Chapter 6 The Dice and the Celestial Technique

Ethan Lowe didn't know how much time had passed when he spat out another mouthful of blood. A surge of energy burst from his body, overturning the tent and spreading hundreds of meters around. The monitoring devices outside his tent shattered, and layers of trees were uprooted.
This disturbance drew the attention of the Cook Legion. Immediately, two commanders rushed toward Ethan's location.
One of them was Harvey, and the other was a woman with a charming appearance and curious eyes.
The two commanders arrived outside the ruins of Ethan's tent and looked inside. "Is the new commander Ethan Lowe here?" Harvey called out loudly, with Evolver soldiers cautiously standing behind them.
Soon, Ethan emerged from the wreckage, his face pale and steps unsteady. "Sorry to disturb you both. I am Ethan Lowe," he said.
Harvey and the alluring woman looked at him in surprise. "Why are you so weak?" they asked.
Ethan gave a wry smile. "After watching Saint Arthur perform his combat technique, I was eager to try it myself. But I failed and got injured," he explained.
Understanding dawned on Harvey, who smiled and said, "Ethan, you're too hasty. Not everyone can master combat techniques, and they can't be learned in a short time. All commanders in the Cook Legion have the opportunity to receive personal instruction from Saint Arthur. You don't need to rush."
Ethan nodded earnestly. "I understand now. Thank you for your guidance, Brother Feng."
Harvey waved his hand modestly, lacking the authoritative air he had when serving as an instructor earlier. "No need to be polite. We're all brothers in the Cook Legion, facing the apocalypse together and relying on one another as comrades. I'll have someone arrange a new place for you. You should rest and heal. By the way, do you need a doctor?"
Ethan replied, "No need. It's just superficial wounds and fatigue. There's no need to trouble a doctor."
Harvey nodded. "Alright, then we'll take our leave. Ethan, get some rest," he said, giving the alluring woman a glance.
She nodded, gave Ethan another look, and then left.
Following a soldier, Ethan arrived at a nearby tent. "I'll take my leave now. Commander Ethan, if you need anything, just call me," the soldier said, saluting before departing.
Ethan nodded and entered the tent, his eyes filled with excitement, along with a hint of anxiety and anticipation. He had successfully completed the Body Sculpting process, and it had brought him a great surprise. Thinking of this, Ethan raised his hand, and a palm-sized dice slowly materialized, emitting a faint starlight. It had six faces, just like a regular dice, with each face representing a number from one to six.
This was a "gift," a rare talent that only a few cultivators could awaken after Body Sculpting.
Gifts were mysterious; no one knew where they came from. Many scholars in the universe believed that gifts were tied to the deepest secrets of humanity, representing one's ancient origins. However, this was just speculation; no one could truly research and understand gifts.
Ethan didn't care about the origin of his gift; he cared about the gift itself.
Before coming to Earth, he had heard countless times about the power of gifts. Every cultivator with a gift was considered a genius, recruited by major forces throughout the universe. One of the most famous facts was that any gifted cultivator could directly join the Cosmic Youth Council.
Ethan gazed fervently at the dice. Although his gift was, how to say, peculiar, its utility was the most important thing.
Looking at the dice floating in the void, Ethan gently tapped it. The dice spun rapidly and then gradually slowed down. The six faces began to change, and five of them vanished, leaving only one face showing the number—one dot.
Staring at the single dot, Ethan's mind inexplicably understood its purpose he could randomly obtain any one item from someone else's Void Ring.
Before he could react, the dice emitted a beam of light that shot into the void and disappeared in an instant, as if opening a channel. Then, a chip fell to the ground. The dice dimmed and vanished.
Ethan stared blankly at the chip on the ground. Was this the item it helped me steal—no, retrieve?
He picked up the chip and examined it, then took out Astor's personal terminal from his Void Ring and inserted the chip. A light screen appeared in front of him, displaying three large characters—"Celestial Technique."
Ethan stood stunned, watching the screen flicker with images of people, the cosmos, nebulae, and palm imprints. After half an hour, the chip he had inserted into the personal terminal automatically destroyed itself, snapping Ethan back to reality.
He was shocked; he knew he had obtained something extraordinary.
The Celestial Technique was a cultivation method for absorbing star energy, mimicking the movements of celestial bodies. Theoretically, for each star's movement one could emulate, the speed of absorbing star energy would increase accordingly. Although this Celestial Technique was only an introductory version, it contained methods to mimic the movements of eight stars. This meant that once Ethan mastered it, his speed of absorbing star energy would increase eightfold.
