Wang Zhong seemed to have returned to a peaceful life again. He went to Teacher Lan Daier for taste-testing and met Uncle Zhang during weekends, checking for news from Katchirda at the same time. However, he attended fewer lessons at the Tyrants, not completely because of the incident with Teacher Arudiba, but mainly because he was in the critical phase of coming up with his new combat technique.
Wang Zhong was used to wielding the crosswheel as a weapon, so he understood it the best. When he was in the Casted Soul Stage, his understanding of it was still very superficial as he treated it as a weapon. He used to think that studying the 5 indentations and theory of the crosswheel was the basic step in learning how to use the weapon. Now, he was no longer restricted by the physical weapon and focused more on extracting the essence of the infinite revolutions of the crosswheel.
The mystery behind the crosswheel was its spiraling force. In order for it to spiral infinitely, the interior structure needed to remain in a state of extreme stability so that the friction and resistance while spiraling would be reduced to the lowest degree. The crosswheel depended on its specific internal structure to maintain this stability, but because of that, the power of the crosswheel was limited to 200 Grassos. If you wanted to exceed this limit, you would spoil the perfect state of the weapon.
If you wanted to create a new crosswheel soul tool from scratch to increase the limit of its power, it seemed to be a feasible idea, but it was impossible in reality. Analyzing the limit of a weapon wasn't Wang Zhong's forte. Also, he would still be relying on external forces if he relied on weapons. Wang Zhong wanted to take it to the next level and use pure Soul Power control to form a new Crosswheel Slash technique.
As Cellular Cosmology had very strict requirements in the control of Soul Power, Wang Zhong's control had reached an incredible level. That was the first step in completing the New Crosswheel Slash technique.
Traces of delicate Soul Power were channeled from his hands continuously. They were connected and intertwined, like a shuttle spinning endlessly. As he infused more Soul Power, he formed a spiraling sphere. Wang Zhong tried to compress this sphere into a roulette shape, but altering a stable structure forcefully made it prone to falling apart.
He tried to improvise and added a runic array to balance it out. The power in the internal structure moved in a clockwise manner, while the subsequent external power moved counterclockwise. The two spiraling forces formed a new tension force while moving in different directions.
This time, it wasn't compressed. The sphere was slowly being pulled apart by the tension. While maintaining its stability, the sphere changed its shape to become like a frisbee…
Wang Zhong knew that he was close to succeeding.
At the same time, he was also researching Salamander's black iron chain. Although this seemingly involved even more mysteries, this was a system that was fully mature. He just needed to use the power system of the black iron chain to discover a way to unleash power that was even more suitable for it. This was actually simpler than developing a new Crosswheel Slash technique.
Wang Zhong had reached the final practical phase for both areas of research, and he was filled with anticipation toward them. He went to find Uncle Zhang and check for news as per usual. After the previous incident, Wang Zhong made sure to check for news on a regular basis in case there was any major problem again. However, he received news from Mu Zi instead of Gong Yi.
It was Mu Zi who took the initiative to contact Wang Zhong. Unless he did so, others couldn't find him at all. Mu Zi said that he was at a place called the Life and Death Realm and discovered a layout similar to the stone slab altar in the pyramids. He suspected that there were objects similar to Golden Stone Slabs there and asked whether Wang Zhong was interested in checking it out.
This piqued Wang Zhong's interest immediately. No one could even begin to imagine the benefits that the mysterious Golden Stone Slab brought him. His flame ability and dark power both came from the Golden Stone Slab. Wang Zhong thought that it was possible that the stone slab contained the ultimate power in their universe. At the same time, Wang Zhong needed Samsara wine urgently now. He had signed a contract with Lan Daier, and she was waiting for more stock. The mere 10 bottles that he brought back from Earth weren't enough to tide through this initial period of branding and promoting Samsara wine.
"Samsara wine? That's something that can only be fermented at the Life and Death Boundary, or rather, created," Mu Zi answered straightforwardly. "Well, we're going to the Life and Death Boundary this time, so if you want more, just bring larger bottles. It's an easy process. I'll help you make it."
This confident tone made Wang Zhong ecstatic. Larger bottles? Every drop of Samsara wine was worth many Holy Coins!
