Emperor of The Cosmos Chapter 4 - Dream of how many Milleniums?

Jiang Li had a dream. In it he arrived deep into a strange dimension, where there were falling petals that were scattered around like snowflakes and blooming flowers. A big man dressed in white sat under a tree, holding the same expression as that of the dry corpse – it was almost like sadness yet was also like happiness.
A message was broadcasted into Jiang Li’s mind.
“Otherworldly Demons have invaded our world. We tried to fight back, but we were no match for them. Carrying with me the dear and treasured [Great Dream Heart Sutra], I escaped the conflict and arrived at this location having expended all my life force. I passed away waiting for a kindred spirit. The [Great Dream Heart Sutra] was the most prized cultivation technique of our world, and must not fall into the hands of the Otherworldly Demons… Whoever shall become the successor of the [Great Dream Heart Sutra] must slay all the Otherworldly Demons to save my world.”
The dream realm completely changed and became a vast continent that had never been foreseen before. The mountains and rivers were big, with countless geographical features. In this continent everyone learnt martial arts, but there seemed to be no technological progress, almost like ancient times.
Within the people there were individuals with unbelievable life forces, capable of upheaving rivers and oceans, able to influence the running of the natural world.
Suddenly it was as if the sky split open, and the whole continent was under attack. Gigantic warships arrived one by one, and armored personnel descended upon the continent, pillaging and plundering the whole continent. Of course they were met with great resistance by the elite martial artists of this world. The war continued. There were deaths of local martial artists but also warships that got ruptured…
It seemed that these armored personnel were the Otherworldly Demons described by the man in white.
“Wait... That’s our warship?”
Jiang Li thought these Otherworldly Demons’ looked a bit familiar, especially the logo on the gigantic warships - a blue planet which symbolized a battleship of mankind.
“I understand now… We were the Otherworldly Demons that attacked your world. You escaped but somehow ended up on Earth.” Jiang Li was a bit stupefied.
Two hundred years ago, in 2050, a gigantic spacecraft landed on Earth.
Countries initiated World War Three in order to acquire this spacecraft.
The war was brutal, but made mankind unite together, with the government heads of different countries banding together to form a new sovereign state.
The united mankind stepped into a new era.
In the first century of the new era, technological progress advanced at a phenomenal rate due to researching the fallen spacecraft. Everyone’s life force received great promotion.
In the second century, wormhole technology was discovered, and man started exploring extraterrestrial planets, finding great abundances of resources, and even made bases on other planets.
Having entered the Galactic Era with wormhole technology, mankind started to conquer other planets to take resources, and invaded this realm.
The man in white did not want the [Great Dream Heart Sutra] to be taken away, and used a mysterious power to shunt away, only to come here at this precise location and pass away. And now as a member of the Otherworldly Demons’ Jiang Li would receive his inheritance.
The man probably hadn’t been here for a long time; otherwise he might have been discovered by other people.
This was a secret of the higher-ups. Once discovered, it would cause great societal ripples for interstellar wars were being kept between the powerful individuals of the elite district. Normal people would never grasp the essence of what was happening.
“Destined person, the role of exterminating the Otherworldly Demons has befallen to you. The [Great Dream Heart Sutra] contains supreme principles that will give you the power to fight back against the Otherworldly Demons after cultivating it… Heed this, as the successor of the [Great Dream Heart Sutra], you must kill the Otherworldly Demons! Otherwise you will be damned, and suffer for eternity!”
Ping!
The thought manifestation of the man ended up exploding, and Jiang Li was shocked awake from his dream.
He was still lying on the ground of the wet and humid sewers, his clothes covered in filth. But he felt that he gained great benefits from sleeping for his whole body was bursting with energy.
“Ah yep. Just then I also entered the state of Fetal Respiration.”
Jiang Li mimed a few punches, and felt that even if there were a few tigers in front of him he could easily kill them with one punch.
Hong!
The dry corpse went up in flames, and ended up bursting into a rainbow before disappearing. The opaque stone was now in Jiang Li’s hands.
“Rainbow Dissolution?”
Having seen the dry corpse become a rainbow, Jiang Li was flabbergasted. He never thought he would be able to observe such as marvel.
It was said that in ancient times, when monks had cultivated their heart and soul to immense heights, their whole body would flame up to become a rainbow and disappear without a trace. This phenomenon was called ‘Rainbow Dissolution’.
In regards to this anomaly, countless scholars and martial artists of the Galactic Era had studied it, and it it was said that once your heart and soul had become pure to an unprecedented state, your bodily ‘frequency’ would converge with that of universal powers, and form a resonance. The person would flame up into a rainbow, and enter a state of transcendence.
“Good thing the dry corpse disappeared, otherwise I’d have to find a way to bury the corpse. For if it were to be discovered by others the whole family would be subject to strict scrutiny!”
Having seen the corpse become a rainbow and finally disappear, Jiang Li let out a sigh of relief.
The black cat and kitten were still sleeping, but Jiang Li didn’t wake them up. Fetal Respiration was very beneficial, and over a period of time the kitten would become as strong as the black cat.
“Let’s see what the [Great Dream Heart Sutra] actually is.”
Having met such a fortuitous encounter, Jiang Li did not leave, and used the light of his phone to examine the opaque stone. But he couldn’t find anything that indicated this stone was special.
“I guess I can only go home to see if it has any special use.” Jiang Li examined the stone for ages but did not come to any conclusions, and decided it was best to just tuck it somewhere close for now.
He needed to take a bath urgently.
