As a celestial body, drawing upon the images of all things, this is known as the Wanxiang Heavenly Attraction.
Mana rewrote the levels of gravity. The distorted gravity field made Wang Qi feel an uncomfortable integral. The long sword was driven by the gravity, involuntarily crashing toward Ai Changyuan's left fist. At that moment, Ai Changyuan put the apple back into his storage bag and then flipped his right palm over, viciously slamming down on Wang Qi's long sword!
Gravity is the force that binds matter, causing it to converge. Attacks filled with gravity have an extremely terrifying effect on the material plane. Wang Qi had no doubt that Ai Changyuan's strike could shatter his sword.
"I, Wang Qi, will not be defeated by the same move twice!" Wang Qi roared, his gaze suddenly becoming profound as he shifted his focus. At this time, heaven and earth changed color in his eyes, everything abstracred out, forming a more straightforward, more essential scene.
In that instant, Ai Changyuan's fist disappeared from Wang Qi's vision, replaced by a mysterious curved surface. Wang Qi's toes gripped the ground, his back muscles powered up, pulling the blade in his hand upwards. Muscles, strengthened by quantum fields bonding the chemical bonds, performed better than springs, unleashing the accumulated strength in a flash!
All of Wang Qi's strength acted upon the long sword. The poor-quality sword, awkward and oblique, chopped toward Ai Changyuan's right hand, its speed ever increasing.
"Borrowing my gravity for acceleration?" Ai Changyuan casually slapped toward the long sword. However, as if a miscalculation had occurred, the long sword actually brushed past his palm. His own intended strike to shatter the sword fell through emptiness. Meanwhile, the long sword, borrowing both the strength of Wang Qi and the gravity of Ai Changyuan, had accelerated to an unbelievable realm. With this speed, Wang Qi directly exited Ai Changyuan's sphere of influence.
"Is this... a variant of the cycloid?" Ai Changyuan felt something and became slightly cautious of Wang Qi's sword technique.
The cycloid, also known as the brachistochrone, is the optimal geometric figure that describes an object's continuous change within a gravity field, borrowing strength from gravity.
The trajectory of Wang Qi's slash was a variant of the brachistochrone in a complex gravity field.
Watching Wang Qi regrouping in the distance, Ai Changyuan smiled, "Not bad, it seems you came well prepared."
Wang Qi nodded, "That's right, in order to overcome my motion sickness, these past few days I've only been drinking porridge for breakfast and lunch, only having a proper meal for dinner—it's hardly a way for a person to live!"
Ai Changyuan's mouth twitched slightly, "Seems you're focusing on the wrong point... Regardless. Ordinary moves indeed can't handle you anymore. I say, let's just go straight to using our ultimate moves."
Go straight to the ultimate moves? What is this guy planning?
Wang Qi instinctively felt something was off. While he was filled with doubts, Ai Changyuan had already raised his hands parallel to his sides, palms facing upward. Then, the connection of gravitational strings between him and the planet broke off, and Ai Changyuan floated upward. Then, the mighty force unique to celestial bodies gathered toward him.
"This gravity..." Feeling the abnormalities surrounding him, Wang Qi's color slightly changed: "The gravity he's borrowing this time far exceeds the previous! Is this... is this the role of that apple?"
He can't allow him to complete this move!
Wang Qi, enduring the disorientation caused by the changing gravity, circulated his cultivation technique. Silver radiance covered the long sword as the Heavenly Song power instantly peaked.
This time, he would gift another pulse wave of mana.
Wang Qi quickly calculated the trajectory between the swords, then, he made an empty slash with the long sword, leaving a silver streak in the air.
The long sword made a second empty slash... Ai Changyuan still hadn't moved.
By the time the fifth streak appeared, Ai Changyuan finally made his move. He stretched out his arms, his body drawing a circle, his palms painting an indescribably carefree perfect arc through the air.
Then, a blurred and chaotic region spread along the arc drawn by Ai Changyuan. Then, he made a second circle.
The long sword slashed emptily for the sixth time.
Wang Qi couldn't see Ai Changyuan's movements already. Spotted patches covered him, as if a mosaic had been applied.
"This is... the complex gravity field interfering with light, making light's propagation become utterly chaotic!"
The youth was secretly shocked. This was not a method that should be available at the Qi Cultivation Stage. Could it be that that apple allowed Ai Changyuan to reach such a realm?
Just then, Wang Qi suddenly felt an awkward sensation. He looked around subconsciously but didn't notice anything unusual. At that moment, Ai Changyuan was completely enveloped in an invisible region formed by mana.
"Tsk, tsk." Wang Qi made the eighth slash, thinking to himself, "The last time we met you were only good at rolling dough, and now you've even learned 'Heavenly Return,' huh?"
Just one more slash, connecting the strength of the previous strikes...
At that moment, the awkward feeling in Wang Qi's heart suddenly intensified.
What's happening... what have I sensed?
A foreboding feeling caused Wang Qi's heart to tighten. Amid his confusion, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He, with the agility of a startled cat, leaped backwards.
Then, his vision blurred.
Wang Qi, puzzled, looked behind him, where Ai Changyuan stood. Floating between them were some shredded cloth, remnants of his sleeve that he hadn't managed to fully dodge. Only then did Wang Qi notice a slight pain below his ear. When he touched it, his fingers came away blood-red.
It had only grazed him, but the terrible force tore off a piece of skin and flesh!
What had just happened?
Wang Qi abruptly woke to the realization, exclaiming, "You bastard... That was Cosmic Light Expansion triggered by gravity!"
Cosmic Light, that which Earth calls "time."
The essence of gravity is the warping of space caused by matter. Matter determines the shape of space, which in turn determines how matter moves. This is the classical General Relativity, the understanding of matter and space-time in the Modern Cultivation Technique.
And General Relativity also posits an important point—time is the vector of motion.
In other words, "controlling gravity" is "controlling space," and further still "controlling time."
Ai Changyuan's Qi Cultivation Level mana indeed wasn't enough to stop time, but it was sufficient to cause several minor, discontinuous expansions of space-time, allowing for slight deviations in his own perception of time!
"This is bad," Wang Qi looked squarely at Ai Changyuan, his expression grave. "The eyes can't be trusted, for light has already changed when passing through the complex gravity field—just like fishing in water, the fish isn't where you see it!"
"Now, even the sense of time can't be trusted! Irregular minor space-time expansions will just make all my predictions about him, a complete joke!"