His skin bulged, forming an impenetrable stone shell that tightly encased Feng Lin within.
Feng Lin transformed into a Heart Ape, guarding himself closely, resisting the heat of the core's magma. This was a special ability he naturally acquired after his Stone Monkey gene reached its maximum level—Stone Fetus Transformation. At the cost of losing bodily mobility, he turned into a stone fetus, enhancing his defense to the extreme. The underground lava flows, reaching tens of thousands of degrees, instantly incinerated the Martians who rashly intruded, leaving not even ashes behind. Yet Feng Lin emerged unscathed—this was the ultimate defense of the Stone Fetus Transformation.
Since confirming he could successfully refine the alchemy furnace, Feng Lin had devised this plan. The Martian Revolutionary Army came in endless waves, and relying solely on his own strength, it was difficult to fight an entire army. How long would he have to keep killing? No matter how powerful he was, he would eventually be worn down to death. So Feng Lin simply opened the alchemy furnace, channeling the core's lava flow, turning the area into a hell of flames where no one could enter, leaving only him to survive through his Stone Fetus ability.
Feng Lin became a stone ape within the fetus, bobbing up and down in the magma. It contained the star core's fire, extremely hot and pure, constantly tempering his body. The stone shell grew increasingly transparent, smooth, and glossy. If it was like ordinary jade before, now impurities were gradually being removed, becoming more transparent, transforming into flawless, pure mutton-fat jade.
Although the Stone Monkey gene had reached its maximum, this didn't mean his abilities were honed to the extreme. Gene enhancement only represented talent; once talent peaked, ability growth required continuous practice to gradually increase, with no end in sight. Sun Wukong was born as a Spirit Stone Monkey, but his immense power wasn't innate—he merely had great talent and a mind far sharper than his peers, starting as an obscure, weak stone monkey. Later, Sun Wukong crossed the four seas, endured countless hardships, and finally took the Bodhi Patriarch as his master, learning earth-shattering skills to become the Great Sage Equal to Heaven!
Thus, gene enhancement only maximizes a certain genetic talent; how it's used varies from person to person, differing based on methods of use and cultivation. For example, with the same ice gene, some use ice-shaping abilities to break through the air and kill enemies, while others choose the freezing power of ice to freeze everything, killing with cold...
Under the tempering of the star core's fire, Feng Lin's body toughness began to transform. Impurities were constantly forced out of his body, instantly burning into green smoke and dissipating. The nutrients he had stored were rapidly consumed, but his body shrank like it had dehydrated, dropping from 1.98 meters to 1.90 meters, then to 1.78 meters. This didn't mean Feng Lin had weakened; rather, his body was purified, becoming more refined. If his body was once made of steel, it was now the hardest alloy, with internal structures changing—bones were white as jade, showing a faint metallic luster, and tendons were twisted like steel wires, extremely tough.
A realization dawned on Feng Lin. The path of cultivation has no end; if you don't advance, you regress. These experiences would become the most valuable lessons, lingering in his heart, unforgettable forever.
The core's lava poured in, burning everything in the alchemy furnace to ashes—the Titan giant corpse, Frank's body... all turned to dust, no longer existing. No matter how formidable they were in life or how high their status, in the end, it all came to nothing. Truly a grand blaze, burning the human world clean.
For a time, only Feng Lin remained in the furnace space, curled up in the stone fetus. While tempering his body, he also secretly formed seals, using his mental power to continue refining the furnace, engraving his spiritual imprint deep within it, forming an intangible connection. As the imprint deepened, the connection grew tighter, feeling as natural as moving his own limbs. Feng Lin felt that with just a slight thought, he could control the furnace at will.
"Is this the ancient relic the Giant Pharmaceutical Company excavated?" "There seem to be remnants of Giant Pharmaceutical inside! We must capture him!" "What? The first batch of people who went in were all burned to ashes!" ...
From the tunnel above the furnace space came another series of angry shouts. Clearly, the drastic changes in the core had attracted more Martian Revolutionary Army soldiers.
"What a hassle!" Feng Lin frowned, suddenly manipulating the alchemy furnace to shake violently, completely detaching it from the tunnel. The furnace lid slammed shut. Amidst a chorus of exclamations, the furnace sank toward the deepest part of the core. This way, the furnace space was completely isolated from the outside, allowing him to temporarily settle down and focus on refining the furnace without disturbance. Unless the Martian Revolutionary Army had technology to penetrate the core, they couldn't possibly harm him.
Even so, to avoid any complications, Feng Lin began refining the furnace with all his might. Mars was embroiled in civil war, chaos everywhere—not a place to linger. The sooner he left, the better.
A silver light flickered on Feng Lin's brow, and his mental power surged out, instantly flooding into the alchemy furnace. But this furnace, a timeless treasure left by the Furnace Immortal Sect, contained space within, full of profound mysteries. As his mental power probed inside, it felt like falling into a bottomless pit, unable to find an end, sensing hidden mysterious energies far beyond his current ability to explore. After several attempts, he returned empty-handed and had to reluctantly give up, hastily leaving a spiritual imprint. This meant he had only initially refined the furnace, not fully mastered it.
But this was more than enough. The interstellar cultivators' realms were far too low, utterly insufficient to fully control this alchemy furnace. Reaching this point was already Feng Lin's current limit.
Feng Lin felt no great regret, thinking to himself, *Time to leave!*
The core was at the center of Mars; staying too long would make him a trapped turtle, unable to escape. According to what Frank had said, there was a secret tunnel in the core leading to Mars's highest volcano, Olympus Mons, over 20,000 meters tall. He could travel from the core through the volcano's crater back to the surface.
Using the memories Frank had revealed, Feng Lin maneuvered the furnace through the core. If the core's lava was an ocean, the furnace became a submarine. With a thought, he could control its movement at will, truly magical. Soon, he reached the location from the memories.
The core's interior space was a labyrinth of countless underground tunnels, but before Feng Lin appeared a massive underground cave, with rolling magma flowing like an underground river of fire, leading to an unknown destination.