The mountains were stacked in layers of lush green, as if they were colossal emeralds. Sunlight pierced through, illuminating countless tiny, golden specks that shimmered against the vibrant landscape, creating a stunning portrait of nature.
Deep within these mountains, a great rumbling echoed. This sound came from a powerful waterfall, which resembled a colossal silver dragon, plunging from the sky. It roared as it crashed into the deep pool below, spraying crystal-clear droplets everywhere.
Under the waterfall, a shadowy figure sat cross-legged on a large rock, enduring the relentless impact of over 20 tons of water per second. An outsider witnessing this scene would be shocked, as such a feat would be impossible for any ordinary human.
After an unknown amount of time, the figure suddenly stood up. With a mighty yell, he clenched his fist and punched upward. The sheer force seemed to emit a golden glow, causing the falling waterfall to momentarily freeze and even show a faint tendency to reverse its flow. However, the water ultimately continued its descent.
The man stood silently on the smooth, massive stone for a moment before leaning down slightly. With an explosive burst of speed, he shot forward like an arrow, breaking through the curtain of water and landing on the riverbank several hundred meters away.
In the sunlight, his form and face were finally revealed.
He stood at 1.8 meters tall with black hair that danced in the wind. He had a handsome face and was only wearing a pair of shorts. His feet were bare, and his arms were as hard as stone, with muscle lines that stood out clearly in the sun, exuding a masculine beauty. Despite his strong build, his features still held a trace of boyish charm, indicating he was still very young.
"Is it still not enough?" the young man sighed. He looked up at the sky, and the image of the blue expanse and the sun hanging above seemed to open a scroll of his memories.
His name was Leon, and he lived in a quiet town called Sedona, located in southwestern Ohio on the bank of a river. The area was known for its dense forests, mountains, and rivers, making for beautiful scenery. However, due to its geography, it experienced a long rainy season.
The town was peaceful, with a population of about 3,000. It had a complete infrastructure and a highway that led directly to the city, a drive that took about an hour.
Leon had a happy and peaceful family. His father, Li Xiang, was an Asian American and a professional dentist. His mother, Amy, was a beautiful blonde and a middle school teacher. He also had a four-year-old sister, Lily, and a three-year-old brother, Li Dian.
His father's salary as a dentist was considered high in the United States, even for a small town, with a monthly income of $10,000. In the year 2000, this income placed them in the upper-middle class. With his mother's $3,400 as a middle school teacher, the family was well-off and happy.
However, four years ago, at the age of twelve, Leon had an accident while playing, which resulted in a concussion. It was then that he suddenly "broke the mystery of the womb" (a literal translation of a Chinese idiom meaning "to awaken past-life memories") and recalled his past life. Not only that, he also discovered a crystal in his mind with a golden liquid flowing within it.
After his memories fully integrated, Leon realized that this world had mutants and famous organizations like the Stark Group. He quickly understood what a dangerous world he had come to in his second life. This made Leon feel a mix of anxiety and confusion. Fortunately, he remembered the beautiful crystal and the golden liquid in his mind.
After many attempts, he began to understand how it worked. The crystal's golden liquid seemed to possess a special power. By focusing his thoughts and ideas, evaporating a portion of the liquid would grant him something unexpected out of thin air.
In his first experiment, he evaporated a small amount of the golden liquid, and a small bag of Senzu Beans, a magical food from the Dragon Ball world, appeared in his hand. To be safe, he cut a small piece off one of the beans and fed it to a mouse. After observing no negative effects, he continued to watch and noticed that the mouse didn't show any signs of hunger for several days. This made Leon think of something. He then inflicted more than a dozen cuts on the mouse and fed it the rest of the bean. The mouse's injuries healed remarkably fast, and the gruesome knife marks vanished.
This confirmed the identity of the beans. Senzu Beans were the most magical food in the Dragon Ball world, where eating just one could satiate a person for ten days and provide an extremely strong healing effect. As long as a person wasn't dead, a single bean could instantly restore their physical strength and energy from extreme fatigue, returning their body to its peak state.
This discovery thrilled Leon. He understood that evaporating the golden liquid seemed to be able to materialize things. He had only evaporated a small drop of the liquid and received 100 Senzu Beans in return. What if he evaporated all of it?
Leon made a decisive gamble and evaporated all the remaining golden liquid. The gamble paid off: a huge golden box appeared before him. On the box was a pattern of a graceful girl in a veil holding a water bottle, which was both exquisite and sacred. It was the Aquarius Gold Cloth, and he felt a profound connection to the golden box. He also learned how to "Awaken the Microcosm" without a teacher and understood that once he did, he would be able to open the box and wear the Gold Cloth. Perhaps because of the materialization, he was recognized as the owner of the armor from the very beginning. He didn't need to meet a series of conditions like the Gold Saints did to earn the armor's recognition.
Thus began his intense training regimen. His motto was to train to the point of death, as long as he didn't actually die. After all, he had 100 Senzu Beans to fall back on. He had personally tested that no matter how severe his training injuries were, including internal ones, he only needed about a fifth of a bean to completely heal himself. He could also stay full for three days on one portion, meaning he effectively had 500 doses of Senzu Beans to use.