At night, whilst lying on his bed, Jiang Li was extremely excited and fondled the stone. This was probably the [Great Dream Heart Sutra] described by the man in the dream.
Recounting the details, Jiang Li only understood that the man’s planet had been conquered by the warships of Earth, and that he escaped with the [Great Dream Heart Sutra] to Earth. He knew nothing else. In regards to this opaque stone, the details of cultivation were beyond his grasp.
“Perhaps by Blood Contract?”
Jiang Li opened a small wound on his pinky and put his hand over the stone, but it didn’t work. The opaque stone did not absorb any blood, just like a normal stone. Nothing happened.
Jiang Li examined the stone for a while, and was fruitless. He yawned and felt the urge to sleep.
“It can’t be that I must eat it?” Having washed the stone clean, Jiang Li had the sudden thought, and so he tapped the stone with his tongue, and attempted to bite it to see if it was edible.
Little did he know, as soon as he put the stone in his mouth, the hypnotic effect was once again activated, and he fell asleep, entering the state of Fetal Respiration once more.
His breathing was very natural, like a wind chime. It ended up being completely silent, with Jiang Li in a state of fake death.
If observed closely, you would discover that Jiang Li’s bodily cells were moving around, full of vitality. All kinds of internal secretions were working together. This was the secret of Fetal Respiration.
The state of Fetal Respiration meant that the internal secretions work together to forge a flawless body; making the figure more perfect, the bones more dense, and the muscle fibers more sturdy. At the same time every cell was breathing in and out, absorbing nutrients in the air that would assist in strengthening them.
Ha…
Finally, Jiang Li woke up from his sleep, and felt full of vitality. It was the morning of the next day. He spat out the opaque stone and examined it once again, but still could not find anything special.
Having calmed down his restlessness, Jiang Li observed the changes to his body. His mind could concentrate much more easily, and he could feel his breathing, heartbeat and pulse… He could also observe inwardly and see faintly the condition of his organs.
Dong dong dong… His heart and pulse throbbed soothingly with strength. This was the sign of powerful life force.
He immediately jumped out of bed and threw a punch: contracted muscle, straight back, twisting motion, leg propulsion. It was the [Returning Tiger] of the ancient martial techniques.
Sssssss!
His punch pierced the air and made the sound of wind, as if it could rip the very atmosphere apart.
Two huffs later Jiang Li was surprised.
“Since when have my fists become this powerful? Strong enough to create air ripples? Could it be that my life force has reached 0.8?”
Only with a life force of 0.8 could punches be this powerful.
Though the change from a life force of 0.7 to 0.8 may look small, it represented a huge jump in physical capability.
This change could only be achieved by the step by step progression of arduous cultivation, sufficient nourishment and innate talent. In his high school of more than 800,000 students, only 10,000 possess a life force of 0.8. They would either be very talented or come from wealthy family backgrounds. There were less than 100 people with his brother, Jiang Tao’s, life force of 0.9.
Throughout the school there were only a few people with a life force of 1.
Something countless students had yearned for day and night was achieved by Jiang Li over just one night of sleeping?
Jiang Li couldn’t even believe himself, as if this was a dream.
He started to contemplate, specifically [Crystal Contemplation].
As soon as he started [Crystal Contemplatio] he entered the trance of Deep Sleep. He felt like he was a shard of scintillating crystal, shining brightly.
“I can even enter Deep Sleep at will! The improvement is huge! This is the second stage of Deep Sleep!”
For the three stages of Deep Sleep, Zhang Yue was the best in the class, yet he was only at the first stage, and must contemplate hours with the help of incense to be able to do it.
But now Jiang Li had completely skipped the contemplation step, and was able to enter Deep Sleep at will. This was a huge and unprecedented breakthrough in terms of heart and spirit cultivation. This must be credited towards the opaque stone.
“If this stone can make me enter Fetal Respiration, I wonder if it will work on other family members since the black cat could use it right?”
Jiang Li rushed to the park and brought the black cat home. He tried to make the cat hold the stone in its mouth, but there were no hypnotism. It appeared the stone could only be used by him. It must’ve recognized Jiang Li as the rightful owner.
It was likely that Jiang Li became its master when the dry corpse sent the pieces of memory across…
The reason why the black cat did not gain the inheritance might be due to the fact that it was an animal, and the dry corpse could not let a cat become his successor.
This thing was most definitely a treasure, and must not be exposed so as to not contract the risk of a genocide. From hence onwards, Jiang Li would be much more cautious.
In the following days, Jiang Li commenced his arduous training.
In the morning he went to class as usual. At night he would sleep with the stone in his mouth and enter the state of Fetal Respiration with ease. With cellular respiration and internal secretions that improved his body, Jiang Li’s inner potentials had become largely excavated.
Jiang Li would naturally wake up full of energy once Fetal Respiration had replenished his mind and spirit. He would then quietly get out of the house and hide in a secluded area of the park to practice martial arts and train himself physically.
In a span of 10 days, Jiang Li felt that his body had undergone tremendous change. His follicles had become refined, his muscles sturdy and thick, his veins as tough and pliable as ox hide, and his bones dense and flawless. Demanding physical exercises he couldn’t do before could now be done with ease. His power and running speed had also improved.
Timing himself secretly, he found that he could sprint 100 meters in 7 seconds.
It merely took 10 days for this unworldly transformation to take place, even in the absence of sufficient nutrients. Imagine if he had Sha Luo meat to eat every day. His potential would be excavated even more, and catching up to his brother Jiang Tao would no longer be a pipe dream.