Age of Evolution

Chapter 164 - 164: 164: National Idol (5 more updates)

However, this is not necessary for Lin Zhen. With the presence of the Dark Star within him, his dantian is already much stronger than others. Even if he cannot absorb the energy all at once, it can still be stored within the Dark Star, gradually dissipating over time.

At least, three Constant Star Crystals’ energy could not really pose a challenge for Lin Zhen.

After one hour, the three Constant Star Crystals disappeared completely, with all their energies absorbed into Lin Zhen’s dantian.

The qi within his dantian expanded and then contracted, expanding and contracting repeatedly a few times before finally stabilizing.

It is said that with other people, compressing the dantian qi becomes more difficult as it progresses. It would only take ten Constant Star Crystals for the first layer, thirty for the second, fifty for the third, and eighty for the fourth.

For the fifth layer, one hundred crystals are required. Having absorbed four Constant Star Crystals, Lin Zhen felt that he had already achieved nearly half of the first layer of compression. As long as he found six more crystals, he could complete the first layer of compression.

Moreover, Lin Zhen had the Dark Star within him, which made his dantian qi different from others. As long as he didn’t reveal it, no one would be able to discover his true realm, so he felt confident in continuing to absorb more energy.

It was said that in order to compress the dantian qi ten times, not only did one need to have excellent Martial Artist talent, but also one thousand Constant Star Crystals. This seemed like an unthinkable deed, so no one even knew if it was true or not, but Lin Zhen still wanted to try.

After absorbing the energy, Lin Zhen stood up and felt that his dantian had indeed become much stronger, his spirit greatly invigorated. He once again stepped on his shield and went to the east side of the dirt mound.

Since there was no one nearby at night, Lin Zhen felt at ease picking more crystals.

This eastern side of the mound had a slightly larger area, so Zhou Butong’s team had claimed it exclusively, forbidding others from taking any crystals.

Looking at the mound, Lin Zhen saw eight Star Crystals twinkling from within it, five of which were Constant Star Crystals.

“I’ll take four this time. According to the usual rules, I’ll leave one for them.”

Once again, Lin Zhen set out on his mission. To avoid drawing attention, he did not kill any bees and focused solely on escape. This way, there were no other Martial Artists fighting with him, and with the Spiritual Shield and liquid metal protecting him, Lin Zhen was not in much danger. After an uneventful and safe journey, Lin Zhen returned with his haul.

“Four! Hahaha! In just one night, I’ve gained seven Constant Star Crystals. If I keep this up, compressing won’t be a problem.”

Lin Zhen returned to the area beneath the tree leaves, ready to absorb the newly acquired Constant Star Crystals.

This time it took him about two hours to absorb the crystals.

At this point, he had absorbed a total of eight Constant Star Crystals, just two short of completing the first layer of compression.

Peering at the mound again, Lin Zhen noticed that another Constant Star Crystal had appeared on the west side, but he didn’t take it this time, as taking too many at once would be too conspicuous.

Stepping on his shield, Lin Zhen returned to the tree hole. When he arrived, Li Changying had already woken up and was meditating.

“Idol, where have you been?” Li Changying would sometimes call Lin Zhen

“idol.”

“Nothing, just went out to cultivate for a while.”

Li Changying didn’t ask further and continued with her cultivation, as it was quite normal for Martial Artists to spend a lot of time in cultivation.

Lin Zhen also meditated for a while, allowing the newly injected energy in his dantian qi to stabilize and become completely his own power.

By the time they finished cultivating, the sky was already bright, and the Martial Artists began to emerge from their tree holes.

“Ah, another beautiful day ahead!”

“I’m going to try my hardest today to obtain a Constant Star Crystal. Once I get five more, I can achieve triple compression!”

“Lucky you, I still need to find eighteen more to reach double compression.”

“Haha, that’s not bad either. At least you’re making progress. I want to attempt quintuple compression, but it requires one hundred Constant Star Crystals, so it’s unlikely I’ll achieve it this year.”

“You’re just showing off. I don’t know when I’ll ever reach your realm. I’m now 27, and when I turn 29, I’ll have no choice but to break through to the War God level, regardless of my realm, and leave the Star Fruit Tree. It’s been so many years since I last went home, I’m afraid my family won’t recognize me.”

“What’s so great about home? What I want to know now is what my limits are. I wonder if I have the talent to achieve quintuple compression. If I can, then when I break into the War God rank after leaving, I’ll also become a powerful figure.”

“That’s true. The real experts outside are mostly from the God Generals Training Camp, and those who cannot compress their dantian qi are considered weak.”

“You can’t say it like that. I’ve heard that the Technology Department had dantian compression drugs a long time ago, but they’re extremely expensive, so people like us can’t afford them.”

“I know, but there’s a difference between drug-induced compression and the Star Crystal compression. Those are just inferior knock-offs with limited potential. Our compression method is all-natural. Only Martial Artists that graduate from the God Generals Training Camp are truly considered superior.” “Hmm… Li Changying and the others are coming, let’s go eat something and then set off.”

A few chatting Martial Artists saw Li Changying, Lin Zhen, and Zhao Xiaoman approaching and quickly decided to leave.

