Chapter 366: Practicing the Arts - 366
After thinking for a long time, Zhou Fan decided to first upgrade his mastery over the arts.
All of them were still at the 10th rank, and his cultivation was now at the 12th rank. Not only did he feel the need to increase his mastery over the arts simply for the sake of increasing his mastery, but it would also help him with any future projects.
He had still not forgotten about his idea of creating a universal consciousness. It had seemed very far-fetched before, but now that he was aware of the full size of the universe, it was only a matter of time.
Zhou Fan went to the cosmic sect and picked up Hei Ren without meeting anyone, before settling above the Zhou supercluster.
Hei Ren did not ask any questions and cultivated within the bubble that Zhou Fan had made for him.
Since he was already in the outer world realm, reaching the true god realm in formations was a very easy task.
Once he focused on outer world realm formations, however, the required time extended by a large amount.
He spent a full billion years mastering 12th rank formations.
A similar amount of time was spent mastering 12th rank arrays. Although there weren't many new arrays with different effects, many previous arrays had upgraded versions. The same was true for formations, and it would be the same for talismans, alchemy, and forging as well.
In total, Zhou Fan spent 5 billion years mastering all 5 of the major arts to the 12th rank.
As expected, all of his ideas just became a lot more feasible.
Next, Zhou Fan needed to reach a new cultivation realm. He felt it was a pity that he would not be able to fully experience the outer world realm, but such was the reality of being the first cultivator. There was simply no being who could possibly match him and no place where he could freely use his power
The first step was to cultivate to the peak of the outer world realm. The only issue with that was the fact that he would likely spend more than 100 billion years cultivating.
That was longer than the lifespan of even a lesser dao creation realm cultivator.
There were many things he wanted to do before going into seclusion for such an extended amount of time.
The first would be to start lowering the importance that he held within the cosmic sect.
As of now, he was the main supplier of all the talents that went there. Ying Xiong could sense the birth of a talent if he was exceptionally close and not too focused on other things, but he would require a lot of luck to find even ten new disciples in 100 billion years.
He could either put a system in place that automatically detected new talents and alerted Ying Xiong, or he could create an alternate system that wasn't so…. forceful.
Upon remembering Ying Xiong's actions and expression when dealing with talents, Zhou Fan decided that it would be better for the entire universe if he simply created an alternate system that would grant those with talent the choice to join the cosmic sect.
Otherwise, Ying Xiong would surely pick the entire Zhou supercluster dry.
Zhou Fan made his way to the cosmic sect with Hei Ren and quickly arrived. His arrival was met with greetings from an entire group of people, including now grown up disciples from Zhou Fan's last delivery.
It took him a while, but Zhou Fan eventually got to talk with Ying Xiong alone.
They sat in one of the few rooms in the entire cosmic sect. In front of them was a table and tea.
"I've decided, for the sake of the universe, to not give you a way to track all the talented people born in the Zhou supercluster." Zhou Fan said to Ying Xiong.
"What! This is ridiculous. You know that I'm good for it!" Ying Xiong said in a pleading tone.
"No means no. You are a scourge that needs to be stopped." Zhou Fan said.
"Then how is my cosmic sect supposed to function? You're basically ending any future lineage." Ying Xiong said.
Zhou Fan shook his head.
"I didn't say I was going to stop you from getting new disciples, and I even plan on continuing to help you. The only difference will be that the talents will have to be willing." Zhou Fan said.
"Alright then." Ying Xiong said begrudgingly. "So what exactly do you have planned?"
"I have a way to automatically detect talents, and upon them reaching the age of ten, a letter will be sent to them. When they open it, a display of power will be shown, and they will have the choice to join the cosmic sect. If they refuse, they will be sent one more letter, this time when they reach the peak of the space shattering realm." Zhou Fan explained.
"So they'll come here by teleportation array?" Ying Xiong asked.
"Indeed." Zhou Fan responded.
"Since you'll be setting up a teleportation array, I have a request." Ying Xiong said.
"Feel free to ask."
"Can you create teleportation arrays to the Zhou Galaxy and the other two galaxy clusters?" Ying Xiong asked.
"You can go there yourself now." Zhou Fan said.
"I know, but it would take me a long time, and I am asking for the sake of the students now and future students. We will even put a plaque of your name and contribution on the teleportation hub." Ying Xiong said.
"The teleportation hub?" Zhou Fan asked with confusion.
"I forgot that I never mentioned that. I plan on creating a hub of teleportation usable by the entire supercluster. It would connect the entire Zhou supercluster." Ying Xiong explained. "We've even just finished the initial construction. Do you want to come see it?"
"Sure." Zhou Fan responded.
Ying Xiong and Zhou Fan left the room, before going to the other side of the galaxy. Even from far away, Zhou Fan was able to see the structure floating in space.
It had a circular platform, with curving pillars and a roof. There were no walls, indicating that it was a place meant for those at the void traversing realm or higher.
Chapter 367: Teleportation Art: Replacement - 367
The building was very big. Bigger than an entire city. Despite its size, there were only a few teleportation arrays.
"Although construction is complete, we have only added 5 teleportation arrays. One in each of the four directions of the galaxy: East, South, West, and North, and one that leads just outside of the cosmic sect." Ying Xiong explained.
