The theoretical limit of Stardust Awakening realm. The point where normal cultivators had to stop and consolidate before advancing to Meteor Forging.
But Runar's technique was different. The Eternal Nexus Ascension wasn't designed to respect normal limits. It was designed to transcend them.
The tenth stage isn't the end. It's just an artificial barrier. If I push through...
He grabbed an entire handful of World Qi Pills—twenty of them—and consumed them all at once.
The energy was absurd. Overwhelming. Reality-bending.
BREAKTHROUGH.
The wall shattered.
Tenth stage.
But Runar didn't stop. He couldn't stop. The technique was still active, still pulling in qi, still optimizing and refining.
Eleventh stage.
Sublimation beyond anything he'd felt before. His body was glowing now, golden light radiating from his skin. The runic structures throughout his entire system were blazing with power.
Twelfth stage. Twentieth stage. Fiftieth stage.
The breakthroughs came faster and faster. The normal concept of "stages" was breaking down. His foundation wasn't just solid—it was becoming transcendent.
Time lost all meaning. Days passed in the Infinite Qi Realm (hours outside). The qi whirlpool never diminished. He went through his entire supply of World Qi Pills, then started on the Balance Pills to stabilize after each major breakthrough, then the Star Qi Pills for supplementary energy.
One hundredth stage. Two hundredth stage.
His body was transforming. Growing. The infant form couldn't contain this much power anymore. Bones were lengthening. Muscles were forming. Height increasing.
Three hundredth stage.
The changes accelerated. His baby body aged rapidly—one year old, two, three, five—
Three hundred and thirty-third stage.
STOP.
Something fundamental clicked into place. A hard limit, not artificial but theoretical. The absolute maximum number of subdivisions the Stardust Awakening realm could support before collapsing into the next realm entirely.
333 stages. Three hundred and thirty-three times beyond what normal cultivators achieved.
Runar opened his eyes.
And realized he wasn't a baby anymore.
He stood slowly, looking down at himself in shock.
His body had transformed completely. Where before he'd been a one-month-old infant, now he appeared to be about seven years old. Not just aged—optimized. Every proportion was perfect. His baby fat had been replaced with lean, functional muscle. His bones were dense and strong.
His hair had grown out—long, black, and lustrous, falling past his shoulders in waves. His face had refined itself into something that would probably be considered extremely handsome—sharp features, clear skin with a faint golden undertone from the blood purification, eyes that seemed to contain galaxies.
He was wearing the same outfit he'd had as a baby, but it had grown with him somehow—probably an effect of the system keeping him decent.
This is... a problem.
Runar looked around the Infinite Qi Realm, his enhanced vision taking in the now-familiar golden expanse. His cultivation was complete—for this realm, at least. His foundation was so solid it was nearly unshakable. His combat power was...
I have no idea, he realized. I can't even estimate it. A normal Stardust Awakening cultivator at stage ten might be able to fight someone a realm higher—Meteor Forging stage one or two. But I'm at stage 333. I could probably fight... what? Planetary Core realm? Higher?
The power coursing through his body felt immense. Every movement, every breath, every thought was backed by terrifying amounts of energy.
But that was a concern for later.
Right now, he had a critical problem.
I can't go back to the outside world like this. I left a baby in the crib. If my mother finds a seven-year-old where her infant son should be, she's going to lose her mind.
He needed a solution. Some way to disguise himself, or transform back, or something.
Think. I have the Comprehension Space. I could try designing a transformation technique, but...
But that would require insights. He couldn't just create a technique from nothing. He needed materials, reference points, examples to work from. And he didn't have any of that.
Among all the rewards the system gave me, was there a disguising technique?
He mentally reviewed the list. Combat techniques, elemental spells, movement techniques, weapon arts...
No disguising or transformation techniques.
Damn it.
Runar paced the Infinite Qi Realm, his newly lengthened legs eating up distance with each stride. His mind raced through possibilities, discarding them one by one.
Claim he was attacked and aged rapidly by a strange technique? Ridiculous.
