Compared to the Amulet of Power, this backlash was far more violent, tearing even his indestructible Man of Steel apart—a truly horrifying sight.
Even Chen Xiao himself was slightly surprised by the sword's strength: it seemed that this sword was more difficult to wield than he had anticipated.
No wonder he felt a sense of pressure when he fought Brian before; judging from the level of backlash alone, it might even surpass that of a single Infinity Stones.
Unfortunately, Brian was ultimately just a mortal, and even with two supreme treasures at his disposal, he couldn't unleash their true power.
As he pondered, the cracks on his body healed rapidly. The super energy deep within his Krypton cells surged and was consumed in large quantities, taking about a third of his reserves to completely heal his injuries.
This number further convinced him that this sword was extraordinary.
However, with his current strength, the divine artifact is merely icing on the cake. Whether he uses it or not makes little difference.
To prevent Yidileisi from being overwhelmed, he added three more seals to the Sword in the Stone, each layer suppressing a portion of its power.
Otherwise, given her current level of cultivation, she would only follow in Brian's footsteps: wielding a divine weapon but unable to control it, merely possessing its form.
Now, the amulet is in Clarice's hands, the Sword in the Stone belongs to Yidileisi, and with their respective awakened mutant talents, the two women's combat power has leaped to the peak of the Alpha-level.
This is the true power of the Reality Stone: to rewrite reality at will, limited only by whether the caster can withstand the backlash.
It appears mediocre in the movie and rarely shines in the comics.
Ultimately, it's because the backlash from the Infinity Stones is too severe; those who can withstand, control, and fully unleash their power are extremely rare.
Even at its strongest, it was merely used by the Dark Elves to drag the world into Eternity night.
Chen Xiao slowly spoke, "With your current strength, you are already among the top tier of people on Earth. Even if you suddenly encounter danger, you can easily escape unscathed."
Upon hearing this, both women's expressions subtly changed. Clarice instinctively gripped the hem of her dress, her voice barely audible. " Vitas?"
Chen Xiao smiled, "Don't panic, I just plan to take a nap in the sun."
"Sun?!"
Yidileisi blinked, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Darling, I knew this day would come sooner or later."
"So it was going to fly towards the sun." Clarice relaxed as well.
"Uh... I did go for the sun, but why aren't you surprised at all?" Chen Xiao looked at them with a hint of surprise.
Yidileisi smiled casually, "It's not surprising, darling. Your power comes from sunlight, so flying directly to the sun to strengthen yourself is only natural."
"Alright..." Chen Xiao was momentarily speechless, unsure how to respond.
In fact, not only Yidileisi and Clarice, but everyone who has been paying attention to Chen Xiao's movements now understands that his leap in combat power is closely related to sunlight, and even the sun itself.
The claim that "he loves to sunbathe," which was passed down through Shadowcat back in Xavier Institute, was just a made-up excuse.
However, as he was exposed to the scorching sun every day, his strength grew explosively, which had long led to speculation from all sides: this person's ability was probably directly connected to the core of a star.
If it weren't for the fact that he actually has an X-Gene response and can reliably utilize Mutants abilities, just looking at his physique that seems to absorb light energy indefinitely, he would be exactly like that Krypton visitor from the comics.
In the following days, Chen Xiao once again immersed himself in the underground research institute, working diligently.
This time, however, he devoted almost all his attention to the reconstruction of the Stellar Suit, only occasionally checking on the progress of the Time X-Factor's cultivation.
The power of the Reality Stone continues to take effect, permanently rewriting the laws of physics. "The microstructure of this lightweight armor has been reconstructed, the atoms have completely disintegrated, and it has been compressed ten thousand times to form neutron-like matter."
Weak... Once I recover, I'll continue.
"The internal space of the Stellar Furnace expands tenfold while maintaining high-dimensional compression."
Weak... gasping for breath.
"The inner chamber of the miniature furnace is compressed a hundredfold, initiating a phase transition..."
Weak, rest, then go again.
More than a week later, on the second floor of the underground base, Chen Xiao stood in front of an oval-shaped black gold furnace that was four meters high and five meters wide.
It is the heart of the entire Stellar Suit.
It appears to be no more than four meters tall, but in reality it weighs over ten million tons; if the surrounding space had not been forcibly twisted to bear the weight, its own weight alone would have been enough to crush the earth's crust.
Even more astonishing is its interior. Supported by Chen Xiao's repeated alterations of reality at all costs, the interior space of the furnace has already expanded to the size of a small landmass.
The one billion tons of nuclear fusion raw materials provided by Britain have been divided into 360 portions, each of which has been refined into an independently operating "miniature fusion core".
After being compressed in space, these cores are only the size of a fist, yet they are precisely embedded in the inner wall of the furnace, arranged according to the trajectory of celestial bodies, like a row of stars.
They are the sparks that ignite the Stellar Furnace.
Once the furnace reaches the sun and is filled with high-density stellar plasma, all 360 miniature fusion furnaces will ignite simultaneously, transforming the entire furnace into a controllable miniature star that continuously emits pure light energy.
This idea was so bold it bordered on arrogance. In the past, Chen Xiao would have at most thought about it, but the materials couldn't withstand it, the structure couldn't support it, and the energy couldn't be controlled—it was all a dead end.
