Being forced to grow like a pig? But I'm immune to the consequences!

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dele and the others nodded.

Then Zhao Dele thought of the nobles of Yangon and Cen Ke and his group from the Explorers' Association, and asked, "What about above the Martial Artist stage? What is that stage? What is its relationship to the Martial Artist stage? How does one break through it?"

Sun Hong continued to explain, "That stage, that's a stage that many martial artists dream of..."

As he spoke, Sun Hong's gaze held a hint of longing, yet also a touch of bitterness.

"After the Martial Artist stage, it is called the Seed Fusion stage. And cultivators at this stage are no longer called Martial Artists."

Instead, they are called Evolvers!

"Evolver..." Zhao Dele repeated the word.

"Yes, evolved beings! Reaching this stage means you're a true high-level powerhouse. In Cloud City, that's an absolute backbone of the fighting force! Joining any faction is a piece of cake as long as you have a clean identity."

"This stage is called the seed fusion stage because if you want to break through, you must accommodate a seed."

This seed is called a "plantation seed" in the Republic of Huayan.

As Sun Hong spoke, he reached into his pocket and took out a black, cube-shaped object that looked like a communication device.

He pressed his thumb against its smooth surface, and the black object immediately shone.

The screen appeared, and Sun Hong tapped it repeatedly, searching for something. He then handed the thing to Zhao Dele.

"This thing is called a cell phone, it's a communication device, but it has many functions and is very convenient. Once you get your temporary residence permits, you can save up some money and buy one. That way, it will be easier for you all to contact each other," Sun Hong explained casually, then pointed to the screen, "This is what breeding looks like, take a look."

Zhao Dele took it with both hands, and the person who had been strung up by the bone-struck rope immediately came over.

A high-resolution image was displayed on the screen. It was an oval-shaped object, about the size of a quail egg, with a surface covered in intricate textures, and seemingly moving subtly.

Looking at this thing, Zhao Dele and the others remained expressionless, only their eyes flickered slightly.

They all recognized it, of course.

That was what nobles used for bestowing divine blood, also known as the seed of the god.

Cheng Mingyuan's gaze was more complicated. He still had a spawn that had been born from his father's flesh and blood in his hand.

"Brother Sun, what exactly is this 'breeding' thing?" Zhao Dele asked calmly as he handed the communicator back to Sun Hong.

Sun Hong took the communicator and casually put it back in his pocket.

"The origin of the breeding stock is ancient. There are many theories. Some say it was made by extracting the genes of alien beasts. Some say it came from outer space. Others say it was made by mixing alien beast genes with extraterrestrial materials."

"However, regardless of its origin, in short, 'breeding' is something that merges with a martial artist and helps them break free from the constraints of the human body. After fusion, it will generate all sorts of incredible abilities and may even change the form of life to some extent."

At this point, Sun Hong paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

"Then, this stage is naturally related to the martial artist stage. Just like when tempering the body, one must reach perfection before attempting to break through to the martial artist stage."

At this stage, a certain level of martial arts cultivation is required before it can accommodate seed propagation.

Sun Hong picked up a peanut: "In the fusion stage, the human body and the colony are a process of fusion. And if the human body wants to fuse with the colony for its own use, then it must act as the receiver."

In this way, it can be compared to a container.

For a species to be successfully propagated, the container must be strong enough.

Just like a wine glass, if it's not big enough or sturdy enough, can anything be put in it?

"If you put anything in there, how can it not break?"

"Then there needs to be a standard for judgment."

The criteria for judgment are only two: one's level of attainment and the measure of one's life experience!

Sun Hong held up one finger: "Let's talk about realm first. Realm can be compared to the material of a wine glass. In the initial stage of containing something, the material is the most important."

Otherwise, if the material isn't good, what's the point of talking about capacity?

According to the standards of the Huayan Republic, reaching the first stage of the five internal organs is considered the minimum standard.

"The first stage of the five internal organs?" Zhao Dele keenly caught the meaning of this sentence. "The realm of the five internal organs is divided into stages?"

Sun Hong slapped his forehead.

"Oh, right, I should add something to this for you."

"The five internal organs are a whole, so in the past, the cultivation methods at that time required martial artists to temper the five internal organs together."

However, that would be too difficult, require too many resources, and have an extremely high casualty rate.

"After generations of research and optimization, a better method was finally found, which reduced the difficulty to some extent."

That means prioritizing the tempering of the heart.

As the organ that houses reproduction and as the core power source of the human body, the heart is inherently more powerful than the other four organs.

Therefore, with the help of specific methods and instruments, the heart can be tempered first, and the other four organs will not be affected in a short period of time.

Therefore, after this system was perfected, people divided the five internal organs into two stages—the heart stage and the four viscera stage.

Zhao Dele nodded knowingly.

"Then, let's talk about the life scale." Sun Hong raised his second finger.

"Let me first tell you what the life scale means."

The life scale signifies a person's life potential, which includes factors such as lifespan and cellular activity.

Simply put, if we compare a person to a piece of hardware, then the life scale represents the upper limit of that hardware's capacity.

How can we increase the capacity limit of this hardware?

That is breaking through a realm.

Each time you break through a realm, your life scale increases, and your capacity limit naturally increases as well.

To accommodate breeding, space is needed. After all, breeding is a real, existing foreign entity, not air, so how could it be without any restrictions?

In the initial stage of accommodation, in addition to sufficient realm as a basic support, it is also necessary to prepare enough life scale space to accommodate the breeding.

And this standard for life's measure is roughly the life's measure attained after breaking through the first stage of the Five Organs Realm.

Sun Hong paused again at this point.

"But that's not all; this leads to even more points to note."

"After the seed is contained within the body, it will further merge with the martial artist and grow further."

And this process also requires time to accumulate in one's life.

"If the life scale is insufficient, the seed cannot continue to grow. Forcibly guiding its growth may even backfire on the host."

"Conversely, if the life scale is very abundant, then the seed will grow more vigorously. The subsequent realms of the seed fusion stage are closely related to the life scale."

"The higher a martial artist's realm, the stronger their physical body, and the higher their lifespan. Of course, consuming extremely precious treasures can also further increase one's lifespan. However, ordinary people simply cannot access such things."

"Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that the foundation of a martial artist's realm determines the upper limit of the seed fusion stage."