Chapter 10: The Golden Elixir

"Progress: thirty percent, fifty... one hundred."

"Ding, signal reception and translation successful, compressing and decoding."

Lin Qiu’s body trembled as mysterious radio waves appeared in his mind. The frequency was utterly strange—something he could never have understood on his own, but through the system’s transformation, he could hear it clearly.

If Lin Qiu had a human face, it would have turned ashen, beads of cold sweat forming on his brow.

"There really are extraterrestrial civilizations? What on earth is this Karma Star System?" His heart pounded with terror.

Within the transformed radio waves, a gloomy voice echoed: "This barren planet has many life forms, but their level is too low—they are the lowest grade of meat."

"Raising such stellar creatures is a waste of our time."

"Octopus, you must be terribly bored to bother researching these inferior meats."

"Even if you trigger the planet’s core-source energy, at best it will only improve their constitution a little."

"But low-grade meat is still low-grade—tasteless and bland. Best to give up."

"Kaqit, you’re missing the point. Who am I? Octopus, the greatest genetic expert in the Karma Star System."

"Though these creatures are inferior, with my intervention—a little seasoning in their core energy—they’ll evolve rapidly."

"In at most one hundred and fifty million years, we can harvest them. Then you can taste my work for yourself."

"Pointless!"

This last voice belonged to Kaqit.

And in Lin Qiu’s mind, not only did the radio language resound, but vivid images also emerged.

He beheld a desolate planet, whose surface was covered entirely by vast oceans and towering trees. Strange creatures—none of which he recognized—roamed the land.

The vision shifted, plunging into a dark recess.

"System, where is this place?"

"To answer the host, this is the planet’s core world."

With the system’s explanation, Lin Qiu saw within the core a blazing red stone, flames flickering atop it.

"This is the core-source energy. Imagine this world as an engine; this is its fuel."

As the system continued its explanations, Lin Qiu’s eyes widened.

In his mind’s eye, before the crystalline source energy stood two figures.

They were two enormous rats, clad in armor made from unknown materials.

Set in the belts at their waists was a gem, radiating a faint, oxygen-rich glow.

The rat on the left held a transparent vial, inside which shimmered a drop of golden liquid.

"Octopus, that’s golden liquid—immensely valuable. Isn’t using it here a waste?"

From their exchange, Lin Qiu deduced that the one holding the vial was Octopus and the other was Kaqit. Yet, with his inability to distinguish faces, these two rats looked identical—impossible to tell apart.

But this was not his concern.

In the vision, Octopus stroked his whiskers with a chuckle: "After all, for our Karma race, time is the least valuable thing."

"We traverse the vast universe, conquering star system after star system, becoming the most powerful warriors in the cosmos."

"We’ve grown bored over the years; this is just a game to pass the time!"

He uncorked the vial, and the so-called golden liquid dripped onto the red crystal.

As the red crystal absorbed the gold, it began to turn golden.

At that moment, a beam of golden light burst from the planet’s core, radiating across the entire world.

Heaven and earth shifted; the planet’s atmosphere thickened.

Beyond the planet, a luminous halo formed.

Tectonic plates moved rapidly; continents rose from the seas.

The figures of Octopus and Kaqit vanished.

Then, like a slideshow, the images in Lin Qiu’s mind began to flow rapidly.

Eons passed, seas changed to mulberry fields, day turned to night, and life began to flourish on the surface.

Powerful beings emerged one after another.

"What are these creatures?" Lin Qiu’s eyes brimmed with fear.

The first mutants to appear were over a hundred meters tall—moving fortresses.

In the oceans, such size was not unheard of, but on land, such numbers were staggering.

"This is the ancient era, dating back about a billion years," the system provided.

In this era, modern scientists could find not a trace.

Not long after these mutant creatures appeared, even more powerful beings followed.

A new ecological zone formed, where life’s struggle for survival and predation drove evolution.

Generation after generation passed, but Octopus and Kaqit never appeared again.

When a meteor struck the planet, an ice age commenced.

No one knows how long it lasted; eventually, the ice melted, and life returned.

Yet, every time a species grew powerful enough to dominate the world, a meteor would fall—bringing mass extinction.

This cycle of annihilation repeated five times.

The last was the age of dinosaurs.

After the ice vanished, these mighty creatures were gone for good.

Ape-men began to appear, hunting and surviving.

Later came the evolutionary history of humans.

All of this unfolded in Lin Qiu’s mind.

He was utterly stunned.

Just then, the system’s voice spoke: "The Karma Star System—first among the universe’s warrior races."

"Their technology is unmatched; their individual strength can snatch stars from the sky."

"The golden liquid they left behind altered this world’s material structure."

"But they forgot that every planet possesses its own unique system."

"Forced change may create powerful life and spur constant evolution—"

"But, drawn by unseen laws, it also brings mass extinction."

"Now, as the crust trembles, the golden liquid in the core source is active once more."

"It won’t be long before five mighty beings, buried beneath this world, awaken from their icy slumber."

"With humanity’s current strength, facing the Karma Star System’s most elite warriors is impossible."

"Even these revived creatures would spell disaster for this planet."

Lin Qiu listened, his heart pounding in terror.

He had witnessed these transformations.

Five cycles—countless formidable beings.

Though there were no humans or technological civilizations among them, their might was enough to make him shudder.

Now, this seismic upheaval marked the sixth biological mutation.