Cultivation was something that went on for countless ages, and as one’s level climbed, their potential time spent in seclusion would increase from one year to ten years, a hundred years, or even a thousand years.
Who knew how many ages Yuan Shi had lived for? Once he fell into a deep slumber, it was possible that the very layout of the Innerverse might change when he next awoke.
The time that Lu Yin spent cultivating this time in the Timestop Space was not that exaggerated, but when he reopened his eyes, five months had already passed, and he only had one month remaining in the space.
He quickly added on another half a year.
He had cultivated the Cosmic Art for five months now, and the number of stars that he was able to simulate had increased by yet another hundred. By now, he had already surpassed Mu Ziying, as Lu Yin had comprehended 520 stars.
Lu Yin was quite excited, and he raised a hand as he used the Cosmic Palm. Stars appeared over his palm, and 520 stars exploded. When this attack was reinforced by his nine lined battle force and absurd physical strength, it would be no weaker than a Vacuum Palm.
As for the strength of the attack, Lu Yin was not too concerned about it. After all, the Vacuum Palm was something that came from one’s extreme understanding of the Overlaying Stacks Path, and it was already strong enough to deal with top experts. Unless he broke through to the fourth layer of the Cosmic Art, the Cosmic Palm would not be able to exceed the power of the Vacuum Palm.
The greatest benefit that he had gained from cultivating the Cosmic Art to this level was the defensive forcefield that came from the stars surrounding him, as they allowed him to perceive his opponents’ attacks in slow motion.
This was similar to what Lu Yin had experienced back on Earth during the trial. At that time, he had relied on the Cosmic Art to defeat various experts from the Great Yu Empire, and he had also used it to fight against Qingyu. It had even allowed him to copy other people’s battle techniques, and speed had been utterly pointless against him. Even more importantly, the increase in the number of stars he could simulate had further accelerated his cultivation speed, which was the greatest value of the Cosmic Art.
Now that Lu Yin had comprehended 520 stars, it meant that his cultivation had been sped up by a factor of 520 times compared to the average cultivator.
What sort of concept was 520 times faster? With the absurd amount of star energy that Lu Yin needed to complete a single cycle, even when he had comprehended ninety nine stars, he had been fifty times slower than others. With his current comprehension of the Cosmic Art, he would only be ten times slower. If he could simulate 5,000 stars, then he would finally cultivate at the same speed as a regular cultivator.
His insane cultivation speed might truly need to rely on the Cosmic Art to be balanced.
However, Lu Yin was not overly concerned, as his cultivation had never proceeded in a typical fashion, and he often used the Skyblaze Stone as a shortcut.
Suddenly, Lu Yin thought of something: the Cosmic Sect’s first true disciple, All Rounder Fairy Qiu Shi, had definitely cultivated the Cosmic Art to a higher level than Lu Yin. Thus, her cultivation speed had to be absolutely phenomenal. In that case, was she actually still a Hunter?
Mu Ziying could simulate more than 400 stars, so why was he still a Hunter? Why had he not become an Enlighter yet?
There had to be a reason behind this.
The Cosmic Art could greatly speed up a person’s cultivation speed, but Mu Ziying and the others had not taken advantage of that to become Enlighters. Lu Yin needed to look into this anomaly a bit.
After spending five months comprehending the Cosmic Art, Lu Yin altered the environment within the Timestop Space and enjoyed two days of rest. After that, he took out the Skyblaze Stone as it was time for him to cultivate once more.
After his last cultivating session with the stone, Lu Yin had used the Skyblaze Stone to absorb the fifteenth layer of the Dark Phoenix family’s Blackflame barrier as well as the Fire Spirit from the Blaze Realm’s Monster Chi.
Lu Yin quickly took out a million star essence and started using the Cosmic Art as the temperature spiked. He was soon absorbing star energy at his absolute limit.
The Cosmic Art’s stars swirled about, and Lu Yin’s cultivation speed rose much higher than before. The lines characteristic of the intense heat extended across his skin, and Lu Yin gritted his teeth as he endured the intense pain and hastened to absorb the vaporized star energy.
This time, he had cultivated for less than ten days, as the Cosmic Art had increased his cultivation speed too much. In fact, his absorption rate was more than five times greater than before.
Lu Yin let out a long breath of hot air and looked down at his hands. He had become an eighth cycle Cruiser, and his strength had risen once again.
If he wasn’t afraid of frightening the Cosmic Sect by suddenly jumping two cultivation realms, then he would have continued cultivating until he reached the peak Cruiser realm.
