Shi Fen jolted awake.
"That scared me to death. If this part of my consciousness had passed out too, things would've gone badly."
Shi Fen glanced around and saw that Thor's domain prototype had already taken shape. It looked like Thor would fully comprehend it before long. Under Shi Fen's Soul Domain, everyone else was doing their utmost to comprehend Thor's domain.
Shi Fen was shocked to discover that Luo Feng's eyes were completely different from everyone else's.
"No way. Why do I feel like Luo Feng's about to comprehend a domain too?"
The things Teacher Yi had said, the various secret manuals, and what Shi Fen had experienced in the Image World earlier had all shaken him to the core. At that moment, those feelings dissolved as quickly as earth crumbling beneath him.
Shi Fen stopped dwelling on how Yi was keeping him in suspense again. He no longer wondered what the Soul Domain really was, and he no longer pined to leave this place as soon as possible and go back to examine what he had gained.
At that moment, Shi Fen's entire focus was on Luo Feng.
"You noticed it too?"
Hong noticed Shi Fen staring at Luo Feng and couldn't help chuckling.
Shi Fen nodded blankly, unsure how to respond.
"Hey, little brother, you really are a lucky star. I feel like when we get back, you, me, my second brother, and Luo Feng can all become sworn brothers. You and Luo Feng have both reached the peak of the War God Level and mastered domains. That talent..." Hong muttered, laughing at himself.
Shi Fen fell silent, unsure how to respond.
Suddenly,
Luo Feng's eyes changed. They turned wild and sharp, as if they concealed a peerless weapon, radiating an aura of keen edge and madness. Points of sharp light began to gather around him, as though countless golden rays were appearing at his side.
At this sight,
Shi Fen and Hong stared at Luo Feng's newly formed domain prototype, their eyes fixed on it.
Shi Fen's worldview had just taken a severe beating. He swallowed with difficulty and said blankly, "Looks like we'll have to become sworn brothers right here."
Hong nodded in disbelief, fully agreeing.
As Earth's strongest fighter, Hong had extraordinarily broad horizons.
At that moment,
Hong could barely make sense of what was happening. He had struggled for so many years, weathered countless ups and downs, and hovered at death's door time and again to achieve what he had now.
He had fought tooth and nail for his strength and status.
Only after attaining a certain status and gaining a thorough understanding of life and experience had he reached the "Saint" state of mind and, with great difficulty, comprehended a domain.
But what was going on with Luo Feng now?
Not even Hong knew what was happening. And Shi Fen, who had the God Perspective, was just as clueless.
"Wasn't Luo Feng supposed to take over the Golden Horned Beast's body and naturally master a domain thanks to its talent? Why has it happened so much earlier?" Shi Fen's mind was filled with questions.
Inside the spacecraft, Babata was already on the verge of a complete breakdown.
Babata couldn't understand why three natives of Earth had comprehended domains in a single week. Thor was still somewhat understandable. After all, he was Earth's second-strongest fighter and had accumulated plenty of life experience.
But what was going on with Shi Fen and Luo Feng? They were both under twenty, and their life experience was nowhere near Hong and Thor's. Comprehending a domain in just twenty years was nearly impossible in the universe.
At least Shi Fen had been through a bizarre, bloody battle. But what about Luo Feng?
Babata, a sentient lifeform, had been led completely astray by the "common knowledge" of the universe and could no longer escape conventional thinking. He pushed his mental calculations to the limit, and the Crystal Core supporting him began to show faint signs of collapse under the extreme strain.
Even so, no matter how hard Babata tried, he couldn't figure it out.
Only when Babata sensed that the Crystal Core supporting him was about to collapse did he snap back to his senses.
Babata was, after all, an intelligent lifeform. He soon thought of a possibility.
"Shi Fen's domain isn't a Universe Origin Law domain!" Babata cried out in shock. "It must be something even more incredible, something neither I nor my master has ever seen. Shi Fen is unbelievable! Just by relying on his own domain, he helped two geniuses create domains!"
Babata and Hu Yanbo had roamed the universe for tens of millions of eras and had amassed exceptional knowledge and experience. Though he hadn't guessed exactly what it was, he had the general idea right.
When Shi Fen's Soul Domain grew to its limit, it would be called the Soul Heart. Other names for it included the Heart of the Strong, the Law Heart of the Universe Master, the Heart of Space-Time Laws, and the Heart of Fusion Laws.
In terms of the original story, it was similar to the Beast God Heart comprehended by powerful practitioners who followed the path of the Beast God.
The Soul Heart was something that Soul Masters had to comprehend before becoming Universe Masters. Without the Soul Heart, even if their Law Comprehension broke through and they attained a Universe Master's divine body, they still couldn't be considered Universe Master-level Soul Masters.
And anyone who mastered the Soul Heart was destined to master the laws of space-time and become a Universe Master.
The threshold for becoming a Universe Master-level Soul Master was absurdly high.
That was because the Soul Heart was difficult to comprehend and even harder to improve.
Talent, temperament, soul strength, opportunities, fortuitous encounters, perseverance, experience, and countless other factors all had to fall into place before there was even the tiniest chance of comprehending the Soul Domain. Comprehending the Soul Domain didn't mean one was guaranteed to form a Soul Heart. One had to overcome countless hardships before there was even the slightest chance of attaining the ultimate Soul Heart.
