Chapter 534: Speedrun, Welcome to the Rice Field
Miaomiao had already comprehended the Law of Time and Space in the other timelines, so he didn't need to complete the jigsaw, aka the seven murals.
However, if he were to comprehend the law and complete the Chrono Element Crystal now, Devil might suspect him for being too knowledgeable, and he might discover Miaomiao and Xie Tian's secrets.
For the sake of avoiding the Devil's suspicion, Miaomiao decided to complete the seven murals here.
"Let's do it."
"Alright."
Xie Tian had no problem with that since the murals belonged to Devil. Only Miaomiao, the archangels, and Devil could activate them.
As soon as the seven mural pieces were connected, they transformed into a miniature planet, which contained the power of Chrono Element Qi.
Also, the orb transferred a wisp of memory to Miaomiao's mind. It contained the secret of time and space, teaching Miaomiao how he could use it.
The Chrono Element power was categorized into eight major skills.
The first type was the time-reversal or time rewinding. It allowed Miaomiao to use [Return to Zero] at the cost of his lifespan. However, it was mainly restricted in the Internal Time Dimension.
The second application was the power to freeze time. Again, it could only be used in Internal Time Dimension, and his lifespan would be used as a skill activation cost.
The third one gave the power to accelerate the time flow of objects or living beings. Miaomiao could use this power to decay material or his opponents. Of course, this power was only applicable in the Internal Time Dimension, and it would consume his lifespan per usage.
The fourth one was the Time Record. Miaomiao could now read the record of time of other destroyed dimensions or timelines. It could be said that Miaomiao could see the future by using this record as a reference. Once again, it would consume a lot of his lifespan per each activation.
The fifth type was spatial distortion abilities. Anyone with this skill could distort space. Spatial cutting, teleportation, gravity force, spatial traveling, changing an object's momentum speed, mass manipulation, and establishing wormholes fell into this category. Fortunately, the cost was cheaper as it only consumed his luck or providence Qi.
The sixth one was the power to manipulate or create pocket dimensions, modify time speed, and tamper with alternate dimensions. This was the ability to create a new timeline by using the time cultivator's memory and experience as a base.
This power was costly. To use this type of skill, Miaomiao might have to empty his collected luck energy or even sacrifice his Heavenly Fate Core.
As for the seventh power, it was the power to reset everything to zero, Timeline Destruction. Anyone who could master this power could destroy the entire dimension and the universe.
And lastly, the power to transcend time and space was the ability to freely access other timelines, parallel universes, multi-dimension universes, or time itself. However, it required the time cultivator to become a Sage, the pinnacle of the universe.
The existence of a sage was a mystery. Not even the Devil, Hongjun, Buddha, Kishin Douji, or Joshua could be considered a sage in this universe.
Ding
[You have comprehended the Dao of Time and Space.]
[A massive amount of Chrono Element Qi has flown into your dantian!]
[A new element crystal is being created...]
Ding
[Congratulations, you have condensed the supreme element of Time and Space, the Chrono Element!]
RUMBLE
As soon as the element crystal was condensed, the space around Xie Tian and Miaomiao folded and twisted as if a black hole had appeared here.
The element crystal was pitch black, and no light could pass through its gravity force. The absolute gravity of the crystal continued to pull Life Essence, cloud, seawater, and material objects into it.
It didn't suck the objects into other places. It was simply a crystal with a massive gravity force that could replace a planet's core. However, everything that is pulled into its surface was compressed and crushed to the point that it was reduced to atoms.
Fortunately, Miaomiao's consciousness body and Xie Tian's soul weren't affected by gravity. They were used to the phenomenon.
Both men heaved a long sigh and pointed their index fingers at it, preparing for the most troublesome part of condensing the element continent.
The element crystal was shot to the sky and kept shuttling higher. Soon, it exited the world of Isolation Training Space.
The black hole became a reverse shooting star, flying to the void until it hit the ceiling of Miaomiao's dantian space.
Masses of material that the black hole had collected merged into the Chrono Crystal. The void was distorted and twisted again.
Miaomiao and Xie Tian followed after the crystal and injected their Qi into it. Miaomiao inserted his luck and Life Essence while Xie Tian stabilized it.
It took them an entire year in the dantian space to increase its mass to the size of a volleyball. However, both men were exhausted.
They were not even done yet. It couldn't even be called a continent with its current size.
"Let's rest on the planet and come back to try again," Xie Tian suggested.
