Swallowing the Stars: Starting with Panlong

Chapter 5: The Secret of the Little Cauldron

As night deepened, Baruch Manor fell silent.

Lin Yun sat cross-legged on the bed, his eyes closed, but he couldn't fall asleep. He was trying something very important.

His Qi-gathering cultivation during the day confirmed one thing for him—cultivating in the Panlong World could indeed strengthen his body and senses. But what he was more curious about was what kind of connection could be established between the two worlds.

The small tripod rested quietly against his chest, its bronze surface gleaming softly in the moonlight.

Lin Yun took a deep breath and focused all his attention on the small cauldron on his chest. He tried to "touch" it with his mind, just like he tried to sense the genetic energy in the air in the Swallowed Star world.

At first, nothing happened.

The small cauldron was like an ordinary piece of bronze or iron, cold and unresponsive.

But Lin Yun did not give up. He adjusted his breathing, slowed down his pace, and entered a semi-meditation state—a method he had figured out over the past six years in the Swallowed Star world. Although there were no systematic meditation techniques there, he knew from his previous life that focus itself was a kind of power.

Time passed by, second by second.

Just when Lin Yun was about to give up, he suddenly felt a faint connection.

It was a very strange feeling—like an invisible thread extending from the small cauldron to some distant place. The thread was faint, sometimes there, sometimes not, but it was real.

Lin Yun's heart suddenly raced.

He carefully extended his perception along the thread, as if it were the first time he had tried to touch an external object with his mental power, cautious and focused.

The other end of the thread is connected to another body.

He could feel the heartbeat, breathing, and body temperature of that body—it was his body in the world of Devouring the Stars, now lying on a small bed in a low-rent apartment in Yangzhou, fast asleep.

Two bodies, one soul.

Lin Yun opened his eyes, and the light in them was brighter than ever before.

He could now sense two worlds. Not the vague, passive perception, but a clear, active connection. It was as if the small cauldron had built a bridge between his two bodies, allowing his consciousness to switch between the two worlds at any time.

He tried to shift more of his attention to the body of the Swallowing Star world.

The next moment, he felt a slight dizziness, and the world before his eyes instantly changed.

The moonlight of Yangzhou shone through the dilapidated window and fell on Lin Yun's face.

He opened his eyes and saw the mottled ceiling of the low-rent apartment and a spider web that had tangled several times in the corner. He could hear his grandfather's even snoring from the next room and the occasional bark of a dog in the distance.

He sat up and looked down at his hands—these hands were slightly larger than those in the Panlong World, with more distinct knuckles, and several scars on his skin from playing in the ruins.

Lin Yun took a deep breath, sensing the condition of his body.

For six years, although he had been waiting for the small cauldron to be reactivated, he never stopped training this body. Without a systematic cultivation method, he figured it out on his own—the knowledge he had learned in the gym in his previous life, combined with his vague understanding of the cultivation system of the Swallowed Star world, allowed him to develop a basic training method that suited him.

Getting up early every day to run, practice horse stance, do push-ups and pull-ups, plus mental focus training—these seemingly simple basic exercises, when persisted with for six years, have yielded considerable results.

Lin Yun clenched his fist, feeling the power contained within his arm muscles. Although he still lacked the natural physical abilities of Luo Feng, he was already far superior to ordinary children his age.

More importantly, the "aura" he felt when cultivating the Qi Gathering Style in the Panlong World could also be faintly sensed in this body. Although much weaker, it was definitely there.

What does this mean?

This means that his cultivation achievements in one world will be fed back to his body in another world in some form!

Lin Yun's heart raced again.

He closed his eyes again, switching his consciousness back to the Panlong World.

In a room at Baruch Manor, Lin Yun's "other self" opened his eyes.

The moonlight remained the same, and time seemed to have passed in the blink of an eye.

But Lin Yun knew that the switch just now was not an illusion. He had indeed transferred his consciousness between the two worlds.

He touched the small cauldron on his chest, and a bold idea surged into his mind.

If consciousness can be switched freely, then... what about objects?

If Xiao Ding can carry his soul through two worlds, can he also carry other things with him?

Lin Yun looked around the room, his gaze falling on a small wooden carving on the bedside table. It was carved for him by Lin Lei a few days ago. Although the craftsmanship was rough, Lin Lei had put a lot of effort into it; it was a small dragon.