An eightfold increase—what terrifying efficiency. Additionally, the Celestial Technique included a combat skill called "Celestial Palm," where stars appeared with each palm strike, immensely powerful.
Ethan put away the personal terminal, eyes filled with excitement. He had never even heard of the Celestial Technique before, but it was undoubtedly incredibly formidable. Possessing such a powerful cultivation method might mean it came from the Inner Universe.
He suppressed his excitement, never expecting his luck to be so extraordinary. By rolling a one on the dice, the probability of randomly obtaining a combat skill or cultivation method was quite low. Even if it had stolen a pair of underwear for him, he wouldn't have been surprised. Yet, on the first try, he obtained the heaven-defying Celestial Technique, a method that could shape his future.
Unfortunately, it was only an introductory version.
Ethan shook his head with a wry smile, thinking he was getting ahead of himself. Such a cultivation method was undoubtedly a treasured secret of a powerful force and couldn't possibly be fully recorded on a chip. The way it was stored was exceptionally secure, and the destroyed chip was likely a recent recording, probably stolen from some unlucky soul. Obtaining the complete method would be exceedingly difficult.
He stopped overthinking and walked out of the tent, finding a tree to lie under while gazing up at the sky. He began recalling the cultivation method of the Celestial Technique. Mimicking the movement of stars, huh? It seemed he would be spending a lot of nights under the open sky.
At the same time, deep within the vast universe, a colossal towering peak floated slowly, surrounded by dozens of stars. At the summit, flames burned fiercely, making it look like a glowing ember from afar. Every few seconds, the flames would extinguish and then reignite, sending smoke soaring into the cosmic firmament, as if wrapping the dark universe in white ribbons.
Inside the giant peak, a thunderous roar echoed through the cosmos "What did you say? You little brat, the cultivation method is missing? Did you give it to that damned woman again? Get over here!"
In the dark universe, a young man fled in distress, clutching his backside, looking quite disheveled. "Dad, don't accuse me unjustly! I didn't! It's really gone! Damn it!"
"Brat, do you think I'm an idiot? Who could steal under my nose? Get over here!"
"No, Dad! It really disappeared!"
...
Throughout the night, Ethan couldn't figure out anything new. Feeling a bit fatigued, he re-entered Mount Rosworth.
Inside the highest level of Mount Rosworth's internal space, a large conference room was filled with people. The main seat was empty.
As Ethan entered the room, everyone looked at him with various expressions—curiosity, friendliness, skepticism. All sorts of gazes.
"Ethan, sit here," Harvey called out to him immediately upon seeing him.
Ethan naturally took the seat next to Harvey, with the alluring woman he had met the previous night on his other side.
Diagonal from him sat the woman with glasses he had seen before.
Most of those seated were commanders, along with some researchers.
After a short while, Arthur Cook entered the conference room. His gaze swept the room, pausing briefly on Ethan with a hint of confusion before he took the main seat. Smiling, he said, "Let me introduce you all to Ethan Lowe, our new commander."
Ethan stood up, nodded to those around him, and then sat down again.
Introducing Ethan was just a formality. The meeting proceeded to discuss various matters, none of which interested Ethan. It wasn't until half an hour later that the meeting concluded.
As everyone else left, Arthur Cook asked Ethan to stay behind.
"Ethan, yesterday I thought you hadn't absorbed energy crystals for cultivation and wanted to discuss it with you. But it seems you depleted your energy yesterday," Arthur Cook probed, looking at Ethan.
Ethan nodded solemnly. "Saint Arthur, that alien was very strong. Even though he was severely injured, he wasn't easy to deal with. I used up all my energy to kill him."
"I can see that. He was a Heaven-level powerhouse; it's impressive you could kill him," Arthur Cook said with a smile.
Ethan smiled back but didn't reply.
"I heard you came to the Cook Legion yesterday but didn't agree to stay. Why?" Arthur Cook asked, watching him.
"I like freedom and can't stand the atmosphere of the military camp," Ethan replied.
Arthur Cook nodded and sighed. "Many people feel that way. But with the apocalypse upon us, humanity should unite. We need to give up some things when necessary."
"I understand, Saint Arthur," Ethan responded.
Arthur Cook acknowledged with a nod. "How are your injuries?"
"It's alright; I'll recover soon."
"That's the good thing about being an Evolver—quick recovery. Compared to ordinary people, Evolvers are more dangerous. Once they've tasted power, they never want to be weak again. The more they seek strength, the more they have to risk their lives. Countless people fall on this path; even I don't know when I might die," Arthur Cook remarked with emotion.