The Difference Between Early and Late Stages

Chapter 17: The Difference Between Early and Late Stages

"What was that?" Mu Xiao did not react at once. He only vaguely sensed something in his sea of consciousness, something that felt strangely familiar.

After calming down, Mu Xiao wondered whether it had something to do with his rebirth. He thought to himself, Could it be that the souls of my future self and past self, from two different timelines, fused together because of my rebirth? Did that affect the sea of consciousness in my brain, causing this vague illusion to appear when I absorbed the source?

He clearly knew that three wisps of invisible essence had entered his body. His cells had faintly rejoiced before the sensation instantly vanished. This was bloodline gene optimization, but it had nothing to do with the sea of consciousness. Even if his first evolutionary resonance had occurred, it would only have been a resonance between his soul and bloodline. The sea of consciousness generally remained still; only those at the evolution realm understood its existence.

If Mu Xiao had not once possessed a profound cultivation realm, he would never have been able to so clearly sense the fluctuations in his sea of consciousness.

The absorption of invisible essence had a name: the "Fountain of Evolutionary Power," or what could be called "experience points." However, this was not Mu Xiao's exclusive ability. As long as a new human killed zombies, mutated monsters, or even fellow new humans, they would automatically absorb the energy essence known as the "Fountain of Evolutionary Power."

As for the vague thing that had appeared in his sea of consciousness, Mu Xiao could only regard it as an illusion.

In truth, every gene had its merits, and all living beings consumed energy. Thus, the "Fountain of Evolutionary Power" was pure energy that enhanced one's genes and optimized one's bloodline.

As long as one absorbed enough of it, one's bloodline genes would evolve. This was what was known as—genetic resonance.

Mu Xiao had long surpassed the initial stage of genetic resonance in the past and had cultivated an evolution realm. But now, at the beginning of this era, he had to fight his way to enough genetic resonance triggers before he could steadily enter the cultivation stage. Evolution could not rely solely on external forces. External forces were used to forge a solid foundation; only power cultivated by oneself was the root of evolution.

Genetic resonance was a passive form of improvement, whereas cultivation allowed one to actively absorb energy particles from the air, directly refine them into the energy one needed, and raise one's realm.

Those three zombies at most provided three bloodline gene resonances. They could also be considered level-three minor monsters.

Mu Xiao had only just become a new human, and although he had yet to trigger any evolutionary resonance, he was stronger than many new humans.

Still, the three wisps of essence he gained from killing those zombies were practically useless. He felt that rapidly increasing his resonance count would not be easy. Perhaps because he had taken the Miracle Serum, it was harder for his bloodline and agility to resonate than those of ordinary people. He needed far more "Fountains of Evolutionary Power" to trigger a resonance.

The more powerful a creature was, the more perfect and powerful its bloodline genes would be, and the richer the "Fountain of Evolutionary Power" contained within its body would be.

Besides the Fountain of Evolutionary Power, there was another, rarer kind of source called—the Fountain of Ability.

The "Fountain of Ability" was determined by the cultivation direction of "Source Force Martial Arts" and "Soul Secret Arts."

A "Fountain of Ability" could emerge from its original host, though the chance was quite low. Only when the original ability user possessed an exceptionally powerful ability would a "Fountain of Ability" form.

A Fountain of Ability had to be actively absorbed. If the absorption succeeded, there was a chance of gaining compatibility with the other party's ability. If it was not absorbed, it would dissipate in about half an hour. Spatial devices could preserve Fountains of Ability, but such devices were extremely rare on Earth.

Absorbing Fountains of Ability with the same attribute multiple times could quickly improve one's abilities. The degree of improvement depended on the strength of the abilities the user possessed before death. However, blindly absorbing them could lead to death. Moreover, each absorption of a source at the same rank yielded progressively less improvement. To improve quickly, one had to kill creatures stronger than oneself across ranks.

However, Fountains of Ability came in different forms. If one did not understand the forms, one would be unable to tell what kind of ability they contained. Absorbing a useless ability was one thing, but absorbing an ability that conflicted with one's own could bring unpredictable danger.

