Age of Evolution

“Alright, everyone stop looking and go your own ways. Those who belong to the Northwestern military and are willing to follow me, leave immediately.”

Li Changying of the Northwest looked at the departing back of Liang Feng. In his eyes were a full of fighting spirit and longing. He wanted to fight with this man, but he also knew that he was no match. So he was eager to enter the Star Fruit Tree to search for Star Crystals to improve his strength, sooner or later he would become such a powerful Martial Artist.

After Li Changying left, more than a dozen people from the Northwestern military followed him. Out of the eighty people present, more than ten came from the Northwest military, making up almost half of the group.

After the Northwestern people left, Su Mingyue also got up and left, going in a different direction along another branch.

The main branches were unimaginably wide, wider even than rivers, and the numerous small branches around them were also a hundred meters long or more. The huge leaves blocked the sun, the smallest of which was the size of a

residential building’s flat, completely covering it like a rooftop kingdom.

Su Mingyue did not take all the Capital Martial Artists with her, and only four or five female Martial Artists followed her.

Tang Yu seemingly wanted to catch up with Su Mingyue when she left, but since she didn’t invite him, it was a bit awkward. It wasn’t until the people from the South and the Demon Capital also left that he got up and left alone, going in the direction of Su Mingyue.

Many Martial Artists from Ice City also entered the deeper part of the tree. Lou Qingfeng glanced at Lin Zhen without saying much and left on his own.

Han Fengju and Wu Ming partnered up, and Lin Zhen even saw Ma Mingxing enter the Intermediate War General group, following two Martial Artists from the Demon Capital.

Even Lin Zhen’s roommate Sun Tie, the silent warrior from Tianfu, was in the Intermediate group and chose to leave alone.

Most Martial Artists acted alone, as not many were as united and disciplined as the Northwestern military. Dividing the Star Crystals amongst each other would be difficult, so it was much more convenient to act alone.

As there were fewer and fewer people, the Martial Artists followed their feelings and went in various directions, heading deeper into the tree where they soon disappeared from sight.

Finally, only Zhang Yue was left beside Lin Zhen. Zhang Yue looked at the sky and asked Lin Zhen, “Idol, it’s getting late. Where should we go?”

Lin Zhen glanced at him: “Aren’t you going to act alone?”

With a grin, Zhang Yue replied: “Nope, wherever my idol goes, I will follow.”

Lin Zhen was speechless and after a moment of thought, he said, “Don’t you have your own plans?”

“Of course I do. If we’re following my plan, we’d just find a hollow in a nearby tree and stay there, not venturing deeper. We could have a BBQand drink here.

I brought a lot of food.”

“We’re not going deeper into the tree? Why should we have a BBQ and drink here instead?” Lin Zhen asked, puzzled.

Zhang Yue confidently answered: “Idol, you didn’t read the book carefully. The deep parts of the tree are where Mutated Fireflies appear at night. It’s safer to stay here and rest, don’t you think?”

Lin Zhen slapped his forehead: “You dummy! It’s true that Mutated Fireflies come out at night, but if we light a fire here, aren’t you afraid of attracting a swarm of Mutated Mosquitoes that’ll suck us dry?”

Zhang Yue was immediately stunned: “So, what should we do?”

Lin Zhen took the lead, with Zhang Yue closely following him. They soon disappeared into the trees.

After entering the tree canopy, they found that it was a hidden paradise.

Each branch undulated, wide enough for cars to run side by side, let alone people walking.

The huge leaves formed clouds all around them, and walking through them, it felt like they were nothing but ants.

Not even ants, actually; they felt more like bacteria or microscopic organisms.

The light inside was dim, and it took the two quite a while to adjust their eyesight. Even though it was daytime, it still felt like dusk – and it was indeed getting dark now.

The two climbed a steep branch, and Zhang Yue called out to Lin Zhen: “Idol, look what I found!”

Lin Zhen walked over to see a huge withered flower. The petals were drawn close and there was no more nectar in the flower’s core.

The two jumped onto the withered petals, and Zhang Yue pointed to the central part of the flower core: “This place must have had a Star Crystal growing, but someone has already picked it.”

Lin Zhen had never seen such a thing before, but after a while, he nodded: “According to the survival manual, the Star Crystal on this flower should have been a Star Core, and was taken about two weeks ago. It definitely wasn’t done by anyone from our group.”

With some indignation, Zhang Yue said: “If it was a former student who did it, then at least they should have been an Intermediate War General, or even more likely, an Advanced War General. How much effect would a Star Core have for them? Why did they have to pick it? What are we, the Junior War Generals, supposed to absorb?”

Lin Zhen thought for a moment: “Star Cores don’t have a huge effect on Intermediate and Advanced War Generals, but it still has a certain effect. Small amounts add up, so it might still be useful to them. Maybe this person was having a difficult time in the higher-ranked area, so they came back to collect these lower-level Star Cores. Be careful when we walk, and do our best not to encounter others.”

Zhang Yue nodded: “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful.”

