Ji Xinghuo returned to his villa on Qinghao Road, took an Ether Sensitive Alien Species from his room, and entered the training room.
He had eaten the Sky Blue Fruit in the afternoon, which had long since been digested and taken effect.
The hunger-like sensation from using the Life Spirit Seed before made it clear to him that he could merge with another Alien Species.
He sat in the middle of the training room, looking at the Alien Species in his hand. The common method for fusing with an Ether Sensitive Alien Species was ingestion. He didn’t hesitate, and threw the quartz-like Alien Species into his mouth. It was a bit hard, but fortunately, it was only the size of a green bean, and he swallowed it with the help of his saliva.
A few minutes later, Ji Xinghuo felt it.
Ether Energy was surging toward him.
However, compared to the fusion with the Rotating Magnetic Field, this was much quieter; one could even say it was silent. If he hadn’t felt the difference, he might have thought the fusion had failed.
Ether Energy, previously invisible, became slightly clearer in his field of vision.
Like air, barely noticeable, yet profoundly affecting everything.
As Ji Xinghuo absorbed the Ether Energy, he felt his body undergoing a subtle transformation. This change did not affect his physical condition, yet it enhanced his sensitivity to Ether Energy.
The Ether Energy in his perception became ever more apparent, almost visible to the naked eye.
He opened the Wanxiang Star Pupil interface.
His Star Power was rising slowly. Every few tens of seconds, the number twitched, increasing by one point!
During the forty-plus days he had been out hunting, he hadn’t practiced specifically, but his frequent consumption and recovery of Star Power also had a training effect, adding two points to his Star Power, which now stood at 103. Now, with the integration of the Ether Sensitive, it soared like a rocket.
It wasn’t until half an hour later that the increase in Star Power stopped.
[Star Power: 161/161]
Ji Xinghuo was both shocked and pleased.
During the previous fusion with the Rotating Magnetic Field, his Star Power had increased by 41 points, and although Ether Sensitive was just a high-quality Ability, it increased his Star Power by 58 points, even more than the Rotating Magnetic Field.
He took a few steps around the training room. The increase in Star Power also enhanced his physical fitness, but not by much.
The information on the interface was also updated.
[Ability: Ether Sensitivity (First Level 1/23)]
"Only 23 points of Spiritual Origin Ability to upgrade?" Ji Xinghuo was very surprised. It seemed that the amount of Spiritual Origin Ability required to upgrade an Ability was linked to its quality. The higher the quality of the Ability, the more Spiritual Origin Ability it required to upgrade, and vice versa.
He looked down at the display, [Spiritual Origin Ability: 132]
Previously in Peak Valley, although he hadn’t killed any Stone Scythe Giant Demons, he had killed dozens of other monsters and encountered numerous battles on the way back to Olympia.
Adding to the 38 points he had before entering Peak Valley, he had accumulated a total of 132 points of Spiritual Origin Ability.
Ji Xinghuo immediately upgraded his Ether Sensitivity.
As the Spiritual Origin Ability was invested, the progress of Ether Sensitivity advanced bit by bit, and he felt his perception of Ether Energy gradually improving.
Soon, his Ether Sensitivity reached Second Level!
[Ability: Ether Sensitivity (Second Level 1/103)]
"I can still upgrade another level!"
Ji Xinghuo was very excited; upgrading this Ability was much easier than he had anticipated. In the blink of an eye, Ether Sensitivity had advanced to (Third Level 1/433).
Third Level Ether Sensitivity!
He looked around, noticing that by simply concentrating a little, Ether Energy would manifest before his eyes.
This energy, colorless like the molecules and particles that compose matter, cannot be seen at the microscopic level, but on a macro scale, it is a gas, constantly changing and moving.
When he waved his hand and moved the air, it also disturbed the Ether Energy, creating various vortices and turbulent flows that appeared utterly random.
Ji Xinghuo observed himself.
Clearly, his body had a much greater impact on Ether than other things.
This was not solely because of the Ether Sensitivity Ability, but because he was a Mutant, and the Star Power inside him was transformed from Ether Energy.
He took a walk outside and quickly understood the use of Ether Sensitivity. Where Ether Energy gathered, extraordinary powers were at play, such as in Ren Mian’s garden, where the density of Ether Energy was several times higher than elsewhere.
The higher the density of Ether Energy, the stronger the power or the more precious the treasure.
Ji Xinghuo quickly figured out the principles.
His own magnetic field sensitivity combined with Ether Sensitivity could likely determine a Mutant’s strength with high accuracy.
"Know the enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles you will never be in peril."
"This is indeed a good way to gauge an enemy’s strength!"
Ji Xinghuo glanced at the remaining 6 points of Spiritual Origin Ability, didn’t use them, and returned to the training room to practice.
His bench press max was 800 kilograms, but for safety, he only used a 500-kilogram barbell, performing several sets of bench presses, squats, and deadlifts, along with other various aerobic and anaerobic exercises to deplete his physical energy and Star Power. After more than an hour, he was completely exhausted.
Sweating profusely, Ji Xinghuo sat down, noting the time, "Now, let’s see how quickly the Star Power recovers."
Two hours later, his Star Power had recovered to 161/161.
