"So, does that mean we've all become superheroes?" Li Yin couldn't help chiming in.
"Calling us superheroes isn't wrong!" Li Xiangdong cleared his throat. Seeing his sister's skeptical expression—clearly thinking, *keep spinning your tales*—along with the reactions of his grandpa, grandma, dad, and mom, which basically said, *we know you're just blowing hot air, but we'll play along to humor you*, Li Xiangdong intentionally put on a serious face, doing his absolute best to look solemn as he said, "Some of the specific effects will take about a month to fully manifest. But you should already be able to feel a very noticeable increase in strength and speed."
To this, everyone readily agreed. After all, before heading out, several of them had accidentally ripped a few pieces of clothing.
Li Xiangdong continued to remind everyone: "Moving forward, whether you're exercising or doing physical labor, you need to be careful. You must gradually get used to your own strength to prevent accidentally hurting someone else or yourselves."
"Also, the effects of this beverage are simply incredible, and I only came by these things by sheer coincidence. If word gets out, the whole family will be in a lot of trouble. So you must absolutely not leak a single word about this—don't even tell our aunt and the others for now. We can give some to them when the time is right, otherwise it's going to cause major trouble."
Seeing Li Xiangdong's serious expression, his grandparents and parents all indicated that they understood the gravity of the situation.
Li Yin bobbed her little head repeatedly. "Mm-hmm! I definitely won't tell anyone. But this beverage is actually pretty good, Ge, do you have any more?"
"I do, but you can only drink it after a month, otherwise the human body won't be able to handle it."
Thinking about how he would definitely need to give his family the Intermediate Genetic Potion a month from now, Li Xiangdong offered that ambiguous explanation.
After Li Xiangdong's series of explanations, his family reluctantly accepted his story and went off to attend to their respective tasks.
Taking advantage of the moment, Li Xiangdong slipped back into his bedroom, picked up the *Complete Guide to Cultivation Basics*, and dove into studying it to see if cultivation was something he could actually do.
Perhaps due to the Primary Genetic Potion having enhanced his brain, and because Li Xiangdong had asked Xiaoqiang to upgrade his tablet to make reading and comprehension easier, he found this round of studying to go much more smoothly. Through careful reading, he basically came to understand what cultivation was all about.
Through research, Blue Planet scientists had already roughly calculated that the universe is composed of about five percent ordinary matter, roughly twenty-seven percent dark matter, and sixty-eight percent dark energy.
What was called cultivation was somewhat similar to the cultivation of immortals in Blue Planet myths and legends, yet different. The cultivation spoken of here essentially involved individuals with special physical constitutions (akin to the spiritual roots in immortal cultivation novels) absorbing dark energy from the universe to temper their bodies, thereby defying the laws of nature such as aging, illness, and death, and enhancing their various capabilities. For example, extending one's lifespan and gaining more formidable power—showing just how much of an heaven-defying process cultivation truly was.
There were many different theories regarding cultivation levels. From reading immortal cultivation novels in the past, Li Xiangdong knew that cultivation could be divided into fifteen major realms: Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Spirit Severing, Integration, Tribulation, Mahayana, Human Immortal, True Immortal, Celestial Immortal, Golden Immortal, Taiyi Golden Immortal, Daluo Golden Immortal, and Immortal Emperor. Among these, the Qi Condensation Stage was divided into nine tiers, meaning nine minor realms; after the Foundation Establishment Stage, each major realm was further divided into three minor realms: early, middle, and late.
The *Complete Guide to Cultivation Basics* did not mention such a detailed classification, merely explaining that cultivation could be broadly divided into three tiers: Planetary Level, Stellar Level, and Galactic Level.
The Planetary Level was the stage reached after taking genetic potions, and this range was relatively broad, encompassing the use of all three—primary, intermediate, and advanced—genetic potions. The Planetary Level emphasized adapting the human body to the modifications brought by the genetic potions through exercising all organs, including muscles, bones, and blood vessels, thereby significantly improving the functions of human tissues. This included enhancing sensory perceptions such as hearing, touch, smell, and sight, boosting intellectual capacities like observation, memory, and analytical judgment, and strengthening control over speed, physical force, and precision. It allowed one to breach Earth's atmosphere using purely physical strength and survive and live in outer space for short periods.
The Stellar Level was primarily achieved by absorbing massive amounts of dark energy, leading to a qualitative change through quantitative accumulation, comprehending the rules of cosmic operation, and utilizing the human body to adapt to and wield those rules. Someone who succeeded in cultivation could influence the environment within a certain range, or even summon wind and rain with a flip of their hand, traverse the void with their physical body, travel hundreds of millions of miles in an instant, break out of star systems, and survive in the most extreme environments in the universe.
The Galactic Level possessed the power to influence an entire galaxy, wielding cosmic rules with complete fluency and becoming an entity on the level of a creator god. This realm was extremely rare, and ordinary people could not possibly achieve it without extraordinary luck and epoch-making fortuitous encounters.
Furthermore, as one's realm increased, human lifespan would be greatly extended. The average lifespan of ordinary people was barely over seventy years, and very few lived past eighty. However, for those who succeeded in cultivation, living for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years was nothing out of the ordinary. It was said that a cultivator who reached the Galactic Level could exist alongside the universe itself.
Naturally, the *Complete Guide to Cultivation Basics* contained basic cultivation techniques, the most prominent of which was the *Swallowing Heaven Formula*, practiced by the largest number of cultivators in the world within the Ring. This was a cultivation technique concerning the absorption and swallowing of all energy in the universe. Whether it was dark energy, the spiritual Qi of immortal cultivation civilizations, or even the nuclear energy, light energy, heat energy, electrical energy, and chemical energy of technological civilizations—as long as it was energy, it could be used as nourishment for cultivation and advancement. The only difference lay in the efficiency of the energy conversion. However, someone accustomed to cultivating by absorbing dark energy would never obtain cultivation energy by basking in the sun, as the difference in effectiveness was simply too vast.
Aside from basic cultivation techniques, the *Complete Guide to Cultivation Basics* also introduced many mystical arts for the specific application of energy. Li Xiangdong skimmed through them briefly: there was *Carefree Wandering*, which helped people fly through the atmosphere; *Shield*, which condensed protective vital energy; *Energy Burst*, used for group attacks; and *Holy Light*, used for healing and enhancing human vitality—there were over a hundred varieties in total. As someone just beginning to touch upon cultivation, Li Xiangdong decided not to rush, opting to cultivate the *Swallowing Heaven Formula* first and lay a solid foundation before anything else.
The *Complete Guide to Cultivation Basics* provided a comprehensive introduction to the basic knowledge related to cultivation, as well as methods for sensing and absorbing dark energy. It also stated that once they mastered the basics, most cultivators could develop enough strength to snap rivers in half with a single kick and shatter mountains with a single punch. Reaching Planetary Level Perfection was already equivalent to a Celestial Immortal in the immortal cultivation civilization, and could even easily shatter a planet the size of the Blue Planet.
In reality, after taking the Primary Genetic Potion, not only could one's lifespan extend up to a thousand Blue Planet years, but most people's physical strength already reached the level of the Foundation Establishment Stage described in immortal cultivation novels, with some individuals of superior constitution even reaching the level of the Golden Core Stage. The reason the term "equivalent to" was used is that after taking the Primary Genetic Potion, while one's cultivation level matched the Foundation Establishment Stage, one could not yet practically apply those abilities. To translate that cultivation level into actual personal strength, specialized training was still required.