Ruins Reward

After one year and three months of arduous training, Luo Feng finally managed to break through the crystal room. The crystal room, now with a large hole in its wall, suddenly emitted a 'hissing' sound, then completely dissolved into streams of dream-like light, merging into the black-brown, tangled roots on the ground. "XXXXXXXX…" A familiar voice echoed through the labyrinth. "One year and three months, and I finally hear that voice again," Luo Feng muttered, looking down at the communication watch on his wrist. The watch quickly translated the message: "Congratulations, you have successfully completed the assessment death mission!" "Please follow the passage ahead of you and come to me to claim your reward for successfully completing the assessment mission." As the voice still reverberated, the tough, black-brown root-formed wall in front of Luo Feng rapidly wriggled aside, creating a passage three to four meters wide. The passage was deep and dark, with an enchanting stream of light at its end—the same light that formed the 'crystal wall'. "Finally, success! Time to claim my reward?" Luo Feng turned, slung his backpack on, and then the Duntiansuo flew up. "Let's go!" He leaped onto the Duntiansuo. Whoosh! The Duntiansuo swiftly flew along the passage, passing through the deep corridor, and soon arrived at a hall enveloped in dazzling, dream-like colorful light! It was a beautiful palace, as if inhabited by immortals, with streams of enchanting, colorful light swirling ceaselessly. The palace itself was tens of meters long and wide, roughly the size of a stadium. "See 'it'? Where is 'it'?" Luo Feng looked around. It was empty! Suddenly— A large amount of colorful light converged, rapidly forming a blurry, tall human figure, which then solidified into a bald crystal man. "Light forming a human?" Luo Feng felt a surge of nervousness. Everything happening within this ancient civilization ruin far surpassed current Earth technology! Even powerful mental-force masters were insignificant before this ancient civilization ruin! Naturally, Luo Feng couldn't help but feel nervous before this crystal man. "XXXXXX…" The bald crystal man smiled and spoke. Its face was exquisitely detailed; if it were human, it would be a very beautiful one. Luo Feng's communication watch immediately translated: "Hello, Luo Feng." The bald crystal man glanced at the communication watch, and instantly, a beam of light from the palace shot into the watch. Luo Feng was startled. The screen of his communication watch was rapidly displaying an operation process; this 'bald crystal man' from the ancient civilization ruin was actually deleting a large amount of translated information from his watch. "Don't be nervous," a slightly metallic voice said from the bald crystal man's mouth. "Chinese?" Luo Feng looked at the figure before him in surprise. "Don't be surprised. The development of humanity on this planet has been under my surveillance. Your linguistic changes, cultural shifts, and history are all being monitored. Of course, I understand your writing and language," the bald crystal man smiled. "To make it easier for you to accept, I am conversing with you in human form." Luo Feng calmed down. Right, this ancient civilization ruin had existed for who knows how many years, so it wasn't strange for it to be intimately familiar with Earth's development. "Your human technology is still in its nascent stage," the bald crystal man continued. "I know all your information, which is why I can call out your name, 'Luo Feng'. I called you once when you first entered here." Luo Feng was startled. Yes, one year and three months ago, when the assessment death mission began, it had addressed him as 'Elite Apprentice Luo Feng'. At the time, he thought it was due to translation software, but now it seemed the ancient civilization ruin truly knew his name. "Because you initiated the assessment death mission, I directly addressed you by name," the bald crystal man said. "If you had failed the assessment, you would have died, and this information would not have been leaked. If you succeeded, you would be qualified to enter Yunmo Star and become one of its members. You would also know that I monitor this planet." "Yunmo Star?" Luo Feng was taken aback. The bald crystal man shook his head slightly: "Even if you know, it's as good as not knowing." "Now, I will bestow upon you the reward for successfully completing the assessment mission." With a wave of the bald crystal man's hand, several items from deep within the palace were carried over by a colorful light. There were four items in total: a black vest, silver armguards, a book shimmering with starlight, and a hexagonal metal plate. These four items floated before the bald crystal man. "The first item, which you call the Black God Set," the bald crystal man said, pointing to the black vest. "The second item, these silver armguard-shaped devices, are Auxiliary Optical Computers!" "The third item is the Controller's Attack Method, 'Duntian'." "The fourth item is the token for entering Yunmo Star." The bald crystal man stroked the last hexagonal metal plate, which bore two complex characters, and sighed: "I am doing this according to my master's programmed instructions. Unfortunately, even if you obtain the Yunmo Star token, you cannot have the people of Yunmo Star come to pick you up and allow you to enter