The Hell Angels Mercenary Group's medical center was surrounded by heavily armed guards. Every fighter from the mercenary group currently stationed on Earth, whether true innate fighters who had opened their Ren and Du Meridians on their own or pseudo-innate fighters who had used equipment to force them open, had gathered outside the medical center.
Cristo Crystal People were born with a crystal ball containing all their energy within their bodies. It possessed miraculous spatial properties and incredible supernatural abilities. After the Cristo Crystal People living on Pluto were discovered by Earthlings and Roman people, they became prey for the powerful among both races. Capturing Cristo Crystal People by force, extracting the crystal balls from their bodies, and fusing them with human bodies to awaken potential was the tragedy of the Cristo Crystal People, yet something Earthlings and Roman people never tired of doing.
The principles behind the Christo Fusion Ceremony were unknown. Of all Earthlings and Roman people who had undergone crystal ball fusion, 87.3 percent exploded and died on the spot, 2.5 percent lost all their memories, 3.7 percent were instead overtaken by the Cristo Crystal People and shot dead immediately, 4.9 percent awakened no potential but underwent no other changes, and 1.3 percent of the unlucky ones lost all their cultivation and the ability to cultivate ever again. Those fortunate enough to awaken their potential and obtain tremendous power accounted for only 0.3 percent of the total!
Out of a thousand people, only three lucky ones could truly awaken their potential and obtain all manner of miraculous powers!
Moreover, the darker a crystal person's body color, the stronger they were and the more powerful the abilities they could awaken—but the greater the risk as well!
The Bearded Commander stood outside the medical pod in the medical center with a dark expression. He roared viciously at the mercenary group's higher-ups around him.
"If a Cristo Crystal Person takes over his body, I'll personally shoot him!"
"If he loses all his cultivation and can never recover it, I'll personally shoot him!"
"If nothing changes and he wastes a rare black Cristo Crystal Person for nothing, I'll make him understand just how terrifying it is to waste the mercenary group's property!"
Prajna eagerly asked, "Uncle Beard, what if Evil Dragon fuses successfully?"
The Bearded Commander beamed at Prajna and nodded. With his hands clasped behind his back, he smugly shrugged, then threw back his head and laughed wildly. "If he successfully awakens some super-powerful abilities! Gahaha! I'll take a concubine, have a delicate little beauty of a daughter, and marry her to him! Oh ho ho ho! Once he becomes my son-in-law, he'll spend the rest of his life working himself to death for my mercenary group!"
Cold sweat dripped from everyone's foreheads. Only the Bearded Commander continued laughing wildly—or rather, giggling foolishly in intoxicated delight.
"What a wonderful thing! Oh ho ho ho! There are only a little over twenty known Realm Masters in the entire Earth Federation who have successfully undergone Cristo Fusion! Only a little over twenty! Oh ho ho ho! If our mercenary group gets one, surpassing the Sacred Unicorn will be effortless!"
A cold glint flashed through the Bearded Commander's eyes. He said blandly, "As long as we have one Realm Master, our mercenary group will no longer be a chamber pot for others to toss around. We'll also have the right to claim a portion of the Federation's giant cake—and a very substantial portion at that!"
"Evil Dragon, the moment I saw you, I knew you weren't ordinary! You'd better not disappoint me!"
Gu Xiechen would not disappoint anyone!
The black Cristo Crystal Person's body had already suffered devastating injuries. At the brink of death, he had no choice but to forcibly seize Gu Xiechen's body!
Yet the black crystal person failed to devour Gu Xiechen's soul. Instead, all his mental energy was swallowed in a single gulp by Gu Xiechen!
No, not Gu Xiechen. It was the Primordial Origin Dao Embryo hidden within his heart that devoured every last trace of the black crystal person's mental energy. The Dao Embryo's true form was the mysterious and bizarre heart core of a Blood Race Prince, containing all the power of a Blood Race Prince. The most terrifying power of a Blood Race Prince was his immense mental strength. Although the black Cristo Crystal Person possessed overwhelming combat power, his mental strength was insignificant compared to the mental energy contained within the Dao Embryo. It was only natural that he was devoured.
