Swallowed Star: My Clone Can Evolve Infinitely

Chapter 19: Unity of Heaven and Man (2 in 1)

Although Shen Gang couldn't accept it at first, he wasn't unreasonable. After all, the transfer order had already been issued. In the end, seeing that he couldn't change Shen Mu's mind, he returned to the Luanhe Base on the same day to handle the handover, with plans to return to Changshan City to take up his new post within a week.

That night, Shen Mu and Mother Chen Wen took the king-level fighter jet to Jincheng, one of the satellite cities of Kyoto Base City.

In a row of villas in the suburbs of Jincheng, Shen Mu's visit to Tang Yongqing's family was a spontaneous decision. Mother Chen Wen had communicated with Tang Yongqing's parents in the morning, so the Tang family was quite rushed. Even Tang Yongqing and her younger brother Tang Yongyuan had to take time off to return to Jincheng.

In the living room on the first floor of the villa, all the members of the Tang family were present. Mother Chen Wen first introduced Shen Mu to the eldest elder, Luo Hongqin: "A Mu, this is your Grandma Luo Hongqin. Quickly greet her."

"Grandma Luo, hello." Shen Mu greeted her politely.

"Good, good, good. You don't need to be so polite, my dear child." The old lady's expression was very kind, and she didn't change her attitude just because Shen Mu was a Councilor.

Besides the old lady, Tang Yongqing's parents, Tang Cheng and his wife Lin Yuying, as well as her younger brother Tang Yongyuan, were all very uncomfortable, not knowing what attitude to take towards Shen Mu.

Next, Chen Wen introduced each member of the Tang family to Shen Mu.

Tang Cheng was a teacher at Kyoto University, and his wife Lin Yuying was Chen Wen's high school classmate, also from Changshan. After graduating from high school, Lin Yuying successfully enrolled in the best university in the base city, while Chen Wen chose the martial path. Lin Yuying met Tang Cheng during her university years, which was why she moved to Jincheng.

Seeing that the Tang family was very uncomfortable and even somewhat reserved, Chen Wen suggested: "A Mu, this is your first meeting with Yongqing. Why don't you two go out for a walk?"

"Alright, Mom." Shen Mu naturally had no objections. Tang Yongqing also couldn't stand the awkward atmosphere and followed Shen Mu out. 

On the streets of the residential area, the dim light from the street lamps cast their shadows vaguely. Shen Mu glanced at Tang Yongqing beside him, who was walking cautiously.

"Yongqing, isn't there anything you want to ask?" Shen Mu turned to look at Tang Yongqing beside him.

In terms of appearance, Tang Yongqing was also excellent, with a perfectly proportioned figure and a 9 or more out of 10 in terms of beauty, coupled with a scholar's temperament, she had a unique charm. It was precisely because of this that Tang Yongqing was targeted by the playboy of the Wang family, who even gave her an exceedingly high evaluation and used various means to force her.

"I... I don't know what to say. I just... suddenly feel like we're not from the same world."

A look of confusion appeared in Tang Yongqing's eyes. Initially, when she was targeted and harassed by Wang Xing'an, Tang Yongqing's parents began to use their connections to see if they could solve this trouble, which was why Lin Yuying sought help from Chen Wen.

Chen Wen saw that Tang Yongqing was beautiful and had enrolled in university at the age of 15. This year, at just 20 years old, she had become a formal researcher at an institute under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, showing great ability. Chen Wen then had some ideas.

Then Chen Wen revealed that Shen Mu was a student of the Wargod Training Camp. Since it was called the Wargod Training Camp, it was because the students here, as long as they graduated smoothly, could all become Wargod-level strong individuals.

Chen Wen then suggested that Lin Yuying spread the news that Shen Mu and Tang Yongqing were engaged since childhood. Although the Wang family was powerful, they wouldn't offend a future wargod because of the misbehavior of a junior, which would be a loss.

Lin Yuying knew that the students of the Wargod Training Camp, after graduation, could all become Wargods. Thinking that having a wargod son-in-law in the future would be quite good, and the two families were well-acquainted, the two friends quickly agreed.

"I told you a long time ago that your fiancé is very capable and will graduate from the training camp early. But you always took it as a joke." As Shen Mu spoke, he reached out and took Tang Yongqing's hand.

Tang Yongqing tried to pull her hand away symbolically, feeling a bit wronged, and whispered: "How could I have imagined you were this capable? When I saw the announcement from the Limit Dojo, my mind went blank."

In fact, Tang Yongqing's initial thoughts were quite simple. Her dream was to become the greatest female scientist in China, and she had basically no requirements for relationships. As long as her future didn't affect her research, even if her future partner was an ordinary person, a plain and simple married life would be quite good. Therefore, she wasn't resistant to her mother Lin Yuying's introduction, since a partner vetted by her own mother would be more reliable.

