Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Giant of Light

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Is this the world as Ultraman sees it?

Through the two salted duck eggs, Lu Yunhe could even see light invisible to humans—infrared rays, radiation…

These countless rays of light, upon touching Ultraman's clone, all revealed a sense of intimacy, as if they had encountered a kindred spirit.

Besides the different perspectives, the power contained in Ultraman's clones also caught Lu Yunhe's attention.

His Ultraman clone had no cultivation level, but with the foundation of a giant of light, it was still much stronger than him, a second-level human apprentice.

Chapter 4 The Giant of Light

"The Giant of Light Starting from Zero!"

Although the Ultraman clone was stronger than Lu Yunhe's original body, it couldn't even be considered a first-level apprentice because it hadn't trained.

"Given the talent of an Ultraman clone, which is ten times the genetic level, shouldn't it be at the planetary level from birth?"

Lu Yunhe thought with some regret that if Ultraman's clone were now a planetary-level being, he would be practically invincible on Earth at this stage.

With ten times the strength of others of the same level, and the innate talent of a superior race, they are simply unmatched on Earth.

The Zerg hive has been sealed, and the Golden Horned Beasts, another pinnacle race, will not descend upon Earth for several decades.

At that time, given the decades-long difference in cultivation between people of similar talent, when the Golden Horned Beast is born, Lu Yunhe could crush it with his eyes closed.

Thinking about it this way, Lu Yunhe felt much better. Although his illustrated clone had no cultivation at birth, it did not require the gestation period of life's birth, nor did it require the large amount of time that the Golden Horned Beast spent creating clones.

This is very advantageous in the early stages, as once the clone is created, it will have all the necessary talents.

"The genetic multiplier of Ultraman's clone is the same as that of the Golden Horned Beast. Both are top-tier races in the universe and represent the genetic limit of races that can reproduce under the constraints of the original universe. It is likely that the difference in their natural growth is not significant."

Having become a martial artist and completed the creation of his clone, Lu Yunhe's memory also improved, and he gradually recalled some details that had been forgotten.

The growth of the Golden Horned Beast is divided into the planetary-level infancy, the stellar-level growth period, the cosmic-level youth, the domain lord-level prime, and the world lord-level peak period.

"In that case, for Ultraman clones, the stage before cultivation is called the birth stage, and the apprentice stage is called the gestation stage."

The seven stages of a person's growth: birth, gestation, infancy, growth, adolescence, adulthood, peak, and the development of a clone.

"I just don't know how big Ultraman's clones will grow after that."

Lu Yunhe glanced at the Ultraman clone on the ground, which was about the size of a figurine. In tokusatsu dramas, Ultraman only grows to be forty or fifty meters tall when he is an adult. Although that is big enough compared to the height of humans, it is really not impressive in the Swallowed Star.

However, the cosmic humans in Swallowed Star don't seem to be very tall, generally only a few meters, at most a dozen meters.

"Hopefully next time we can actually draw some monsters; their size is a major advantage in the mid-to-late game."

In the original work, the monsters were described as being thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers in size, and the special life forms in the Nine Nether Sea were even measured in light-years.

Lu Yunhe didn't aspire to be comparable to the Nine Nether Sea, but at least he didn't want to be inferior to other demonic beasts.

"I wonder what it would be like if Ultraman's clones trained."

After clearing his mind of distractions, Lu Yunhe refocused his attention on the Ultraman clone.

The Five Hearts Facing Heaven Method!

Although the internal structure of Ultraman's clones is completely different from that of humans, their appearance and size are still very similar. Therefore, Lu Yunhe also directly used the Five Hearts Facing the Sky Technique.

Using the same Five Hearts Towards Heaven method to absorb cosmic energy, Lu Yunhe immediately felt the enormous gap between humans and these top races of the universe.

It's not unusual for a genius to need a day, or for an ordinary person to need a year or two, but for Ultraman's clone, when he has the thought of absorbing cosmic energy, the cosmic energy that permeates the space spontaneously merges into his body.

The external universe is a macrocosm, and the human body is a microcosm; Ultraman's clone clearly illustrated this statement at this moment. Without much movement, cosmic energy spontaneously merged with the body.