"Yeah, we lack cultivation resources. You go and cultivate the life essence in my dantian. I'll try to extort something from Devil after I breakthrough a few realms."
"Will he help you?" Xie Tian didn't trust Devil.
"I'll pretend to be grateful for his help."
"But he will use you."
"As I said, we'll treat this timeline as a dud. We will experiment with many things while we focus on how we can transmigrate souls to other timelines. Since I have already offended so many gods, I'll play a fool and pretend to be Devil's dog."
"... Okay. Be careful, master. If you need help, don't forget to call me. Oh, you should try Adam's cultivation method since it can transform familiars into Dao Sentinels. It can also speed up your progress without hurting your foundation."
"Will do."
Miaomiao gave Xie Tian a thumbs up and went back to the surface of the dantian world. Then, his consciousness sat cross-leg and prepare for the next task.
...
Xu Chu noticed that both men had done playing something in the void, she waited for Miaomiao to return.
As soon as Miaomiao started resting, she crawled to him, planning to extort some information from him via sex.
Unfortunately, Miaomiao's chicken didn't react to her temptation. He was like a monk, who had abandoned his worldly desire.
"Not now, Xu Chu. I need to recuperate and complete the Chrono Element Continent ASAP. I don't have time for sex."
"You sure?"
"I need to upgrade the space to the max level next. Please don't distract me for now. I'm speed-running to the immortal realm."
"Speed-running? Are you trying to become an immortal soon?"
"Yes."
"Don't rush things. You should lay your foundations some more before you condense your nascent soul. You need to merge as many elemental and Dao into your golden core, so your nascent soul can have a better foundation. Then, your soul dantian will have more capacity than cultivators that rushed their cultivation."
"No need. I know a better method."
"What?"
Miaomiao smiled at Xu Chu and flickered her forehead. Yet, Xu Chu was sent flying like a kite without a string, flying back to the Dao Pillar on her continent.
Miaomiao clapped his hands and started chanting in an ancient language. His voice vibrated and echoed like a hundred old Buddhist monks chanting in an enclosed hall.
Xu Chu's spirit was pulled into Dark Ice Dao Pillar. Then, the entire continent trembled.
"MIAOMIAO, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
Xu Chu panicked, thinking that Miaomiao was doing something illogical to the continent and the Dao Pillar.
However, Miaomiao was determined. He smiled at Xu Chu, "You will praise me when I'm done with you."
Miaomiao paused and concentrated gathering his Life Essence and Luck into the Dao Pillar of Xu Chu.
After he finished citing the odd chant, he bellowed.
"Come out, Totems of Primordial Yin! Come out, Totems of Dark Ice!!"
The Dao Pillar evolved and grew taller. Nine totems rose from the ground around the Dao Pillar, and they released the condensed element Qi to the top of the pillar at the center.
A dark orb was condensed on the top of Dark Ice of Primordial Yin Dao Pillar.
Xu Chu looked up to see the new floating orb above her home. She was confused, "A golden core? No, what is this core?!"
Miaomiao wasn't finished. He started consuming a few karma centipedes to nourish his energy.
Normally, the Soul Essence and excess energy from the karma centipedes would have destroyed Miaomiao's dantian. However, the presence of the totems suppressed the Soul Essence.
While the soul essence's power was being suppressed, Miaomiao sent them into the dark orb.
"Xu Chu, convert all energy into Dark Ice of Primordial Yin! I will transform it into the Embryo Core!"
"Embryo Core? What kind of cultivation method is this?!" This was the first time that she had heard of this term.
"Let's say, it's something from the Outer Universe! It's a lot better than the standard cultivation methods!"
This cultivation method belonged to Adam, who had invented this technique for his people, such as the Xie Clan.
Xie Qingtian used this cultivation technique. Moreover, all mortals under Adam, who had used this cultivation technique, broke through to the immortal realm before they even grew a hair on their crotch!
Even if the cultivators had no talent, they became a god within 2,000 years!
It was superior to the cultivation technique of Karen or other deities in every way!
'Xie Tian, if I'm doing something wrong, help me correct it,' Miaomiao secretly sent a voice transmission to Xie Tian, who was resting far away.
'I'm looking at it, and you're doing fine. You can keep going until you complete the Totem Nascent Soul. But master, once we move to the other timeline, you should recultivate from scratch and use THAT METHOD.'
