The ship hummed through warp space.
Stars stretched into lines outside the viewport, elongated bands of light that never quite touched the hull. Three days to the Argentus Nebula. Three days of enforced stillness while the cosmos rushed past at impossible speeds.
Owen sat cross-legged in the cargo bay, eyes closed, breathing controlled.
His CE core pulsed at 487. So close to 500. So close to the threshold for Tier 5, two-stars.
He cycled the Restoration-Cultivation-Technique. Drawing ambient cosmic energy from the ship's surroundings and a core laid before him, filtering it through his center mass, letting it settle and compress. The process was slow and methodical. Each cycle added a single point of CE. Maybe two, if he focused perfectly.
489.
490.
His system chimed softly.
[Cosmic Rank: Tier 5, One star]
[Cosmic Energy: 491]
He exhaled and opened his eyes.
