Crystal Leaf Fern

"Yes!"

Lu Chuan noticed that something resembling a backpack had appeared on the interface.

Ten crystal cores lay quietly inside.

"There's no way to extract them into reality? It seems this game isn't as heaven-defying as I imagined."

A day quickly passed.

[A new 'Civilization' has been born in your world. Reward: Ancient God's Protection x1.]

[A low-level civilization has appeared in your world. Reward: 'Divine Edict'.]

[You have accepted a creature's sacrifice for the first time. Reward: 'Primal Spirit Furnace'.]

[A new species, the 'Millstone Spider', has been born in your world. Reward: Ancient God Bloodline +0.01%.]

...[The number of creature species in your world exceeds one thousand. Rewards: Beast Race Breathing Technique x1, Winged Race Breathing Technique x1, Scaled Race Breathing Technique x1.]

[The concentration of Ancient God Bloodline in your body exceeds 10%, successfully activating the First Divine Sequence. Please select your kin creature.]

Feeling the immense power within his body, the shock in Lu Chuan's eyes was indescribable:

The first genetic lock... disappeared?

"Selecting a kin creature... is it something similar to the crystal core needed to activate a Transcendent Sequence?"

Lu Chuan closed his eyes, and countless powerful figures flashed through his mind:

The Bone-Winged Saber-toothed Tiger that dominated its region, the massive Ancient Forest Giant Boa, the Sky Overlord Blazing Sun Primordial Bird... his gaze finally settled on the Insect Queen who possessed the ultimate authority over the swarm and was the first to perceive the existence of the "Creator."

"I choose the Devouring Insect Mother!"

The Devouring Insect Mother granted Lu Chuan three abilities:

[Devour]: Converts all ingested dark energy carriers into dark energy.

[Insect Armor]: Gains 50% higher defense, 50% higher speed, and 100% higher attack power than self by consuming a large amount of dark energy.

[Infinite Self-Healing]: Heals infinitely by consuming a large amount of dark energy.

"The First Sequence alone gives me three different abilities?"

Lu Chuan's breathing quickened.

It seemed the benefits this game could bring him were beyond imagination.

"The Beginning World is already very complete now."

"The Divine Edict allows me to communicate with the creatures inside or issue rewards."

"The Primal Spirit Furnace can convert all dark energy carriers into yuan energy, which possesses creative power."

"Finally, the three great Breathing Laws allow players to absorb dark energy and autonomously break through the genetic lock, even without having opened it yet..."

"In other words, the current Beginning World is fully capable of absorbing players!"

Lu Chuan forcefully suppressed his inner excitement, renamed *Create World* to *"miracle of creation"*, and re-uploaded it to the platform... "Chen Xu, do you still remember Ren Zihao? To save money, he voluntarily tested the Third-Generation Genetic Modification Serum, and he failed."

The voice on the other end of the phone was heavy.

"More and more old classmates tell me that they'll get the third-generation modification serum injected even if they have to take out shady online loans. If they succeed, they become superior; if they fail, they just find an unfinished building and jump."

"The Third-Generation Genetic Modification Serum is further squeezing the survival space of ordinary people. Perhaps it won't be long before ordinary people become extinct."

"I really envy you, the lucky one created by the First Generation Modification Agent."

...Envy?

Hanging up the phone, Chen Xu's eyes were filled with loneliness.

As a lucky person who successfully broke through the genetic lock by only injecting the First Generation Modification Agent,

Although he couldn't compare to the chosen ones like the innate Transcendent, he was still a high-end combat power heavily cultivated by the Alliance.

But... Chen Xu punched his thigh, which was as withered and broken as a dry branch.

There was no sensation.

How much he wished those legs would ache fiercely just one more time!

Even if he were smashed to pieces afterward, he wouldn't care.

Chen Xu dared not tell any of his old high school friends that the object of everyone's envy had long become a cripple confined to a wheelchair.

Unable to accept this huge disparity, he could only hide in a gloomy residential building, numbing himself with games.

At least in the game, he could still rampage like he used to.

[Dear esteemed player, this game will undergo full server maintenance from 2 AM to 8 AM today. We apologize for any inconvenience.]

"Damn it!"

Chen Xu irritably grabbed at his hair.

Due to long-term reversal of day and night, Chen Xu simply couldn't fall asleep at night.

He opened the largest gaming platform on the entire network.

Chen Xu began searching for a new game.

He didn't care about the gameplay or genre; he only cared about the game's fidelity.

Only sufficiently high fidelity could trick his chaotic, numb brain and temporarily restore the feeling of having sound legs.

Adjusting the filter to game fidelity, a game named *"miracle of creation"* caught his eye.

"100% fidelity, 100% freedom, uploaded less than two hours ago!?"

Chen Xu laughed. He really wanted to see what kind of game studio dared to be so arrogant.

After all, even *infinite sequence*, which had topped the charts of major gaming platforms for three consecutive years, could only achieve 78% fidelity.

100% freedom was even more impossible; he couldn't imagine how much massive code and precise algorithms would be needed to support such varied gameplay.

Surprisingly, the studio behind the game was untraceable.

"No promotion, no pre-heating. Are they planning to rely solely on hype to trick players into downloading it?"

If this had been a paid game, Chen Xu definitely wouldn't have clicked on it.

