Tiger Soul Research Institute, Training Room.
Feng Qi sat cross-legged, using breath control to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, nourishing his body.
The Blade Body technique he practiced could rapidly enhance his physical constitution, but it also put a strain on his body. After each training session, he needed to use breath control techniques to recuperate and restore balance.
On this Sacrificial Timeline, he could no longer recklessly push his body beyond its limits.
Longevity was now his top priority.
Regular training could extend lifespan, but overexertion would only lead to hidden injuries and long-term consequences.
While these issues might not be apparent now, once he aged, the accumulated damage could surface all at once, potentially costing him his life.
Fortunately, his supplementary practice method was a Blood Refinement technique, which did not harm the body. Instead, it even had healing properties, allowing him to recover from injuries.
If he had been practicing any existing human cultivation method, bodily damage during training would have been inevitable.
Despite 500 years of improvement since the Cataclysm Era, human cultivation methods still had flaws, and injuries from training were not uncommon.
This was one of the major differences between humans and Domain Races.
The Domain Races with mature cultivation systems possessed techniques that enhanced both lifespan and physical strength, while also boosting their spiritual power.
But human cultivation methods?
Most of them sacrificed longevity in exchange for power.
Frontline warriors died gloriously, but the researchers behind them also faced immense risks, ones that ordinary people never saw.
Every new cultivation technique had to go through multiple tests before being released.
And these tests weren't just simulations—they involved live human trials.
Most of the time, these trials were conducted by members of the research teams themselves.
The risks were immense.
Every year, a significant number of testers died from experimenting with new techniques.
Then there were issues like excessive stress, lack of sleep, and other factors that led to sudden deaths among researchers.
This was why major research institutes started adding spiritual-enhancing foods to their cafeterias—to help nourish their researchers' bodies and reduce casualties.
After all, not everyone had Wei Wei's longevity or her uniquely stress-resistant body.
The pursuit of a perfected cultivation system had always been a path paved with trial, error, and sacrifice.
After an hour of breath control, Feng Qi stood up and walked to the central plaza of the training room.
Closing his eyes, he gathered his strength.
A cold, transparent blade aura flickered around him.
Next, he began the Blade Aura Tempering process.
As the blade aura enveloped his body, thin streaks of blood started appearing on his skin.
This body refinement technique was something he had learned from the Demon Blade's memories.
Within the Demon Blade's stored knowledge, there were countless growth techniques, gathered from the experiences of training its past wielders.
Over time, the Demon Blade's training methods had become highly refined.
From early experimentation to a fully developed systematic training process, it had perfected a structured path for its wielders.
Whenever a new wielder appeared, the Demon Blade simply followed its pre-designed process.
Most of these techniques required the wielder to use the Demon Blade, but there were a few that did not require it—and the Blade Aura Tempering technique was one of them.
This technique honed the body by using blade aura to toughen the flesh and even strengthen internal organs, thereby enhancing overall durability.
It did cause minor bodily damage, but when combined with Blood Refinement techniques, the recovery process complemented the injury cycle, allowing for rapid healing and continuous growth.
In the past few months, his bloodline strength had already increased fivefold.
As a result, the boosts he received when activating Blood Source had also greatly improved.
Being on the Sacrificial Timeline, he could borrow talents from the Main Timeline, but only temporarily.
The effectiveness of these borrowed abilities was still limited by the physical condition of his current body.
For example—
The duration of his Divine Physique activation was influenced by his spiritual energy reserves.
On the Main Timeline, after converting his vitality into spiritual energy, he could sustain the Divine Physique for approximately three minutes.
But on this Sacrificial Timeline, the same ability would only last 40 seconds.
Even if the Main Timeline's version of Divine Physique evolved into a higher-tier ability, his own duration wouldn't increase—it might even decrease further.
After all, higher-tier abilities required more energy to sustain.
In short—
The Sacrificial Timeline's version of him was affected by the Main Timeline's abilities, but not by his own body's strength, vitality, or spiritual reserves.
Even if his Main Timeline self became godlike, the power boosts on this timeline would still only depend on the rank of the abilities he borrowed.
That meant for this version of him, cultivation techniques were just as important as abilities.
If the Flesh Sacrifice technique could one day be fully deciphered, it would immediately become his top priority for cultivation.
Several hours later, Feng Qi finished his training.
He then walked toward the western corner of the training room, heading for the Body Conditioning Chamber.
Feng Qi changed into a clean set of clothes and walked over to the sofa. Picking up the mental soothing agent placed on the table, he took a few large gulps.
A burning sensation slid down his throat, but moments later, a refreshing coolness spread throughout his body, easing his tense state of mind.
The weight of layered memories felt like a mountain pressing down on his consciousness. Each memory was a fragment of life experience, a journey through time.
His mind was like a book, constantly adding pages, its thickness increasing with every event. Someday, he feared, he would no longer have the strength to lift this book of memories, let alone turn its pages.
The impact of this memory overload had even begun to manifest physically.
Just two days ago, he had discovered two black cloud-shaped imprints on the palms of his hands.
At first, he thought they were a result of improper training, an internal injury caused by overexertion.
However, after going to Crimson Research Institute for an examination, Wei Wei had told him something unsettling—she had no idea what these black marks meant.
