Swallowing the Stars: Reboot, The Eternal Serpent!

Chapter 9: Blueprint for Life! (Please add to your favorites, vote with monthly tickets, and keep reading!)

Jiang Wu raised his fist to encourage Jiang Zhe.

"Xiao Zhe, don't listen to his nonsense, don't put pressure on yourself."

Jiang Sisi rolled her eyes at her own brother, scolding him for always bringing up those outsiders.

"Xiao Zhe, with your current strength, dealing with these weak beast soldiers should be a piece of cake."

"But don't be careless. Good physical condition and high strength don't mean you can kill monsters! For a newly promoted martial artist, 'Seeing Blood' is like sharpening a sword—a completely different experience. You need to adapt, temper your character, and remember not to be soft-hearted!"

Jiang Wu chuckled and agreed, "Haha, it's my fault, it's my fault. Why should we, the Jiang family, care about other people's opinions?"

Finally, he emphasized, "But remember to kill more monsters. After you get used to killing, when Grandpa and Uncle come back, they will take you to the wilderness for training. You will be able to transform faster and become a qualified martial artist more quickly."

The roars of the monster in the iron cage, the admonitions of his older cousins, and the lively conversations of the martial artists around him... all reached Jiang Zhe's ears, instantly filling him with a sense of pride.

This is the first time in my life that I've participated in such a grand event.

His two lifetimes combined amounted to only a little over forty years, most of which were spent on ineffective experiences. His heart was still young, and he was in the prime of his scholarly spirit.

"Young and chivalrous, he befriended heroes from five capitals. Their hearts were open and their hair stood on end. In the midst of conversation, they shared life and death."

Sixteen years of self-cultivation and extensive reading have allowed Jiang Zhe to easily express the lofty aspirations within him.

Beside him, Jiang Wu was stunned for a moment.

After understanding the meaning of the poem, they clapped their hands and exclaimed, "Excellent! Truly excellent! Isn't this exactly what describes us martial artists?"

"Tsk tsk, looks like reading those lousy books did have some use. Unlike me back then, standing here, all I could manage to utter after all that time was 'Holy shit!'"

Jiang Sisi rolled her eyes, silently took a few steps back, and distanced herself from her silly older brother.

...I'm really not familiar with this slippery fish in the net of compulsory education.

Jiang Zhe's lips twitched. Second Brother really doesn't treat us like outsiders.

The preparations in Monster Town were complete, and the military began issuing warnings. More than a thousand people blocked the entrance to the "examination hall".

"Second Brother, Sister Sisi, I'm inside. Wait for my good news."

"come on!"

"Go for it, Xiao Zhe!"

Jiang Zhe, carrying a round shield and holding an iron whip, walked into the vast crowd.

As the rescuers took their positions, the military commander gave the order, and more than a thousand aspiring warriors surged into Monster Town like a raging wave.

Night had fallen, and large searchlights deployed around the town illuminated parts of the town, but most of the area remained shrouded in darkness.

Jiang Zhe slithered in the shadows, like a tiger waiting for its prey.

At the exit of the narrow alley, a yellow-and-black striped Tibetan Mastiff happened to pass by. It twitched its nose twice, turned its head sharply following the scent, and met Jiang Zhe's eyes in the alley.

"Roar!"

It roared as it charged into the narrow alley, ready for a delicious meal.

Little did they know, Jiang Zhe had also set his sights on it, intending to use it as a test case and make a business first.

When they met on a narrow path, man and monster clashed. Jiang Zhe slightly turned to the side to avoid the collision, but the tiger-mastiff turned its head and followed up with a bite, its blood-red maw wide open, and a stench filled the air.

"Disgusting! Luckily I didn't eat dinner. You deserve to die!"

Cursing, Jiang Zhe raised the shield on his left arm and slammed it into the face of the tiger mastiff, the terrifying force slamming the dog's head against the wall.

—Is this human a monster?

The tiger mastiff saw stars, its head was spinning, and it almost fainted.

Jiang Zhe gave it no chance to catch its breath, and with a swift swing of his right hand, he lashed out with the iron whip, striking the tiger-mastiff's waist and hips cleanly.

"Snap!"

With a flick of the iron whip, the hindquarters of the tiger mastiff turned into a pile of minced meat.

"Roar!"

The tiger mastiff, in pain, howled and struggled fiercely.

The round shield moved a little distance away, then crashed into the tiger mastiff in the manner of a lazy bear hitting a tree, smashing its head as well, splattering red and white matter onto the wall like a flower.

The splashed filth and pungent smell caused Jiang Zhe's delicate brows to furrow slightly.

Jiang Zhe wasn't that fragile; he wasn't at the point of vomiting. He only felt slightly unwell, but his attention was quickly diverted.

Faint points of light emanated from the tiger mastiff's corpse, rushing towards his chest like moths to a flame.

Jiang Zhe remained unmoved.

This is a normal phenomenon, and the entire process is invisible to outsiders; it is caused by his cultivation of the "Golden Human Life Blueprint".

This secret technique for elevating the level of life's genes is divided into two parts: "external training" and "internal training".

