Swallowing the Stars: The Rise of Emperor Wei

A few days later, Rod, along with Shui Lan'er, Gao Sheng's sister, and a group of star-level bodyguards, finally arrived at Qiulong City.

Inside the castle's banquet hall, servants bustled about, glasses clinked, and the atmosphere was lively and bustling.

"Dad, Mom, Sister, it's rare for us to get together in real life, let's have a drink."

"Haha, damn it."

"Little brother, I should call you Elder Gaosheng now..." Gaosheng's older sister, Lingduo, was also a stunningly beautiful woman, and said with a flattering expression.

Lingduo wasn't actually very familiar with Gaosheng. She had been with Rhodes since he was a planetary-level being, and was more than two thousand years older than Gaosheng. She had long been a planetary lord and was now a sixth-level being at the constellation level. Gaosheng was only 20 years old and hadn't seen her many times.

Upon seeing Ina, Shui Lan'er's eyes also welled up with tears, and she held Ina's little hand, talking incessantly.

"Son, you only have these two maids? Should we go back to Jade Dragon Star? There are countless beauties in Yunlin Courtyard waiting for you to come of age." Rhodes sank into the sofa and said to Gao Sheng with a smile.

It sounded like a joke, but Gao Sheng knew his father wasn't joking.

"Father is right, little brother. It's not easy for our Wei Di family to have offspring. You're such a genius, your cultivation will definitely be fast. But it will be even more difficult when your strength is higher..." Ling Duo said.

"Uh, what about you?" Gao Sheng was speechless.

Lingduo pouted: "I'm a woman, how can it be the same? I only change my guards a few times every few years, but unfortunately, not one of them is any good enough..."

Gao Sheng was speechless.

With Gao Sheng becoming a family elder, at least everyone of standing in the Wei Di family knew about it. There was no resistance to Rhodes's investment in the family's energy business. Rhodes's distant uncle, a third-level member of the family, was naturally eager to curry favor with an elder. Gao Sheng simply transferred 100 billion Qianwu coins from Gao Erduo to Rhodes, becoming one of the major shareholders and elevating his status to a third-level member. Rhodes's distant uncle left Qiulong Star for other branches, and Rhodes took over the management here.

The next day, Rod bought a large villa in Qiulong City and moved there permanently. As for Gao Sheng's sister, she naturally also invested and became the general manager of the energy crystal specialty store in Qiulong City.

Although Gao Sheng repeatedly asked his parents to live in a castle, Luo De firmly refused, saying that it would not affect Gao Sheng's cultivation and that it would be more convenient to do business in the city.

Gao Sheng could only let it be. Although he hoped they would benefit more from the aura of enlightenment, it was best to let things take their natural course. Gao Sheng didn't intend to use himself as a tool, so he could only go there to wander around more often.

The store received a huge order worth hundreds of millions of Qianwu coins that very day, making Rod marvel that it was truly a stroke of good fortune.

……

After obtaining the energy crystal, Gao Sheng experimented again. This time, his friend didn't trick him again; using the energy crystal was much more cost-effective than using the cosmic crystal.

"The cost is about a third of that of using cosmic crystals, but even so, it still costs more than 3 million cosmic coins."

The troubles of promotion.

a few days later.

In Gao Sheng's personal virtual space, inside a tin-roofed house, Gao Sheng flipped through a pile of books, deep in thought.

"There's clearly no problem, but it's still just a little bit off..."

Looking up, I saw rows of text on the wall above the bookshelf.

Body: Planetary Level 6

Force: Planetary Level 6

Development level: 0.16

Mental Power: Planetary Level 8

Development level: 0.22

Willpower: Constant Star Level 2

……

Since it's a personal space anyway, my friends now project their system panel here, only hiding the words "Host Information" at the beginning.

Xiao Ai was there too, but she had long since ignored her.

"Dude, what exactly is this willpower? How come I'm only a level 2 star?" Gao Sheng finally asked the question that had been bothering him for a long time.

The over two-meter-tall old man retorted sharply, "What do you think this willpower is?"

"Uh, hardworking, steadfast in belief, and able to endure hardship..."

"Tell me," Lao Tie said, looking at Xiao Ai.

"Perseverance, tenacity, unwavering determination, unyielding spirit, and indomitable will..." Xiao Ai said crisply.

