At that thought, Luo Zhe's eyes suddenly lit up, dazzling light flashing in them.
It was a little risky. If he messed things up, he'd be in deep trouble! But it was still better than staying trapped here and passively waiting to die.
Desperate times called for desperate measures!
No sooner said than done!
Luo Zhe rolled over and sat cross-legged. After taking several deep breaths to steady himself, he closed his eyes, placed one palm over the other at his dantian, and focused on sensing every subtle change there.
Whoosh!
That familiar suction force appeared again. Before Luo Zhe could react, he once more fell into a state of partial blindness. The world around him turned gray and hazy. By the time his vision returned, he found himself back where he'd started.
The familiar rooftop stretched out before him, beneath a blue sky dotted with white clouds. In the distance, he could just make out the pointed rooftop of the Extreme Martial Arts Hall building.
He was really back!
Luo Zhe clenched his fist, holding back his excitement. Then, with a trembling hand, he reached toward his dantian again, sensing for that suction force.
Whoosh!
Luo Zhe vanished from the rooftop once more.
Whoosh!
Less than half a minute later, Luo Zhe reappeared in the same spot. He wore an indescribably delighted smile, the corners of his mouth practically reaching the sky.
He really could enter and leave that mysterious space at will!
With the help of that mysterious space, he might truly have a chance to reach the War God Level, a height countless martial artists could only dream of attaining!
A War God-level martial artist could unleash hundreds of thousands of pounds of force with a single punch.
They could walk through a storm of bullets without a scratch. They could slice through water with a blade or split open a mountain with a punch. What terrifying beings they were!
They had surpassed the limits of the human body!
Luo Zhe had only learned by chance, while browsing the internet, that beyond the most common Warrior Level and the less numerous War General Level, there was also the exceedingly rare War God Level.
Every War God-level martial artist was a super-soldier. They could move freely through a storm of bullets and take an enemy commander's head from the midst of an army. Even when facing Lord-level Monsters of their own rank or higher, they were in no way inferior.
Luo Zhe knew that, although his talent ranked among the best of his fellow students at the dojo, there were countless people more talented than him across Jiangnan Base City, let alone the entire world.
Take that genius high school student Luo Feng from neighboring Yi'an District. They said he could already punch with nearly eight hundred kilograms of force. With two more years of training, he could become a Quasi-Martial Artist before turning twenty.
A Quasi-Martial Artist at twenty was a top-tier genius, even across Jiangnan Base City, let alone the whole world!
As for Luo Zhe, he had already become a Quasi-Martial Artist. He had even sensed the universe's energy during his very first attempt at the Five-Heart-to-Heaven Cultivation Method and successfully cultivated Genetic Origin Energy.
But he knew that a temporary lead meant nothing. Without some other opportunity, in just a few years, geniuses like Luo Feng could overtake him completely.
Becoming a martial artist before turning twenty was one major hurdle; becoming one after twenty-five was another. The former meant someone had the potential to reach the War God Level, while the latter meant that, barring the unexpected, they would never reach it in their lifetime.
Yet even a genius like Luo Feng would likely find it difficult to become a War God in his lifetime without a major opportunity.
Potential was still just potential. If it was never realized—or if someone met a deadly enemy on the path of cultivation—it would amount to no more than a cause for regret.
A War God-level martial artist was an extraordinary being found only once among hundreds of thousands, a top-tier supercombatant on the global stage.
Luo Zhe had once hoped and dreamed of becoming a War God-level martial artist like the one who, according to stories circulating online, had slain a Great Strength Demon Ape with a single slash. But he knew that with his talent, the odds of making that dream come true were slim.
Now, the appearance of the mysterious space had given him hope of achieving it!
With this mysterious space and its abundant supply of universe energy, his cultivation speed would surely increase. One day, he too could become a mighty War God who could cleave a Great Strength Demon Ape in two!
Creak!
The rooftop door let out a shrill squeal, cutting short Luo Zhe's daydream.
"Luo Zhe! You little brat, sneaking upstairs to spy on people bathing again!"
