Swallowed Star: My Clone Can Evolve Infinitely

Chapter 9: The Perfection Level

"After taking the Thousand Year Willow Heart, with my current physical fitness I should have a good chance of directly becoming a Wargod."

Shen Mu's current physical fitness was around 14,000 kg, an increase of 3,000 kg in just one month. Such a significant improvement was mainly due to the latent effects of the Dragon Blood. After all, Shen Mu had only trained in the ancient civilization gravity room for one hour in February.

A golden flying knife, controlled by Shen Mu, easily broke through the crystal shell. The clear and transparent green liquid slowly flowed out and floated in the air under the control of spirit force. Then Shen Mu opened his mouth, directly sucking in the essence liquid, which was only a few dozen milliliters.

Immediately, a cool feeling spread out from his mouth, seeped into his lungs, and in the blink of an eye, it dispersed into every limb and bone. Countless cells in Shen Mu's body were awakened at this moment, frantically devouring the energy of the Thousand Year Willow Heart to undergo transformation.

During this process, Shen Mu's whole body was trembling slightly, and a comfortable feeling from the genetic instinct filled his body, completely different from the pain of using the Dragon Blood before. The Dragon Blood only functioned to enhance physical fitness, while the spirit of nature not only improved physical fitness but also increased cell activity.

As his physical fitness suddenly improved, the spirit force was also rapidly increasing.

***

Half an hour later, on the first floor of the pavilion, Shen Mu stood in front of the strength testing device.

Boom!

A punch was thrown, and the punching target of the testing device roared. The screen also displayed Shen Mu's current strength data: 58,174 kg.

"58,000 kg, advanced WarHorde Leader, not bad."

Shen Mu moved his mind, and a golden stream of light shot out from the flying knife pouch, hitting the force target.

"235,000 kg, nearly peak of an intermediate Wargod."

The standard for an advanced Wargod was 256,000 kg. For the next period, as long as he trained a little and tapped into the latent effects of the Thousand Year Willow Heart, he could easily break through this standard.

In fact, if Shen Mu was willing, he could directly take the Ten Thousand Year Willow Heart now and soar to the peak of a Wargod-level spirit master. The effect of the Ten Thousand Year Willow Heart was to triple or quintuple physical fitness, but it couldn't be used to break through to a Planetary-level spirit master. This effect was considered extremely high among the many spirits of nature that Hong had collected.

"Before September 29th, the main task is only the training of spear technique and body technique."

Shen Mu was confident that he could raise his spear technique and body technique to the perfection level before the opening of the No. 9 ancient civilization ruins. According to Chu Qiang, although Shen Mu's combat skills and body technique realms were average, his improvement speed was very fast, ranking among the top in the training camp. 

As for the Artistic Conception level above that, only a few people in the training camp, including Chu Qiang, had reached this level. If Shen Mu had two or three years, he might have a chance to break reach that. But the problem was that Shen Mu basically had no time left. It was now February 28, 2058, less than two years before the Golden Horned Beast event.

Moreover, Shen Mu's Azure Dragon clone was a sea monster and only had about a year left before facing the newly emerged Golden Horned Beast.

Even a newly emerged Golden Horned Beast, with its tenfold genes and the Talent technique "Strengthen," could achieve a basic strength 20 times that of an ordinary first-stage Planetary-level, equivalent to an ordinary fifth-stage Planetary-level monster.

"I must break through to the Planetary-level within a year and then bring my clone to the base city as a tamed beast." Unlike Luo Feng, who had a Life Core and could resurrect through it even if his clone died, Shen Mu's Azure Dragon clone might truly be gone if it died.

Far away, thousands of miles away, under the sea, endless dark currents surged. A dragon over a hundred meters long was chasing a giant whale-like monster. Wherever it passed, countless marine giants fearfully lay on the seabed, trembling.

Vast spirit force seemed to shake the entire ocean, and eleven streaks of green light instantly pierced through a Beast that had just entered the King level and was fleeing.

The giant Beast let out a mournful cry, and its huge body began to fall powerlessly to the seabed, the powerful original force fluctuations beginning to dissipate.

"My spirit amplitude has finally increased to 11 times. The effect of the 'Celestial Deity Diagram' is still too poor. If I could obtain the secret technique from the No. 9 ancient civilization ruins, the speed of increasing my spirit amplitude should be much faster."

If Shen Mu remembered correctly, with Luo Feng's talent, after half a year of practicing the 'Celestial Deity Diagram,' his spirit amplitude only increased from 6 times to 7 times. Then, after being trapped in the No. 9 ancient civilization ruins for a year and three months, practicing the 'Basic 312 Moves' secret technique, his spirit amplitude directly increased from 7 times to 16 times.

However, his Azure Dragon clone's talent in spirit should be much higher than Luo Feng's. Without training, it could naturally possess a 10-fold spirit amplitude. Even without the 'Basic 312 Moves' secret technique, Shen Mu was confident that within a year, he could increase his spirit amplitude to 14 times, rivaling the Fourth Speaker, East.

The next morning, March 1st, Shen Mu continued his state of seclusion, hunting monsters on odd-numbered days and training in the training camp on even-numbered days.

Starting from this day, Shen Mu's daily challenge targets became primary Horde Leader monsters. As a spirit master, there was another advantage: when fighting monsters, there was no need to worry about being ambushed or physical exhaustion, and one could fight with full strength.

Of course, relying solely on spear technique and body technique, Shen Mu still couldn't defeat monsters one level higher than him. After being unable to withstand the attacks of a Horde Leader monster, he chose to run away, and at the same time, he could hone his body technique. If he still couldn't escape, Shen Mu would use spirit force to kill it instantly.