Though the full recovery took 20 minutes longer than before, his Star Power had increased by about 60 points. After calculation, the Star Power recovery rate had improved by approximately 38%!
Physical recovery came even sooner.
The Rotating Magnetic Field also sped up physical recovery, and I hadn’t felt tired an hour and a half ago.
This greatly shortened the training cycle, without having to worry about issues caused by excessive fatigue on muscles and bones. As long as the star power recovery was complete, I could train again immediately.
Previously, a training cycle took five hours, and now it only required three hours!
Ji Xinghuo wiped off his sweat, depleted his physical fitness and star power, and waited another two hours to fully recover. Seeing that it was still early, he decided to soak in the training room for nine hours, completing three training cycles.
When the star power fully recovered for the third time, the value suddenly jumped.
[Star Power: 162/162]
"It increased a bit!" Ji Xinghuo was overjoyed.
Without Ether Sensitivity, it used to take me a week to increase one point of star power. The increase of 1 point now definitely wasn’t the result of today’s training alone; it had to be right at the node where the value changed.
Otherwise, if I could increase by 1 point every day, the training efficiency would have increased sevenfold, which wouldn’t be possible even with Third Level Ether Sensitivity.
"I’ll try again tomorrow."
Ji Xinghuo, filled with expectation, returned to his room, washed up, and went to bed.
After only six hours of sleep, while it was still dark outside, he got up and entered the training room to start a day of hard work.
The sky gradually brightened.
Ji Xinghuo, tireless in his cultivation, spent the entire Star Realm Day in the training room, only leaving for meals and restroom breaks, a total of 42 hours, completing 14 training cycles.
The third day was the same.
However, right after Ji Xinghuo finished a training cycle, his star power increased by 1 point, making it 163/163.
Ji Xinghuo finally stopped, having kept track of the time for each training cycle.
This increase of 1 point in star power, he earned through 54 hours of sweat. The fatigue from his body swept away, and his mood became cheerful, implying that his cultivation speed had improved by about 30%. It was slightly lower than the speed of star power recovery, but still considerable.
"These two days were just tests. It’s not possible to be this dedicated every day. I still have to train in martial arts and abilities."
"However, I must complete at least nine training cycles every Star Realm Day."
"Every two Star Realm Days, I can increase my star power by 1 point."
Ji Xinghuo quickly formulated a new training plan.
One day is 49.6 hours long—27 hours for cultivating star power, 9 hours for martial arts, 2 hours for archery, and the remaining time for eating, resting, and sleeping.
He did not know how long his next evolution would take, but he had a feeling that it wouldn’t be too long.
He estimated that his star power limit at the Primary Level Mutant stage was around 230.
As long as he focused on training in Olympia for a few Star Realm Months, he could evolve again.
"Intermediate Mutant..."
Ji Xinghuo calculated the timing, now being early October on Earth, he would likely advance by the end of next June.
Ascending from Primary Level Mutant to Intermediate in less than one year was an unparalleled speed globally.
"If I had more Spiritual Origin Ability, and my Ether Sensitivity increased a few more levels, I could be even faster," Ji Xinghuo thought, but he did not know when he would go hunting next.
While eating, he asked Ren Mian.
"There are no plans for now," Ren Mian replied. "If there is a suitable hunting target, we will go out. But, it’s October now. I need to leave for a few months and will be back next year."
"Where are you going, Ren?" Ji Xinghuo was surprised.
"This is my personal matter, I can’t tell you now," Ren Mian smiled mysteriously, "I leave Olympia for about four months every year. During this period, you can move freely, go back and live on Earth, focus on cultivation, or hunt with other teams."
Zhonglin and Jiangnan Caiyi both nodded, as they already knew.
"I’m going back to Earth in a few days to participate in the martial arts master advancement tournament," Zhonglin had already made plans.
Jiangnan Caiyi said, "I too have to go home and see my mom, but I’ll come back every two weeks to stay for a day, clean up, and look after my sister’s garden."
Seeing Ji Xinghuo’s puzzled look, the three of them found it a bit odd.
"Xinghuo, aren’t you going back to Earth?" Ren Mian inquired.
"I just came to the Star Realm not long ago, and I don’t want to go back for now," Ji Xinghuo scratched his head; he hadn’t told his teammates about the Sword Bureau.
Ren Mian smiled and said, "Then stay here, focus on your cultivation; it’s perfect for you to watch over the house."
"No problem," Ji Xinghuo readily agreed.
The villa was left with only Ji Xinghuo.
Ren Mian had already left the day before yesterday, leading Ji Xinghuo to guess that she must have another, more important botanical garden somewhere else. The villa’s garden was just a temporary planting site, not crucial for her, and could be abandoned at any time, including the tree that could be used to cultivate Sky Blue Fruit.
Zhonglin and Jiangnan Caiyi also went back to Earth today.
After some thought, Ji Xinghuo decided to ask Zhonglin to deliver a message to his older brother, Zhong Ming, telling him that he was doing well and not to worry.
"Only by face-to-face delivery, no calls? No emails?"
"Better not reveal my identity?"
Receiving an affirmative answer from Ji Xinghuo, Zhonglin found it strange, guessed some of the reasons, but still promised.
After seeing off Zhonglin, Ji Xinghuo turned around and entered the training room, beginning today’s cultivation.