Six days had passed since Zheng successfully completed his Foundation Establishment. Counting the two days Xuan and him were unconscious, there was only a day left from the next movie. No one had lazed around in these six days. On the second day after Zheng woke up, Xuan also woke up. The first thing that fellow had done upon waking up was to collect Zheng’s genes for research. Seeing his simple look now, he must have spent not just a day or two researching.
“The basic situation is like that.”
“Among the DNA, there’s mitochondria that has changed. The makeup of this mitochondria is like it has unlocked the genetic constraint and has evolved.” Xuan carried a large number of documents as he spoke to everyone. “It’s intriguing. If this is the case, Cultivators really did walk a different path of evolution from Saints. Apart from being in the domain of science, they’re even different internally.”
No one present seemed to understand apart from Honglu. However, Xuan very patiently explained this time, “The mitochondria within a human body has its own set of genes passed down, different from the genes humans passes on. In general, it can even be said that mitochondria are another race that is a parasite in the human body. Of course, this is only one way of putting it. In the past, when I was still in the real world, I heard several theories regarding mitochondria. The most bizarre theory was that the mitochondria used to be an organism several billion years ago. At that time, only cellar organisms or even the more basic amino acid organisms existed on Earth. These organisms all mutually devoured one another. Amongst them, there was a giant cell with great devouring abilities. After devouring the most basic prokaryote, this organism suddenly mutated, and the prokaryote wasn’t digested. Instead, they formed a symbiotic relationship. What this theory means is that mitochondria are the genetic descendants of prokaryotes.”
Xuan paused here. He picked up a document and said, “Saints relied on unlocking the genetic constraint in their bodies to evolve, while Cultivators’ foundation was to manipulate the mitochondrion to evolve. The two sides had a fundamentally different path of evolution. No wonder there was conflict during primordial times. The meaning of Foundation Establishment should be to let the sleeping mitochondria evolve, at least until the point of being it can adapt to Refined Qi and Magic. Have you learnt anything?”
Zheng laughed bitterly. “What mitochondrion, what gene? Just say it in one sentence. When can you give me the Cultivation techniques? My attack method now is letting Refined Qi and Magic collide. Don’t you think this crude method is an embarrassment to the word Cultivation?”
“That’s your problem.” Xuan laughed coldly. “Based on your clone’s battles that you described to me, the comprehension the two of you have towards battle is in two completely different dimensions. Although there’s the concept of breaking through technique with force, that’s not an excuse for you to have crude battle techniques. The so-called strong enhancements and strong techniques will display different levels of power depending on how it’s applied. For example, Cheng Xiao’s Nanto Suicho Ken. If you and him have the same level of the genetic constraint, constitution quality and technique, you may not necessarily be his match, nor will you definitely be able to create the ability of creating wind blades. I’ve already given you a Cultivator physique as well as the key to unlocking power. How to become stronger and resist your clone is your problem!”
Zheng had been rebutted until he couldn’t say anything in response. After a long time, he muttered, “But, but, this Cultivator physique is merely one that can use Refined Qi and Magic. Apart from the technique I tested in the basement before, I can’t think of any techniques to raise my power.”
“A mortal’s wisdom.” Xuan laughed coldly nonstop. He snapped his fingers, a extremely small gorgeous ball of light appearing on his finger. When he pinched it, a violent shockwave blew with a boom, making everyone nearby close their eyes. When they opened their eyes, Xuan was already pointing a Gauss pistol at Zheng’s head.
“Remember. There are no absolutely strong enhancements or techniques. The so-called strong, is defined from the differences in application. If this hasn’t given you your hint, think about your clone’s black flame. That’s why I said, the comprehension the two of you have towards battle is in two completely different dimensions. Although you’ve closed this gap with brute force, you need to cross it if you want to beat him. I’ve given you the key. I leave it to you to decide how to use it. That technique of your in the basement was just scratching the surface!”
(Although you say it like that, but… what does that so-called different dimension mean?)
Carrying these doubts, Zheng entered the simulator to fight a few rounds with his clone. The present simulated clone was no longer his match. He could defeat this black flame using clone with merely Destruction. However, this clone was from a distantly long time ago after all. After so much time had passed, the clone had long since progressed to some unknown stage. Also, the clone at that time obviously hadn’t gone all out, so this simulation couldn’t be taken for real.
(Still, my clone is truly strong. Even if I face him with my current strength, I’ll still have to worry about that black flame. It’s as if it has sentience when it protects my clone, even attacking enemies. What a terrifying technique. Wait, this black flame… could it be what Xuan was referring to?)
Zheng’s mind flashed, as he suddenly realized what Xuan meant. Yes, if speaking from the perspective of energy application, he really was far too inferior to his clone. His clone had reach such a terrifying level even in Resident Evil Apocalypse.