"Stop, stop, stop. You know a lot of idioms. It's a pity you only got a few right, so you don't get any points," Lao Tie laughed. "Willpower is the essence of life."

"Wait, I've heard people say that the essence of life is the soul," Gao Sheng said.

"Oh? Who's misleading the younger generation?" Old Tie asked.

Gao Sheng didn't utter a sound, but thought to himself, "It's the Lord of Chaos City."

Old Tie slammed down on the iron chair. "You're human, you have a soul, so you can barely say that, but it's definitely not right. In your universe, although most life forms have souls, there are still some that don't. Does that mean they aren't life? Xiao Ai, isn't she life?"

Xiao Ai nodded vigorously and glared at Gao Sheng.

"Oh," Gao Sheng nodded, but unfortunately he still didn't understand.

The old man said firmly, "The essence of life is will! It's also called self! You were promoted, not someone else, because you have self-awareness."

Gao Sheng sat quietly and listened, like a primary school student listening to a lecture.

"Will arises from consciousness; it governs consciousness, which is composed of memory, perception, analysis, and control."

"Having consciousness does not necessarily mean having will. For example, Xiao Ai before could remember, perceive, analyze, and control herself, and was even much stronger than you in every aspect, so she had consciousness, but she did not have self-awareness, that is, she did not have will, so she was not a life at that time. But now Xiao Ai has self-awareness, so she has will. Therefore, she is an intelligent life."

Gao Sheng and Xiao Ai nodded repeatedly.

"So, do you know what willpower is?" Lao Tie asked.

Gao Sheng shook his head.

Old Iron raised its iron pillar and poked Gao Sheng's head. "Don't you understand? Your strong willpower means you have a strong ego!"

"Since Xiao Ai is only a few years old, her sense of self is not as strong as yours."

Xiao Ai lowered her head and remained silent.

"Don't be discouraged. Intelligent life forms will naturally improve themselves over time."

"Yes," Xiao Ai said.

"But I don't think I have a strong will?" Gao Sheng asked, bewildered.

"Oh, you mean that hard-working and resilient quality? You're definitely lacking in that. But willpower has many aspects, and that belongs to the realm of self-control, and it's only a part of self-control. Your other qualities are average, but your willpower is pretty good." Old Tie actually praised Gao Sheng for once, which was quite rare.

Gao Sheng thought for a moment, then asked, "And what is the soul?"

"The soul is just a life structure; it's part of the body, a vessel for will. Ordinary life consists of body, soul, and will. The soul is the bridge between will and body; will controls the body through the soul. But some life forms don't have a soul; their will directly controls the body. You're human, so your soul is very important. Once your soul is breached, you'll be in extreme danger. Therefore, you must practice this Soul-Soothing Cage diligently." After saying this, Old Tie fell silent.

Gao Sheng pondered carefully, "Self-strength?...Could it be that I became stronger because I merged two wills?"

"Anything else?" Gao Sheng asked when he noticed that Lao Tie was no longer speaking.

"Anything else? Alright, you wouldn't understand even if I told you. Just focus on your cultivation."

At this moment, Xiao Ai asked, "Buddy, if Master can cultivate, can I cultivate too?"

"Sure," Old Tie said.

Gao Sheng and Xiao Ai both stared wide-eyed in surprise.

"However, right now you can only cultivate your willpower. In other aspects, although it's not entirely impossible, the efficiency is far too low. Also, you need a physical body first," Old Tie said.

Xiao Ai looked at Lao Tie expectantly.

A smile appeared on Lao Tie's face, but he sat there without saying a word.

"Hey bro, how... how do I cultivate? Is it possible...?" Xiao Ai asked a little shyly.

"The Way cannot be easily passed on." Old Tie's grin widened even further.

Suddenly, Xiao Ai had a flash of inspiration and jumped right into Lao Tie's palm.

"Teacher! I humbly request that you accept Xiao Ai as your disciple."

"Haha, very good, very good, I'll accept you as my disciple." Old Tie laughed heartily.

...Gao Sheng's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

Gao Sheng continued reading his book, unaware whether the two were in class.

Intelligent life forms do not need to speak to communicate.

Suddenly, Xiao Ai said, "There's a call request from Luo Feng."

Gao Sheng was taken aback.

"Luo Feng finally contacted me? It's only been a little over a month. What could it be? Wait, a day on Qiulong Star is longer than on Earth. Could it be that Earth has been discovered by Nabulo Noranshan?"