Sea of Consciousness Opened! Both Advance!

For a Quasi-Martial Artist, even without any cultivation, Cosmic Energy would slowly seep into the body, subtly strengthening it.

But without conscious guidance, this method of absorbing energy was destined to be painfully slow.

Now, however, things were different.

Although Wu Ming's consciousness had not responded, the cells within his body sent out signals at the same time, frantically snatching away the traces of energy that had seeped inside.

Merely seizing the energy within his body was not enough. Soon, his bodily instincts set their sights on the energy outside. The wills of countless cells gathered together, passively increasing his body's efficiency at absorbing energy.

Thus, more and more Cosmic Energy was pulled from the void, continuously entering his body through the palms of his hands, the soles of his feet, and the Baihui acupoint. It gathered into a warm trickle that rushed toward every parched cell in his body.

The instant that energy poured in, the genes that had originally fallen dormant deep within Wu Ming's brain became active once more, and their transformation accelerated sharply.

Countless neurons continuously reorganized and multiplied under the nourishment of that energy. At the same time, a corner deep within his brain region that had never been touched was finally pried open bit by bit.

However, his brain's appetite was far greater than he had imagined.

Even though the speed at which Cosmic Energy flowed in had increased tenfold, it still could not fill that abyss.

So his brain called out again, and his bodily instincts increased their absorption once more. The Cosmic Energy entering through the five centers grew ever greater, gradually changing from a trickling stream into a flood bursting through a dam.

The disturbance was so violent that it pierced through the barrier formed by the realm of Void Silence. Like a thunderclap, it exploded within Wu Ming's consciousness.

He jolted awake. "What happened?"

The instant his consciousness returned, Wu Ming was nearly startled by the drastic changes taking place within his body.

"Wait, this is Cosmic Energy? How can there be so much of it?"

"And my brain..."

He took a deep breath and clearly sensed the transformation occurring deep within his brain. It was a sign that Spiritual Force was about to awaken!

"Am I... about to awaken Spiritual Force?"

There was no time to consider why. Wu Ming made a prompt decision and actively drew even more energy into his body!

As for sensing it, once he had observed that Cosmic Energy, accomplishing this step required almost no effort.

The next second, the Cosmic Energy entering his body surged several dozen times over. The trickles at his palms and soles instantly became torrents, rushing mightily toward every cell in his body.

His Baihui acupoint was even more like a heavenly gate thrown open. Countless streams of energy poured down like a waterfall and merged into his brain.

Wu Ming's body began to transform. Under the effects of Cosmic Energy, countless cells within him underwent earth-shaking changes. Outwardly, this manifested as a full-scale evolution of his skin, muscles, bones, and every other part of his body!

At the same time, an immense change was occurring deep within his brain region.

Under the influence of countless streams of Cosmic Energy, every gene in Wu Ming's brain finally completed its transformation.

Rumble... The next second, as if chaos itself had been split apart, an unprecedented space opened up in a corner at the deepest part of his brain region.

It appeared completely empty, as though not a single substance existed within it.

But immediately afterward, a wisp of invisible power condensed from the space, rising and curling like mist. Then came a second wisp, a third... more and more appeared, growing increasingly dense.

In the end, all the mist gathered into a churning sea of fog.

Once the sea of fog took shape, Wu Ming's body trembled. His consciousness instantly connected to that vast space, and he gained control over all the mist surging within it.

No, it should be called Spiritual Force.

"The Sea of Consciousness has opened. I've become a Spirit Reader!"

Wu Ming's face filled with wild delight. Just two days ago, he had still envied Ruan Qingzhu for possessing the talent of a Spirit Reader. He had never expected to awaken it himself only two days later.

At that moment, he noticed the churning sea of fog within his Sea of Consciousness and could not help pondering, "According to the original novel, the amount of uncontrolled Spiritual Force in the Sea of Consciousness represents a Spirit Reader's talent. Solid form is the highest, while liquid form is the lowest!"

