Age of Evolution

Upon seeing this tree, everyone was stunned, even Lin Zhen felt utterly shocked.

“Star Fruit Tree!” Lin Zhen murmured in his heart.

Even though the spacecraft had already descended, it was still thousands of meters high in the sky. People could see that the tree almost paralleled the spacecraft. There was a distance between the two, but they couldn’t see the full view of the tree.

This tree was so huge that it concealed mountains!

Seeing the astonishment on the people’s faces, Guan Shanyue said, somewhat proudly: “This is your first sight of it, isn’t it? Some of you may have heard of the Star Fruit Tree, but I believe none of you have seen it with your own eyes. This tree is almost a thousand years old. The seed is not from Earth, but fell onto Earth during the Leonid meteor shower. Since then, it has grown three to five meters each year, and it now looks like this.”

“Doesn’t that mean it’s almost four thousand meters tall? I’ve heard of the Heavenly Staircase, but not this tree. Why is it called the Star Fruit Tree?” a martial artist asked.

“That’s a secret of the God Generals Training Camp, which you will learn when you get there. You will also have to sign a non-disclosure agreement. You are not allowed to leak the details of the God Generals Training Camp, especially about the Star Fruit Tree. It’s a valuable treasure in Hua Xia.”

Guan Shanyue continued: “As to why it is called the Star Fruit Tree, it is because the fruits on this tree shine like stars, and there are a great variety. There are many benefits for martial artists who eat them, and you will gradually understand the details.”

As the spacecraft descended, the martial artists concentrated their attention on the Star Fruit Tree. One of them noted: “But why can’t I see any fruit?”

“You can’t see them from the outside. The fruit grows inside the tree, covered by countless leaves. The leaves are not only incredibly dense but also extremely corrosive. Neither aircraft nor birds can pass through. Therefore, the only way to find Star Fruits is to climb.”

People did indeed observe that the spacecraft was flying far away from the fruit tree and not daring to approach. All they could see was verdant environment that blocked their view of the sky. They couldn’t see the end of the treetop and didn’t know the actual size of the fruit tree. It absolutely wasn’t an Earth species.

“What about the Heavenly Staircase? What is that?”

“The Heavenly Staircase is actually carved out of the main trunk of the Star Fruit Tree. It spirals up the tree from the base to the central main trunk. This journey is referred to as the Heavenly Staircase. Your performance when climbing the Heavenly Staircase will be your individual achievement.” As Guan Shanyue explained, the spacecraft landed on the ground.

“Well, we have arrived at the God Generals Training Camp now. It’s three hundred kilometers away from Capital Base City. There are mountains and rivers in between, and countless mutated beasts. Don’t even think about walking to Ice City, not even if you’re a Spiritual Mind Master. You would die a most unsightly death.”

“Now everyone sign a confidentiality agreement, and then you can get off.”

Soon, beautiful flight attendants handed each person a confidentiality agreement. Regardless of whether they graduated or were eliminated halfway, they were not allowed to disclose the contents of the God Generals Training Camp, or they would certainly be hunted down.

The agreement contained many terms and was extremely stringent. Lin Zhen glanced through it and quickly signed his name.

Once everyone had signed the confidentiality agreement, Guan Shanyue led the people off the spacecraft.

Stepping off the spacecraft, a warm breath wafted over. The temperature here was at least twenty degrees warmer compared to Ice City. It felt like returning to spring.

The God Generals Training Camp was a huge campsite, almost the size of a small town. There were many buildings and a massive training field. The Star Fruit Tree was about ten kilometers away from the training camp.

From such a distance, people still could not see the full view of the fruit tree. All they could see was the massive trunk piercing into the sky. The sky was filled with lush greenery, and the tree crown was so large that the eye could not see its end.

“Wow! The more I look at this tree, the more awe-struck I feel!”

“Yes, it’s simply too massive, like a huge mountain, and we are standing at the foot of this mountain.’

“The trunk is also incredibly thick, even thicker than a mountain. No wonder such a massive crown doesn’t blow over in the wind.’

“I have a feeling that something is calling me from the tree. It seems like I have been waiting for this moment all my life. Surely, there must be a Star Fruit waiting for me to pick.”

“You’re not the only one with that feeling. Look over there, someone else is arriving.”

A faint humming sound was heard in the sky, indicating the arrival of another spacecraft.

A spacecraft, looking more or less like the previous one, landed on the ground and a large group of people disembarked from it.

Zhang Yue said to Lin Zhen, “Look, these are from Demon Capital Base City.”

Lin Zhen gave Zhang Yue a glance: “How do you know they’re from Demon

Capital?”

“Because the distance from Demon Capital is close, almost the same as that from Ice City. Of course, they would arrive practically at the same time.” Zhang Yue said as a matter-of-fact.

