11: Chapter 11 Dantian Star Chart: From the Planck Scale to the First Force in the Galactic Arms

As the wind on Dome A whipped ice crystals against his face, Chen Wu was staring blankly at the star map on the wall of the bronze tripod.

The bronze tripod had been dug out from the Antarctic ice sheet three days ago—or more accurately, it had "awakened" on its own, shattering the two-thousand-year-old ice shell using a frequency undetectable by any human sensors.

The body of the bronze tripod was engraved with tadpole script and orbital paths. One of the faint patterns happened to overlap perfectly with the Kepler coordinates on Chen Wu's retina—the "Galactic Anchor Point" he had deciphered three years ago from the murals in Cave 257 of the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang. At the time, the old Daoist had called it the "Northern Sea True Yang Path" from the Huangting Jing, but now the Kepler System labeled it as the "Primordial Martial Dao Force Field Excitation Source."

The moment his fingertips touched the tripod wall, the icy metal suddenly became searing hot. When the Kepler System warning popped up, Chen Wu's fingertips had already turned a pale blue with frost:

[ Survival rate for first attempt at Breathing Exercises: 37.2% ]

[ Risk factors: Dantian force field collapse probability 41%; mitochondrial overload explosion probability 19.8%; unknown quantum entanglement reaction 12% ]

[ Suggested exchange: Quantum Dantian Stabilizer (8 million popularity points) / K-cycle acceleration enzyme (consumes Clone XV) ]

The live stream chat exploded. Two hundred million viewers worldwide stared at Chen Wu's furrowed brow on the main screen. The Mount Wudang Daoist account flooded the screen with, "Do not attempt lightly! The Yangxing Yanming Lu says, 'When first practicing Breathing Exercises, one must stabilize with a pill.'" The official NASA account was calculating the "upper limit of ATP production in an excited mitochondrial state," while black market brokers posted a scrolling banner: "Buying Chen Wu's first metabolic byproducts, 1 gram = 15 kilograms of gold."

Chen Wu licked his dry lips and tossed three body tempering pills into his mouth.

They had been poured out of the bronze tripod three days ago—a hidden compartment at the bottom contained seven wax-sealed pills. The Kepler System analysis stated the composition was "quantum entangled particles encased in ultra-concentrated cryogenic plasma," but when he bit through the wax coating, the melting liquid had a bone-chilling minty taste, like swallowing a mouthful of liquid nitrogen.

"Initiate basic mode," he said to the air, closing the exchange interface. The Kepler System's mechanical voice paused in his mind, seemingly confirming his resolve, before the main screen suddenly split into six sub-screens:

• Top left: Thermal imaging of the abdominal cavity, the stomach area instantly turning deep blue (-120°C);

• Top right: Aurora over Antarctica, the originally golden-fragment-like light bands suddenly twisting into the shape of Maxwell's equations' electric field lines;

• Bottom left: Chen Wu's vital signs, heart rate jumping from 72 to 120, blood pressure soaring to 150/90;

• Bottom right: Curve from the global gravitational wave monitoring station, the previously stable waveform suddenly showing sharp peaks—The Pentagon's chat flooded the screen immediately: [ Gravitational wave distortion detected! Amplitude equivalent to 10 hydrogen bombs exploding simultaneously! ]

As the first wisp of Qi settled into his lower abdomen, Chen Wu heard a sound. It was not in his ears, but emerging from his cells—like millions of hummingbirds flapping their wings simultaneously, or some kind of high-frequency resonance. The Kepler System prompts flooded the screen crazily:

[ Mitochondrial clusters collectively transition to excited state: ATP synthesis efficiency increased by 1200% ]

[ Blood oxygen-carrying capacity exceeds super-athlete levels by 3 times, red blood cells appear in a "quantum superposition state" (carrying both oxygen and dark matter particles) ]

[ Dantian location detects a 0.001°C temperature rise: heat source is a quark-level energy cluster mediated by weak force ]

Chen Wu's body began to heat up. It was not a scorching heat, but a heat seeping from the gaps in his bones, carrying a metallic quality—like someone had stuffed a miniature star into his lower abdomen. He tried to guide his Qi according to the "Breathing Exercises Technique" from the Huangting Jing: inhaling to draw the aurora into his nose, exhaling to send the heat flow down into his Dantian. On the third exhalation, the Antarctic aurora suddenly exploded—the originally relaxed bands of light twisted into the Maxwell equation ∇ × E = - ∂ B / ∂ t, green filaments of light filling the night sky with formulas, causing even the NASA live feed to develop purple fringing.

