Free Web NovelChapter 246: Cultivation
Yaoguang soared upward, passing through the outer spatial layers of the Great Cangwu World. The Blazing Solar Lightning layer. The Nine Heavens Divine Lightning layer. The Chaotic Void layer. Only after he crossed the spacetime distortions of the chaotic void did he finally emerge above the nine heavens.
From that vantage point, when he looked down upon the Great Cangwu World, it seemed like the entire world existed within a wormhole.
The distorted space appeared to have flattened the world into a kind of plane of light and shadow. It resembled a completely transparent glass sphere, yet through it one could clearly see all the matter within, along with the five continents scattered around it.
"That's incredible..." Even though Yaoguang had already learned of the truth of the Great Cangwu World through other means, witnessing its full form with his own eyes still made him murmur in awe.
The view almost exceeded his understanding. If he had never transmigrated, he would never have seen such a scene in his lifetime. Even imagining it would've been impossible for him. A world existing within something like a wormhole could not be explained by the theories of that other world.
"So this wormhole is the true form of the spiritual power nodes..." Yaoguang murmured.
In his previous world, there had been depictions of a network of dark matter that formed the universe, with numerous nodes scattered across it, much like the spiritual power nodes in this world.
Or perhaps, just as he had once speculated, spiritual power was actually a broader concept than dark matter itself. It encompassed all forms of energy, including dark matter, zero-point energy, and more.[1]
"Different civilizations are simply different ways of utilizing energy. The immortal civilization is no exception," Yaoguang said. After looking for a bit, he then began traversing this void-like starry space by manipulating gravity.
He wasn't fast. After all, this was his first time walking through the cosmos in his physical body, and he wanted to experience this state carefully.
Although the starry expanse appeared empty, it was filled with countless forms of particle energy.
These energies could be likened to dust, breezes, and water vapor within an atmosphere. Although they were invisible to the naked eye, they were undeniably real, revealed by his psychic thought's perception.
By using their Life Force Field to draw upon these energies, cultivators could easily move through the cosmos.
"According to the classification of the North Sea Star, the nine realms of qi refinement correspond to planetary life, life confined within a planet. Once a cultivator reaches the Foundation Building Realm, their life essence changes, and they gain some of the characteristics of cosmic life. If one advances further, reaching the Unity Realm where body and mind have all completed their transformation, they become able to perceive cosmic energy through psychic thoughts, and use their Life Force Field to harness it, traversing the stars and truly walking through the cosmos," Yaoguang muttered.
As for the Core Formation Realm, it greatly extended a cultivator’s lifespan.
Moreover, in the Core Formation state, energy consumption dropped to an extremely low level, enabling travel through the cosmos.
However, at that level, a cultivator, depending on their ability, could travel within a range of a few to perhaps several dozen light-years at most. Beyond that, it became impossible.
To travel further, one needed to reach the Fission Realm, the Fusion Realm, or even condense a Crimson Golden Core.
As Yaoguang pondered, he seemed to perceive a glow.
He looked up. Tens of thousands of kilometers away, a palace had already appeared before his eyes. At the entrance of the palace, Li Hanqiu’s figure projected outward.
Even with countless arrays sealing the palace, vast, boundless energy continued to seep out. The radiance of that energy resembled a brilliant yellow sun, illuminating everything around it.
Yaoguang slightly loosened the grip of his Life Force Field over his own mass. By manipulating gravity, he crossed tens of thousands of kilometers in a short while and arrived outside the palace.
Blazing radiance, as well as heat reaching thousands of degrees despite the arrays' efforts at containing it, hit him in the face. The surrounding darkness was completely dispelled.
"Yaoguang." At the palace entrance, Li Hanqiu greeted him with a smile. "This is our first time meeting in person, isn’t it?"
"It is." Yaoguang nodded with a smile, then took a closer look at Li Hanqiu. "A Radiant Sun Golden Core is truly extraordinary."
"It’s nothing more than the power of an ordinary yellow star," Li Hanqiu replied. "Of course, the fusion within a normal star is rather inefficient, which is why they appear so massive. But the fusion within us is extremely efficient. We need precise control over the energy to maintain this cycle, so naturally the volume is far smaller..."
Yaoguang glanced at him. Even with arrays restraining it and constant stabilization, the energy emitted from Li Hanqiu’s Golden Core still reached the equivalent of trillions of hydrogen bombs per second. It was no wonder its brilliance was clearly visible from hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
To sustain such energy output, the number of spirit stones consumed daily by his Golden Core had to be unimaginable.
It was said that merely maintaining Li Hanqiu’s state required the Nine Cauldrons Sect to invest tens of millions of spirit stones each year.
That was already the minimum, since Li Hanqiu could also draw supplementary energy from sources such as cosmic rays.
For other forces, such as the Infinite Star Palace, annual expenditure on Golden Core cultivators exceeded two hundred million.
