Chapter 171 – Primal Human
The Lineage Crystal was different from your average Race Conversion Quests. The races players could convert to using the Lineage Crystal wasn’t fixed. Instead, the Lineage Crystal would provide players with a list of optimal races after scanning their current abilities and potential. Meanwhile, the Lineage Crystal identified players’ potential through the degree of control they could exert over their bodies.
A player’s potential was especially important when using an Advanced Lineage Crystal. Any expert beneath the Domain Realm would only get to choose from the most common higher lifeforms. In such cases, players would only have slightly stronger Physique and Basic Attributes than players who had used a normal Lineage Crystal.
Players could only utilize an Advanced Lineage Crystal to its full potential after reaching the Domain Realm. At that time, they’d have a chance of converting into powerful higher lifeforms such as Demidragons and High Elves and gaining strength that would allow them to look down on others of the same tier. They’d gain strength rivaling Archaic Species of the same tier.
Meanwhile, the requirements to use a Primal Lineage Crystal were even higher.
Not only did players have to reach the Domain Realm, but they’d also need to have considerable achievements in the Realms of Truth. At the very least, anyone thinking of using a Primal Lineage Crystal should be at the Transcendental Realm, the third level of the Realms of Truth, to make full use of the Primal Lineage Crystal.
Fortunately, Shi Feng had already mastered the Transcendental Realm.
After Shi Feng completed the dozen or so instructions listed on the Primal Lineage Crystal’s description, three options appeared before him.
The first option was a Dragonoid. If he chose this option, he would gain a three-meter-tall body with a tail and arms covered in scales.
Dragonoids were different from Demidragons. They were one of the primal lifeforms in God’s Domain. They were the result of Dragons abandoning their draconic form and taking on human-like bodies. While Dragonoids might not have the powerful bodies of Dragons, they retained the Dragon race’s talent for magic.
The second option was an Ancient Elf. If he chose this option, he’d have a two-meter-tall body that was covered in magic runes.
Ancient Elves possessed Mana affinity far beyond that of Elves. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that they were Mana itself, and they could effortlessly master Super-Ancient Spells that modern Elves could not.
When Shi Feng saw the third option, he couldn’t help but be stunned.
The sample image of the third option showed no changes to his current appearance. If he had to get into the specifics and point out a difference, it’d be his eyes. At first glance, his eyes in the image looked no different than his current eyes. However, when he took a closer look, he noticed tiny specks of starlight scattered across his eyes.
When Shi Feng saw this image, a name quickly popped into his mind.
Ancient Human!
Also known as a Primal Human!
Ancient Humans were humans that had existed since the birth of God’s Domain. However, unlike modern humans, Ancient Humans possessed the Eyes of Reality that could see through all things.
In reality, the Identification Skills that exist in the current God’s Domain were merely Skills created to imitate the Eyes of Reality of Ancient Humans. Even the War God’s Temple’s Eyes of Truth was no exception. Meanwhile, the reason these imitations were created was due to the decline of Ancient Humans.
God’s Domain’s environment had continuously declined as time passed, the Mana available in the environment growing thinner and thinner. Because of this changing environment, the quality of Ancient Humans also continuously degraded generation after generation until they eventually became the humans of today.
Aside from the Eyes of Truth, Ancient Humans also possessed physical qualities far superior to modern humans.
The environment available in the early days of God’s Domain was brimming with Mana. During that era, Ancient Humans had yet to make major advancements in any aspect. Yet, despite this situation, Ancient Humans still managed to survive in a world infested with Ferocious Beasts. That was because Ancient Humans possessed physical qualities that allowed them to trade blows with Ferocious Beasts.
Among modern humans, the only existences that could rival Ancient Humans were probably Heroes. Meanwhile, Heroes were existences who had been blessed by Gods and possessed the strength to fight against Dragons.
Becoming a Dragonoid or an Ancient Elf might provide me with stronger physical qualities, but the appearances of these two races aren’t suitable for the current God’s Domain. Moreover, both races tend toward magical classes. So, it seems becoming an Ancient Human is my only choice.
After pondering over the three races for some time, Shi Feng eventually settled on the third option—Ancient Human.
Both Dragonoids and Ancient Elves were races extremely proficient in magic.
However, Shi Feng was a Swordsman. While being good at manipulating Mana might give him an easier time ascending to higher tiers, a pair of eyes capable of seeing through everything was much more useful for a Swordsman.
After Shi Feng chose to become an Ancient Human, the Mana Stones he prepared promptly transformed into a huge stream of Mana that flowed into his body, the Mana continuously strengthening and altering his body. Meanwhile, this process continued for over an hour before ending.
So, this is an Ancient Human?
When Shi Feng opened his eyes and looked at the world around him, an indescribable sense of shock and joy filled him.
Setting aside his physical body that rivaled Archaic Species of the same tier, just the ability of his eyes to see how Mana operated was already more than enough to cause any magical class expert to lose their minds.
