Age of Evolution

Lin Zhen spent the most peaceful and happy time in his little nest after arriving at the Star Fruit Tree.

Sometimes, he would go hunting mutated beasts with Su Mingyue and search for star crystals nearby. Lin Zhen would cook some delicious dishes with the edible mutated beasts they caught.

With their diligent searching efforts during this period, they yielded quite a bounty, including a dozen star core crystals, more than ten meteor crystals, nine comet crystals, and even a planet crystal they found at a high altitude.

The smaller star crystals were all absorbed by Lin Zhen, as Su Mingyue, being a Level Nine Martial General, would experience no effect from absorbing them.

Only the planet crystal was absorbed by Su Mingyue, which increased her dantian energy slightly but still did not reach the peak of Level Nine. At this stage, she would require the absorption of constant star crystals to achieve a noticeable effect.

Combined with the comet crystal Lin Zhen had saved from before, his realm finally reached the late stage of level four, approaching the peak stage.

In their free time, the two would occasionally practice martial arts together. It was only when Lin Zhen faced Su Mingyue in combat that he realized her formidable strength. Despite giving it his all, he continued to experience repeated defeats, only managing to pressure Su Mingyue for a while if he caught her off guard with burst of the Lightning River.

However, Su Mingyue always found a way to counter. In their numerous confrontations, Lin Zhen’s win rate remained at zero.

Furthermore, Lin Zhen noticed Su Mingyue’s extraordinary memory. She could skillfully copy the moves he demonstrated after watching just a few times, proving her worth as a genius.

However, Lin Zhen’s progress was evident. Each time, it became increasingly difficult for Su Mingyue to win, and even after emerging victorious, she would be drenched in sweat. In terms of physical strength alone, she was still slightly inferior to Lin Zhen.

When it came to this point, Lin Zhen’s task was to act as a guard, watching out for any approaching individuals while Su Mingyue would go to the pool to bathe. Lin Zhen diligently guarded, never stealing a peek even though his inner turmoil was significant.

During the night, the two of them would chat, stargaze, or cultivate individually.

Su Mingyue also worked hard in her cultivation, practicing just as long as Lin Zhen. However, Lin Zhen did not inquire about the specifics of her cultivation, as this was a rule among martial artists.

The progress of absorbing the planet core’s energy accelerated day by day. Lin Zhen initially told Su Mingyue that he would need half a month, and within that time, his cultivation should reach a conclusion, allowing them to leave by then.

The first time Lin Zhen absorbed 300 strands of golden energy, he managed to absorb 500 strands within just one night the following day. Gradually becoming more accustomed to the pain, it was no longer as unbearable for him.

On the third night, Lin Zhen absorbed 800 strands.

On the fourth day, he absorbed a thousand strands, though this was the limit he could push himself to.

For the next few days, such as the fifth and sixth days, he absorbed a thousand strands each day, rapidly depleting the golden energy within the planet core.

Each time, when Lin Zhen’s body convulsed in pain during the early morning, Su Mingyue would quietly walk over, wipe his sweat, and sit beside him, allowing him to rest his head on her soft legs as she gently massaged his muscles to alleviate the pain.

Her long hair unintentionally scattered, accompanied by the faint fragrance of the young girl. Lin Zhen closed his eyes, immersing himself in the warm and slightly ambiguous atmosphere that surrounded them.

At that moment, Su Mingyue’s cheeks would flush with a hint of red. She knew that it might be inappropriate, but seeing Lin Zhen in unbearable pain made her feel distressed. If doing so could provide him with even a bit of relief, she was willing to do it.

Such days persisted for twelve days. On the twelfth night, Lin Zhen finally absorbed the last strand of golden energy within the planet core!

At that moment, something within his dantian finally changed.

To be precise, it was the changes occurring to the dark star floating within his dantian!

The golden energy circulated within the dark star, merging with the lightning ions. As they both resided within the dantian and were connected by dantian energy, the two energies did not repel each other and even merged perfectly.

“The energy of metal is indestructible and incredibly sharp. It can either be launched outside the body or be applied to weapons.”

“However, the energy of metal has a flaw – it’s not very fast. But now that it’s merged with lightning ions, this flaw has been mitigated. I can test its effectiveness now.”

Lin Zhen opened his eyes. It was the middle of the night, and he forcefully raised his hand, targeting the same tree trunk from before that he had failed to destroy.

As his hand swung, lightning enveloped his palm, casting shadows of the surrounding trees!

Hundreds of strands of golden energy shot out of Lin Zhen’s palm, striking the tree trunk in a split second!

“Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump!”

A flurry of wood chips filled the air, and under the illumination of the electric light, Lin Zhen saw that an area of about several dozen square centimeters on the tree trunk was riddled with countless tiny holes.

The golden energy pierced through the tree trunk and continued to fly forward, penetrating several tree leaves before disappearing from Lin Zhen’s sight.

“What incredible power! This golden energy is truly indestructible! Combined with the speed of lightning ions, its lethality is exponentially increased.”