During her first video call with Shen Mu, she even developed a basic liking for him because of his appearance. After several chats, feeling Shen Mu's support for her pursuit of her ideal, she naturally confirmed their romantic relationship. After all, it wasn't easy to find a boyfriend with high looks, abilities, and who also supported her ideals.

"Yongqing, have you ever flown?" Shen Mu suddenly changed the subject. Delving deeper into this matter would be his fault, since he had never seriously told Tang Yongqing about his true situation, afraid of scaring her.

Tang Yongqing was taken aback by Shen Mu's question and said blankly: "Do you mean the kind of flying I'm thinking of?"

"It's flying in the literal sense."

Shen Mu took Tang Yongqing's hand, and then a flat paver from nearby floated up, appearing in front of them in an instant. Then Shen Mu stepped onto the paver and reached out to Tang Yongqing: "Come up."

Tang Yongqing took Shen Mu's hand and stepped onto the paver. In the next moment, the speed increased dramatically, shooting straight into the sky. The fear of heights and the sensation of rapid movement made Tang Yongqing's face turn pale. She looked at the blurred scenery on the ground, holding onto Shen Mu's hand tightly, her ample chest heaving violently.

"Slow down, slow down." Shen Mu took the opportunity to pull Tang Yongqing into his embrace, not only not slowing down but even speeding up a bit.

A short while later, after an ear-piercing alarm sounded in the Jincheng Air Defense Command Center. A bald middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the intelligence and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"So, it's Councilor Shen taking his girlfriend for a thrill. That's fine, then. Stand down."

***

While Shen Mu was flying with a beautiful girl in his arms, his Azure Dragon clone in the distant ocean was training hard. A long and deep dragon's roar echoed beneath the sea surface, causing countless monsters in the area to tremble in fear.

The dark green dragon tumbled in the deep sea, with streams of light formed by bone cones moving along a specific trajectory around it. Undercurrents surged in the sea area, colliding with each other under the control of the twelve bone cones, emitting a series of muffled roars.

"The first step of the unity of heaven and man is to try to integrate with heaven and earth." The Azure Dragon clone, being a creature of the sea, had an advantage that humans couldn't match.

Another loud dragon's roar, accompanied by spirit force, quickly spread in all directions. After his martial arts and spear techniques reached the realm of Artistic Conception, Shen Mu had been trying to resonate with heaven and earth for about a month, but he couldn't find the right approach.

Shen Mu could sense that his martial arts and spear techniques couldn't carry his insights into the water of the ocean, but he couldn't find a way to advance further.

"If I can't find a method, then I'll break through with pressure." The Azure Dragon opened its eyes, and vast spirit force surged around it, harmonizing with the fluctuations of the ocean currents.

There were no less than a hundred king-level monsters in the Western Pacific Ocean, with only two reaching the second stage of the planetary level, and their territories were close to the Chinese waters, giving them great fame in human society. One of them was Shen Mu's Azure Dragon clone, and the other was the Venomous Jellyfish King.

"There you are."

In the next moment, the huge figure of the green-scaled dragon seemed to turn into a phantom stream of light, moving through the ocean at a speed exceeding a thousand meters per second. If it were flying in the air, Shen Mu's Azure Dragon clone, despite its size advantage, could only reach a speed of about 700 meters per second. However, if it were swimming in the ocean, its speed would be even faster than flying in a vacuum, with the water filling the entire space becoming its power source.

About fifteen minutes later, Shen Mu crossed over a thousand kilometers and entered the territory of the Venomous Jellyfish King.

A provocative dragon's roar, accompanied by spirit force, quickly spread in all directions. A short while later, a strange green light suddenly burst forth from the distant sea area. Within the strange green water domain, a nearly transparent figure could be vaguely seen, with an umbrella-shaped silhouette over 30 meters in diameter, surrounded by countless fine, semi-transparent tentacles dancing and releasing terrifying toxins. The countless tentacles danced, and the vibrations that humans found hard to perceive spread out, which could be understood as the jellyfish's cry.

Boom! At this moment, the two overlords of the Western Pacific Ocean clashed head-on.

Vast and endless spirit force surged, but the Venomous Jellyfish King was also frantically releasing its own toxins, greatly weakening Shen Mu's spiritual force.

"Roar!" Vast spiritual force swept out, controlling the endless water flow. In an instant, the giant jellyfish seemed to feel the entire sea rejecting it.

"Woo—"

In the frequency band of sound waves that humans couldn't hear, came the somewhat shocked cry of the jellyfish king. This long-time nemesis, the Azure Dragon, had suddenly acquired a special ability that only human strong individuals possessed. It seemed like an explosion came from the depths of the sea, and the jellyfish king knew that if it didn't fight with all its might, it would really be over.

The huge transparent jellyfish suddenly lit up with a dazzling light, with endless genetic energy surging, and two tiny green planets could be seen rotating within the endless genetic energy. The countless tentacles, carrying terrifying toxins, lashed out at Shen Mu. Each of the countless tentacles possessed the mighty force of the peak of the second stage of the planetary level.

