His Mind Had Been Opened!

The Australian Continent, the former Mist Island Lake.

An earth dragon swallowed a translucent white crystal. In just ten seconds, it transformed from Intermediate Lord Level to King-level, its life force suddenly growing dozens-even a hundred-times stronger.

And this evolution was no different from a natural one.

The moment the Councilors heard the news, they went wild, all drawn to this strange white crystal-the "wood bud crystal."

For a monster to advance from High-level Lord to King-level was no easier than for a human High-level War God to advance to Planetary Level.

Yet a single so-called wood bud crystal had allowed an Intermediate Lord Level monster to reach King-level. That was equivalent to one crystal turning an Intermediate War God directly into a Councilor-level powerhouse.

Even the Tentacle Beast, the mysterious Beast Emperor that had appeared out of nowhere, might have become an emperor-level monster by swallowing a large number of wood bud crystals. Otherwise, its origins were difficult to explain.

Everyone went wild.

The effects of wood bud crystals drove every faction on Earth into a frenzy, and numerous Councilor-level powerhouses joined the scramble.

As news of the wood bud crystals spread, more Councilor-level powerhouses entered the fray. Even some High-level War Gods unafraid of death slipped in, hoping to hunt for treasure.

Fifteen thousand meters underground.

Countless layers of rock lay piled up in these subterranean depths.

Yet one thick slab of rock began to tremble and writhe. Then, with a whoosh, it vanished into nothingness, like a bubble bursting.

In its place appeared a hatch, covered in dust and standing half open.

Inside the dim hall, a black virtual figure sat at the hatch. Only about 1.4 to 1.5 meters tall, it resembled a child, wore black robes, and had two horns growing from its forehead.

"Whoosh..."

The black child sat there at the hatch, occasionally tossing out a white crystal. The crystal gave off an enticing aroma of rice as it rushed toward the surface along an underground river.

"Come!"

"All of you, come!"

The Black-Robed Child's eyes were blood-red as it muttered to itself. It had stayed here far too long.

The appearance of wood bud crystals sent every faction into a frenzy.

From the discovery of the first wood bud crystal late that night, Councilors across Earth joined the fight for them.

When the third wood bud crystal was discovered, the struggle claimed its first life, though the victim was only a High-level War God.

From then on, the factions that had still shown some restraint stopped holding back, each growing bloodier and more frenzied.

As time passed.

More and more wood bud crystals appeared, but the price was an ever-growing death toll in the struggle. Even Councilors began to suffer casualties.

Hong and Thunder God were so overwhelmingly powerful that the other Planetary Level powerhouses, however covetous they were, dared not compete with them.

Against anyone else, however, they naturally joined the fight.

"This is insane!"

Above the vast, misty lake, a figure burst from the water and hovered in midair. He had spent three straight days underground searching for wood bud crystals, without so much as a glimpse of the sun.

Luo Feng looked around, then tilted his head up to see the blue sky and the flocks of bird monsters flying in the distance.

More than twenty War God warriors had died in this struggle for wood bud crystals, along with three Councilor-level powerhouses. Without life-saving treasures, the number of dead Councilors would probably have exceeded ten.

"The wood bud crystals have probably all been found!"

Of the three days spent searching frantically, the first had yielded the most. On the second day, the crystals had become scarce. As for today, only two had been found so far.

"Hm?"

"Hall Master..."

Luo Feng answered the call, only to discover that the Hall Master was more than two thousand meters underground, at a spot along that subterranean river.

Boom!

Luo Feng plunged straight down, smashing through the lake's surface and swiftly diving underground.

"Too poor!"

"Absolutely abysmal!"

Inside the spaceship fifteen thousand meters underground, the Black-Robed Child, Babata, was already feeling rather helpless.

Over the past three days, it had released more than twenty wood bud crystals, attracting plenty of Earth's powerhouses. But these Earthlings' aptitude was simply too poor.

So many Planetary Level fighters, a whole crowd of War Gods...

The most talented one had a brain domain width of only 22. The next best, a War God, had a brain domain width of 16, while the third had 15.

"Their aptitude is terrible!"

Babata was speechless. A brain domain width of 22 was only something worth mentioning in the Milky Way Galaxy.

On some powerful planets, or the core planets of certain Universe Countries, there were plenty of Apprentice Level geniuses whose brain domain width reached 30 or even 40.

"He'll have to do!"

A three-dimensional virtual projection appeared in the dim hall-a projection of Luo Feng.

"Earthlings have such poor aptitude. Finding one with a brain domain width of 22 is rare enough. I can't ask for too much."

Babata could only console itself. It had no choice-or rather, it could not leave the spaceship at all, so it could only choose an inheritor on Earth.

It had to pick the best of a mediocre bunch.

"Target locked."

Once Babata settled on its target, strange ripples invisible to the naked eye shifted slightly, traveling from these underground depths in an almost straight line through layer after layer of rock...

They reached Luo Feng underground. Undetectable by the naked eye, instruments, or spiritual force, the ripples passed directly into his Sea of Consciousness.

"Modify the suggestion. Begin guiding him."

Northwest Base City, the Limit General Hall.

Inside the Martial Arts Training Hall on the thirty-third floor, Yang Zheng's consciousness awoke from the darkness.

"Whew..."

"What happened to me?"

Yang Zheng immediately checked his body. He had no memories at all of the time his consciousness had been dormant.

But after waking, Yang Zheng felt something strange, as though...

"My mind's been opened!"

Put bluntly, his mind had been opened. In more scientific terms, his thinking had become sharper.

"Wait, something's off about my strength, too!"

Yang Zheng suddenly froze. Then, with a thought, he controlled a throwing knife, turning its handle toward the Punch Target and driving it forward with all his strength.

Boom!

"4,012,309 kg!"

The force-testing machine's Punch Target shook violently.

On its display, a string of numbers immediately appeared.

"Four million kilograms... Planetary Level Third Tier?"

After advancing from Apprentice Level to Planetary Level, Spirit Readers and Gene Warriors differed greatly. One of those differences was their base strength.

A Gene Warrior's strength could be divided into physical strength and gene origin energy. Once Gene Warriors advanced from Apprentice Level to Planetary Level, they could release the gene origin energy that had previously lain hidden within their bodies.

Their origin energy attacks could reach one million kilograms of force, and their physical strength could also reach one million kilograms.

Thus, a first-tier Planetary Level Gene Warrior's base strength ranged from two million to four million kilograms.