“Against average opponents, I wouldn’t even need to use a weapon. This sneak attack with golden energy would be enough to annihilate most enemies.”

“This is only when combined with lightning ions. If I can comprehend the power of lightning photons, the power of the golden energy should be further enhanced.”

Having expended hundreds of strands of golden energy, the dark star within Lin Zhen’s body began to rotate. He could clearly feel the golden energy regenerating; as long as he didn’t use up all of it at once, the dark star would ensure he never ran out of golden energy.

After testing the release of Gold Qi, Lin Zhen stood up and took out his Bright Silver Spear.

With a thought, he infused Gold Qi into the spear, causing it to change. Originally, the spear’s silver body transformed into a mix of gold and silver, clearly increasing its strength by more than twofold.

“Excellent, my Bright Silver Spear is not any outstanding divine weapon, its market value is only 30 million, but with the addition of Gold Qi, its power is second only to Star Artifacts!”

In his previous life, Lin Zhen owned a Star Artifact—it wasn’t top-notch, but it was still decent. He was well-aware of the importance of a good weapon.

Although the Bright Silver Spear was only mediocre, after being strengthened by Gold Qi, it was now much stronger than any weapon available on the market.

Liquid metal was also silver in color. After infusing it with Gold Qi, the color entirely changed to gold and its strength and hardness greatly increased to the point of being considered a divine weapon.

Apart from mastering Gold Qi, Lin Zhen’s other major ability was gravity control!

He had absorbed a Planet Core before, making his control over gravity extremely powerful and helpful during battles. Now that he had absorbed a second core, his gravitational abilities doubled immediately.

When Lin Zhen forcefully lifted an incredibly huge broken tree trunk, he realized that his gravity skills were potent enough to handle an average Primary War God during battles.

He slowly placed the attracted tree trunk down, making a loud clang.

Feeling some commotion behind him, Lin Zhen turned around and saw Su Mingyue standing there.

Today, Su Mingyue was dressed in a light blue dress, her long hair gathered to one side of her neck, and her hands on her stomach, watching Lin Zhen hesitantly.

“Ming Yue, what’s wrong? Aren’t you going to practice?” Lin Zhen asked.

“No, I was watching you practice.” “Ah! You were watching me? How long have you been there?”

“I’ve been watching you all night.”

“Why didn’t you call out to me?

Su Mingyue glanced at Lin Zhen: “It seems like your skills have improved a lot. Have you basically succeeded in your training?

Lin Zhen nodded with a hint of joy: “Yes, it’s basically done. I’ve absorbed all the Comet Crystals here, so we can finally leave and search for more Star Crystals.”

“Congratulations! You said you’d succeed in half a month, but you’ve only taken

12 days.”

“Well, I planned to take half a month, but I finished three days early.”

“So, are we leaving this place tomorrow morning?” Su Mingyue asked again.

Lin Zhen nodded. He had completed most of his goals: learning Lightning River, absorbing the Gold Qi Star Core, enhancing his gravity control, improving his realm, and even significantly increasing his Spiritual Power. He had made great strides towards the Late Golden Stage, choosing to march forward.

His strength had increased dramatically compared to when he first entered the Star Fruit Tree area. He was now confident in facing other students, and even some older ones, without having to hide himself.

In that case, why should they stay here? Lin Zhen and Su Mingyue had already explored the surrounding area and could hardly find any more Star Crystals.

Su Mingyue’s expression seemed a bit dim for a moment, then she looked up at Lin Zhen and smiled: “Never mind, just call me tomorrow morning when we leave.”

After saying that, Su Mingyue returned to Lin Zhen’s den, seemingly ready to sleep.

Lin Zhen was taken aback, then a knowing smile appeared on his face.

The next morning, Lin Zhen did not wake Su Mingyue up to leave. Instead, he continued making delicious meals. He had discovered that the flower buds on the Fruit Tree were edible, so he specifically made a plate of stir-fried buds for them to eat. The lack of a pot didn’t matter, as the liquid metal could change shape as needed.

After eating her meal without enthusiasm, Su Mingyue saw that Lin Zhen still did not mention leaving. Instead, he took her stargazing during the day, told her many stories half-truths and half-fiction, and finally managed to ease her mood. She seemed to have understood that Lin Zhen did not intend to leave immediately.

Making swings out of vines, preparing delicious food, and telling stories—the two spent three days enjoying life together, seemingly forgetting everything outside this haven.

It wasn’t until the fourth day, after Su Mingyue had finished bathing and Lin Zhen had packed up, that she said to him, “Idol, I’ve been very happy these past few days, but we should leave now. We are Martial Artists and cannot indulge in pleasure too much.”

Lin Zhen gave a bitter smile, wondering who exactly was indulging in pleasure.

The pair packed up and prepared to leave.

Su Mingyue looked back at the clear pond, her eyes filled with reluctance. “I think I’ll definitely come back here. You have to remember this place.” Su

Mingyue murmured, Dut It was unclear wno sne was speaking to..