But this game happened to be free.

"I'll see what this is all about."

After the download was complete, Chen Xu used his hands to support himself as he lay down in the gaming pod.

Since he didn't think he would waste much time on this game, he didn't even bother changing the nutrient solution in the gaming pod.

[Player 'Chen Xu' has joined the 'Beginning World'.]

There was none of the dizziness usually experienced when entering other high-fidelity games.

Chen Xu felt disdain:

"I knew it..."

Light and shadows intertwined. After seeing the scene before him clearly, the rest of Chen Xu's sentence was stuck in his throat, neither swallowed nor spoken:

The sight before him was vast and shocking:

Two moons, one large and one small, hung in the sky.

Under the bright moonlight were monstrous trees reaching the sky, towering ferns growing wildly, bizarre and magnificent giant flowers... everything was so real it made his scalp tingle.

The air was filled with the scent of fresh plants, and the ground beneath his feet was moist and solid.

Chen Xu froze for a moment, then started running passionately the next second.

This was a world brimming with vitality; the soil here was solid and fertile.

Even if a dead branch were inserted, a tender bud would sprout!

The next moment, a massive dark shadow shattered this surging excitement.

Although he knew it was just a game, the sudden, immense pressure still triggered Chen Xu's instinctual fear.

In an instant, Chen Xu regained the alertness he had when exploring rifts and quickly sought cover.

"What is that? A giant... bat?"

Its size was clearly more exaggerated than a helicopter, yet framed by the surrounding plants, Chen Xu strangely felt that this size was normal.

Is it a Transcendent Creature?

There was no fear facing the unknown creature, only excitement at touching a higher level of power.

It seemed he had found a game more captivating than *infinite sequence*!

[Esteemed Player, welcome to the Beginning World! Please strive with all your might to survive and become the new overlord of this world!]

[Please select your Breathing Technique!]

[Option One: Beast Race Breathing Technique.]

[Option One: Winged Race Breathing Technique.]

[Option One: Scaled Race Breathing Technique.]

The moment Chen Xu's finger touched the Beast Race Breathing Technique, countless scenes instantly surged into his mind:

Facing a strange bird descending from the sky, a shirtless man with fiery red hair roared.

A phantom tiger appeared, striking the strange bird to the ground with a single claw.

A woman wearing beast-hide armor transformed into a phantom black panther, swinging her sharp claws to instantly cut the meteorites summoned by the strange bird into small pieces.

A bald man exhaled a puff of white mist from his nose, stomped his right foot, and a phantom stone ox summoned a hard stone wall to block the falling rocks... "Is this the Beast Race Breathing Technique? It allows one to borrow the power of fierce beasts..."

So powerful!

Undeniably, that almost savage power was truly captivating.

Chen Xu placed his right hand on the Winged Race Breathing Technique.

The scene that appeared this time was in the sky.

A group of Transcendent with double wings on their backs were either drawing bows and nocking arrows or chanting spells.

Attacks of various colors bombarded the ground like a rainstorm.

On the ground were mountain-sized giant pythons, saber-toothed tigers covered in fire, and massive rhinoceroses whose every step caused mountains to crumble and the earth to split... each one of these behemoths was a regional overlord that struck fear into the hearts of other creatures.

Yet, they were helpless against the attacks descending from the sky.

The next second, a figure bearing six wings appeared.

Heaven and earth changed color.

Countless lightning bolts, as thick as water buckets, poured down.

After a minute of blinding white light, only scorched earth remained on the ground.

Chen Xu gasped:

"Terrifying!"

Chen Xu then turned his attention to the final Scaled Race Breathing Technique.

The animation that appeared this time was far less visually impactful than the previous two:

On the boundless black ocean, countless Transcendent partnered with marine life, danced with the waves and raging winds, tamed deep-sea behemoths, and searched for underwater treasures... "Isn't this a bit too bland?"

Chen Xu couldn't help but lament that the game developers were too biased.

Just looking at these three scenes, probably no one would choose the Scaled Race Breathing Technique, right?

"A true man fights! I choose the Beast Race Breathing Technique!"

Obscure, ancient characters flooded into his mind, and Chen Xu was astonished to discover:

He had comprehended the profound mysteries instantly!

Unconsciously adjusting his breathing, Chen Xu clearly felt dark energy surging into his body:

As a former Transcendent, this feeling was all too familiar!

There was no need for meditation; simply adjusting the breathing method allowed him to absorb dark energy and achieve a strange equilibrium with the rhythm of his body's organs and the rules of a higher dimension.

This cultivation method was simply incredible!

Chen Xu unconsciously murmured, "Is this really just a game?"

The next second, Chen Xu's attention was drawn to a line of annotation not far away.

What was that?

A cluster of dark purple plants glowed mysteriously under the moonlight.

Chen Xu slowly approached.

[crystal leaf fern]: Contains a small amount of dark energy, usually grows near dark energy crystal veins. (Value: 1 yuan energy.)

dark energy crystal mine!

Chen Xu's eyes lit up, and he quickly pulled the crystal leaf fern out by the roots.

[Detected Spirit Auxiliary Plant 'crystal leaf fern', value 1 yuan energy. Sell?]

"Yes!"

[Player successfully gained 1 point of yuan energy. Game Store opened.]