A sharp glint flashed in Lance's eyes. If this body truly harbored some hidden, untapped divine potential, he needed a thorough test run to verify it.
Suddenly, his perception world trembled slightly. A mass of Aether Fire, far more intense and massive than the Shadow Stalker earlier, abruptly intruded into his detection radius.
"A [Silver Rank] (Tier 2) Void Beast?" The corner of Lance's mouth curved upward into a dangerous arc. "Perfect. I was just worried about finding a place to warm up. Command: Disable real-time recording on the [Retinal Combat Lens]."
He preferred to walk in the shadows. One could never have too many trump cards.
[Beep! Warning: You are currently in the data collection phase for 'Federation Professional Certification' and 'Elite Grand Exam.']
[If recording is disabled, combat data from this period will not be counted toward your final score.]
[This action may delay the issuance of your Professional Badge or drastically lower your 'Genius Rank' evaluation. Confirm disable?]
The system's synthetic voice echoed against his eardrums.
"Elite Grand Exam (Genius Certification)?" Lance paused. "The rumored hidden evaluation only triggered for monsters from top noble families with S-Rank talents or higher?"
He laughed self-deprecatingly. It seemed the sudden change of venue to the desolate Planet X-10 was indeed a setup by the Guild higher-ups specifically to test him.
"I heard that after obtaining a high-rank evaluation, the Federation issues extremely generous resource rations, maybe even a chance to study at the Mother Planet's Holy Lands."
Although tempted, Lance decisively issued the confirmation command.
Based on his estimation, instakilling a Peak Bronze Shadow Stalker, combined with displaying over ten thousand kilograms of explosive force at his age, was already enough to secure an A-Rank Genius seat.
The standard for a C-Rank Genius was only three thousand kilograms of force. His true combat power had already crossed several orders of magnitude. Prematurely exposing the details of his SS-Rank or even SSS-Rank talents would only attract mad scientists who coveted divinity.
With that thought, Lance tapped his toes. Like a gray ghost, he leaped from the towering canopy, streaking toward that massive energy source.
Time flew. The alien planet's twin dark-purple moons hung high in the firmament.
SHING—!!!
A cold light sliced through the shadows. The long blade in Lance’s hand shrieked through the air, precisely piercing the skull of a Low-Tier Silver Void Beast.
"ROAR—!"
The giant beast, standing eight meters tall and weighing over ten tons, let out a final desperate wail. Then, like a collapsing mountain, it smashed heavily into the muddy earth, kicking up a sky-full of dust.
"That's the fourth one. Low-Tier Silver."
Lance exerted force with one hand, smoothly pulling the blade from the beast's skull. His breathing remained as steady as ever.
[Ding—Congratulations Host: High-intensity combat using 'Titanium War Art' detected. Cultivation method reconstruction program has cycled three times.]
[Constitution (CON) +3! Your current realm has advanced to: Bronze Rank · 7-Star!]
The system prompt arrived on schedule.
Lance clenched his fist, feeling the new power surging endlessly within him. Running the [Titanium War Art] in actual combat yielded shockingly high mana conversion efficiency. Just a few minutes of slaughter provided a full 3 points of Constitution. That speed was nearly double that of secluded meditation.
"The combat instructors didn't lie. True powerhouses aren't grown in greenhouses."
Feeling the surging vitality in his body, Lance's gaze deepened. Seven hours had passed since he entered this Yellow Zone in the afternoon. His realm had firmly stabilized at 7-Star, and his Constitution stat had climbed to a staggering 71 points.
With a thought, he pulled up his status panel:
[User Status Panel]
Name: Lance
Rank: [Bronze Rank · 7-Star]
Constitution (CON): 71 (Base points. Effective CON after talent scaling is approx. 213. Affects strength, defense, and regeneration)
Soul: 5 (Average human is 1. Affects mana affinity and sensory precision)
Talents:
[SSS-Rank: Undying God-Body] (Vitality/Constitution * 300%, Soul * 300%)
[SS-Rank: Elemental Saint Body] (Comprehension/Affinity * 1000, Cultivation Speed * 1000)
[C-Rank: Titanium War Body] (Speed +300%, Physical Defense +500%)
Skills:
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
[Rare/Tier 4: Titanium War Art] ([Perfect] Mastery: Cultivation Speed +300%)
[Rare/Tier 4: Titanium Collapse Fist] ([Perfect] Mastery: Fist Burst Power +400%)
With 71 points of base Constitution, under the triple amplification of the [Undying God-Body], Lance's casual punch force had already broken the terrifying 21,000-kilogram barrier!
Lance flicked his long blade, deftly slicing open the beast's chest cavity. He fished out a translucent blue core and stuffed it into his tactical vest pocket.
Right now, his pockets were bulging with over twenty cores, mostly High-Grade or Top-Grade Bronze. Once he returned to the city to sell them, this haul would fetch at least ten million Credits. That was enough to procure a Tier 2 [Fine] weapon or higher-purity genetic enhancement serums.
Of course, when hunting some common Tier 1 monsters, Lance selectively enabled the recording function for a few seconds, leaving behind some disguised combat footage to ensure his genius evaluation didn't fall below A-Rank.
"ONNNGGG—!!!!!"
Just then, a furious roar that shattered the clouds erupted from the depths of the forest. The massive sound wave shook the leaves from the surrounding trees.
Lance raised an eyebrow, excitement reflecting in his pupils.
"That frequency fluctuation... at least High-Tier Silver?"
He vaulted onto a treetop dozens of meters high, looking into the distance.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
At the end of his vision, a prehistoric monster over ten meters tall, covered in silver metallic scales, was rampaging. Like a living bulldozer, it smashed through ancient trees, currently in a state of extreme berserk rage.