In four years, he went from an ordinary person to being one step away from breaking through to the Sixth Sense. While this ability was not on par with "monsters" like Shaka, who became a Gold Saint at the age of seven, Leon was content with his progress.
However, one thing worried him: the thing he called a Fantasy Crystal didn't seem to produce or accumulate golden liquid on its own. In addition to his training, he had to figure out how to obtain more of the precious liquid. The amount of liquid used to materialize the Gold Cloth only accounted for 1% of the crystal's capacity. If he could find a way to make it accumulate again, the harvest would be unimaginably more valuable than what he had already received.
Shaking off these thoughts, Leon put on the clothes he had left on a clean stone. He pulled on his socks and sneakers and started walking toward the town. The path he had forged was long, and for an ordinary adult, it would take one or two hours to traverse. But Leon was different; he was no longer an ordinary person, only one step away from achieving the Microcosm.
Soon, he crossed the mountains and arrived in town. In front of a cafe, he unlocked his bicycle and rode slowly along the road toward his home.
As a high-income family, their living conditions were excellent. They owned a 280-square-meter, two-story, creamy-white American country house with three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a garage, a kitchen, a living room, a study, a dedicated dining room, and six storage rooms. The front of the house and the wall were adorned with various flowers and trees that bloomed in white and pink. There was a large lawn in front and a garden gate to the backyard on the right side of the house.
Upon arriving, Leon put his bike in the garage and unlocked the front door. The entryway greeted him, and after changing into slippers, he walked toward the living room. The furniture and decor of the whole house were warm and inviting, creating a homey atmosphere that always helped Leon relax after his intense training.
Two large Alaskan Malamutes rushed toward him, wagging their tails and whimpering.
"Hey, guys, did you miss me?" Leon said, rubbing their furry heads.
The two dogs whined happily, wagging their tails even harder. They were so excited that they stood up and tried to play with Leon, climbing on him as he walked into the living room.
There, he saw his father, Li Xiang, reading a newspaper on the sofa, while his cute sister and brother played with their toys next to him, their little bottoms sticking up in the air.
"Brother!" The two little ones noticed Leon instantly. They threw down their toys, cheered, and scrambled off the sofa. Their short legs carried them as fast as they could to hug their brother's thighs. Lily was a little slower, but both held on tight to their big brother.
Looking at the two adorable kids, Leon laughed, sweeping them both into his arms. He gave each a kiss on the cheek, and they, in turn, gave him one back. Still holding them, he walked over and sat down sideways on the sofa, greeting his father.
His father, Li Xiang, was forty years old, gentle, and wore glasses. He put down his newspaper and glanced at his eldest son.
"You seem to be in a good mood. Have you broken through to the Sixth Sense you were talking about?" he asked.
"Almost there, but not quite," Leon replied, letting the two little ones snuggle in his arms as they played and wrestled.
His father knew about his Sixth Sense because Leon hadn't wanted to hide things from his parents. Even with his past-life memories, Leon deeply valued this family and was not a cold person. Besides, his parents weren't fools. When he materialized the huge golden box in his room, he was only twelve and couldn't move it. They quickly discovered it, so Leon had to explain with a half-truth: that the golden armor had simply appeared, and he needed to train to Awaken the Microcosm to earn its recognition. He kept the "fantasy crystal" and past-life memories a secret.
With the help of a small price—a Senzu Bean—he gained their trust and convinced them of his story. His parents then strongly supported him, allowing him enough time to practice. Of course, he still had to attend school, but he made some adjustments, such as going only once every two weeks and still earning good grades on exams. With his past-life memories and a continuously evolving consciousness due to his training, he only needed to review things once, which freed up a lot of time for his practice. At school, this maverick behavior earned him the title of a "mysterious man" and the curiosity of his classmates.
"I really want to see you open the box and wear the golden holy clothes," his father, Li Xiang, said with a gentle smile, clearly yearning for that moment. In his father's mind, his son had been chosen by a god to become a disciple. His mother, however, saw him as a divine messenger. Leon had once explained that when he awakened the Sixth Sense, his punches and movements would reach the speed of sound, that he could throw hundreds of punches in a single second, and that he could destroy a nuclear reactor with his physical strength alone, all while being immune to nuclear radiation, plagues, viruses, poisons, and curses.
What was the difference between that and a god? They couldn't help but feel proud of their son's divine destiny. If it weren't for the secrecy, they would have been bragging to everyone they knew. As for the truth of his claims, after just two years of Leon's training, he was able to lift the family's new Chevrolet Suburban, which weighed 3.4 tons, with his bare hands. That shocking scene was something Li Xiang and his wife would never forget.
(End of Chapter)
────────────────────────────────────
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [One Piece: General Blue]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Naruto: Starting with Tsunade-san]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Battle Through the Heavens: Heavenly comprehension]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Soul Land 2: Golden Dragon King]."
"If you're interested, please support me in my other novel [Marvel: Hades]."
"If you want early access to nearly 60+ chapters, join my patreon:- patreon.com/BaDwYGaMeR"