The sixteenth floor's gene technique was the Telekinetic Wave Art, but unfortunately, Feng Lin had no telekinetic gene and couldn't learn it at all.
After a brief recovery, he headed toward the seventeenth floor.
The virtual scene on this floor was set in boundless space, with no gravity, his body floating freely like willow catkins in the wind, with nothing to anchor him.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. With nothing around him, Feng Lin couldn't touch any objects, flailing uselessly in place, unable to do anything. This made him extremely uncomfortable.
He was conspicuously wearing a tight-fitting spacesuit, clearly simulating a space combat scenario.
A figure in the same spacesuit lunged at him.
Unlike Feng Lin, who had no foothold, the opponent's gene ability seemed to manipulate gravity, using planetary gravity to move freely in space. This was entirely the opponent's home turf.
The adversary moved nimbly, darting through space like a fish, constantly closing in.
Feng Lin immediately fell into a disadvantage.
But after so many battles, he was no longer the rookie he used to be, displaying seasoned composure.
Being at a disadvantage wasn't the end; the key was not to let his mind panic first.
Feng Lin steadied his mind, focusing first on defense.
At this point, the twelve years of compulsory education in the interstellar era paid off.
The use of wormhole technology made traveling across the stars as common as taking trains or planes in ancient Earth times.
Every school taught spacewalking techniques to every student for free.
After some initial awkwardness, Feng Lin quickly learned how to operate the spacesuit.
He pressed a switch, and gas shot out from the soles of his feet, the recoil allowing him to walk freely in space. Though not as agile as his opponent, he began to counterattack.
Aside from manipulating gravity for agile movement, the opponent's actual combat strength wasn't strong.
After nearly ten minutes of grueling battle, Feng Lin deliberately left an opening, took a hit, then locked the opponent tightly with his body, eventually strangling him to death with sheer strength.
After all, Feng Lin's vitality was now 1.8, slightly higher than the opponent's. Don't underestimate that 0.1—at critical moments, that small gap could mean the difference between life and death.
Fortunately, Feng Lin had the last laugh.
Gene potential +12%.
Though this battle was tough, it lacked any technical finesse, yielding pitifully little potential.
He couldn't learn the gene technique "Gravity Lightness Art" either. Without stopping, he entered the eighteenth floor.
The eighteenth floor corresponded to a vitality index of 1.8, marking the first time he entered a tower floor matching his vitality.
This time, it was on a planet shrouded in eternal darkness.
The universe is vast, full of wonders, and anything is possible.
This planet had no star shining on it year-round, dark and cold, its surface covered in layers of ice and an endless frozen sea.
As soon as Feng Lin entered, he felt a bone-chilling cold, around minus seventy degrees. The biting wind hit his face, and he felt like he was freezing solid.
He recognized this place—it was Viking Star!
This was one of the few human colonial planets without a sun in interstellar space. Rich in various rare minerals, it was occupied by humans who used mineral-generated power for energy year-round.
The wind was like a knife, cutting into his skin.
Feng Lin's opponent was a burly white man, bare-chested, as if the deadly cold that could freeze a person solid felt like a warm breeze to him.
This was a Viking Star native, said to have the bloodline of ancient Earth Vikings, who had established a colony here, forming an independent minor power among interstellar humans.
"Kid, you dare trespass on our Viking Star? You're asking for death!" The Viking grinned savagely, his red eyes fixed on Feng Lin, fierce and menacing.
The next moment, he clenched his hand, and the surrounding cold air rapidly gathered, forming a trident that he thrust fiercely.
The Ice Trident Whale Art!
The Vikings were bloodthirsty and brutal, using a gene martial art improved from their racial traditional ancient martial arts, said to be used for hunting black ice whales on the Black Star.
The trident flew through the air, radiating piercing cold.
Feng Lin didn't retreat. "Mighty Vajra Hand!"
He used the essence of the Vajra Demon-Subduing Fist, circulating his blood and activating the stone embryo gene within him.
His hands turned like forged iron and stone, dark and lusterless, yet incredibly hard, shattering the trident with a single punch.
Only a chill extended from his palm, threatening to freeze his blood.
Feng Lin circulated his blood, and a surge of heat dispelled the cold.
With his first strike failing, the Viking became even more狂暴, continuously forming and hurling tridents, while charging at Feng Lin like a tiger.
Such extreme cold greatly affected people; ordinary individuals would struggle to endure, their combat power severely diminished, and facing such a fierce assault from the Viking would be utterly disastrous.
But unfortunately for him, though both of Feng Lin's awakened genes were low-grade, they were body-enhancement types, and he had enhanced them to unprecedented levels, greatly boosting his physique, making him no worse than the Viking.
The harsh cold environment had little effect on him.
Though the Ice Trident Whale Art was fierce, with Feng Lin's stone embryo gene at 7 points, his skin and bones were as tough as ordinary weapons.
Moreover, the Viking was aggressive but slow.
And speed was precisely Feng Lin's strength.
It could be said that he was naturally countered by Feng Lin, so what was the outcome?
