The flying shuttle shot into the sky.

　　After knowing the information pertaining to the second round of examination from that general, Feng Lin and the headmaster soon departed the Cultivation Association and returned to the Huaxia City.

　　“There’s one more month before the start of the second round of examination. Feng Lin, do you have any plans?” asked the headmaster. The further Feng Lin could reach on his path, the greater the benefits his school would receive. The headmaster naturally had to be concerned.

　　“Next, I will do my best to cultivate and strengthen my genes. I wish to break through before the second round of examination,” Feng Lin spoke in a heavy voice, revealing a little about his future plans.

　　“What? The strengthening tally of your genes isn’t maxed yet, but your vitality stats have already reached above 90? To what degree have you strengthened your genes? What mythological path are you on?” The headmaster was clearly extremely shocked. Feng Lin’s achievements simply couldn’t be explained by the logic of cultivation.

　　Although Feng Lin was his student, he was cloaked in layers of mystery. The headmaster had no way to see through him.

　　Facing his questioning, Feng Lin merely smiled, no longer saying anything.

　　The headmaster himself also knew that he touched on a taboo subject. How would cultivators be willing to divulge any of their secrets to others? He pondered a little and continued, “Since you already have a plan, I will issue the unlimited leave-permit for you. You just have to show up in time to participate in the examination.”

　　“Many thanks, headmaster!” Feng Lin nodded in thanks.

　　Those classmates and schoolmates in the surroundings all had looks of envy in their gazes when they saw this.

　　The headmaster had given Feng Lin the greatest degree of freedom because he knew that a true genius couldn’t be tied down by regulations and restrictions. Only with freedom would a true genius be able to walk further on the path he had chosen.

　　This was also what Feng Lin wanted.

　　After the two of them came to a consensus and the flying shuttle reached Huaxia City, Feng Lin left alone.

　　Next, he had to enter seclusion and cultivate, making preparations for the second round of examination.

　　As long as he maxed out the strengthening tally of the Spirit Gene, he would have hope of becoming an elite cultivator.

　　If he wanted to pass the second round and travel even further on his path, he had to make a breakthrough in his cultivation. No delays could be permitted.

　　If not, although he could be considered at the peak among his peers in the solar system given his current cultivation base, he was still not strong enough to contend with those supreme geniuses in the universe.

　　After returning home, just when he was preparing to inform his parents and made some arrangements for his seclusion, he suddenly discovered a familiar figure in his residence.

　　It was none other than his clan leader.

　　Why did he suddenly come to my house?

　　Feng Lin’s heart stirred. There would be no waves without wind. The clan leader suddenly came to visit him. Most probably, the reason behind it was nothing good.

　　But now, he was confident enough to deal with any situation. There was no need for him to feel fear at all.

　　“Father, mother, I’ve returned.” Feng Lin calmly entered his residence.

　　When the clan leader saw Feng Lin, his eyes brightened. He came over and laughed, “Feng Lin, congratulations on passing the first round of exams for the Cosmos University.”

　　How fast did news spread?

　　But then again, when he had passed the test, he did see Feng Li and Feng Jinpeng. Clearly, the two of them had also applied for Cosmos University.

　　Feng Lin furrowed his brows, he replied, “Clan leader, you are too courteous. I’ve only passed the first round. There is still the second round of examination which will be coming soon.”

　　“Very humble, not bad at all! I’m precisely here because of the second round of the examination.” The clan leader spoke with another layer of meaning behind his words.

　　One who is undoubtedly solicitous is bound to be hiding evil intentions!

　　Feng Lin felt wary in his heart. The clan leader personally came by to pay a visit, so the matter he wanted to bring up definitely wouldn’t be an ordinary thing.

　　Feng Lin simply smiled and made no reply.

　　The clan leader silently mused at how tough it was to deal with this little fellow.

　　The clan leader could only maintain his smile. “Next, I have a request for you which you may find a little troublesome.”

　　“Since I will find it troublesome, let’s not talk about it then.” Feng Lin smiled but his smile didn’t look like a smile at all.

　　Cough…

　　The clan leader almost coughed out blood. He felt that Feng Lin was truly out to anger him to his death.