"If you look underneath the building, you'll see an uncountable number of spirit stones. Those are a temporary power source until I manage to set up a greater one." Ying Xiong explained.
His words lead Zhou Fan to thinking. Spirit stones, although they had begun to naturally form on almost all planets, were essentially useless for stronger cultivators.
Even as simply money, they could no longer be used in transactions, especially between those above the space shattering realm.
Zhou Fan made a mental note to create a new type of spirit stones in the future.
"The teleportation hub will be especially useful in the future due to how spread out galaxies are now." Ying Xiong added.
Zhou Fan stopped and thought for a moment, before deciding that it wouldn't hurt him to help Ying Xiong.
He did not need much time. He connected to his mortal dao and created 3 teleportation arrays leading to the silver river galaxy cluster, the tree-like galaxy cluster, and the Zhou Galaxy.
He placed all three in the teleportation hub.
"There you go. I expect that plaque to be pristine and constantly clean." Zhou Fan said.
Ying Xiong nodded, happy that he did not need to make a long journey.
"As for a power source, you can figure out that yourself. I can't do everything for you." Zhou Fan said.
"I know. Most of the Qi cost will be paid by the people who use them anyway. Still, we will be making a great profit no matter what." Ying Xiong said.
Zhou Fan did not know how he planned to get money since spirit stones were useless to Ying Xiong, but he just assumed he was thinking about items or techniques.
"Oh right." Zhou Fan said before grabbing inside his separate space and pulling out a large piece of paper.
"Here's a map of the universe. Though most of it remains unexplored, I know the size and have divided up the sections. Feel free to make this common knowledge." Zhou Fan said.
Ying Xiong looked at the map, and stood stunned for a while.
"I think I'll just make a map of a single filament public. If people see how big the universe truly is, they may begin to despair." Ying Xiong said.
Anyone who dreamed of reaching the peak, even Ying Xiong himself, would feel a bit disheartened at seeing just how far away they were.
"I understand. It's up to you." Zhou Fan said.
Once Zhou Fan was finished touring the teleportation hub, Ying Xiong brought him back to the cosmic sect.
"It's been a while, but can I request that you spar with everyone and give them some pointers?" Ying Xiong asked.
"I don't mind, I'm not exactly in a rush." Zhou Fan said.
Ying Xiong nodded and ran off to collect everyone in the cosmic sect. Meanwhile, Zhou Fan went to the eastern side of the galaxy.
Everyone in the cosmic sect had long reached the void traversing realm, so there would be no issue fighting in space.
Although space was becoming stronger, Zhou Fan made sure that the first layer could always be shattered by a space shattering cultivator.
Otherwise, the space shattering realm would be reduced to an empty name.
Before long, Zhou Fan was staring at multiple people.
"All those below the inner world realm, come at me now." Zhou Fan said.
Many of the new disciples charged towards Zhou Fan at the same time. He limited his cultivation to the peak of the lesser dao creation realm, but none of them could match him.
For people who qualified to enter the cosmic sect, reaching the lesser dao creation realm was no issue, and each of them were in that realm.
After around 5 minutes, the group of beaten and bruised disciples moved away. Despite being injured, they were all clearly excited. Zhou Fan's casual pointers would help them a lot.
They were also eagerly waiting for everyone else to be beat up.
"Feng Liu, Lu Zhong, both of you attack at the same time." Zhou Fan said as he increased his cultivation from the peak of the lesser dao creation realm to the 1st level of the inner world realm.
They did not hesitate, and immediately attacked at the same time.
Zhou Fan condensed a ruler from sword Qi and moved forward. Feng Liu waved her fan, and millions of tiny icicles were launched at Zhou Fan.
"Sloppy. The range is too large. Are your eyes working? Do you see multiple of me?" Zhou Fan asked.
He then waved the ruler. It cut through space and slapped Feng Liu's wrist.
By that time, Lu Zhong was stabbing his spear at Zhou Fan's side.
Zhou Fan easily moved the ruler next to the spear's tip and casually moved it away.
"Are you holding back because I'm your uncle, or did you simply forget to practice with your spear?" Zhou Fan mocked.
Before he even realized what happened, a red mark in the shape of a rectangle appeared on Lu Zhong's face, knocking him backwards.
Although Feng Liu and Lu Zhong treated Zhou Fan as their uncle, they were truly enraged at the moment.
Lu Zhong charged forward, stars covering his body, while Feng Liu raised her fan and held it so that the edge was facing Zhou Fan.
Stars began to revolve around her body, as well as her fan.
She swung down, and a blade of ice surrounded by rotating stars fell onto Zhou Fan.
At the same time, Lu Zhong was closing in fast.
Zhou Fan sneered. "You two have only fought straightforward opponents in your life. It's about time that you fight someone with tricks up their sleeve."
In the next second, Zhou Fan disappeared and reappeared where Lu Zhong had been standing.
Likewise, Lu Zhong appeared where Zhou Fan had been standing.
He looked up and hurriedly blocked the attack with a spear thrust covered in rotating stars.
"Teleportation art: replacement." Zhou Fan said as the two attacks clashed.
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