In the pristine operating room, Professor Si Malin was examining Lin Rui's brand-new medical report.
"It seems that the 'Divine Thunder Heavenly Flame' has greatly improved you. In just one day, your physical condition has improved so much, some indicators are already close to the level of a lieutenant, especially the spiritual power value, which has shown a significant increase, reaching 203, crossing the threshold for a lieutenant."
Lin Rui lay within the transparent surgery capsule, listening to Si Malin speak.
He hadn't expected to meet with Professor Si Malin so soon. Coincidentally, it was in the same operating room.
Not only was Si Malin a consultant for the development of Tianlan Corporation's 'Divine Sleep Type 3', but he was also one of the partners for the product's CRO.
"Given your current condition, I estimate you could consider the implantation of a Meridian Wheel in about twenty days. After the 'Divine Thunder Heavenly Flame' is implanted, the subsequent Meridian Wheel implantation demands are very high, requiring at least a spiritual power value of 260. However, this won't be a problem for you. I'll have a student send you an email later, with the models of the Meridian Wheels that can be implanted later on. You can compare the pros and cons yourself, and choose the one that suits you best."
Lin Rui's spirit was lifted. He wanted to implant a Meridian Wheel as soon as possible to elevate his Zhi Zhuang Martial Arts level.
The levels in Zhi Zhuang Martial Arts were not classified according to physical condition and spiritual power, but rather by comparing them to the martial realms of Tianji Star, based on the implanted Zhi Zhuangs.
For example, the first realm of Tianji Star's martial arts, called 'Channel Opening,' is equivalent to a four-star officer and a warrant officer in the Federation, requiring the implantation of 'Artificial Meridians'.
The second realm of Tianji Star's martial arts, called 'Vein Expansion,' corresponds to a lieutenant and a mid-lieutenant in the Federation, demanding the implantation of 'Artificial Meridian Wheels'.
The third realm of Tianji Star's martial arts, called 'Blood Refining,' corresponds to a captain and a major in the Federation, and requires the implantation of 'Artificial Blood Serum'.
Although Lin Rui's physical condition was close to that of a lieutenant, because he had not yet implanted a Meridian Wheel, he was still at the rank of a warrant officer.
Professor Si Malin continued, "And your custom-made Divine Sleep Type 3, I have already made adjustments according to your condition. It can reach 95% of the efficiency of your Grandmaster level Thunderfire Stance. However, after you implant the Meridian Wheel, you should consider switching to an advanced Stance. Lin Rui, do you have any thoughts? I can help you adjust everything in one go."
Upon hearing this, Lin Rui used his thoughts to open up Xue Bogao's replicable skills tab again.
Inside was a set of 'Lightning Extreme God Shine Stance (Grandmaster)', the same stance that had been added to the replicable skills tab yesterday.
"Professor Si Malin, for the subsequent Stance, I choose the Lightning Extreme God Shine Stance!"
The Lightning Extreme God Shine Stance was one of the advanced practices of Thunderfire Stance, known for its extreme power and difficulty in practice.
Not many civilian martial artists practiced it, yet it had a high rate of adoption in the military.
Any service member with the opportunity would choose this technique, as its power was truly formidable, well-suited for the battlefield, and fitting for both solo and group combat.
Being able to learn and replicate the Grandmaster level Lightning Extreme God Shine Stance, Lin Rui naturally saw no reason to choose any other Stance.
The Lightning Extreme God Shine Stance was also compatible with the Red Thunder Saber and Red Thunder Hand. Once mastered, it could enhance these two basic martial arts with greater power and more variations.
"Lightning Extreme God Shine Stance? This Stance is quite challenging, but it does match your meridians well. Hmm—"
Si Malin opened another interface on his office terminal: "The results of the blood sample you provided are also out. It seems to be from someone from Tianji Star, quite strange! The blood's specific rank is indistinguishable, we can only determine that its affinity to thunder and fire is very high, and it contains powerful residual spiritual power. From the gene sequencing, we infer that its owner must have been extremely powerful; additionally, it is not conflicting with the blood of a Seventh Realm superior demon."
A puzzled look appeared in Si Malin's eyes.
It was the first time he had encountered a situation where the blood could not determine the life rank. Generally, there are four scenarios: first, the blood owner has a strong talent for concealment or possesses a special bloodline power; second, they practiced a special cultivation technique; third, the sample is too old, and the spiritual power has dissipated; fourth, the life rank is too high to determine.
However, the data in this report did not match any of these scenarios.
Lin Rui's pupils gleamed: "Could I ask the professor to help me cultivate my heterogenous body based on these two blood samples?"
