Rapidly Advancing Strength (Part 1)

The Bearded Commander left the base again with a group of civilian officials. He was going to the military headquarters to file a lawsuit. The Hell Angels Mercenary Group had suffered heavy casualties this time, and the Bearded Commander felt he had to get some compensation from the military. Gu Xiechen naturally became the highest commander of the Hell Angels Mercenary Group's ice cap base, and no one interfered with his actions anymore.

Inside the ice cap base, there was a specialized testing room that could measure the power level of Innate-level fighters. Gu Xiechen was currently in the testing room.

The testing room, with a length and width of over two hundred meters, was surrounded by walls of special alloy two meters thick. In the center of the room was the testing machine, which cost over a billion. The heavy testing machine looked like a cannon. It had a base cast from solid alloy with a diameter of over twenty meters, a barrel ten meters long and about three meters thick, and a striking pad made of special material in front of the barrel.

By attacking this striking pad, which was about one meter in diameter, with full force, the testing machine could perfectly absorb the entire power of a fighter's full-force attack and convert it into standard data.

The testing machine of the Hell Angels Mercenary Group could withstand the full-force attack of a high-level Mars-class fighter.

Standing ten meters away from the striking pad, Gu Xiechen took a deep breath and exhaled. He didn't use any of the energy in his Dao Embryo, nor did he use the qi cyclones in his one hundred and eight acupoints. Gu Xiechen only mobilized the abundant Innate Qi in his Dantian. The thick and pure Innate Qi slowly concentrated on his right claw. His right claw was already covered with a layer of white ice about three millimeters thick, and Gu Xiechen's right claw had become completely transparent like crystal. Wisps of biting cold air continuously sprayed from his fingertips, and the white mist sprayed out about a meter.

The concentrated power had reached the limit that his right claw could withstand. Gu Xiechen took a deep breath, and his body slid forward as fast as lightning. His right claw tore through the air with a dull roar and fiercely slammed into the striking pad. With a 'bang,' it seemed the entire testing room trembled slightly. The striking pad sank a few millimeters under Gu Xiechen's full-force attack.

The spot where his claw landed was empty, as if it had hit a black hole, with no recoil force bouncing back. The special material used to make the striking pad was said to be smuggled from the Roman people, and the Earth Federation could not yet replicate the same material. This material was indeed miraculous. Gu Xiechen's full-force claw was perfectly absorbed by it.

After about ten seconds, a light screen appeared above the testing machine, displaying the index of Gu Xiechen's claw's power converted into standard numerical values: thirty-nine point seven Zakra!

"I've already broken through the Pluto-class fighter level. Now I'm at the mid-to-lower level of Neptune-class." Gu Xiechen muttered to himself.

The so-called Zakra standard numerical value is the power generated by the explosion of a high-explosive bomb made from a standard mass of one gram of crystal extracted from a standard Zakra crystal. It might be a coincidence, but the power generated by the explosion of all the energy contained in one gram of standard Zakra crystal is equivalent to the power of one kilogram of standard *!

The power of thirty-nine point seven Zakra means that the power unleashed by Gu Xiechen's claw is equivalent to the power of thirty-nine point seven kilograms of explosives!

The Earth Federation established a complete fighter power system based on the Zakra standard, named after the nine planets of the solar system.

A strength of one Zakra to nine Zakra is that of a Pluto-class fighter.

A strength of ten Zakra to ninety-nine Zakra is that of a Neptune-class fighter.

A strength of one hundred Zakra to nine hundred and ninety-nine Zakra is that of a Uranus-class fighter.

And so on, the stronger the fighter, the closer their title gets to the core of the solar system.

Gu Xiechen's attack power of thirty-nine point seven Zakra at this moment proved that he had successfully entered the ranks of Neptune-class fighters.

Glancing coldly at the numbers on the screen, Gu Xiechen shook his head with dissatisfaction. "There are countless strong individuals on Earth. Relying on this little bit of strength to get by will be difficult! It seems I can only take advantage of Uncle Beard's absence to improve myself properly. Hmm, can humans really absorb energy from Zakra crystals? Wouldn't that turn them into mechanical engines?"

Turning away from the testing room, Gu Xiechen didn't notice the beautiful physician Maria sneak into the testing room after him.

"Tsk, thirty-nine point seven? Neptune-class fighter?" Maria quickly recorded the corresponding data on her personal computer. "This guy is at least twice as fast as an ordinary true Innate fighter! What a shame, if Uncle Beard were willing, I'd really want to dissect him alive, ohohoho!"

After closing the automatic door to his residence and activating all defenses, Gu Xiechen sat cross-legged on the meditation cushion used for cultivation, quietly looking at a small pile of colorful crystals in front of him.

Three days ago, the harassing team led by Borport was forced to retreat by Gu Xiechen, who extorted a large amount of equipment and Zakra crystals from him. It was clear that Borport was a true prodigal son who valued his own life above all else. His spaceship was stocked with a staggering amount of backup energy. Gu Xiechen extorted a full one hundred and fifty cubic meters of Zakra crystals, enough for a first-class Earth Federation warship to fly at maximum warp speed along the orbit of Pluto around the solar system seventeen or eighteen times.