　　He could also see Feng Lin’s unrestrained and carefree nature. He no longer hid things and went straight to the point. “Feng Lin, the scope of the second round of examination will encompass the entire solar system. The competition is bound to be extremely intense. Within Feng Clan, including you, Feng Li and Feng Jinpeng have both passed the first round as well. Why don’t the three of you team up? As clansmen, if you all worked together, there would be less worry and wouldn’t the rate of you three passing the second round be much higher?”

　　So that is his intention!

　　Feng Lin coldly laughed in his heart. This suggestion seemed good on the surface, but this wasn’t the case in reality. Feng Lin already had his plans.

　　He had too many secrets on him. Before he had the strength to absolutely guard himself, he didn’t want to interact too closely with others.

　　For those who could become interstellar cultivators, who would be fools?

　　If his secrets were to be exposed, things naturally would be dire for him.

　　Besides, there was a month worth of time. Feng Lin would do his best in seclusion and put in all his efforts to breakthrough. As long as he could become an elite cultivator, why was there a need for him to team up with others?

　　Feng Lin laughed. “Clan leader is too polite. Feng Li and Feng Jinpeng are both peak-level geniuses in the clan. It will be fine as long as they work together. As for me, I’m just a low-grade clansman. If I join them, I would only be a burden to them.”

　　His tone was polite, but it was a clear rejection. Feng Lin was silently mocking the system which categorized clansmen into different grades.

　　After the clan leader heard this, his expression instantly turned gloomy. This Feng Lin was simply too stubborn. He was like a tough and smelly rock.

　　“Feng Lin, to tell you the truth, you are the number one genius in our clan. If you are willing to team up with Feng Li and Feng Jinpeng to pass the second exam, I can promise you that starting from now, for the one month period before the start of the second round, the cultivation resources in our Feng Clan’s treasury can all be given to you. There will be no restrictions or limits.” Seeing that his suggestion failed, the clan leader instantly got right to the point and started discussing conditions with Feng Lin.

　　“Clan leader, I myself don’t have any guarantees that I can pass the second exam. What do you mean by talking like I would pass it for sure? Let alone, leading the two of them to pass with me?” Feng Lin had already come to a decision; his heart naturally wouldn’t waver.

　　The conditions proposed by the clan leader might sound extremely enticing to many people and was filled with sincerity. However, Feng Lin didn’t even give a damn.

　　After his trip to Mars, he obtained the secret stash and foundation of the Giant Pharmaceutical Company. Temporarily for now, he didn’t lack in cultivation resources. Why would he need to take any resources from the Feng Clan?

　　Gifts blind the eyes!

　　Why would he seek trouble for himself just for short-term benefits?

　　“Clan leader, I’m planning to head out to cultivate during the one month period, seeking to do my best to breakthrough. Rather than teaming up for the sake of safety, why don’t I increase my strength and try to cross over to the realm of elite cultivators? This would then be the greatest guarantee that I will pass the exam.” After speaking, he didn’t care about the clan leader’s reply and went straight into his room, closing the door.

　　The clan leader’s gaze grew sinister as he felt rage in his heart. Feng Lin was giving him a headache.

　　This Feng Lin could already be considered a peak interstellar cultivator. However, he had never received any kindness from the clan and now that he had grown to this stage, it was going to be extremely difficult for the clan to control him.

　　Also, it was evident that Feng Lin felt no sense of belonging to the Feng Clan!

　　Given Feng Lin’s earlier domineering performances, the clan leader could tell that Feng Lin was a genius that only appeared once in a century. If he left the clan and joined some other organizations, that would naturally be a great loss to the clan. How would the clan leader be willing to accept this?

　　The clan leader silently pondered, thinking of ideas. His gaze involuntarily turned to Feng Lin’s twin siblings.

　　Maybe he could…

　　With regards to what the clan leader was planning, Feng Lin didn’t know and didn’t care.

　　After some time, he bade farewell to his family and directly left the Feng Clan Grand Building.

　　Very swiftly, a silver-colored flying shuttle shot through the sky, moving toward the Pacific Ocean.