Still, this was fine. There was not much of a difference between eight and nine cycles, as the next big power jump would come when he broke through to the Hunter realm.
Lu Yin was not very confident about that breakthrough.
The memories of his past major breakthroughs were still fresh in his mind. When he had broken through to the Melder and Explorer realms, he had suffered extreme difficulties while doing so. The Hunter realm definitely wouldn’t be an easy exception.
If he wanted to break through to the Hunter realm, then he definitely had to use the formcast model. He had tried to upgrade his formcast model in the past, just to see if it was possible to upgrade it to seven stages, as this was a very important detail.
Many people were not aware that a seven stage formcast model could even exist, and Lu Yin had never heard of one either. However, he still intended to give it a try.
If he could truly upgrade his formcast model to seven stages, then he would be able to sell it for an exorbitant sum, and he definitely would not be lacking for money after that.
Since he had become an eighth cycle Cruiser, the next thing for him to focus on was cultivating that integrated finger that the fog had simulated for him on Eversky Bridge.
That finger had been wrapped with nine lined battle force, further reinforced by a domain that had been compressed by spiritual force, and also used the Overlaying Stacks Path. It had even been accompanied by Truesight, which had erased a portion of the enemy’s runes.
That one finger encompassed everything that Lu Yin had comprehended thus far, and it would be a battle technique unique to him. Although it had been simulated by the Eversky Bridge, it could be considered a self-created technique, and he would name it—the Seventh Bro Finger!
The Seventh Bro Finger would not be easy to cultivate, as he had already found that just using his domain to compress his spiritual force was very difficult.
However, since Eversky Bridge had been able to simulate the finger, that was proof that it was a possibility.
Lu Yin silently recited the Stonewall Scriptures and calmed himself down before releasing his domain and beginning to cultivate the Seventh Bro Finger.
***
In the Cosmic Sect, the spacecraft to take the disciples to the Mountain and Seas Zone had long since been prepared, and the third true disciple, Hua Xiao, had also returned. When he was told of the recent happenings within the sect, he was quite amazed. “Lu Yin actually used the third method to become a true disciple?”
Mu Ziying nodded, and he helplessly explained, “Nobody could stop him, and Grand Senior didn’t make a move. Thus, even with me, we failed.”
Hua Xiao smiled bitterly. “Even if I had been here, you and I together might have only been able to force him into a tight spot. Although we might not have been defeated, it’s highly likely that we wouldn’t have been able to defeat him either.”
Mu Ziying replied, “Yes. Also, two true disciples were promoted on the same day, which is certainly rare.”
As for Yao Ji, Hua Xiao did not really pay any attention to the fourth disciple. Yao Ji might also be a true disciple, but his strength was simply too inferior to the rest of them. It was just the case that he had a rare and powerful innate gift. “With Junior Yao Ji here, we can put forth our full efforts in a fight against anyone.”
Mu Ziying replied, “That’s what I wanted to talk about. Junior Yao Ji’s innate gift will be a great help, so control your temper and treat him a bit better.”
“I know,” Hua Xiao casually responded. He then looked around at the sect. “Where’s Lu Yin?”
Mu Ziying rolled his eyes. “I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. That guy bounces around everywhere, so who knows what he’s gotten up to? Ten days ago, he even managed to uncover the mystery behind Senior Chen Fu’s death. His actions ended up getting Crimson Star’s City Master Shang Ju executed, and he made a massive contribution to the sect. Who knows where he even got his information from?”
Hua Xiao was amused. “He unified the Outerverse, and he’s actually the master of the Outerverse.”
When this was mentioned, even if the people of the Neoverse did not really consider the Outerverse anything, Mu Ziying still felt respect for his achievement. “The Outerverse might be a savage place without any experts, but it’s still a massive territory, and it’s really not easy to unite such a large place. And that’s especially so since he has to deal with the pressure from the Innerverse now.”
“That’s just something that concerns the outside world, and there’s no need to pay too much attention to it. The Astral Tower contest depends on one’s strength and fate, but once we join forces along with Junior Yao Ji, we might actually stand a chance against some of the top powerhouses there,” Hua Xiao said confidently.
“Junior Yao Ji has risen to become a true disciple?” A girl’s voice rang out behind them.
Mu Ziying and Hua Xiao simultaneously turned around to see Qiu Shi standing behind them with a calm expression.
Qiu Shi was the Cosmic Sect’s Grand Senior, and she was the leader of all of the sect’s disciples. Aside from her nickname, the All Rounder Fairy, she had also been given another name: Queen Jugs.