With the black crystal person's mental energy no longer interfering, Gu Xiechen began smoothly fusing with the crystal core that possessed miraculous power. The black crystal person's immense energy churned through Gu Xiechen's body, washing over it again and again. Gu Xiechen's body instinctively circulated the Hanyuan Zhen Dian. Strands of pure Innate Qi wrapped around the black energy and raced through his meridians. Qi vortices once more formed within his one hundred and eight major acupoints, but this time Gu Xiechen had no intention of stopping. The one hundred and eight Qi vortices continuously revolved along mysterious trajectories.
The Dao Embryo's immense vitality continuously overflowed. Violent energy tore crack after crack through the major acupoints across his body, but the energy within the Dao Embryo dutifully repaired every injury until it was as good as new.
Shattering again and again, repairing again and again. Gradually, the temperatures of Gu Xiechen's one hundred and eight major acupoints rose higher and higher, and white flames gradually erupted from them. The acupoints, originally no bigger than sesame seeds, continuously expanded and strengthened. If one observed internally with spiritual perception, one would see that Gu Xiechen's acupoints had become vast and spacious, their capacity for True Qi nearly comparable to that of his dantian. More importantly, the acupoints had become sturdy and resilient, their ability to withstand True Qi impacts more than a hundred times stronger than before.
The Hanyuan Zhen Dian continued to circulate. The black crystal person had left behind an astonishingly vast amount of energy, and Gu Xiechen had consumed less than one-tenth of it even after completing the expansion and stabilization of his acupoints.
The remaining ninety percent of the energy surged into Gu Xiechen's dantian. Through the dantian's conversion, the black energy gradually transformed into Innate Qi. Under Gu Xiechen's instinctive control, vast streams of Qi filled his dantian until it could no longer hold the mercury-like Innate Qi. The excess Qi then flowed throughout his body along his meridians, gradually taking root within each acupoint.
Stable little vortices formed within Gu Xiechen's one hundred and eight major acupoints. With the great vortex in his dantian as the core, the smaller vortices within his acupoints echoed one another from afar. Innate Qi flowed back and forth between the acupoints, moving smoothly and nimbly without the slightest obstruction.
From then on, Gu Xiechen's Qi channels throughout his body were full. With every gesture, Innate Qi could be released at will from the nearest acupoint. Not only were his reactions in battle several times faster than before, but his vital acupoints were protected by Innate Qi at all times, making his defense several times stronger as well.
The Acupoint Nourishment stage, the second realm of the Hanyuan Zhen Dian, was considered complete. Once Gu Xiechen's Qi cultivation grew stronger in the future and the Qi in every acupoint became as abundant as that within his dantian, he could officially begin the next step: Meridian Transformation.
Just as the one hundred and eight vortices formed, the Cristo Crystal Ball, whose mental energy had been completely absorbed by the Dao Embryo, smoothly rose into Gu Xiechen's brain. Gu Xiechen's soul fused with the crystal ball. The crystal ball's structure shattered and merged with Gu Xiechen's sea of consciousness, commonly known as the Purple Mansion Sea of Consciousness, evolving into a wondrous place.
The vortices in the vital acupoints throughout his body suddenly stalled. One hundred and eight streams of Innate Qi traveled along his meridians directly into the Purple Mansion, slowly evolving into a faint, nearly imperceptible wisp of purple mist. Then the one hundred and eight vortices began turning again. Between that stillness and motion, Gu Xiechen's Qi erupted like thunder, causing immense destruction outside his body.
The Bearded Commander had stood stupidly before the medical pod for seven days and seven nights. Anxiously tugging at his beard, he roared at the gorgeous female doctor Gu Xiechen had "molested" last time, "Maria, what exactly is Evil Dragon's condition?"
Without even raising her head from the medical pod's monitor, Maria said coldly, "His Qi has blocked all instrument scans! All innate fighters are like this. It's not as if you don't know!"
The Bearded Commander's eyes widened. Just as he was about to find an excuse to give Maria a savage scolding, a red light on the medical pod suddenly began flashing frantically. The piercing alarm startled everyone.
