After one year and three months of bitter cultivation, he finally broke through the crystal room.
The crystal room, with a large hole blasted through its wall, suddenly let out a hissing sound. Immediately after, it completely dissolved into streams of dreamlike light and merged into the dark brown tangled tree roots on the ground.
A familiar voice echoed through the maze.
“After one year and three months, I finally hear this voice again.”
Luo Feng immediately looked down at his communication watch. It quickly translated the message.
“Congratulations, assessment death mission successful.”
“Follow the passage ahead and continue forward to meet me and receive your reward.”
While the voice was still echoing, the dark brown root walls in front of him began to wriggle and part, forming a passage about three to four metres wide. The passage was deep, and at its end shimmered with illusionary light, the same kind of light that formed the crystal walls.
“Finally, success. Receiving the reward?” Luo Feng turned, slung on his backpack, and the Shuttle of Sky rose.
“Go.”
With a leap, he landed on the Shuttle of Sky.
Whoosh.
The Shuttle of Sky shot forward through the passage. After moving through the deep corridor, he soon arrived at a grand hall bathed in dreamlike coloured light. It looked like a celestial palace, with flowing light that never dissipated. The hall was several dozen metres wide and long, about the size of a sports arena.
“Meet it? Where is it?” Luo Feng looked around.
The space was empty.
Suddenly, vast streams of coloured light converged, forming a vague tall humanoid shape, which then solidified into a bald crystal man.
“A being formed from light?” Luo Feng became tense.
Everything in this ancient civilization relic had already far exceeded Earth’s technology. Even powerful warriors were insignificant here. Naturally, he felt nervous in front of this crystal being.
A metallic voice came from its mouth.
“Hello, Luo Feng.”
The communication watch immediately translated it.
The crystal man glanced at the watch. A beam of light shot into it instantly, and the screen began rapidly displaying command processes as it deleted large amounts of translation data.
“Do not be nervous,” the crystal man said in a slightly metallic voice.
It spoke Chinese.
Luo Feng was shocked.
“Do not be surprised. The development of life on this planet has been under my monitoring. I know your writing, your language, your history, everything,” the crystal man said with a smile. “To make it easier for you, I appear in a human form to communicate.”
Luo Feng calmed himself.
It made sense. An ancient civilization relic that had existed for countless years knowing Earth’s development was not strange.
“Human civilization is still in its infancy,” the crystal man continued. “I know all your information, which is why I can call you by name, Luo Feng. I already called you once when you first entered.”
Luo Feng trembled slightly.
Yes, when the death assessment first started one year and three months ago, it had addressed him as “Elite student Luo Feng.” He had thought it was due to translation software. Now it seemed the relic truly knew him.
“Because you triggered the death assessment mission, I directly addressed you by name,” the crystal man said. “If you failed, you would die and the information would not leak. If you succeeded, you would be qualified to enter the Meteorite Ink Star as a member and learn about my monitoring of this planet.”
“Meteorite Ink Star?” Luo Feng was stunned.
The crystal man shook its head slightly.
“Even if you know, it is as good as not knowing.”
“Now, I will give you your reward for completing the assessment.”
It waved its hand. From deeper within the hall, four items floated over under streams of coloured light.
A black vest, a silver arm guard, a book shimmering with starlight, and a hexagonal metal token.
“These four items are your reward.”
“The first is what you call the Black God Suit.”
“The second is a supporting optical brain.”
“The third is the attack technique of the controller, ‘Sky Shuttle’.”
“The fourth is the Meteorite Ink Star entry token.”
The crystal man stroked the last hexagonal token and sighed.
“According to the master’s preset program, I must give this to you. Unfortunately, even if you obtain it, you will not be able to summon Meteorite Ink Star to receive you.”
“Why?” Luo Feng asked quickly. “What exactly is Meteorite Ink Star?”
“It is a mysterious place within the vast universe,” the crystal man replied. “Unfortunately, I can no longer contact it, and neither can you. According to the system rules, I must still give you this token. But it is useless to you.”
Luo Feng felt alarmed.
From what he heard, Meteorite Ink Star was a powerful and mysterious force in the universe. This ancient relic had been monitoring Earth for an unknown number of years, selecting elite individuals to join it. But now it seemed it could no longer connect to that place.
Most likely, Meteorite Ink Star had suffered a disaster or been destroyed.
“Forget the token. You already know the use of the Black God Suit.”
“As for the optical brain, every genetic warrior and spiritual念师 dreams of having it. It has all the functions of your communication watch, and more importantly, it can detect the strength of any target.”
