Primordial Heavy Water

As it turned out, what had happened in his mindscape was exactly as he had seen it. The pitch-black droplet blazed with dazzling light, tinting the entire space of his mindscape a deep black. Even the wisps of mist drifting through it were barely visible.

There was only one exception: the spot where the black droplet had landed. The space there rippled like water, sending out waves of silvery-white ripples that continually held the droplet back. Its once glossy black sheen began to flicker, and even the silver-white ripples fluctuated in size.

Guan Ning understood as soon as he saw this. The black droplet was locked in a stalemate with the silver-white ripples. But this was no time to sit back and watch. The ripples were spreading through his mindscape, slowly nearing the mist formed from his Spiritual Force at its center. He had no idea what the silver-white ripples were, but some instinct told him he must not let his Spiritual Force touch them.

However, avoiding the ripples in his mindscape was impossible. Sooner or later, they would fill the entire space. His only way out was to help the black droplet.

The black droplet was born from me. Surely it wouldn't hurt me... right?

Guan Ning was terribly anxious. The closer the silver-white ripples crept toward the center of his mindscape, the worse his premonition grew. He had no idea whether he was making the right choice, but there was nothing else to do except go all in.

Gritting his teeth, he sent a faint tremor through the Miniature Planet in his dantian. It began spinning wildly, and deep-blue Genetic Origin Energy surged out of it like a mighty river, rushing straight toward his mindscape. In an instant, the energy arrived and poured without pause into the black droplet. Bolstered by the Genetic Origin Energy, the droplet was like someone who had just taken a potent tonic. Its radiant black light flared anew, and its power surged.

Under the black droplet's assault, the silver-white ripples grew more frantic. The slower and more leisurely they flowed, the farther they spread; the faster and more urgent they became, the shorter a distance they covered. Seeing this, Guan Ning finally let out a sigh of relief.

With his support, the black droplet grew stronger as the battle continued, while the silver-white ripples seemed like duckweed without roots, growing weaker by the moment. Once they had been completely spent, a silver-white shard of jade appeared in Guan Ning's mindscape.

Noble!

Detached!

Cold!

At the sight of the jade shard, Guan Ning's mind trembled. It was like an ant looking at a dragon; they were on entirely different levels.

"What is this? Why is it in my mindscape?" Under the silver-white shard's gaze, Guan Ning's thoughts seemed to grind to a halt. His mind was filled with the panic he had felt when the shard appeared.

"Pop."

A sound like a bubble bursting rang in his heart, pulling his mind back to reality. Guan Ning came to and looked fearfully toward where the jade shard had been. Only the black droplet remained; the silver-white shard had vanished without a trace. It must have been destroyed by the black droplet.

Guan Ning let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, he felt an invisible shackle fall away from him, leaving him light and refreshed.

Just as he was about to lose himself in that feeling, a silver-white gleam appeared on the black droplet in his mindscape. It flashed once and vanished. Before Guan Ning could even panic, darkness closed in, and he fell unconscious...

"Mm..."

After an unknown length of time, Guan Ning woke up inside the fighter jet. He shook his head, and his groggy mind gradually cleared. Once his gaze had sharpened, he murmured, "I see..."

The silver-white gleam had not been an attack, as he had expected, but a message. From it, Guan Ning learned a few things.

He had been a lifeform from another Primal Universe dimension in the Hunyuan Continent. After dying, he had been reincarnated into the Primal Universe where Luo Feng lived. In his previous life, he had unexpectedly acquired a shard of jade containing the laws of that world—the legendary Jade of Creation. It was thanks to the Jade of Creation's concealment that Guan Ning had retained his memories from his previous life. Even his soul had been able to evolve continuously because of the shard.

When Guan Ning broke through to the Planetary Level and awakened his special ability, his soul had come into contact with the Origin Will of this Primal Universe. As a result, the Origin Will of the Primal Universe had pierced the Jade of Creation shard's concealment and discovered its existence.

The Origin Will of the Primal Universe naturally sought to destroy this "foreign object," so it had used Guan Ning's special ability, the black droplet, to clash with the Jade of Creation shard.

Guan Ning was in the Primal Universe, so the Origin Will naturally had the advantage of timing. The clash took place in Guan Ning's mindscape, giving it the advantage of terrain. Guan Ning's attitude was the human element.

Although the Origin Will had the advantage of timing, if Guan Ning had insisted on helping the Jade of Creation shard, then one side would have had the advantage of timing, while the other had the advantages of terrain and the human element. It would have been hard to say which of them would win.

Fortunately, Guan Ning had chosen to help the black droplet, which represented the Origin Will. Otherwise, before either side could claim victory, the spatial ripples produced by their clash would likely have annihilated his soul.

Thinking of this, Guan Ning felt fortunate that he had made the right choice.

