Chapter 1147

The bald crystal man wore an expression of deep thought. "He never appeared before—I'm certain of it. I've been on Earth for many years and know everything here intimately, yet he suddenly appeared. His strength has completely surpassed the Planetary level, even surpassed the Stellar level, and likely exceeds the Cosmic level as well!"

"What? Beyond the Cosmic level?"

Luo Feng was startled.

He had assumed his master might be a 9th Rank Planetary warrior, but now, according to this bald crystal man, his master had reached at least the Cosmic level—or even beyond?

"Planetary warriors can fly within a planet's atmosphere. Stellar-level warriors possess the power to destroy worlds; they can fly into space and make brief voyages there. But at the Cosmic level, one can wander freely through the cosmos—each one a true powerhouse. Your master belongs absolutely to a realm beyond Cosmic. He seems to have mastered terrifying laws of the universe; cosmic distances mean nothing to him. Even our conversation now is under his divine perception. Just now, he took something from Ancient Civilization Site No. 31."

The bald crystal man spoke as if gazing across vast distances.

"Ancient Civilization Site No. 31? What's inside it?"

Luo Feng was curious.

"It's the hive of the insect race. Inside lies a sleeping Empress."

The bald crystal man said.

"Insect race, Empress? Sounds like something not easy to deal with."

Hearing words like "insect race" and "hive," Luo Feng sensed that whatever lay within the ancient civilization site would be formidable.

"Yes, the insect race is among the most troublesome in the entire universe. If the Empress has sufficient energy and awakens, she can give birth to countless insect warriors. An insect army of that scale wouldn't just devour Earth clean—it could swallow your entire Milky Way galaxy whole. That's why the insect race is one of the apex species in the universe."

The bald crystal man explained.

"There's something like this on Earth?"

Luo Feng was startled.

He hadn't realized until now how terrifying it was.

So Earth's existence was largely due to luck?

"Yes. The insect Empress was in deep slumber and could never awaken—but now, who knows? I don't know why your master took the insect Empress, but I suspect the sleeping Empress may awaken in his hands."

"…"

"But you needn't worry. If he wanted to destroy Earth, Earth would already be destroyed—he wouldn't need the insect hive at all."

The bald crystal man comforted Luo Feng.

"That's true. My master is extremely mysterious, but he is human. He founded the Dao Inquiry Palace and trained us. He is a great being worthy of my devotion."

Luo Feng nodded.

"He is indeed powerful. And his understanding of spiritual force differs greatly from that of Yunkexing."

The bald crystal man spoke again. "In Yunkexing's understanding, spirit is divided into spiritual force and consciousness. Spiritual force permeates the entire mind sea and is a tangible entity; consciousness is intangible and unreachable. We regard spiritual force as soldiers, and consciousness as the commander—higher than spiritual force. For a spiritual force user to grow strong, they need not only enough soldiers but also a formidable commander. A powerful commander enhances troop deployment. Thus, Yunkexing's tradition emphasizes strengthening consciousness—the commander."

"Strengthening consciousness?"

Luo Feng was curious.

"For example, enduring great hardship and suffering hardens a warrior's will—that's one way to train consciousness, though crude. In the universe, there are many secret methods to train consciousness. Yunkexing's most mainstream are the Control Master's secret technique, 'Basic 312 Forms,' and the Illusion Master's secret technique, 'Basic 186 Forms.' There's also the Nine-Nine Spirit Forging Method. But these traditions differ entirely from what your master teaches—his understanding is completely different."

The bald crystal man's eyes showed a flicker of curiosity. "He has his own system for spiritual force—he converts spiritual force into magic power, then magic power into true qi? Such magic power and true qi cannot be controlled by ordinary consciousness. He doesn't even mention consciousness at all—as if, in his cultivation system, consciousness doesn't exist. This is strange. Without consciousness as commander, how can one control magic power and true qi?"

"Could it be that spirit has never been divided into spiritual force and consciousness? Spirit is just spirit—consciousness doesn't exist at all. Human spirit is formless and intangible. When refined by a certain secret method, it becomes formless but tangible magic power. When that magic power advances further, it transforms into tangible true qi. When spirit evolves from formless and intangible to tangible true qi, imagine how much its power increases."

Luo Feng thought for a moment, then spoke.

He now understood: different sects had different cultivation methods.

For example, Yunkexing insisted spirit was divided into tangible spiritual force and intangible consciousness. Cultivation meant increasing the tangible spiritual force and training the intangible consciousness, strengthening both soldier and commander within the human spirit, thus making the entire cultivator stronger.

But his master taught the Daoist path: the universe began from nothing—even the concept of "nothing" didn't exist. Gradually, the concept of "nothing" emerged, then formless and intangible things arose, then formless but tangible things, then tangible and tangible things.

From nothing, to something—step by step—until everything became "something."

Only "something" possesses terrifying destructive power.

In the end, human spirit becomes utterly "something."

As for Yunkexing, from beginning to end, both nothing and something coexist.

This made Luo Feng feel his master's words made more sense.

Didn't he see? He had cultivated for only a few months, yet his magic power had already reached an astonishing level, and his rank had risen from War General to Planetary 6th Rank.

How much time had passed?

To the outside world, it was merely one day.

"I have a question: if someone can control the flow of time, what realm would their cultivation base reach?"

Luo Feng suddenly remembered this question and asked it aloud.

"Control the flow of time? That's too unimaginable… Don't think too much. First, reach the Stellar level."

"Hmm…"