Yunmo Star." "Why?" Luo Feng's mind was in a whirl. "What is this Yunmo Star anyway?" "Yunmo Star is a mysterious place in the vast universe," the bald crystal man looked at Luo Feng. "Unfortunately, I can no longer contact Yunmo Star, so you certainly cannot contact Yunmo Star with this token. According to the base's existing program, I must bestow this token upon you. But it will be useless to you." Luo Feng was secretly alarmed... It sounded like Yunmo Star was a mysterious and powerful force in the universe! Long, long ago, it had established this ancient civilization ruin here to monitor everything on Earth. Generally, only elite members selected would be qualified to enter Yunmo Star. However, it seemed this ancient civilization ruin could no longer contact Yunmo Star. Perhaps Yunmo Star had encountered a catastrophe! Or been destroyed! No flower blooms forever; even the most powerful and mysterious forces cannot exist eternally. If the ruins are intact but contact is lost, then Yunmo Star must have encountered a problem. "The Yunmo token is useless, but you already know the purpose of this Black God Set." "As for this Auxiliary Optical Computer, it is something every gene warrior and mental-force master desires. It will be of great use to you," the bald crystal man said. "Besides possessing all the functions of your communication watch, it has numerous other features, the most important of which is its ability to measure a target's strength." "Measure strength?" Luo Feng was very surprised. "Put it on," the bald crystal man said. "And permeate it with your mental force." With that, the silver armguard flew towards Luo Feng. "Okay." Luo Feng first removed his original armguard from his left arm and put on the silver armguard. When a trace of mental force permeated it, the silver armguard quickly conformed to his skin, and its surface surprisingly displayed a large number of pictorial characters, all in Chinese. "The Auxiliary Optical Computer also has a translation function," the bald crystal man said. "Many of the translations from your communication watch's software would leak secrets about this place, so I have already deleted much of the information related to this place from your communication watch, including the entire Basic 312 Forms of the Controller's Secret Manual." Luo Feng nodded. Delete it, so what? After one year and three months of arduous training, practicing countless times, he had long since memorized the 'Basic 312 Forms' by heart. "Press the button on the bottom left of the 'Auxiliary Optical Computer', and point it at someone to detect their strength," the bald crystal man said. "You can also control it by voice." Luo Feng looked down. The so-called button on the bottom left was actually just a smooth surface on the Auxiliary Optical Computer, with some patterns etched along the edges to form buttons. Luo Feng lightly pressed the bottom-left button and pointed the Auxiliary Optical Computer at himself. Immediately, text appeared on the computer's surface: "Combat Power: Mental Force (Apprentice Ninth-tier), Gene Energy (Apprentice Ninth-tier)." "What does Apprentice Ninth-tier mean?" Luo Feng asked the bald crystal man. "Your identity is now that of a Yunmo Star member, so you have the authority to know this information," the bald crystal man said. "In the vast, infinite universe, countless life forms are born. Among them, the most numerous are 'Apprentice-tier' beings. 'Apprentice-tier', in your Earth terms, means being unremarkable, part of the common populace." Luo Feng was stunned. Common populace... was he considered unremarkable? Just one of the common populace? "Apprentice-tier is divided into nine tiers, with the First-tier being the lowest and the Ninth-tier the highest. First-tier is equivalent to your so-called Junior Warrior, and Ninth-tier is a High-level Wargod," the bald crystal man smiled. "Your planet's strongest, 'Hong', received some ancient civilization technology. So he knew to divide it into nine levels. He probably thought these nine levels sounded too difficult, so he called them 'Warrior, Warlord, Wargod', unaware that in the vast universe, this level is collectively referred to as 'Apprentice'." Luo Feng took a deep breath. "Above Apprentice-tier is Planet-tier! Only those who reach Planet-tier are qualified to be called 'gene warriors' or 'mental-force masters'. Those who haven't reached Planet-tier are merely Apprentices and are not qualified to be called gene warriors or mental-force masters." This statement from the bald crystal man left Luo Feng speechless. He, who was called an invincible Wargod, didn't even qualify as a mental-force master. "Planet-tier is also divided into nine tiers!" "On your Earth, those who transcend Wargods are Planet-tier warriors!" the bald crystal man stated. Luo Feng suddenly understood. So, the esteemed council members were all Planet-tier powerhouses. "Becoming a Planet-tier warrior and wandering the universe, at least you won't starve. You'll have a fundamental foothold," the bald crystal man smiled. "However, your Earth doesn't have the technology to allow you to wander the universe." "What about their strength?" Luo Feng quickly asked. "How strong are they?" Luo Feng was very curious about the strength of Earth's 'beyond Wargod' existences, as well as Hong and Lei Shen. "Most of their combat power is Planet-tier First-tier, a few