Genetic Force

Muya Crystals have many uses, primarily because they contain vast amounts of Life Energy at an extremely high level.

The most attractive thing about the Goddess Temple, aside from the High Priest's Force Weapon, is the Temple of Life. As long as one's Force Multiplier is close enough, absorbing large amounts of Life Energy can directly trigger a breakthrough.

But the absorption efficiency is painfully slow. Going from Planet First Order to Second Order requires ten hours.

From Second Order to Third Order, twenty-five hours.

Even with unrestricted absorption, you can't take in much Life Energy in a single day, because the Life Energy in the Temple of Life is the most basic level of energy. It's like trying to fill a water vat by scooping water with your hands—extremely inefficient.

Muya Crystals, on the other hand, have an extremely high energy level and are highly concentrated. If the Temple of Life is scooping water with your hands, then Muya Crystals are like carrying water with a bucket. Which is superior is clear at a glance.

Not to mention, Muya Crystals help with breaking through bottlenecks. Even if the Force Multiplier is sufficient, the body can still be constrained, preventing a smooth breakthrough. Absorbing energy on your own is a slow, grinding process.

In the Temple of Life, it's like using a high-pressure water cannon to smash through a boulder—naturally faster.

With Muya Crystals, it's like using explosives to blast the boulder apart, offering far greater help in breaking through.

With just one Muya Crystal, even a Kejia Beast could immediately advance to Planetary-level.

But Muya Crystals are precious even in the universe. Guen never expected to find them in the Aoyu Empire.

"It's all a gift from Tucha Planet. Tucha Planet favors the Imperial Council and the Council of Elders. Every fifty years, they bestow some Muya Crystals upon them. I heard from the High Priest that Muya Crystals are considered valuable even in the universe, so the Imperial Council and the Council of Elders often trade some away. That's why this time, I think you'd better choose more Muya Crystals. The Imperial Council will be pained, but they want to see you go into the sea even more, so they might not refuse." The East Guardian said confidently.

It seemed the East Guardian and the Imperial Council weren't fully aware of the true value of Muya Crystals?

Guen blinked.

With Moto's information, Guen knew that Muya Crystals in the universe weren't treasures meant for Planetary or Star Level cultivators. Their level was extremely high. Though not a currency, they were a hard commodity in the universe. Anyone who obtained them, even at Universe Level, wouldn't want to trade them away directly. Judging by the East Guardian's attitude, neither he nor the Imperial Council truly understood the value of Muya Crystals.

It was better that they didn't. Guen chuckled inwardly. He had to seize the chance to get as many Muya Crystals as possible.

Tucha Planet surely knew the value of Muya Crystals but didn't make it clear. It seemed they deliberately allowed Muya Crystals to circulate in the Aoyu Empire. Thinking about it, Tucha Planet had always been cultivating talent, and Muya Crystals helped with breaking through bottlenecks, so spreading them around made sense.

"By the way, Guardian, could you give me some paper and a pen? I have another list here. Everything on it is essential to me. Aside from that, I'm willing to follow your advice and request only Muya Crystals." Guen said.

Paper and pen were easy to find. They were brought before Guen, and he wrote down all the materials needed for Star Body Forging.

"Planetary-level Beast marrow, Lanlan Wood Heart, Seven-Foot Grass..." The East Guardian looked at Guen with some surprise, then warned solemnly, "These are materials for tempering the body, right? Guen, you can't mess around with this. Every Planetary-level lifeform has their own Genetic Force—flame, lightning, earth, or something else. If you recklessly refine your body by adding elements of other attributes, it could cause irreversible damage. The materials you use should match the attribute of your Genetic Force. The same goes for body tempering and Secret Methods."

Guen smiled. "Sir, I understand. I got this from the Trial Grounds, so there's no problem."

"The Land of Inheritance, then that's fine." The East Guardian studied the list again. "As for the rest, I'll deduct them from the compensation the Goddess Temple gives you. But these two items—the Hundred-Year Wood Lotus and two portions of pure Essence of Vegetation with no other functions—will be a bit harder. Most Essence of Vegetation has some unique properties—beauty, health, body tempering, and so on. Pure Essence of Vegetation is rarer. But no matter, I'll cover these for you."

Guen gave a slight bow to thank the East Guardian, then suddenly thought of something. "By the way, sir, you just said Secret Methods should also match one's attribute. But the Secret Method I got from the Trial Grounds is fire-attributed, while my awakened ability is lightning, meaning I'm lightning-attributed. Will that cause problems?"

The East Guardian thought for a moment. "Don't worry about that. The Trial Grounds are backed by Tucha Planet. Could Tucha Planet really fail to find a single inheritance of every attribute? There must be a special reason, or perhaps they simply thought this fire-attributed Secret Method suited you. You'll have to figure it out yourself."

Guen's brow gradually relaxed.

That was true. The Trial Grounds could ignore distance and kill any Planetary-level, or even Star Level, within the Aoyu Empire. If Tucha Planet, which created the Trial Grounds, couldn't even produce a lightning-attributed Secret Method, that would be unreasonable. As for why they gave him the fire-attributed Flame Slash, Guen stopped thinking about it.

He had only grasped the faintest hint of the fourth move, Cinder Fire. He could think about the fifth move when the time came.

The East Guardian chatted with Guen for a while longer before leaving. Guen settled into the palace, partly to calm his mind and gather his energy, and partly to plan his sea expedition.

The sea expedition had two specific goals.

The first was to locate the Sea Gel clusters. If such a place also had fiery red algae, he would record the location and immediately report back to Dinghai City. With both of those present, sea beasts could rapidly spawn large numbers of low-level beasts or even several Planetary-level beasts, posing a great threat.

The fiery red algae could drive users into a frenzy, burning life potential to boost combat power. The authorities had simply named it Berserk Red Algae, but it was not to be underestimated.

This first goal was relatively simple. High-level Planetary Fighters would survey a rough sea chart and hand it over to the divers. They only needed to patrol the entire map to complete the task.

The second goal was to investigate deep-sea beast nests, especially Planetary-level beast nests. If no adult beasts were protecting them, they would destroy them on the spot to retaliate against the sea beasts. If there were protecting beasts, and in large numbers, they would report back to Dinghai City.

This would certainly provoke the sea beasts, but it would also make some of them retreat, staying away from Eastsea Province. Over the years, the benefits had outweighed the harm, so this rule had persisted.

Guen waited quietly in the palace, occasionally receiving guidance from the East Guardian or learning about the outside situation through Cal and Alpha. The sea beast offensive showed no signs of easing. Humans could no longer hold their ground along the coast. The current main battlefield was the Xiang River, a river that cut through most of Eastsea Province and passed through Dinghai City, the province's heart. If this river fell, Eastsea Province would essentially be lost.

Since Alpha had just advanced, he could stay in Dinghai City. But Cal was ordered to reach her designated defensive position on the Xiang River before dark.

That same day, Cal left Dinghai City.

A day later, the Imperial Council agreed to Guen's demands.

Two days later, the East Guardian told Guen that all the divers had assembled and would meet at the west gate of Dinghai City that night.