Swallowing the Stars: Starting with Panlong

Chapter 123 Conception - The Sacred Tree of Life

In the cultivation room of Mingyue Residential Area, Lin Yun slowly descended from the air, his feet landing on the cold ground. The shock brought by the leap in life genes gradually subsided, replaced by a calm contemplation.

Fifty times the genetic level of life. This is just the beginning.

He took out a vibrant green leaf from his spatial ring—a leaf plucked from the Sacred Tree of Life in the Panlong World. The leaf was small, only about the size of his palm, entirely emerald green with clearly defined veins, and shimmered faintly under the light. Even after leaving the Sacred Tree of Life, the leaf still exuded a rich life force, and felt slightly warm to the touch.

"I should try this," Lin Yun murmured.

He currently has five slots remaining for creating clones. Upon achieving godhood through the Six Elements, one would originally have six slots, but the Golden Horned Beast used one, leaving five. He decided to use one to attempt to nurture a clone of the Tree of Life.

If successful, he might obtain a divine tree avatar possessing either the talent for the Law of Life or the talent for the Law of Wood. He had already personally experienced the power of the Law of Life in the Devouring Star world—the leap to a fifty-fold increase in the level of life genes was the best proof. If the avatar of the Sacred Tree of Life could also comprehend the Law of Life, it would be an extremely terrifying power.

Even if it fails, a gigantic clone thousands of meters tall can simply be used as a "power bank." The Tree of Life has no shortage of life force.

Lin Yun held the leaf in his palm and his consciousness sank into the primordial core world.

Within the primordial core world, a transparent crystal sphere covered in countless mysterious patterns floated silently. The sphere was small, only about the size of a fist, but it contained an independent world within it. The golden-horned behemoth's avatar was curled up in a corner of this world, its eyes closed, its scales emitting a faint golden light.

With a thought from Lin Yun, the leaves of the Sacred Tree of Life appeared in the Primal Core World.

"Innate Secret Technique - Clone. Birth."

Lin Yun activated the innate secret technique bestowed upon him by the primordial universe. The primordial core world began to tremble, and a mysterious power surged from the depths of the primordial core, descending upon the leaf.

That force, seemingly alive, slowly enveloped the leaf, analyzing its genetic structure and deciphering its hereditary information. Under the influence of this mysterious power, the leaf began to shrink. Wisps of emerald light seeped from the leaf, coalescing, swirling, and intertwining within the primordial world.

Lin Yun could sense that the power was constructing a brand new life form—based on the leaves of the Sacred Tree of Life, with his soul aura as its core.

"It works!" Lin Yun was shocked.

He had initially worried that the innate technique for creating clones only applied to animals, but it turned out to be equally effective on plants. The rules of the primordial universe were far broader than he had imagined.

The leaves shrank smaller and smaller until they disappeared completely. In their place was the ethereal shadow of a sapling. The shadow was still blurry, with only an outline, but Lin Yun could sense that it was gradually solidifying.

Under the influence of that mysterious power, a verdant seed gradually formed. The seed was small, only the size of a fist, entirely emerald green with fine golden patterns on its surface, somewhat similar to the Sacred Fruit of Life, but its aura was completely different.

The illusory shadow of the sapling slowly drifted toward the seed, and the two merged into one.

"Incubation period... three years." Lin Yun received a message from the original core.

Three years. Three times longer than the time it took for the Golden Horned Beast to be conceived.

"The more powerful the clone, the longer it takes to develop," Lin Yun thought to himself. The Golden Horned Beast, with its peak cosmic bloodline, only took a year to develop. The Life Tree, however, required three years, indicating that its potential far surpassed that of the Golden Horned Beast.

"Three years...it seems I won't be able to emerge before the Genius Battle begins," Lin Yun thought to himself.

According to his calculations, the Genius Battle should start in about two years. Including the competition time, it will take several years in total. It seems that he will be born during the Genius Battle.

"At that time, my strength will leap forward again," Lin Yun thought to himself.

He withdrew his consciousness from the proto-nuclear world and opened his eyes.

Sunlight streamed through the window into the meditation room, illuminating his face. A new day had begun.

Lin Yun stood up and walked out of the cultivation room.

He went into the courtyard, where a cloud-patterned vine was growing.

This Cloud-Piercing Vine was cultivated from seeds he bought from Dragon City. It has already recognized him as its master and can be integrated into his body. With unlimited resources for cultivation, it has reached the ninth level of the Constant Star level, theoretically reaching the perfect limit—fifty-six main vines.

At this moment, the Cloud Vine quietly coiled in the corner of the courtyard, its roots firmly planted in a pile of nutrient solution, its entire body emerald green. Its fifty-six main vines, like fifty-six arms, swayed gently in the sunlight. From each main vine branched countless smaller tendrils, weaving together into a dense, impenetrable net. Its aura was incredibly strong, at the peak of the ninth rank of the Eternal Star level, only a step away from the Cosmic level.

But Lin Yun's brows furrowed slightly.

After comprehending the rules of life, his perception of life became much sharper. Especially recently, his analysis of the life essence of the Sacred Tree of Life, being a plant, allowed him to sense that the life essence of the Cloud-Piercing Vine had reached a bottleneck. The fifty-six main vines represented the current limit of its life gene level. To break through further, it needed to elevate its life essence.

"Perfect? ​​Not necessarily." Lin Yun squatted down and reached out to touch the main vine of the Moyun Vine.

The Moyun Vine trembled slightly, as if responding to him. It had recognized him as its master and had a faint connection of consciousness with Lin Yun. Although its life force was still fragile and it could not communicate like Babata, Lin Yun could sense its emotions—it longed to become stronger.

Lin Yun closed his eyes and immersed his consciousness in the intimate perception of life.