Think that was already difficult?
No.
The current Primordial Universe had no complete cultivation manuals, only scattered fragments of various manuals. They could offer little more than hints; comprehension depended entirely on the individual.
The strangest thing was that the chances of comprehending the Soul Domain were inversely proportional to one's strength and living conditions.
A native struggling to cultivate on a desolate planet might be a rare genius capable of comprehending the Soul Domain. The children of humanity's peak powerhouses, by contrast, would find it difficult to comprehend the Soul Domain.
The weaker one was and the more unusual experiences one had, the easier it was to comprehend. Universe Masters had almost no chance of comprehending the Soul Domain.
If someone comprehended the Soul Domain while still weak, it meant they were exceptionally suited to the path of the soul. With diligent training, they were sure to become a powerful Soul Master. If they couldn't form a Soul Heart before becoming a Universe Master, they would basically have no chance for the rest of their lives.
Even if a Universe Master had astonishing talent and somehow mastered the Soul Domain, it would be extremely difficult for them to make even the slightest progress in their subsequent cultivation.
Those who mastered a perfect Soul Heart were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns in every Reincarnation Era. Some eras didn't even produce a single person who mastered a perfect Soul Heart.
When the Five Peak Human Powers discovered a genius who had mastered the Soul Domain, they would immediately begin cultivating them as a top priority. Such people were precious treasures.
They didn't expect them to form a Soul Heart.
They only hoped to use the Soul Domain to nurture human elites.
As for its functions,
aside from controlling battles and boosting combat strength, the most important ability of the Soul Domain and Soul Heart was to draw out the deepest potential within living beings and help them rapidly improve their strength.
Therefore, the Soul Domain could be used to identify many truly extraordinary geniuses.
Lecturers who had mastered the Soul Domain were the most sought-after talent among all the peak powers in the universe.
Shi Fen had also been lucky.
In his previous life, he had endured countless setbacks before mastering an incomplete, imperfect third state of mind. Later, he was reborn, received an inheritance, and began a special new life. His body and soul underwent Yi's special transformation, and he fought a bloody battle, among other things. Only after all that did he comprehend the Soul Domain.
That showed just how difficult it was to comprehend.
After Shi Fen mastered the Soul Domain, Luo Feng's extraordinary talent completely erupted under its deep stimulation.
For the past eighteen years, Luo Feng had been spurred on by Shi Fen from childhood. He had worked harder and pushed himself even further.
He hadn't earned the nickname Madman for nothing.
Especially after becoming a Martial Artist, Luo Feng had truly gone on a rampage, far more ruthlessly than in the original story.
Watching his childhood friend soar ahead, Luo Feng knew that his talent as a Spiritual Master wasn't bad. He had considered revealing his identity as a Spiritual Master to earn special attention and cultivation from the Extreme Martial Arts Hall.
But Luo Feng had always been a ruthless man who charged forward without looking back. He had already chosen the path of a freelance fighter, and there was no room for him to take even half a step back.
Luo Feng chose to press forward without hesitation.
From childhood, he had endured hardship and experienced both profound grief and joy. He had repeatedly faced life-and-death trials in the Wilderness Area, borne the pressure of Li Yao and his wife's massive bounty, fought his way through the Elite Training Camp, risked his life against Li Yao on Mist Island, witnessed Shi Fen's terrifying bloody battle and sudden enlightenment, and undergone a change in his state of mind after traveling with Hong and Thor...
Luo Feng realized that despite working so hard, he still hadn't caught up to Shi Fen.
He hadn't caught up in strength, status, or any other respect. Luo Feng wasn't jealous. He could only urge himself on wildly, pushing himself to work twice as hard and catch up with Shi Fen—and even with Thor and Hong.
Deep down, Luo Feng refused to believe he was inferior to anyone.
So the blade in Luo Feng's heart, always pointed forward, grew sharper and sharper, its edge increasingly exposed. Setbacks, failures, and blows all became whetstones, nourishment for tempering the blade within him.
In the end, the blade in his heart, which charged forward without hesitation and cleaved through every illusion,
succeeded!
When Luo Feng's Spiritual Force caught up to Shi Fen's and he became an Invincible War God, he saw Shi Fen comprehend a domain and instinctively wanted to catch up, to master a domain himself.
Then he saw Thor comprehend a domain, and Luo Feng nearly drove himself to madness, forcing himself to the limit as he recalled every experience of his life and searched for a breakthrough. With the silent help of the Soul Domain, countless flashes of inspiration exploded in his mind. After days of pushing his consciousness nearly to its limit,
those countless flashes merged into one, and he found his path.
It was to press forward without hesitation and cleave through every illusion!
Luo Feng found a new path. With the boundless sharpness of the Blade of State of Mind, he pierced through layer upon layer of obstacles and successfully stepped across the threshold of the Gold Domain.
The moment he truly entered it, his state of mind was elevated. The Blade of State of Mind, combined with a trace of the power of the Gold Domain, strengthened his resolve in his path, his perseverance, and his madness. He knew they were right!
At that moment, Luo Feng's heart grew stronger, filled with an unstoppable momentum. Every hardship, setback, and worry would become a stepping stone to greater strength.
"I'll only grow stronger!"
Luo Feng had naturally mastered the prototype of the Gold Domain. It was only a matter of time before he fully mastered it.
Before you continue