　　The place he was going to next…was the Mariana Trench!

　　The boundless azure-blue ocean could be seen in all directions, and below it was the gigantic Mariana Trench. It was so deep that one couldn’t see the bottom at all. Darkness was everywhere like the gigantic maw of a monster wanting to devour everything.

　　A silver flying shuttle floated above the azure-blue sea water. After that, it continued down and dived deep within, gleamingly bright. It was extremely conspicuous resembling a silver-colored whale swimming in the ocean.

　　The Flowerfruit Mountain Flying Shuttle was an extremely rare and valuable flying shuttle. It was able to adapt to the vast majority of environments in the universe. How could a mere oceanic trench on Earth be a problem for it?

　　Feng Lin stood in the flying shuttle control cabin and stared at the gigantic trench. A look of contemplation appeared on his face.

　　This was the deepest oceanic trench on Earth, the Mariana Trench. It was one of the most intense environments on the planet.

　　Cultivation in the Interstellar Era could be classified into two categories. The first category was to strengthen the genes. The second one was to temper and refine one’s abilities.

　　Mythological Genes were something humans were innately born with. Strengthening the genes would allow one’s talent to achieve the greatest effect, giving rise to their full potential. As to the degree of power a cultivator could produce, that would have to depend on their efforts, practicing unceasingly. Cultivation was a path that had no end to it.

　　One must know that even for the gods and divine beings of the legends, they weren’t at the peak when they were born. Although they had supreme talent, they also worked hard and assiduously cultivated before they could ascend to the throne in the sky.

　　Back then when Sun Wukong was born, when he was weak, wasn’t he also bullied by those wolves, tigers, and leopards? He had to undertake a dangerous journey and travel vast distances before he managed to take Patriarch Subhuti of the Fangcun Mountain as his teacher and thereby learning various magical techniques as he slowly trained to grow stronger.

　　Hence, if Feng Lin wished to breakthrough as quickly as possible, he had to find those extremely vile and intense environments, practicing his cultivation there. By using the power of nature to temper and refine his body, he would be able to increase his cultivation speed.

　　He had already been to the third pole of the world, the Himalayas. Over there, icy mountains were everywhere, the cold wind was like sharp knives, and the air was extremely thin. That place was a forbidden land of death to ordinary humans. But to interstellar cultivators with powerful vitality, it wasn’t anything much. That environment wasn’t able to give Feng Lin any pressure.

　　As for the most intense environment on Earth, the first thing he thought of was this Mariana Trench. Under the high pressure of millions and millions of tonnes of sea water, a human body would be easily crushed flat. This was really a good place to cultivate.

　　The flying shuttle continued downward and reached the 5,000 meters depth. Feng Lin brought along a helmet-type water-breathing ventilator. He only wore a pair of shorts along with it and exited the flying shuttle.

　　At the next moment, his face flushed red as he drew deep breaths using the ventilator. He could feel immense pressure as heavy as mountains crushing him from all directions, which was squeezing out the air from his chest. His entire person was about to be flattened.

　　This heavy pressure from the external environment made it hard for him to breathe.

　　He did his best to compact his body, reducing the surface area to alleviate the pressure.

　　Feng Lin instinctively activated his Stone Monkey Gene. Only then did things get more bearable. He relaxed his compact stance and lifted his fists.

　　The powerful water resistance caused his movements to be severely impeded.

　　Bang bang bang!

　　He kept punching out in the water, causing immense vibrations and generating huge waves.

　　Feng Lin’s punches would be as fast as lightning if he was on land. But now, the speed of his punches felt like an old cow dragging along a heavy carriage. The speed was so slow that it was ridiculous.

　　However, he wasn’t shocked and was pleasantly surprised instead. He continued to attack, unleashing moves after moves, unleashing the entirety of energy within his body despite the fact that it felt like he was dragging along a heavy mountain.

　　Genetic potential +18%, +18%, +18%…

　　As expected, it was effective!

　　Feng Lin silently mused that talent was truly important, and putting in hard work and effort was also imperative.

　　This might be the innate essence of genetic potential. One had to cultivate very hard day after day, accumulating their gains and slowly transforming them into the foundation of their body before triggering a transformation.