If even Wei Wei couldn't analyze them, then the answer likely wasn't physical, but rather something related to his spiritual consciousness.
He suspected it might be a sign of a disturbance in his mental sea, a symptom of spiritual strain manifesting physically.
But Wei Wei's expertise was not in spiritual research, so she had no way to confirm his theory.
For now, he decided to wait until the Mist Lord returned before seeking answers.
Regardless of whether this issue was truly linked to his layered memories, he had to take it seriously.
He had heard about this phenomenon before.
From Ling Zhan's memories, he remembered Mo mentioning the concept of memories overwhelming the consciousness.
He now stood on the brink of that danger.
Yet despite this, he couldn't afford to stop moving forward.
Other than his Infinite Memory ability, he considered challenging the Blood Soul Clan's "Heart Refinement Eighteen Tribulations" in his next journey to the Future Dreamscape.
Although Heart Refinement wouldn't completely resolve his memory overload, it could slow its progression and mitigate its effects.
The only reason his condition wasn't worse was because he had absorbed the Demon Blade's memories—which had somehow diluted the impact of the memory stacking.
But there was no denying it—the Demon Blade's knowledge was incredibly valuable.
Its training methods for nurturing wielders were something he had already documented, and they might one day become a key asset for Star City's rise.
Human cultivation research was still in its infancy.
Developing techniques from scratch was always the ideal path, but along the way, it was necessary to absorb the strengths of others.
Only by combining different approaches and refining the best ones could human cultivation move steadily forward and secure a prosperous future.
Whether it was the Blood Refinement method provided by the Mist Lord, or the growth techniques of the Demon Blade, they were all seeds of the future.
Seeds planted in this era, which would bear fruit in the generations to come.
Feng Qi reached for the tablet on the coffee table and began browsing the latest reports.
The screen was filled with unread messages.
Each one came from a different Star City organization, reporting various department updates.
Some were from Crimson Research Institute, detailing progress on ongoing projects—Live Armor, Virtual Combat Simulations, and more.
Others came from the Energy Research Institute, discussing deployment progress for the new Star City energy framework.
There were even reports from the Star City Education Bureau, addressing issues regarding the education system reform.
Among these, education reform was a matter of utmost importance to him.
Education directly shaped the next generation, but the content of educational books had been tampered with by Domain Creatures, leading to severe misinformation.
For instance—
In previous timelines, there had been a historical record of a human traitor, Wang Yi, who had served as the leader of Dead Star Third Combat Brigade.
If someone like him was glorified as a human hero, then once his betrayal was exposed, faith in humanity would crumble.
This was why education reform was not just necessary—but inevitable.
It was also a crucial step in strengthening Star City's unity.
The importance of education could be seen in the Psionic Race's rise.
Ling Zhan's revolution within the Psionic Race had begun with education, carefully cultivating a new generation.
Through his efforts, a golden generation emerged, propelling the Psionic Race to new heights.
These individuals had never met Ling Zhan himself, but their rise was inseparable from his contributions.
Today, the Psionic Race could gaze far into the future—not because they were born tall, but because they stood on the shoulders of those who came before them.
This was why educational reform was so critical.
After reviewing the most urgent reports, Feng Qi continued with those of secondary importance.
Star City's resource allocation plans, supply routes for western expansion, frontier defense logistics, technological research developments…
The sheer volume of bureaucratic reports gave him a headache.
But still, he forced himself to go through them one by one.
The leadership of Star City wanted to shape him into a true leader of humanity—and this was all part of his learning process.
Power alone could solve many problems, but not all problems.
A path of absolute strength might allow him to face the coming storm alone, but he feared that when the day of reckoning arrived, he would find himself standing in an empty world—with no one left beside him.
That kind of loneliness was not the "invincibility" he wanted.
His goal was a future where humanity flourished—a world where his people stood tall and proud.
That was his vision of an ideal paradise.
After a long while, the door to the training room opened.
A figure dressed in black strode inside.
The Mist Lord walked toward him and sat beside him.
Then, in a calm voice, he said—
Feng Qi looked at the black cloud-like mark on his palm, his expression slightly puzzled.
"Old Mist, something seems wrong with my body. Take a look at this." He lifted his hand toward the Mist Lord, his voice laced with curiosity.
Upon seeing the black cloud imprint, the Mist Lord frowned slightly.
He reached out and grabbed Feng Qi's right hand, his own arm turning into mist and wrapping around Feng Qi's palm.
For a long moment, he remained silent, eyes shut as if analyzing something.
When he finally opened them, Feng Qi's anticipation grew.
After a brief pause, the Mist Lord spoke in a calm tone.
"This mark is called a Hand Cloud Imprint. It's a manifestation of accumulated negative mental energy. Normally, it lurks within your spiritual sea, but now that it's appeared on your palm, it means your mental state is deteriorating… However, there's no need to worry too much. Once your spiritual balance stabilizes, the Hand Cloud Imprint will gradually fade."
Hearing this, Feng Qi nodded in understanding.
"So that's what it is. I appreciate the insight."
"Insight my ass," the Mist Lord suddenly chuckled. "I just made all that up. I have no damn clue what this black mark is."
Feng Qi was stunned for a moment.
Then, without hesitation, he raised his middle finger at the Mist Lord.