Chapter 245: Starfall - Ether Resonance

Chapter 245: Starfall - Ether Resonance

Ji Xinghuo stood at the mouth of the cave, gazing up at the strange phenomenon in the sky.

A shooting star seemed to detach itself from the reflection of the Milky Way, its brilliant starlight capturing his attention as it plummeted towards him at an incredible speed.

Having experienced this starfall phenomenon once before, he remained calm and unfazed.

It wasn't a real falling star, merely an illusion.

Ji Xinghuo's electromagnetic sensing spread out, covering a radius of five kilometers. Within this range, many wild animals and some monsters were disturbed, but there were no intelligent beings.

He had intentionally chosen this remote location, far from the path to Tianzui Cliff. There were no valuable treasures worth risking a journey here, so it was unlikely that anyone would venture this way, leaving the area desolate and uninhabited.

Moreover, it was night.

The starfall phenomenon wouldn't cause as much of a ruckus as it had during the day.

After more than ten minutes...

As the strange phenomenon in the sky vanished and the reflection of the Milky Way gradually faded, Ji Xinghuo's anxious heart finally settled. He opened the Myriad Star Pupils interface, and the Ether Affinity advancement was complete.

[Ability: Ether Resonance (Level 6 1/182111)]



"How much?"

Ji Xinghuo blinked, making sure he wasn't seeing things. 182,111—a six-digit number! Advancing Ether Resonance from Level 6 to Level 7 required over 180,000 mental source energy.

Then came a wave of elation.

Ether Resonance!

As expected, it had evolved into a starfall ability, the second one he had acquired.

There was ample information about the ability Ether Sensitivity on Earth, and many countries and organizations had conducted extensive research and speculation on it. From the superior-grade "Ether Sensitivity," to the super-limit grade "Ether Affinity," and now to the starfall-grade "Ether Resonance," they formed a sequential progression.

However, beyond Ether Resonance, Earth's understanding was inconclusive.

Now, Ji Xinghuo knew for certain that there was more to come!

But the path to further advancement was ridiculously difficult. It would take over 180,000 mental source energy just to reach Level 7, and following this pattern, advancing Ether Resonance to Level 8 would likely require millions of mental source energy.

Moreover, reaching Level 8 in Ether Resonance might not even guarantee further progression.

"This is too difficult!"

Ji Xinghuo shook his head, knowing that for a very long time, he wouldn't be able to upgrade Ether Resonance again. If he wanted to accelerate his cultivation further, he could consider fusing another Ether Sensitivity ability and then upgrading it, as the combined effects would offer a higher cost-effectiveness.

"What does Ether Resonance do?"

At this point, Ji Xinghuo began to seriously sense the effects of the ability. Immediately, he discovered that the ether energy within a radius of about 100 meters was forming an invisible vortex centered on his body!

Even without cultivating and consuming star power, the ether energy was continuously flowing into his body.

Furthermore, when he focused, he could preliminarily interfere with the distribution and flow of ether energy.

"Let's give it a try."

Ji Xinghuo entered the super-frequency state and maintained it for half a minute, consuming half of his star power.

Then he attempted to recover.

Instantly, the energy within the 100-meter radius vortex began to boil, as if drawing from the four directions and pouring into his body. On the Myriad Star Pupils interface, his star power recovered by about 1 point every 3 seconds. In just 25 minutes, he had recovered all the star power he had consumed.

If his star power were completely depleted, it would take just over 50 minutes to fully recover.

"So fast!"

Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. He still remembered when he had first become an anomaly and had only 53 points of star power; it had taken him 140 minutes to recover fully.

Now, with 1,043 points of star power, he could recover in just 52 minutes.

That was more than a fifty-fold increase in efficiency!

As he was marveling at this, he noticed the star power value on the interface tick up by 1 point to 1,044. This meant that even if he did nothing, his star power would continue to increase.

Of course, cultivating would undoubtedly be even faster.

With the use of some efficiency-boosting drugs, Ji Xinghuo was confident that he could reach the advanced anomaly threshold within a starry month.

