Knowing all this, Li Xiangdong's confidence soared. Since he possessed strength equivalent to the Foundation Establishment Stage before even starting formal cultivation, could the Genetic Potion essentially be a "Foundation Establishment Pill"? While characters in cultivation novels at the Foundation Establishment Stage only live for two hundred years, and those at the Golden Core Stage for six hundred years, taking the Genetic Potion theoretically granted a lifespan of a thousand years. It seemed his starting point was exceptionally high, and officially beginning his cultivation would certainly yield twice the results with half the effort.
After dinner, he accompanied his family for a stroll in the courtyard and chatted with them.
Late into the night, Li Xiangdong returned to his bedroom and picked up the upgraded "Popular Science Learning Materials" to read.
Through reading, Li Xiangdong gradually gained a preliminary understanding of the civilization that had manufactured the Ring. This was a highly advanced human civilization that pursued a developmental path centered on scientific progress, supplemented by cultivation. After hundreds of thousands of years of evolution, it had become a top-tier civilization in its universe.
This civilization's research into space and time theories, as well as its technological applications, had reached the absolute peak. Its citizens could effortlessly manufacture any known matter and utilize all resources, including dark matter, dark energy, and black holes. Interstellar exploration was the mainstream activity in society, and even a family's spaceship had the capacity to terraform a planet.
Interstellar navigation was a matter of course; the spaceships built by this civilization could travel between star systems in a short time, and the most advanced vessels could even achieve dimensional travel.
The civilization's development and utilization of various Smart Brains had reached their zenith, let alone the fact that Smart Brains with extremely high intelligence were already standard in every household. During the long course of development, certain intelligent life forms had even been born by chance, and these intelligent lives had all joined the civilization's big family.
This highly advanced civilization possessed extraordinarily powerful cohesion. When facing racial and civilizational crises, they could unite without hesitation and fight until the enemy was defeated; in times of peace, they maintained a strong sense of independence and creativity. This unified yet independent model of development propelled human civilization to become the strongest race in the universe. All of this could be seen in the numerous narratives of active exploration described in the literary works Li Xiangdong had accidentally stumbled upon.
Although the materials he browsed never revealed the origins of the Time-Space Ring, the more he learned, the more confident Li Xiangdong felt about his future development: once he obtained this Ring, his life would become even more magnificent.
Having understood the situation regarding cultivation, Li Xiangdong immediately plunged into his bedroom to focus on studying the cultivation techniques.
After repeatedly and carefully reading the Swallowing Heaven Formula, he memorized the methods for sensing and absorbing dark energy by heart before finally attempting to begin cultivation.
Li Xiangdong's primary goal for cultivation was to enhance his own vital life energy. After practicing this technique, not only would he live a long life, but more importantly, as long as there was energy—whether it was dark energy, the so-called spiritual energy of the cultivation world, or the electricity of a technological society—as long as his injuries were not immediately fatal, his recovery would be exceptionally rapid.
Furthermore, the society on the Blue Planet was still relatively safe, especially Hua Nation, which had the best public security on the Blue Planet and rarely saw violence and bloodshed. As long as he did not court death, it was impossible for anything to instantly claim his life. Coupled with an overpowered cheat like the Time-Space Ring, the longer he lived, the better his development would surely be.
Li Xiangdong decided that not only would he choose to practice the Swallowing Heaven Formula himself, but he would also require his family to practice it as well. For the entire family to live for hundreds of thousands of years—that would truly be a successful life.
Composing himself, Li Xiangdong decided to begin practicing the Swallowing Heaven Formula.
Guided by the instructional video, Li Xiangdong sat cross-legged on the floor, recalling the breathing essentials of the Swallowing Heaven Formula, the pathways of energy circulation within the body, and other precautions over and over again in his mind. Confirming everything was correct, he placed his palms facing upward and rested them lightly on his knees, adjusting his body and mind to a natural, relaxed state. Then, while silently reciting the mental incantation, he began to practice according to the breathing method provided in the materials.
According to the video explanation, entering a state of unconscious awareness through visualization was the basics of cultivation.
Li Xiangdong firmly guarded his spiritual platform, visualizing the cosmic starry sky over and over, imagining energy flowing through his torso and the pores of his limbs.
Over an hour later, Li Xiangdong suddenly felt a slight warmth in the skin of his body, as if a current of air were entering him. At the very beginning, it was as fine as a gossamer thread, and if not for his absolute concentration, it would have been almost imperceptible. This wisp of breath, though thin as a gossamer thread, was exceptionally solid. As it entered his body through the pores, it rapidly grew stronger while circulating through the meridians. Soon, it was like spring water converging into a stream, and streams converging into a great river—a powerful current of air resembling a great river permeated every cell in his entire body. As he felt more and more clear streams flowing into his cells, the muscles, tendons, and bones of his entire body were nourished by this current of air, undergoing continuous refinement.
Thus, the sensation of Qi was generated, and the first step of cultivation was successful.
Immersed in cultivation, Li Xiangdong felt the powerful torrent of Qi within his body, sensing that all his muscles were filled with explosive strength.
Unknowingly, it was already the morning of the next day. Li Xiangdong finished his cultivation session and stood up. There was none of the usual numbness in his legs from sitting for too long; instead, clenching his fists, he felt the confidence that a single punch could shatter a wall and kill an ox!
He threw a punch into empty air, and the wind from the punch whistled. As far as his sight could reach, even the dust particles in the air could be seen clearly.
In his childhood, what Li Xiangdong admired most was Duan Yu's Six Meridians Divine Sword from the martial arts novel Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. Now that he had cultivated the sensation of Qi, he decided to play around with it, attempting to mobilize the energy in his body's cells and direct a stream of energy along his right arm toward his index finger, while simultaneously raising his index finger and pointing it toward the window.
It was as if an invisible stream of Qi shot rapidly along his index finger toward the window two meters away. With a soft "pop", an invisible beam of energy passed through the window glass, leaving a neat, small circular hole in it.
Li Xiangdong carefully touched the smooth hole wall on the window glass, feeling for a moment as if it weren't real. Thus, he mobilized his energy once more, pointing his index finger slightly to the side, and left another smooth, similarly sized small hole in the glass.
He had actually succeeded in executing the Six Meridians Divine Sword from the novels, and Li Xiangdong's heart blossomed with joy.
Seeing that it was dusk again, he finally managed to suppress the excitement in his heart and picked up his phone to check—it was already past five o'clock.
Just as he was about to go downstairs, a knock on the door sounded.
His younger sister, Li Yin, came to urge him: "Brother, we can go downstairs for breakfast."
"Alright, coming right now."
As soon as he opened the door, his sister immediately stepped close to him. "Brother, you've grown a whole lot taller, and many of your clothes are too small. Today let's go into town together to buy clothes."
"Alright, a major shopping trip into town today!"