In front of the ancient castle's main building, Sky, Lumiya, and Lilianna gathered around an old barbecue grill, feasting merrily. On the grill, a large wild boar sizzled enticingly. The aroma of the roasted wild boar wafted through the air, a tantalizing scent. Sky, with one hand sprinkling seasonings on the pork, used the other to rotate the grill. The boar, slowly turning over the campfire, became gradually golden and irresistible under the licks of flame.
On a folding picnic table nearby, various dipping sauces sparkled under the light. These included a deliciously spicy chili sauce, a sweet and smooth fruit jam, and a slightly tangy lemon garlic sauce. The wild boar, skillfully caught by Lumiya from the forest, was expertly gutted and skinned by her. With Sky's culinary techniques, a genuine, flavorful wild game barbecue was swiftly prepared.
"Finally full, finally full," Lumiya said, patting her belly contentedly, then looked at Sky, who was still wolfing down food, in surprise. "Landlord, landlord, how did your appetite become even bigger than mine? You're amazing."
Watching Sky devour large chunks of meat, Lilianna asked Lumiya, "To you, does eating a lot equate to being impressive?"
"Yeah, my master told me that the combat power of a Qi Cultivation First Stage practitioner is directly proportional to their appetite. Aren't you familiar with Qi Cultivation? Don't you know this?" Lumiya said.
"Who would pay attention to such trivialities of a First Stage Qi Cultivator? After reaching the Third Stage, cultivators can directly absorb energy and nutrients from their surroundings. Eating becomes an optional affair," Lilianna responded.
Finally, Sky put down his plate and exhaled deeply: "I've never tried eating this much in one go, but my stomach still feels like it can't be filled."
Lumiya stood up and clapped her hands: "Come on, landlord, let's spar a bit."
Sky got up, also a bit excited: "Okay, let's try."
They took their positions at a distance. Lumiya, bouncing and warming up, started to teach Sky the basics: "The combat style of a First Stage Qi Cultivator is essentially about better and more precise control of your body, using faster speed and stronger attacks to defeat your opponent. Although there are martial arts techniques, physical combat is still key, and these techniques can't be mastered in a short time. Just attack me based on your feeling."
"Based on my feeling?" Sky extended his hands, adopting an attacking stance as he had seen in movies.
"You're not ordinary anymore. Don't just pose; feel every corner of your body. Try to control every muscle, bone, and nerve, extracting the deepest power from within," Lumiya said, seemingly imitating her master, looking quite like a child playing at being an adult.
"Feel every corner of my body? Extract the deepest power?" Sky closed his eyes slightly, focusing his consciousness deep within his own flesh.
First, Sky focused on his skin, then his muscles, and gradually his consciousness merged with his bones and organs. Suddenly, a thunderous heartbeat echoed in the depths of his mind, igniting his blood into a turbulent surge.
He felt himself entering the same state he had experienced when comprehending the blood-red True Intent Crystal, but this time he was fully conscious, savoring the experiences and insights contained within the inheritance. Power flowed endlessly from each cell, gathering and circulating within his body with the flow of his blood.
In this circulation, his blood began to replicate itself, and soon Sky felt as if his veins were about to burst from the pressure.
"Yes, that's the spirit," Lumiya praised, sensing the dramatic change in Sky's aura. "Come on, attack me with all your might. I've sealed my power to the Foundation Building Stage, so don't worry about the rebound hurting you."
"Alright!" Sky, struggling with the overwhelming power within, lunged at Lumiya like an arrow released from its bow. The sensation of fullness in his body burst through his skin, emanating from every pore.
With a ripping sound, his clothes were torn by the black and red "flames" that now enveloped his body in a bizarre, blood-colored fire, extending about 2 centimeters from his skin.
"Huh?" Lilianna, who had been watching the fight with amusement, suddenly became serious. As the blood-colored flames engulfed Sky, his speed dramatically increased.
"Roar!" Sky, fueled by boiling blood, let out a roar to release his pent-up energy.
Caught off guard, Lumiya could only cross her arms in defense.
