Swallowing the Stars: 100x Return for Teaching Apprentices

Chapter 178 'Singularity': A Miraculous Encounter
"go with!"

Qi Yuan hesitated for only a moment before making up his mind.

By sheer chance, they arrived at this strange place, and by even greater chance, they successfully simulated the state of the "singularity" force field using the 'transformation' talent of the Shangqing clone, thus gaining temporary immunity to the damage from the devouring vortex and the spacetime tide.

If I leave without taking the opportunity to explore this strange place thoroughly, I'll feel like I'm missing out on something.

At worst, he would only lose the divine power of one clone, which was nothing to him!
Having made up his mind, Qi Yuan no longer hesitated.

The Shangqing clone immediately simulated the state of the singularity force field, and with the ability to temporarily resist the damage from the devouring vortex and spacetime tides, sent the Yuqing clone to a relatively safe small world.

At the same time, all the treasures he carried were transferred to the Jade Purity clone, leaving the Upper Purity clone with only a set of heavy armor seized from the Heavenly King and some resources to restore divine power.

After doing all this, Shangqing's clone rested in the small world for three more days. Only after the feeling of soul fatigue brought about by the previous simulation of the singularity force field state completely disappeared did he once again use the 'transformation' ability to enter that mysterious state and directly step out of the small world.

"Whoosh whoosh~~~"

"Bang! Bang bang! Bang."

A strange, rhythmic pulse rang out continuously, and the entire strange land was completely submerged by the superimposed force field of the devouring vortex and the tides of time and space.

Even a supreme being of the universe would be instantly annihilated and reduced to nothingness if he rashly entered this violent and chaotic superimposed force field.

However, Qi Yuan Shangqing's clone, which successfully simulated the 'singularity' force field form by using the 'transformation' ability, simply flew freely in this chaotic energy field without suffering any harm.

"Bang, bang."

A faint, undulating sound also emanated from his body.

The fluctuations within the body resonated almost perfectly with the pulsation of the singularity, creating a perfect harmony.

Under this state of resonance, the Shangqing clone itself seemed to merge into that special pulse, no longer subject to any rejection, and naturally no longer harmed.

The Shangqing clones continued to fly.

In this strange place, time and space are completely chaotic, making it impossible to judge distance and size using normal perception.

For example, those bubble worlds strung together on those crystal-clear threads. Normally, each bubble world is at least tens of millions of kilometers in diameter, while the largest can reach hundreds of billions of kilometers in diameter.

These enormous bubble worlds, placed on those crystal-clear threads, are like beads strung on a beaded curtain, appearing incredibly tiny and delicate.

However, though they appear tiny, when the Shangqing clones actually try to cross them, they seem to become incredibly distant and enormous.

Previously, the Shangqing clone protected the Yuqing clone as it moved to a safe small world. The process only involved crossing three relatively small 'bubble worlds', and it took nearly half a month of flying.

And the journey from where he started to that mysterious 'singularity' is even more distant.

As the continuous flight had lasted for nearly a month, the distance between Shangqing's clone and the mysterious 'singularity' remained endless, as if they had not gotten any closer at all.

Left with no other choice, Shangqing's clone could only find a safe little world to settle in on the nearest 'silk thread' to alleviate the soul pressure brought about by the simulated singularity pulsation.

Three days later, the refreshed Shangqing clone continued its journey.

And so it goes, moving forward again and again, pausing to recover, and then moving forward once more.

Finally, after Qi Yuan himself had forgotten how many times he had repeated this process, the mysterious 'singularity' that was constantly twisting, contracting and expanding finally appeared in Qi Yuan's perception as it drew closer.

At this moment, the devouring vortex and the chaotic spacetime tides surrounding Shangqing's clone were becoming increasingly alarming.
"Bang, bang bang, bang."

A tremendous, drum-like vibration emanated from Shang Qingfen's body, and his entire body resonated more deeply with the singularity force field, as if he were about to completely merge into that chaotic yet orderly energy field.

"This singularity appears tangible from a distance, but upon closer inspection, it feels like nothingness."

The Shangqing clone tried its best to sense, but could not detect any tangible existence.

