Chapter 1 The Beginning

Bright Moon City, in the quiet room of a home.

"This is the Refinement Crystal." Xu Jingming placed the prism-like colored crystal carefully. "It can assist in refining the mind. The effect is best within three meters, and beyond ten meters... it has no effect at all. I refine my mind for eight hours every day, and Miaomiao, you can also use it to assist you."

"Understood." Li Miaomiao nodded. "Hopefully, with its help, my mind-refining will be more effective."

"The essence of mind-refining techniques is stillness," Xu Jingming said. "A still mind, without a trace of distracting thoughts, pure as glass. Only stillness allows for increasingly sensitive perception."

"It's easier said than done. I practice the official mind-refining technique, and I easily fall asleep after practicing for a long time," Li Miaomiao said helplessly.

Xu Jingming smiled. "The government has made public a lot of cultivation data from various schools around the world, including three basic mind-refining techniques. Although they are very superficial, they are at least safe."

In this era, a lot of information is publicly available.

Some training materials from the national team in the past have been released by the government for free. Many traditional martial arts materials are also freely available online, but there is so much information that it is not easy to master.

******

Virtual world, personal space.

Xu Jingming sat in the living room, looking at the thick book that appeared before him – *Hua Guang* (Transformation into Light), Part One.

"This is the complete eighth-order inheritance?" Xu Jingming looked at the thick book, feeling a bit excited and expectant. Just Part One is an eighth-order inheritance.

"No rush, I can read this inheritance at any time," Xu Jingming thought. "I have to seize the time, while the memory is fresh, to consolidate the gains from the possession."

"This time, possessing tenth-order powerhouse Ambro…" Xu Jingming sorted through his gains.

"First, Ambro spent a thousand years on a tourist planet, reading scientific research materials for a long time. As he read... he broke through to the tenth order! His method of breaking through to the tenth order was reading!" Xu Jingming recorded it.

"Strictly speaking, it was through reading that he understood the connection method of Source Force under different time flow rates. His academic qualifications are at least level 90."

"Second, his body is very strong, with amazing recovery power."

"Third, when besieged, when at a disadvantage, he focuses on defense, not seeking merit, but seeking to avoid mistakes. He doesn't give the enemy any chance, being stable to the extreme." Xu Jingming clearly remembered the memories of being besieged; Ambro was always on the defensive.

"While diligently defending, he quietly casts 'Time-Space Well'."

"When the Time-Space Well is formed, that is the time to attack."

"Fourth, when attacking, he overwhelms people with force! Mobilizing the power of the Time-Space Well is like an bombardment of time and space! The three enemies had different methods and different means of self-preservation, but in the end, they were all blasted to death."

"Fifth, the three enemies couldn't believe until their deaths that Ambro could deploy a Time-Space Well. Ambro could deploy it because his academic qualifications reached level 102."

Xu Jingming pondered.

"Combining all of this…"

"Xuan, when fighting, has more intense and singular thoughts! Only the thought of transforming into light exists, constantly attacking, attacking, and attacking again."

"Ambro, on the other hand, controls the battle situation and calculates everything when fighting."

"Although their combat styles are different, both of them are very intelligent." Xu Jingming nodded slightly. "Now, I'll start practicing shield techniques."

Having just finished the possession, Xu Jingming naturally had to take advantage of the period when his memory was the most vivid to consolidate the gains from the possession.

First, practice defense.

Holding two shields, Xu Jingming looked up at the sky. Meteors, burning with flames, streaked across the sky, smashing towards the valley where Xu Jingming was.

Xu Jingming used his footwork and began to resist the bombardment of the dense meteors.

Meteor Shower Mode, Thousand Arrows Fired Simultaneously Mode, Melee Mode…

Different modes are all for practicing shield defense.

He practiced for five or six hours, recording the entire process on video.

……

Then, practice offense.

Xu Jingming began practicing offensive shield techniques.

"Ten opponents with a basic combat strength of 50,000." Xu Jingming set up virtual opponents and began his shield offense.

