Chapter 83: Jump Crystal Stone

Ji Xinghuo’s view changed. He felt lighter, and when his sight restored, he was no longer in the cave but in an open field.

“Where is this?”

He turned his head and saw Ren Mian and his teammates, along with a corpse of a Chan Ling under his feet.

“We made it out!” Chi Zhonglin exclaimed with joy, eyeing the hexagonal columnar crystal in Ren Mian’s hand, his eyes sparkling. “Sister Ren, could this be the legendary jump crystal stone? If I had known you had this, I wouldn’t have been so scared.”

“What else could it be if not a jump crystal stone?” laughed Ren Mian.

“It’s real then!” exclaimed Chi Zhonglin.

Ji Xinghuo was also full of curiosity.

He had heard about jump crystal stones online and always thought they were just rumors, but now he discovered they were real and could transport people through space in an instant.

“This is the only jump crystal stone I have. It cost me a lot to get,” Ren Mian said as she handed the crystal to Ji Xinghuo. “The quality of jump crystal stones varies. This one is the lowest grade and can be used only five times, with a maximum range of 50 kilometers.”

Ji Xinghuo felt the crystal was quite light.

The jump crystal stone was about ten centimeters long and three centimeters in diameter, shaped like a hexagonal column. It was hard, smooth, and semi-transparent, resembling an icicle. Inside, tiny stars twinkled brilliantly, reminding him of the Milky Way’s reflection on a starry night.

Ji Xinghuo handed the crystal to Chi Zhonglin to admire and suddenly asked, “Sister Ren, are jump crystals natural or man-made?”

“I’m not sure,” Ren Mian shook her head. “But I guess they are probably man-made, likely a product of ether technology, since every jump crystal stone is built the same and the method and conditions of use are identical.”

Ether technology!

Ji Xinghuo was startled, then reassured.

There are very advanced technological nations in the Star Realm, but they are not the physical technologies known to Earthlings. Instead, they are based on the application of ether energy and the laws of the Star Realm.

The strongest galactic civilizations that entered the Star Realm also mastered ether technology.

Tianyu Wangting, which rules the Thousand Peak Abyssal Forest, is considered primitive and backward by the true rulers of the Star Realm—they don’t understand what ether technology is.

It’s also difficult for Earth to access such advanced technology.

“Jump crystal stones must be very valuable, right?” asked Chi Zhonglin as he looked at the crystal in his hand. “It must be worth several billion!”

“Hehe…”

Ren Mian neither confirmed nor denied but simply stored the jump crystal stone away.

She looked at the massive corpse of the Chan Ling beside her. Under the sunlight, the Chan Ling looked like a pile of rotting meat, its back covered in lumps, emitting a foul smell.

“Caiyi?”

Ren Mian placed a peach blossom petal on Jiangnan Caiyi. Within seconds, her pale face regained color, her physical star power quickly restored. The pain from injuries caused by the Chan Ling’s energy projectiles disappeared instantly.

She also treated Ji Xinghuo and Chi Zhonglin, and the whole team’s condition improved.

“I’ll gather the alien species.”

Jiangnan Caiyi raised her samurai sword and began dissecting the Chan Ling’s corpse.

Ren Mian started sifting through a large mass of transparent mucus, looking for a few thousand eggs to find rare items that could enhance fusion abilities.

“Caiyi, I’ll help you,” Ji Xinghuo drew his Leichi battle knife and pressed his hand on the Chan Ling’s corpse.

Suddenly, information about this superior creature popped up.

【Monster: Chan Ling】

【Level: Superior】

【Alien species: Psychic, Tongue Spear, High-frequency Thinking, Toughness, Slippery Skin, Fast Healing, Rapid Metabolism】

Ji Xinghuo was surprised after reading the interface information.

The Chan Ling had seven alien abilities, all awakened by itself, meaning all could be harvested.

The most valuable naturally was “Psychic,” perhaps the most valuable super-limit ability.

The might of a rotating magnetic field might be higher than that of psychic power and rarer, but its versatility was not as broad, so its market value was less.

“Tongue Spear” is an extraordinary ability, allowing its tongue to strike out like lightning, very hard to guard against, and the lethality is also extremely shocking.

“High-frequency Thinking” is a high-quality ability. Many professional templates include it.

Magnet fiends need to merge one high-frequency thinking, so do psychic stringers. Many professions that demand response and thought speed generally pair with high-frequency thinking. Especially for psychic stringers, high-frequency thinking is essential, otherwise, they cannot manipulate complex and rapidly changing energy.

The remaining four abilities are less valuable.

“Slippery Skin” is relatively nice, making the skin oily and slippery so that physical attacks that land on it slide off, reducing damage.

Fast Healing allows aliens to use star power to speed up injury recovery, which should be very popular.

Toughness and Rapid Metabolism are both included in the giant’s profession template.

None of Chan Ling’s seven abilities is useless.

On the interface’s right side, the positions of the seven alien species appeared. Ji Xinghuo first selected “Psychic,” chopping open the Chan Ling’s brain and finding a soft, thumb-sized white orb inside, like a pearl, emitting a faint glow.

“Psychic alien species!”

Jiangnan Caiyi was surprised at how quickly Ji Xinghuo found the alien species.

All four turned their attention there.

【Alien species: Psychic】

【Grade: Super-limit】

【Fusion Success Rate: 99%】

【Can Upgrade: Yes】

Ji Xinghuo observed for a moment. After seeing the information, he thought that his fusion success rate with “Psychic” was as high as with rotating magnetic fields.

It seems he also needs to fuse with psychic power in the future!