With such a rich harvest, the Bearded Commander generously gave Gu Xiechen ten cubic meters of Zakra crystals and specially opened a small warehouse next to Gu Xiechen's residence.

His fingers brushed across the surface of the Zakra crystals, smooth, clean, and dust-free. These crystals were polished into standard shapes with dimensions of ten centimeters in length, width, and height. The semi-transparent crystals were mixed with many impurities and were quite cloudy. Each crystal had a faint, unique halo, either blue, red, white, or light green.

These semi-transparent crystals with impurities are the standard Zakra crystals, and the Zakra index of fighters is measured using these crystals. There are also crystals with higher luster, which contain more energy per unit of mass. Legend has it that mining teams have discovered a few small pieces of pure transparent crystals as brilliant as top-quality sapphires. These top-quality crystals are rare and unpredictable, and the energy they contain is incredibly vast, often used as the core of various high-level energy weapons.

Picking up a red crystal and holding it in his palm, Gu Xiechen's Innate Qi touched the crystal through his palm.

With a 'crack,' the crystal, whose density was twice that of ordinary steel, was cracked by Gu Xiechen's Innate Qi. Gu Xiechen looked speechlessly at the cracked crystal, frowning, "How is this absorbed? Ordinary fighters cannot use Zakra crystals for cultivation; only Realm Masters can absorb the energy within Zakra crystals. Why is that?"

Only Realm Masters can absorb the energy within crystals. Is it all because of the Realm?

Taking a deep breath, Gu Xiechen tightly gripped the crystal and slowly entered a meditative state. His entire spirit was focused on his Sea of Consciousness in the Purple Mansion, patiently contacting the immeasurable 'Realm.'

Gu Xiechen easily sensed the immeasurable Realm and vaguely perceived its existence. He also discovered that his spirit and this Realm had actually become one, and he could easily mobilize what was within the Realm. However, it seemed that this Realm was empty, devoid of anything. He had almost exhausted his mental power to barely extract a wisp of fine purple mist from it.

It was profound. Upon contact with this wisp of fine purple mist, his spirit felt an immense profundity. This was a power completely different from Innate Qi, more refined, more condensed, and more powerful. Gu Xiechen even felt that this single wisp of fine mist possessed power comparable to thirty percent of the Innate Qi in his Dantian; it was a hundred times more powerful than Innate Qi.

"No wonder Realm Masters have such a special status in the Earth Federation. Legal immunity? Such monstrous privileges can be granted to them!" Gu Xiechen exclaimed. "If the power possessed by Realm Masters is the same as this unknown power, even the weakest Realm Master could make a high-level fighter flee in disarray. Such privileges are only natural."

The humiliation of pretending to be dead and fleeing from Siren that day was completely wiped away. The stuffiness in Gu Xiechen's heart vanished without a trace. Realm Masters and fighters were not on the same level. Pretending to be dead and fleeing from a Realm Master was not a shameful thing. Being able to escape from a Realm Master was something a Pluto-class fighter could be proud of.

Carefully mobilizing the purple mist, this extremely fine and faint wisp of purple mist obediently followed Gu Xiechen's direction, circulating through his meridians. Wherever the purple mist passed, the Innate Qi, which had already been condensed to its limit within Gu Xiechen's body, seemed to shrink slightly in volume. The Dantian, which was already full and could not hold any more Innate Qi, became more active.

Gu Xiechen was overjoyed. If this was the case, with the help of this wisp of purple mist, he could greatly compress the Innate Qi within his body. All martial artists know that the greater the compression ratio of Innate Qi, the stronger its destructive power. The compression of Innate Qi is a huge challenge for all martial artists. Many fighters may never be able to compress their Innate Qi in their lifetime, and their progress in martial arts will be extremely limited. Reaching the level of a Neptune-class fighter is their limit.

"If all Realm Masters are like me, and they can all compress Innate Qi using this method, wouldn't Realm Masters easily possess extremely strong martial power? Not to mention the special abilities they possess!" Gu Xiechen rejoiced but was also alarmed. "No wonder the Federation calls Realm Masters the guardian gods of the Federation, the ultimate force against the Roman people! Tsk, fortunately, the Roman people are more difficult to fuse with Cristo Crystals than Earthlings!"

The silk-like, mist-like purple qi rotated through Gu Xiechen's meridians along the Great Heavenly Cycle, finally reaching his right palm, which was tightly holding the crystal.

As if a greedy wolf pack smelled the scent of a lamb, this wisp of purple, beyond Gu Xiechen's control, rushed out of his palm.

The red crystal floated up from Gu Xiechen's palm. A puff of faint purple mist enveloped the crystal, and powerful energy continuously surged out of the crystal, rushing towards his Sea of Consciousness in the Purple Mansion along Gu Xiechen's meridians.

Dozens of wisps of purple mist roared out from the Sea of Consciousness in the Purple Mansion, madly pouncing towards this red crystal. Gu Xiechen's Sea of Consciousness in the Purple Mansion withered, and he almost fainted.

Comrades, recommendation tickets, clicks, reviews... I won't say more... Tickets, tickets, tickets! (To be continued)