Outsider Lin Zhen wasn’t particularly welcomed by these Martial Artists, and after his conflict with some of them because of Li Changying, even fewer people were willing to have anything to do with him.

Zhao Xiaoman belonged to the third group from the west, but she had been kicked out. Lin Zhen took her in, naturally offending a group of people. The strength of the third western group was still quite strong, and no one wanted to offend them.

As for Li Changying, not to mention that Big Brother Zhou had quietly spread the word that he would secretly deal with her. Anyone who approached her would be unlucky.

After all, there were only three of them. Their group did not have enough members, and they did not meet the challenge rules, so these martial artists did not take them seriously.

Since no one paid any attention to them, Lin Zhen and his group didn’t care either. They just trailed along with the crowd, heading towards the beehive The rules of the beehive area had been in place for hundreds of years. Before six o’clock in the morning, no one is allowed to pick Star Crystals at the beehive, even if there were Mutated Star Crystals born.

In the past, many martial artists couldn’t resist the temptation and picked Star Crystals, only to be bombed and killed by all other martial artists. Rules were rules, and they couldn’t be easily broken, even by the people in charge.

As for those who tried to sneak in at night, they couldn’t see anything and would usually die one by one. Over time, no one dared to sneak in at night anymore.

Lin Zhen and his group walked from the west side, where a few members of the third group were also present. Upon seeing that Zhao Xiaoman was still there, someone immediately said, “Zhao Xiaoman, you’ve been expelled by us. Stop following us shamelessly. There’s no place for you here today.”

“Hmph! Who do you think you are? Today I’m with Brother Lin. You can beg me to go back, but I won’t do it.”

“Dream on! We wouldn’t even ask you! Who is this Brother Lin? Is it this scruffy-looking kid?”

Lin Zhen had been busy late last night and didn’t pay much attention to his appearance. His face was covered in dust, and he was immediately despised by the others.

“Kid, if you dare to take in Zhao Xiaoman, you are against our third western group. You will definitely regret this decision today.”

“That remains to be seen. Xiao Man is smart, beautiful, and strong. You guys must be blind to kick her out. I think you’ll be the ones regretting.”

Seeing that Lin Zhen didn’t care about them at all, they got angry, but it wasn’t the right time to show their rage as the picking was about to start.

They threatened Lin Zhen, “Kid! Well, you’ve got guts! We’ll see about that.”

Then Captain Wang said to Zhao Xiaoman, “Zhao Xiaoman, you’ll see how many Constant Star Crystals we can pick up today, but there won’t be any share for you!”

Lin Zhen immediately responded, “I bet you guys will get nothing today.”

“Haha, ignorant fool, what do you know? Yesterday was a sunny day, and the bees worked hard to gather nectar, so there must be a lot of fallen honey. Today, there should be at least five Constant Star Crystals on the mound, and our third group will definitely get off to a great start.”

“I doubt it. My words are pretty accurate. I’m cursing you guys now, cursing you to get nothing today.” Lin Zhen muttered a few strange notes, sounding quite convincing.

“Let’s go, Captain. Don’t bother with this lunatic. He’ll see how foolish he is soon.”

A few people looked at Lin Zhen’s group with contempt and then walked towards the mound.

At this moment, Zhao Xiaoman tugged on Lin Zhen’s sleeve. Lin Zhen turned to look at her, only to see that her eyes were a bit red.

“What’s wrong, Xiao Man?”

“Brother Lin, thank you for helping me. I’m very grateful to you…”

“It’s a small thing. Don’t worry about it.”

“Mhm, I know you’re a good brother.” Zhao Xiaoman nodded gratefully.

Lin Zhen touched his face, thinking that he must not forget to wash it tomorrow morning. He didn’t seem much older than Zhao Xiaoman, yet she kept calling him “big brother.” Although she looked young, he wasn’t old either.

“But Brother Lin, you don’t have to confront them so hard. They should have some gains today. People like them usually get at least one Star Crystal a day, and today they are likely to get two Constant Star Crystals.”

“Hehe, we’ll see. I’ve cursed them; they won’t get anything.” Lin Zhen laughed and said.

Li Changying spoke up, “If your curse really works, then you will really be my idol from now on. I’ve been practicing martial arts for many years, and this is the first time I’ve heard of a curse working.”

“Let’s wait and see.” Lin Zhen didn’t say more, as it would raise suspicions.

Just then, a surprised voice came from the front, “What?! Today there are only two Constant Star Crystals! What’s going on?!”

“What’s right or wrong about it? It’s normal for there to be fewer. It’s six o’clock now, start grabbing!”

All the teams rushed towards the mound. After a chaotic scramble, the first and second groups each got a Constant Star Crystal, while the fourth and fifth groups aimed lower and got Planet Crystals.

Only the third group, who didn’t want Planet Crystals and tried to compete for Constant Star Crystals, failed to beat the first two groups and ended up empty-handed.

Li Changying’s neck turned stiffly as she looked at Lin Zhen in disbelief.

Zhao Xiaoman was even more excited, jumping up and hugging Lin Zhen, “Brother Lin, from now on, you’re my idol too!”