But once the Reality Stone was obtained, all obstacles were forcibly erased.
Insufficient conductivity? Improve it.
Insufficient compressive strength? Improve it.
Too bulky? Compress the space.
Is the internal capacity too small? Expand the possibilities.
In just seven or eight days, with over a thousand reality corrections, even Chen Xiao was almost completely drained.
The super energy contained in the Krypton cells in his body was rapidly depleted in the process of disintegration, regeneration, and disintegration; he could only frequently go out and expose himself to the sun to replenish his energy before gritting his teeth and throwing himself into the next round of forging.
This intense cycle actually caused his personal combat ability to stagnate.
But it's all worth it. Once the Stellar Suit is complete, and pushed to its current limit with the power of the sun, he will truly have the ability to confront Dormammu head-on.
After all, that was the ruler of the Dark Dimension. Although it was weakened in the movie, Chen Xiao dared not be the slightest bit disrespectful.
Once the enemy seizes the Time Stone and the Ancient One is no longer able to suppress them, invading the main universe will be a foregone conclusion.
At present, he does not have the ability to traverse the stars or jump between dimensions, nor does he intend to abandon Earth and seek another place to live, so he can only defeat him head-on.
This "defeat" is not about using time reversal to play games with the opponent or to annoy them, but about being fair and square, using force to break through the law, and completely defeating them.
Afterwards, Chen Xiao called Yidileisi and Clarice over and made several arrangements.
His main duties are the daily affairs of the research institute, but his top priority is to keep a close eye on the cultivation progress of the Time X-Factor. Under his personal supervision, this genetic project is nearing completion.
That's all.
"Also, in case I encounter a powerful enemy I can't handle while I'm away, don't fight them head-on, retreat immediately and wait for my return."
Clarice hesitated for a moment, then asked softly, "... Vitas, how long will you be gone?"
Chen Xiao pondered for a moment, "It could be as short as a month, or as long as a year."
"That's good." The two women breathed a sigh of relief.
After giving his instructions, he turned and walked towards the furnace, firmly gripping the metal arm rings on both sides with both hands. His shoulder and back muscles suddenly tensed, and an extremely brute force exploded out.
boom!
With a muffled thud, the furnace was hoisted onto his shoulder, smashed through the ground, and rose into the sky amidst billowing dust.
Unfortunately, due to the excessive compression of the internal space, the entire furnace is constantly releasing chaotic spatial ripples, making it impossible for storage devices to hold the items.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Behind them, white sonic boom rings exploded one after another, their speed soaring to the extreme, tearing through the stratosphere in an instant, and hovering above the churning sea of clouds.
Because the protective force field was not activated to counteract atmospheric friction, the furnace shell was quickly covered with a layer of dazzling white flame, which grew brighter and brighter as it burned.
Throughout the entire process, multiple intelligence nodes around the world were closely monitoring Pochut City. The moment Chen Xiao lifted off with the furnace, the news spread like wildfire.
High-resolution satellites from various countries simultaneously focused on the target, capturing clear images of him carrying a giant furnace on his shoulder, piercing the sky, leaving everyone wondering: What exactly is he going to do?
Enveloped in flames, he cleaved through the heavens and earth like a crimson-gold rainbow, reaching the edge of the atmosphere in the blink of an eye.
At that moment, he suddenly stopped and turned around abruptly.
A thousand miles away, the void suddenly rippled, and a colossal black warship tore through space, silently appearing against the cosmic backdrop. The ship's hull was shaped like a cross, and on the bridge, a group of Dark Elves stood solemnly.
Malekith, the King of the Dark Elves, stared intently at the projection of the atmosphere of the Blue Star, especially the figure carrying a black gold furnace, moving against the light.
" The Aether... is within him."
"What? It's right there!"
The surrounding subordinates immediately became agitated. No one had expected that they would stumble upon their ultimate goal so soon after stepping into the Midgard world.
Compared to his men's barely contained excitement, Malekith lowered his voice slightly, and after a moment, he ordered in a deep voice, "Order the entire ship to top speed, lock onto that man, and capture him alive."
"Yes, sir!"
Before the words were even finished, the massive, black ship, hundreds of meters tall, suddenly trembled violently. Its engines roared, tearing through the silence, like a bolt of dark lightning ripping through the night, hurtling straight toward Chen Xiao, who was thousands of miles away.
The sight of Chen Xiao hovering alone at the edge of the atmosphere made Malekith's heart sink. He knew that someone who could stand so calmly in the vacuum was no ordinary person.
But the Aether is within that person, and it must be retrieved no matter what. Only it can reignite the Eternity night; only it can fulfill the oath that the Dark Elves have kept for millennia.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, inside the International Space Station, suspended in near-Earth orbit,
White astronaut David floats in front of the observation window. He looks down at the magnificent arc of the Blue Star below while scanning the data streams jumping on the control screen.
Suddenly, he blinked, then rubbed his eyes, and his pupils contracted sharply.
Several kilometers away at the edge of the atmosphere, there stood a person! On his shoulder, he steadily carried a huge, dark, almost liquid-like ellipsoidal object.