The reason forces like the Yang Psyche Sect and the Pill Sect had been so thoroughly destroyed was not that none of their Golden Core cultivators had survived, but rather that they could not afford to sustain them.
After observing for a moment, Yaoguang wasted no time. He directly took out a spirit treasure about ten meters in diameter. Even while sealed, Li Hanqiu could still sense the terrifying binding force emanating from it.
"This is the Gathering-Separation Ring," Yaoguang said. "Refining this into your Golden Core will help you better regulate its power. As long as you’re not engaged in life-or-death combats and are only releasing normal amounts of energy, you won’t have to worry about your Golden Core growing unstable."
Li Hanqiu was visibly moved. "If this spirit treasure really works as you say, the situation of all Golden Core cultivators in the Great Cangwu World will greatly improve."
"I have great confidence in it. As long as all Golden Core cultivators can equip the ring, there will no longer be any hidden dangers coming from their cores." As he spoke, Yaoguang glanced toward the horizon. "There's no time to waste. I’ll head to the nearest planet and wait."
"Alright." Li Hanqiu nodded. "The planet you chose, number 6713, is 615,000,000 kilometers from the Great Cangwu World. It’s suitable as a battlefield. In space, many abilities that cannot be used within the Great Cangwu World can be freely unleashed, so be careful. Also, with your speed, the round trip should take about a month. You will have enough time to return for our sect’s grand inspection."
"Mhmm. I’ll head there now," Yaoguang said.
"I’ll keep watch for you. If the Immortal Alliance acts shamelessly and sends more than three Golden Core cultivators, I’ll let you know," Li Hanqiu said.
"Alright." Yaoguang nodded. "But since we’ve chosen to make my existence public, and I’m heading to an uninhabited planet six hundred million kilometers away from the Great Cangwu World, anyone can understand that I’m waiting for them to come and test my strength."
"Exactly. But if they really send more than three Golden Core cultivators, you don’t need to entertain them at all. We are eager to show our strength, but they need to gain an understanding of you, since you're a wildcard, and figure out your true power and why you're that confident." Li Hanqiu smiled.
"Release the news in half a month," Yaoguang said, then paused. "With the Void Psychic World, we can stay in contact at any time anyway."
"Alright. Be careful. If things become impossible, preserving your life comes first." Li Hanqiu offered a reminder. "Where there's life, there's hope."
"I know what I’m doing." Yaoguang gestured reassuringly, then set off once more, heading straight for the chosen planet.
This planet was one of the closest to the Great Cangwu World. Its diameter was only thirty thousand kilometers.
As he left the palace where Li Hanqiu resided, his speed gradually increased. With no resistance, his speed quickly surged to over five hundred kilometers per second.
At that speed, his body also began to expand. Ten meters. One hundred meters. One thousand meters... In an instant, his size had grown to ten thousand meters.
Upon reaching the second tier of the Star Lord Realm, one needed to condense a stellar force field.
The crudest method to obtain a sufficiently powerful stellar force field was to increase one’s mass.
Refining it with a Life Force Field, this mass would ultimately evolve into an indestructible stellar god-fiend body.
Such bodies often reached thousands, even tens of thousands of meters! Even the weakest stellar god-fiend body possessed a mass comparable to that of a meteor, reaching hundreds of billions of tons.
As for Heavenly-Star-level or Primary-Star-level bodies, their mass could exceed trillions upon trillions of tons.
Of course, increasing mass was only the most basic method. It would merely make the body larger and larger.
The larger the body, the worse the flexibility. If mishandled, one could become like a celestial body itself, turning into a living target.
The true method of strengthening a stellar force field took advantage of the structural density of the divine body and the activity of the energy within it.
Two stars of the same diameter could have vastly different masses, and the stellar force field strength could also vary greatly depending on their density.
The strength of a star lord or star god depended on maintaining a body of at most around one hundred meters while maximizing mass and internal energy activity.
Now, the body that Yaoguang manifested had already expanded to a hundred thousand meters.
This manifestation of a hundred-thousand-meter star god body was merely a preparation for his next phase of cultivation.
By fully releasing his star god body through his Life Force Field, he made his own gravitational pull immense. As he deliberately resonated with the stellar force field of Planet No. 6713, his entire being was drawn toward it, as if pulled down by an invisible force.
Finally, after fourteen days of flight, Yaoguang’s speed reached its limit.
His body had expanded to several hundred kilometers.
Compared to a planet thirty thousand kilometers in diameter, several hundred kilometers was insignificant. But he was moving at an astonishing speed.
He slightly reduced his velocity, yet he had no intention of stopping.
Under these conditions, the distance between him and the planet rapidly shrank.
Finally, when they were less than five thousand kilometers apart, Yaoguang slightly adjusted his somewhat sluggish body, and then, while maintaining a speed of nearly fifty kilometers per second, slammed heavily into the planet.
1. Zero-point energy is the lowest possible energy state a quantum mechanical system can possess, remaining even at absolute zero, when all other energy is removed. ☜
