The recovery period was a lesson in humility that Li Wei's fifteen-year-old soul desperately needed. For three days, he watched Tang San practice his mysterious footwork and Xiao Wu and Xiao Ling dominate the dormitory with their playful, rabbit-like agility. He felt like a spectator in his own life, a god-ling grounded by the very physics he was meant to transcend.
But on the dawn of the fourth day, as the first rays of the sun hit the dormitory window, Li Wei felt it. It wasn't a trickle; it was a snap. The "Severe Weakened" status shattered, and his connection to the Speed Force surged back with the force of a tidal wave.
He sat bolt upright in bed, his silvery hair practically standing on end. His silver ring hummed a low, vibrating C-sharp. Inside his mind, the "Small Star" space expanded, a vast, silent void of silver-grey mist that felt like it could swallow the entire academy.
Fusion: 1%. Status: Optimal.
"Finally," Li Wei whispered, a predatory, Hemsworth-esque grin spreading across his face. "The spark is back."
The Journey to the Hunting Spirit Forest
Grandmaster had arranged for a carriage. He was taking Tang San and Li Wei to the Hunting Spirit Forest, a government-sanctioned enclosure for spirit beasts. Xiao Wu and Xiao Ling had stayed behind, though Xiao Ling's parting glance—a mix of curiosity and a silent challenge—stayed with Li Wei throughout the bumpy ride.
"The First Spirit Ring is the foundation," Grandmaster explained, his voice droning over the clatter of wheels. "For Tang San, we seek something that supplements the toughness and control of Blue Silver Grass. For you, Li Wei... we seek pure, unadulterated velocity."
"How does the 'Cosmic' thing work again?" Li Wei asked, leaning his head out the window to watch the trees blur. He felt the sun's radiation hitting his skin, and instead of just heat, he felt it being converted into raw kinetic potential.
"I don't 'meditate' like San," Li Wei continued. "I just... exist. My cells are like solar panels. As long as there's a star in the sky, I'm charging. I can use that energy to boost my speed or my strength, but it's capped. Right now, I can probably only boost my stats by about 2 to 5 percent before I start cooking my internal organs."
Grandmaster nodded, scribbling in a notebook. "A self-sustaining energy loop. Remarkable. And your ring configuration? You said it's predetermined?"
"Yellow, Purple, Black, Black, Black, Red, Red, Red, Gold, White," Li Wei recited. "It doesn't matter if I kill a ten-year-old grasshopper or a hundred-thousand-year-old titan. If it's a speed type, the Speed Force filters the energy and gives me the ring I'm 'synced' for. Right now, at level ten, I'm synced for Yellow."
Into the Wilds
The Hunting Spirit Forest was a massive, walled ecosystem. The air was thick with the scent of pine, damp earth, and the underlying pheromones of dangerous creatures. Grandmaster led the way, his martial soul—the bizarre, pig-dog creature Luo Sanpao—waddling ahead of them.
"Sanpao! Fart like thunder!" Grandmaster commanded.
Li Wei choked on a laugh as the yellow smoke cleared a path through the brush. "Okay, that is both the most disgusting and most effective thing I've ever seen. Mad respect for the dog-pig, Grandmaster."
Tang San remained vigilant, his hand hovering over the hidden darts he had fashioned. Li Wei, however, was twitchy. Every rustle in the leaves made his legs itch. He wanted to run. He wanted to feel the friction again.
Suddenly, the canopy above them exploded.
A streak of emerald light descended from the trees, moving with a jagged, erratic rhythm. It was a Ghost-Faced Bamboo Pith, a serpent-like beast known for its incredible leaping speed and a venom that paralyzed the nervous system.
"Get back!" Grandmaster shouted, but the beast was too fast for Luo Sanpao to intercept.
Tang San reacted instantly, his Ghost Perplexing Shadow Steps bringing him in front of Grandmaster, his hands turning a jade-white color. But the serpent changed direction mid-air, its eyes locked on Li Wei—the boy who smelled like ozone and starlight.
"Oh, you want to go?" Li Wei's eyes sparked with yellow electricity. "Let's go, then."
The First Kill
Li Wei didn't move at 101 mph. He stayed at a crisp, controlled 90.
To Tang San and Grandmaster, Li Wei became a blur of silver and yellow. He didn't use a weapon. He didn't have Tang San's intricate techniques. He had momentum. He sidestepped the serpent's lunges, the air whistling as he moved. Each time he moved, a small crack of static electricity echoed.
The serpent was fast, but it was biological. Li Wei was fundamental.
"Hey, long-and-ugly!" Li Wei taunted, his voice echoing from three different positions at once. "Over here!"
The serpent hissed, coiled, and launched itself like a spring. Li Wei saw it in slow motion—the unfolding of its scales, the drip of venom from its fangs. He reached into his core, pulling a tiny fraction of Cosmic Energy into his right fist.
Mass x Acceleration.
He didn't just punch the snake. He met its velocity with his own. His fist collided with the serpent's head, the yellow lightning discharging in a blinding flash. The force was so great that the serpent didn't just fly back; it hit a tree and nearly disintegrated from the kinetic shock.
The beast lay still, its spirit energy dissipating.
"Wei-ge, that was..." Tang San started, but he stopped when he saw the spirit ring.
A ring emerged from the serpent's body. Normally, for a beast of this age, it would be a faint white or a pale yellow. But as the energy drifted toward Li Wei, his silver ring pulsed. The energy was sucked into the Speed Force, processed through an extra-dimensional filter, and spat back out as a deep, vibrant Yellow.
Li Wei sat down, cross-legged. "Time to level up. 1% fusion is about to become 10%."
The Evolution
The absorption process was far more violent than what Tang San experienced. As the Yellow Ring settled around Li Wei, his body began to vibrate at a frequency that made the nearby grass shatter like glass.
His silvery hair grew slightly longer. His muscles, previously those of a six-year-old, leaned out, becoming corded and dense. His height didn't change yet—that would come later—but his presence tripled.
[Fusion Level: 10%]
[Unlocked: Speed Force Basic Suite]
• Increased Mass Strength (Level 10 Cap)
• Vibrational Intangibility (Limited to 0.5 seconds)
• Infinite Mass Punch (Current Power: Sound-barrier break at impact)
Li Wei opened his eyes. They were no longer just blue; they had flecks of gold and white dancing in the pupils. He stood up, feeling like he could jump over a mountain.
"How do you feel?" Grandmaster asked, his voice trembling with academic excitement.
Li Wei looked at his hand. He vibrated it slightly, and it became a translucent blur. "I feel... like I finally have a seat at the table."
He turned toward the direction of the Academy, thinking of the twin sisters, the Shrek trials to come, and the vast multiverse that lay beyond this world's sky.
"Let's go, San. We've got a lot of training to do before we meet the girls again."
Current Status:
• Name: Li Wei
• Level: 11 (Spirit Elder / Speedster)
• Fusion: 11% (1% per level + 1% base)
• Lightning: Bright Yellow
• First Ring: Yellow (Ghost-Faced Bamboo Pith - Filtered)
• Spatial Ring: Doubled in size (Volume: 2 Small Stars)