Moreover, having reached this point, they were already extremely deep inside the endless web-like structure, and further ahead, they could no longer find any safe bubble worlds to settle in.

However, having already come this far, given Qi Yuan's personality, he naturally wouldn't want to give up halfway.

"At most, the clone's divine body will be annihilated. It's nothing serious. Let's continue to explore!"

Without pausing, Shangqing's clone continued to fly rapidly into the almost empty 'singularity'.

As it continued to fly, not knowing how far it had traveled, and maintaining the simulated 'singularity field' form for an extended period, the soul of Shangqing's clone began to feel a faint pressure.

"Just how big is this strange place? I've been flying at near-light speed, and the distance I've covered during this time should be enough to traverse the eighth and ninth levels of the entire Time-Space Prison, but I haven't even passed half of this strange place."

Shangqing sighed inwardly, "Given the burden on my soul, I estimate I can only hold on for five or six days at most. I wonder if I can even see something different."

Perhaps what one desires in one's heart will eventually be answered.

Finally, after flying for about two more days, as if passing through an invisible barrier, Shangqing's clone suddenly entered a true 'core area'!
It's like the inside of a giant 'egg'.

A layer of cyan, hazy membrane, like a stream of air, surrounded the area, blocking all the devouring vortexes and temporal tides from entering.

Within this cyan airflow membrane, however, lies a secluded paradise with a diameter of only about 100 kilometers.

Within this space, Shangqing's clone felt no impact from any violent or chaotic energy; only unparalleled tranquility and peace.

Wisps of seven-colored light drifted and rippled in this space, making it look like a fairyland from a mythical past life.

The Shangqing clone's gaze swept across this space, and it quickly discovered something unusual.

On the cyan, airflow-like membrane that shrouds this mysterious space, countless translucent, crystal-like 'holes' are densely distributed.

Through each opening, you can see some translucent 'crystal pipes' behind it.

"Could this be the end of those 'threads'?"

Qi Yuan's Shangqing clone's gaze swept quickly across the cave entrances. Each of the 10081 crystal cave entrances resembled a giant honeycomb, spreading across all sides of the azure energy 'eggshell'.
Wisps of seven-colored energy drifted out from the openings, then shattered into specks of seven-colored light mist.

The omnipresent seven-colored mist in this space originates from this.

"what?"

As if it had made a discovery, Shangqing's clone took a step and immediately arrived at the very center of this mysterious space.

Here, the seven-colored mist became incredibly dense, and large amounts of it continued to gather.

At the core of the incredibly dense, multicolored mist, an oval-shaped, dark cloud of gas, no bigger than a fist, was constantly fluctuating as if it were breathing.

"breathe--"

"breathe--"

As the oval, dark cloud of gas rose and fell rhythmically, the incredibly dense, seven-colored mist swirling around it seemed to be drawn in, constantly sinking into the cloud's interior, as if transforming into some kind of nourishment needed by the cloud.

"This is."

Shangqing's clone stepped forward with some curiosity.

Just then, the constantly fluctuating, dark mass of gas seemed to be stimulated by something, and began to churn and surge violently, and then—

"call out!"

A very thin wisp of dark gray energy separated from the energy cloud and then shot into his body before Shangqing's clone could react!

"Chi chi chi~~~"

Unable to exert any control, the wisps of dark energy were immediately absorbed by the divine body of the Shangqing clone as soon as they entered the body, and were also absorbed by the soul imprint contained in each divine body.

As he absorbed the nutrients, his soul and will began to undergo a rapid transformation!

The entire transformation process was extremely short, almost instantaneous.

"What just happened? That airflow..."

Shangqing's clone blinked, but the next second, his face showed utter shock.
"Hmm? My will... it seems like I've broken through?"

In his perception, his will seemed to have crossed a very obvious hurdle, becoming increasingly resilient and powerful.

Even the fatigue he had felt while maintaining the simulated 'singularity field' state quickly dissipated, as if maintaining this state no longer posed any burden to him.

"I've really broken through! My will has directly reached the level of a universe master! I endured the impact and tempering of that singularity pulsation for over three thousand years, and I only just reached a level comparable to a universe overlord. How could this suddenly improve so much!"

