War God Level

"I'm currently at the Beginner War General level. If I consume it directly, it should raise my physical fitness to the level of a Beginner War God."

Lu Yunhe scanned the energy within the Wood Spirit. He still remembered that his first bit of startup capital had come from a Wood Spirit. Otherwise, he might have died in a Monster's jaws before obtaining his first avatar.

"Avatar, guard me."

After sighing with emotion for a while, Lu Yunhe had the Ultraman Avatar leave his body and use its Psychic Power to crush the Wood Spirit in his hand.

Without the avatar, with his Beginner War General strength alone, he probably would not even have been able to break the Wood Spirit's shell.

Pop!

Under the Ultraman Psychic Power, the egg-sized green crystalline Wood Spirit was instantly crushed. Green essence brimming with vitality slowly flowed out, then floated in the air, wrapped in Psychic Power.

Lu Yunhe then opened his mouth, and the green essence slid into it like flowing water. Meanwhile, the Ultraman Psychic Power crushed the crystal like a juicer, squeezing it into a paper-thin sheet before stopping only once the Wood Spirit had been completely drained.

As the final drop of essence entered his mouth, a familiar sensation swept through Lu Yunhe's body once more—cool, comfortable, enough to make even his soul tremble.

Cold. Trembling...

Under the power of the complete Wood Spirit, every inch of Lu Yunhe's skin began to vibrate rapidly in small motions, wisps of black matter seeping out through his pores.

His skin, bones, flesh, blood, and even his genes were absorbing the Wood Spirit's power.

The previous Wood Spirit Crystal had been too weak, only helping Lu Yunhe step through the door of becoming a martial artist. This complete Wood Spirit not only increased his strength, but even improved the consumer's aptitude.

Very soon, under the transformation of that life force, Lu Yunhe's physical fitness rose from 8,000 kilograms at the Beginner War General level to the 16,000-kilogram threshold of an Intermediate General... then the 32,000-kilogram threshold of an Advanced General. He crossed two realms in succession, yet only half the Wood Spirit's energy had been consumed. However, after breaking through the War God Level bottleneck, the Wood Spirit's energy was nearly exhausted as well, leaving only faint traces within his flesh.

"It's fully absorbed!"

The instant the Wood Spirit's enhancement was complete, Lu Yunhe, whose consciousness possessed Planetary Level intensity, opened his eyes and immediately threw a punch forward.

Boom!

Over a hundred tons of force exploded through the air, causing the nearby Monsters to stir restlessly, though none dared charge over.

"100,000 kilograms of force. Beginner War God."

Lu Yunhe clenched his fist. Several months of painstaking cultivation had not compared at all to consuming a single Wood Spirit. It had directly added more than 90,000 kilograms of strength to him.

If he had cultivated by himself, merely accumulating enough strength at the War General level would have taken years, not to mention advancing at the War God Level. Being able to reach the Planetary Level before the plot began would already have required heaven's blessing and decent aptitude.

"Not bad luck!"

Feeling the power coursing through his body, if the Blood Demon Wolf King appeared before him now, Lu Yunhe could kill it instantly at full strength.

Having reached the War God Level, with several times the force output and a realm beyond the Artistic Conception Grade, Lu Yunhe could now contend with Monsters around the Planetary First Order.

Only a few years had passed since the Great Cataclysm began. Those King-Level Monsters could at most be at the early Planetary Level. As long as he did not provoke aerial Planetary Level Monsters, staying alive would not be much of a problem.

"In that case, the human body will remain in the rainforest to temper itself, while the Ultraman Avatar explores the various ruins across Earth."

Lu Yunhe had originally been somewhat hesitant, intending to wait until the human body became stronger before splitting up. But after consuming the Wood Spirit, he made his decision.

Cultivation was out of the question. At most, the human body could temper its combat experience and techniques through battle. As for realm advancement, he would just have to pile up resources.

After all, in the world of Swallowed Star, the two most important foundations were comprehension of laws and genetic amplification. Realm cultivation only mattered below the Immortal level; after that, resources were enough. It did not matter whether one laid a foundation or not.

"Then let's part ways here!"

Having made up his mind, the Ultraman Avatar instantly transformed into a point of light and vanished before Lu Yunhe, heading toward the locations of Earth's ancient civilization ruins.

After the Ultraman Avatar left, Lu Yunhe moved his body slightly. With Planetary Level consciousness, he adapted to his vastly increased strength in just a few minutes.

"It begins!"

Come to think of it, ever since becoming a martial artist, Lu Yunhe's main body had not experienced many battles. The only truly pressured fight had been that battle with the Blood Demon Wolf. Other than that, he had always crushed his enemies using the avatar's power.

Therefore, Lu Yunhe planned to use this opportunity to temper his combat experience while completely absorbing the Wood Spirit's remaining energy within his body.

Crack... crack...

Lu Yunhe ran through the rainforest without restraint, completely unconcerned about angering the Lord-level Monsters directly.

"A Beginner Lord is too weak."

After crossing the territories of several Monster Lords, Lu Yunhe was finally blocked by a colossal creature.

"A High Lord-level Monster—the Titan Giant Python!"

Lu Yunhe looked at the Titan Giant Python blocking his path. Its body was more than a hundred meters long, and its head alone exceeded three meters in diameter. It could easily swallow several train cars in one bite.

Hiss...

The Titan Giant Python glared furiously at the Lord-level human who had intruded upon its territory. Ever since reaching the Advanced Lord level, no Advanced Monster had dared invade its domain.

"Since you won't make a move, take my punch first. Fivefold force output."

Rumble...

A series of sonic booms rang out. Lu Yunhe's speed had already completely surpassed the speed of sound. In less than half a second, he crossed the distance between himself and the Titan Giant Python and arrived above the Monster.

As a Monster from a fantasy world, although the Titan Giant Python possessed an enormous body, it was not slow. But that was only relative to lower-level beings. Among opponents of the same realm, smaller bodies naturally far surpassed larger ones in agility and speed.

With fivefold force output, every one of Lu Yunhe's attributes had undoubtedly reached the peak of the War God Level.

Bang!

More than 500,000 kilograms of force slammed into the Titan Giant Python's head, smashing its raised head violently into the ground.

"But it doesn't seem like I broke through its defenses!"

The Titan Giant Python's body trembled, dissipating more than half of the force Lu Yunhe had struck it with. The remaining force had no effect at all on its body, which stretched over a hundred meters long.

However, Lu Yunhe's attack had thoroughly enraged the Titan Giant Python. With a terrifying sweep of its tail, it directly swept through nearly a hundred meters of space.

Feeling the Titan Giant Python's power, Lu Yunhe did not dare receive it head-on. He instantly pulled back more than a hundred meters, dodging the tail strike.

"So this is a Lord-level Monster!"

Having personally fought a Lord-level Monster head-on for the first time—when he used Ultraman's power, they had always been instant kills—Lu Yunhe immediately realized that he had underestimated the Monsters' strength.

Human strength depended on realm and physical ability, supplemented by force-output techniques and Weapons and Equipment. Monsters, meanwhile, gained strength from their size, made up for technique with innate talent, and used their flesh and hide to contend against equipment.

A High Lord-level Monster was equivalent to an Advanced War God equipped with force-output techniques and Weapons and Equipment, not someone who merely met the raw strength requirement.

Fivefold force output merely gave Lu Yunhe the minimum qualifications to stand at the same level as it.