The Retired War Blade

"Clang!"

Accompanied by that cyan blade-light landing heavily upon the spatial membrane, a sound akin to metal striking metal rang out, the massive reverberation echoing throughout the entire space.

The immense power contained within the blade-light seemed to possess a potent corrosive quality; one could faintly perceive the originally transparent, colorless membrane dimming in an instant, as if ink had been dripped into a bowl of clear water, staining it dark.

Luo Zhe, who had swung this blade, remained in his striking posture, unable to straighten his body for a long while. Ever since he unleashed that strike, a sensation of extreme weakness surged directly into his mind. For a fleeting moment, he even felt as though he were suffocating. Unable to hold on any longer, Luo Zhe lost consciousness, collapsing powerlessly to the ground.

Yet, whether it was an illusion or not, at the very moment the blade-light struck the membrane, Luo Zhe faintly felt that the density of cosmic energy within this space had increased significantly, and the total number of multicolored filaments had also grown.

But for now, none of this concerned him.

As Luo Zhe fell unconscious, the blade-light gradually lost its momentum. Failing to break through the constraints of the membrane, it could only dissipate helplessly into the air. With no other forces acting upon it, the spatial membrane returned to its original state, as if nothing had ever happened.

Only the unconscious Luo Zhe on the ground, and the Blood Shadow Battle Blade in his hand—now reduced to a mere hilt—remained to tell the tale of what had transpired.

After a full three days of unconsciousness within the Dimensional Space, Luo Zhe's consciousness finally drifted back to him.

Looking at the familiar gray-white background of the space, Luo Zhe lay motionless on the ground. His entire body ached intensely, especially his right hand, which had held the blade; it now had no sensation at all. If not for the fact that he could still see his right hand in the corner of his vision, Luo Zhe might have suspected it was gone.

As for the hilt of the Blood Shadow Battle Blade in his right hand, Luo Zhe noticed it the moment he woke up, though he was in no mood to lament it right now.

He just wanted to know how much longer he had to lie on the ground.

His whole body ached everywhere, moving hurt, he had no strength left, and lying on the ground was a good way to catch a cold...

Closing his eyes in meditation, he attempted to cultivate his Genetic Origin Energy, hoping to accelerate his body's recovery.

The invisible, colorless cosmic energy filling this space surged toward him the instant the thought of "absorbing cosmic energy" crossed Luo Zhe's mind. It was like a swarm of bees that had caught the scent of flowers, rushing forward with excitement.

If one were to look down from above the Dimensional Space, this influx of cosmic energy would resemble an energy tide, causing the space above to distort slightly due to the terrifying accumulation of power.

This was far denser than the cosmic energy from before!

At the same time, those long-absent, microscopic, golden-flecked special substances appeared once more, following the surging cosmic energy into Luo Zhe's body to promote his genetic evolution.

Inside his body, every cell greedily devoured the incoming cosmic energy, completely refusing to turn anything away. As the cosmic energy entered and was absorbed by the mitochondria within the cells, it released Genetic Origin Energy, which was then rapidly absorbed by the parched cells throughout his body. Like a dry sponge meeting water, it was soaked up in the blink of an eye.

As the parched cells absorbed more and more Genetic Origin Energy, they gradually became plump and vibrant, and the pain throughout Luo Zhe's body began to fade bit by bit.

After about five hours, when his cells could no longer absorb even a drop more Genetic Origin Energy, Luo Zhe exhaled a heavy, turbid breath, opened his eyes, and slowly crawled up from the ground to sit upright.

Moving his limbs and feeling the abundant sense of power within his body, he mused, "This Genetic Origin Energy is truly miraculous. Not only can it effectively improve physical fitness, but it also has a wondrous effect on bodily recovery. If not for the limited capacity of the cells, if one could keep cultivating like this, perhaps everyone could become an incredibly powerful martial artist."

Luo Zhe shook his head and couldn't help but chuckle; this was simply impossible to achieve.

Not to mention whether the total amount of cosmic energy would be enough for everyone to keep absorbing, the limitations of physical talent alone restricted the possibility of cultivation for the vast majority of humanity. After all, only after reaching the physical fitness of a quasi-martial artist could one faintly perceive cosmic energy.

At this moment, Luo Zhe's gaze fell upon the hilt of the Blood Shadow Battle Blade in his hand. This blade, which had followed him for less than a month, hadn't even had the chance to see him rise to fame or dominate the Wilderness Zone before it met its end, leaving behind only a hilt, with the sharpened blade itself lost to who knows where.

It was truly enough to make one weep with sorrow.

However...

Luo Zhe subconsciously gripped the hilt. As he usually did, he took a step forward, and his core strength—the "waist and hip" region—erupted with force almost instantly. The moment the muscular power transferred into his arm, his waist and hips naturally surged again, like the rolling of a tide, adding a second burst of force to his arm.

"Whoosh!"

The hilt of the Blood Shadow Battle Blade transformed into a shadow, slicing through the air and striking the spatial membrane ten meters away with a heavy thud.

Clang!

Luo Zhe: "..."

The hilt of the Blood Shadow Battle Blade lying on the ground: "..."

Luo Zhe swore he had just subconsciously performed the posture for the first fold of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade, but because he hadn't held it firmly, the hilt had just flown away...

Although the Blood Shadow Battle Blade had met its demise before achieving glory, Luo Zhe was still very happy, because the bottleneck of the first fold of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade, which had confined him for so long, had finally been broken. He could now achieve the fusion of two layers of hidden force, meaning a single strike now carried 140% of his power.

If calculated based on the 9,000kg punch force he had tested a week ago, with the two layers of hidden force superimposed, his current strike carried 12,600kg of force. He was not far from the 16,000kg threshold of a mid-level war-general.

Luo Zhe never imagined that three months ago, having barely passed the quasi-martial artist assessment with a punch force of only 900kg, he would not only see his strength skyrocket to the level of a seasoned junior war-general three months later, but also possess a trump card like the Dimensional Space.

If this were the past, Luo Zhe wouldn't have even dared to dream of it!

In high spirits, Luo Zhe simply set his stance and began practicing a set of Military Fist with his bare hands, each punch infused with the special force-generating method of the Nine-Fold Thunder Blade.

After finishing the set, Luo Zhe felt invigorated and incredibly satisfied, so much so that even the heartache of having to buy a new battle blade dissipated significantly.

Fortunately, because he hadn't decided whether to buy the punch force and speed testing machines for his home yet, he had temporarily shelved that plan, intending to buy the three-piece testing set later when he had more money.

This worked out perfectly; he could use the saved money to buy a new battle blade!

After resting for a moment and picking up the lonely hilt lying on the ground, Luo Zhe exited the Dimensional Space.