If Wang Cheng didn't have his own thoughts—if he didn't have the soul of an adult—under this kind of indoctrination, he would certainly have had his perception twisted and longed to become a slave, striving for the so-called great masters.
What was terrifying was that even his own parents didn't see this as brainwashing, but as early childhood enlightenment. Wang Cheng, however, showed no unusual emotions, only a look of innocence, which made Leng Yan pause for a moment before she smiled and said:
"You're still too young. You'll understand what Mom means when you grow up. Since you want to eat meat, Mom will make you some grilled meat…"
...
Time flew by, and Wang Cheng's body grew rapidly, though the world around him seemed to remain unchanged. In the blink of an eye, he had spent nine years in this world.
As a person with an eighth-grade human bloodline—better than ninth or tenth-grade bloodlines—he had decent potential.
Even without any training throughout his life, he would still become a warrior at adulthood, possessing the strength of a first-stage warrior apprentice.
But back on Earth in his previous life, no one would have believed that Wang Cheng was less than ten years old. Despite being just nine, his self-disciplined training had pushed his height to 1.7 meters—on par with a 16-17-year-old on Earth.
Wang Cheng was also fortunate that the basic warrior inheritance on this planet was highly complete.
Although there was no foundation for spiritual force users, it was more than enough for him.
On Shuǐyuán Star, warriors were considered valuable assets by the ruling race, so it was only natural that the foundation for training was well-developed.
Wang Cheng recalled the well-memorized "Basic Warrior 256 Techniques" and began practicing its first move.
The book "Basic Warrior 256 Techniques" was divided into nine layers:
The first layer had 1 technique,
The first two layers had 2,
The first three layers had 4,
The first four layers had 8, ...and so on, up to 256 techniques in total.
Each layer corresponded to levels 1 to 9 of warrior apprentice training. Every level doubled a warrior's striking power.
If someone mastered all nine layers and all 256 techniques, they could achieve tenfold striking power and possibly break through to the planetary-level warrior.
As the most common, universal warrior training manual for the human race, it surpassed even Earth's post-apocalyptic techniques, including "World-Destroyer" by Hong and "Ninefold Thunder Blade" by Thor. At the very least, they couldn't achieve tenfold strength.
Wang Cheng didn't know exactly what functions the slave chip in his brain had, but he didn't dare assume it lacked surveillance or detection.
Luckily, only children of planetary-level humans were implanted with advanced universal slave chips. Ordinary human children only received cheaper ones.
Cheaper meant less functionality but higher danger. His original body probably suffered some accident.
Yet, with his current pre-warrior strength, even if the chip had detection functions, he no longer intended to live in fear or keep hiding.
After studying the system and culture of this world deeply, Wang Cheng was both horrified by the slave masters and impressed by their thoroughness.
On this planet, passing on any knowledge about warriors privately was strictly forbidden.
That meant if one wanted to train using the "256 Techniques," they had to register and apply online, and could only access content matching their current strength level.
To continue advancing, one had to keep applying for the next levels.
All this data would then be collected and monitored by artificial intelligence.
Fortunately, on this planet, it wasn't uncommon for children aged 7-8 to become warrior apprentices.
So Wang Cheng registering as a warrior apprentice now wouldn't draw too much attention. He would blend into the crowd.
He didn't want to wait any longer. Becoming a warrior too early might not be ideal, but waiting too long might be even worse. Useless slaves likely had their own disposal protocols on this planet.
Wang Cheng was already very familiar with the first technique of the 256.
This technique, called Flying Dragon's Claw, had six moves corresponding to forward, backward, left, right, up, and down.
To master it, all six moves needed to be fluid and interchangeable—only then could it be considered perfected.
Once he mastered it, every time Wang Cheng executed the claw technique, he felt like there was some force pulling into his palms...
Back when he was younger, Leng Yan took care of him for a while. Once he could take care of himself, she and Wang Hao left to work and ease the household burden. As a result, Wang Cheng sometimes didn't see his parents for a week.
Thankfully, daily life on Shuǐyuán Star was fully supported by technology. He didn't have to worry about food, clothing, or shelter.
As part of his daily training, Wang Cheng tested his strength by punching a machine in the training room.
Boom!
Beep beep—
"956"
The number appeared. Wang Cheng nodded slightly.
"Looks like I've reached pre-warrior level. With the first technique mastered, I should become a warrior apprentice soon. Wonder how much stronger that'll make me? Whatever, let's keep training…"
Wang Cheng quickly immersed himself in practicing the Flying Dragon's Claw. With every move, muffled thuds echoed through the air.
As he transitioned into a forward claw step, he suddenly felt something enter his palms through the air.
The unexpected change broke his focus, but the feeling quickly disappeared. The hunger-like sensation in his palms also faded.
"Genetic origin energy! Cosmic energy!"
Wang Cheng realized that what he sensed must have been cosmic energy. If he could get back into that state and absorb the energy, he could undergo physical transformation.
That would mean he had officially become a warrior apprentice.
Sure enough, when he resumed practice and entered that state again, a cool energy flowed from his palms and Baihui acupoint atop his head, spreading through his body.
His body cells, starved for energy, greedily absorbed it like famine victims devouring a feast.
He didn't know how long it lasted, but once his body stopped absorbing, Wang Cheng knew he had broken through.
But something odd happened. Though his cells no longer absorbed energy, cosmic energy still surged in through his Baihui acupoint—only to vanish in his spiritual sea.
This worried Wang Cheng. He didn't know what had gone wrong but didn't dare interrupt the process.
Focusing his mind near the Baihui acupoint, everything suddenly went dark, and his consciousness entered a mysterious place.
Surrounded by mist-like golden fog, Wang Cheng immediately understood:
"This is my spiritual sea? And this fog is my mental power? I have the talent of a spiritual force user? Could this be why my predecessor's mind broke?"
The fog wasn't too thin and seemed to be absorbing countless colorful light particles.
However, the talent wasn't very impressive. Based on what he knew from his past life, spiritual power in gas form could only reach high warrior level.
If it was liquid, he could reach war general level. Solid meant potential for war god level.
Though his spiritual fog was dense, it wasn't close to liquefying, meaning his limit was likely high warrior level.
This was the tragedy of lacking inheritance—without a manual, he had no way to train his mental power.
Still, Wang Cheng noticed something forming at the center of his spiritual sea—cosmic energy continuously poured in.
Eventually, it stopped absorbing. The fog remained gas, not liquid.
Wang Cheng was a bit disappointed. "Too bad. My spiritual power grew, but not enough to break through. What's that thing in the middle though? Could it be my cheat ability?"
Driven by curiosity, Wang Cheng carefully brought his consciousness closer. Suddenly, darkness again—and he arrived in a mysterious one-kilometer-wide space.
Above the space floated a cloud of mist, varying in shade from light to dark. He couldn't sense anything within it.
"What is this place? My cheat ability? Eight years… You know how hard it's been for me these eight years? I didn't want to beg for a cheat—okay, fine, I really needed it!"
As he ranted out years of grievances, a subtle message reached his mind.
Feeling its meaning, Wang Cheng suddenly exclaimed:
"This is a Primal Core Space?!"
He was dumbfounded. Primal Cores were special structures unique to Golden-Horned Beasts, often containing innate skill patterns. But his was a blank one?
How could a Primal Core without runes support internal space? His body hadn't changed at all—was this really a Primal Core?
Wait—Luo Feng's Primal Core could be transferred to an Earth human clone. But his?
(Chapter ends)