　　After a day of assiduous cultivation, Feng Lin’s genetic potential increased by 270%.

　　Without genetic potions reinforcing him, such a cultivation speed was extremely shocking.

　　Under extreme environments, it could truly force out a human’s greatest potential.

　　Next, Feng Lin spent his days cultivating assiduously in such an environment. He gradually adapted to the immense pressure, and his movements grew smoother and more carefree. With every punch, giant circular ripples would be formed, blasting outward and generating huge waves that only dissipated after a long time.

　　At the 5000 meter mark, he had completely adapted to the pressure. It was time he went deeper.

　　The depth of the Mariana Trench was hard to calculate in the Ancient Earth Era. However, in the Interstellar Era, the technology was sufficient enough to measure it. It was about 26,812 meters deep.

　　A depth of 5,000 meters had barely scratched the surface.

　　Feng Lin peered down. The amount of light gradually dimmed; below him was pitch black and complete silent. It would surely cause fear in the hearts of the most stalwart.

　　For those with a deep-sea phobia, they would definitely be scared out of their wits.

　　Feng Lin shook his head. He calmed the unease in his heart and controlled the flying shuttle to go deeper. At the 8,000 meter mark, light no longer existed here. It was so dark that he couldn’t see his five fingers even when he placed his hand before his eyes.

　　The only source of light was from the flying shuttle, and it attracted several strange-shape fish. Their eyes had completely degenerated and their bodies were transparent, allowing Feng Lin to see their organs completely.

　　The moment Feng Lin left the shuttle, his back was bent like there was a 10,000-foot-mountain on it. He couldn’t straighten his back.

　　Under this immense pressure, the energy in his body was slowly mobilized at full force. The moment he relaxed, his entire person would be squeezed by the pressure into meat paste.

　　There were records of ancients training in the waters before, but the depth of the seas they had trained in were all very near to the surface. However, Feng Lin was too audacious. Even for the cultivators of his level, there was virtually no one who would choose such a depth to cultivate in.

　　Earlier, Feng Lin had consumed many genetic potions, and the nutrients were accumulated in his body. Now, all of them were being put to good use, replenishing everything that his body had consumed in order to survive in this environment. His cultivation speed was about three to four times faster than normal.

　　To Feng Lin who was an interstellar cultivator, such cultivation speed was truly terrifying.

　　The higher one’s cultivation was, the more difficult it would be to advance forward.

　　Feng Lin then continued cultivating at the 8,000 meter depth. When he was tired, he would return to the flying shuttle to take a break and move out again once he recovered. He severed all connection with the outside world; nothing out there could affect him as he focused completely on his cultivation.

　　His genetic potential naturally increased rapidly.

　　Another two days passed and Feng Lin obtained another free primeval genetic point. He decisively added it to the Spirit Gene.

　　His vitality stats naturally also increased.

　　=====

　　Name: Feng Lin

　　Vitality stat: 93.6

　　Primeval Genes: Stone Monkey Gene x10; Spirit Gene x3

　　Basic Genes: Monkey Gene x10; Stonebirth Gene x10; Adrenaline Gene x1; Mental Gene x9; Psychokinesis Gene x6; Spirituality Gene x8

　　Genetic Potential: 18%

　　=====

　　The Strengthening Tally of the Spirit Gene was enhanced to 3 points, and his vitality stats also broke past 93, reaching 93.6.

　　However, Feng Lin wasn’t satisfied yet. This speed was too slow.

　　After six days, he merely managed to strengthen his Spirit Gene by 1 point.

　　If this continued, when a month was up, Feng Lin would only be able to increase the Strengthening Tally of the Spirit Gene to 7 points. He would still be a distance away from breaking through to the elite cultivator realm.

　　This was far from his expectations!

　　At that time, if he participated in the second round of examination with this cultivation base, he would have no guarantees at all.

　　If he wished to increase his cultivation speed, he had no choice left. He had to enter deeper into the sea and endure greater pressure.

　　Feng Lin couldn’t help but glance at the depths of the Mariana Trench beneath him that resembled a gigantic bottomless black hole.