At night, the city's neon lights streamed through a gap in the curtains, casting mottled shadows across the floor.
Li Qingshan sat cross-legged at the head of the bed, his breathing long and steady.
Today was his fifteenth birthday. His parents had just finished celebrating with him, and by now they were asleep.
Over the years, his perception had grown ever clearer: beneath the technological civilization on the surface of the world, something deeper lay hidden-a kind of "stillness."
He could feel the flow of energy in the air, so sparse it was almost nonexistent, like the last wisps of moisture left in a dried-up riverbed.
"What is it that makes this world so barren?" Li Qingshan murmured to himself, gazing out at the starry sky.
There should have been some kind of connection between those stars, but now only hollow darkness remained.
The instant the thought crossed his mind, his brain suddenly roared!
A vast, ancient presence surged forth without warning, as if it had crossed endless stretches of time and space to arrive here.
The scene before Li Qingshan's eyes changed abruptly. His bedroom vanished, replaced by a gigantic stone gate that reached from earth to sky.
The stone gate was simple and unadorned, etched from top to bottom with profound patterns. They seemed both naturally formed and imbued with the supreme principles of the Great Dao.
At just one glance, Li Qingshan felt his soul tremble, as though he had glimpsed the origin of the universe and the beginning of all things.
"What is this?" Terror seized his heart, yet he couldn't help being drawn in.
The stone gate opened a narrow crack. Within it, boundless light flowed, as if countless worlds were being born and destroyed inside.
As if driven by instinct, Li Qingshan reached out and touched the stone gate.
The instant his fingertip made contact, heaven and earth spun!
An invisible force tore at his body, then reassembled it in the blink of an eye.
Li Qingshan's vision blurred. When it cleared, he was already in a completely unfamiliar place.
A strange energy filled the air, more than a hundred times denser than on Earth. Even breathing made him feel refreshed.
He looked up. Two moons hung in the sky, and the starry river blazed with light. The "sense of connection" between the stars was far stronger than it had been on Earth.
"This isn't Earth." Li Qingshan quickly calmed down. His innate, keen perception immediately made him realize that he had traveled through time and space.
Voices came from afar. The language was strange, yet had its own rhythm.
Li Qingshan listened intently, quickly analyzing its structure.
In just a short while, he had grasped the basic rules of the language.
"Quick! The training camp's about to close. We have to finish the basic test today!" Several young figures hurried past him, dressed in matching silver-gray training uniforms.
Li Qingshan quietly followed them to a futuristic-looking cluster of buildings.
The buildings, made of metal and unknown materials, gleamed coldly beneath the light of the two moons. The sign above the entrance read: "Galaxy Federation Seventh Basic Training Camp."
Relying on his exceptional hearing and comprehension, Li Qingshan quickly gathered key information: this was the territory of a civilization called the Galaxy Federation, an interstellar civilization led by humanity.
This was a basic training camp for young people, where they taught a system called "Mind Cultivation."
"Mind Cultivation," Li Qingshan mused.
He could feel that the energy in this world was far more active than on Earth. In particular, a kind of "psychic energy" permeating the air seemed to be directly guided and wielded by mental power.
There was a public library on the outskirts of the training camp. Li Qingshan slipped inside while the guards were changing shifts.
The library held all kinds of basic textbooks. He started with the most elementary ones, "An Introduction to Psychic Energy" and "A Beginner's Guide to Mind Cultivation," and rapidly leafed through them.
His photographic memory and extraordinary insight were now at their peak.
In less than half an hour, he had basically mastered the language system and the fundamentals of cultivation in this world.
"Mental power is the essence of life, while psychic energy is the gift of the universe," Li Qingshan murmured. A light of understanding flashed in his eyes. "This world's path of development is completely different from Earth's. They cultivate power on the mental level."
While reading a book called "A Modern History of the Galaxy," Li Qingshan suddenly froze.
The book recorded a golden age of martial arts on Earth's homeworld more than two hundred years ago, and mentioned several names he knew well: Ba Liming, Wang Chao, Tang Zichen, GOD,
"Th-these aren't the characters from Romance of Dragons and Snakes?" Li Qingshan's heart was swept by stormy waves.
In his previous life, he had read the novel and remembered those characters vividly.
What surprised him even more was that, besides those familiar names, the historical records also included a stranger's name: "Shura Qing."
According to the records, this mysterious powerhouse had burst onto the scene like a shooting star, progressing from Manifest Jin to Breaking the Void and Seeing the Indestructible God in just two years. He had fought Ba Liming, GOD, and the others without ever losing,
Yet at the height of his power, he had suddenly vanished without a trace, becoming one of the martial world's great mysteries.
"Shura Qing," Li Qingshan murmured, a strange feeling rising in his heart.
This person had never appeared in the original story, yet had left his mark on the history of this world.
As he continued reading, he found an introduction to this world's cultivation system: it began with Calming the Mind, progressed through the Initial, Intermediate, and Advanced stages of mind cultivation, and ultimately aimed to become a "Sage" capable of crossing the Void with one's physical body.
"So this is the timeline of Great Emperor of the Cosmos," Li Qingshan realized, putting together what he had read about Wang Chao, Tang Zichen, and the other historical figures of this world.
The mysterious stone gate had actually brought him to this familiar yet strange world.
Suppressing his shock, Li Qingshan continued searching the library.
In a secluded corner, an old book someone had carelessly discarded caught his attention.
Its pages had yellowed, and its cover bore no markings. It seemed to be someone's private notes.
Li Qingshan opened the book, and his pupils narrowed slightly.
"'Crystal Visualization Method': Calm the mind like crystal, reflecting one's own being; refine intent into threads, and see through the void..."
After returning to a temporary shelter he had found-a deserted observatory-Li Qingshan began trying to cultivate the "Crystal Visualization Method."
