This is not mechanical ascension...

Chapter 383: The Difficulty of the Trial at the Saint Castle

Under the guidance of Suzaku, the other party arrived quickly. He was a Beiser man with a strong build and thick hair. His name was Lucas. When he saw Li Ming, he seemed very excited and his face flushed.

"Mr. Li Ming...you are back?"

The news of his return is still kept secret and not many people in the base know about it. Li Ming smiled and nodded.

“I won’t say more. This is a test mission. You may die, or you may not.” Li Ming said briefly and asked Lucas to sit down.

The other party swallowed his saliva. He had prepared himself mentally when he came here, but now he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.

Li Ming wasted no time and activated his ability again, selecting Lucas as his target.

The next moment, he returned to his body from that strange state, and watched Lucas roll his eyes and stand there in a daze.

Li Ming asked Zhuque to record his physical data in detail and remained calm.

Until one moment, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Lucas yelled, stood up suddenly, and looked around vigilantly out of the mercenary's instinct.

Then he remembered his current situation and couldn't help but touch his body, and asked in surprise: "Are you okay?"

"Tell me in detail what happened just now." Li Ming said in a deep voice when he saw that he had calmed down.

Lucas did not dare to neglect it. He looked a little dazed as he described: "I don't know what happened just now. I seemed to have entered some kind of transmission channel, and then flew up and up. In a very bright light, I seemed to see something..."

"…It seemed like a huge palace, and then I heard something like 'obliterate', and then I lost consciousness."

Soul out of body?

Li Ming was surprised. It seemed more like the state he was in when he arrived at the Iron Throne Hall. His consciousness was withdrawn and he went to a certain place in a strange way. There should be no danger.

Lucas looked at Li Ming who had fallen into silence, feeling a little uneasy, until the other party spoke:
"Okay, you can go now. I will arrange special work for you and host you for a while. You can't leave the base for the time being."

"I'll have someone send your reward."

“Yes.” Lucas nodded, feeling excited. He vaguely guessed that his situation just now must involve some secret.

I didn’t expect it to be so simple. I really made a lot of money this time.

After Lucas left, Li Ming couldn't wait to try it.

This time the target was himself, and as expected, he felt a sense of being detached, as if his body was torn apart by an invisible force, and his consciousness gradually became blurred.

It was just as Lucas said. We entered some kind of passage. The surroundings were full of strange lights. All kinds of weird shapes and lines flashed before our eyes quickly. We couldn't see anything clearly.

Until I saw a magnificent metal palace, like a dazzling interstellar fortress, emitting a heart-pounding pressure. It seemed to stand in nothingness, with no recognizable objects around it.

Its outer shell is made up of huge metal plates, each of which sparkles with a cold luster. Countless energy pipes crisscross each other, and blue energy flows through them.

The main entrance is huge and magnificent, with two huge metal statues of humanoid figures standing on both sides with majestic and solemn faces.

The steps in front of the door were made of an unknown metal, glowing with a faint golden halo. A layer of faint energy mist permeated the surroundings, making the entire palace look even more illusory and mysterious.

Below is a base made up of an energy field, and the light on the base spreads like ripples.

Li Ming looked at it, slightly distracted. What on earth was this place? The Holy Castle?
As soon as this thought came into my mind, a pair of extremely bright pupils suddenly appeared in the void around me, and a dull and solemn sound seemed to be flowing in them.

"If you don't meet the requirements, you will be eliminated!"

In an instant, Li Ming felt a shock. An unstoppable force came from all directions. His eyes went dark. He opened his eyes subconsciously and found himself back in his room.

He couldn't help but stand up, his heart beating faster and faster, but he sat down again.

"What exactly is that place?" He pondered, many doubts emerging in his mind, "Not meeting the requirements? What requirements, bloodline requirements, or... being the chosen one?"

"No, I should have arrived as a conscious body. How could he detect my body? Is it because I don't have some kind of mark?"

Li Ming gradually got a clue in his mind, and then quickly took out the purple skull. The thing was still calling out: "Error, error..."

Li Ming didn't care what he was shouting about. He directly consumed the metal energy for construction. The purple metal on the surface transformed and instantly became colorful.

As the light flashed, the metal began to twist and reorganize, evolving in a way beyond imagination, spreading more pipes and growing mechanical limbs.
The mechanical limbs seemed a bit stiff when they first appeared, but driven by metal energy, they quickly became flexible and powerful.

Soon it fit perfectly together with the skull and turned into a mechanical body about one meter tall, which looked strange and weird.

"Master..." He was half-kneeling on the ground, looking completely different.

Li Ming felt a little painful. This time he consumed 70 million metal energies. The assembly ratio reached one to one, which added up to 140 million metal energies.

Although the combat power of this thing itself is not low and it can compete with S-level life forms with a development progress of about 30%, Li Ming cannot send it out and can only use it as a vase.

One can only hope that the secrets there are worth the money.

"Skeleton..." Li Ming simply gave him a name: "Can you bind me as your successor?"

"Master, I can do it." The skeleton nodded, "Do you want me to do it now?"

"Wait..." Li Ming stopped again, thought for a moment, and asked him a lot of questions about Terrax.

As expected, what they know is similar to what the butler knows, because the permissions are not unlocked and cannot be obtained through information state replacement.

"Just choose me as the successor." Li Ming was ready and gave the order.

"Yes." The skeleton nodded, and the green flames in its pupils burned extremely brightly, emitting strands of light that fell on Li Ming.

The whole process lasted very shortly, only two or three minutes, and Li Ming hardly felt any difference.

"Is it done?" He was a little skeptical.

The skeleton responded: "Yes, Master, you have now become the alternate successor to the Terrax civilization."

