Battle Through the Heavens: Beyond the Great Thousand

Xiao Yan awoke early, the cool morning air brushing his face as he lay beneath the wide expanse of an ancient tree. The previous day's musings on his new understanding of Cosmic Force still echoed in his mind.

But as he lay there, surrounded by the whisper of leaves and the hum of distant energies, something more pressing tugged at him—the need to take the next step.

He had spent several days wandering the area of the forest surrounding the Ruined City, reflecting on the knowledge he received, yet there was so much more to learn.

The Cosmic Force felt like a distant concept, elusive and intangible, but he was no longer the novice he had been. He had a basic understanding of its presence, and now he needed to learn how to wield it, manipulate it.

His body felt lighter than it had in his past life, and the familiar sensations of hunger and sleep seemed to have reawakened, drawing his attention away from pure cultivation.

These mortal needs—eating, resting—were reminders of the world he now inhabited. Yet there was no time to indulge them. Today was about progress, about trial and error.

Rising from the ground, Xiao Yan stretched his limbs and began a series of warm-up exercises. His focus sharpened as he reached out with his senses, feeling the currents of the Cosmic Force around him, the unseen threads woven into the very fabric of this world. '

The knowledge he had absorbed from the Hidden Archives made it clear that this force was unlike any Dou Qi he had ever known. It was a cosmic web, alive and pulsating, constantly shifting and ebbing.

But how to connect to it? How to channel its energy?

Reading the tome he got from the Hidden Archives, Xiao Yan's hands moved in a slow, deliberate motion, the fingers tracing invisible patterns in the air depicted in it.

His inner energy stirred slightly, but the result was nothing like what he had hoped for. There was no explosive surge of power, no sudden clarity.

Instead, it felt as though his efforts were swallowed by the vastness of the world around him. The Cosmic Force seemed to resist his attempts to control it, to bend it to his will.

Frustration gnawed at him, but he held it back. This was to be expected. Mastery over something so vast and mysterious could not come easily.

He paused, wiping his brow with the back of his hand. A deep breath. There was something soothing about the air here, a quiet peace that contrasted with the storm of thoughts and energy inside him.

"Maybe I'm rushing it," he muttered to himself, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

The thoughts of his previous world, where cultivation had come with clarity and certainty, seemed distant now.

Here, everything was different. The rules had changed. Cosmic Force was not a power that could be shaped like the Dou Qi of the Great Thousand World.

It required patience. More patience than Xiao Yan was used to.

With a slow exhale, he let go of his frustration and refocused. He couldn't rush this. He had to learn, step by step.

He extended his senses outward, feeling the force around him. The ancient trees, the stillness of the air, the faint pull of the earth beneath him—all of it was part of the greater web, and it was waiting for him to learn how to touch it.

Xiao Yan could feel the energy around him, but it was too wild, too untamed. He needed to guide it, focus it.

Drawing a deep breath, he began again. This time, he visualized himself as part of the cosmic network.

He imagined his body not as a separate entity, but as a conduit—his veins filled not with blood, but with threads of energy, flowing in sync with the rhythms of the universe.

His mind sharpened as he connected with the pulses of the force, gently guiding them toward himself.

But the result was still less than spectacular. A faint ripple of energy, barely a spark, flickered in his palm before fading out.

It was a failure, but Xiao Yan didn't feel disheartened. He had made progress. Even the smallest spark was a sign that the cosmic threads had responded to him. He was beginning to understand, piece by piece.

He spent the rest of the day experimenting with small bursts of energy, trying different gestures, different movements.

The energy was difficult to grasp, and his body felt exhausted after hours of effort. Each attempt was a lesson, but it was slow work. He had no guide, no teacher to show him the way.

The Cosmic Force was not something that could be learned overnight. It was a vast and complex power, stretching across the fabric of existence, and Xiao Yan had only just begun to touch its surface.

As the sun dipped below the horizon, he paused, sitting down once more, his body heavy with weariness.

The small successes he had achieved felt like distant victories, too small to satisfy the hunger for more, but enough to give him hope.

The night sky was clear, stars twinkling brightly above. For a long moment, Xiao Yan just sat there, staring up at the cosmos, lost in thought.

The vastness of it all was humbling, yet it filled him with a strange sense of determination. He would master this force. It was only a matter of time.

A growl from his stomach broke the silence. Xiao Yan chuckled quietly to himself. The mortal need for food had returned, and he had neglected it in his pursuit of the Cosmic Force.

He could almost feel the weight of his hunger—his body reminding him that even the greatest cultivator must still eat.

Shaking his head with a smile, Xiao Yan rose and began searching for food, his mind still buzzing with the day's experiments. The knowledge of the Cosmic Force was still distant, but with every attempt, he moved closer. Tomorrow would be another day of trials and learning, and he would continue.

This world, with its mysteries and its dangers, had become his new path. And Xiao Yan was ready to take whatever steps he needed to uncover its secrets.