At the same time, with the absorption of cosmic energy, Ultraman's clone naturally broke through the bottleneck and entered the first stage of apprenticeship.

When Lu Yunhe first used the Ultraman clone to cultivate, he immediately felt a strong sense of imbalance, and even his mind became somewhat unstable.

"The gap is too big."

Lu Yunhe murmured unconsciously. He had lived in this world for 19 years, and it had been almost five years since his Great Nirvana. But if he hadn't been lucky enough to obtain the plant crystal, he didn't know when he would have become a martial artist.

However, the Ultraman clone, which had been created for less than an hour, easily overwhelmed him with its casual training.

Moreover, with ten times the genetic bonus, a first-level apprentice who should have only had 1000 kilograms of strength is now completely comparable to a fourth-level apprentice junior warrior.

For many low-level martial artists, this level of strength is what they strive for their entire lives.

Just as Lu Yunhe's mindset was becoming somewhat unstable, rays of warm light nourished his soul and heart.

"There's no need to compare yourself to others. Learn to be content. There will always be someone stronger than you..." This kind of "lying down and being content" philosophy from my previous life seems to have a different advantage in the competitive fantasy cultivation world.

"Sages seek enlightenment within themselves; true strength lies in transcending oneself."

"With the help of cheat codes and a thorough understanding of the plot, as long as I climb step by step, nothing can stop me."

Lu Yunhe kept repeating this in his mind, and his mind, which was originally full of distracting thoughts, began to solidify.

After Lu Yunhe reaffirmed his resolve, he discovered that the Ultraman clone in front of him had suddenly grown much taller.

"Has it grown to one meter after entering the gestation period?"

Ultraman's clone clenched his fist, feeling the increased power from his training, and said with some regret, "I thought I could gain a lot of power, but it seems that because I was just born, unlike humans who unconsciously absorb many years of cosmic energy before becoming martial artists, I only gain a lot of power at once when I become a martial artist."

For Ultraman's clone, becoming a warrior doesn't bring about any qualitative change; it's just that each of his training sessions brings about very significant changes during his apprenticeship.

Moreover, unlike humans whose cells become saturated after absorbing cosmic energy for a while, Ultraman's clone's body is like a black hole, constantly absorbing the surrounding cosmic energy.

"According to my calculations, the entire gestation period is the apprenticeship stage, which I should be able to cross in one or two months and enter the infancy stage (planetary level), and then spend a few more years to enter the growth stage of the stellar level."

Ultraman's clone did some calculations on his current training speed and the growth rate of the Golden Horned Beast back then, and made a projection of his own growth.

For a race at the pinnacle of the universe like his, the growth during the apprenticeship and the Xingzhou stage is extremely rapid, and it only slows down relatively when he reaches the stellar level, though it is still faster than human cultivation.

The natural growth of a star-level being takes one hundred years, a cosmic-level one thousand years, a domain lord-level one ten thousand years, and a world lord-level one fifty thousand years.

Under the constraints of the original universe's rules, whether it's a top race or a special life form, natural growth can basically only reach the peak of the Realm Lord level. Breaking through to immortality requires finding one's own way.

“Cultivation is a minor matter. As the first Ultraman in the original universe, I have no inherited memories. I don’t even know how to use my talent now.”

Ultraman's clone was very frustrated, and he greatly envied the Golden Horned Beast's inherited memories in the original work, while his own memories were completely blank.

Chapter 5 Ultraman Light Sphere

"This... you really have to rely entirely on yourself, clone."

Lu Yunhe checked the information about Ultraman's clones in the encyclopedia, which only contained some basic settings.

Tenfold genetic advantage is considered standard for top-tier races in the universe, and affinity with the laws of light is also a characteristic of the Ultraman race. Affinity with the laws of time is probably because in the Swallowed Star world, the laws of light are subordinate to the laws of time; otherwise, it is more likely to be affinity with the laws of space.

The encyclopedia only provides a very brief description of Ultraman's two great talents: the Photon Body and the Light of the Mind.

The Photon Body is a fusion of flesh and light, possessing both physical and energy properties, and has infinite potential.