"Cultivate a heterogenous body? That's the job for the Heterogeneous Body Cultivation Department. However, it's not impossible. I do hold a Heterogeneous Body Cultivation License—"
A slight smile appeared on the corner of Si Malin's lips. He was becoming more interested in the young man in the surgery capsule, an excellent subject for experimentation. He was also quite curious about the blood sample.
He then opened another interface.
"Before cultivating a heterogenous body, you need to pick a suitable identity provided by the Heterogenous Body Management Bureau. After you make a choice, you can automatically load the physical data into the same interface from earlier."
Lin Rui was browsing the Heterogenous Body Management Bureau's interface.
In order to better infiltrate Tianji Star, heterogenous travelers need to adopt the identity of a person from Tianji Star upon their arrival.
All these replaceable identities are collected by the 'Federation Exploration Bureau' and provided for heterogenous travelers to choose from.
There are small landowners, petty traders, artisans, and common citizens. Rumor has it that those with strong backgrounds could descend into the households of princes, martial families, or famous sects. However, such good fortunes certainly would not fall to him.
Some people choose to descend without any identity, but from seven hundred years ago, the household registration system of the four great empires on Tianji Star became increasingly strict. Not having a household registration meant starting off in great danger.
And since Professor Han's exploration team's main activity area was in Wang City County of Song Country, Lin Rui had to choose an identity to descend nearby Wang City County.
In addition, Lin Rui was practicing a cultivation technique of the thunder-fire attribute, which required the identity he would take over to have a physique suitable for practicing a cultivation skill of a similar nature.
Following these criteria, over a hundred identities were eventually shortlisted, and Lin Rui suffered from choice paralysis, looking for a long time without being able to make a decision, so he opened Wang Sen's chat interface.
Gu Ying Tiandao (Lin Rui): Wang Sen, have you picked an identity yet?
Normally, to ensure safety, the identity of a specter should not be revealed to others at will.
However, this time Wang Sen would be descending with him to Tianji Star, and for a long time to come, both of them would be both classmates and colleagues in the federation as well as on Tianji Star, watching out for each other; thus, there was no need to keep their identities secret from one another.
Weirdo Youth (Wang Sen): Not yet, but I have my eye on two identities that should be very suitable for us. Take a look, Rui.
He took a screenshot and sent it to Lin Rui.
After Lin Rui saw it, his brows shot up.
Constables?
These were two constables who were going to die from internal injuries in three days.
Just yesterday, these two had been ordered by the county office to participate in the encirclement and killing of a demon at the fourth level of cultivation. During the fight, they were hit by a cut of spiritual power from the demon from afar. Fortunately, they were far enough away at the time, or else they would have died on the spot.
After the battle, both men, due to the severity of their internal injuries, passed out and were sent home to recuperate; it was expected that in three days, both would die violent deaths one after the other. That would be the time for them to take their place.
Lin Rui quickly saw the advantages of these two identities. First, the family relationships were simple; one of them even had both parents deceased and no wife or children, which would make it convenient for them to blend in.
Second, the identity was very suitable for their development within Tianji Star, as being part of the government sector made for good cultivation conditions; the treatment and status within the Six Fans Gate of Tianji Star were quite good.
Finally, for specters, being inside a government office was relatively safe.
As long as they behaved themselves, the chances of encountering danger were slim.
Constables like those two who were killed by the demon were extremely rare.
Secondly, since many others were injured at the time, it wouldn't be conspicuous for the two of them to blend in.
Finally, there was a point that suited Lin Rui well.
Recuperating would require some time, which would give Lin Rui the perfect opportunity to learn the language of Tianji Star.
Gu Ying Tiandao (Lin Rui): Let's choose this one. I'll pick the one called Lin Twelve; he also practices the 'Red Thunder Pole Skill'.
The Red Thunder Pole Skill was a cultivation technique originating from Tianji Star and was widely circulated within it.
Lin Rui then input the physique and appearance data of Lin Twelve in the specter birth interface, which had to be operated by himself and could not be done by doctors.
"Then I'll start now."
Si Malin's fingers flew like butterflies as he operated outside the surgery pod.
He first had to extract a somatic cell from Lin Rui's body, and after combining it with a DNA fragment from Tianji Star, he would cultivate an embryo.
Only after the embryo had been cultivated to a certain extent could it be fused with that drop of blood.
Considering the balance, the DNA portion belonging to humans needed to be extra enhanced.
A look of anticipation was also present in Lin Rui's eyes.
As far as he knew, growing a specter typically needed forty-eight hours, plus an additional twenty-four hours for a recuperation and stabilization period.
At most in three days, which is next Monday, he would be able to see his own specter.
He wondered what his specter would look like?