External training is about [conquest].

Defeat/kill your opponent, plunder their spirituality, and use it to nourish yourself.

If you were to peel off his combat uniform now, you would find that his chest and shoulders are covered with unknown runes.

The incoming points of light were temporarily stored in the runes.

Initially, the best ink used was the blood of the conquered, followed by substances containing energy.

The former couldn't be found in the city, and as for the latter... Jiang Zhe used up half a box of slag in order to concoct a qualified ink.

Once you reach the planetary level, you won't need to go through all that trouble. Your original energy will be projected onto your body surface to form secret patterns, absorbing the scattered light points.

Internal practice involves visualization.

It should be done after accumulating some positive energy through "external training".

Visualize the five human figure sketches on the golden brochure, which are actually the Hercules constellation star map. The nutrients carried by the refined light points, combined with the nutrients fed back from the star map, work together to solidify the stars in the body, with each star representing one level of genetic material.

There are a total of 181 stars, but they will eventually be sublimated and promoted to [Golden Humans], transforming into a life level 1810 times higher.

It was precisely because of this bizarre and secret cultivation method that Jiang Zhe uttered those words that carried a touch of madness—"What cannot kill me will make me even stronger."

Distractions only last for a moment.

Jiang Zhe bent down, cut off the tiger mastiff's left ear, put it in his backpack, and left the alley.

Just as I stepped out of the alley, a strong, foul-smelling gust of wind swept in from the left.

Jiang Zhe didn't even glance at it, raised his left arm, and swung his shield.

"Meow—"

With a muffled scream, a thin, half-meter-long figure flew backward.

"Little Shadow Cat~"

Jiang Zhe chuckled.

There's no need to go over and finish them off; just seeing a few points of light approaching is enough to know that Shadowcat has been conquered.

—To be killed by brute force or to lose the ability to move.

pat!

pat!

pat!

……

The barely perceptible footsteps were caught by Jiang Zhe's abnormal hearing.

Scanning his surroundings, Jiang Zhe realized that he was surrounded by a circle of eyes that shimmered with an eerie light.

The streets to the left and right, the alley behind, the rooftop of the second floor opposite... a quick glance around revealed a total of sixteen shadow cats.

"H-class monsters with no intelligence, driven only by savage instincts, actually banded together?"

"Speaking of which, this small group already poses a huge threat to newly promoted aspiring martial artists. Are you just going to let them exist?"

"So I'm here to handle this. Do you need help?" A voice came from the darkness, and a figure suddenly jumped onto the rooftop three meters to Jiang Zhe's left.

Clearly, this is the officer in charge of the rescue.

His appearance startled the Shadow Cats, who immediately launched an attack on the two.

The six on the rooftop attacked the officer who was also standing on high, while the nine on the ground rushed towards Jiang Zhe.

The speed of the H-level Shadow Cat is about 40m/s, which is far inferior to Jiang Zhe's.

With a light touch of the toes, they leaped out of their encirclement.

Even as he passed by the two shadow cats, his round shield and iron whip shot out simultaneously, unleashing a powerful, eagle-shaped strike that landed on the two unfortunate creatures' vulnerable waists and hips.

"Two!"

Jiang Zhe still had the mind to count. He had just broken through the encirclement when the Shadow Cats swarmed at the alleyway where he had just been standing, so he rushed straight back.

It's not about going to one's death, it's like a tiger entering a flock of sheep.

With speed far exceeding that of the Shadow Cat, he toyed with them;

His microscopic movement technique allowed him to make the most precise evasions with minimal movements, making him seem to stroll leisurely among the shadow cats.

The iron whip in his hand displayed a ferocious side, crippling anyone who touched it.

"Four!"

"Seven!"

"Nine!"

"And then..."

Jiang Zhe grinned, and suddenly threw his iron whip, which flew up to the second-floor rooftop and smashed the head of a leaping shadow cat.

The trump card!

One of the martial arts techniques collected by the Jiang family, Jiang Zhe learned it after seeing it only once.

"Ten!"

Jiang Zhe asked with a smile, "Brother, do you still want the rest of that broken cat?"

The officer had not dealt with the shadow cats that were attacking him.

I'm currently reading the error-free version! This is the first time I've published this novel.

He simply dealt with them, keeping his attention entirely on Jiang Zhe. As soon as he heard a cry for help, he would immediately step in to save Jiang Zhe.

"The assessment continues!"

The officer coldly uttered a single sentence before leaping more than ten meters away, disappearing into the night after several jumps.

The remaining five shadow cats scattered and fled, but Jiang Zhe caught up with them at twice their speed.

Kill them one by one, and cut off their left ears.

Sparse, dim points of light converged toward Jiang Zhe, creating a dreamlike, shimmering effect against the night sky, reminiscent of a flowing river of stars.

"The amount is too small, just a tiny bit of meat, like a mosquito's leg..." Jiang Zhe complained with some dissatisfaction.

He knew perfectly well what was going on.

This is because the difference in strength between him and the monsters at the first level of apprenticeship is too great, resulting in a lack of "sense of conquest".

