Chapter 45: Chapter 45 Step 1

After defeating the Giant King, Lin Shen felt the surging Sacrificial Heavenly Power within his body recede like a tide, and he couldn’t help but frown.

“No wonder it’s an imperfect Super-Base talent Fire Seed. After sacrificing so many lives, it’s all out just from killing a single Giant King. It’s indeed not perfect.” Lin Shen did not dare to linger and pushed the Base Mutation Egg a bit, then descended the mountain using the same path he had come up by.

The giants who had rushed up halfway down the mountain did not dare to follow, watching with their own eyes as Lin Shen disappeared behind the mountain top.

The Base Mutation Egg rolled down nimbly, Lin Shen somewhat unable to keep up, worried that if it kept rolling like this, it might get damaged.

Fortunately, the Base Mutation Egg was much harder than he had imagined; the more it rolled, the faster it went, all the way down the mountain, hitting a huge boulder over a zhang high, shattering the boulder into pieces, while the Base Mutation Egg itself remained unscathed.

Lin Shen descended from the mountain, dusted off the stone powder from the Base Mutation Egg, and did not find a single scratch on it.

“As expected of a Crystal Base Level.” Lin Shen praised inwardly as he pushed the Base Mutation Egg in the direction from which they had come.

Before reaching the beach, he encountered Wei Wufu in the Steel Forest. By then, Wei Wufu could walk, although he did not seem to have fully recovered, his legs appeared somewhat ungainly.

“How did you get over here?” Lin Shen thought something might have happened over there and asked quickly.

“The noise, was looking for you,” said Wei Wufu.

Upon hearing this, Lin Shen relaxed, guessing that Wei Wufu had heard the sound of him blowing up the Giant King and had some concerns, so he searched for the source of the noise and found his way here.

“We’ll talk more after we get back.” Lin Shen pushed the Base Mutation Egg forward as he spoke.

When the two returned to the rock piles, Tian Xin was still there, motionless—the effect of Acupoint Sealing was still ongoing.

“A Crystal Mutation Egg?” Tian Xin saw the Base Mutation Egg that Lin Shen had pushed back and was slightly surprised.

Crystal-based Creatures were not uncommon, but finding a Crystal Mutation Egg was not so easy. Lin Shen had managed to obtain a Crystal Mutation Egg in such a short time, and it was unclear where he had found it.

Lin Shen did not disclose that it was a Mutated Crystal Base Egg, pushing it into a corner to hide it for the time being.

“Friend, about the matter I mentioned earlier, how have you considered it? If we cooperate, there’s a high chance we could get hold of the treasure left by The Ancient Realm King…” Tian Xin urged Lin Shen even more eagerly.

He no longer believed that Lin Shen was merely of Steel Level, considering Lin Shen’s Steel Body a sham. In reality, he suspected that Lin Shen was of Crystal Base Level, and not an ordinary one at that.

“When it comes down to it, what kind of existence was The Ancient Realm King?” Lin Shen chatted with Tian Xin in a casual manner.

In the following period, Lin Shen learned a great deal of universe knowledge from Tian Xin, which increasingly astounded him.

Previously, Lin Shen thought that being of Crystal Base Level already placed one among the higher echelons, but to the races in the universe, there was hardly any difference between Crystal Base Level and Steel Level.

Steel, Alloy, and Crystal Base were collectively known as Base Variant Creatures in the universe, belonging to the lowest tier of existence.

However, this was not to say that the Base Mutation stage was unimportant. According to Tian Xin, the Base Mutation stage was actually very critical, a foundational phase. Only with a sufficiently high foundation could one go further and become stronger down the line.

The Celestial Race, for example, were born of Crystal Base Level. Only an extremely small chance would result in the birth of Steel Level or Alloy Level newborns, which would be considered congenital deficiencies.

Lin Shen continued to chat with Tian Xin, deliberately avoiding the topic of searching for the remains of The Ancient Realm King.