are Planet-tier Second-tier! Among them, two are Planet-tier Third-tier," the bald crystal man said. "The strongest, 'Hong', is Planet-tier Sixth-tier, and 'Lei Shen' is Planet-tier Seventh-tier. The two of them are much, much stronger than the others." Luo Feng was startled. Hong is Planet-tier Sixth-tier? Lei Shen is Planet-tier Seventh-tier instead? "That's not right, Hong should be stronger than Lei Shen," Luo Feng couldn't help but say. "The tiers I mentioned refer to their physical body, gene energy, and mental force, not their actual combat power," the bald crystal man explained. "Hong's physical quality and gene energy are indeed slightly inferior to Lei Shen's. However, actual combat power isn't solely determined by stronger physical body or gene energy." "For example, you!" The bald crystal man looked at Luo Feng. "Your mental force level is Apprentice Ninth-tier! However, your amplitude is 16 times! Your gene energy is Apprentice Ninth-tier, with an amplitude of 3.5 times." Currently, Luo Feng could simultaneously control 16 blades to unleash his strongest combat power. "Is an Apprentice Ninth-tier with a 2x amplitude the same as one with a 10x amplitude?" the bald crystal man looked at Luo Feng. Luo Feng's heart jolted. Right... The Auxiliary Optical Computer only tested the physical foundation. When he first arrived, his mental force could control 6 flying knives; now it could control 16. The difference in strength was immense, yet the test still showed the same Apprentice Ninth-tier. "Apprentice Ninth-tier, with a 16x amplitude." "This is equivalent to a Planet-tier First-tier with a 4x amplitude," the bald crystal man said. "Generally, Planet-tier warriors can achieve a burst of three to four times their base power. So, your current combat power should be comparable to an ordinary 'Planet-tier First-tier'. That is, what you call an existence beyond Wargods!" The bald crystal man pointed to the starlight-shimmering secret manual floating before him: "However, you also have a Controller's attack secret technique, 'Duntian'. This 'Duntian' is the method for using the Controller's exclusive weapon, the Duntiansuo. You previously didn't understand how to use the Duntiansuo at all, treating it as an ordinary flying knife. That truly insults this exclusive Controller weapon." "What is a Controller?" Luo Feng pressed. "Cosmic powerhouses are mainly divided into gene warriors and mental-force masters. These are two broad categories. Gene warriors are further divided into several types, and mental-force masters can also be subdivided into several types. You are a 'Controller' among mental-force masters, which, in your Earth terms, means you belong to the control-flow faction." Luo Feng understood. It seemed that in the universe, cultivation had long since formed a perfect system. "Planet-tier mental-force masters all desperately desire an exclusive mental-force weapon! I didn't expect you to obtain one," the bald crystal man said. "So you are very lucky. Although 'Hong' recognized the treasure, firstly, he is not a mental-force master, and secondly, he didn't have the secret technique for using the Duntiansuo. That's why he gave it to you." Luo Feng was secretly delighted. No wonder Hong was so reluctant, saying that the price of 30 stars was intentionally low. Even Planet-tier mental-force masters yearned for such an exclusive mental-force weapon, and he had actually obtained one. "Without an exclusive weapon, how much strength can one exert?" "But with the Duntiansuo, combined with this attack secret manual 'Duntian', you can truly unleash the Duntiansuo's potential." "Without the Duntiansuo and the secret manual, you are comparable to a Planet-tier First-tier in combat power." "But with them, it's like adding wings to a tiger, greatly increasing your strength. As for how much you can unleash, it depends on how well you can utilize the Duntiansuo!" the bald crystal man said. Luo Feng's heart pounded faster. Although he hadn't broken through to Planet-tier, relying on his strong performance ability, plus the Duntiansuo and the 'Duntian' secret manual, ordinary 'beyond Wargod' existences would not be his match. "Generally, being able to control 12 hidden weapons to their maximum power allows one to break through to Planet-tier." "However, your talent is very high; your brain region width reaches 21, and your breakthrough limit is also higher than ordinary people, requiring 16 hidden weapons before you have a chance to break through," the bald crystal man said. "You could break through at any time now. I have left the key to breakthrough in the Auxiliary Optical Computer; you can study it carefully when you return." Luo Feng was excited. No wonder the crystal room's strength was set to require 16 flying knives to break through. It turned out that once he reached that level, he could break through to 'Planet-tier' at any moment. "You are the first Yunmo Star member from Earth in five thousand years," the bald crystal man said. "So you must not be arrogant. In terms of combat power, 'Hong' is much stronger than you. In terms of realm, he already possesses his own domain! It can be said that within Planet-tier, he is invincible." "As the first Yunmo Star member in five thousand years, although you cannot enter Yunmo Star, I still hope you can surpass them and become the strongest." The bald crystal man looked at Luo Feng.