In a flash, Sky's thunderous strike hit Lumiya. Her eyes widened in shock, and a deafening "bang" tore through the tranquil night sky. Accompanied by a pained, suppressed "woof", Lumiya was sent flying by Sky's mountainous punch, hitting the ancient castle's stone wall. The wall, weathered by years and countless storms, cracked under the force, spreading fine, deep fissures.
Stirred by battle spirit, Lumiya rebounded off the wall like a cannonball. In a flurry of punches and kicks, they exchanged dozens of moves in a short span. Although Sky hadn't mastered Qi Cultivator martial techniques, the memories of battlefield combat from his previous transmigration remained vivid, allowing him to exchange blows with Lumiya.
Unbeknownst to her, Lumiya had already increased her power to the Second Stage Open Orifice level. As their fight progressed, Sky's strength, speed, and reaction times improved so much that she could no longer suppress him with her First Stage power.
In the midst of battle, Sky entered a strange, trance-like state. Despite being at a disadvantage, his passion for combat burned fiercely, as did the blood-colored flames covering his body.
The flames, now extending about 10 centimeters from his skin, began to emit a fog-like, blood-colored gas, enveloping both Sky and Lumiya, and even reaching Lilianna.
Lilianna frowned slightly, recognizing a familiar essence in the faint blood mist, reminiscent of her bloodline's abilities. The Blood Clan possessed an innate battle skill, releasing a thin blood mist over a wide area during combat, enhancing their perception and allowing them to cast various blood magics through the mist.
Was this similarity a coincidence?
While Lilianna pondered, Sky gradually turned the tide of the battle, but his mental state seemed increasingly uncontrollable.
At this moment, Sky was fighting almost entirely on instinct. The majority of his consciousness had "sunk" deep into his body, his mental state akin to sleepwalking.
Sky's experience was extraordinary. He was revisiting the sensation of enlightenment he had received from the True Intent Crystal. Previously, the experience from the crystal was like reliving someone else's enlightenment from a first-person perspective. Now, however, it was a genuine, personal epiphany.
His consciousness kept sinking, passing through skin and flesh, delving into his cells. He had never imagined such a vast world within his own cells. At the center of this microcosm, a pair of slowly rotating double helices captured his attention.
Fixated on these spirals, Sky became completely immersed. A sudden realization struck him - the double helix structure he observed was the origin and essence of life. It began to unwind in his consciousness, and as it did, everything else faded, leaving only the unraveling helixes and a vast void.
The void? The Void!
Sky was particularly sensitive to the concept of the void; his miraculous transmigration had begun from a void.
The unraveling double helix transformed, its smallest units turning into points of light. The unwinding accelerated exponentially until the structure completely unfurled into two drifting single strands. These strands rapidly replicated, doubling and then recombining into double helices.
As Sky's consciousness seemed to drift further from these lights, the process of unwinding, replicating, and recombining occurred countless times. Eventually, the double helices expanded throughout the void, forming an immense, limitless network that filled the entire expanse.
The light on the net dimmed, leaving only bright spots at the nodes. In the void, there was no longer just darkness; Sky's consciousness floated in this space, beholding a breathtaking expanse of stars.
Suddenly, the void trembled and "awakened." It was alive.
Was the void a living entity? Sky was astounded by this conclusion.
The implications were even more staggering: if his vision was accurate, then this unfathomable void entity shared the same fundamental life structure as humans - the double helix DNA.
"The void and I share the most basic structure of life," Sky murmured, overwhelmed with indescribable emotions, tears flowing in his consciousness. He felt rhythmic pulsations from the depths of the void, like a heartbeat, growing louder.
Sky shuddered, his consciousness awakening from the depths of his body.
He realized that the dense blood mist emanating from the blood-colored "flames" engulfing him had reduced visibility to about 5 meters. Yet, strangely, the mist seemed like an extension of his senses, allowing him to perceive even the slightest change within it.
Sky was now leaping high, his palms joined above his head. The blood-colored flames on his hands formed into a fiery blood-red blade, which he fiercely brought down towards Lumiya on the ground.