The essence of the life of the Moyun Vine slowly unfolded in his perception—its genetic map, its life structure, the mysteries of each main vine and each leaf. The arrangement of the fifty-six main vines, the growth pattern of the vines, the cell division pattern… everything appeared in his consciousness.

"As expected." Lin Yun opened his eyes, a flash of realization crossing them.

There's still room for optimization in the genetic blueprint of the Cloud Vine. Fifty-six main vines aren't the limit; it's just that its life force is too fragile to actively optimize its genes. It can only grow instinctively, and after reaching the ninth level of the Eternal Star realm, it gets stuck at a bottleneck.

"If I could help it optimize its gene map..." A thought popped into Lin Yun's mind.

The Moyun Vine has already recognized its master, and they can communicate. Although the Moyun Vine's life consciousness is very fragile and it cannot understand the complex rules of life, Lin Yun can resonate with it through life affinity and life gifts, and convey his insights to it.

"Give it a try."

Lin Yun placed his hands on the main vine of the Moyun Vine and closed his eyes.

Life affinity – perception.

His consciousness resonated with that of the Moyun Vine. He could sense the Moyun Vine's life frequency—slow and steady, like a sleeping infant. Its consciousness was vague, containing only the most basic instincts—to grow, devour, and protect its master.

"Don't resist." Lin Yun used the gift of life to inject his life force into the body of Mo Yun Teng.

Moyun Teng's body trembled slightly, as if adapting to this external force. Lin Yun's life force was gentle and pure, like a mother's milk, nourishing every cell of its body.

"Follow my instincts."

Lin Yun extended his sense of affinity for life to the genetic map of the Moyun Vine, and began to guide it to adjust its own gene sequence. He dared not make drastic changes, but only made minor adjustments—replacing some less optimized gene sequences to make the cells more tightly arranged and the vine's growth more orderly.

This is an extremely delicate process that requires immense patience and precise control.

On the first attempt, the genetic sequence of the 'Moyun Vine' showed rejection, and several main vines began to twitch and the leaves curled up.

"Don't be afraid," Lin Yun said softly, using his life-giving essence to repair the damaged cells.

The second attempt reduced the rejection, but it still persisted.

The third time, the fourth time, the fifth time...

Lin Yun tried tirelessly, carefully analyzing the reasons and adjusting his plan after each failure. Although the life force of the Mo Yun Vine was fragile, its adaptability was constantly increasing under the nourishment of life's gifts.

One day, two days, three days...

Under Lin Yun's guidance, the genetic map of the Moyun Vine began to undergo subtle changes. Those less-than-optimal gene sequences were gradually replaced, the cells became more tightly arranged, and the vine's growth became more orderly.

On the seventh day, the first new main vine sprouted from the base of the Moyun vine.

"The fifty-seventh." A hint of excitement flashed in Lin Yun's eyes.

Guided by the rules of life, the life essence of the Moyun Vine finally broke through the bottleneck.

After the breakthrough, the growth rate of Moyun Vine accelerated significantly.

Under Lin Yun's guidance, it began to actively optimize its genetic map. Lin Yun no longer needed to provide detailed instructions; he only needed to nourish it with the gifts of life at crucial moments to keep its life consciousness active.

On the fifteenth day, the fifty-eighth main vine appeared.

Day 22, 59th root.

The thirtieth day, the sixtieth root.

The growth rate of the 'Moyun Vine' accelerated, as if breaking free of some shackles, it began to expand wildly outwards. One main vine after another sprouted, the tendrils grew denser and the leaves became increasingly emerald green.

The fiftieth, the sixtieth, the seventieth...

A month later, the number of main vines of the Moyun Vine reached seventy-two.

Seventy-two main vines, each as thick as an adult's arm and over a hundred meters long, intertwined and covered the entire courtyard. The aura of the Cloud-Piercing Vine was also several times stronger than before; the bottleneck of the peak of the ninth rank of the Hengxing level had been broken, and it was only a thin line away from the cosmic level.

"Seventy-two." Lin Yun stood in the center of the courtyard, looking up at the vines that blocked out the sky, a slight smile playing on his lips.

In the original novel, Luo Feng's Cloud-Piercing Vine only reached seventy-two main vines after breaking through to the cosmic level. However, his Cloud-Piercing Vine achieved this at the ninth level of the Eternal Star realm. All of this was thanks to the guidance of the rules of life.

"The study of the rules of life can not only improve oneself, but also help other life forms break through their limits," Lin Yun realized.

This reminded him of the profound function of the life-giving branch—helping others break through the barriers inherent in life. The success of the Moyun Vine proved the power of this branch.

"If we continue to optimize it, the number of main vines of the Moyun Vine can be increased even further," Lin Yun thought to himself.

Seventy-two vines are not the limit. He could also sense that there was still room for optimization in the genetic blueprint of the Cloud Vine. With continued guidance, it could even reach one hundred and eight main vines at the Hengxing level—that was the limit for a cosmic-level Cloud Vine.

"No rush." ​​Lin Yun patted the main vine of the Moyun Vine. "Take your time."

The Moyun Vine trembled slightly, as if in response to him.

Lin Yun walked back to the cultivation room and sat down cross-legged.

Moonlight streamed through the window, illuminating his face. His consciousness sank into a state of intimate connection with life, continuing to analyze his own genetic map.

Fifty times the level of life genes is not the end. The limit of the Saintly Realm is one hundred times, and he still needs to continue his efforts. Moreover, the avatar of the Sacred Tree of Life is still in the process of gestation and will not be born for another three years. At that time, he can further optimize his life essence by analyzing the genetic map of the Sacred Tree of Life through life affinity.

"The road ahead is long," Lin Yun said softly.

He closed his eyes, his consciousness drifting through the ocean of life.