Lin Yun picked up the wood carving, held it in his palm, then closed his eyes and focused his attention on the small cauldron.

"Take it with me," he murmured to himself, "take this wooden carving to another world."

The small cauldron was slightly warm, but otherwise there was no other reaction.

Lin Yun frowned and tried several more times, but still failed.

He thought for a moment and changed his approach. Perhaps instead of "taking it over," he should... put it into the small cauldron first?

He refocused his attention, and this time, he tried to "incorporate" the wood carving into the small cauldron—just as the cauldron had once housed his soul.

The bronze patterns on the surface of the small tripod suddenly lit up.

The light was very faint, almost invisible in the moonlight, but Lin Yun definitely felt it—the wooden carving trembled slightly in his hand, and then it disappeared.

It didn't fall, it didn't move, it truly disappeared.

Lin Yun suddenly opened his eyes and looked down at the small cauldron in his hand.

On the surface of the small tripod, the ancient patterns seemed to be flowing slightly, as if digesting something. And in the center of the patterns, a small point of light could be vaguely seen, its shape... like a wood carving.

Lin Yun's heart almost jumped out of his chest.

He switched his consciousness to the Swallowed Star world—

In his room in Yangzhou, he looked down at his hands.

My palms are empty.

But just as he was feeling disappointed, the small bronze cauldron on his chest glowed slightly, and a tiny object emerged from its mouth and gently landed in his hand.

It's that wood carving.

Lin Yun stared blankly at the wooden carving in his hand, and it took him a long time to come back to his senses.

The small tripod can transport objects.

He knew better than anyone what this meant.

Resources from both worlds—magical materials and martial arts techniques from the Panlong world, and gene potions and technological products from the Swallowed Star world—can be exchanged through the Small Cauldron!

He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

This discovery was too important, important enough to change his cultivation trajectory in both worlds. But now was not the time to get excited; he needed to test the little cauldron's abilities more systematically.

Are there any size restrictions on the objects that can be teleported? Are there any weight restrictions? Are there any distance restrictions? What is required for teleportation? Is there a limit to the number of times teleportation can be performed?

These issues all need to be verified one by one.

Lin Yun placed the wooden carving on the bedside table in the Swallowed Star World, then switched his consciousness back to the Panlong World.

He decided to start testing with the smallest objects.

A pebble.

He took a small pebble from the flowerpot on the windowsill, held it in his palm, and tried to put it into the small cauldron.

Successful.

The pebble disappeared from his hand and reappeared within the patterns of the small cauldron. He switched to the Swallowed Star world and took the pebble out.

Then came the second one, the third one...

Next came a copper coin, a leaf, a glass of water...

Each attempt was successful, but Lin Yun noticed a pattern: the larger and heavier the object being teleported, the slower the cauldron's reaction and the dimmer its light. When he tried to teleport a fist-sized rock, the cauldron's light noticeably weakened, and the teleportation time increased from an instant to nearly three seconds.

There is consumption.

Lin Yun noted this observation in his mind. The small cauldron was not omnipotent; its energy seemed to be limited, and the larger the object it transferred, the greater the energy consumption.

Then... how do we restore energy?

He thought about it and concluded that it was probably related to soul power. The small cauldron was bound to its soul, and its energy likely came from the nourishment of soul power. By practicing meditation and strengthening his soul, the small cauldron could restore its energy.

This is a positive cycle.

Lin Yun's lips curled up slightly, and the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Over the next few days, Lin Yun spent his days in the Panlong World practicing the Qi Gathering Style with Lin Lei under Hillman's guidance, and his nights using the small cauldron to freely travel between the two worlds, continuing to test the cauldron's capabilities.

He discovered several important things:

First, the small cauldron's teleportation requires energy, and the energy recovery speed is related to the cultivation progress of his two bodies. The longer he meditates in the Panlong World and the more intensely he trains in the Swallowed Star World, the faster the small cauldron's energy recovers.

Secondly, there are limitations to the distance objects can be teleported—at least for now. He tried teleporting objects to places slightly further away in the Swallowed Star world, but the cauldron could only teleport objects to within a meter of his other body. This means that the cauldron is more like a "personal teleportation device" than a long-distance transport tool.

Third, transferring live animals—he tried putting an ant into the small cauldron; the ant survived for about ten seconds before dying. This means that the space inside the cauldron is not yet suitable for storing live animals. Or rather, he hasn't yet mastered the method for storing live animals.