"Warning! Theta wave desynchronization!" When Zhao Qiming's holographic image suddenly popped up, Chen Wu's left ear was ringing. This "Scientific Godfather" of the Kepler Council of Elders was wearing the white lab coat he had died in three years ago, the edges of his virtual image flickering with data turbulence—clearly, he was forcibly connecting using a clone's consciousness backup. His brow was knitted, and Chen Wu's brainwave graph was reflected in his glasses: "Your theta wave frequency differs from the Dantian force field by 0.003 Hz. If this continues, the force field will backlash—"

Before he could finish, Chen Wu's left eardrum ruptured. The moment fresh blood gushed out, it solidified into tiny blood crystals in the ultra-low temperature air, clinking against the rim of the bronze tripod. The Kepler System's red alerts almost filled his retina:

[ Hawking radiation intensity: 8.7 × 10²¹ K (equivalent to the core temperature of 1000 supernovae) ]

[ Schwarzschild radius (Dantian force field gravitational collapse critical point) ]

[ Hint: Your cells are in a "quantum tunneling" state—some neurons have already penetrated the cell membrane ]

The live stream chat went silent for three seconds, then flooded with "My God." The Mount Wudang account suddenly sent a voice message, the old Daoist's chanting: "This is the 'True Yang Breakthrough'! Back in the day, when Immortal Master Zhang reached this step, he also shattered three ear beads!" NASA scientists were calculating: "If the Dantian force field continues to collapse, it will form a miniature black hole—but the Schwarzschild radius is smaller than a proton, so it should not swallow the Earth... right?"

Chen Wu had no time to look at the chat. He was staring at the thermal imaging of his Dantian—that 0.001°C temperature rise had turned into a pale golden vortex, like a galaxy shrunk a hundred million times and stuffed into his stomach. He tried to press his Qi into the vortex, and suddenly heard a "click"—like a lock cylinder aligning with a key.

The moment the warm current exceeded 1 microjoule, the world changed. First, it was his breathing. The white mist Chen Wu exhaled did not dissipate, but condensed into a transparent crystal lattice at the tip of his nose—the Kepler System immediately labeled it: [ Graphene molecular structure, "Internal Energy carrier" guided by the Dantian force field ]. The black market broker's chat instantly scrolled to "1 gram = 20 kilograms of gold," but no one cared—because when Chen Wu's sweat dripped onto the ice, the ice surface suddenly glowed with a blue-purple light.

[ Sweat composition analysis: Contains "Chen's Isotope" with a half-life of 10⁻⁴³s (conforms to Planck time, the form of matter at the first frame of the Universe Big Bang) ]

Then, it was the Antarctic ice sheet. As a muffled sound came from beneath his feet, Chen Wu was staring at his own palm—a layer of pale golden light floated there, like sunlight crushed and held in his hand. The ground of Dome A began to vibrate, cracks spreading like a spider web, and in less than ten seconds, the entire ice sheet collapsed with a roar—revealing the megastructure beneath.

The live stream sub-screens instantly cut to the underwater camera:

• The first item was an anti-gravity engine, engraved with a Taiji Diagram on the engine compartment, with ∇ × E = - ∂ B / ∂ t—Maxwell's "Law of Electromagnetic Induction"—laser-etched next to it;

• The second was three cryo-chambers, with numbers labeled on the glass covers: XIII, XIV, XV, and inside lay people who looked exactly like Chen Wu;

• The third was a massive star map stone slab, the indentation in the center of which could perfectly fit the bronze tripod in Chen Wu's pocket—when the tripod touched the stone slab, the star map lit up, and the brightest star was labeled as "TRAPPIST-1 e," with an error margin of ± 1.5 light-years.

"The Kepler Council of Elders gifted 'Warp Bubble Generation Formula'."