"Hiss..."

Ji Xinghuo looked down and saw Qinghong crawling out of his pocket. The little creature's eyes were filled with excitement, and it couldn't stop making sounds of anticipation.

Qinghong shared the benefits of Ji Xinghuo's Ether Resonance, and it was now closer than ever to its next evolution.

"Still not satisfied?"

Ji Xinghuo sensed Qinghong's eager expectation. This little guy had come to realize that his owner possessed the means to make it stronger at a rapid pace.

Ji Xinghuo opened the interface to view Qinghong's ability information.

[Dimension Stomach Level 3, Miniaturization Level 2, Gigantification Level 2, Sacred Scale Armor Level 5, Spiritual Scent Level 4, Ether Resonance Level 6, Thunderclap Claw Level 5, Gravity Mutation Level 3, Genetic Reconstruction, Rending Void Claw Level 3.

Mental Source Energy: 22,403 points]



Aside from Dimension Stomach, Sacred Scale Armor, and Ether Resonance, all the other abilities could be upgraded.

However, Ji Xinghuo didn't rush into it. Instead, he took out a Chi Di Blood Crystal and said to Qinghong, "Why don't you try this first?"

He wasn't sure if spiritual beasts could use the Chi Di Blood Crystal.

Qinghong immediately nodded.

It expanded to its true six-meter-long form, and a void bead appeared on its claw. It made a cut on its own neck, and Ji Xinghuo placed a blood crystal into the wound, which immediately healed.

Soon, Qinghong began to transform.

Ji Xinghuo watched with some concern. After all, Qinghong was just a spiritual beast, not a truly intelligent being, and he wasn't sure if it could withstand the terrifying visions induced by the Chi Di Blood Crystal. If Qinghong's consciousness were to be controlled by the blood crystal, driving it into a frenzy, that would spell trouble.

After a few minutes, Qinghong's eyes turned red, and it exuded a violent and crazy aura.

Ji Xinghuo left the cave, leaving Qinghong inside.

He stayed outside, using his electromagnetic sensing to monitor Qinghong's situation. Qinghong gradually became agitated, with a bloody hue flowing through the gaps in its scale armor. It underwent a gigantification transformation, becoming a massive creature that roared deeply within the cave. Its claws slashed at the cave walls, sending rocks flying and appearing utterly frenzied.

"Phew!"

Ji Xinghuo stepped into the messy cave, and Qinghong immediately rubbed against him affectionately, licking him all over with an eager-to-please look in its eyes.

Having successfully absorbed the Chi Di Blood Crystal, it was ready to fuse with another exotic species.

Ji Xinghuo had already prepared one for it.

He took out a piece of fresh, well-preserved meat, dark red in color, as if it had just been cut from a monster's mutated organ.

This was actually an exotic species that he had purchased before entering the Star Realm for over 5 million Asian dollars.

[Exotic Species: Bio-Field]



[Grade: Excellent]



[Fusion Success Rate: 87%, 83%]



[Upgradable: Yes]



The "Bio-Field" could create an invisible force field. While it didn't possess any offensive capabilities on its own, it could serve as an additional sensory ability, limited to the range of the force field. Unlike vision, hearing, or smell, it didn't have a long-range reach.

However, when combined with other exotic abilities, the bio-field could alter its nature, resulting in a one-plus-one-greater-than-two effect.

For example, Bio-Field + Burning could create a high-temperature force field.

Bio-Field + Silence would result in a soundproof force field.

And Bio-Field + Mental Scream would lead to Mental Shockwave.

This exotic ability served as a carrier, or an amplifier, expanding the range of many exotic abilities. It could turn directional abilities into area-of-effect ones and also modify the nature of other abilities to create unique effects.

Ever since Qinghong fused with "Gravity Mutation," Ji Xinghuo realized that it was well-suited to follow the evolutionary path of a Gravity Master.

Gravity Mutation + Bio-Field could generate a gravity field! Originally, it could only control its own gravitational changes, but with the addition of the bio-field, it could manipulate gravity within a certain range.

