Chapter 546: Cultivation
On the fifth day, he could stably form a "Water Drop" that lasted for three seconds.
On the eighth day, this duration extended to ten seconds.
On the twelfth day, in the Virtual Combat Zone, Xu Wuyi used a single "Water Drop" to pierce through three stacked Level 40 Energy Shields and completely run through a simulated heavy-armored target behind them.
After piercing the target, the Water Drop’s momentum didn’t cease. It continued on to punch through two alloy walls behind it before finally burying itself deep in the ground, leaving a tiny hole of unknown depth.
Monitoring data showed that the "Penetration Efficacy" of that strike reached an astonishing 92%. This meant that almost all of the Mental Realm of "heaviness" was converted into Penetration Power, with extremely little dissipated loss.
"The Martial Arts, ’Water Drop,’ pursues the concept of a single point breaking through all defenses," Ye Guanlan analyzed after the test.
"Its power isn’t demonstrated through explosions or shockwaves, but through its ultimate penetrative property. It could be surprisingly effective against high-defense targets, shield-type abilities, and even certain spatial barriers."
Xu Wuyi deeply agreed.
In contrast, the cultivation path for the ’Returning Ruins Seal’ was completely different.
This Martial Arts didn’t pursue Compression. Instead, it was about evenly distributing the "weight" of the Heavy Water throughout a Seal Platform to create an area-of-effect suppression.
The difficulty lay in "uniformity" and "stability."
The Seal Platform was quite large. Making the entire structure maintain the same Energy density and Mental Realm of "weight" required a more sophisticated Energy structure design.
The research institute optimized the architecture through seventeen versions for this, finally settling on a "core-grid" Energy flow model.
Using the center of the Seal Platform as the "core," a crisscrossing Energy grid radiated outward, dividing the entire platform into hundreds of tiny units. The Heavy Water concentration, flow speed, and Mental Realm intensity of each unit were precisely regulated by the grid to achieve an overall balance.
Under this architecture, when the Seal Platform smashed down, the contact surface bore a uniform and terrifying pressure, as if the entire Earth had flipped over to crush what was beneath it.
The first time Xu Wuyi used the ’Returning Ruins Seal’ on the virtual intranet, he threw it from a height of one hundred meters at a simulated Alien Race infantry formation.
The dark gold Seal Platform fell silently. It wasn’t fast at first, but as it descended, the Mental Realm of "heaviness" grew increasingly dense. The air below was compressed until it let out an overburdened roar.
The Seal Platform landed.
There was no loud bang, no explosion.
Only an incredibly dull "THUD," as if a giant hammer had struck a cowhide drum.
Centered on the point of impact, all virtual targets within a thirty-meter diameter—including the Bone Armor-clad Werewolf Warriors, simple fortifications, and the bedrock itself—collapsed downward at the same instant, compressed and shattered.
They weren’t sent flying, nor were they torn apart. They were simply and purely "flattened."
When the Seal Platform slowly dissipated, it left behind a perfectly square, five-meter-deep crater with neat edges.
Everything within the crater had been turned into a compacted foundation, a mixture of metal fragments and bone dust, as flat as if it had been processed by a ten-thousand-ton hydraulic press.
"Area-of-effect suppression, a great tool for clearing the field," Ye Guanlan commented. "It’s remarkably effective against dense formations, fixed fortifications, or when you need to control the battlefield’s terrain."
Xu Wuyi stared at the square crater, but a different thought surfaced in his mind.
’What if... I combined the ’Water Drop’ and the ’Returning Ruins Seal’?’
’Use the ’Returning Ruins Seal’ for wide-area suppression first, forcing enemies to cluster together or expose a weakness, and then use the ’Water Drop’ for a precision strike on a key target?’
’Or the other way around: use the ’Water Drop’ to penetrate the enemy’s core defense, then use the ’Returning Ruins Seal’ to completely crush what’s left?’
Although both Martial Arts came from the same source, their Traits were complementary. If he could combine them flexibly, his tactical options would be far more abundant.
He told Ye Guanlan about his idea.
After hearing him out, Ye Guanlan fell into deep thought for a long time.
"Theoretically, it’s feasible, but it would be very difficult in actual combat," he said. "The ’Water Drop’ requires extreme focus and precise control, while the ’Returning Ruins Seal’ requires wide-area coverage and stable maintenance with your Heart and Spirit."
"Using both Martial Arts simultaneously would cause the load on your Heart and Spirit to stack, and it might even cause interference."
"However..." His tone shifted. "If your Heart Image control is strong enough, you might be able to divide your focus. It will require more practice, and... some talent."
Xu Wuyi nodded. "I’ll try."
...
Inside the research institute’s Virtual Combat Zone, Xu Wuyi sat cross-legged in the center of a connection pod, his eyes slightly closed.
In his sea of consciousness, the [Martial Arts Diligence Record] hovered above the great dark gold marsh. Its bronze pages turned slowly, stopping on two newly appeared lines of text:
[Martial Arts: Water Drop]
[Current Realm: Entry Level (0.1%)]
[Martial Arts Traits: Infinitesimally small, infinitely heavy; pierces through all things.]
[Martial Arts: Returning Ruins Seal]
[Current Realm: Entry Level (0.1%)]
[Martial Arts Traits: Seals the eight extremes, crushes all foes.]
Two Martial Arts, born from the same source, yet developed toward completely different extremes.
Xu Wuyi opened his eyes, a deep calm within them.
"Let’s begin."
With a thought, the inner wall of the connection pod lit up with a soft white light as the virtual environment loaded.
This time, it didn’t load a combat scene, but a pure void. There was endless darkness above, below, and on all sides, with only a gray, hundred-meter-diameter testing platform floating in the center.
This was a "no-interference environment" specially designed by the research institute for in-depth testing of High-tier Martial Arts. It eliminated all irrelevant variables, leaving only the most basic Rules of Gravity and Energy.
Xu Wuyi stood in the center of the platform and took a deep breath.
He first activated the ’Water Drop’ Heart Method.
In his sea of consciousness, the respiratory rhythm of the great dark gold marsh quietly changed.
It was no longer a holistic contraction and expansion. Instead, he focused his consciousness on a small area, approximately one percent of the marsh’s total volume.
The Heavy Water in that area began to collapse inward.
From a spreading surface, it rapidly gathered and condensed, its volume shrinking at a visible rate.
Ten seconds later, a walnut-sized, dark gold sphere of water floated above Xu Wuyi’s palm.
This wasn’t the "Water Drop" yet, just a necessary intermediate form in the ’Water Drop’ cultivation process.
Xu Wuyi continued the Compression.
The load on his Heart and Spirit began to increase noticeably. Every time the sphere of water shrank, the required precision of control rose by another level.
Thirty seconds later, the sphere shrank to the size of a thumb.
Fifty seconds later, it was the size of a soybean.
At exactly one minute, it finally condensed into a nearly transparent, dark gold droplet the size of a grain of rice.
This was an Entry Level "Water Drop."
Xu Wuyi could feel the terrifying density within this droplet.
It was a structure formed by compressing one percent of the great marsh’s Heavy Water into one ten-thousandth of its volume. Each drop was as heavy as a mountain.
But it wasn’t enough.
According to the theoretical model provided by Ye Guanlan, Minor Achievement in ’Water Drop’ required a compression ratio using five percent of the great marsh’s total volume, while Great Success required twenty percent.
Right now, he could only manage one percent.
’Sustain time... twelve seconds.’
Xu Wuyi counted silently.