Chapter 754: Research on the Body Refining Technique

For the past two months, Xu Wuyi had been fighting almost every day, taking action without pause. Although these battles were not true challenges to him, the constant rushing about and fighting still left him feeling a trace of exhaustion. This exhaustion wasn’t physical, nor did it stem from his Heart Image. It was something much deeper. He needed to stop and rest properly for a while.

Sitting on the edge of his bed, he closed his eyes and let his consciousness sink into his sea of consciousness. Within it, the pale blue Heart of Order continued to rotate slowly. Its light was much denser than it had been two months ago, and the halo surrounding it was even more stable. Every strike, every encounter with a different Star Beast, and every time he used the Power of Order to disintegrate their Life Rules deepened his understanding. Though these Star Beasts were not highly intelligent, their rules were real—they were rules that inherently existed in the world. Using the Power of Order to break them down was, essentially, interacting with those very rules.

Over the course of more than a month, he had disposed of over twenty thousand Star Beasts, including fifty to sixty Great Commander Level ones. Under normal circumstances, this sheer number would be utterly unimaginable. But Xu Wuyi had accomplished it, and he had done so cleanly and efficiently, without a single mishap.

Opening his eyes, he stood up and walked over to the window. Outside, the night scenery of Linjiang City was slowly unfurling. The high-rises in the distance lit up, while traffic shuttled back and forth on the nearby streets. Occasionally, a cruise ship would glide across the river, dragging strings of reflected lights in its wake. The night in this city felt different from Xingjing, and different from Red River as well. It possessed the prosperity typical of a metropolis, yet it wasn’t nearly as crowded or oppressive. He watched for a while before turning back to the living room and sitting on the sofa.

His personal terminal vibrated gently. It was a message from Qiao Tongyu.

“Wuyi, the Battle Group is currently tallying up the harvest from this operation. According to preliminary estimates, your share will be at least this much.”

Following the text was a long string of numbers. Xu Wuyi took a glance, already having a rough idea in his mind. The figure was slightly higher than he had anticipated, but it made sense. Twenty thousand Star Beasts, fifty to sixty Great Commanders, and a seventy percent cut—it was indeed exactly what it should be. However, at his current level, Federation merit points no longer held much significance; they merely served as a form of seniority. For Grandmasters, obtaining top-tier resources mostly relied on their own efforts or trading with other Grandmasters. The Federation could only offer limited help, acting as a mere auxiliary support.

He sat for a while longer before getting up and walking into the Cultivation Room. This was a room in the apartment specially modified for him. It was larger than the bedroom, with the floor covered in special shock-absorbing materials and the walls fitted with soundproofing equipment. Several training dummies stood in the corner. He stood in the center of the Cultivation Room, raised his right hand, and loosely curled his fingers into a fist.

With a slight shift of his thoughts, the Power of Order surged from his sea of consciousness, flowing down his arm into his palm. This time, however, he did not let the Power of Order diffuse outward. Instead, he gathered it in his palm, making it slowly rotate and undergo Compression. Those two-plus months of actual combat had not only yielded him a massive haul of materials but also made his New Martial Arts increasingly proficient. This so-called New Martial Arts was the “artificial creation of Rules” he had begun exploring back at the research institute.

At the time, he could only create the simplest of Rules within the virtual space, and it required a bit of preparation time. He couldn’t execute it instantly like his Three Main Attack Spear Techniques. But over these two months, as he dealt with those Rifts and squeezed in time to practice, his speed of creating Rules had unconsciously grown faster and faster, and the required time grew shorter and shorter. It went from over ten seconds at the very beginning, down to seven or eight seconds, and now to just three to five seconds. While it still couldn’t be done instantaneously, it was now viable for use in actual combat.

In the palm of his right hand, the Power of Order was constructing an invisible structure. This structure was much more complex and refined than anything he had built before. It was woven from countless threads of Rules. Each thread represented a layer of Rules, and each layer had undergone precise calculation and design. This was the new Rule he had recently researched and developed: Gravity Reversal.

Unlike the simpler Gravity Imbalance from before, Gravity Reversal did not just throw the Gravity Field into Chaos; it completely flipped the direction of Gravity. Within the range of Gravity Reversal, everything would float upward instead of falling down. The heavy would rise, the light would sink, and all physical Rules would be subverted. Once this Rule was created, it would be fatal to opponents accustomed to normal Gravity Rules, because in such an environment, they wouldn’t even be able to stand steadily, let alone fight.

Furthermore, now that he had reached the Grandmaster Realm, what he created were true Rules, rather than merely influencing them with the Power of Heart Image like he did in the Innate realm. The latter’s effects could be offset by an enemy’s Spiritual Power, whereas the former was no different from the laws of nature—it could neither be offset nor erased.

Looking at the invisible structure in his palm, Xu Wuyi shifted his thoughts slightly, allowing it to dissipate. Still not fast enough. Three to five seconds was still a bit too long in the midst of battle. In a true life-and-death duel, three to five seconds was enough time for an opponent to strike over a dozen times; it was enough to alter the entire course of the battle. He needed it to be instantaneous. Just like those three spear techniques—the moment a thought arose, the Rule would be formed.

This process still required further polishing and continued practice. But he wasn’t in a hurry. Now he had the time and a quiet environment. He could afford to take it slow.

The next morning, sunlight spilled in through the gap in the curtains, shining onto the bed.