With Guan Ning's full support, the black droplet representing the Origin Will of the Primal Universe had utterly crushed the Jade of Creation. At the final moment, the shard had apparently remembered that it and Guan Ning were "fellow countrymen" and left him a secret art.

"So this is where I came from?" After sorting through everything, Guan Ning's expression turned complicated. He had never expected things to be so deeply entangled. The more he thought about it, the more of a headache it gave him.

"Forget it. I'll see what I gained this time. The Jade of Creation was far too generous. After everything I did to it, it still left me such a fine gift."

Guan Ning shook his head and put the Jade of Creation shard and the Origin Will of the Primal Universe out of his mind. It was all in the past, and it wouldn't affect him going forward, so there was no point dwelling on it.

What mattered most now was the "fine gift" left by the Jade of Creation shard.

In truth, rather than a "fine gift" from the Jade of Creation shard, it was more like a shared "gift" from it and the Origin Will.

Guan Ning's mind entered his mindscape, and he froze. The drifting blue mist was gone. In its place was a Miniature Planet made up of countless pyramid-shaped crystals. A pale, hazy glow intermingled with strands of blue, creating an almost dreamlike sight.

"Heh, my Spiritual Force actually broke through to the Planetary Level too. Looks like this was another 'gift' from the Origin Will."

Once he understood what had happened, Guan Ning let out an inscrutable laugh, then turned his attention to the secret art.

The secret art was called Primordial Heavy Water. By cultivating it, he could refine his Genetic Origin Energy into Heavy Water. It was divided into two parts and six levels. The first five levels belonged to the Heavy Water section: Onefold Heavy Water, Twofold Heavy Water, Tenfold Heavy Water, Hundredfold Heavy Water, and Thousandfold Heavy Water. The Primordial Water section had only one level—the sixth, in which Thousandfold Heavy Water transformed into Primordial Heavy Water.

According to myth, Primordial Heavy Water came from the depths of the Galaxy in the heavens. A single drop weighed tens of thousands of jin. Once transformed into magical power, it was vast and extraordinary, with unmatched strength and resilience.

The Heavy Water Guan Ning refined wasn't as powerful as genuine Primordial Heavy Water, but it had the same properties, albeit in a watered-down form.

As the name suggested, Onefold Heavy Water contained the equivalent of onefold Genetic Origin Energy, but this energy was denser and heavier, making the secret arts he used far more powerful.

Twofold Heavy Water contained twice the Genetic Origin Energy... Tenfold Heavy Water, ten times... Hundredfold Heavy Water, a hundred times... Thousandfold Heavy Water, a thousand times... Primordial Heavy Water, ten thousand times!

At that thought, Guan Ning focused on the Miniature Planet in his dantian. It had changed from its original cluster of six-sided crystals into a ball of pitch-black water, with ripples occasionally spreading across its surface.

This was Guan Ning's new Origin Energy core. The Genetic Origin Energy in his body had all been refined into Onefold Heavy Water during the upheaval just now.

Feeling the deep, heavy quality of the Onefold Heavy Water, Guan Ning suddenly thought of the mountain-splitting, unstoppable momentum Hong had displayed while practicing Mountain Crushing. A flash of understanding came to him: so this was momentum, so this was Conception-Level.

Riding the sudden epiphany, Guan Ning began practicing Mountain Crushing in the cabin.

Warm light fell over Guan Ning in the enclosed cabin. With every move of the sword art, the tip sliced through the air with a sharp whistle. It was as if the wind roared and the fighter jet trembled.

The sword art was like mountains collapsing and the earth splitting. Every strike carried the force of thunder, and wherever the blade pointed, even the sturdy alloy floor seemed as though it could be cut to pieces.

A look of determination flashed across Guan Ning's face from time to time. Each swing gathered all his mental strength, and his aura surged like a storm, carrying the power to sweep everything away.

When he completed the final move, Guan Ning sheathed his sword. His aura receded like the tide, yet still left behind an indescribable sense of awe.

Guan Ning stood quietly, his chest rising and falling. This time, he had given it everything—no, he had pushed himself beyond his limits. After only one run through the sword art, sweat poured down his forehead. Practicing the sword had not only honed his technique but also tempered his will.

Bright light shone in Guan Ning's eyes, as if he could see his own glorious future.

"Whew!"

After a long while, Guan Ning let out a heavy breath and finally came out of his state of understanding.

"Not bad, not bad. By sheer chance, I actually mastered Mountain Crushing and even grasped the Heavy Water Intent. Heh..."

Thinking of what he had gained from that brief epiphany, Guan Ning couldn't help grinning foolishly. Then he thought of what it would cost to advance and was troubled.

"Now that I've grasped the Heavy Water Intent, I can cultivate the second level of Primordial Heavy Water and refine Onefold Heavy Water into Twofold Heavy Water. But... it'll take quite a few resources."