Normally, even perceiving Mana was already an incredibly difficult feat. This was because Mana typically couldn’t be seen with the naked eye. Seeing mist-like Mana didn’t constitute “seeing” Mana, either. This was because players couldn’t actually see how Mana operated just by looking at its physical manifestation. They could only do so by feeling it with their various senses.
However, Shi Feng could currently see all of these things visually. Although the colors were faint and translucent, he could see all of the conversions taking place around him with perfect clarity. He could even see the Mana the mundane objects around him radiated.
The ability to see the conversion of Mana taking place around him was more than enough to elevate his combat standard to a whole new level.
With this ability alone, he could find the best entry point in the Mana around him to execute his Skills, Spells, or combat techniques, improving their raw power. He could also observe the change in his opponents’ flow of Mana to determine their movements. This would be much more effective than observing the changes in his opponents’ muscles.
In God’s Domain, players had to move their physical bodies as they did with their bodies in the real world. It meant that players had to move several muscles in a series to execute a movement. While this process typically happened in the blink of an eye, it was still a process that involved several steps, and variables could occur at any of these steps. So, predicting a player’s movements through observing their muscles wasn’t 100% reliable.
However, it was a different story for Mana. Players only needed one thought to execute an adjustment to their Mana. If players decided to execute an action with their Mana, the changes would reflect on their Mana immediately. This meant that the changes they decided to make would also immediately become apparent to Shi Feng. While this still wasn’t enough to tell him exactly what kind of action his opponent was planning to make, it could still let him make better predictions.
After spending some time getting used to his new body and talents, Shi Feng quickly contacted Su Qianliu, Blackie, Firecloud, Happy Snow, and Rampant Blade, having them gather at his office.
Aside from those five, Shi Feng also called Hidden Soul, Gentle Snow, and Lin Yaoyue over to his office under the excuse of doing a quest for Zero Wing.
Zero Wing might have nine entry slots for the Stratified Abyssal Realm, but he’d only be bringing baggage if he brought that lacked strength.
Shi Feng’s goal was to establish a foothold in the Stratified Abyssal Realm so that Zero Wing could conduct long-term trade with a native power. That way, not only could he shrug off the losses he suffered from clashing with the Flower of Seven Sins, but he could also elevate Zero Wing and Asura into the hegemons of the Miniature Ancient World.
After all, the resources available in the Stratified Abyssal Realm were far beyond what was available in an isolated God’s Domain. So long as he partnered with a relatively strong native power in the Stratified Abyssal Realm, acquiring items such as the Lineage Crystal in large quantities wasn’t difficult. However, the precondition to partnering with a native power was to have sufficient money and strength.
Meanwhile, the eight people Shi Feng had chosen were the best candidates he could think of. There was no need to worry about Zero Wing’s management, either. Su Qianliu and the others could still manage the Guild’s affairs via offline means. As for the Asura Mercenary Alliance, Shi Feng had left its management to Liu Wusheng and Frenzied Smile. Both of them were veterans when it came to managing large organizations. So long as there were enough Lineage Crystals, they should have no problems managing the mercenary alliance.
After Su Qianliu and the others gathered in Shi Feng’s office, they couldn’t help but be surprised when they saw that Hidden Soul had changed into a Demonkin. As for Shi Feng’s changes, nobody present noticed a thing.
Even after everyone had gathered, Shi Feng briefly told them that they’d be heading to the Stratified Abyssal Realm, which was outside their God’s Domain, and had all eight of them sign a confidentiality agreement. Then, he had everyone teleport to the Dragonfall Secret Land.
This situation excited Su Qianliu and the others. They didn’t think they’d have a chance to travel outside their God’s Domain.
Lin Yaoyue was particularly excited by this situation. As a first-rate Guild’s executive member, she knew that this was an incredibly rare opportunity even for Tier 5 experts. Yet, Zero Wing did not hesitate to give an outer member like herself this opportunity. This situation caused her to further elevate her evaluation of Zero Wing.
Before teleporting to the secret land himself, Shi Feng had retrieved the two million Magic Crystals stored in Zero Wing’s warehouse to use as trade currency. Then, after spending some time traveling through the Sealing Labyrinth with his team, they arrived at the Sealing Labyrinth’s fifth-floor hall within the time he had agreed on with the Tower Alliance and Hundred Flower Palace.
When Shi Feng’s team arrived, the Tower Alliance’s and Hundred Flower Palace’s members had long since been waiting for them. Evidently, the two sides were much more eager to enter the Stratified Abyssal Realm than Shi Feng.
“Since everyone’s here, let’s begin!” Blood Hammer said eagerly after glancing at Shi Feng’s team.
“Okay, let’s begin!” Crimson Heart nodded, a hint of anticipation in her eyes.
Subsequently, Blood Hammer and Crimson Heart each took out one-half of a key and began chanting an incantation hidden in their respective halves. Then, once the two were done chanting, a divine light enveloped everyone present and dragged them into the Gate of Crossing.