Feng Lin threw punch after punch, like thunder, shattering the cold-condensed tridents one by one, and finally delivered a hand blade to the Viking's throat, dispersing him into energy.
Gene potential +22%.
"Another win!"
"How can he still have such astonishing combat power in such harsh conditions?"
"Judging by his performance, this student has only awakened body-enhancement genes, usually considered low-grade. Why are they so strong on him?"
...
The homeroom teachers watching were deeply shocked, their faces full of disbelief and confusion.
They hadn't expected that after the sixteenth floor, Feng Lin wouldn't stop but would instead charge forward unstoppably, breaking through two more floors, leaving them astounded.
"Can't even Viking Star stop him?" the female homeroom teacher murmured, a bit dazed.
Her gaze shifted to another spot. The class's top student, Zhao Kai, was also on the eighteenth floor of the virtual martial tower.
But compared to Feng Lin, Zhao Kai's performance was utterly pathetic—like night and day.
Zhao Kai had awakened fire and metal genes, allowing him to control fire and metal.
But his fire was extinguished by the cold wind, and his once-hard metal froze into brittle shards that shattered on touch.
Such a performance was too embarrassing. With his vitality of 2.2, he couldn't even defeat an opponent with 1.8, let alone compare to Feng Lin. The female homeroom teacher couldn't bear to watch.
Feng Lin's performance, on the other hand, brought her credit.
Comparing people can be deadly; comparing goods makes you want to throw them away.
Unconsciously, the scales in her heart began to tip.
At that moment, the martial art rewarded on the eighteenth floor, the Ice Trident Whale Art, appeared, requiring the awakening of an ice gene. As before, Feng Lin couldn't learn it.
"It seems getting gene martial arts for free is a bit tough!" Feng Lin sighed at his bad luck, ready to continue upward.
Suddenly, his legs gave way, and he nearly fell.
Had his stamina run out again?
Feng Lin gasped for breath, feeling he had truly reached his limit, unable to go on.
"Should I stop here?" he thought, wavering.
But then he shook his head, immediately discarding that cowardly thought.
He was already on the eighteenth floor, with only two left to reach the twentieth.
This was another watershed!
The opponent on the twentieth floor had a vitality of 2.0. If he could break through this floor, it would mean his strength could rank in the upper-middle of the school's graduating class.
He still had one gene point left. Adding it would restore him and allow him to continue!
Without hesitation, Feng Lin decisively added the point.
"Name: Feng Lin Vitality: 1.9 Monkey Gene: 10 Stone Embryo Gene: 8 Gene Potential: 152%"
The stone embryo gene was officially enhanced to 8 points.
Crackle, crackle!
His bones crackled like firecrackers, and his skin took on a smooth, jade-like texture, but on closer inspection, it was covered in fine lines. He flicked his skin, and it rang like striking iron.
Was this the state of the stone embryo gene nearing its limit?
Feng Lin found it incredible.
With further breakthroughs, there might be even more wondrous changes.
Only two points away from maxing out the stone embryo gene, after which he could formally fuse genes to evolve to a higher level.
Feng Lin looked up at the higher floors of the martial tower, a glint of ambition flickering in his eyes as he slowly ascended.
On the nineteenth floor, with his vitality breaking through to 1.9 again, this floor was still a level-matched battle.
But this time, it was surprisingly easy.
The opponent was a master of assassination, clad in black with a covered face, like a ninja from the East, able to hide like a shadow. What gene he had awakened was unknown.
Such an opponent was hard to guard against and very troublesome.
But Feng Lin's enhanced skin defense was beyond imagination. The opponent's thrown weapons hit him like striking an iron wall, unable to break through.
Though the opponent had a vitality of 1.9, his speed and strength were no match for Feng Lin.
Finally, Feng Lin deliberately left an opening, let himself be hit, grabbed the opponent's neck, and snapped it, winning easily.
Gene potential +16%.
This time, the opponent couldn't even break his defense, completely countered, yielding little potential.
The Shadow Ninja Art required awakening a shadow gene, and Feng Lin still couldn't learn this gene martial art.
"Even a ninja from the East can't beat him! This kid is defying the heavens!" Everyone was stunned. This floor had stumped many, with countless unable to deal with the elusive ninja, yet Feng Lin solved it so easily.
It all felt like an illusion.
Fighting above his level, overcoming a 0.4 vitality gap, and succeeding!
Everyone grew more curious.
Where was Feng Lin's limit?
And Feng Lin wanted to know that too.
Others didn't realize, but Feng Lin knew that with gene additions, his vitality had already reached 1.9.
The next floor was the twentieth, different from before.
For Feng Lin, this was a true fight above his level, and he had no free gene points left.
That meant he had lost his final trump card for climbing the tower. This would definitely be a tough battle.
Whether he could reach the next level depended on this fight!
He slowly sat cross-legged, adjusting his breath to restore himself to peak condition, then headed straight for the twentieth floor of the martial tower.
What Feng Lin didn't expect was that this time, his opponent would be...
An alien?
No, it should be called...
An extraterrestrial race!