To quickly elevate one's life gene level, one must "conquer" those of the same level, or even fight across levels.

"Many a little makes a mickle, and many grains of sand make a tower; every little bit helps, and no effort is wasted, and all good things eventually come to fruition." Jiang Zhe consoled himself with this thought.

They retrieved the iron whip.

The more stylish their "trump card" was just now, the more pathetic they are now.

Then continue searching for prey.

Of the three monsters in the town, Jiang Zhe's favorites are the Tiger Mastiff and the Shadow Cat.

These two squishy characters are really easy to kill.

Even though the iron-haired wild boar, which acts as a meat shield, can't withstand a single whip strike from him, it has to put in 20% more force when it hits.

……

Next to the closed town, inside a large building, numerous surveillance screens display the battles taking place in various areas of the town.

There is a screen specifically for tracking Jiang Zhe's movements.

Representatives from all sides gathered in front of the screen, each with a mission: to see if this unprecedentedly talented young man was truly a fraud.

Soon, with his first kill, Jiang Zhe's formidable brute strength left a deep impression on them.

Some people wondered, "Is it physical fitness? Or is it the technique of exerting force?"

"Does it matter?" the burly man with the scar on his face retorted. "Aren't both outcomes shocking?"

"Look! More than a dozen shadow cats! He's about to be surrounded and killed!" someone exclaimed, drawing everyone's attention back to the screen.

Then... a series of hissing sounds of gasping for breath rose and fell in the monitoring room.

"His burst speed seems off, doesn't it?"

Someone replied quietly, "According to computer calculations, the instantaneous speed is definitely 80 m/s!"

"Hiss... a high-ranking warrior?"

"A subtle-level movement technique?!"

"Him? 16 years old? And he's even listed as a suspected psychic in the intelligence?"

"My God! Is this a monster?"

……

At this moment, the representatives of the various forces seemed like children who had never seen anything like it, exclaiming in amazement one after another.

"Major Huo, let's make a deal. I'll ask the Extreme Martial Arts Academy to make a copy of the video from earlier."

"I want my Thunder Martial Arts School too."

"My HR Alliance—"

"Huh?" The crowd's predatory gazes turned to him, causing the young man with the gold-rimmed glasses to swallow his words.

The assistant beside him asked in a low voice, "Manager, what do we need this video for?"

The bespectacled young man suddenly realized, "Oh right! Jiang Zhe is from my HR alliance. We can just report him on paper."

The air in the monitoring room suddenly turned much colder, and sharp, unfriendly gazes were cast over us once again.

assistant:"……"

manager:"……"

The sky is bright.

"Waaaaah—waaaaah—"

The piercing sirens echoed throughout Monster Town, and the deep voice of the assessment host came from the loudspeaker.

"Time's up! All prospective martial artists, assemble at the exit immediately!"

After gathering, it's time to tally the number of animal ears and calculate the results.

Jiang Zhe achieved a remarkable first place with 134 animal ears (some of which he didn't even collect).

I obtained the martial artist's ID number: 426073204608010001!

The martial arts certificate needs to be printed at the relevant department in the city.

The Southern Military Region is not the place where certificates are issued.

But such trivial matters were none of his concern; the butler would naturally take care of them once he got home.

His second brother asked him if he wanted to meet with the heads of the two martial arts schools and the military region, but Jiang Zhe wasn't interested in such social engagements and waved his hand to decline.

He wasn't Luo Feng; he had no background and the Jiang family's backing gave him the confidence to treat the presidents and managers of the two martial arts schools with disdain.

There are more important things to do when we get back.

……

Lanling Base City, Jiang Family.

Upon arriving home, Jiang Zhe went straight to the study in the side room, locked the door, and crawled into the primordial core.

He sat cross-legged under an unknown ancient tree, holding a divine crystal in one hand and a golden fold in the other, preparing to perform visualization and study the contents of the first picture.

"Three stars, three times the genetic level!"

"The formation of one star represents one level of genetic maturity? But I don't have a single one yet, zero level of genetic maturity? Don't be ridiculous!"

"Forget it, we'll find out what's going on once we try."

Jiang Zhe began to visualize the incomplete star map within the first outline of a human body.

The three stars are arranged in a triangle. They correspond to the center of the forehead and the two shoulders. The one in the center of the forehead will be the first to be focused.

With the divine crystal enhancing his comprehension, Jiang Zhe quickly entered a meditative state, and the three-point star map became increasingly profound in his sea of ​​consciousness.

The lines on his chest and shoulders began to heat up, and the skin underneath turned red, making him look like a boiled shrimp.

You can clearly feel countless points of light moving within the runes.

After several cycles, it began to merge into his body.

A certain function within the body is awakened and mobilized, causing a transformation that begins from the underlying genes.

—This is actually modifying the level of life genes that I already possess!

Jiang Zhe was stunned.

At the same time, the three-point star map he visualized in his mind was also exerting its power.

It receives pure energy from an unknown source, which flows from the sea of ​​consciousness to all parts of the body, intertwines and merges with the energy formed by the light spots, and together promotes changes in gene coding.

(End of this chapter)