Earthlings' bloodlines possessed compatibility traits. Once a bloodline condensed into energy and cultivation reached a high level, all abilities became fixed. Developing new abilities then required paying a far greater price. Furthermore, the more abilities contained within one's bloodline, the slower one's improvement would become; one might even be unable to break through one's limits. However, if different abilities were compatible, they could compensate for one another's shortcomings, turn disadvantages into advantages, and accelerate cultivation.

If the Fountain of Evolutionary Power was experience points that anyone could refine, then the Fountain of Ability was an excellent thing that increased skills and proficiency.

Thus, new humans did not merely face enemies in the form of biochemical monsters; they also faced danger from other new humans. Because some new humans possessed the same abilities, or abilities beneficial to one's own cultivation, many people would kill to strengthen themselves. As a result, many new humans in the later era no longer trusted their own kind.

Mu Xiao had always been a cold person. He had once been used to traveling alone because he had seen too many new humans slaughtering one another. He had also killed companions with malicious intentions and absorbed their "Fountains of Evolutionary Power" and "Fountains of Ability." The open and covert struggles among certain factions had been even more numerous.

However, acquiring and absorbing any ability required a suitable physique and bloodline. Mu Xiao's SSS-grade physique might have seemed powerful, but it had only been powerful under the old Federation system. Things were different after evolving into a new human. For example, why did he struggle when activating his telekinetic divine power? It was because his physique was not strong enough, his bloodline optimization level was insufficient—in other words, his evolutionary resonance count was too low, and his realm was inadequate.

Although absorbing a Fountain of Ability could speed up one's improvement, if one's bloodline and body had not reached the necessary level, they would be unable to withstand a stronger Fountain of Ability. Like a container, one had to train the body and consume energy-rich meat, nutrient fluids, life gene potions, and so on—doing everything possible to strengthen the bloodline and body before advancing to greater power.

Among them, there were certain condensed substances on zombies and mutated monsters that were highly useful for new humans, strengthening the body and increasing the power of supernatural abilities. Even old humans evolving into new humans could make use of them.

This was also the object of hope that old humans in the later era desperately struggled to obtain so they could evolve into new humans.

Mu Xiao did not dwell on the strange substance in his sea of consciousness, mistaking it for an illusion, and continued with what he had been doing.

"Those three zombies only had Fountains of Evolutionary Power. No Fountains of Ability dropped. Makes sense. It's only the first stage, so Fountains of Ability are still quite rare." Mu Xiao was accustomed to thinking the way people did in the future era. Unconsciously, he sought out that familiar feeling, allowing himself to grow accustomed to the bloodshed and chaos after his rebirth.

Zombies could only be considered low-level mutated monsters in the early stages. Having gone through killing before, Mu Xiao did not feel the slightest discomfort after killing them. Instead, he found a sharp military knife whose energy function could not be activated and efficiently searched the three zombie corpses as though looking for something.

Before long, Mu Xiao found brown, soybean-sized condensed objects at the hearts of the three zombies. These were items of great use to new humans, objects old humans sought in hopes of evolving.

However, these brown condensed objects were only the lowest-grade material. They had a minor strengthening effect on the body and could also heal physical injuries, but they only worked on the flesh. They had no effect on mental exhaustion or mental injuries.

"As expected, it isn't easy to get things in the early-stage setting. Even common items like blood beads differ enormously in drop quantity and quality compared to the later era of great evolution." Mu Xiao muttered as he put away a total of six lowest-quality blood beads.

Blood beads were the universal currency of the future. Most monsters, including zombies, mutants, and mutated beasts, had varying numbers of soybean-sized blood beads condensed around their hearts. Their quality was classified as: inferior quality (brownish red), ordinary quality (vermilion), high quality (dark red), and treasure quality (purplish red).

The blood beads Mu Xiao had just obtained were the lowest-grade, inferior-quality ones.

Besides blood beads, there were also blood crystals and crystal cores.

Apart from zombies, the hearts of other powerful mutated monsters could condense blood crystals, which were used to strengthen the body. However, they formed only rarely and were more valuable than blood beads. They were made from the dense blood essence produced by mutated monsters, condensed within the heart into pure blood free of any virus.

