The crystalline medicine had a restrained potency, appearing devoid of energy fluctuations, but the moment it entered his throat, it exploded. Feng Lin felt scorching energy like magma pouring down from his throat into his body, engulfing him in a volcanic inferno, nearly reducing him to ashes. Truly, this potion refined from a超凡 organ was formidable—such a violent surge of medicinal power was something Feng Lin hadn't experienced since becoming an interstellar cultivator.
The intense medicinal force battered his body in relentless waves, challenging his nerves and endurance. Feng Lin could no longer afford to let his mind wander. He quickly composed himself, sat upright on the ground, and endured the immense agony while activating the method of refining essence into energy to rapidly digest the medicinal power.
The searing medicinal energy was refined into balanced, gentle energy that permeated every part of his body, like a cool spring pouring over his head, bringing a sense of enlightenment. His body, parched like a desert, eagerly absorbed the nourishment after a long drought, strengthening itself. Feng Lin's withered frame swelled like an inflated balloon, resembling a gluttonous fat man. The nutrients and energy were so abundant—just a single crystalline medicine, yet its potency was absurd!
*Burp!*
Feng Lin involuntarily let out a belch, spewing a stream of scalding hot air, nearly turning into a fire-breathing dragon. Fire, fire, fire... His entire body turned red, as if roasted by flames, with sweat pouring down in torrents. The狂暴 energy surged like a tide within him, threatening to burst him apart.
He activated the method of refining essence into energy at full force, rapidly digesting it. His body deflated again, but soon swelled once more, then deflated, then swelled again... With each expansion and contraction, every part of him ached unbearably. Feng Lin gritted his teeth, his internal organs, muscles, and bones being crushed and reassembled, breaking down only to rebuild into a more perfect and rational form. The potion's transformation of the body was instantaneous, violently dismantling its structure and swiftly reconstructing it. This drastic change itself brought immense pain.
But having endured so much, Feng Lin had forged a will of steel. He clung to a sliver of clarity in his mind, refusing to let his consciousness sink into boundless darkness.
Gene potential: +86%, +86%, +86%...
This relentless perseverance paid off as his gene potential skyrocketed, shooting up like a rocket, quickly breaking through the 1000% mark and granting him a free primal gene point. Truly, the Eight-Headed Serpent, as a超凡 creature, was brimming with energy. The超凡 holy water refined from its gall bladder pearl greatly aided him, accelerating his cultivation speed. With this, breaking through to become an elite cultivator before the second round of assessment seemed highly promising. All this effort was worth it!
Feng Lin continued to immerse himself in cultivation, fully refining the medicinal power. As the potency gradually dissipated, the狂暴 energy calmed down, yet it still surged like a flood through his meridians.
Gene potential: +80%, +80%, +80%...
The growth rate of gene potential slowed slightly but remained rapid, heading straight for the 2000% mark. The most precious gain, however, was in spiritual energy! The pain of breaking down and rebuilding was a severe test of human spirit and will, causing spiritual power to fluctuate wildly. But as Feng Lin overcame the agony with his formidable will, his spirit seemed tempered in flames, its essence gradually elevating and becoming more condensed. If before it was formless wind, now it was tangible mist, taking on a certain substance and achieving a qualitative leap.
Under the sweep of his spiritual power, everything was sensed with greater precision and detail. If before it was a 100x microscope, now it was 120x, 140x, 160x... the accuracy continuously improving. And it wasn't over yet!
As his gene potential officially broke through 2000%, Feng Lin gained two free primal gene points, which he unhesitatingly allocated to his spiritual gene, raising its enhancement points from 4 to 6.
*Boom!*
His spiritual power instantly surged, whipping up a gale and creating thunderous air explosions that roared loudly. With this spiritual leap, his detection range expanded from 4 kilometers to 6 kilometers, and his perception accuracy greatly increased, roughly equivalent to a 300x microscope.
But Feng Lin's joy was short-lived. Although his spiritual gene had reached 6 points, his vitality was a mere 94.8. With the increase of two primal gene points, vitality had only grown by 1.2. While the spiritual gene focused on enhancing spiritual power with less physical benefit, a gain of only 0.6 per point was still absurd! Was the vitality limit for interstellar cultivators truly 100? Impossible to break through? Though not set in stone, current phenomena suggested part of the truth: as one approached the limit, every increase in vitality became precious.
It seemed he must break through to become an elite cultivator as soon as possible. Without taking that leap over the dragon gate and evolving into a超凡 lifeform, his vitality would never achieve a qualitative change. Feng Lin calmed his mind and continued cultivating. Gene potential: +68%, +68%, +68%...
Immersed in the pleasure of rapidly rising potential, he didn't enjoy it for long before the ship's AI suddenly blared alarms.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Captain, please note: an unknown artificial object detected ahead..."
Feng Lin snapped his eyes open. An unknown artificial object? He had already descended over 20,000 meters into the Mariana Trench—what could be man-made here? Curiosity stirred within him. During his cultivation, the ship had continued sinking, reaching a depth of 24,128 meters, deep inside the massive trench. This was the lair of the Eight-Headed Serpent, and now an artificial object? Could there be some secret hidden here?
Intrigued, Feng Lin felt a novel excitement about deep-sea treasure hunting. He maneuvered the ship to dive rapidly. Light illuminated the surroundings, and a distant reflection glinted. The ship approached and quickly scanned the object, rendering a three-dimensional image. It was a pillar, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom, perfectly cylindrical, with a diameter of over a hundred meters and a length plunging deep into the trench, its bottom invisible.
The ship continued descending. The iron pillar stretched endlessly downward, seemingly without limit, never revealing its end. Even when they reached the trench floor, the pillar still plunged straight into the seabed, its buried length unknown. Feng Lin was intensely curious—how long was this pillar? Since it bore traces of artificial construction, who had built it?
As the ship continued scanning, a three-dimensional image of the seabed emerged. Feng Lin was stunned to see that the pillar was driven straight into a massive island plate, like a terrestrial pillar supporting the land, indestructible and seemingly a masterpiece of divine craftsmanship. His mind jolted, and a thought struck him...
Could this be the legendary Eastern Sea Divine Pillar?