Feng Lin sat cross-legged on the ground, his chest rising and falling gently, muscles rippling like waves in constant motion. Torrents of heat surged through his meridians like scorching magma, on the verge of erupting from a volcano at any moment.
Gene potential: +36%, +36%, +36%... After three days of intense cultivation, continuously refining perfect-quality life potions, it had skyrocketed to an astonishing 1268%.
But Feng Lin was well aware that this exhilarating surge in gene potential was nearing its end.
These perfect-quality life potions were all obtained from the Huaguoshan spaceship, remnants left behind by Giant Pharmaceutical. The stock was nearly depleted, and making such rapid progress from now on would be difficult.
But that was a concern for later; there was no need to rush for now.
Feng Lin gained another free primal gene point.
The three psychic-type genes—spirit gene, telekinesis gene, and intuition gene—were already maxed out, meeting the conditions for evolving the psychic gene. Only the final step of synthesis and evolution remained.
The psychic gene was a high-level primal gene, only slightly inferior in quality to the Stone Monkey gene. Once awakened, its power would be eerily formidable, merging abilities like mental hypnosis, telekinetic manipulation, and intuitive perception into one. Formless and intangible, it could strike from a distance, employing countless unfathomable techniques that were impossible to guard against.
With the interstellar college entrance exam imminent, every bit of strength mattered. If he could master a second primal gene, Feng Lin could significantly boost his combat power.
Moreover, the psychic gene was a long-range manipulation ability, perfectly complementing the close-combat prowess of the Stone Monkey gene. This synergy would leave Feng Lin with no weaknesses in battle, creating an effect where 1+1 far exceeded 2, greatly enhancing his tactical options.
Thus, Feng Lin was eager to evolve the psychic gene.
His vitality had broken through 90, making him a top-tier interstellar cultivator at the peak of mastery. Yet he wasn’t satisfied.
Because he knew full well.
The interstellar college entrance exam spanned the entire universe.
All of humanity’s geniuses across the cosmos converging in a single exam—what a grand spectacle that would be, a gathering of elites beyond imagination.
Among the strong, there are always stronger. Beyond one mountain lies another.
You never know how powerful your opponent might be.
A mere interstellar cultivator meant little among all of interstellar humanity. Only elite cultivators held a true advantage.
So now, Feng Lin had maxed out the Stone Monkey gene, but the psychic gene remained unawakened. Though his vitality was high, he was only halfway to becoming an elite cultivator.
Awakening the psychic gene was urgent. Once successful, he could immediately invest a free primal gene point, strengthening it to two points and rapidly enhancing his psychic abilities.
Everything was ready—only evolution remained.
With experience from evolving the Stone Monkey gene, Feng Lin followed the familiar path. He slowly immersed his mind into his inner world, where the human gene map lay clear before him.
Three massive golden stars blazed brightly, representing the three maxed-out psychic-type genes.
Feng Lin used his will to merge the three streams of gene power together.
The three stars flickered faintly, and a cascade of starlight, like a clear spring, flowed from the golden stars, gradually converging into one.
Three completely distinct forces merged like great rivers, combining into a vast torrent that surged straight toward the depths of the starry sea.
The river of stars advanced without pause, finally reaching its destination.
A dark star, long hidden in the depths of the cosmos, seemed to have been dormant for ages. Sensing the river’s power, it stirred as if awakening, thumping like a heartbeat—strong and rhythmic.
The river of stars, like a powerful current, poured infinite energy into the dark star, striving to fully rouse it.
Pop!
The starry void trembled!
Suddenly, a visible barrier of starlight emerged on the dark star, like an impenetrable wall of bronze and iron, firmly blocking the river of stars, preventing it from entering.
Huh?
Feng Lin was startled, feeling as if the dark star was bound by invisible chains. No matter how he drove his gene power to assault it, he could make no headway.
The dark star flickered, brightening and dimming. Long dormant, it yearned to awaken but remained locked, unable to unleash its full power.
