Fang Yuan sat cross-legged. He focused his mind on his body, trying to comprehend what had just happened when he ate the rainbow apple.
His mind quickly penetrated the depths of his body. He saw that his muscles had developed slightly; it seemed this rainbow apple had no malicious effects.
Then, where did that long, white light come from?
Frustrated, Fang Yuan pushed back the front part of his hair that was blocking his forehead.
There, as he felt his forehead, he felt a slightly strange pressure; it was indented, but not deep.
"Huh?!"
Startled, Fang Yuan immediately stood up and looked at the mirror to his right.
This time, Fang Yuan's eyes grew even wider in surprise.
What he saw wasn't just his handsome, clean face, but also a thick, black pentagram star, seemingly piercing through Fang Yuan's head.
"W-wha.." Fang Yuan held his head, feeling the black star. The star felt like it went through his head, but actually wasn't too deep.
"Does this star have something to do with the rainbow apple?" Fang Yuan immediately took a rainbow apple from his bag and ate it.
Feeling the strange energy in his body, Fang Yuan promptly sat cross-legged and tried to sense the strange energy that had entered his body once more.
Soon after, the energy went through the same process as before, spreading to every cell in his body, and then the remaining energy rose to Fang Yuan's brain.
"Huufhh." Fang Yuan let out a sigh and looked back at the mirror.
The black star didn't seem to have changed, but Fang Yuan was absolutely certain his body had developed, albeit very slightly. Then he covered the black star mark with his front hair.
Fang Yuan thought. That angel said this world would become a world of cultivation after the meteors came. Could this star indicate my cultivation level?
For example, right now I have 1 star and it's black. Does that mean I'm Rank 1? And can this black color change? If it can, it's possible that Rank 1 is further divided into several stages.
But all of this is clearly just speculation. Fang Yuan himself has no definite proof for any of this, except for his memories of several cultivation novels.
Then Fang Yuan looked at his bag, seeing the dozens of rainbow apples still left.
1 hour later…
Fang Yuan was sitting cross-legged, trying to compress the energy from the rainbow apples.
Fang Yuan let out a small sigh, then looked at his body, which seemed to have grown larger. In his bag, not a single rainbow apple remained.
"26 rainbow apples. After the 21st one, plus the two I ate earlier, that means 23 rainbow apples. I didn't feel the strange energy entering my body anymore. The apples just turned into fat after I ate them and had no impact on my cultivation."
Fang Yuan went to look in the mirror again; clearly, the black star remained unchanged.
"It seems that, even with abundant resources, breaking through a level isn't that easy."
If it's like this, then cultivation must be extremely difficult. Who knows how many days, months, years, or even centuries are needed just to advance one level.
Fang Yuan's expression turned sour.
"The path of cultivation is long, while the human lifespan is not. I don't know how long I can live to at least reach the peak of cultivation in this world. Fighting enemies, defeating opponents, achieving goals... if one lacks the perseverance to achieve their goals, they will never succeed."
Thinking about this made Fang Yuan feel disheartened. Who knows how long his lifespan is, but if his destiny is to die, Fang Yuan would definitely try his absolute best, even if it means failing.
Fang Yuan looked around the room. At the edge of the room, he saw a blade of grass. Soon, the grass grew further, trying to creep across Fang Yuan's entire secret room.
Fang Yuan wasn't surprised; he had already anticipated this. Nevertheless, his heart still ached a little. He had spent years saving money to create this room, and now it would just disappear, overgrown by grass coming from who knows where?
"Oh well. Right now I don't have great power. I can't truly stop this strange grass from growing like this."
Then Fang Yuan went to another corner of the room, finding a door there. He opened it and saw hundreds of stairs spiraling endlessly upwards.
Fang Yuan's gaze was calm; he had climbed these stairs many times before.
He picked up his bag and looked at this secret room for the last time.
"Goodbye, it seems we won't meet again. May fate bring us together again someday."
Fang Yuan climbed the stairs one by one. Soon after, he saw the bright sunlight illuminating his face.
Fang Yuan broke through the light and finally reached the ground again.
He looked at the surroundings. A place that was once full of tall apartment buildings, multi-storied hotels, and other skyscrapers was now filled with a dense forest with strange trees and wild grass growing at abnormally fast speeds.
Fang Yuan took a breath and smelled several strange scents in the air.
Although there was some cool, pleasant air to breathe, there was also a faint, strange scent that smelled like blood to Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan clearly didn't want to act impulsively. No matter what, it's not good to act without a plan on this Earth now. No one knows how many people have become cultivators like Fang Yuan, no one knows how crazy humans have become in these past few hours.
And no one knows if Fang Yuan can survive in this world.
Fang Yuan moved slowly, trying to avoid making any loud noises whatsoever.
He moved following the scent of blood. Maybe there's an opportunity within this crisis? Haha, what a good joke.
Soon after, Fang Yuan found three people fighting using absurd energies emanating from their hands, some were red, blue, and one was pink.
"What the hell is that?" Fang Yuan thought, currently hiding inside a bush.