He was very clear in his heart that with their current strength compared to a being like The Ancient Realm King, the difference was like that between heaven and earth. If The Ancient Realm King had left behind some mechanisms, they might not even know how they died when the time came.

Lin Shen still insisted on his prior decision: once the teleporter could be used, he would transport back immediately. Surviving was his top priority; all else could be approached slowly.

Now that my third and fourth brothers are missing, they must have come to this planet as well, but finding them on such a vast planet is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

If they have perished here, Lin Shen would have to shoulder the heavy responsibility of continuing the Lin Family line and not risk his life doing something completely uncertain.

Tian Xin could tell that Lin Shen didn’t want to search for The Ancient Realm King’s remains, preferring to tease information out of him instead.

With his life in Lin Shen’s hands, Tian Xin dared not stay silent, though it frustrated him to the point of nearly spitting blood.

Under Lin Shen’s coercion and temptation, Tian Xin divulged many secrets.

According to Tian Xin, the Base Mutation was merely the first small step in leaving the planet.

Humans are carbon-based creatures with a strong dependency on oxygen and their environment, and without the Base Mutation, survival on other planets in the universe is difficult.

This planet only has stronger gravity, with an environment not so different from where humans live.

Some planets have very thin oxygen or even no oxygen at all, and humans without the Base Mutation simply can’t survive in such places.

There are also all kinds of environments with high temperatures, low temperatures, and various types of radiation that ordinary humans can’t endure.

By the time the countdown on his watch was nearly over, Lin Shen had gained a more macro understanding of the universe.

“Are you really not going to search for The Ancient Realm King’s treasure chest? That is something that can let you directly transcend racial hierarchies…” Tian Xin still wanted to persuade Lin Shen.

“It’s fine and dandy to have nice things, but you have to be alive to enjoy them. The treasure chest of The Ancient Realm King is beyond my fortune; go find it yourself,” Lin Shen said, seeing that the countdown on his watch had ended, signaling that he could teleport again. He greeted Wei Wufu, and, holding the Base Mutation Egg, prepared to teleport back.

“Don’t go… untie me first…” Tian Xin said in panic.

“It will untie itself when the time comes,” replied Lin Shen as he and Wei Wufu activated the teleporter and left the place.

He didn’t kill Tian Xin, firstly because it wouldn’t be easy to kill him—without the blessing of Sacrifical Heavenly Power, his Strength wasn’t enough to kill Tian Xin, who was comparable to a Mutated Crystal Base; secondly, Lin Shen had other plans and hadn’t intended to kill Tian Xin.

By the time Tian Xin regained control of his body, Lin Shen and Wei Wufu had long since departed.

Lin Shen was surrounded by spinning lights, and when his vision returned, he found himself in a pitch-dark cave. Aside from a window-like light far in front, he could see nothing.

“Wei…” Lin Shen called out several times with no response. He could only push the Base Mutation Egg and cautiously head towards the light, which gradually enlarged like an open gate.

Despite being so close to the bright light and the gate, he still couldn’t see his own hand in front of his face, nor could he see anything beyond the door.

After a few tentative attempts, Lin Shen found that crossing the light gate posed no danger and then pushed the Base Mutation Egg through it.

The scene before his eyes changed again; Lin Shen found himself back in the mountains outside the canyon he’d seen before, but his wristwatch had vanished.

Looking back, there was no light gate or pitch-dark cave, just an empty space where a small hill stood meters away. That small hill seemed too insignificant to house such an extensive cave.

Seeing Wei Wufu standing not far off and no one else around, Lin Shen walked a few steps in that direction; still, there was nothing – no way to return to that dark cave.

“It seems next time I want to go in, I must find the Dark Bird to guide the way,” Lin Shen said after exchanging a few words with Wei Wufu, and the two took turns pushing the Base Mutation Egg towards the canyon.

As they reached the Flower Path, Lin Shen suddenly heard a cracking sound—the Base Mutation Egg had developed a crack.