Gene Evolution

Boom!!!

A soul-deep shudder swept through his entire body. Every cell in Feng Qingmo's body was undergoing an incredibly violent transformation!

Wave after wave of intense pain welled up from deep within his cells. His vision went dark, and he collapsed onto the stone platform.

"What's going on?" After enduring the initial agony, he struggled to steady himself and hurriedly examined his body.

Every cell was covered in a kind of light. It wasn't visible from the outside, but his body was filled with an indescribably intense radiance. Under its glow, his insides seemed to turn transparent: every bone, every muscle, and every blood vessel became almost see-through.

Following the light, he sent his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness. Only then did he discover, to his astonishment, that a pearl was now floating where the core of his Spiritual Force had been. It was radiating boundless light.

The light seemed to carry a strange energy, causing the cells it touched to change, bit by bit.

Only after his cells gradually adapted to the changes brought on by the energy did the pain slowly begin to subside.

But by then, he had almost completely lost control of his body. He couldn't even move a finger.

He withdrew his consciousness from his Sea of Consciousness and focused on the changes taking place within him.

His cells were gradually transforming beneath the light. It was a change originating deep within his genes, making them increasingly powerful.

Usually, this kind of transformation only occurred when a life-form crossed a major cultivation level.

For example, when someone broke through from the apprentice stage to the Planetary Level, their genes underwent a massive leap. Only after their genes evolved could their lifespan at the Planetary Level reach a little over a thousand years.

But the energy carried by this light could do the same thing!

"Gene evolution? Th-this is just like the Nine Calamity Secret Manual in the original story!"

Feng Qingmo's eyes widened slightly as he sank into profound shock.

"What is that pearl in my Sea of Consciousness? How can it do something that violates the Universe Operation Rules?"

There was clearly no one who could answer his questions. He couldn't do anything else, either, so all he could do was silently watch the dazzling pearl.

One day, two days, five days...

It wasn't until the tenth day that the pearl's light suddenly dimmed. Then all the light withdrew, leaving the pearl in his Sea of Consciousness looking somewhat dull as it floated quietly in the center.

Feng Qingmo immediately regained control of his body, but his cells had only just endured a prolonged transformation and had yet to settle completely.

With some effort, he sat cross-legged and began trying to cultivate Genetic Energy.

As soon as he began cultivating, the pores all over his body seemed to open of their own accord. The ubiquitous cosmic energy surged toward him, forming a small vortex around him. Countless streams of cosmic energy entered his body through his pores and were absorbed by his cells.

His physical strength rose rapidly. He went from having just entered the middle War God level to the peak of the middle War God level, nearing the high-level War God level!

Half a day later, he stood up, his bones cracking all over. He moved around a little, felt the explosive power within him, and couldn't help grinning with excitement.

"The cosmic energy I absorbed this time is about equal to everything my body had absorbed before. That means I'm twice as strong!" He carefully sensed the changes. "So the pearl in my Sea of Consciousness really can drive gene evolution. If my genes were at one times before, then now they're at twice that level. That means I'm twice as strong as I was before, all else being equal..."

He checked his Spiritual Force as well. Since his body's genes had doubled in strength, his Spiritual Force had increased too, though not by as much as his physical strength.

Some of the cosmic energy absorbed by his body had also entered his Sea of Consciousness and turned into Spiritual Force. After the dark green droplets in his Sea of Consciousness had completely dissolved, his Spiritual Force had been at the level of someone who had just entered the middle War God level. Now it had reached the middle of that level.

Overall, though, his physical strength had now surpassed his Spiritual Force. With his Force Application Technique taken into account, the gap was even greater.

Of course, his Spiritual Force could now also combine three streams of force into one, giving him a threefold amplification. With that amplification, the power of a single flying dagger was already no weaker than that of an average high-level War God Spiritual Master.

He hadn't eaten or had water for more than ten days, but the energy of that miraculous light had kept his body functioning at its peak. Now that he had finished cultivating, he was more vigorous than ever.

But he was now faced with a serious problem: how was he supposed to get out?

He had entered through some strange method, but still had no idea how he had gotten in. Naturally, he had no way to leave the same way.

He directed his Spiritual Force at his combat boots and flew up to the cave ceiling, examining the space inch by inch.

He searched for a full half day without finding so much as a crack. Then he returned to the ground and spent another half day examining the entire floor and the rounded cave walls.

"That doesn't make sense. I can breathe just fine, which means there has to be some passage for air to circulate. So why can't I find any trace of one..."

"Then there's only one last option..." He picked a direction and moved to a spot about twenty meters from the cave wall. An SS-Grade Flying Dagger flew out of the thigh pocket of his Combat Suit, then shot toward the wall with a sonic boom.

With a clang, the dagger bounced back. Fortunately, it was made of extraordinary material and wasn't damaged.

His Spiritual Force swept over the wall, but there wasn't the slightest mark on it. Feng Qingmo couldn't help being stunned. An SS-Grade Flying Dagger wielded by someone strong enough could injure even a King-Level Monster, also known as a Planetary Level monster. Yet the wall hadn't suffered a scratch from his full-strength strike!

"Forget it. There's no point trying the sword, either..." He glanced at the sword in his hand and simply slid it back behind him. It was only S-grade. Damaging the sword without leaving a mark on the wall would be a terrible waste.

The floor was made of the same material as the cave walls, so there was no point trying it there, either. He looked up and chose a stalactite that seemed a little smaller. With a thought, he sent the dagger that had bounced onto the ground shooting upward in a streak of black light toward it.

Crack~

There's a chance! Feng Qingmo thought, delighted. The dagger had struck the middle of the stalactite. With a series of faint cracking sounds, its lower half snapped off and fell.

His Spiritual Force swept over the broken stalactite. The inside was hollow, and the opening was pitch-black, leading somewhere unknown.

But at least Feng Qingmo had found the ventilation shaft: a current of air was coming from inside the stalactite!

The design was extraordinarily clever. There was no way to spot it from the outside.

"This hole's too small to get through..." After waiting a while and seeing nothing unusual, Feng Qingmo simply took to the air and began searching for a stalactite that might be large enough for him to pass through.

Near the middle of the ceiling were several larger ones, almost two meters in diameter at the base. If they were hollow too, they should be big enough for him to get through.