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

When the mechanical voice sounded, the vortex in Chen Wu's Dantian had already turned liquid. He could feel that power flowing through his body—not blood, but something hotter and heavier than blood, like the spiral arms of the Milky Way had been dismantled and wound, strand by strand, around his bones. When the third strand of warm current merged into the vortex, Z bosons suddenly leaped from his palm—pale blue particles dancing on the ice, as if someone had turned a quantum mechanics textbook into a physical reality.

[Hidden Achievement Unlocked: Dantian Star Map]

[Achievement Description: Your Dantian has successfully generated quark-gluon plasma (Tc≈1.9×10¹²K, the state of matter 1 microsecond after the Big Bang) and established "Chen's First Law of Martial Arts"—Internal Energy (Fnei) is mediated jointly by quantum entanglement (ℏc/r² ln|ψ|) and gravity (Gm₁m₂/r²), Formula: Fnei=ℏc/r² ln|ψ|+Gm₁m₂/r²]

[Global Impact: Global power grid frequency synchronized to 50Hz (perfectly matching your heartbeat); the 78th Emergency Session of the United Nations was interrupted, and representatives from twelve nations have departed for Antarctica by private jet; NASA announced that "Chen's Isotope" will be featured on the cover of the next issue of The Astrophysical Journal]

Chen Wu smiled at the Z boson in his palm. He remembered three years ago at the Mogao Caves, when the old Taoist touched a mural and said: "The end of martial arts is not Immortal Ascension, but finding the 'Force of the Universe'—the kind of force that glues galaxies together and kneads atoms into all things." Now he had found it—right inside his own Dantian, from quarks at the Planck scale to the gravity of the Milky Way's spiral arms, all wrapped within that strand of pale gold warm current.

As he finished his cultivation, the waves in Tokyo Bay were surging toward the sky.

Chen Wu saw it on a split screen in the livestream—the seawater suddenly stopped fluctuating and then, centered on Tokyo Tower, surged into a Taiji Diagram with a diameter of 8 nautical miles. The wave height accurately conformed to h=ℏk²/2mg, and every crest shimmered with pale gold light, as if someone had programmed the seawater using a Dantian force field. When divers retrieved a Jade Slip from the sea, archaeologists worldwide went wild—the Jade Slip was engraved with the seal script for "Chen Wu," carbon-14 dating showed it was an artifact from the Qin Dynasty, and the jade material was even imbued with a strand of energy whose frequency matched Chen Wu's Dantian force field.

"This is... mine?"

As Chen Wu stroked the cracks on the Jade Slip, the System suddenly popped up a crimson notification:

[bronze tripod II Form Activation Conditions]

1. Complete Breathing Exercises in the Solar Corona (0/3)

2. Collect supernova remnant elements (0/1)

3. Watch a recording of your own death (1/3)

"Death recording?" Chen Wu frowned, suddenly remembering the clone in the cryochamber—the one numbered XV, which had a crack on the glass cover as if it had been struck by something. The Kepler System immediately pulled up the data: [Clone XV died on November 17, 2024. Cause of death: Consumed by a miniature black hole triggered by a Dantian force field collapse]. Chen Wu's fingertips paused—November 17 was the exact day he had deciphered the star map in Dunhuang.

The roar of propellers interrupted his thoughts.

A row of dark shadows appeared at the edge of Dome A—it was the Special Task Force of the Ministry of State Security. The searchlights of the helicopters illuminated the ice in snow-white, and laser sights converged into a red dot on Chen Wu's chest. A distorted electronic voice came through the loudspeaker, likely using voiceprint masking: "Mr. Chen, we have received orders from the United Nations Security Council. Please hand over the 'Entropy Reduction Crystal' on your person—that is, that strand of force field in your Dantian."

Chen Wu laughed. He raised his hand, and the pale gold stream of light in his palm suddenly expanded—it wasn't the Z boson from before, but the spiral arms of the Milky Way. The light rotated in his palm as if the entire Milky Way had been shrunk and placed in his hand, with every line of light corresponding to a star System. The Kepler System annotated: [Nebula Engine Prototype: A dark matter stream guided by a Dantian force field, capable of propelling a 100,000-ton class spaceship to 0.1 times the speed of light].