However, if too many were consumed at once without immediately refining them into the body, adverse effects could still occur. There was a high chance that the violent consciousness within the blood crystals would affect one's mind and temperament, causing one's evolution to go wrong—resulting in deviation and turning one into a mutant.

Blood crystals and blood beads shared the same quality classifications.

As for crystal cores, they were the most valuable substance and could only be obtained from high-level mutated monsters.

They were pure energy formed from condensed mental power, wrapped in a bone membrane and formed within the brain. They could increase the power of abilities, raise mental power, repair hidden mental injuries, stimulate unknown latent potential in the brain, and provide many other benefits. Their quality was divided into: silver (mercury-like), pure white (with flowing light, gelatinous), and transparent crystal (crystalline).

However, Mu Xiao estimated that there were currently not many mutants capable of condensing such high-concentration substances.

Since there were no longer any biochemical monsters in the secret room that could threaten Mu Xiao, he dragged the three corpses outside. The stench released by dead zombies would grow increasingly stronger and soon attract other zombies to come devour the corpses of their own kind and evolve themselves.

With the secret room cleared of those eyesores, Mu Xiao shut its main door. However, because the electronic lock was broken, he could only use the security lock to lock it manually.

With many machines no longer functioning, Mu Xiao directly found quite a few weapons below B-grade in the safes. Among them were A-grade Thunderbolt Cannons; combined with the one on Mu Xiao's back, he had three cannons in total. However, he could not use too many weapons for the time being, so Mu Xiao took two B-grade laser pistols and changed into a set of "Black Armor" defensive clothing.

These were the guards' uniforms, embedded with three layers of soft steel and offering a certain degree of defense. They were E-grade defensive equipment, or what could be called standard white-grade equipment.

But the Black Armor had some defensive power and was far better than ordinary clothing. Therefore, Mu Xiao immediately changed into the defensive suit without hesitation.

Next, he gradually found a small number of weapons in the other metal cabinets, along with some Federation credit coins. But now, both credit coins and credit points were utterly useless— even a fruit knife was worth more than a pile of meaningless numbers.

Mu Xiao found large amounts of jerky, high-fat butter, bread, and other food in some guards' personal drawers. He also found five nutrient solutions—three ordinary-grade and two intermediate-grade. That was already a decent haul, especially since Mu Xiao was hungry.

"The guards had pretty good benefits. They even got nutrient solutions." Mu Xiao's mouth was stuffed with greasy food. Ignoring the bloodstains on the floor and around him, he continued searching the secret room as if nothing had happened.

In the end, he actually found twenty or thirty C-grade high-explosive grenades in a small metal cabinet.

It had to be said that no weapons could be used for the time being, but grenades were different. There was basically no problem with them.

They were currently the best weapons available in terms of lethality.

Mu Xiao was in high spirits. He found a large backpack and packed away all the grenades and food, a sharp military knife, and two laser pistols, then slung them over himself together with the Thunderbolt Cannon. He did not plan to touch the other weapons, nor could he carry them all. He could only leave them here for now and move his nest here as soon as he got back.

After drinking all the nutrient solutions and eating more than half the food, bringing himself to half-full, he prepared to look for the secret rooms on the other floors.

Just as he reached the door, he heard rustling outside. Extending his mental power three meters outward to investigate, he discovered that three or four zombies were crouched down, feeding on the corpses of the two zombies he had just killed.

Mu Xiao picked up the electric baton, which could easily be used as an iron rod, then swiftly opened the door. With a blow too fast to follow, the baton tore through the air and smashed two zombies' heads apart. The other two zombies were positioned in his blind spot, and he could not chain his attacks through with the baton, giving them time to react.

The two foul-mouthed zombies lunged at him with claws bared. An ordinary person would have screamed in terror, but Mu Xiao reacted with astonishing speed. He leapt up and kicked, his leg as hard as steel, driving his foot into one zombie's face. He kicked it so badly that its entire face caved in, while the back of its skull burst open. Mu Xiao also struck the other zombie squarely in the chest with a punch, the impact shredding its heart.

With their vital points struck, the two zombies quickly died.

Four streams of invisible essence entered Mu Xiao's body again, but something that prevented him from remaining calm surfaced from his sea of consciousness. This time, it was even clearer—the mass seemed to have grown considerably and become much more distinct.