Fourth, he tried to cultivate the Qi-gathering style in the Swallowed Star World, but the effect was not as good as in the Panlong World. However, he discovered that the results of cultivation in the two worlds could be "superimposed" to a certain extent through the small cauldron.

Specifically, the "qi sense" he accumulates through Qi cultivation in the Panlong World will strengthen his physique in the Swallowed Star World in some way; and the physical qualities he strengthens through basic training in the Swallowed Star World will also make his Qi cultivation in the Panlong World smoother.

Two worlds, two bodies, connected by the small cauldron, forming a perfect closed loop of cultivation.

Lin Yun even had a bold conjecture—if he cultivated battle qi or learned magic in the Panlong World, could these abilities be "transferred" to his body in the Swallowing Star World through the small cauldron?

If this conjecture is true, then his power in both worlds will no longer be a simple addition, but a multiplication.

This idea excited Lin Yun so much that he barely slept all night.

But he quickly calmed down.

He is still too weak. In the Panlong World, he is just a six-year-old child who has just begun to cultivate the Qi Gathering Style; in the Swallowed Star World, he is just an ordinary person who is not even a quasi-martial artist. The top experts in both worlds could easily crush him.

What he needs now is not unrealistic ambitions, but practical action.

Lay a solid foundation, practice the Qi-gathering technique to its fullest potential, and integrate the basic cultivation methods of both worlds.

Then, let's talk about other things.

On the seventh night, Lin Yun conducted another shuttle test.

This time, he tried something different—transferring a level-three magical beast core from the Panlong World (a small core left behind by Hillman after hunting low-level magical beasts a few years ago, which Hillman gave to Lin Yun on his birthday) to the Swallowed Star World.

When the crystal core, the size of a fingernail, appeared on the small bed in the low-rent apartment in Yangzhou, Lin Yun could feel that the light of the small cauldron had dimmed considerably, and the energy it consumed was several times greater than that of the teleportation stone.

But the crystal core was indeed transmitted.

Lin Yun picked up the crystal core, sensing the energy it contained. In the Panlong World, these low-level magical beast crystal cores could only be used to craft simple magical items or sold to merchants for money. But in the Swallowed Star World…

He tried to use his mind to perceive the energy structure within the crystal nucleus.

Then, he froze.

The energy structure in the Warcraft Crystal Core and the genetic energy permeating the air of the Swallowed Star World are surprisingly similar to each other!

Both are forms of "source energy" that can be absorbed and utilized by the human body, but they differ in their form and density.

What does this mean?

This means he might be able to use the magical beast cores from the Panlong World in his cultivation in the Swallowed Star World!

Lin Yun forced himself to calm down.

This discovery is so significant that it requires extreme caution. He is still too young and only has a superficial understanding of the cultivation systems of both worlds. Conducting cross-dimensional energy experiments rashly would be far too risky.

He needs time. He needs to learn more, accumulate more experience, and gradually figure things out.

The small tripod gave him endless possibilities, but how to use these possibilities required wisdom and patience.

Lin Yun carefully put away the crystal core, then closed his eyes and switched his consciousness to the Panlong World.

Outside the window, the moonlight was like water.

In the courtyard of Baruch Estate, the dragon-shaped stone sculpture casts a long shadow in the moonlight.

Lin Yun lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling, a faint smile playing on his lips.

Two worlds, two bodies, a small cauldron.

He already possesses the strongest trump card for rising in this universe.

All that's left is time and effort.

What he has no shortage of is patience.

The next morning, Lin Yun went to the courtyard with Lin Lei for training as usual.

Hillman was already waiting, and the other children arrived one after another.

"Continue practicing the Qi Gathering Stance today." Hillman's gaze swept over all the children. "Remember, there are no shortcuts in cultivation, only daily accumulation. Anyone who thinks they can become an expert after practicing for a few days should go home as soon as possible."

The children responded in unison.

Hillman's voice rang out again: "Everyone, begin!"

The children immediately dispersed and began their day of training.

Lin Yun stood in the group, adjusted his breathing, and got into position.

He felt completely at peace.

Xiao Ding's secret is something he won't tell anyone—at least not now. This world is too dangerous, and he's still too weak; protecting the secret is protecting himself.

But he knew that from this day forward, everything would be different.

With two realms running parallel, his path is wider than anyone else's.