Back in his courtyard, Zhao Wei lay on an inclined bamboo chair as he gazed at the night sky with a thoughtful look on his face.
After separating from Zhao Yufei, he allegedly stayed like that until the middle of the night.
Zhao Wei just couldn't sleep. At his cultivation level, it was possible to go without sleep for a few days and the body would still function normally like someone who had just slept.
If he could, then Zhao Wei would have definitely opted for the sleeping route but something else had been making him fully awake.
Honestly, being unable to catch a wink of sleep was something that affected mortal humans back on Earth. There were simply many reasons connected with the lack of sleep.
As for Zhao Wei, he was being kept awake by thoughts of excitement and matters of cultivation.
Zhao Wei smiled lightly as he raised his hands and made a camera gesture (kind of like Nahida's) at the clustered tiny twinkling stars in the night sky.
The clustered stars were multicolored and some dotted the skies in mystical constellation patterns. It really fell in line with what could be considered outright otherworldly and fantastical.
"Zhao Wei in Wonderland, hehe. It sounds like a shameless rip-off."
"All of this uncaptured beauty and wonder, it's a pity that I lack the ultimate artifact to record the ethereality of nature."
Zhao Wei truly felt it was a loss and quite regretful.
"I have eyes and memories that can capture images and videos in unlimited resolution but they are still not the same thing."
"Hmm, It's funny how I am starting to develop some sort of hobby. Maybe picking up painting and drawing won't be so bad later on." Zhao Wei then dropped his hands to his sides.
"Anyway, I think there have been several main characters who liked wowing the natives of medieval worlds with modern ideas and equipment and I find it revolutionary but after reading many versions, it started getting stale." He reminisced as his hand instinctively sought for the wine gourd on the ground before picking it up.
"Was it "Release that Witch", I think? Never got to finish that one. Magic with a little touch of engineering."
*Gulp*
*Gulp*
Zhao Wei opened the cork and took a long swig.
"Ah, that's what I am talking about. Nothing beats enjoying wine on a lonesome night. The solitude and the relaxed ambience just makes me feel… at peace."
The Spiritual Honey Grapevine wine was something expensive, a luxury that he had wantonly bought from a passing Merchant in the City.
Zhao Wei was not drinking to get drunk, he was just drinking for the mood.
"Liquor worm, liquor worm, where are you? What am I even singing?" Zhao Wei scolded himself after singing such trashy lyrics.
"I guess I am getting a little tipsy." He exhaled lightly before taking another swig off the wine gourd and then added another one until there was nothing left.
"Ah, it's time to concentrate on my cultivation." Zhao Wei placed the wine gourd back in its initial position before standing up.
The refreshing night's breeze sang past his ears like a bard's tune and Zhao Wei felt like closing his eyes to listen.
"The night is blank, a mirror of my soul."
"Tales of eternity, the wind carries the songs of glory."
"Be like the wind and fly above the limits of the nine heavens."
"Wind Oh Wind, can you soothe my void?"
Zhao Wei couldn't resist singing a poem as he absent-mindedly looked at the space in front of him.
After releasing a deep sigh, Zhao Wei sat cross-legged on the ground.
"Consolidated Realm is all about building the foundation, making the first major realm simple and uncomplicated but the most important to one's future endeavors." Zhao Wei mused loudly.
"Of course, talent is one of the driving factors of one's cultivation progression but that doesn't mean that it's absolute. I don't know where my current talent lies but treasured herbs have saved me a lot of time to reach my current realm."
Zhao Wei knew that his body's latent talent wasn't great but could it really stay the same?
Unlike those protagonists born with multiple divine physiques or having the most domineering and supreme Dragon God bloodline, Zhao Wei lacked such heavenly blessings.
Nonetheless, he felt lucky to have been bestowed a chance to gain random eye powers from different realities which he didn't have control over.
Anyway, Zhao Wei didn't put all of his fate and dreams on them, opting to pursue a unique path that would give him more solid benefits.
Zhao Wei decided to put his thoughts on hold before taking a deep breath and exhaled.
He then used his inner sight to view the changes in his body at the cellular level.
From within, Zhao Wei watched in concentration as the dreamy stellar lights from the stars silently entered his body and were absorbed by his cells before being circulated to every inch of his body.
With every beat of his heart muscles, Zhao Wei felt himself resonate with the hearts of the stars. It was a strange feeling; the ethereal kind of feeling that you can't easily put a grasp on.
[Primordial Stellar Energy Body Refining Technique] was working in unprecedented ways that even he wasn't aware of. It was slowly but gradually changing his physique at a molecular level that Zhao Wei couldn't easily deduce the said changes despite the shocking technique being a creation of his.
"There is hope. Ninety million illusory stars aren't very far from 37.2 trillion." Zhao Wei commented with sarcasm.
"I wonder if they would be anything notable when I hit 100 million." Zhao Wei scratched his chin while thinking out loud.
"Will there be some metamorphosis like how the Dragon Transformation Manual is designed?"
From deep within his soul, he could feel it even though it was vague.
Zhao Wei then cultivated for hours in an effort to bring himself closer to the Seventh Rank of the Consolidated Realm.
He already understood the concept behind the Transformation State but what he needed was only time to break his bottleneck.
While lost in cultivation, time swiftly passed and his eyes finally opened to witness the first golden rays of the morning sun illuminating the heavens.
"Good morning, Eternal Blazing Sun." Zhao Wei yawned funnily as he weightlessly sprang from the ground by using minimal force before gently landing on the ground.
He did a few casual stretches to prime his body for the day and also his butt stung like crazy due to sitting in one place for hours.
Zhao Wei then made himself breakfast and after finishing, he once again sat in a lotus position to sunbathe with the morning rays.
"Illusions… I hope there will be some knowledge about illusions or even Illusion-based Partial Holy Skills in Guanjun Palace's library. I have already come into contact with Lightning, Wind, Fire, and Water(Ice) elements. Earth and Wood still remain untouched." A small smile touched Zhao Wei's lips as he evaluated his current affinities.
"I can't even begin to imagine the versatility of the five elements and co. They are so underrated in most cultivation novels due to the existence of higher-level elements like Time and Space. But I know what lies underneath simplicity…" A wise glint momentarily flashed across Zhao Wei's abyssal eyes.
"My foundation is now beyond being sturdy, hmm, I should call it "Celestial Foundation" due to constant baptism from the celestial energies."
Zhao Wei then practiced his techniques while taking short breaks until the day finally ended.
But one thing Zhao Wei didn't take notice of was an almost unrecognizable outline of the three celestial bodies vertically aligning themselves just below his neck, on his vertebral column.
***
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