Was this a gene lock?
Feng Lin recalled a crucial concept from mythological theory.
Mythological genes had been passed down through ancient times, always latent within the human body, never disappearing.
But why couldn’t humans in the ancient Earth era awaken and master超凡 power?
It was because of this gene lock, which bound human potential and infinite possibilities.
It wasn’t until humanity left the solar system, discovered spiritual matter, and cultivated by absorbing these奇异 substances to refine themselves, that they gradually broke the shackles of the gene lock and embarked on the path to transcendence.
Awakening a higher-level gene required not only strengthening the parameter genes in the gene formula to corresponding points but also internal talent and external conditions—multiple stimuli—to fuse the power of those parameter genes, unleash maximum potential, and forcibly break through the gene lock’s limits.
But why hadn’t he encountered a gene lock when awakening the Stone Monkey gene?
Feng Lin wondered privately. The awakening of the Stone Monkey gene had gone smoothly, without any bottlenecks, leading him to assume that external conditions were rarely needed for gene awakening. Now, it seemed otherwise.
There must be a reason!
Feng Lin thought back carefully, combining his cultivation experience with others’ common knowledge, and formed some guesses.
Perhaps it was because his talent on the Sun Wukong mythological path was extraordinarily high.
The original owner of this body came from an ordinary family, with no cultivation resources, and practiced only the most basic, rankless gene breathing technique. Yet he had successively awakened the Ape gene and the Stone Fetus gene, proving his exceptional talent on the monkey path.
He wasn’t the waste others thought him to be; he was simply walking a path so unique it had no precedent.
This was similar to how Zhu Tiangang awakened the Zhu Bajie mythological path—possessing unique talent in that domain, evolving naturally, almost unaware of the gene lock’s constraints.
If Zhu Tiangang was destined to charge forward on the pig path, then he, Feng Lin, was venturing further and further down the monkey path…
Though it was a good thing, Feng Lin felt an inexplicable chill.
A pitiful, tearful expression crossed his mind.
Shaking off these distractions, Feng Lin refocused.
The grand trend of cultivation emphasized defying fate, but in the details, going with the flow often yielded twice the results with half the effort. Stubborn resistance only wasted time and led to poor outcomes.
What external conditions were needed to awaken the psychic gene?
He couldn’t fumble blindly; he had to seek answers through cultivation.
Feng Lin instinctively thought of his previous method of absorbing stellar energy.
Stellar energy was the purest energy in the universe—neutral, balanced, and free of impurities. It could temper the mind and strengthen the spirit.
If he absorbed a vast amount of stellar essence, amplifying his spiritual power to its peak, forming an overwhelming tide, he could surely shatter the gene lock with irresistible force.
In the interstellar era, cities were filled with towering buildings and obstructions, making them poor places to absorb stellar energy!
The higher the altitude for absorbing stellar essence, the better—without external interference, space would be ideal.
Though Feng Lin owned a private spaceship, he couldn’t survive in space yet. Unless his life form evolved into a cosmic being capable of freely moving and living in space, this method was temporarily off the table.
Where on Earth was farthest from the ground?
A faint smile curled at the corner of Feng Lin’s mouth as he thought of a perfect destination.
Without a moment’s delay, he quickly left, boarded his hovercar, and headed straight for a location on Earth.
Earth’s circumference was at most over 40,000 kilometers, and with modern transportation, he could reach any place within an hour.
Half an hour passed swiftly.
The car sped along, and soon Feng Lin saw a majestic snow-capped mountain piercing the sky like a heavenly pillar, covered in white snow, the world a pristine expanse of white.
This was the Himalayas, Mount Everest!
Earth’s highest peak, the third pole of the world.
In the ancient Earth era, this was a forbidden zone for humans, rarely visited.
In the interstellar era, it had become a sacred cultivation ground for Earth’s interstellar cultivators!