Lu Yin nodded, “In the Innerverse and Outerverse, the number of Limiteers who can rival this disciple can be counted on one hand. There should not be any who can currently defeat this disciple, so I wish to learn who birthed this war spirit and how powerful they have become now.”
Mister Mu laughed. “You are too narrow-minded! Just taking the Innerverse and Outerverse into consideration is a very limited scope. If your view is forever restricted to such a place, then you will never get anywhere.”
Lu Yin fell silent.
“In the past, that youth was willingly swallowed by the storm,” Mister Mu said, shocking Lu Yin. “His arrival was interesting, and he was unique. He did not climb the mountain, but I met him once and released him. Currently, he should be very strong. At least in your younger generation, including even the Cosmic Sea and the Neoverse, there should not be anyone who can easily defeat him.
“Before forty years of age, one’s cultivation progress tends to be very fast whereas after forty, the speed will drop. This is the dividing line, and the further one progresses, the longer one will take to raise their power level. Some have trained for thousands of years and increased their power level to several hundreds of thousands. Over a similar amount of time, the person who was previously here will have increased his power level many times over that. The further one progresses, the more powerful they will become.
“That’s the power of those who are extremely proficient in the art of the domain.” At this moment, Mister Mu looked at Lu Yin. “Master has given you a formal gift and has accepted you as my disciple, but I have not taught you anything yet. At this time, you can make one request for me to upgrade some aspect of your abilities. However, I must warn you that once this guidance ends, I will not teach you anything else until you qualify to become my official disciple.”
Lu Yin silently stood there as he pondered this matter.
Mister Mu’s figure distorted, and he slowly appeared further away while looking into the distance.
After a while, Lu Yin firmed his resolve. He reviewed every skill that he had and also recalled the suppression that he had suffered in his last battle. He looked up after making up his mind. “Master, this disciple wishes to upgrade my physical body to the extreme.”
Mister Mu turned around without a hint of surprise on his face. “I already said that, on the path of cultivation, one must pay a price if a single aspect is too strong. The person that that war spirit originated from has a domain that is too powerful, so he must close both eyes and suffer from permanent blindness. This is because once he opens his eyes, he can no longer control his overly powerful domain. If your physical body becomes too strong, then you will similarly not be able to control your strength. You will not only be capable of harming others, but also yourself.”
“What price must this disciple pay to suppress an extreme physical strength?” Lu Yin asked.
Mister Mu simply replied, “Fatesand.”
“Fatesand?” Lu Yin was astonished.
“Fatesand will consume one’s star energy and vigor. The common person can absorb only one while absorbing two places too much stress on one’s body and is something that few can accomplish. With this, you will be able to suppress the excessive strength from a peak physical body.”
Lu Yin’s eyes flickered as he processed this new knowledge. He found that he had completely played into Mister Mu’s plans, as the man had given Lu Yin Fatesand to begin with and then allowed him to experience the war spirit’s extreme accomplishments in the path of the domain. This had created a higher probability of Lu Yin choosing to upgrade his physical strength, and he had indeed fallen for the bait.
Mister Mu should have long since seen what was the best choice for Lu Yin given his current level, which was to further upgrade his physical strength. However, the man had not directly said anything. He had guided Lu Yin step by step, and he had not grown tired during the process either.
“I ask for Master to guide this disciple in upgrading my physical strength,” Lu Yin requested respectfully.
Mister Mu remained calm. “It will take a considerable amount of time to upgrade your body to the limits of your current realm, so you must be prepared for that.”
Lu Yin was caught in a dilemma, as the Daynight Feast would start soon. He considered his options carefully, but such an opportunity was hard to come by, so it would be a pity if he abandoned such a thing just for a mere Daynight Feast. “This disciple understands.”
Mister Mu nodded, and a small, wilted twig appeared in his hand. It was only about the length of a finger and was completely desiccated. But for some reason, when he looked at it, Lu Yin felt like his body was completely refreshed, and he even felt more clear-headed than before.
“From now on, exhaust your entire physical strength without keeping anything in reserve. When you reach the point where you cannot continue, this will restore your vitality,” Mister Mu explained as the twig floated from his palm over to Lu Yin’s head.
When Lu Yin made contact with the twig, his mind became even more alert, and he felt as if he had been enlightened. He instantly recognized this object as a precious treasure, as nothing common could restore one’s vitality. Unfortunately, he had no money. Otherwise, he would definitely use his die to upgrade the twig.
Mister Mu’s figure vanished, as if he had never even been there in the first place.
Lu Yin inhaled deeply. Then, his eyes went wide as he completely burst forth with his full physical strength. His powerful force caused the surrounding void to shudder, and visible ripples of energy spread out.
No matter who it was, one could only burst forth with their full strength for a few moments, and nobody could do that for very long. Lu Yin was no different, and when he exerted his physical strength to his absolute limit, he could last for a minute at most. After a minute, even if he was unwilling to do so, his strength would start to wane. However, he obeyed Mister Mu’s words and persisted despite the painful effects. After some time, his body felt like it no longer belonged to him, and even Lu Yin himself didn’t know how much of his strength he had used up.
Suddenly, from above him, a refreshing flow descended upon him that rejuvenated Lu Yin’s body. He immediately felt that his physical strength had been restored, and he now noticed just how much of his strength had waned without him being aware of it.
Lu Yin gritted his teeth and burst forth with his full strength once again, causing his veins to swell. He exerted his full strength without holding anything back, not caring even if his body lost all sensation.