The Shangqing clone sensed it rapidly, but the shock on its face grew stronger and stronger.

"It's not just an improvement in willpower, but also in the soul. The soul has also undergone a transformation; that's the feeling."

As if by instinct, Qi Yuan's Shangqing clone attempted to activate a secret technique he had studied and comprehended for thousands of years—

"boom!!!"

Centered on Qi Yuan's Shangqing clone, an invisible force instantly expanded outwards!
Expanding continuously, the invisible force directly broke through the seven-colored light mist, broke through the cyan airflow barrier, and even broke out of the entire strange land, even enveloping the layers of time-space prisons.

A vast and mighty force enveloped an area with a radius of nearly ten light-years centered on Shang Qing's clone!

Within this radius of ten light-years—

The Shangqing clone could see that in a small world of that strange place, the Yuqing clone was looking at it with surprise.
Within the range of the eighth level of the abyss, a certain unfortunate soul who fell in was instantly annihilated into nothingness;

Within the seventh level of the abyss, one can see a large group of peak-level King-ranked experts seemingly engaged in a fierce battle over the treasure of a newly risen powerhouse.
Everything within the range of this invisible force was absolutely clear and detailed, and everything was under Qi Yuan's complete control—a complete control in his heart!

He can even immediately bind or destroy everything within his control with just a thought!

Control time and space!

A special power that only the Lord of the Universe can possess!
But this power was now easily unleashed by Qi Yuan's Shangqing clone!
Keep in mind that he is not yet the ruler of the universe!
Although for more than three thousand years, thanks to the special environment of the strange place deep in the Time and Space Prison, Qi Yuan has made extremely rapid progress in the laws of time and space.

With the powerful, almost cheat-like, system experience return mechanism, he had already reached near-perfect understanding of the laws of time and space in just over three thousand years, and was only one step away from mastering the complete laws of time and space.

However, no matter how close one gets to a breakthrough, if one hasn't broken through, one hasn't broken through. Normally, one shouldn't be able to use the signature technique of a cosmic master, such as 'controlling space and time'.

However, after that wisp of dark energy entered his soul, his soul seemed to undergo some kind of incredibly mysterious transformation.

It's as if one's soul and the origin of the universe have become perfectly aligned. In this state of perfect alignment, some powers that were previously unusable can now be used.

For example, the array technique that Qi Yuan's Shangqing clone just used—"Time and Space"!
The Secret Technique of Time and Space is a fusion of the complete Array of Time and Array of Space. It not only contains 10081 basic arrays that interpret the mysteries of the laws of time and space, but also contains the infinite mysteries of the combination of time and space.

Once the entire "Time and Space" secret technique is mastered, one can wield power comparable to the ultimate secret technique of the Lord of the Universe!

This power is precisely in the area of ​​spacetime control, a special method that is incomparably similar to the way the Lord of the Universe controls spacetime!

Normally, Qi Yuan would need to master the complete laws of time and space and break through to become a master of the universe before he could use this move.

With the blessing of the Time and Space Secret Technique, his power to control time and space will be greatly enhanced.

However, in a state of spiritual transformation and perfect harmony with the origin of the universe, he used this move ahead of time!

It felt like taking an exam. Although there were a few questions that involved knowledge I hadn't mastered, I was allowed to take the exam open-book because I had a good relationship with the proctor.

Although I haven't fully mastered that knowledge yet, by consulting books and looking up information, I've been able to solve problems that I couldn't solve before.

Qi Yuan is in roughly this state now. Although he has not completely taken the final step and mastered the complete laws of time and space, he is already able to unleash the strongest power of the "Time and Space" secret technique by relying on his state of being in perfect harmony with the origin of the universe!
That's not all!
After this "open-book exam," Qi Yuan gained a direct understanding of the small part of knowledge about the laws of time and space that he had not yet fully mastered.

Next, as long as he concentrates on deepening and consolidating this small part of knowledge and integrates it, he can reach the point of completely mastering the laws of time and space. At that time, he will be the true master of the universe!
With this amazing experience today, I believe that day is not too far away!
(End of this chapter)