Unexpected Breakthrough

Furthermore, his genes seemed to have absorbed a trace of special energy contained within the Millennium Willow Heart, causing his genes to undergo a transformation and his cellular activity to skyrocket.

After about half an hour, the initial surge of energy from the Millennium Willow Heart was fully released, and the changes in Guan Ning's body gradually subsided. However, he knew that the core essence of the Millennium Willow Heart had not been completely consumed; a portion remained in his body, unabsorbed, which would continue to play a role during his future training and accelerate the improvement of his physical fitness.

Guan Ning stood up and moved around casually, but his expression suddenly changed. He quickly sat cross-legged on the floor and began circulating the Five-Heart-to-Heaven Cultivation Method, drawing wisps of cosmic energy into his body.

At the same time, pure and gentle energy surged from every part of his body—his muscles, bones, and cells. This was the energy of the Millennium Willow Heart that had been lying dormant within him.

One source was scarce but continuous, while the other was vast but rootless. The two streams of energy converged in his Dantian and slowly began to compress.

Guan Ning immediately realized that he was about to break through. After a moment of confusion, he understood the reason: for a peak War God, or a ninth-stage apprentice, to break through to the Planetary level, there were two prerequisites.

First, one's physical fitness must reach the peak of the ninth-stage apprentice level.

Second, one's consciousness must be sufficiently powerful. The external manifestation of the soul is psychic power, which permeates the sea of consciousness as a tangible existence. Consciousness, however, is ethereal and intangible. One could say that psychic power is the soldier, while consciousness is the commander.

Whether a fighter or a Psychic Master, both possess psychic power in their sea of consciousness; they are identical in quality, differing only in quantity.

When physical fitness reaches the peak of the ninth-stage apprentice level, there are three ways to break through to the Planetary level.

The first is to wait for an opportunity. One might encounter an event that triggers an emotional surge, causing the consciousness to become excited and leading to a breakthrough, though it could also take three to five years without success.

The second is to continue strengthening the consciousness; once it is powerful enough, the breakthrough can occur instantaneously.

The third is to use special secret techniques found in the universe to assist a ninth-stage apprentice in breaking through to the Planetary level.

Guan Ning's current situation was the second. After months of nourishment, his soul had undergone a significant transformation. Although his sea of consciousness still contained only sparse wisps of mist, they had shifted from pale blue to sky blue. While the quantity had not increased, the quality had undergone a massive change.

Guan Ning guessed that his consciousness had reached the Planetary level. As for the specifics, he wasn't entirely sure, but that didn't hinder his breakthrough.

At this moment, the energy in his Dantian had reached a state of saturation, and the compression process began to accelerate. It expanded and contracted, expanded and contracted, until finally, with a sound like a "boom," the energy inside his Dantian vanished, replaced by a tiny, water-blue planet.

The tiny, water-blue planet emitted a hazy glow. Upon closer inspection, it was composed of countless hexagonal crystals, spinning in his Dantian and radiating strange fluctuations.

Seeing the tiny planet in his Dantian, Guan Ning understood that after using the Millennium Willow Heart, he had successfully broken through to become a first-stage Planetary fighter!

With a thought, the tiny planet emitted a faint magnetic fluctuation, causing him to float upward, negating Earth's gravity, and he hovered slowly in the middle of the cockpit.

After drifting around the fighter jet a few times to familiarize himself with flight, Guan Ning landed and sat cross-legged once more. The breakthrough to the Planetary level was an unexpected joy, but there was still an important task to attend to, and that was...

"Genetic Origin Energy!"

Guan Ning's heart stirred, and a wisp of blue Origin Energy instantly flew out of his Dantian and flowed into his body.

"Crack, crack, crack~~"

"Pop, pop, pop~"

In an instant, every part of Guan Ning's body—his bones, bone marrow, skin, meridians, and internal organs—was undergoing rapid change. This transformation was even more dramatic than when he had consumed Jade Marrow, Dragon Blood, Millennium Flat Peach, or the Spirit of Vegetation.

"So powerful. I must see what kind of special ability I can awaken. I hope it doesn't disappoint me." Guan Ning was extremely expectant regarding the special abilities of Planetary fighters.

Having read the original story, he naturally knew that at the apprentice level, Psychic Masters held a massive advantage!

However, once they stepped into the Planetary level, fighters also possessed their own means—special abilities. For some Planetary fighters, the special ability was "fire," for others, it was "light"... With these special abilities, the gap between fighters and Psychic Masters was no longer insurmountable.