Light of the Mind: A racial characteristic with idealism written into its setting, possessing incredible power.

Two inexplicable talents left Ultraman's clones completely blank, possessing the potential of a top-tier race in the universe but lacking the necessary abilities.

"More important than developing abilities right now is how to deal with such a large clone."

Lu Yunhe looked at the Ultraman figure that was half his height in front of him. He couldn't very well just put it in the room. If someone found it, it would probably cause a lot of trouble given the current state of humanity.

The monster invasion was bad enough, but if they found out about an alien invasion... it wouldn't really matter. The main problem was that Lu Yunhe was afraid of getting involved and causing trouble for himself.

"I wonder if it can be like in tokusatsu!"

Lu Yunhe recalled one of the iconic characteristics of Ultraman in tokusatsu dramas: the human form.

The next moment, just as Lu Yunhe's thought arose, the half-person-tall Ultraman clone in front of him suddenly lit up, its colorful skin contracting inward, turning into a ball of light the size of a basketball.

Then, the basketball-sized ball of light continued to shrink as it rushed directly towards Lu Yunhe and merged into his body.

Lu Yunhe immediately began meditating, and a sphere radiating a gentle light appeared in his sea of ​​consciousness. It seemed to have its own core in the boundless space, becoming more stable.

The light sphere at the core seemed to breathe, expanding and shrinking intermittently, releasing strands of pure cosmic energy to help strengthen Lu Yunhe's soul and body.

In addition, Lu Yunhe, who was in meditation, could clearly feel that the light emitted by the pure white orb seemed to be helping him clear away the distracting thoughts in his mind and purify his will.

The impurities and darkness accumulated from two lifetimes in human society, as well as the spiritual burdens of the Great Nirvana, seem to be purified by the light at this moment, becoming more pure and positive.

Although Lu Yunhe still didn't understand the talent of Ultraman's clone, the performance revealed at this moment still made him feel the terrifying potential of the Giant of Light.

Even if they don't know the principles or how to apply them, as long as they provide an idea, the Giant of Light can make it happen.

"Luo Feng has a dark golden sphere in his mind, so it's not unreasonable for me to have an Ultraman sphere in my mind, is it?"

Lu Yunhe's consciousness split into two parts. One part of his consciousness was painstakingly absorbing the cosmic energy purified by the light sphere to temper his body, while the other part of his consciousness was simultaneously absorbing cosmic energy to hone his body and researching how to develop his talent with the photon body.

In addition, Ultraman's clone is even assisting Lu Yunhe in cultivating his human body, and taking the time to use the photon body as a reference to create suitable power exertion techniques for the human body.

As a top race in the universe, even if an Ultraman clone grows naturally, in addition to the improvement of its cultivation level, its various racial talents, power exertion techniques, and understanding of laws will also improve.

Once Ultraman's clone began training, Lu Yunhe's human body had become nothing more than an accessory.

……

Before he knew it, as the sun rose, Lu Yunhe finished his night of cultivation.

In fact, Lu Yunhe's own cultivation had long been saturated, and he spent most of the latter half of the night meditating.

As for now, he relies entirely on the 24-hour AFK buff from Ultraman's clone to train.

"All things considered, the AFK buff from Ultraman's clone is faster and more effective than my own training."

Lu Yunhe couldn't help but complain that at this stage, he was mainly focused on improving his genetic energy, and the buffs from understanding the laws and enhancing his mental state were completely useless.

"Now that I've become a martial artist, it's time to see how martial artist certification works in this era?"

Lu Yunhe stretched, got out of bed, and prepared to go out and see the world.

"Brother, you're up."

Lu Yunhe's younger brother, Lu Mingyuan, was astonished as he watched his brother leave: "Brother, have you become a martial artist?"

As a member of the family, Lu Mingyuan could clearly sense the changes in his brother Lu Yunhe's demeanor and temperament.

Although Lu Yunhe had always appeared cheerful at home and brought a lot of joy to his family, there was actually an inescapable shadow on his face, after all, the pressure of death was always there.

But now Lu Yunhe has shed those negative traits and become positive and optimistic, completely unlike a survivor in the apocalypse.