“The time is about right. It’s dark now, and visibility is too low. The tree at night is even more dangerous, let’s rest here tonight.” Lin Zhen pointed to the flower core.

“We’re staying here?” Zhang Yue was taken aback.

“Yes, the flower pistil has withered and there won’t be any mutated honeybees or insects coming. Plus, we have these huge petals as blankets. Let’s have a good sleep.”

“Hehe! Good idea! We’ll rest here like flower fairies for the night. Haha, what a

beautiful and enchanting scene.”

Just hearing the word “flower fairies,” even the worldly Lin Zhen couldn’t help but feel disgusted. He glanced at Zhang Yue’s plump figure and couldn’t help but think he looked more like a fly.

Both men each grabbed a giant petal and made bedding with it, lying down in the middle of the flower pistil.

Zhang Yue was excited for a while, and as the night deepened, he slowly drifted off to sleep.

Lin Zhen, however, couldn’t sleep. Lying in the flower pistil, he looked at the blurry silhouettes of the trees around him and felt the strong spiritual energy in the air. He decided to sit up and practice meditation instead.

For a Spiritual Mind Master, not much rest is needed. Cultivation is their form of rest. After about two hours, Lin Zhen stopped.

His spiritual power had reached the Golden Middle Stage. The golden aura accounted for just over 40%, and the silver aura was less than 60%. With this practice, the golden aura was increased by about 1%. In other words, it went from 42% to 43%.

“Indeed, practicing amid these trees is like doubling the achievement with half the effort. Although the first time has the best effect, if I can stay here longer, advancing to Dark Gold Level Spiritual Mind Master before War God would be possible. ”

“As for my current realm, it’s at the peak of three-level War General. Just one more step, and I could reach Four-Level War General. But if I cultivate in accordance with the normal procedure, it would still take at least a month. I need to find some Star Crystals to improve as soon as possible.”

As Lin Zhen was thinking, he suddenly noticed a strong fragrance of blossoms.

Lin Zhen, who had memorized the survival manual by heart, immediately realized that a flower had bloomed!

Star Fruit Trees collect cosmic energy and form flower buds which initially have no Star Crystals. Only when the flowers bloom, the Star Crystals appear.

Recently formed Star Crystals are at the Star Core Stage, which lasts for about a month before advancing to the Meteor Stage.

After three more months, it reaches the Comet Stage, which lasts for half a year before moving on to the Satellite Stage.

After a year, it enters the Planet Stage and then advances to the Constant Star Stage after three years.

The Constant Star Stage requires ten years to fully mature. If no one picks it in the tenth year, it will gradually decline and enter the White Dwarf Star Period in the eleventh year, eventually turning into a supernova and disappearing within half a month.

Although the just-born Star Core Stage Star Crystal’s energy is not much, it’s still a Star Crystal, and absorbing it would greatly benefit one’s Dantian energy.

Besides, there are quite a few Martial Artists entering the trees, and once the

Star Crystals emerge, they’ll be picked away. Lin Zhen didn’t want to miss out.

Lin Zhen nudged Zhang Yue, “Zhang Yue, it seems like a Star Crystal has appeared.”

However, Zhang Yue’s snoring was like thunder, and Lin Zhen couldn’t wake him up even after pushing him several times. In the end, he didn’t bother. After all, it was just a newly born Star Core Stage Star Crystal, so not waking Zhang Yue wasn’t a big deal.

Lin Zhen lifted the petals off his legs, jumped out of the flower pistil, and ran down the tree branch.

Visibility was low in the forest at night, especially with the large leaves blocking it. Lin Zhen could only follow the direction of the fragrance, walking about a few hundred meters and lifting a huge obstructing leaf. He finally found his target.

About thirty meters ahead, a giant flower had just bloomed, and in the dark night, a dazzling Star Crystal floated above the flower pistil.

The Star Crystal was only about the size of an egg, diamond-shaped, and emanated a faint white starlight. It floated above the flower pistil, looking somewhat unreal in the night’s beauty.

“Such a beautiful Star Crystal!”

Lin Zhen held his breath and slowly approached the Star Crystal.

There was a small, thin branch next to the flower. Even the thinnest branches here had a diameter of 20 centimeters, which seemed quite large to a person.

Lin Zhen jumped onto the branch and reached the top of the flower petal.

As he looked closely, Lin Zhen became increasingly convinced of the beauty of the Star Crystal.

The hexagonal diamond -shaped object shone brilliantly like a diamond. The starlight emitting from it was as soft as real starlight. It was a crystalline being made of pure energy, and Lin Zhen could hardly believe such a wondrous object existed if he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes.

A just-born Star Core contained only a fifth of the energy of a mature one. Although he was reluctant to pick it now, Lin Zhen couldn’t linger there for a month waiting for it to mature. Let alone an extra month for it to become

Meteor Stage.

Lin Zhen reached out to pluck the Star Core Stage Star Crystal.

It hung in the air above the flower pistil, mysteriously connected to it. All he had to do was grab it.

But just as Lin Zhen reached out, a sudden dark shadow attacked him from above!