On even-numbered days, Shen Mu no longer sparred with many students. As the top of the Black Dragon Ranking last month, Shen Mu could use the training room and gravity room for six hours a day. Only at night would Shen Mu choose a student of similar strength to spar with, verifying his progress of the day.

The first three levels of spear and body were actually about technique. Although talent was also required, it was not a requirement. Even ordinary Warlord fighters, through the accumulation of time and combat training, most of them possessed the second level of combat skills and body techniques.

***

In the blink of an eye, two months passed.

Inside the virtual space training tower, as soon as Shen Mu's figure appeared, a mechanical electronic sound rang out.

"Third floor A grade trial, your goal is to kill 100 primary Commander-level Golden Vultures within thirty minutes. Good luck."

A dense flock of monsters appeared in the sky above the wilderness.

Golden Vultures were a relatively tricky type of avian monster. Fighters were in danger when facing avian monsters. Once caught in the air, the only outcome was death.

"Today, I must get through it." Shen Mu stared at the flock of birds, his eyes cold.

A harsh, unpleasant cry sounded, and a hundred Golden Vultures, like a golden cloud, swooped down from the sky, their sharp claws reflecting a cold light.

Shen Mu's palm held a black spear, which flowed with a cold light. His figure seemed to turn into a phantom, fully displaying the perfection level of body technique. The spear flashed, and under the burst of 2.4 times amplitude from the second level of "Destroyer," the spear pierced through a Golden Vulture in an instant, killing it on the spot. Then the spear swept across, knocking several Golden Vultures that were pouncing away. Like a ghost, his figure dodged rapidly amidst the siege of the birds.

The so-called perfection level of body technique referred to the ability to use everything in the surrounding environment for movement, with the body's movements seemingly blending with the environment. At this level of body technique, Shen Mu could use the attacks of the Golden Vultures to allow his rapidly moving body to turn and dodge nimbly, greatly avoiding the impact of inertia.

During these two months of hunting monsters, Shen Mu provoked primary Horde Leader monsters, basically being suppressed, spending more time training his body technique than his spear technique. Therefore, his body technique had progressed faster than his spear technique, reaching the perfection stage earlier. 

It was precisely by relying on the perfection level of body technique and the second level of "Destroyer" that Shen Mu could pass the second floor of the training tower as a fighter.

One... ten... thirty, one by one, the birds fell to the ground, and the entire wilderness was dyed red. But in this process, Shen Mu's physical strength was also continuing to be consumed. The full burst of 2.4 times force could not be maintained for a long time.

"Huff, huff." Shen Mu gasped heavily, and the significant physical exertion made it impossible for him to fight freely amidst the siege of the Golden Vultures. His body was covered with countless wounds, big and small.

"Control the spear and make the spear a part of your body."

Shen Mu took a deep breath to keep himself absolutely rational, struggling to support himself under the siege of the Golden Vultures.

A moment later, Shen Mu once again failed due to physical exhaustion and was torn apart by the remaining less than ten Golden Vultures.

At the entrance of the training tower, Shen Mu's figure reappeared. Shen Mu had six hours of training tower usage time each day, with an average of about twenty minutes per attempt, enough for him to fight more than fifteen times.

In the next moment, Shen Mu's figure was once again transmitted to the third level.

"Third level A stage trial..." As the cold mechanical voice ended, the flock of Golden Vultures appeared.

Holding the spear, Shen Mu charged up again, feeling the changes in himself and the spear, seeking the state of human-spear unity.

After 21 minutes and 12 seconds, Shen Mu, who was physically exhausted, was once again surrounded and torn apart by the Golden Vultures.

Outside the training tower, Shen Mu's figure reappeared, failing the second attempt to clear the tower. Shen Mu, who had just appeared, did not waste a second and directly stepped into the training tower, starting his third attempt.

The third, fourth... until more than two hours later.

After failing the sixth attempt, Shen Mu's figure reappeared at the entrance of the training tower.

More than two hours of high-intensity fighting, with his spirit highly tense, brought Shen Mu's mental activity to a limit. If it were in the real world, Shen Mu's eyes would probably be filled with blood vessels.

"Yes, that's the feeling." Shen Mu's voice was hoarse, but his expression was excited, his eyes seemingly glowing. Recalling the last few seconds of the previous battle, Shen Mu felt as if the spear had become a part of his body. In that state, Shen Mu's body, which was already at its limit, actually managed to kill two more Golden Vultures.

"Continue." Shen Mu's figure appeared once again in the wilderness of the third level of the training tower. The harsh cries of the vultures echoed as Shen Mu charged into the siege of hundreds of birds once again.

The spear trembled and swept across, and Shen Mu once again experienced that state where the spear seemed to become his third hand. The spear flashed with light as he executed various moves such as thrusting, stabbing, lifting, and parrying with greater flexibility. Everything felt incredibly natural. It was as if the wielding of the spear had completely become an instinct, like instinctively reaching out, raising an arm, or bending a finger. The ghostly figure and the illusory spear light rampaged through the flock of birds, like a dancer gracefully performing.

Accompanied by the shrill cries of the birds, one by one, the Golden Vultures fell to the ground under the sharp spear light. After more than seven minutes.

With the last, even more piercing cry of a Golden Vulture, only Shen Mu's figure remained, standing firm in the wilderness, leaning on his spear, his chest heaving violently as he gasped for breath. On the ground, the broken bodies of the birds were scattered, staining the entire wilderness red, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of blood.

"Time taken: 7 minutes and 18 seconds. All 100 Golden Vultures have been killed. The third floor A-grade trial has been passed."

The mechanical electronic voice sounded, and Shen Mu's figure also disappeared from the training tower.

"Two more times to completely stabilize the spear technique at this level."

At this point, Shen Mu's body technique and spear technique had respectively reached the perfection level.

The next goal was to explore the Artistic Conception.

***

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