Practicing again and again.

He practiced offense for three hours, recording the entire process.

"It feels so wonderful." Xu Jingming practiced to his heart's content, feeling that he had practiced all of Ambro's moves many times before finally stopping.

"Xuan and Ambro have completely different fighting styles." Xu Jingming smiled. "Xuan is very passionate and involved, with intense and singular thoughts. Ambro, on the other hand, really enjoys the battle, enjoying the feeling of having everything under control."

"He calculates every response from the enemy clearly. In front of him, the enemy will only constantly sink, until they die."

Xu Jingming admired him greatly.

Controlling the battle situation! The battle is still in progress, but the final result has already been determined.

That kind of feeling is naturally wonderful.

"Collecting enough information, before even fighting the enemy, he has already sentenced the enemy to death," Xu Jingming sighed inwardly. "And he also has many layers of preparation, just in case."

It's like building a bridge; the actual load-bearing limit will be much higher than the publicly advertised weight limit. This remaining 'buffer space' is just in case. Ambro also has many layers of 'buffer space' to deal with variables.

"Ambro, is more of an intellectual than a martial artist. He enjoys fighting because he enjoys the wonderful feeling of his plan becoming reality," Xu Jingming thought. "His realm advancement may depend more on knowledge accumulation. When his knowledge reaches a higher realm, his strength will also hopefully reach a higher realm."

Ambro knows what is happening and why it is happening!

His battle calculations are terrifying.

His way to break through to the tenth order was through reading!

"I like Ambro's fighting style, and I also like Xuan's fighting style," Xu Jingming thought. "My Martial Arts Nine Classes analyze martial arts from a scientific perspective, following the laws of physics in everything. Perhaps the future development of this path... will be Ambro's way. This represents my rationality."

"Xuan's fighting style may represent my emotional side."

Xu Jingming analyzed himself.

People are inherently complex. They have a rational side and an emotional side.

Although one must think rationally and analyze combat, the feeling of burning passion... is even more wonderful! That is a spiritual enjoyment, a complete spiritual immersion!

"Because I like both styles, I'll divide my spearmanship into *Hua Hong* (Rainbow Transformation) Spear Technique and Star Cluster Spear Technique," Xu Jingming said with a smile as he returned to the living room of his personal space and picked up the eighth-order inheritance book.

He began to read.

*Hua Guang* (Transformation into Light), Part One!

"Humans study life, planets, the universe, studying everything they see. The accumulation of this knowledge is science."

"Life evolution is only a part of science."

"But we must not be bound by knowledge when we learn it! Because all recorded science... is science up to this moment, not the truth that truly exhausts everything. When one's own knowledge cannot be completely determined, one can follow the vague perception of the heart to cultivate."

"Sometimes, precision is also a mistake. Vagueness, on the other hand, is a correctness."

"But… without enough knowledge, cultivation is a castle in the air, a delusion."

Xu Jingming looked at the preface of the book.

Then he continued to read.

"Humans who can only live on planets are the most fragile humans. Their bodies are the most fragile, and their bodies need to evolve…" Xu Jingming looked at the detailed explanation.

The first, second, and third orders are explained together. In Xuan's view, the first three orders are very easy.

The fourth order is the difficult one! The vast majority of people are stuck at the bottleneck, unable to break through to the fourth order.

The fifth order is an even greater hurdle! This is a major hurdle faced by countless humans on countless planets.

"Whether or not one can break through to the fifth order is the key to becoming a cosmic lifeform!"

"Planetary lifeforms are weak and can only survive in the safe environment of a planet, with short lifespans and fragile bodies. Whether it is heat, cold, or hunger, it will cause them to die."

"And cosmic lifeforms can freely walk through the starry sky, with much longer lifespans, unafraid of flames and the cold of space, without the need for food or drink, able to absorb the light of stars and even various forms of radiation. Only in this way can they have the qualifications to roam the universe, and only then are they qualified to become citizens of the universe."

Xu Jingming was shocked when he saw this.

Cosmic lifeform? Universe citizen?