Chapter 1 Quiet Room

Mingyue 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 heart. The effect is best within three meters of it, and beyond ten meters...it has no effect at all. I refine my heart for eight hours every day, and Miaomiao, you can also use it to assist in your heart refinement."

"Understood," Li Miaomiao nodded. "I hope that with its help, my heart refinement will be more effective."

"The essence of heart refinement is stillness," Xu Jingming said. "A still heart, without a trace of distracting thoughts, as pure as crystal. Only in stillness can one's perception become more and more sensitive."

"It's easy to say, but difficult to do. I practice the official heart refinement method, and I tend to fall asleep after practicing for a long time," Li Miaomiao said helplessly.

Xu Jingming smiled. "The government has made public a lot of cultivation information from various schools around the world, including three sets of basic heart refinement methods. 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 available for free online, but there is a lot of information, and it is not easy to master it.

******

Virtual world, personal space.

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

"This is the complete eighth-order inheritance?" Xu Jingming looked at the thick book, feeling excited and expectant. Just the first part alone was an eighth-order inheritance.

"No rush, I can read this inheritance at any time," Xu Jingming thought. "I need to seize the time, taking advantage of this moment of vivid memory, to consolidate the gains from the possession."

"This time, possessing the 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.

"Strictly speaking, it was through reading that he understood the connection methods of source power under different time flow rates. His education level is at least level 90."

"Second, his body is extremely powerful, with amazing recovery ability."

"Third, when attacked and at a disadvantage, he doesn't seek merit in defense, but only seeks to avoid mistakes. He doesn't give the enemy any chance, being steady to the extreme." Xu Jingming clearly remembered the memory of being attacked; Ambro had been defending all along.

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

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

"Fourth, he overwhelms people with force when attacking! He mobilizes the power of the Space-Time Well, like the bombardment of space-time itself! The three enemies each had different methods and different means of self-preservation, but in the end, they were all killed."

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

Xu Jingming pondered.

"Combining these points..."

"Xuan, during battle, his thoughts are more fervent, more singular! With only the single thought of transforming into light, he constantly attacks, attacks, and attacks again."

"Ambro, however, controls the battle situation and calculates everything."

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

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

First, practice defense.

Xu Jingming held two shields and looked up at the sky. Meteors burned with flames as they streaked across the sky, smashing toward the valley where Xu Jingming was.

Xu Jingming used his movement techniques and began to resist the dense barrage of meteors.

Meteor Shower Mode, Arrow Barrage Mode, Melee Mode...

The different modes were all for practicing shield defense.

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

……

Then, practice offense.

Xu Jingming began to practice offensive shield techniques.

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

He practiced again and again.

He also practiced offense for three hours, recording everything.

"It feels so wonderful." Xu Jingming practiced to his heart's content and finally stopped only after practicing all of Ambro's moves many times.

"Xuan and Ambro have completely different combat feelings," Xu Jingming smiled. "Xuan is very passionate and invested, his thoughts are fervent and singular. Ambro, however, enjoys the battle very much, enjoying the feeling of having everything under control."

"He calculates everything about the enemy's responses clearly. In front of him, the enemy will only constantly sink until their death."

Xu Jingming admired him greatly.

Controlling the battle situation! Even while the battle is still in progress, the final result is already determined.

This kind of feeling is naturally wonderful.

"Collecting enough information, and before even exchanging blows with the enemy, he has already sentenced them to death," Xu Jingming sighed inwardly. "And he also has many preparations to guard against any unexpected situations."

It's like building a bridge, where the actual load-bearing limit will be much higher than the publicly posted weight limit. This 'buffer space' is to guard against any unexpected events. Ambro also has many 'buffer spaces' to deal with variables.

"Ambro is more of an intellectual than a martial artist. He enjoys battle because he enjoys the wonderful feeling of his plans becoming reality," Xu Jingming thought. "His realm improvement may depend more on knowledge accumulation. When his knowledge reaches a higher realm, his strength can also be expected to reach a higher realm."

Ambro knows not only what to do, but also why to do it!

His calculations in battle are terrifying.

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

"I like Ambro's fighting style, and I also like Xuan's fighting style," Xu Jingming thought. "My martial arts nine classes are about analyzing martial arts from a scientific point of view, following the laws of physics. Maybe 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! It is a spiritual enjoyment, a complete dedication of the spirit!

"Because I like both methods, I'll divide my spear techniques into the Rainbow Transformation Spear Technique and the Star River Spear Technique." Xu Jingming smiled and returned to the living room of his personal space, picking up the eighth-order inheritance scripture.

He began to read.

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

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

"The evolution of life is just a part of science."

"But we must not be bound by the knowledge we learn! 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 cultivate by following the vague perceptions of the heart."

"Sometimes, precision is also a mistake. Vagueness, on the other hand, is a kind of 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 opinion, the first three orders are very easy.

The fourth order is a difficult hurdle! Most 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 great hurdle faced by countless planets and countless humans.

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

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

"Starfaring life, on the other hand, can freely travel the stars, has a much longer lifespan, is not afraid of flames and the low temperatures of space, does not need food and drink, and can absorb the light of stars and even various ray energies. Only in this way does one have the qualifications to travel the universe and the qualifications to become a citizen of the universe."

Xu Jingming was shocked to see this.

Starfaring life? Citizens of the universe?