He handed the alien species to Ren Mian, who carefully stored it in a beautiful container and tucked it into her waist pouch.

“Congratulations, Sister Ren,” smiled Ji Xinghuo.

“Without your help, I couldn’t have obtained the psychic ability,” Ren Mian said gratefully, her gaze sweeping across the three and finally resting on Ji Xinghuo.

This Chan Ling hunt had its unplanned moments but still smoothly yielded the psychic alien species, and Ji Xinghuo played a crucial role.

It could even be said that without Ji Xinghuo, it wouldn’t have been possible.

It first relied on Ji Xinghuo’s scouting to avoid countless enemies along the way, allowing the whole team to safely reach the Deep Rock Rift;

Similarly, without Ji Xinghuo’s sensing, it would’ve been impossible to discover that hunting team. He also counteracted their attempts, using five super aliens as bait to lure the legendary Dahun away, making himself the true opportunist and the ultimate winner;

In the Chan Ling’s cave, without Ji Xinghuo’s arrow, skillfully seizing the opportunity to hit the Chan Ling, crushing its psychic power and creating a chance for Chi Zhonglin to attack from behind, the fight could have dragged on until the legendary Dahun charged into the cave.

The subsequent return to Olympia also depended on Ji Xinghuo’s guidance.

Ren Mian was well aware of all this.

Last year, when she recruited Ji Xinghuo, it was just a trial idea—she had no idea that Ji Xinghuo would bring her so many surprises over and over.

“If only we had Ji Xinghuo earlier…”

Many thoughts flashed through Ren Mian’s mind at this moment, her thoughts complex, and she even became somewhat distracted.

“Sister Ren?”

Ji Xinghuo vaguely guessed her thoughts but also felt somewhat uncomfortable under her gaze.

Ren Mian snapped back to reality, her ears turning slightly red. Fortunately, she wore a scarf that only showed her eyes, so Ji Xinghuo didn’t notice. She pretended to be calm and said, “You guys continue harvesting the alien species. We need to act quickly and leave here soon.”

After speaking, she continued sifting through the Chan Ling’s eggs.

Ji Xinghuo chuckled softly and efficiently collected the other six alien species according to the interface information.

The alien species varied in form, and Ji Xinghuo was most concerned about high-frequency thinking.

【Alien species: High-frequency Thinking】

【Grade: High-quality】

【Fusion Success Rate: 92%】

【Can Upgrade: Yes】

This alien species, a soft mass born in a small organ in the Chan Ling’s brain, is also possessed by many monsters. After merging, aliens can stimulate their brains to enter a high-frequency state, speeding up thought and neural responses, significantly enhancing combat capability.

Of course, high-frequency thinking consumes a lot of star power and places a heavy burden on the brain, so it cannot be used frequently, otherwise, it might damage the brain.

Although the grade of high-frequency thinking isn’t high, just high-quality, it’s in high demand on the market and not that easy to buy.

That’s because too many aliens need this species.

Its price is higher than most extraordinary abilities, usually over three million Asian dollars.

Seeing Ji Xinghuo’s interest in high-frequency thinking, Ren Mian said, “Ji Xinghuo, I remember the magnet fiend template includes high-frequency thinking, right?”

“Yes,” Ji Xinghuo nodded.

“Then you keep this alien species. We just obtained Chan Ling eggs, so you can merge another species,” she had already found a few Chan Ling eggs from that mass of mucus.

“Sister Ren, don’t you need it?” Ji Xinghuo was puzzled.

Psychic power and high-frequency thinking are the best combinations. Every psychic stringer needs to merge with high-frequency thinking to truly unleash the power of psychic energy.

“I’ll first merge with psychic energy, then prepare to advance to super alien,” Ren Mian explained. “This might take one to two years, and I don’t know when I’ll next merge an alien species. If you need it, go ahead and merge this high-frequency thinking. I can buy it when I want it.”

Ji Xinghuo’s face showed understanding. Advancing from high-level alien to super alien is the first bottleneck encountered on the path of life evolution.

This evolution isn’t triggered by having enough star power.

Instead, it involves implanting a “star gland” in the body. This organ can store, release, and condense star power, greatly increasing the density of star power and changing its properties.

Sometimes, finding a matching star gland is not easy and can cause significant delays.

A few months is fast, and a few years is quite normal.

Ji Xinghuo looked at Chi Zhonglin and Jiangnan Caiyi. Both indicated they didn’t need high-frequency thinking, and after returning, they also planned to prepare for advancing to super alien.

“Alright, I’ll take it.”

Ji Xinghuo had Qinghong store the high-frequency thinking alien species in a dimensional stomach.

“A total of six Chan Ling eggs!”

Ren Mian checked all the eggs and smiled, “We’re quite lucky. Just these six Chan Ling eggs make our trip here worth it.”

Each team member got one egg, and two were left over.

Ji Xinghuo was also very pleased. The value of Chan Ling eggs was obviously higher than that of the blue-sky fruit.

And significantly so.

Although both can only add one alien species and are used only once in a lifetime, Chan Ling eggs are not limited by rank. This means anyone can take them, including legends and kings, even Shepherd Star Saints!

“Let’s go,” Ren Mian was in a good mood. “We’re heading back to Olympia now.”

The four quickly headed west, swiftly leaving the Deep Rock Rift.

A few hours after they left, a team of stone lizard warriors found the Chan Ling’s corpse.

Soon, the legendary Dahun arrived there, but Ji Xinghuo and the others were long gone. He roared helplessly at the sky and killed the stone lizards in his rage.