It was a very painful process, similar to when a regular human sprinted at full speed and then continued to run despite reaching their limits. Lu Yin continued repeating this process over and over without any end in sight.
The wilted twig not only restored his vitality, but it also gave him a unique energy. Lu Yin could not sense it, and he was also unclear about what it did exactly, but he was currently receiving an unimaginable fortune.
In the distance, Mister Mu opened his eyes wide as he looked at Lu Yin with a complicated expression. “Belonging to neither five nor six, an outsider hoping to change the game is too small a hope.”
A month passed by like this as Lu Yin continued to burst forth with his most powerful strength, just like at the very beginning. Every time his strength faltered, it would be restored. It reached the point where his body went numb from the process.
At the start, he could not feel it, but the more he repeated this process, the more he could feel his strength changing. This kind of training was intrinsically different from using a strengthening fruit. A strengthening fruit could indeed increase his physical strength, but it was only a superficial change as a fruit would never be able to completely integrate with his body. Every natural treasure had its own pros and cons, and the strengthening fruit was no exception.
Using a strengthening fruit to increase one’s physical strength was like covering a thin piece of paper with a sheet of metal. Although it seemed incomparably durable, once the layer of metal was pierced through, the paper would be easily destroyed. The training that Lu Yin was currently undergoing was fundamentally different. This process would be like turning the paper itself into metal and improving the paper from within.
Lu Yin recalled that when he had broken through to the Melder realm, his physical body had been greatly strengthened. In his countless battles, what injured him and brought him the closest to death was the destruction of his internal organs, and his musculoskeletal system rarely ever suffered true damage. At this moment, he was confident that his organs were much more resilient than they were in the past. Even if they were not as strong as his muscles and bones, they would not be destroyed as easily as they had in the past.
After some time, Lu Yin could no longer differentiate between when he was actively exerting his full physical force and when he was not; it had simply become a habit. His consciousness seemed to be shrouded, and he could only instinctively chase after that trace of refreshment that rained down from above his head.
“Alright, that’s enough. You’ve reached the limit,” Mister Mu’s voice sounded out.
Lu Yin slowly opened his eyes, and he felt as if he had just woken up from a dream. He heard a rumbling sound from his pumping blood, and his body emitted a strange, faint radiance. Such a thing would only appear after one’s body reached a certain degree of toughness.
When he looked up, he saw that Mister Mu was holding the wilted twig, and although his body thirsted to receive that refreshment once again, he knew that it was impossible.
He set a hand upon the ground. Crack! The ground split open, causing Lu Yin to look down at his right hand in shock. He had not tried to exert any strength, but the ground could not withstand his casual power.
“You can’t control the extent of your own strength with your current level of cultivation. This is the price that you must pay for such power. You could even injure your own body if you touch yourself,” Mister Mu explained.
Lu Yin frowned, but he no longer dared to touch himself now since he did not want to accidentally injure himself.
Was the strength of his current physical body really something that was beyond a Limiteer’s ability to control? His physical body had already rivalled an average Cruiser’s before he came to this space, so was his body now comparable to a Hunter’s?
If a Limiteer could grasp even a portion of a Hunter’s strength, then it would be no surprise if they accidentally caused harm to others or even to themselves.
“Master, should this disciple now fuse with the Fatesand?” Lu Yin asked.
Mister Mu looked at him. “You can choose. No matter if one fuses with one or two grains, the awakened ability will not change as one can only awaken a single ability. All that will change is merely its size. Some may gain unimaginable boons, though it’s also possible to weaken from the Fatesand. The ‘fate’ in its name indicates that your gains will depend entirely on your luck and destiny.”
Lu Yin pulled out a grain of Fatesand. “Where should this disciple assimilate this sand?”
Mister Mu calmly answered, “The heart.”
Lu Yin did not hesitate. He immediately cut open the skin over his heart and pressed the grain of Fatesand into the wound. In an instant, an intense pain seared through his nerves, and he gritted his teeth as he forcefully endured it. The Fatesand burrowed into his body like a living organism, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
But Lu Yin had no time to think. His heart loudly thumped once, and star energy flooded out like a tide even as his vigor was rapidly depleted at the same time. Lu Yin felt his body grow feeble, as if he had turned back to a regular person. His overwhelmingly powerful physical body gradually quieted down, like a hibernating dragon.
The flowing radiance around his body soon faded, and the churning sound from his flowing blood gradually disappeared as well.
Lu Yin raised his hand and clenched a fist. He then punched out at the void. A visible air wave flew out and distorted the void. Lu Yin was shocked at the power of his own punch, as it greatly surpassed what he had been capable of before this most recent increase in his strength. This punch had reached a level that was equal to Twenty Stacks.
Mister Mu raised his hand and more Fatesand appeared. “You can choose to continue and use this Fatesand to suppress your excessively powerful body. Actually, this is not a form of suppression, but is rather another method to improve your strength. This is similar to how, since that youth kept his eyes closed to strengthen his domain, opening his eyes allowed his strength to increase by a thousandfold.”
Lu Yin’s heart raced, and he looked fervently at Mister Mu. “Is Master saying that this disciple’s physical strength will improve vastly after experiencing the Fatesand’s suppression?”
Mister Mu nodded. “The reason why Fatesand is so precious is not only because it can awaken a special ability, but also, and more importantly, because the user’s physical strength will be unconsciously improved. The greater and longer the suppression lasts, the more powerful the released force will become.”
