The Wonders of the Xueluo Crystal

Night. The wind, sharp as a blade, howled across the endless wilderness. Weeds lay low, faintly revealing a lone figure.

His robes were torn to shreds, but beneath the tattered fabric, his powerful body's skin subtly emanated white mist. “Inhale!” Luo Feng sat cross-legged, taking a deep breath. His chest caved in, and his abdomen swelled dramatically, as if a large balloon had inflated within it. Then, this 'balloon' slowly moved upwards, his abdomen sinking as his chest protruded sharply.

Subsequently, the massive protrusion divided into four parts, moving towards Luo Feng’s arms and legs.

His skin rippled, bulging and receding, an incredibly bizarre sight!

“Exhale!” Luo Feng slowly let out a long breath before gently opening his eyes.

“I finally made it through,” Luo Feng exclaimed with a hint of awe.

Pain? Luo Feng could easily endure any physical pain, no matter how extreme. But the sensation of integrating the Xueluo Crystal… he truly disliked it! Because, beyond the various extreme pains, the most unsettling part was… Luo Feng discovered that his soul consciousness was utterly unable to control his body!

Losing control of his body—this feeling of helplessness was unprecedented.

“Regardless, that unpleasant sensation is finally over.” He ripped off his tattered clothes and carefully examined his body. No matter how he looked, at least from the outside, there was no change compared to before integrating the Xueluo Crystal. The scene of his entire body constantly mutating during the integration seemed to have never happened.

“That shouldn’t be right,” Luo Feng frowned.

“Time to test it!”

Luo Feng’s gaze swept towards the distance. “Psychic energy!”

Boom~~~ In the distance, a massive section of wilderness, weighing tens of thousands of tons, suddenly lifted into the air like a floating mountain. All the soil and sand were completely enveloped by his psychic energy, not a single grain escaping. Under Luo Feng’s control, this earth mountain flew continuously in mid-air, circling in a circular trajectory.

“No difference.”

“Penetration, etherealization, flexibility, resilience—my psychic energy is no different from before, and my consciousness and will haven’t changed either.” Luo Feng shook his head. The earth mountain, still spinning in the night sky, plummeted down, crashing with a boom into the huge pit it had been dug from earlier.

“No impact on my soul, so is it my body?” Luo Feng frowned, then casually threw a punch.

Boom! As his fist shot out, the high-pressure shockwave it generated caused the air to explode. The terrifying air current ripped away the wilderness turf, exposing a bare layer of soil spanning several kilometers.

“No change?” Luo Feng narrowed his eyes. His entire body’s skin rippled slightly like waves, and all the strength in his bones, muscles, and sinews instantly transferred to the tip of his right hand—his fist! With that momentum, Luo Feng unleashed all his power in an instant, his fist striking the air with a deafening boom!

“I feel it, I feel it!”

“Deep within my cells, a change has occurred!” Luo Feng’s eyes gleamed with surprise. “This… this is a leap in life?”

Every time a flesh-and-blood life form breaks through a major threshold, it undergoes a leap. Breaking through to Planet-level, to Star-level, to Universe-level… other times are merely accumulations of quantity.

“My body is still at Universe-level Ninth Tier! I haven’t broken through a threshold, yet… every cell deep within my bones, muscles, and internal organs has changed.” Luo Feng was both excited and anxious, because a leap in life beyond the five breakthroughs from Planet-level to Sector Lord would certainly be extraordinary.

The books said it was incredibly wondrous, and that was no exaggeration.

But…

Even Luo Feng’s psychic energy couldn’t discern the changes deep within his cells.

“There’s no other way. I can only gradually adapt, gradually perceive, and gradually understand its changes,” Luo Feng mused, then looked up at the night sky. Whoosh! He shot straight up, instantly breaking through the clouds, reaching the twelfth layer.

“I’ll study the mysteries of my body’s changes right here in the clouds.”

Luo Feng took out his Blood Shadow Battle Blade and began practicing amidst the mist.

…

At Luo Feng’s residence in Flying Cloud Pavilion, Yangang City.

Although he had consecutively killed two prominent figures in Yangang City, Luo Feng was leisurely cultivating in his residence. Fearing he might damage the building, he specifically used his psychic energy to create a protective barrier. He practiced inside the barrier, and all the shockwaves generated by his punches were blocked by the psychic energy. This allowed him to both train his psychic energy and practice freely.

“Amazing.”

“Truly amazing.” Luo Feng, who had already begun to feel the wonders of the Xueluo Crystal, was very excited.

Suddenly, Luo Feng paused, looking out the window. Two figures were approaching—it was Nabu and his son, Nake.

“Just in time for a break.”

A joyful Luo Feng walked downstairs, just as Nabu and Nake reached the courtyard entrance. “Lord Feng.”

“Come in,” Luo Feng said with a smile, sitting down. He poured himself a glass of local fruit wine from the Xueluo world, took a sip, and the cool sensation coursed through his body. He smiled comfortably, “Why are you here so early?”