With a tremendous bang, the heavy medical pod exploded into fragments under an overwhelming force. Maria ducked behind the control console and escaped unscathed, while the Bearded Commander and the others were caught off guard and blasted far away by the shockwave. Fortunately, everyone in the medical center was an expert, or more lives would have been lost.
Naked, Gu Xiechen rolled his neck as he walked out of the medical pod's wreckage. Perhaps due to stimulation from the Cristo Crystal Person's energy, although he was no taller than before, his muscles had become much more solid. His formerly lean body was now proportioned and sleek. Layers of softly contoured yet distinct muscles reflected a gentle sheen beneath the medical center's white lights. It was an absolutely perfect male body.
Maria got a close look at all of Gu Xiechen's body. She instinctively swallowed, then irritably curled her lips.
The Bearded Commander scrambled up from the ground in a sorry state. He and a group of innate-level fighters tensely surrounded Gu Xiechen.
"Who are you? What's your codename? What's your mercenary number?"
According to common knowledge, if one's soul was devoured by a Cristo Crystal Person and their body seized during Cristo Fusion, that body would absolutely retain none of its former memories!
Gu Xiechen instinctively replied, "Me? Evil Dragon! My number is... uh, does our mercenary group even have mercenary numbers?"
"Yeah!" The Bearded Commander excitedly punched the air. This kid hadn't had his body stolen by the crystal person! This kid was incredible—he had been forcibly subjected to Cristo Fusion by a black crystal person, yet nothing had happened to him!
"Then did you fuse successfully?" Prajna, standing beside the Bearded Commander, asked Gu Xiechen with undisguised jealousy.
"Well..." Gu Xiechen knew what Prajna meant.
Should he let outsiders know that he had successfully fused with the Cristo Crystal Ball?
Without changing expression, Gu Xiechen blinked and looked at Prajna in confusion. "Fuse with what? Uh, brothers, what happened here? Why am I in the medical center? Uh, what happened to that black crystal person? I remember trading a punch with him, then getting knocked unconscious!"
The Bearded Commander's face immediately drooped. Grim-faced, he muttered, "It's over. A black Cristo Crystal Person is worth at least twenty first-class warships. It's over. You fucking wasted twenty first-class warships!"
Turning away, the Bearded Commander shook his head and walked out of the medical center in utter desolation.
"Ah! Why did it turn out like this? Since you didn't die, why couldn't you have fused successfully? A black Cristo Crystal Person... how much was he worth?"
An icy gust seemed to coil around the Bearded Commander as he walked out in incomparable grief.
If that black Cristo Crystal Person had been put up for auction, half the proceeds would have belonged to the mercenary group. That was ten first-class warships! Aside from a few battered space mining vessels and transport ships, the Hell Angels Mercenary Group did not even possess the most inferior third-class warship!
Watching the heartbroken Bearded Commander, Gu Xiechen felt rather sorry for him. Just as Gu Xiechen was about to catch up and comfort the Bearded Commander, Maria briskly walked over, grabbed a high-pressure injector gun, and pressed it against Gu Xiechen's shoulder.
"Don't resist. This is a highly concentrated nutrient solution for you." Maria spoke with a serious expression. "You haven't eaten for seven days and seven nights."
"Oh!" Gu Xiechen, who had been about to dodge, stiffened and allowed Maria to inject the medicine from the injector gun into his arm.
With a hiss, a full twenty milliliters of medicine entered his body.
Maria suddenly cried out, "Oh no! I took the wrong medicine! What I injected was a potent aphrodisiac!"
Gu Xiechen's face froze.
Prajna and the others beside him also stood rooted to the spot.
A crafty gleam flashed in Maria's eyes. This was revenge—revenge for Gu Xiechen squeezing her breasts last time!
"Stinking woman! Just wait!"
Gu Xiechen's body trembled slightly. Then he suddenly shouted and charged out of the medical center!
My wife's grandfather is celebrating his birthday tonight, and Pighead has things to do this morning, so today's second chapter was posted early. Hope everyone enjoys it...
And when you throw your votes, throw them happily too... uh, the more the better, so please throw in lots of votes...
Recommendation votes and the like should feel even better than Maria's injection, right? (To be continued)
Before you continue