“I see. Still, if I want to reach this standard, will I really be able to use it proficiently before the final battle? There's not enough time.”
The second day was the time to enter The Perfect Storm. In the early morning, everyone gathered on God’s platform. Apart from Xuan, Zheng also hadn’t arrived, a rare thing.
Not long after, Zheng and Lori came out from their room. What made everyone curious was that a set of dragon wings had appeared on Zheng’s back. Although he hadn’t completely entered Dragon Transformation, this pair of dragon wings signified he had entered the mid-fourth stage.
“Mhm, Zheng, was the battle last night so intense that you entered the mid-fourth stage?” Cheng Xiao patted Zheng with a strange smile on his face.
Zheng laughed bitterly nonstop. Honestly, he himself thought this look was too strange. It looked suspiciously like he was imitating his clone. However, he had no choice. If he wanted to reach the level Xuan spoke of, the first thing he had to do was stabilise the quality of his physique at this Demidragon Transformation. The strength of this physique was the prerequisite, along with a large quantity of Refined Qi and Magic saved up. Although now he could produce them himself, the current efficiency was too low. After all, he only had the Foundation Establishment cultivation. Using the One Ring to convert them was more efficient right now.
Everyone chatted and laughed, asking Zheng the origin of this look. Zheng didn’t hide it, telling them about how he was trying to test some new techniques out now.
“There’s no choice. If I want to use this technique, my physique needs to reach the level of Demidragon Transformation at minimum, and needs to be maintained constantly. Otherwise, the Refined Qi and Magic released will be wasted.” Zheng laughed bitterly, gesturing with his hands.
Everyone was curious, with Heng and a few others asking immediately asked what the technique was. Zheng frowned, not knowing how to explain. He beckoned towards Cheng Xiao, “Explaining it is troublesome, so I’ll just show it to you first. Cheng Xiao, try to attack me. Remember, use the real Nanto Suicho Ken to attack me.”
Cheng Xiao didn’t reject it. He directly jumped up to above Zheng’s head, doing several somersaults. He used Nanto Suicho Ken to slash towards Zheng’s shoulders. There was the ripping sounds of wind being torn apart. At the same time, Zheng’s shoulder flashed with a gorgeous brilliance, and the mid-air Cheng Xiao was sent flying over ten metres away. He fell on the ground, moaning continuously.
“Saw that? It’s roughly like that. It’s similar to the black flames that protect my clone, only that I didn’t self-create the black flame technique, so I used Refined Qi and Magic as as substitute.”
Zheng gestured with his hands. “Explosion. Destruction. Even Chaos, Genesis Splitter, are states that need to be entered during combat. In total, my techniques are actually quite few. Apart from these three all out techniques, I need a technique for normal battles. In the basement before, I had separated out a strand of Refined Qi and Magic to collide. Even a strand of them colliding had shocking power. Now, the key is that I have a Cultivator’s physique, so I can use these energies flexibly. I’m using them to cover the surface of my body. Refined Qi extends outside my skin for about two millimetres, while Magic is below my skin for about one millimetre. When I’m attacked, these two energies will collide and produce a counterforce. The greater the power of the enemy’s attack, the greater the counterforce.”
“And not just that…”
Zheng violently punched out with a single fist. A gorgeous brilliance flashed from his fist to his arm and a spiralling wind followed this simple punch into an incredibly far distance. The metal ground twenty metres away abruptly exploded, a half metre scar gouged out from the ground.
“I can collide Refined Qi and Magic in a corkscrew motion. Also, I can make them collide after infusing it into a target object.” Zheng placed his hands on the ground. As a gorgeous radiance flashed past his palms, there weren’t any changes this time. However, a second later, Zheng gently stroked the ground. The metal there actually suddenly turned into dust, a depth of several metres disintegrating.
“This is only the initial stages of testing out the attack. When paired with Chaos, Genesis Splitter’s high speed, even my clone wouldn’t be able to dodge or block this attack. But it’s still not enough. Strength is determined by the difference in application. Refined Qi and Magic should have better ways of being applied. After the next battle, I’ll properly train before the final battle, then go and challenge my clone in my strongest state!”
Zheng’s current state wasn’t too good. Firstly, he wasn’t used to having the fourth stage kept unlocked perpetually, as this would damage the body. Even if he only partially unlocked it, it would still cause great exhaustion. He had no idea how his clone maintained this state.
“Alright. The second last battle, The Perfect Storm, is next. Our one goal is to capture the psyche force user of the other side alive. Then, team China will enter the final battle with most perfect team, to challenge team Devil for the position of strongest!”