"Entropy Reduction Crystal?" Chen Wu shouted toward the loudspeaker, his voice drifting slightly in the wind. "You should call it the 'First Force'—from the Big Bang until now, all forces have originated from here."

The Special Task Force's helicopters suddenly retreated ten meters. The red dots of the laser sights remained, but no one dared to fire—everyone knew that if the Milky Way's spiral arms in Chen Wu's palm moved even slightly, they could level the entirety of Dome A.

Chen Wu looked down at the light stream in his palm. He thought of the clone in the cryochamber, the "Chen Wu" on the Jade Slip, and the star map in the Kepler System—TRAPPIST-1e, that "Super-Earth" 40 light-years away. He suddenly understood that the star map in the bronze tripod was not a "Galactic Anchor," but a "Return Path."

"Tell the United Nations," Chen Wu said to the loudspeaker, "I can talk with them, but first let me complete the activation conditions for the bronze tripod—for example, going to the Solar Corona for Breathing Exercises."

The searchlights of the helicopters flashed three times—the signal of agreement.

Chen Wu turned and walked toward the bronze tripod. The star map on the tripod's walls was still glowing, and one of the dark lines pointed exactly toward TRAPPIST-1e. He reached out to touch the body of the tripod and suddenly heard a soft sound from within—as if someone had tapped it from the inside.

When the notification from the Kepler System popped up, the corners of Chen Wu's mouth curled up:

[Notice: The bronze tripod has been bound to your DNA. The next stage of activation requires "Stellar Energy"—it is recommended to proceed to the Solar Corona (temperature 5×10⁶℃, meeting the conditions for "True Yang Body Tempering")]

The wind at Dome A continued to blow. Chen Wu gazed at the aurora in the sky—it had now taken the shape of the Milky Way, with every strand of light corresponding to the force field in his Dantian. He remembered the "True Yang of the North Sea" mentioned by the old Taoist, the shock he felt before the Dunhuang murals three years ago, and the survival rate notification from the Kepler System this morning—37.2%.

"So the so-called 'survival rate'," Chen Wu whispered to the aurora, "is the ticket the Universe gives to the brave."

He stepped forward toward the collapsed ice hole—there lay the anti-gravity engine. The engine compartment, engraved with Taiji Diagrams and Maxwell's equations, was shimmering with pale gold light, as if waiting for him to start it.

The comments in the livestream were still scrolling. The old Taoist from Mount Wudang posted a long message: "The Huangting Jing says, 'True Yang is born in the North Sea, and the force field connects to the Milky Way'—seeing Mr. Chen today, I finally know that the ancients did not deceive us." NASA scientists were calculating: "If Mr. Chen can complete Breathing Exercises in the Solar Corona, his Dantian force field will upgrade to 'Stellar-level'—by then, humanity might be able to sail directly to TRAPPIST-1e."

Chen Wu didn't look at the comments. His hand rested on the switch of the anti-gravity engine, the Milky Way's spiral arms in his palm resonating with the engine's frequency. When he pressed the switch, the engine compartment emitted a muffled boom—like the first sound of the Big Bang.

The ice surface of Dome A began to rise. The anti-gravity engine carried the bronze tripod, the cryochamber, and Chen Wu, slowly flying toward the sky. The aurora wrapped around him like a cloak of light woven for the ship. Chen Wu looked down at the shrinking Earth and suddenly thought of that strand of warm current in his Dantian—from a 0.001℃ temperature rise to the light stream of the Milky Way's spiral arms, it had only taken an hour.

"Next stop, the Solar Corona."

Chen Wu said to the Kepler System. The mechanical voice of the System carried a rare hint of excitement: "Route planned. Estimated arrival in 72 hours."

He leaned against the glass of the engine compartment, gazing at the Milky Way outside the window. TRAPPIST-1e in the star map was twinkling, as if waiting for him. The warm current in his Dantian was still rotating, as if the entire Universe were contained within—from quarks at the Planck scale to the gravity of the Milky Way's spiral arms, everything was in that light.

This was his first time circulating his power, and it was also the first time humanity had touched the "Force of the Universe."