According to the book, he first needed to quiet his mind, gather his scattered mental power into a single point, and imagine himself becoming a transparent crystal that reflected everything within and without, including every distracting thought and disturbance.
Ordinary beginners needed months to enter the practice, but Li Qingshan took only three breaths.
As if by an instinct he had been born with, his consciousness quickly sank into a profound state.
Countless distracting thoughts drifted through his mind like floating clouds, yet not one could disturb him in the slightest.
An invisible crystal mirror formed in his consciousness, clearly reflecting every thought and every flicker of emotion.
"So this is introspection," Li Qingshan realized.
Through crystal visualization, he could clearly sense his emotional fluctuations, his physical condition, and even the flow of his blood. This degree of control was exceedingly precise.
As his visualization deepened, he sensed his mental power spreading around him, hazy as a thin mist.
According to the method, the next step was to gather this scattered mental power into "Condensed Mental Threads."
This step was far more difficult. Even the training camp's prodigies needed several weeks.
Li Qingshan, however, took only half a day.
His natural affinity for all methods was now unmistakable.
He instinctively knew the most effective way to concentrate his mental power. The scattered energy was like a collection of obedient threads, gradually weaving into a fine yet resilient Condensed Mental Thread under the guidance of his consciousness.
"What a marvelous feeling." With a slight shift of thought, Li Qingshan extended his Condensed Mental Thread. Everything within several meters appeared clearly in his mind: the texture of the walls, specks of dust floating in the air, distant voices faintly carried over. Everything was within his grasp.
This perception was different from sight and hearing, more like an all-encompassing "mental radar."
Over the following days, Li Qingshan cultivated around the clock.
His Condensed Mental Threads grew from one to three, five, ten, and finally reached a hundred! The hundred threads intertwined into a net that covered a radius of ten meters. Not a single subtle movement escaped his perception.
The "Crystal Visualization Method" recorded that when beginners could condense ten Condensed Mental Threads and maintain them for the time it took an incense stick to burn, they were considered to have reached Initial Stage Perfection.
Li Qingshan's level had already far surpassed what was known as perfection.
But he wasn't satisfied. He continued striving for an even higher level: the Mind Barrier.
This was a defensive technique that wove Condensed Mental Threads into an invisible barrier to resist external mental interference and even attacks.
The notes recorded that one in ten thousand could reach this level. It required exceptional talent and long years of hard cultivation.
Li Qingshan once again displayed a cultivation speed beyond belief.
In just seven days, he had already begun to construct a Mind Barrier.
Though weak, it gave him a clear sense of resistance to external mental interference.
"Though this visualization method is basic, it contains profound principles." As he cultivated, Li Qingshan continued to ponder. "The crystal represents the mind, reflecting all things without being stained;
The threads represent intent, gathering what is scattered and bringing it into order.
The person who created this method had an exceptionally thorough understanding of the mind."
Before he knew it, two months had passed.
Li Qingshan had cultivated the "Crystal Visualization Method" to an unprecedented level.
His hundred Condensed Mental Threads responded to his every command, and his Mind Barrier was as steady as a mountain. He could even faintly influence other people's minds, making guards overlook his presence and beasts steer clear of the area where he was.
This rate of progress finally drew some attention.
During a routine patrol, an instructor at the training camp sensed an unusual flow of psychic energy in the area where Li Qingshan was staying.
The flow was refined and orderly, far beyond what a beginner could manage.
"Interesting," the instructor observed him in secret for several days, growing increasingly astonished by the unknown youth's talent. "He's achieved in two months what takes others years of hard cultivation. Such insight is simply beyond belief."
But he didn't rashly disturb him. The Galaxy Federation respected personal privacy. As long as they didn't break the law, everyone had the right to choose their own way of cultivation.
These two months of cultivation had given Li Qingshan a deep understanding of this world's energy system, especially the relationship between psychic energy and mental power.
"Perhaps Earth is 'still' because it lacks this psychic energy."
One day, after finishing his cultivation, Li Qingshan had a sudden realization. "Or perhaps Earth's psychic energy has been sealed and suppressed by some kind of force,"
As he was thinking, his mind suddenly stirred, and the mysterious stone gate appeared in his mind once more.
Unlike the last time, the stone gate was now perfectly clear. The patterns on it seemed to have come alive, flowing without end.
A message entered Li Qingshan's consciousness directly:
"Return to where you came from."
Li Qingshan took a deep breath and cast one last look at the world that had given him an entirely new experience.
"It's time to go back."
At a thought, the stone gate rumbled open and pulled him inside.
He experienced that dizzying sensation of passing through time and space once more, then found himself back in bed in his bedroom.
The first light of dawn glimmered outside the window, as if only an instant had passed.
But he clearly remembered every detail of those two months. The mysteries of the Crystal Visualization Method were still imprinted in his mind, and he had retained both Condensed Mental Threads and Mind Barrier intact.
"Time flows at different rates in different worlds." Li Qingshan picked up his phone and checked the time, immediately understanding. "I spent two months in that world, but only one night passed on Earth."
With a slight stir of his thoughts, a hundred mental threads naturally unfurled, covering the entire room.
His perception was countless times sharper than before. He could even "see" the spirit particles, so sparse they were nearly nonexistent, in the air.
In an environment like Earth's, spiritual energy was nearly depleted, but it wasn't completely absent.
The Crystal Visualization Method began operating on its own, slowly absorbing those sparse traces of spiritual energy and strengthening his mental power.
Although it was far slower than in the world of the Great Emperor of the Cosmos, it was truly making him stronger.
Li Qingshan closed his eyes and sank into cultivating the Crystal Visualization Method.
In his mind, the crystal mirror reflected the four directions, while mental threads spread like a net.