Hide and pretend someone kidnapped the baby while he snuck away? Cruel to his parents and impossible to maintain.
Create an illusion to make him look smaller? His runic knowledge was good, but not good enough for a full-body permanent illusion that would fool close inspection.
There has to be something. The system wouldn't have let me get into this situation without—
[SYSTEM ALERT]
[DETECTED: HOST IN SUBOPTIMAL SITUATION]
[ADVICE: USE THE SYSTEM FRAGMENT]
[SYSTEM UPGRADE TOKEN CAN BE UTILIZED TO POTENTIALLY ACQUIRE NEEDED FUNCTIONALITY]
Runar stopped pacing. The System Upgrade Token? I forgot about that.
System, what will happen if I use the upgrade token?
[SYSTEM UPGRADE TOKEN WILL INTEGRATE A SYSTEM FRAGMENT]
[FRAGMENTS CONTAIN VARIOUS FUNCTIONALITIES]
[SPECIFIC RESULT CANNOT BE PREDICTED BUT WILL ADDRESS USER NEEDS WHERE POSSIBLE]
[RECOMMEND: USE NOW]
It wasn't a guarantee, but it was his best option.
Alright. Thank you, system. Use the System Upgrade Token.
[USING SYSTEM UPGRADE TOKEN...]
[SCANNING FOR COMPATIBLE FRAGMENTS...]
[FRAGMENT DETECTED]
[INTEGRATING...]
[LOADING: ████████████ 100%]
[INTEGRATION SUCCESSFUL]
[NEW SYSTEM MODULE UNLOCKED: DUAL CULTIVATION SYSTEM MALL]
Runar blinked. Dual Cultivation System Mall?
A new interface appeared before him, sleek and organized like an online shopping site. Categories lined the left side: Techniques, Pills, Artifacts, Knowledge, Bloodlines, Physiques, Special Items.
At the top of the screen was a currency counter:
[DUAL CULTIVATION POINTS: 0]
And below that, a description:
[DUAL CULTIVATION SYSTEM MALL]
[Purchase any item using Dual Cultivation Points]
[Earn points through dual cultivation with partners]
[Higher realm partners and better compatibility = more points]
[NOTE: System mall contains items tailored to user needs]
Runar stared at the interface in disbelief.
Dual cultivation? DUAL CULTIVATION? System, I'm seven years old! In appearance, anyway. Where am I going to find a dual cultivation partner? And even if I could, I'm still mentally an adult man from Earth—this would be weird and wrong on so many levels!
He navigated through the mall frantically, hoping there was something—anything—he could use without actually needing dual cultivation points.
The techniques section had transformation arts. The artifacts section had disguise talismans. Everything he needed.
Everything he couldn't afford.
The cheapest transformation technique cost 1,000 Dual Cultivation Points. The most basic disguise talisman cost 500.
And he had zero.
This is... this is completely useless right now.
Runar closed the mall interface with a frustrated gesture. He stood in the golden expanse of the Infinite Qi Realm, a seven-year-old body containing the power of 333 stages, with no solution to his problem.
What am I supposed to do? Just... go back and hope my parents accept that their baby randomly aged six years overnight?
He tried to think it through rationally.
There are many strange things in the universe. Telstra is a cultivation world with aliens, multiple species, ancient ruins, and powerhouses who can destroy planets. Is a baby randomly aging to seven years old really that impossible here?
The more he thought about it, the more he realized: compared to some of the things that existed in this world, his situation was almost tame.
I mean, there are cultivation techniques that let people shapeshift. Bloodlines that cause random transformations. Treasures that age or de-age people. It's probably not common, but it's not unheard of.
Runar sighed, running a hand through his newly-long hair.
Fuck it. I'll just roll with it. What else can I do?
His parents would be shocked, certainly. There would be questions. But he could work with it. Claim he didn't know what happened, that he woke up like this. Act confused and scared—emotions appropriate for a child who suddenly aged overnight.
It's not ideal. But it's the only option I have right now.
With that decided, Runar turned his attention to the remaining time. He checked the external clock through the system interface.