"High-Tier Silver—[Silverlight Tyrant]. Judging by its energy signature, it's equivalent to a [Silver Rank · 7-Star]."
Lance stared at the behemoth, a provocative smile appearing on his lips.
"A whetstone of this intensity... is just right."
Staring at the rampaging behemoth before him, Lance's gaze grew increasingly fervent.
Although challenging a High-Tier Silver monster with his current on-paper stats was a stretch, he possessed the [SSS-Rank: Undying God-Body]. Dancing on the edge of survival was exactly the touchstone he craved.
However, after observing the Silverlight Tyrant's terrifying explosive power during its sprint, he frowned. That kind of movement speed was completely beyond the tracking capabilities of a [Bronze Rank]. Relying on normal running, he would never catch it.
"Too fast. Looks like I have to overdraft the potential of the [Titanium War Body] early."
Without hesitation, Lance pumped his internal mana into the genetic seed known as the [Titanium War Body].
HUMMMM—!!!
In an instant, a deep, dark-gold radiance erupted from his pores like boiling lava. Every inch of Lance's skin was coated in a flowing, dark-gold metallic sheen.
BANG!
The ground shattered under the immense recoil force. Lance transformed into a blurred dark-gold afterimage, vanishing from his spot. His speed was so great that even Director Raymond might only catch a streak of light if he were here.
"ROAR—!!!"
The [Silverlight Tyrant]'s eyes were bloodshot as it madly chased a [Void Raptor] only two meters long.
Though the raptor was merely a Low-Tier Silver with weak combat power, it clutched a massive silver dragon egg. Its species had naturally invested all their evolution points into "Agility" and "Stealth." In a head-on confrontation, they couldn't even beat some strong Bronze monsters, but in a jungle chase, their speed rivaled Peak Silver entities.
SCREEE—!!
After traversing over twenty kilometers of primeval forest, the egg-stealing raptor finally saw its clan's territory ahead and let out a piercing shriek of survival.
SCREE!!
SCREEE—!!
Responses echoed from all around.
Dozens of Void Raptors of varying sizes surged out from behind bushes and ancient trees like a gray tide, encircling the Silverlight Tyrant. Clearly, they intended to use numerical superiority to grind down this pursuer in their complex home turf.
"ROAR—!!!"
Seeing these despicable thieves, the Silverlight Tyrant's rage snapped the last thread of its reason.
Over the past century, its eggs had been looted by these predators almost every single time. Old grudges and new hatred erupted simultaneously. The tyrant lunged down, its jaws snapping around a raptor attempting a sneak attack, and shook its head violently.
CRACK!
The sound of shattering bones was exceptionally crisp.
The raptor was flung dozens of meters away, slamming into a rock face and dying instantly.
SCREEE—!!
This act thoroughly enraged the Raptor Alpha. It was an anomaly nearly five meters long, emitting an aura that also reached [High-Tier Silver]. With an ear-splitting screech, it ordered the entire clan to launch an all-out assault.
In a flash, the massive Silverlight Tyrant was swarmed by the small gray raptors. Although the tyrant crushed a monster with every stomp, the agile raptors relentlessly left deep, bone-deep gashes on its hide.
"My god, a team fight on this scale?"
At this moment, Lance, still a streak of dark-gold light, finally arrived at the scene. He concealed himself in the shadows, calmly observing the death match between the two sides.
"Hm? That is..."
Lance's gaze suddenly sharpened. He noticed a sneaky raptor quietly slipping out of the battlefield. At the base of an ancient tree not far from Lance, it deftly dug up the soil, buried the silver dragon egg, and then hurriedly rushed back to the fight.
"Jackpot." Lance's heart beat slightly faster.
According to the Federation Bestiary, the [Silverlight Tyrant] possessed bloodline potential to evolve into [Gold Rank] (Tier 3). In the auction house, a viable dragon egg usually had a starting bid of over ten million Credits.
Lance deactivated the [Titanium War Body]. Upon landing, he quickly flashed to the tree and began digging up the priceless treasure.
"Speaking of which, the load this buff puts on the body is massive. Maintaining it for just five minutes drained half my mana."
Lance thought self-deprecatingly as he dug. To prepare for the potential melee ahead, he subconsciously circulated the [Titanium War Art], attempting to accelerate his mana recovery.
WHOOSH—!!!
Suddenly, a scorching warm current exploded from his abdomen (Dantian).
In that split second, Lance clearly felt his originally empty mana meridians being forcibly refilled at a speed that defied common sense!
Three seconds. Full mana.
[Ding—System Alert: Your 'Alchemy Potion' reserve energy consumed: 50 Days.]
[Current Energy Remaining: 13,950 Days.]
[Status: Mana/Vitality fully restored!]
Lance froze in place.
"Damn, that potion has this kind of effect?!"
He felt a wave of disbelief. Restoring fifty percent of his mana only cost fifty days of "AFK energy"?
This meant that with his current reserve of nearly fourteen thousand days, he could instantly resurrect to full status over 140 times after exhausting all his strength!
"How is this different from 'Infinite Mana'?"
Lance quickly calculated: Even the high-consumption [Titanium War Body] took ten minutes to drain him dry. Even the terrifyingly expensive [Titanium Collapse Fist] could be sustained for half a minute at max output. And recovering all that took only three seconds.
Most importantly, he could reconstruct this enhanced potion through the system every day. As long as he saved enough Credits, he could create higher-tier, larger-reserve God-Tier potions.
By then, his energy reserve cap and recovery speed would see another explosive growth.
"I knew it. Items 'reconstructed' by the system are never just simple stat boosts!"
Lance let out a loud laugh. He backhandedly stowed the silver dragon egg into his specialized storage bag and looked at the swarm of Void Beasts locked in chaotic battle, his eyes filled with a confidence he had never felt before.