Her voice came before she did!
Just from that loud voice, Luo Zhe knew it was Aunt Xiao, who lived on the same floor. Every morning between seven-thirty and eight was when she came up to hang out the laundry.
Luo Zhe often used to come up to the rooftop late at night to train. Sometimes, when he got too tired, he'd lean against whatever was nearby and sleep.
At first, Aunt Xiao had thought he was sneaking upstairs in the middle of the night to spy on the young women bathing. She'd kept threatening to call the police and have him arrested.
After running into him a few more times, and seeing his strength improve by leaps and bounds over the past few years, as well as his reputation growing at the Extreme Martial Arts Hall in Jiangdu District, Aunt Xiao realized she'd misunderstood him. She even went to his home to apologize.
Once the misunderstanding was cleared up, the two families grew closer. Since they lived nearby, they often saw one another.
After that, whenever Aunt Xiao caught Luo Zhe training on the rooftop, she'd tease him about it. Naturally, she always brought up the familiar line: "You're sneaking upstairs to spy on people bathing again."
"Auntie, you're joking again. That was ages ago! We agreed not to bring it up anymore, remember? Why are you still holding it over me?"
Luo Zhe hurried to his feet and pleaded in the direction of the door.
Aunt Xiao was great in every way. If anyone ran into trouble, she'd help however she could. But she never pulled her punches with her words. If Luo Zhe dared to argue, he'd probably end up with a lecture and a face full of spittle before the morning was over.
Still, Luo Zhe was puzzled. It was nearly ten o'clock, and Aunt Xiao usually left to run her shop around this time. Why was she still up here, leisurely hanging out laundry?
"Auntie, aren't you usually out opening your shop by now? Why are you still taking your time with the laundry? Has Uncle Li finally come around and started helping you?"
Aunt Xiao shot Luo Zhe an annoyed look. Then she set the bucket of clothes she was carrying aside, took out the clothes one by one, slipped them onto hangers, and hung them on the line before replying:
"Listen to you. I come up to hang laundry at this time every day. You must still be half asleep. Look at your watch. What time is it? Your auntie here doesn't head out until after nine."
"And another thing: with the way your Uncle Li is, it'd be a miracle if he ever came around. He's getting on in years, but he still goes on about protecting the country every day, wandering the streets in a police uniform with a baton in his hand. If something really happened, what good would those old bones of his be? I'd be thanking every Buddha and Bodhisattva I could think of if he didn't break his back!"
Luo Zhe froze and instinctively raised his hand to look at his watch.
The time was clearly displayed: 9:53:37 a.m.
But Aunt Xiao's words made it clear she'd come up at her usual time, which meant it should still be somewhere between seven-thirty and eight.
But that didn't make sense!
Before entering the mysterious space in his dantian, he'd checked the time. It had been 7:15 a.m. He'd spent more than two hours in the mysterious space, so by all rights, it should now be close to ten in the morning.
Unless Aunt Xiao was joking!
There was only one explanation!
Time flowed at different speeds in the two spaces!
Time in the mysterious space flowed much faster than it did in the real world. Luo Zhe made a rough estimate: the ratio was about ten to one.
If time in the mysterious space really did flow differently from time in the outside world, then he'd truly struck gold!
With plenty of time to train and plenty of universe energy to fuel him, reaching the War God Level wouldn't be the limit. He'd even have the confidence to challenge the heights beyond it.
But his first priority was to head somewhere safe and test whether time really did flow differently in the two spaces. His watch might be broken, and he didn't want to get his hopes up for nothing.
"Uh, Auntie, I won't keep you from hanging the laundry. I've got somewhere to be, so I'll get going."
With that, Luo Zhe stood up, gripped the rooftop railing with both hands, and performed a tactical backflip. He landed squarely on the railing of the balcony one floor below. Then he hopped down and, with a few quick strides, disappeared from the rooftop.
Aunt Xiao knew how strong Luo Zhe was, so she'd grown used to these dangerous stunts of his. She shrugged and got back to what she was doing.
Before you continue