Inheritance

Northern Frontier Base City, Oasis Residential Complex.

Inside the newly installed gravity chamber, Dongguan turned up the gravity multiplier and practiced move after move with his saber. Sweat beaded on his forehead and streamed down his back.

"Whew..." He put away his saber, stood still, and let out a long breath. Then he assumed the five centers facing heaven posture and began absorbing genetic origin energy inside the gravity chamber.

"This Ancient Civilization Gravity Chamber really is excellent."

Feeling his body reach saturation, he stopped absorbing genetic origin energy.

"Still, I could try creating my own saber techniques and Guidance Technique."

Dongguan thought about the information he had requested from Hong.

Having broken through to the Planetary Grade, and being a Psychic as well, his memory had improved considerably.

Manuals such as "《World Destruction》" and Ninefold Thunder Blade had indeed been created by Hong and Thunder God, but they had based them on inheritances obtained from the Ancient Civilization Ruins.

The information on those inheritances was included in the documents. However, they came from the Silver Blue Empire and were quite low-level, merely inheritances left by Star Level experts.

Of course, Hong had probably obtained some other things when he first received his inheritance, but the documents made no mention of those.

The principle behind a Guidance Technique was actually to convert the cosmic energy within the body into genetic origin energy more efficiently, freeing up capacity so that more genetic origin energy could be absorbed.

To absorb more cosmic energy, one needed to digest the energy already present in the body. The greater one's power amplification, the more efficient this "digestion" became, allowing the use of more advanced Guidance Techniques.

Of course, a gravity chamber was another way to achieve that.

After finishing his training, he opened the gravity chamber door.

"Come eat," Zhang Yu called.

"All right."

Outside the window, the sky had already grown dark.

Dongguan, Zhang Yu, and Li Shilan were eating at the table when a figure suddenly burst in.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back." Zhang Gui set down his backpack and came into the dining room.

Although Dongguan had stopped visiting the Training Camp after the trip to Fog Island, they had stayed in touch through video calls.

A year had passed since their reunion, and Zhang Gui had already accepted him as his father.

"Have you had dinner? If not, join us," Li Shilan asked with concern.

"The Training Camp went on break today, so I bought a plane ticket and came straight home." As Zhang Gui spoke, he fetched a bowl and chopsticks and sat down at the table.

The Limitless Martial Arts Hall's Elite Training Camp held its annual break in January and February, and it was now January 2058.

After taking a single bite, he looked up. "Grandma, you must have made this, right?"

Li Shilan shook her head. "No, your mother made it."

"My mom?" Zhang Gui looked at Zhang Yu in surprise, then glanced at Dongguan beside her, as though he had realized something.

"So you actually can cook good food."

At her son's "compliment," Zhang Yu's brows rose, and her expression turned rather unfriendly.

The son she had raised for more than a decade actually thought that of her.

Granted, she had spent the past year learning how to make these normal dishes, but that had still built on her previous experience, hadn't it?

"Is that any way to talk about your mother?"

Zhang Yu and Dongguan spoke at the same time. They exchanged a glance, and Zhang Yu blushed slightly.

Zhang Gui froze. Before he had left for the Elite Training Camp, things had still been somewhat awkward between them. Now they were actually teaming up to scold him.

What exactly had happened over these past six months or so?

Watching the two of them, Li Shilan smiled warmly.

After dinner, Li Shilan watched television in the living room, while Zhang Yu returned to her room to work on her laptop.

Dongguan took Zhang Gui into the gravity chamber.

"So this is the Ancient Civilization Gravity Chamber? I heard it's much better than the ones at the Training Camp." Zhang Gui's eyes were full of curiosity.

"It is." Dongguan nodded. "The Training Camp has two types of training rooms. One goes up to twice normal gravity, and the other goes up to ten times. This Ancient Civilization Training Room can reach a thousand times normal gravity."

In fact, in the original story, it could go higher after Babata adjusted it. But Hong couldn't make those adjustments, and neither could Dongguan.

Still, it was enough for now. He currently trained at two hundred times gravity every day, greatly improving his efficiency at absorbing cosmic energy. He estimated that at this rate, he would be able to break through to the Third-Order Planetary Level in about another month.

As for the fourth order, that would take at least another six months. By then, the Golden-Horned Behemoth would practically have been born.

"That high?" Startled, Zhang Gui leaped out of the gravity chamber in alarm.

He couldn't imagine how anyone could withstand a thousand times normal gravity.

"Don't worry." Dongguan laughed. "It hasn't been switched on yet. It's still at normal gravity."

"By the way, Dad, can someone at the Councilor Level withstand a thousand times gravity?" Zhang Gui asked curiously.

"Of course." Dongguan nodded. "But even a Councilor would have great difficulty moving under that much gravity."

With a "planet within their body," those at the Planetary Grade could resist gravity far better than those at the Apprentice Level.

"Anyway, how much progress have you made over the past six months?"

Dongguan decided to test him.

"I've improved a lot. Just watch!" Eager to try, Zhang Gui took a spear from the nearby weapon rack. "But compared to Luo Feng, I'm still miles behind."

That left him feeling rather dejected.

He had planned to surpass Luo Feng, yet while he was struggling to catch up, Luo Feng had already taken flight.

"You know a little about Luo Feng's progress, don't you?" Dongguan kept his hands empty.