"But in my Sea of Consciousness... there isn't even a trace of excess Spiritual Force. It seems I've already unearthed all of it, which means my potential has been exhausted."

"Looking at it this way, my talent for Spiritual Force should be very poor."

"But as long as I can awaken it, I'm already ahead of countless people. And poor talent doesn't mean I can't continue improving."

"Besides, with the Equipment Bar, all I lack is an opportunity."

Wu Ming remained calm as he slowly opened his eyes. He directed his Spiritual Force through his body and discovered that his transformation had already been completed. Genetic Energy filled every part of him.

"Good news. Spiritual Force can be used for inner vision."

After sensing the state of his body, he smiled faintly. That was quite a pleasant surprise.

According to the original novel's description of Spiritual Force, it could not directly penetrate the human body. Therefore, to attack, one could only manipulate various substances. That was the origin of the Controller path.

But the book had never said whether Spiritual Force could observe one's own body. Now that he had tested it, he found that it was possible.

The ability of inner vision was extremely important to him, because Wu Ming still intended to cultivate as a Genetic Warrior as well.

If he could observe every minute change inside and outside his body at all times, then whether he was honing his methods of exerting force or cultivating Genetic Energy in the future, he would achieve twice the results with half the effort.

However, when he conducted a deeper test, he discovered that Spiritual Force observation was somewhat lacking on the microscopic level. Under normal circumstances, he could only observe changes outside the cells.

For deeper bodily phenomena, observing them was extremely taxing. Merely peering inside a cell consumed a great deal of mental energy.

"Fine. Being able to observe things at the cellular level is enough."

Wu Ming rubbed his forehead, then used his Spiritual Force to pull open the curtains. Dim yellow light spilled into the room, showing that his breakthrough had taken quite some time.

"Come to think of it, this breakthrough was still far too dangerous. I never expected the so-called realm of Void Silence to make me lose my sense of my own body. I nearly suffered a backlash from the virus."

"It seems that although this realm has the best effects, it isn't suitable for widespread promotion. It would be better to remove some of the content from the version intended for public cultivation."

Wu Ming went to the study and used his Spiritual Force to control a pen, revising the contents of his notebook far faster than he could have written by hand.

It took roughly ten minutes for the revised version of the Five Hearts Facing the Sky Cultivation Method to be completed. Compared with the original version, it had been reduced to just over a thousand words.

This version of the cultivation method was suitable for widespread use, but Wu Ming did not plan to hand it over yet. He would wait until the public had grown stronger first.

After putting away the notebook, Wu Ming finally turned his attention to himself.

After several hours of breakthrough, he was curious about how strong he had become. With a thought, he activated the Attribute Panel scan.

[Name: Wu Ming]

[Age: 18]

[Brain Region Width: 13]

[Strength: 2680 KG (Intermediate Warrior)]

[Spiritual Force: 3460 KG (Intermediate Warrior)]

[Speed: 33 m/s (Beginner Warrior)]

[Cell Activity: 81 times (Beginner Warlord)]

[Neural Response Speed: Advanced Warrior]

"As expected, my Spiritual Force and Genetic Energy are at the same level. It isn't two ranks higher."

Wu Ming shook his head slightly. This also proved that he had exhausted a Spirit Reader's potential when he awakened, meaning he could not enjoy the benefits of a period of rapid growth.

Then his gaze sharpened as he looked at a certain entry. "The panel actually has a Brain Region Width attribute now. Did the scan improve because my life level increased?"

"Since the Attribute Panel has changed, has anything changed with the Equipment Bar?"

With that thought, he looked toward the Equipment Bar area and saw—

[Equipment Bar One: Steel Armor]

[Talent 1: Bronze Skin, Iron Bones, Skin Toughness +20%, Bone Strength +10%]

[Talent 2: Body Cultivation, Physical Cultivation Talent +10%]

[Equipment Bar Two: Empty]

[Set Effect: None]