“When Nake heard that Lord Feng was captured by General Shifeng, he was frantic. Later, I accompanied him to the prison to visit, only to find out Lord Feng had already been released,” the silver-haired Nabu chuckled. “So, we came to visit Lord Feng first thing this morning. Lord Feng, if you have any trivial troubles, please don’t hesitate to ask. While I can’t solve major issues, I can usually handle common matters in Yangang City.”

“Thanks,” Luo Feng smiled. “But there’s nothing much going on right now. Oh? Nake.”

“Hmm,” Nake responded, but his expression wasn’t good.

“What’s wrong?” Luo Feng asked with a smile.

Nabu, sensing the mysterious expert was in a good mood today, quickly explained with a laugh, “This boy, Nake, has encountered some trouble in matters of the heart, so he’s sulking.”

“Matters of the heart?” Luo Feng laughed heartily. “Nake, did you get dumped?”

“What does ‘dumped’ mean?” Nake looked up at Luo Feng.

“It means you’re interested in someone, but they’re not interested in you,” Luo Feng said, taking a self-satisfied sip from his wine glass.

“Exactly,” Nabu said, smiling as he patted his son’s head. However, his son, Nake, unhappily dodged his hand. Nabu chuckled, “It means she didn’t fancy him. Actually, Nake has a great debt of gratitude to that girl… I just laugh when I think about those two kids.”

“A great debt of gratitude?” Luo Feng was surprised.

“Dad,” Nake grumbled.

Nabu, however, laughed and explained, “My son has been kind-hearted since he was young. He liked to take his guards to chaotic places like taverns, where he often heard stories of powerful individuals. My son began to admire those heroes, so he emulated some of them. Some heroes robbed the rich to help the poor, so he simply took money from our family and secretly gave it to the poor. There was one impoverished family with only a mother and a daughter, and my son, Nake, secretly helped them. Later, the girl grew up, and Nake also grew older. Somehow… my son actually fell in love with that poor family’s daughter.”

“Ah?” Luo Feng’s eyes widened.

Helping the poor, helping the poor, and he ended up helping the girl he liked.

Nake’s face turned red.

“And that’s not all! My son always secretly gave money to the girl’s mother, and he always did it behind the girl’s back…” Nabu shook his head. “The girl wanted to cultivate and join a sect in our city, so my son immediately gave a large sum of money to her mother in secret. Just like that… that poor little girl transformed from a pitiful child into a talented martial artist within a sect! My son secretly funded her family for 12 years!”

“And then?” Luo Feng asked, curious.

“My son secretly fell in love with this girl, so he also joined the sect,” Nabu shook his head. “Unfortunately, just yesterday, my son confessed to her and was rejected.”

“Oh?” Luo Feng’s smile grew wider.

Nake glared angrily at his father.

“Can’t your old man and Lord Feng have a few words?” Nabu glared back at his son.

Nake could only hang his head, his ears bright red.

“And there’s more!” Nabu quickly added, “If the story ended there, it wouldn’t be so interesting. Just as my son, heartbroken, was walking out of the sect after being rejected, the girl’s mother came to visit her daughter and saw my son… This is where it gets good. The girl’s mother grabbed my son, extremely excited, and kept calling him her benefactor.”

“Oh?” Luo Feng’s eyes lit up.

“The girl ran over, saw the scene, and was very confused, so she asked her mother who the benefactor was. Her mother honestly told her that it was my son who had been helping their family all along,” Nabu laughed heartily. “At this, the young girl was stunned and couldn’t believe it, saying Nake wasn’t even 20 years old, but the funding had started over a decade ago.”

“Her mother said that back then, it was just a rich child, protected by guards, secretly giving money to poor families, and she had watched this rich child gradually grow up,” Nabu sighed with emotion. “Who would have thought that a child’s playful whim back then would lead to this scene.”

“What happened next?” Luo Feng asked with a curious smile. “How did the girl treat Nake?”

“That girl also had a lot of backbone and was very grateful,” Nabu said. “The girl directly told my son… ‘You have shown great kindness to my family. I am willing to be your servant, and if you wish, I would even marry you.’”

“Oh? A happy ending then,” Luo Feng smiled.

“It’s not over yet.”

Nabu laughed heartily. “My son, with great composure, then asked, ‘Do you like me?’”

“Then the girl said, ‘My heart is entirely focused on martial arts; I have no one I fancy. However, I have no way to repay your great kindness to my family.’ Nabu recounted, “After the girl finished speaking, my son immediately said… ‘I, Nake, will not force anyone. If you don’t like me, I won’t force you.’ With that, my son turned around and left with his guards. Haha…” Nabu finished, unable to stop himself from laughing again.

“Interesting, interesting,” Luo Feng also started laughing.

“Dad!” Young Nake’s face was beet red, filled with embarrassment and anger.

“Well done, Nake, well done,” Luo Feng praised with a smile.

Nake clenched his fists and said seriously, “I won’t force anyone, but one day, I will make her fall in love with me!” He then lifted his head, seemingly filled with fighting spirit.

“That’s the spirit!” Luo Feng could no longer hide his smile, and like Nabu beside him, burst into hearty laughter.