With the two systems inside Lin Xiaohe fully constructed, the Giant Grave Zhou descended into utter madness.
“Kill! Kill!! KILL!!!”
Its commands grew more hysterical with each passing moment, and wave after wave of attacks unfolded in an instant.
As the focal point of everyone’s attention, dramatic changes were also taking place within Lin Xiaohe.
Overwhelming currents of energy swirled around her, like a blazing sun, voraciously devouring all matter in her vicinity.
“Fall back! Retreat now!” the officers of the Fifth Star Ring Military Region ordered decisively.
If they didn’t leave this place immediately, their space warships would be torn apart by that immense gravitational pull!
Lin Xiaohe’s heart was filled with anguish, but she knew that the construction of those two systems was not the starting point—greater challenges and trials still lay ahead.
Only by breaking through this resistance could she gain the ability and the qualification to sit at the table and contend in the struggles of the Seventh Epoch civilization!
Lin Xiaohe stared calmly and steadily into her own body. Vast torrents of Zerg energy surged again and again through her fragile, newly formed meridians.
Cracks, fine and numerous, appeared along the meridians, only to be instantly mended by the green vines.
With each rebirth after shattering, the new meridians grew stronger and more robust.
They were being rebuilt at a terrifying speed.
The energy required for this reconstruction was immense—so vast that even the Zerg energy provided by Little Black couldn’t keep up with the consumption.
Lin Xiaohe’s body instinctively began drawing energy from the outside world, but it was still a drop in the bucket.
Around her, a vacuum layer even formed within the energy field.
And that vacuum layer was expanding outward at breakneck speed. Whether it was Zerg creatures or the wreckage of space warships, anything that got sucked in would vanish instantly from sight and from all detectors, as if swallowed by a black hole.
The surviving officers of the Fifth Star Ring stared dumbfounded at the sight.
“What… what is this? A human-shaped black hole?”
The commander of the Fifth Star Ring Military Region summoned the region’s chief scientist and asked humbly, “Can you take a look? Is Lin Xiaohe in trouble? Does she need energy? What kind of energy does she need?”
If it was something they could provide from the Fifth Star Ring, even if they had to sell their own blood, they would give it to Lin Xiaohe without asking for anything in return!
After analyzing all the data, the chief scientist of the Fifth Star Ring shook his head regretfully. “Although we humans have already become an interstellar civilization capable of long-distance space travel, the truth is, we understand less than one ten-thousandth of the universe. Ninety percent of the energy contained in cosmic space is beyond our comprehension—beyond even our ability to observe. Many people like to lump it all together and call it dark matter or dark energy, but that’s really just us putting a fancy label on our own ignorance.”
“Lin Xiaohe… she has already become a life form of an entirely different level—one could even say she exists in a different dimension altogether.”
The chief scientist’s tone was filled with admiration, but also deep regret: “She has left us far, far behind—so far that we can’t even begin to understand her, let alone offer her any help. She has to rely on herself for everything.”
Compared to the clueless humans who could only fret helplessly, the deities who had been watching this battle all along were utterly stunned.
“Holy crap! This little bastard’s got some real skills! I thought that since she gave up her status as the Chosen One, the energy of the star domain would no longer favor her. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that not only would she successfully enter the Abyss Mother sequence, but she’d also dare to launch an assault on the First Gene Lock!”
Another deity said with great interest, “This is the very first person in the entire Seventh Epoch to attempt breaking through the gene lock!”
“That’s right. Even Chu Huaizhi—even after merging with Yanidamu and having his body reconstructed—still couldn’t break through the First Gene Lock. At best, he only managed to touch upon its existence.”
A deity who had remained silent until now corrected them: “It’s not just the Seventh Epoch. Ever since the Cultivation Civilization, no native life form has ever successfully broken through a gene lock. As for the Wu Civilization, it’s still unclear whether anyone succeeded. Chu Huaizhi once speculated that the Chosen One of the Wu Civilization might have had a chance.”
“What about that Divine Venerable we had brief dealings with?”
“He should be in a semi-unlocked state. After all, the Cultivation Civilization far surpassed the others in both understanding and application of the origin of life.”
“Whoa! So that means Lin Xiaohe might actually become stronger than the Divine Venerable?”
Chu Huaizhi used [Nuwa] to join the group chat: “No. Her potential is even greater than the Divine Venerable’s. After several cycles of reincarnation, we should have all realized by now that every time a soul reincarnates from the Sacred Stele, its spiritual power is weakened, and at the same time, the gene locks within the native inhabitants are strengthened.”
For the very first time, Chu Huaizhi looked at Lin Xiaohe with genuine attention. This person, who had been treated as a pawn by several civilizations, not only possessed her own independent will but was also striving for power that matched it.
Even more critically—if she successfully broke through the gene lock, she really could have an impact on the grand scheme they had spent countless eons meticulously laying out.
The other deities were startled by Chu Huaizhi’s sudden appearance.
Just a moment ago, they’d been whispering behind his back.
And now, the man himself had popped into their group chat.
Awkward!
And hey—Nuwa, you’re a silicon-based life form! Your race is a powerhouse in the cosmic civilization rankings! Why are you so obedient to Chu Huaizhi?!
The group fell into dead silence.
The deities turned their full attention back to the battlefield.
Lin Xiaohe kept intensifying the rate at which she absorbed energy. Every single cell in her body—even the very particles that made up those cells—was throbbing with pain.
But it still wasn’t enough! Not enough!!
Suddenly, Lin Xiaohe sensed a vast, terrifying aura that made her entire body tremble.
It was a faintly familiar presence.
Her consciousness remained crystal clear, allowing her to freely access everything she had ever experienced—even the events that had taken place outside her mother’s womb back when she was still in Blue Star.
“Oh my, Mrs. Lin, your belly looks so pointy—this one’s definitely a boy!”
“Thanks for the good wishes. My husband’s family has been single-son for generations. If I give birth to a son on my first try, at least I’ll have done my duty to him.”
“It’s definitely a boy! Didn’t Xiao Lin say before? As long as it’s a son, he’d sell everything he owns to make sure the kid gets a good education.”
Yes, he did keep that promise.
For their daughter to get into a top-tier 985 university, it all depended on state subsidies and donations from kind-hearted people.
But when their son got into a technical secondary school, they were willing to sell their own blood to send him there.
Recalling these events that had once left deep scars on her heart, Lin Xiaohe now felt not even the slightest ripple of emotion.
Perhaps this was the confidence that true power had given her.
Compared to the vast ocean of stars, those trivial, petty matters weren’t worth even a fraction of her attention.
Besides, she now had more important loved ones and friends to care about.
The moment she finally let go of those people and those memories, she heard a familiar crack.
She had heard that very sound before—back in the Wu Civilization, when she was held in Grandpa and Grandma Lin’s arms and brought before the Sacred Stele to receive its legacy!
Back then, though, nothing had changed after that sound.
This time, it was as if a door had cracked open just a sliver, revealing a terrifying pressure emanating from within.
But to fully open that door, with her current rate of energy absorption, was simply impossible!