[TIME REMAINING UNTIL MORNING: 4.7 HOURS EXTERNAL (47,000 HOURS INTERNAL)]
Nearly two more days in here. I should use it productively.
His cultivation was complete for the Stardust Awakening realm—he'd tested the 333rd stage barrier multiple times and couldn't push through. It was a hard limit, the theoretical maximum before the realm structure itself would collapse.
So I'll use this time to stabilize my foundation completely. Make absolutely sure there are no flaws, no weaknesses, no hidden problems.
He sat back down in the white-gold layer of the Infinite Qi Realm, surrounded by the densest qi available. The whirlpool around him resumed immediately, pure energy pouring into his meridians.
He started eating the remaining foundation-stabilizing pills—hundreds of them, consumed by the handful. His Supreme-grade physique processed them all effortlessly, using their energy to reinforce every aspect of his cultivation base.
The 333 stages of Stardust Awakening compressed and solidified. His meridians, already wide and reinforced, became nearly indestructible. His acupoints transformed into perfect refinement chambers. His organs reached the peak of mortal capability, on the verge of transcending into something spiritual.
His blood completed its transformation—fully golden now, so pure that it radiated faint light. Every cell in his body was optimized to absolute perfection. His bones were dense as divine metal. His muscles contained explosive power.
His soul crystallization reached 50%—halfway to complete. His spiritual sea had expanded to ten times the size of a normal Stardust cultivator's. His mind depth had created all four layers successfully, each one operating at peak efficiency.
Days passed.
Runar meditated, stabilized, refined, optimized. The HDCM worked constantly, analyzing every aspect of his cultivation, suggesting micro-improvements. He implemented them all.
By the end of the second day, his foundation was flawless. Not just solid—absolutely perfect. Every component of the Eternal Nexus Ascension was operating exactly as designed, with zero waste, zero inefficiency, zero weakness.
This is as good as it gets for this realm, Runar thought with satisfaction. When I break through to Meteor Forging, I'll have the strongest foundation in history.
He checked the time.
[TIME UNTIL MORNING: 0.3 HOURS EXTERNAL]
Twenty minutes. Time to go back.
Runar stood, took one last look at the Infinite Qi Realm—this place that had transformed him so completely—and activated the exit.
[EXITING INFINITE QI REALM...]
Reality shifted, and he was back in his nursery.
The runic clone was still lying in the crib, perfectly simulating a sleeping baby. Runar dismissed it with a thought, and the construct dissolved into motes of light.
He stood beside his crib—now noticeably too small for his seven-year-old body—and took stock of his situation.
I'm mentally exhausted, he realized. The days of constant cultivation, maintaining active focus on the technique, monitoring for errors, making adjustments, optimizing every detail—it had been taxing despite the sublimation feelings during breakthroughs.
I need to rest. And I need to figure out how to make the Eternal Nexus Ascension cultivate passively, without requiring my conscious attention. Otherwise I'll never have time for anything else.
That would be his next project. After dealing with the whole "suddenly seven years old" situation.
Runar carefully climbed into his crib—it was large enough, thankfully, designed to accommodate growing toddlers. He lay down, his longer body fitting diagonally.
Just... rest. A few hours of sleep. Then face whatever comes next.
His enhanced mind, despite the HDCM's continuous operation, desperately needed downtime. The mental equivalent of defragging a hard drive.
Runar closed his eyes, feeling the softness of his crib mattress, hearing the quiet sounds of the house around him.
And for the first time in days—subjective time, at least—he let himself truly sleep.
[CULTIVATION SESSION COMPLETE]
[REALM: STARDUST AWAKENING - STAGE 333/333]
[FOUNDATION QUALITY: FLAWLESS (TRANSCENDENT)]
[COMBAT POWER ESTIMATE: UNKNOWN - EXCEEDS STANDARD MEASUREMENTS]
[CONGRATULATIONS, HOST]
[YOU HAVE TAKEN YOUR FIRST STEP ON THE PATH TO ULTIMATE POWER]