Lin Zhen was speechless, but this time Zhang Yue did guess correctly. The people disembarking from the spacecraft glanced in their direction and then started chatting dismissively among themselves. Their attention was also on the Star Fruit Tree, they didn’t give a second glance to the people from Ice City.

“These guys are so cocky!” Zhang Yue was somewhat displeased.

Soon after, more flying vessels arrived. Following Demon Capital Base City were the people from Tianfu Base City, who held a certain proud air. Despite Tianfu, as the oldest of the base cities, starting to decline, its Martial Artists still maintained their pride.

After Tianfu, people from the southern base city also arrived and immediately locked eyes with those from Demon Capital Base City, neither side willing to back down.

After the south, people from Northwest Base City also arrived.

Unlike the other base cities where the Martial Artists dressed casually, the individuals from Northwest Base City were all in military uniforms, forming a neat lineup that exuded a serious military atmosphere.

Although the people from Demon Capital, Tianfu, and the southern base cities didn’t take the people from the northwest seriously, they had to admit that, in terms of overall bearing, the Northwesterners held a clear advantage.

On the contrary, the team of Martial Artists from Ice City Base City was the most inconspicuous.

After everyone from the five major base cities had arrived, the Martial Artists of Capital Base City, who should have been the first to arrive, leisurely showed up last.

The flying saucer from Capital Base City seemed to be larger than those from the other base cities, and the number of Martial Artists that disembarked was also greater.

In reality, the number of Martial Artists from each base city varied. The number of quotas given to each base city by the God Generals Training Camp also differed. Since Ice City Base City was ranked last, they had fewer selected Martial Artists, only a few dozen, while Capital Base City, ranked first, had hundreds.

With the arrival of Capital’s individuals, all the Martial Artists were accounted for.

Heading the team from Ice City, Guan Shanyue organized his Martial Artists into formations and instructed, “The chief instructor will be here soon.

Everyone must pull yourselves together. Do not provoke him.”

“Instructor Guan, do we also have a chief instructor?” A Martial Artist asked.

“Of course, the chief instructor is called Guo Mo. He is a Level Nine War God. He holds the power of life and death over you, and he’s not as friendly as me…he’s coming! ”

The chief instructor, Guo MO, was on his way. Each base city also had its own team leaders who quickly gathered their Martial Artists into place.

Guo MO, a vigorous man with a dark face, was also an advanced War God. Not one for cheeky laughter, he stood randomnly, causing the originally noisy scene to fall instantly quiet,

Scanning the crowd with his hawk-like eyes, Guo MO asked, “Do you know why you’re here?”

There was no response from the crowd.

“You don’t? Then let me tell you. Once you have arrived here, I would hope that you can leave behind your previous identities, do not act on your temperament. Here, you can only train, strive, and achieve. You shouldn’t think about anything else. If anyone dares to act out, they can get out immediately!”

Many Martial Artists wore unpleasant expressions. The words of the Chief Instructor were too harsh. Normally, these elite War Generals were quite well-known figures, so they felt a bit hard to endure.

Looking at the expressions of the people, Guo MO sneered, “Still dissatisfied, huh? Do you know what kind of tree this is?”

“It’s a Star Fruit Tree, we’ve heard about it.”

“Good that you know, but you don’t Imow the specifics. Let me elaborate. The Star Fruit Tree stands 4100 meters tall. It is not an Earthly tree, but one from the vast universe. The value of this tree lies in the fruits it bears. However, these are not actually fruits. Rather, they are crystals formed by the tree crown, deep in the sky, absorbing universal energy. We call these Star Crystals.”

Guo MO continued to speak, “Star Crystals are energy crystals which also span numerous ranks from low to high. Once absorbed by a Martial Artist, they can quickly reinforce a person’s Dantian energy, allowing you to advance from War General to War God much more smoothly.”

“Absorbing the Star Crystals from the Star Fruit Tree can upgrade your Dantian energy?” Some Martial Artists were astonished.

“Exactly, this is the greatest secret of the God Generals Training Camp. It is why we had you sign confidentiality agreements. Because this is the fastest place for a War General to advance to a War God!”

All the Martial Artists had excited looks in their eyes, itching to start climbing the heavenly ladder and search for Star Crystals in the Star Fruit Tree.

Unexpectedly, Guo MO spoke again, “Now I want to ask, is there anyone still discontented? If anyone is dissatisfied with the God General Training Camp, you can leave right now!”

The Martial Artists looked at each other, and no one expressed any further dissatisfaction.

“Since no one objects, from now on, you must obey the rules of the training camp. I don’t care about the petty squabbles between you. The training camp is a place of competition. Survival of the fittest applies here. Anyone with poor results will be eliminated. You have three days to adapt during which your instructors will teach you some survival knowledge of the Star Fruit Tree.

“Clear!” The Martial Artists shouted in unison, emanating a powerful momentum.

Guo MO turned around and left. Team leaders from each group began to distribute dormitory number plates to the Martial Artists, as they prepared to officially enter the training camp..