This was the most powerful technique of a Gravity Master.

Ji Xinghuo's own fusion turned out pretty well too, with a success rate of 87%, higher than Qinghong's 83%.

However, the bio-field overlapped with the effects of the electrostatic field. Moreover, the Bio-Field wasn't included in the template for a Magnetism Maniac's profession.

"Open your mouth."

Ji Xinghuo tossed the meat into Qinghong's mouth.

It swallowed the meat whole without even chewing.

"With an 83% success rate, if it fails, I'll have to wait until I get back to Earth to buy another one," Ji Xinghuo said, as he didn't have a second Bio-Field exotic species. Trading at Tianzui Cliff would undoubtedly be more challenging than on Earth, and he might not be able to find the exotic species he desired.

Fortunately, Qinghong's fusion was successful!

A moment later, a new ability was added to Qinghong's list of abilities in the Myriad Star Pupils interface.

[Ability: Bio-Field (1/47)]



Ji Xinghuo asked Qinghong to demonstrate its new ability and simultaneously activate Gravity Mutation and Bio-Field.

Standing next to Qinghong, he instantly felt his weight increase by about five times, as if the surrounding space were squeezing him, affecting his speed and agility. The next second, gravity plummeted to just one-fifth of its normal level, and this abrupt change left him feeling uncomfortable.

The gravity field created by the first level of Bio-Field had a radius of about 3 meters.

Ji Xinghuo immediately upgraded it.

He invested mental source energy, raising it to [Level 2 (1/277)], expanding the radius to 5 meters. Then he upgraded it again to [Level 3 (1/1187)], further increasing the radius. He continued to the [Level 4 (1/4637)], with the force field radius reaching approximately 18 meters.

Seeing that he still had over 20,000 points of mental source energy left, Ji Xinghuo decided to go ahead and upgrade the Bio-Field to [Level 5 (1/19237)].

He also upgraded Gravity Mutation by two levels, bringing it to [Level 5 (1/22307)].

This consumed over 13,000 points of mental source energy.

The combination of these two level-5 abilities created a gravity field with a radius of about 40 meters, with a gravity change limit of 20 times! Even with Ji Xinghuo's physical fitness, he was significantly affected within the gravity field.

Anyone else would likely be at Qinghong's mercy!

Yet, it still wasn't satisfied.

"You little guy, you still haven't evolved!" Ji Xinghuo exclaimed, a little exasperated. Qinghong's strength had increased so much, yet it was still a Super Horde-level spiritual beast.

The next evolution would be into a Disaster-level spiritual beast, equivalent to Legendary Tier 2.

However, considering the difficulty of a Super-level mutant advancing to the Legendary tier, it was understandable.

The evolution of monsters and spiritual beasts followed different rules from intelligent races. The leap from Super Horde to Disaster was more challenging than all their previous evolutions combined.

"I still have 8,751 points left," Ji Xinghuo noted, looking at his remaining mental source energy. He couldn't afford to upgrade Qinghong further, as he needed to reserve this energy for emergencies.

Unless something unexpected happened, he would soon evolve into a Super-level mutant and be able to fuse with another exotic species.

He also had the Tear of the Stars, which he could use once he reached the Super-level mutant stage.

"Let's go."

Ji Xinghuo put away Qinghong and left the cave, but instead of returning to Tianzui Cliff right away, he went to the nearby massive cliff. He threw the spherical boulder off the edge, and just before it hit the river surface, he stored it in his Dimensional Stomach.

After some consideration, he decided that a 10-ton artificial meteorite would be powerful enough.

So, he found a second boulder and did the same thing.

Now, he could release two meteorite strikes capable of instantly killing Legendary powerhouses, greatly boosting his confidence for adventuring in the Bloody Highlands.

Ji Xinghuo returned to Tianzui Cliff, rested for the night, and the next morning, he set off for the Snow Ape Giant tribe.

"Chief Han Qiu," Ji Xinghuo addressed the Snow Ape Giant directly as he entered the great hall. "I wish to make a trade with Elder Xu Ling."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end