She had been given this title during the Sixth Mainland’s invasion. When she received her title atop the Champions’ Stage, she had been called Queen Qiu, but since her chest was simply too impressive, everyone had automatically started calling her Queen Jugs.
“Grand Senior, you’re out of seclusion?” Mu Ziying was thrilled.
Hua Xiao respectfully greeted the young woman. “Grand Senior.”
Qiu Shi nodded, though her expression was indifferent. “Is Junior Yao Ji going to team up with you two?”
Mu Ziying said, “I was the one who invited him, as Junior Yao Ji’s innate gift is very suitable for working with us.”
Qiu Shi looked back towards the sect. “How far has Lu Yin cultivated his Cosmic Art?”
Mu Ziying smiled bitterly. “I don’t know. He’s visited the Skystar Jade Wall twice in a row, and he even wants to learn the sect’s sourcebox array and secret technique. There’s no end to his greed.”
Qiu Shi turned around and moved deep into the spacecraft.
Mu Ziying and Hua Xiao did not dare to speak any further.
Not long after, Yao Ji also arrived.
This time, the Cosmic Sect’s Elder Yuan Ke from the Cosmo Hall was the one escorting the youths to the Mountain and Seas Zone. He was from the same generation as Sect Leader Yuan Qiong and True Elder Yuan Shou, and he was naturally one of the Cosmic Sect’s top powerhouses.
Not long after he arrived, Lu Yin arrived at the ship.
Mu Ziying had a strange expression on his face as he glanced at Lu Yin. Strangely enough, Mu Ziying had a feeling that Lu Yin was a bit different from before.
Lu Yin nodded to Mu Ziying before looking at Hua Xiao and smiling. “King Hua, it’s been a long time.”
Hua Xiao exclaimed, “We haven’t met in a while, and not only has Brother Lu beaten both the Divine Fist and Arbiter Zhenwu, but you also came here to Neoverse and are representing Eversky Island in the Astral Tower contest. I heard that you even entered the Skystar Jade Wall twice to cultivate. Unless I’ve guessed wrongly, Brother Lu should have already broken through to the third layer of the Cosmic Art.”
Lu Yin smiled. “It’s all thanks to the sect’s nurturing.”
Hua Xiao wanted to know how many stars Lu Yin could simulate, but that was a delicate question to ask as it was probing into a person’s personal affairs. Hua Xiao believed that Lu Yin, at best, had cultivated to the same level as Yao Ji, but at the same time, he felt that such a thing was not really possible. Instead, it was more probable that Lu Yin had reached a level equivalent to the top five inner disciples from the sect, which was at around 100 stars.
The Cosmic Art was not something that was easily cultivated.
The vessel was large, and Lu Yin was given a personal room. While walking there, he ran into Qiu Shi.
Qiu Shi had noticed him the moment Lu Yin boarded the spacecraft. The two had never interacted or even greeted each other before, though they had seen each other a few times before. At most, Lu Yin could be seen as someone borrowing the Cosmic Sect’s vessel to travel to the Mountain and Seas Zone. After the Astral Tower contest, he would no longer be considered a disciple of the Cosmic Sect.
Lu Yin also had no real plans to interact with Qiu Shi.
Instead, he silently recited the Stonewall Scriptures.
The five true disciples were all aboard the ship, so Elder Yuan Ke did not wait any longer, and he directed the vessel to head toward the Mountain and Seas Zone.
Many of the Cosmic Sect’s disciples watched as the ship left, as it carried within it their sect’s hopes of one of the Cosmic Five coming from their sect.
Although the Cosmic Sect was a mammoth power in the Neoverse, within the recent generations, too few had been able to win a position of one of the Cosmic Five. Aside from the Hall of Honor, all of the other powers were about the same.
The Cosmic Sect’s greatest hope for this generation was Qiu Shi. She was known as the All Rounder Fairy, and she would definitely make her name renowned throughout the entire Human Domain.
The Cosmic Sect’s vessels steadily flew towards the Mountain and Seas Zone.
Ten days later, the ship received an update of the situation within the Mountain and Seas Zone.
Mu Ziying, Hua Xiao, and Yao Ji were all left speechless. “The Hall of Honor’s crazy this time! Just Shang Qing alone has already fought to the point where no one dares to face him. And yet, their Second Honor Chosen, Lei Nü, is also ridiculous.”
“Xia Jiuyou really is out of luck this time. First, he was beaten by Shang Qing, and then, he bumped into Lei Nü and was beaten yet again. I heard that he didn’t have a good time after facing a few of those Ten Arbiters either. It looks like the Xia family’s heir won’t be able to cut it this time.”
“It looks like there will be a change in the leader of the Seven Courts.”
