slipped away.

Gradually, Lin Chenxing began to lose track of time, becoming completely immersed in a state of meditation.

In this state, Lin Chenxing felt as if he had fallen into a void once again, but within this void, he felt a sense of warmth, as if he had returned to the womb.

Streams of energy poured into his body continuously through the Baihui Acupoint on the top of his head, the centers of his feet, and the centers of his palms. Lin Chenxing did not pay attention to these currents, continuing to immerse himself in that warm sensation.

Suddenly, Lin Chenxing felt a tremor from the depths of his bone marrow, which directly caused that warm sensation to vanish.

At this moment, Lin Chenxing noticed that faint, minuscule wisps of energy were approaching his Baihui Acupoint, palms, and soles, seeping in. He had no idea how long they had been infiltrating.

"Could this be the so-called cosmic energy?" Lin Chenxing began to focus his consciousness, continuously strengthening the thought of "absorbing cosmic energy," and those wisps of cosmic energy began to flow in from the "five hearts" like a tidal surge.

His body cells, which had been feeling famished, began to devour them frantically.

As the cosmic energy entered, the mitochondria in each cell worked rapidly, absorbing the energy while releasing a strange energy distinct from the cosmic energy. This energy was quickly absorbed by other parts of the cells, triggering a series of earth-shattering changes. DNA began to undergo a certain degree of alteration, and the cells began to divide.

This was an evolution at the level of life itself, an even greater evolution than the one he had survived after the RR Virus. Whether it was his skin, muscles, bones, or even the deeper levels of every cell and gene, everything was optimized.

At the same time, Lin Chenxing's other body—that bamboo plant—also underwent earth-shattering changes. Under Lin Chenxing's unconscious influence, cosmic energy also surged into the cells of this bamboo.

Nourished by the cosmic energy, the appearance of the bamboo began to change. Its previous green color gradually faded, turning white, and the texture of the bamboo completely transformed into jade. The bamboo leaves also became thicker and thicker, clinking and clanging in the wind, sounding quite pleasant.

With the evolution of its life essence, the bamboo's original "Transference" ability was further sublimated into the "Directed Evolution" ability. The capacity to consume the nutrients of other bamboo to benefit one stalk remained, but new methods were added; by simply performing directed cultivation starting from the bamboo shoot, one could continuously alter the traits of subsequent bamboo, forming a large number of specialized stalks.

Feeling that his body had reached a state of saturation, Lin Chenxing slowly opened his eyes, a smile appearing on his face.

Xi Qing, who had been waiting nearby, saw Lin Chenxing's expression and knew he must have succeeded. She reminded him, "It seems you have completed your first absorption. A total of six hours have passed since you started. Based on the changes in your expression, I think you sensed the cosmic energy at about two and a half hours in, and spent the subsequent three and a half hours absorbing it. As expected of a genius of the group, your sensing speed is far faster than ours, and your absorption time is also much longer."

Lin Chenxing clenched his fists; he could feel that the power contained within his body had increased by a large margin compared to before.

"Thank you, Xi Qing. I can feel that I have reached more than twice my previous strength. It is time to go out and give them a surprise."