'Yeah, I think so, too. But for now, my karma is a mess, and I have too many wives. I can't use THAT in this timeline.'
'It can't be helped. Let's do our best.'
There was a better cultivation method that they knew, but Xie Tian and Miaomiao couldn't use it at the moment. It required the practitioner to be at the muscle tempering realm to use this method.
Moreover, it was too late for Miaomiao to cultivate THAT thing since his physical body was not a virgin.
But for now, Adam's method was enough.
BOOM
Soul Essence that Miaomiao had devoured was converted to Dark Ice Element Qi, and the orb grew larger.
After a month of an arduous task, the orb shone in dark blue color, covered by a dense black fog of Primordial Yin.
A derived method of Golden Core Realm or Dao Pillar Realm, the Totems of Soul Embryo Method, was completed. Miaomiao finished making the first totem altar for his first Embryo Core.
Miaomiao no longer a Dao Pillar Realm cultivator. He was now Embryo Core Realm cultivator, which was equal to the Nascent Soul Realm!
Ding
[Congratulations, you have discovered a new cultivation technique.]
[You have advanced to the 7th-stage, the One-Altar Embryo Core Realm!]
...
Embryo Core Realm
This improved version of the Nascent Soul Realm was invented by Adam, one of the seven Prototype War Marionettes. It derives from the normal nascent soul realm and is improved to replace outdated methods.
Ordinary cultivators merge their element power into one golden core before they used that golden core as a foundation of their nascent soul, which is irreversible. Once they passed that period, they can't build more Dao Pillars or add new element continents unless they are willing to suffer from Qi Deviation or backlashes from the unstable foundation.
Instead of cultivating normally to attain the golden core and turn it into the core of a nascent soul, Embryo Core Realm transforms one of the Dao Pillars into the center of a totem formation. The tower becomes an altar for the Embryo Core of the continent's element, and it becomes the foundation of the next realms.
However, cultivators who pick this cultivation method will gain the benefits of its cultivation speed without losing the opportunity to build a firm foundation. They separately build altars of each element and create multiple Embryo Cores, which will evolve into Totem Nascent Souls in the 8th-stage. Then, they can advance to the 9th-stage by using their Totem Nascent Souls to form a Soul Formation. In addition, even when the practitioners get to the 9th-stage, they can still add more element continents, embryos, and nascent souls to strengthen their foundations.
...
Miaomiao didn't even need to read the cultivation method description since he had already learned it by heart in Xie Tian's timeline.
BOOM
As soon as the Embryo was completed, Xu Chu's soul was sucked into the dark blue orb.
But Miaomiao wasn't finished. He pointed his finger at Xu Chu and sent more Soul Essence into her.
"Xu Chu, if you believe in me, grit your teeth. I'll transform you into something better than a Dao Spirit!"
"W-What?!"
Xu Chu failed to react. The wisp of Miaomiao's luck bound her and entered the orb first, and the orb transformed into a slime.
That slime started merging with Xu Chu, sending their liquid body into her body through her mouth and two lower mouths.
From an onlooker's perspective, she was being ravished by slime tentacles!
The flow of thick energy entered her body, and her crotch tattoo was changed. It turned into a face of an adorable cat with a valley of ice continent in the background.
"AHHHHH!!"
Xu Chu came. At the same time, the Embryo Core on top of the altar completely became one with Xu Chu's soul.
Ding
[You have merged your Dao Spirit, Xu Chu, with your Embryo Core.]
[You have transformed Xu Chu into a Dao Sentinel of your Totem Nascent Soul!]
Ding
[Congratulations, you have advanced to the 8th-stage, Totem Nascent Soul Realm!]
'The first totem is done. Next is Diaochan!'
Miaomiao smirked and turned away from Xu Chu. He had done upgrading her and his cultivation base. Now, he needed to turn Diaochan into his Dao Spirit and do the same to the Karma Continent.
...
Meanwhile, Xu Chu, who was still in a daze after the strange evolution, could see something flashing before her.
She could see Dion's system messages!
Also, she could see her status detail!
Ding
[This is the first time we communicate. I know it's late, but...]
[WELCOME TO THE RICE FIELD, MOTHERFUCKER!]
[From now on, you are Dao Sentinel of my master's Totem Nascent Soul. He may summon you to the real world as his assistant in the future. Please cooperate with him.]
[Oh, don't worry about your previous cultivation base. We shall do our best to restore your strength and accommodate you. After all, your strength is my master's strength.]