Chapter 246 - 208: Awakening a Superpower

Chapter 246: Chapter 208: Awakening a Superpower

Without much hesitation, the moment he saw the giant clam, Zhang Ji opened his hand, and a small bell appeared in his palm.

It was the Demon-Suppressing Bell, cultivated from the sixth diagram of the "Sutra of the Buddha’s Inner Scenery"—the "Demon-Suppressing Buddha’s Inner Scenery."

An artifact forged by Zhang Ji by combining Spirit and material energy.

It could be used to defend against spiritual attacks, and it also had the power to suppress and strike down powerful foes.

With a flick of his wrist, Zhang Ji tossed it out.

The bell changed shape in mid-air, instantly growing to three hundred zhang in diameter.

It then plummeted downward, descending to suppress the clam.

Perhaps sensing the threat, the giant clam opened a slit, and a concentrated beam of energy shot out from within.

Its power was enough to shatter mountains and split the earth. If it struck flat ground, it could carve a channel over ten kilometers long.

At that moment, however, the Demon-Suppressing Bell suddenly shook.

"DING-A-LING~!"

The crisp sound traveled even through the deep sea.

Tran, who was beside Zhang Ji, felt his Spirit jolt. At the same time, the clam-like Exotic Beast below froze on the spot, its movements ceasing entirely. Its spiritual body was shattered by the ringing, leaving only its physical form, which was teeming with immense life force.

The beam of light did strike the Demon-Suppressing Bell, but it was a completely harmless blow, neutralized instantly.

In terms of defensive power, the bell was not much inferior to Zhang Ji’s own body.

Anything that could break through the bell could basically harm Zhang Ji himself.

And this clam clearly lacked that kind of power.

Zhang Ji extended his left hand. Space warped, and his hand began to gigantify in mid-air, soon becoming large enough to grasp the meteorite.

With a single grab, he collected both the clam-like Exotic Beast and the Knoer Meteorite into the Hope.

A few A-rank Exotic Beasts remained nearby.

Zhang Ji could have finished them off easily, but he left them for Tran to practice on.

"I’ll wait for you at the surface. Be quick, and don’t tear them up too much, or they won’t be good to eat," Zhang Ji said.

Then, with a flash, Zhang Ji’s figure vanished from the seabed.

Tran looked at the dazed, giant Exotic Beasts. The Superpower crystal on his brow materialized, and he began to act.

...

On the surface of the sea, Zhang Ji waited for about seven minutes before Tran finished the battle.

He had taken care of all seven A-rank Exotic Beasts.

He had listened to Zhang Ji and hadn’t torn them to shreds. He had primarily used special spiritual attacks, leaving their bodies mostly intact.

He used his Telekinesis to lift them all to the sea’s surface.

Their enormous bodies each weighed at least a thousand tons.

The essence of energy they contained was incredibly rich.

Whether used in Alchemy or made into Magic Potions, they were top-tier restorative ingredients.

Robby and the others could even study and analyze them. They might even be able to use their Alchemy Skills to extract the Superpower genes from these creatures.

Zhang Ji stored the massive creatures in a Spatial Artifact and moved them into the Hope. As far as he was concerned, he had now acquired everything of value in this world.

Everything else was just long-term, passive income.

Back at the Yejiang Base.

Construction was still underway.

The Superpower users had all been assigned various jobs, and the researchers Zhang Ji had brought with him had already collected blood samples from all of them and registered their information.

Those with potentially significant Superpowers were specially marked.

The name of one Superpower user who could control Light Particles was highlighted in red, marking him as a high-value individual.

His Superpower wasn’t actually very strong. At night, he could only produce a beam of light, barely enough to serve as a lightbulb.

His status in this settlement wasn’t very high.

But when it came to design work—inscribing Demon Pattern Circuits, Spiritual Pattern Designs, or even electronic chips—he was incredibly useful.

Even at his current stage, his control was excellent. As long as he could see it, he could manipulate it with precision.

A single person like him could replace an entire engraving lathe.

Besides him, several other Superpower users also showed great promise.

Zhang Ji glanced at the list and handed it back to the researcher.

"Next, you can start trying some small-scale rescue missions. At the very least, gather the population in the surrounding area," Zhang Ji said.

The researcher acknowledged the order and left.

Zhang Ji found Tran and said, "Come on. Let’s give you a version upgrade."

"A version upgrade?"

Tran was full of doubt, clearly not understanding.

Nevertheless, Zhang Ji led him into the internal space of the Hope.

The massive Knoer Meteorite lay across a newly added plaza area, taking up a lot of space. Next to it was the Four Elements Crystal Core that Zhang Ji had obtained after defeating the Elemental King.

In the storyline from Zhang Ji’s memories of playing the game, Tran’s version upgrade was tied to this very meteorite.

The Knoer Meteorite stimulates genetic mutation in living beings, causing them to develop corresponding Superpowers.

For ordinary people, however, the probability was not very high—less than one percent.

This was because their bodies couldn’t withstand such a violent mutation.

Genetic evolution had always been a step-by-step process, often taking tens of millions of years to show any change.

But the radiation emitted by the Knoer Meteorite forced life-forms to traverse hundreds of millions of years of evolution in a very short time. This rate of genetic mutation was almost equivalent to suicide. The slightest error would turn them into cellular waste, dissolving into a pool of pus.

However, as long as one’s constitution was strong enough, or their Spirit attribute reached a certain standard—around B-rank—they could reliably awaken a Superpower.