The countless tentacles were like countless hands. Although their force was basically without technique, they were like a spirit master controlling objects, with the strength of all the tentacles striking in one direction, stacking up the impact force.

But the fundamental source of all this power ultimately came from those two miniature planets. Such a desperate maximum burst could last at most a minute or two before exhausting all the genetic energy.

The Azure Dragon clone let out an excited dragon's roar, craving this sense of pressure. Facing the jellyfish king's desperate struggle, the Azure Dragon entered a suppressed state.

At this moment, on the surface of the sea, it seemed as if a hurricane had been born out of nowhere, raising terrifying waves and sending them crashing in all directions. Below the surface, two powerful king-level monsters were fighting with their lives on the line.

The jellyfish king, in its total desperation, would gradually weaken as time passed. And Shen Mu, under this pressure, merged his vast spirit force with the fluctuations of the endless ocean currents, searching for that elusive resonance.

In just a minute, the venomous jellyfish king felt its strength waning. In the face of life-and-death crisis, it let out a mournful cry, its internal genetic energy exploding beyond its limits, causing self-inflicted damage due to the violent genetic energy. The power of each tentacle increased once more, just enough to break through Shen Mu's spirit force and defense, piercing into the gaps in the scales.

The terrifying toxins spread, bringing a burning-like intense pain. In just a few seconds, under the final blooming attack of this jellyfish king, the Azure Dragon's body was covered with countless small wounds, and the endless toxins spread throughout Shen Mu's body in an instant.

Pain, weakness, and various negative states surged from within the Azure Dragon, as if the roles of Hunter and Hunted had switched in the blink of an eye.

"Roar!" In the face of the terrifying pain and crisis, a special impulse emerged from the genes. This was the ferocity that had lain dormant in the Azure Dragon's bloodline ever since it became Shen Mu's clone, now reawakening once again.

At this moment, Shen Mu's consciousness and the instincts of this clone finally merged, and the previously somewhat uncoordinated and unnatural feeling completely disappeared, with no more barriers between the soul and the flesh. Shen Mu's spirit force, at this moment, resonated with the cosmic energy wandering in the universe with the ebb and flow of the tides.

An invisible wave swept out from the Azure Dragon's body, expelling all the toxins that had seeped into its body through the wounds. Although the injuries caused by the toxins remained, they would not worsen.

At this moment, Shen Mu suddenly developed a special perception, which was not a perception of spirit force, but a vague, indescribable perception. The endless ocean currents surged once more, and as Shen Mu's spirit force spread, the cosmic energy contained within resonated with his spiritual force.

Under the control of spirit force, the endless water domain compressed frantically, firmly suppressing the transparent jellyfish in place. The bone cones turned into streams of light, converging under Shen Mu's control before suddenly shooting out.

The endless water flow roared once more, and the twelve bone cones instantly pierced into the venomous jellyfish king's body before violently expanding and stirring, annihilating this once-invincible nemesis in the blink of an eye.

***

Outside Kyoto Base City, in the sky above the endless wilderness area.

Shen Mu, who was holding Tang Yongqing and piloting the stone slab, suddenly stopped, and the paver hovered in mid-air. In the next moment, endless spirit force spread out, and this time, relying on his vague perception, he detected the cosmic energy wandering in the void. Moreover, by simulating the fluctuation of cosmic energy with his spirit force, he could resonate with the cosmic energy, enhancing the power of his spirit force.

"A Mu... what's happening?"

Tang Yongqing nervously hugged Shen Mu, looking down at the wilderness area below, her face turning pale as the sounds of beast roars rose and fell in her ears.

"Don't worry, it's a good thing. Being with you has cleared my mind, and a bottleneck in my path has suddenly loosened, leading to progress in my strength." Shen Mu came back to his senses and smiled at Tang Yongqing.

"Smooth talker." Tang Yongqing wasn't shy like a little girl, but her curved eyebrows and eyes showed that she was happy to hear Shen Mu's words.

"Let's go home."

"Okay."

On the way back, Shen Mu continued to perceive the cosmic energy between heaven and earth. Normally, if one didn't calm their mind and concentrate to sense the cosmic energy, even a planetary-level wouldn't be able to detect the existence of cosmic energy in a normal state.

But upon entering the realm of the unity of heaven and man, that vague perception was like entering a state of cultivation, allowing one to vaguely sense the existence of cosmic energy.

The mystery of the unity of heaven and man, Shen Mu finally understood. The so-called unity of heaven and man was to break free from the constraints of martial arts and combat techniques, directly manipulate genetic energy and spirit force, display one's insights into heaven and earth, and resonate with cosmic energy.

But it was only a resonance with cosmic energy, guiding cosmic energy to attack, unable to manipulate cosmic energy as freely as one's own genetic energy and spiritual force. As for the domain level beyond that, Shen Mu speculated that it should not only be a simple resonance with cosmic energy but also directly manipulate cosmic energy to form a domain that suppresses everything.

****

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