“Detect strength?” Luo Feng was surprised.
“Put it on,” the crystal man said. “And use your spiritual force to connect to it.”
The silver arm guard flew toward Luo Feng.
He removed his original arm guard and put on the silver one. A trace of spiritual force entered it, and it instantly fused with his skin. Chinese text and diagrams appeared on its surface.
“It also has translation functions,” the crystal man said. “The translation software in your watch would reveal secrets, so I have deleted all information related to this place, including the 312 basic controller forms.”
Luo Feng nodded.
It did not matter. After a year and three months of cultivation, he had already memorised them completely.
“Press the lower left button and point it at a target to detect strength,” the crystal man explained.
Luo Feng looked down. The button was only a faint pattern on the smooth surface. He pressed it and pointed it at himself.
Immediately, words appeared.
Battle power: Spiritual force (Apprentice level 9), Genetic energy (Apprentice level 9)
“What is apprentice level 9?” Luo Feng asked.
“You now have the authority to know,” the crystal man replied. “In the universe, most life forms are at apprentice level. It is the lowest tier.”
“Apprentice level is divided into nine stages. Stage one is the weakest, stage nine is the strongest. Stage one is equivalent to your human junior warrior, stage nine is equivalent to a high level God of War.”
Luo Feng took a deep breath.
“So I am just an ordinary being in the universe…”
“Yes. Above apprentice level is planetary level. Only those who reach planetary level can be considered true genetic warriors or spiritual念师.”
“Planetary level is also divided into nine stages.”
“On your planet, those above God of War are planetary level warriors.”
Luo Feng finally understood.
“So the council members are planetary level experts…”
“Most are level one planetary, some level two, and two of them are level three. The strongest, Hong, is level six planetary, and Thunder God is level seven.”
Luo Feng was stunned.
Hong is level six, but Thunder God is level seven?
“That is incorrect,” Luo Feng said subconsciously. “Hong should be stronger.”
“The levels I refer to are physical body, genetic energy, and spiritual force,” the crystal man said. “Not actual combat strength. Hong’s body is slightly weaker than Thunder God’s, but combat strength is not determined by that alone.”
“For example, you.”
The crystal man looked at him.
“Your spiritual force is apprentice level 9, but your amplification is sixteen times. Your genetic energy is also apprentice level 9, with 3.5 times amplification.”
Luo Feng could already control sixteen blade fragments simultaneously at full power.
“Same apprentice level 9, but is 2 times amplification the same as 10 times?” the crystal man asked.
Luo Feng was shocked.
Right.
The optical brain only measured base stats. His real combat ability was far beyond what it displayed.
“Apprentice level 9, sixteen times amplification,” the crystal man said.
“Equivalent to planetary level one with four times amplification.”
“Your current combat power is comparable to a typical planetary level one warrior, which is what you humans call ‘beyond God of War’.”
Then it pointed to the starlight book.
“But you also have the controller technique, Sky Shuttle. This technique is the usage method for your controller weapon, the Sky Shuttle. You have been using it like ordinary flying blades. That is an insult to it.”
“What is a controller?” Luo Feng asked.
“Among universe warriors, there are genetic warriors and spiritual念师. Spiritual念师 are further divided into types. You are a controller type, what your Earth would call a telekinetic system.”
Luo Feng understood.
“So the universe has already formed a complete system of cultivation…”
“Planetary level spiritual念师 all dream of obtaining a dedicated weapon. And you already have one.”
“You are fortunate.”
“With the Sky Shuttle and the Sky Shuttle technique, you can fully unleash its power.”
“Without it, you are only comparable to planetary level one. With it, your strength increases greatly.”
“It depends on how well you use it.”
Luo Feng’s heart raced.
Even without reaching planetary level, with his amplification and the Sky Shuttle, he could already defeat most beings above God of War.
“Normally, controlling twelve weapons is enough to break through to planetary level.”
“But your talent is high, brain domain width is 21. You need sixteen weapons before you have a chance to break through.”
“I have left the breakthrough method in the optical brain. Study it carefully.”
Luo Feng became excited.
No wonder the crystal room required sixteen flying blades to break. That was exactly the threshold for his breakthrough.
“You are the first Meteorite Ink Star member on Earth in five thousand years.”
“Do not be arrogant. In terms of combat application, Hong is far stronger than you. He has already formed his own domain and is basically invincible within planetary level.”
“As the first member in five thousand years, even though you cannot go to Meteorite Ink Star, I still hope you surpass them all and become the strongest.”
The crystal man looked at Luo Feng.