In the universe, various special abilities are generally categorized into eight types: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and light. This depends on the fighter's soul and body; different people awaken different special abilities, and even with the same ability, the power varies.

Moreover, as far as he knew, the category of the awakened special ability usually dictated the domain one would comprehend and the laws one would study. Of course, it didn't mean one couldn't study other laws, but the compatibility with one's body and soul might not be as high.

These thoughts flashed through Guan Ning's mind, but his attention was now entirely focused on his body. Under the stimulation of the Genetic Origin Energy, his body was undergoing a drastic transformation. A cool sensation suddenly appeared within him, and even the pain from the body's remodeling vanished, replaced by a warm, comfortable feeling, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

At the same time, blue light spots emerged one after another from his muscles, bones, internal organs, and even his cells. Guan Ning's body seemed like a universe, and these blue light spots were the brilliant stars within it. Before he could admire this stunning sight, these blue stars rushed toward his Dantian like swallows returning to their nests.

No!

To be precise, they were rushing toward the tiny planet at the center of his Dantian—his Origin Energy core.

Each blue light spot was like a droplet of water, gathering into a stream, evolving into a river, and finally forming a blue ocean that enveloped the entire tiny planet.

Guan Ning did not rush to worry about this development. Although he didn't know much about the cultivation of genetic fighters, neither the original story nor the records of the Limit Martial Hall mentioned any danger for Planetary fighters awakening special abilities. Besides, he didn't know what he could do, so he could only watch quietly.

Time passed bit by bit, and the azure ocean surrounding the tiny planet was gradually absorbed by it. Guan Ning also sensed the changes in the tiny planet; it seemed to be gestating something.

Under the absorption of the tiny planet, the azure ocean turned into a thin, light-blue film. Through the film, one could vaguely see the shape of the tiny planet. When this light-blue film was also completely absorbed, the originally water-blue tiny planet had turned blue-black and shrunk by a circle.

Guan Ning knew through his connection with the tiny planet that it had gestated something, but he needed to investigate carefully to know what it was. Just as he mobilized his psychic power to inspect it, the tiny planet changed.

The tiny planet was now like a child who didn't know when it was full, stuffing food into its mouth without considering how much its small stomach could hold. It seemed bloated, expanding and contracting.

The tiny planet's surface, resembling hexagonal crystals, began to ripple, wave after wave, like ripples on the sea, and Guan Ning's heart rose and fell with them.

"I wonder what kind of change will occur?"

This process repeated nine times before the tiny planet settled down. The nine ripples on its surface merged, forming a vortex. The blue-black vortex was bottomless, as if it led directly to the core of the tiny planet.

"Is this my special ability? Why don't I feel any change? And there is clearly still something inside the planet."

Guan Ning sensed his body but found nothing special, and the object gestated within the planet had yet to emerge.

"Eh, what is that?"

Guan Ning immediately noticed a change within the vortex. A point of light appeared, growing larger and larger, as if something were about to emerge.

Guan Ning waited patiently. The object within the vortex finally emerged: a pitch-black water droplet, spinning in his Dantian.

"What is this? A drop of water?" Guan Ning looked at the pitch-black droplet in the vortex, filled with confusion.

However, before he could continue to wonder, the vortex on the surface of the tiny planet gradually vanished. Once it returned to calm, the hexagonal crystal surface was revealed again, and the tiny planet returned to its original size, though its color remained a deep blue.

That was not all; the pitch-black droplet circled the miniature planet once, as if it had discovered something, and let out a crisp, joyful hum before transforming into a streak of black light that shot straight upward.

Holy crap!

What is it trying to do?

This is my body, after all; how could it withstand such a tossing and turning!

Guan Ning was caught off guard by the pitch-black droplet's movements and failed to react in time.

Just as he mobilized his spiritual telekinesis to suppress the pitch-black droplet, the black light it had transformed into ignored the flesh, bones, and internal organs in its path, as if they did not exist at all. Seeing this, Guan Ning breathed a sigh of relief.

The pitch-black droplet traveled unimpeded and soon appeared within Guan Ning's sea of consciousness. At this moment, several wisps of sky-blue mist formed from spiritual telekinesis were floating within the sea of consciousness. After arriving, the pitch-black droplet flickered with light before settling in a certain spot.

Upon seeing this tiny yet dazzling pitch-black droplet, ripples spread throughout Guan Ning's sea of consciousness, and the very space seemed to distort.