Against Zhang Gui, who was still an Advanced Warlord, he had no need for a weapon.

"Spirit of Plants and Trees?" Zhang Gui grew excited.

He knew they were treasures even more precious than dragon blood. He had also heard that Dongguan had gone with Luo Feng, and Luo Feng had become an Invincible War God. Did Dongguan still have any Spirit of Plants and Trees left?

Information about Fog Island had been suppressed, but Luo Feng's progress and Dongguan's advancement to Planetary Level Second Order couldn't be concealed. In the end, the public explanation was that they had found Spirit of Plants and Trees together.

"Give it a try. If you satisfy me, I can give you a spirit of plants and trees," Dongguan said calmly.

Zhang Yu and Li Shilan had both taken Spirit of Plants and Trees, and he had long since prepared Zhang Gui's share.

But once he gave it to him, Zhang Gui would inevitably break through to the War God Level, after which much of what the Training Camp offered would no longer benefit him.

Students who had attained War God Level physical fitness only stayed there for the resources.

As for resources, he had spirits of plants and trees, which worked better than jade marrow and dragon blood. He also had a gravity chamber, and his virtual reality equipment included a Trial Tower. Apart from companions and teachers, he could provide everything the Training Camp had.

He had held off all this time so that Zhang Gui could strengthen his foundations, rather than end up like him, still having to make up for shortcomings in his Apprentice Level fundamentals after reaching the Planetary Grade.

"Then watch closely!" Zhang Gui immediately swept his spear at Dongguan.

Combat was naturally the best way to assess the results of training.

Dongguan kept his feet still and his left hand behind his back, sparring with him using only his right hand.

Eventually, Dongguan smiled.

"Very good. Your foundations are solid, and you've grasped a hint of artistic conception."

In a single year, he had progressed through the basic, minute control, and perfection stages to grasp a hint of artistic conception. That already made him an exceptional talent.

Then, under the control of his spiritual force, a silver case hidden in a corner of the gravity chamber floated over.

Dongguan opened it and took out a green crystalline core the size of an egg.

The crystalline core floated in front of Zhang Gui.

"This is a spirit of plants and trees, a millennium willow heart. Take it right here. I'll watch over you." Dongguan's expression turned serious.

Zhang Gui didn't understand why Dongguan looked so serious, but he nodded, sat cross-legged, cut open the shell with a dagger, and swallowed the liquid inside.

Dongguan kept his eyes on him.

Time passed. Under the energy of the spirit of plants and trees, Zhang Gui's physical fitness gradually improved. It stalled briefly at a certain threshold, then broke through.

Low-Level War God.

Another change took place within him.

An invisible power stirred, spreading out from Zhang Gui's body.

"I have spiritual force now?" Zhang Gui opened all three of his eyes in delight.

As he looked at his father before him, he felt that something was off.

His vision was clearer. Was this a change brought about by breaking through to War God?

A mirror flew in front of him.

Zhang Gui was stunned.

Dongguan slowly removed his forehead protector, revealing his third eye to another person for the first time.

Six eyes met in silence.

"What... what's going on?" Zhang Gui's voice was slightly hoarse.

Earthlings only had two eyes. That was common knowledge. Yang Jian, Wen Zhong, and Horse King Lord belonged to myths and legends.

"Perhaps it has something to do with my origins," Dongguan said slowly.

His son had indeed inherited this trait as well.

After a long while, Zhang Gui finally accepted it all.

He put on a forehead protector identical to his father's.

The two left the gravity chamber and found Zhang Yu waiting outside.

Although Dongguan possessed Planetary Grade spiritual force, it still couldn't penetrate the gravity chamber's walls, so he hadn't noticed her there.

When she saw the forehead protector on Zhang Gui's forehead, a look of understanding appeared on Zhang Yu's face.

Dongguan's senses were extraordinarily keen. Combined with the familiarity he had developed with Zhang Yu over this time, he instantly caught the change in her expression.

"What do you know?" Dongguan asked.

"Your genes really are different."

Zhang Yu approached and stroked Zhang Gui's cheek. When she was about to touch his forehead protector, he pulled away.

"Once children grow up, do they all distance themselves from their mothers?" Zhang Yu looked a little sad.

Zhang Gui froze, and Zhang Yu seized the chance to pull off his forehead protector.

Zhang Yu had originally possessed Beginner Warlord physical fitness. Over the past year, nourished by Spirit of Plants and Trees, she had also reached Low-Level War God, and her reflexes weren't much slower than Zhang Gui's.

"So that's how it is." Zhang Yu exclaimed in wonder as she watched Zhang Gui's third eye open when he instinctively used spiritual force to retrieve his forehead protector.

Zhang Gui snatched back the forehead protector, put it on again, and looked nervously at Dongguan.

Dongguan watched it all.

Although he and Zhang Yu had officially been together for a year, at this moment, this woman felt utterly unfamiliar to him.

On second thought, perhaps she had always been like this, and he had merely been fooled by her disguise.

Deception!

Dongguan's gaze gradually grew dangerous.

He had let his guard down far too much.

Because she had thrown herself into his arms, and because his strength far surpassed hers, he hadn't paid it any mind. Yet she had actually played him for a fool.

This time, he truly felt humiliated and furious.

Zhang Gui stepped in front of his mother, shielding her as he stared intently at his father.

"Move aside!"