"Don’t use your Telekinesis to shield yourself. Feel its radiation," Zhang Ji said.

"This...?" Tran said, shocked and uncertain.

He was hesitant because he could clearly feel the radiation disrupting his body’s cells.

"It is the source of this world’s disasters and the reason for the mutations in its plants and animals. For you, it can evolve the Crystal Spirit Race genes within you," Zhang Ji explained briefly.

Hearing this, Tran tentatively reached out and gently touched the surface of the Knoer Meteorite.

Light radiated from the meteorite, shining onto Tran’s palm and seeping deep into his cells, agitating them.

Vaguely, Tran seemed to sense its benefits. He completely dropped his Telekinetic shield, allowing a massive amount of radiant light to be absorbed into his body.

The orange Superpower crystal on his brow spontaneously appeared, its light growing even more dazzling.

The Superpower crystals of the Crystal Spirit Race generally only came in three colors: purple, silver, and deep blue.

Purple signified energy control, and they were known as "Energy Weavers" within their race.

Silver was for material control; they were called "Prime Shapers."

Deep blue represented information control, and they were known as "Abyssal Rememberers."

These were three different paths.

But Tran was a being born from the combination of Origin Star human and Energy Weaver genes. His own genes had undergone atavism, resulting in an orange Superpower crystal that granted him control over matter, energy, and information.

Only the progenitor of the Crystal Spirit Race, the Crystal Spirit Ancient God, possessed such an ability.

Following this path to its apex meant controlling all matter, energy, and information—becoming nearly omniscient and omnipotent.

Tran’s Telekinesis was of this very nature.

He had only ever tapped into a fraction of it.

At this moment, under the stimulation of the Knoer Meteorite, Tran felt his consciousness begin to transcend dimensions. His body flickered where he stood, as if on the verge of detaching from the current spacetime.

Faintly, he felt a gaze upon him.

It was difficult to describe, but he seemed to understand that the owner of that gaze was the source of his genes.

"BZZZT! BOOM!"

The orange Superpower crystal erupted with light, instantly flooding the entire space within the Hope. Even Zhang Ji couldn’t help but raise a hand to shield his eyes.

For some reason, in that instant, he had the illusion of being watched by some special existence.

’That being is on another level,’ he thought. ’It doesn’t seem like a life-form from this dimension. I feel like if it wanted to, I’d be insta-killed.’

’No, it’s not an illusion!’

’With my current strength, how could I possibly have an illusion?’

’Could the players’ speculations be true?’

Zhang Ji stared at Tran’s Superpower crystal as its light gradually receded, a thoughtful expression on his face.

In Ultimate Fighting, Origin Star had a very special setting: it was the source point from the last universe’s restart.

In other words, Origin Star was the center of the universe.

That was also why so many spacetime rifts appeared there.

In the "Interstellar Journey" expansion, this information was confirmed by numerous advanced civilizations.

And players speculated that the subsequent "Gaze of the Ancient Gods" expansion would also base its plot on this setting.

Furthermore, those ancient gods might have been making their moves on Origin Star from the very beginning.

All of those Saint Kings had strong causal relationships with the ancient gods.

However, Zhang Ji had only played up to "Interstellar Journey" before he was transmigrated.

The game hadn’t been updated to the later versions yet, so he had always thought the players were just spouting nonsense. But now, it seemed there might be some truth to it.

’If those damn gods really are playing chess, then with Elaven dead, does that mean I’ve indirectly offended an ancient god?’

’And where do I fit into all this?’

Just then, Tran recovered from that special state. He looked at Zhang Ji and said, "I feel like my ability has changed somehow. It’s easier to use, and I can perceive much more information about matter..."

Zhang Ji’s train of thought was broken. He looked at Tran but didn’t sense anything particularly special about him. He still looked like someone Zhang Ji could kill with a single punch.

This calmed him down considerably.

’Ancient gods? What are they?’

’Sooner or later, I’ll open my [Limited Space] and insta-kill them with one punch!’

"That’s good," Zhang Ji nodded. "We might have to face experts from Lan’er World soon. You should work hard to improve during this time. It’ll be good for us if you can reach S-rank sooner."

"I will," Tran said.

For some reason, he was filled with a newfound confidence, feeling that he could achieve his advancement within the next month or two.

...

After sending Tran off to help with the rescue efforts, Zhang Ji also approached the Knoer Meteorite.

Players could also use it to awaken Superpowers, and for them, the chance was one hundred percent, even without B-rank attributes.

Of course, with Zhang Ji’s attributes, he could theoretically awaken a Superpower with absolute stability.

Zhang Ji wanted to see what kind of Superpower he would awaken.

Fundamentally, a Superpower was an additional ability born from guided genetic evolution.

It was equivalent to being given the most likely evolutionary path and having it realized in a short time. The ability itself always originated from the individual’s own genes.

Zhang Ji placed his hand directly on the Knoer Meteorite, letting the radiation wash over his body and even actively absorbing it.

A huge amount of radiant light was devoured by Zhang Ji, so much so that the meteorite dimmed slightly.

Finally, his fundamental particles were disturbed and began to change.

A simple and unadorned Superpower was born.

Because of the technique Zhang Ji used to actively absorb the radiation, it was even transformed into a combat crystal by his [Limited Space].

[System Prompt: You have obtained [Enhanced Defense] (Common) Combat Skill Crystal x1. It can be extracted and stored in your Limited Space.]