Stellar force is the most fundamental power in this world; whether it's cultivating martial arts or advancing your realm, it's absolutely indispensable. The higher your cultivation, the stronger your stellar force becomes.
A cultivator at the Heavenly Martial Realm can absorb stellar force even in broad daylight; and for those at the Divine Martial Realm who have opened a celestial river within themselves, that's a given.
After listening to the Sword Spirit, Evan Chu felt his desire for power burning even stronger. "So you're saying that using stellar force to practice martial arts is faster and makes them more powerful?"
"That's about right. Your constitution is different from everyone else's—your absorption of stellar force is several times faster, but your realm advances several times slower."
Every advantage comes with a drawback. Only by spending more time can you reap the rewards. That's one reason I ended up inside your body."
The Sword Spirit spoke slowly in Evan Chu's mind, "If only you could awaken your bloodline! I've been searching for you for a thousand years. But with your current strength, you're not even a ten-thousandth of what you once were—how can you avenge the clan's destruction?"
Naturally, Evan Chu didn't hear this. If he had, who knows how he would have felt.
But right now, he'd already made up his mind: at night, he'd absorb stellar force with everything he had; by day, he'd train his martial techniques. He realized that after absorbing stellar force, he didn't feel sleepy at all.
In other words, he could cultivate day and night, giving him twice as much time as ordinary people.
For the next three days, Evan Chu absorbed stellar force at night and practiced Phantom Shadow Finger by day. With the Sword Spirit's monstrous guidance, his progress was explosive.
In just three days, he mastered Phantom Shadow Finger. If anyone found out he could master a martial art in three days, they'd think he was crazy.
Evan Chu was more than satisfied with the power of Phantom Shadow Finger. During the day, he'd used it to pierce straight through a tree as thick as a bowl, leaving a smooth, polished hole. If he struck a person, it would definitely leave a bloody tunnel.
Glancing at his dantian, Evan Chu saw that a considerable amount of stellar force had already gathered there, slowly circulating around. Compared to the spiritual power in his dantian, it was almost equal.
"Sword Spirit, if I go to the Book Repository's second floor now, can I open the entrance?" Seeing the stellar force in his body, Evan Chu was confident.
After a moment, the Sword Spirit finally spoke. "You can, but not yet. You should absorb stellar force for another week—wait until your power is truly immense before you go in."
Some techniques on the second floor require stellar force just to flip the pages. With your current power, you might barely open the door, but you'd have almost nothing left once inside—it'd be a wasted trip."
Evan Chu trusted the Sword Spirit completely. If he wanted to enter Heavenly Dragon Academy, he had to push himself even harder.
A week passed in the blink of an eye. By day, Evan Chu practiced the Yellow-tier Phantom Shadow Finger; by night, he absorbed stellar force with all his might.
Now, the stellar force in his body was immense—by sheer quantity, it surpassed even fourth- or fifth-level Xuanwu cultivators.
Phantom Shadow Finger had become second nature to him; whether left or right hand, he could unleash it at will.
He tried using Phantom Shadow Finger with both hands at once, but failed. The Sword Spirit told him that once he reached sixth-level Xuanwu, he'd be able to do it, and would teach him a special method then. For now, it wasn't possible.
That day, Evan Chu arrived early at the Book Repository. After showing Dominic Chu's token, the clan guards let him pass, though they couldn't help but wonder—why was this 'trash' here to read martial arts manuals again? How long would he last this time?
Once inside, Evan Chu didn't go straight to the second floor. Instead, he spotted someone—someone both familiar and distant. He hadn't seen her in two years: Luna Chu, his second uncle's daughter.
Luna Chu was the Chu Family's other prodigy besides Evan. Evan had reached the Xuanwu Realm at fourteen; Luna broke through from Spirit Martial to Xuanwu at fourteen as well, three months later.
Luna was half a year younger than Evan and rarely socialized within the clan, but she was well aware of his situation.
She used to admire Evan, but now she couldn't care less. In a world where strength is everything, only power matters; with her fifth-level Xuanwu cultivation, Evan no longer registered in her eyes.
She'd heard the rumors about Evan lately, but didn't care. Today, she'd come to see if she could enter the Book Repository's second floor, and unexpectedly ran into him.
"Evan Chu, what are you doing here?" Luna Chu asked, her face full of confusion.
In Evan's memory, Luna used to call him 'Second Brother.' Now she just called him by name—how quickly things change. "I've got my own reasons for being here. What about you? You won't even call me Second Brother anymore?"
Evan's annoyed reply made Luna a little unhappy. "I heard you beat Leon Lin from the Lin Family. Looks like you've broken through. What level of Xuanwu Realm are you now? Want to spar?"
Evan wasn't bothered by Luna's provocation. "Luna, don't try anything with me. With your talent, you must already be at fifth-level Xuanwu, right?"
If I'm not mistaken, you came here today to see if you can get into the second floor. After all, the first-floor martial arts are all trash.
And one more thing—I almost forgot. After two years, that certain place of yours is still as flat as ever. Where did all the food you ate go?
Luna couldn't help but glance down at her chest, then snapped angrily, "Evan Chu, are you blind? Where am I flat?"
Luna was actually a pretty girl, though she spent most of her time cultivating and rarely went out. If she did, she'd easily rank among the top five beauties in Flowing Cloud City.
Seeing Luna nearly blow her top, Evan almost burst out laughing. "My eyes are fine. I meant your brain is flat—you don't even know basic respect for elders. I'm older than you!"
"So what if you are?" Luna replied irritably.
"You should call me Second Brother!"
"Call you what? Evan Chu, quit with the word games. You know my temper—if you provoke me, you'll bear the consequences."
Evan knew Luna's 'mother tyrannosaurus' personality well—if he really made her angry, her fifth-level Xuanwu strength was no joke. He quickly changed the subject.
"Luna, have you mastered all the first-floor techniques? Do you have the strength to enter the second floor?"
Luna rolled her eyes at Evan. "I'm already at the peak of fifth-level Xuanwu. Today I came to see if I can get into the second floor. You're not trying to get in too, are you?"
"What do you think?" Evan didn't answer directly. Luna's peak fifth-level Xuanwu strength really surprised him—her talent was no joke.
"I say you're just here to pick a first-floor technique. Looks like you really did break through. To practice martial arts, you have to have stellar force—the rumors were true." Luna looked at Evan, disbelief in her eyes.
To practice martial arts, you need stellar force. Evan felt really behind—how could he not know something so basic? He'd been shut away for too long.
"You're right—I'm here to choose a martial technique. Not from this floor, but the one above, same as you." Evan pointed upward as he spoke.
"The second floor? Quit joking, Evan Chu. Other people might not know you, but I do."
Your original strength was only a bit higher than mine, and you couldn't absorb stellar force for two years. How could you possibly have sixth-level Xuanwu stellar force after just a few days?
Luna didn't take Evan's words seriously. If he could enter the second floor, she could break through to Earth Martial Realm.
"Enough talk. Let's go—I'll see if you can open the second-floor restriction. If you can't, I'll try." Evan wasn't bothered by Luna's words; he was used to others looking down on him.
"Why should I try first? Aren't you going too?" Luna retorted.
"I was just talking. Do you really think I can get in?" Evan played dumb—if Luna tried first, he could learn something.
"I knew you couldn't do it. Want to watch me break the restriction? No way! Stay right here!" Luna said, then strode straight to the entrance of the second floor.