He agreed on a time and place to meet Mu Zi. This time, he didn't ask Oscar to form a team to go together. A bunch of senior members in the Wanderlust Team had just left on a mission a few days ago and were not back yet. It was too troublesome to find smugglers, and the timing they offered was not fixed either. In addition, the 'larger bottles' that Mu Zi mentioned triggered Wang Zhong, and he decided to splurge this time. He spent 500 Holy Coins on an individual Pioneering Order. Wang Zhong couldn't help feeling his heart ache for his wallet even if he was somewhat rich.
Stepping into the Fifth Dimension again, Wang Zhong's mood was completely different from before. Regardless of how many times he went out of the Holy City, Wang Zhong still harbored a respectful attitude toward the Fifth Dimension that was full of unknowns and mysteries; he kept the same mentality as when he had just gotten to know about this mysterious dimensional space. Nonetheless, he learned more about it as he traveled back and forth and was starting to be more comfortable with it.
Their meeting location was still at the pyramids. The same old place, the same old spatial coordinates. This made it easier for everyone. They didn't ask Aiolos to come along this time as he had gone into closed-door cultivation. The cultivation difficulties he had were much harder than what Mu Zi or Wang Zhong faced.
It was a must to bring delicious food to meet Mu Zi. Before leaving the Holy City, Wang Zhong specially went to the business lobby to buy a spatial bracelet. Previously, while in the fairy-tale secret realm with Mu Zi and Aiolos, Mu Zi was very envious of Wang Zhong's storage bracelet. Although his Life and Death Coffin had the same function, it seemed rather weird to store food inside. Also, it seemed a waste to use a divine weapon as a storage backpack.
In the Holy Land, simple spatial crystals and spatial bracelets were the mainstream trend, and they lasted for about a year. They weren't expensive, except those products by masters which could last for a longer period of time. However, Wang Zhong could only look at those; the number of zeros on the price tag was enough to make him lose his appetite. Nevertheless, he could still afford a simple and convenient spatial bracelet. The delicate pattern on the bracelet was very beautiful. It was evident that the Federation's aesthetic came from the Holy Land.
Wang Zhong did notice Mu Zi staring enviously at his storage bracelet previously. This was a good opportunity.
Wang Zhong was certainly willing to spend money on Mu Zi. The appearance of the bracelets looked rather nice, and Wang Zhong specially chose one that had an intricate silver dragon carved on it as a decoration. It looked very pretty when you wore it on your wrist. That aside, Wang Zhong still packed it into an exquisite gift box, tying it with a nice ribbon. Of course, nothing was cheap in the Holy Land, and Wang Zhong had spent most of his savings already.
"This is for me?" Mu Zi was perplexed. It didn't seem like Wang Zhong's style for him to be so attentive to detail.
"That's right." Wang Zhong passed the gift box to him while smiling. "It's a few days to your birthday, right? Consider this an early birthday present then."
Mu Zi was slightly stunned. He didn't remember telling Wang Zhong his birthday. In fact, he hadn't mentioned it to anyone before.
"How do you know my birthday?"
"Well, that's not important. You're not going to open it and see what's inside?" Wang Zhong laughed.
True friends would always notice all the details and small things about you. They paid attention to you. The truth was, Mu Zi had mentioned his birthday a very long time ago, but that was a gloomy day which Wang Zhong didn't want to bring up again.
Mu Zi was rather taken aback. The two simple words 'birthday present' evoked many feelings in him, and he couldn't help but feel his eyes getting a little moist. This was the first time someone remembered his birthday throughout all these years, and it was also the first time he received a birthday present that was carefully prepared.
It was the first time Mu Zi showed a cheerful smile as he opened the gift. With his dark skin and pearly white teeth, although he was bald, Mu Zi was quite handsome.
"This bracelet's spatial rune array is unstable, so it can only be used for a year. I can't afford the expensive ones, so just make do with this." Wang Zhong said.
Mu Zi put it on solemnly. "Thank you."
"You don't have to be so polite. Okay, let's prepare to set off." Wang Zhong was a lonely person, so he knew how Mu Zi felt. Although they chose to ignore this lonely feeling some days, they craved for friends deep down in their hearts.