Within the system space, a vast galaxy flowed beneath his feet. Han Feng sat cross-legged in the void, his wisps of hair on his forehead gently ruffled by an invisible energy field. He opened his eyes, and before him floated three identical illusory clones of himself, each radiating brilliant starlight.
"Failed again..." Han Feng waved his hand to disperse the clones and rubbed his temples. These clones could only last forty minutes at most, and their movements were stiff, far from meeting his requirements.
"Oh, so you actually came here on your own initiative."
Zero's voice suddenly sounded behind him, no longer the mechanical system prompt, but with a hint of human-like teasing. Han Feng turned around and saw a blurry silhouette of light and shadow floating in mid-air. This was the image that Zero would occasionally display in the space after the system upgrade. Unlike its previous virtual form, Zero now had a physical form in the space.
"I feel like my strength is becoming increasingly insufficient." Han Feng lay down on the void, his arm shielding his eyes. "The current situation is beyond my expectations, and on top of that, my opponent is always lurking in the shadows..."
Zero's shadow drifted to his side: "So you want to solve the problem by brute force?" His tone was clearly sarcastic.
Han Feng lowered his arm and glared at the ball of light: "You've been talking more and more like a human lately."
"Upgrade benefits." Zero's light flickered twice, as if he were shrug. "But you're right, it's time to improve our strength."
Han Feng sat up and re-condensed a ball of starlight power: "I can now maintain this clone for forty minutes."
"So?" Zero suddenly leaned closer, the light and shadow almost touching Han Feng's nose. "You think battles between ancient martial arts families are just about throwing energy balls at each other?"
Han Feng was taken aback. He recalled his fight with Kurosaki; back then, Kurosaki had materialized his shadow energy into several shadow clones, not releasing the energy directly, but amplifying it through specific techniques...
"Looks like you've finally figured it out." Zero stepped back slightly, the light and shadow conjuring the shape of a hand, and snapped his fingers. "Every ancient martial arts family has its corresponding unique techniques. It's like the relationship between a kitchen knife and cooking skills; having energy but not knowing how to use it is a waste."
Han Feng's eyes lit up. He had simply condensed the power of the stars and projected it out, at most changing its shape, but he had never thought of combining it with a specific move.
"Then how should I practice? I'm completely clueless right now," Han Feng said, pointing towards Zero's location.
"I'll demonstrate it for you once, watch carefully."
Zero's light and shadow suddenly spread, enveloping the entire system space. The starry sky background transformed into an ancient training ground, the ground covered with intricate star maps.
"The power of the stars originates from the very source of the universe." Zero's voice became solemn. "The corresponding ultimate technique is not a simple 'move,' but rather an imitation and application of the laws governing the movement of the stars."
Seven points of light appeared in the center of the training ground, arranged in the shape of the Big Dipper.
"Watch closely."
The points of light suddenly began to flow, moving along some mysterious trajectory. Han Feng's pupils contracted sharply; this was clearly the path of the stellar power within his body that he could occasionally see when he was extremely focused!
"The first step is to create a complete star trail within your body."
The seven points of light suddenly accelerated, leaving dazzling streaks of light. Han Feng subconsciously raised his hand to block, but the streaks of light transformed into soft starlight the moment they touched his skin.
"Isn't this an attack move?" Han Feng asked in confusion.
Zero's light and shadow reformed: "Star trails are the foundation of all things, used to guide stellar power to form a circulatory network within the body. The reason you're having trouble forming a clone is because you lack this 'skeleton.' Although you can condense one, it consumes a great deal of stellar power, primarily because your clone lacks the star trail component."
Han Feng suddenly realized. He immediately tried to mobilize the energy in his body according to the trajectory of the light spot, and immediately felt that the stagnation in his meridians was much clearer.
He summoned someone to try to re-condense a clone, focusing on completely replicating the arrangement of the star trails in the meridian area. This clone was noticeably more powerful than the one he had condensed before.
Han Feng was confident that this clone he had created could last for at least two hours.
Ling nodded in satisfaction and said to Han Feng, "Although you are currently at the third level of the mid-stage of the Acquired Realm, only a part of the star map in your body has been lit up. Once you have fully opened up the Ren Meridian, your clone will even be able to autonomously condense the power of stars. At that time, it will no longer be a purely energy-consuming move."
"You mean I'm now at the third level of the mid-stage Acquired Realm? Didn't I just break through to the mid-stage Acquired Realm not long ago?" Han Feng asked.
"Actually, you broke through to the third level that night with Su Wanwan, but you didn't realize it."
"What?" Han Feng was somewhat surprised, not expecting that doing that thing would help him break through his limits.
Zero explained that the Star Vein Diagram has the ability to cultivate on its own, and when he and Su Wanwan had intercourse, his pores opened up, and the speed at which he absorbed the power of the stars increased. Otherwise, how could Han Feng have broken through to the mid-stage of the Acquired Realm so quickly? Obviously, it was the same when he had intercourse with Liu Mengran before.
Ignoring Han Feng's surprise, Zero continued, "Next is the attack move." The light and shadow shifted again. "This move is called Meteor Fall."
A point of light suddenly detached from the star map and plummeted towards the ground at an alarming speed, bursting into blinding light upon impact. Even if it was just an illusion, Han Feng could feel the destructive impact.
"This requires compressing the power of the stars to its limit and then releasing it through specific meridian pathways," Zero explained. "It's more than ten times more efficient than your previous simple and crude energy projection."
Han Feng couldn't wait to try it out. Following Zero's instructions, he first compressed a wisp of starlight power into his palm, then guided it along specific acupoints on his arm...
\"boom!\"
The energy exploded out of control in his palm, knocking him to the ground.
"Pfft." Zero made a suspicious sound. "This is the first time I've ever seen someone blow themselves up."
Han Feng got up, covered in dust, but grinned: "Interesting. Let's go again!"
In the time that followed, Han Feng tirelessly practiced the basics of "Star Trail". After each failure, Zero would pinpoint the problem precisely; sometimes it was that the meridian nodes were not open, and sometimes it was that the energy compression ratio was incorrect.
On his seventy-third attempt, Han Feng finally succeeded in condensing a walnut-sized ball of light in his palm. Although it was pitifully faint, the solidity it possessed was unlike any of his previous energy manipulations.
"Success!" He looked at the slowly rotating ball of light with delight.
Zero's light and shadow circled the sphere of light once: "Barely passable. However..." It suddenly leaned close to Han Feng's ear, its voice mysterious.
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