Li Ming muttered, and simply took control of the skeleton again, then activated his ability again. After a strange scene, he came to the metal palace again.

After waiting anxiously for a moment, those big eyes really did not appear.

"Really passed?" Li Ming felt relieved.

The next moment, his vision was infinitely withdrawn, and the whole person was already standing on the base in front of the huge metal door. Being so close, Li Ming could feel the grandeur and magnificence even more.

At the same time, on the base, bones, flesh, nerves, and blood vessels quickly condensed into shape, turning into another him.

"This kind of technical ability..." Li Ming was secretly amazed. A virtual screen appeared in front of him, and it was actually the interstellar universal language.

"Trialist No. 1, General level..."

Number 1? I am the first one? Li Ming was surprised.

That's impossible... The known universe rose from the Empire, so there should be many chosen ones?
How could I be the first?
Li Ming was confused, but he suppressed it temporarily. Based on the known amount of information, the warrior level should correspond to an A-level life form.

The screen blurred for a while, and new text appeared, "Error... Non-transcendent life forms cannot proceed to the final trial. Switch to the ladder trial. The blood concentration is less than 5%, and the trial difficulty is extremely high."

Li Ming frowned. Can the trial be switched?

Under normal circumstances, only X-level life forms can participate in the trial.

"After completing the trial, I can start the journey through the gate in front of me? The Holy Castle?" He looked up at the magnificent gate in front of him and sensed it a little. It seemed that this body now was a one-to-one replica of his real body.

The control system was still there, and seemed to be able to work on his current body. He was surprised, but also felt more at ease.

My own plug-in is still more powerful.

The text on the virtual screen changed again, "Complete the trial and you will be qualified to open the Holy Castle."

“Is this really the Holy Castle?”

Li Ming's heart paused, feeling somewhat puzzled. He just opened the Holy Castle, and the steward said something about inheriting the Terrax civilization. Was it just empty talk?
However, he was still quite surprised that others were still struggling to find the Holy Castle, but he only needed to pass the trial?

This cake is really big and round.

"Your strength is too low. The ladder challenge is very difficult for you." New text appeared on the screen.

The guy behind this must be highly intelligent, Li Ming thought to himself.

At the same time, a pair of mechanical pupils were analyzing him in the dark, and seemed to be extremely puzzled. "How could this general-level human get in here?"

"Difficulty?" A strange expression flashed across Li Ming's face, "Then let's get started."

The text on the screen changed again: "Once the trial begins, you will only have three chances. If you fail, you will be wiped out. Not virtually, but together with your real body. Are you sure you want to continue?"

Li Ming's eyes narrowed slightly, but how could he give up now that things had come to this point? "Can we stop halfway?"

"After completing each trial, you can temporarily suspend it. The longest stagnation period cannot exceed ten years."

"That's certain." Li Ming said without hesitation.

"The lower-ranked general level trial has begun, the scene is being set up..."

A mechanical voice sounded beside Li Ming's ears. His face changed slightly as he secretly estimated:

"Lower-ranked general? An A-ranked life form with 30% development progress?"

Everything around me was changing. A ground like a ring appeared under my feet, and gray-black mist was everywhere.

"Why do I feel that this fog is a little familiar..." Li Ming looked around, his eyes suddenly condensed, and as the fog dissipated, a shadow gradually walked out.

His facial features were standard, but his pupils were dark, giving off no sense of being watched. His skin was grey-black, the colour of which was like the deep night sky, exuding a cold and mysterious aura, without a single wrinkle.

It was as smooth as a mirror, yet had a metallic texture, with fine silver lines extending from the shoulders and elbows.

These lines are like flowing electric currents, winding down the limbs, flashing faint light, standing there quietly, yet giving people a sense of oppression that amazing power can burst out at any time.

Not just one, but another one, coming out from the other direction.

Li Ming looked alert, having never seen a similar life form before. However, he had a guess in his mind: could this be a creature from the Eternal Abyss?
Fighting one against two at the beginning, Li Ming could clearly feel the oppression brought by this life form. The opponent's strength was not low, and each one was stronger than him.

"The ladder trial is not even a test prepared for normal Titans. For humans, it is a sure death..."

Outside the gray-black mist, an exquisite mechanical body with its right hand behind its back was looking at the scene in front of it. Its lines were smooth and perfect, and its head was embedded with a pair of electronic eyes as bright as stars, and its gaze was cold and deep.

The face was covered by a translucent energy shield with complex data flowing on it. Its posture was elegant, and its anthropomorphic facial features were frowning as it stared at Li Ming.

"This human was able to bypass the Saint Castle's review and crack the Dimension Review Watchtower?"

When he was awakened, he thought that a new trial-taker had arrived, but it turned out to be just a human at the general level, which was really disappointing.

"Either you find the Titans' legacy with your own strength, or the heirs pass the trial. This way..." He shook his head, his emotional reaction was very rich.

"...Every member of the Yuan Clan is stronger than him. I hope he will give up when faced with difficulties."

He turned around, not wanting to continue watching this battle without suspense, but was ready to find out how the other party got in and make amends to avoid a similar situation from happening again.

However, he paused slightly, turned back suddenly, his mechanical pupils condensed, and his facial features revealed an extremely human astonishment: "This..."

On the screen, the seemingly ordinary human general-level warrior took the lead in attacking, and his speed was as fast as a flash of lightning.

Both fists punched out, and the air waves at the end exploded, hitting the enemy directly. The moment of contact, a powerful energy wave burst out, forming a circle of shock waves visible to the naked eye, spreading in all directions.

His arm turned into an indestructible sharp blade, easily tearing through the Yuan Clan's defense. His chest was pierced, and the wound flashed with a strange light. The broken tissue and splattered blood instantly vaporized under the action of the huge force.

The piercing arm did not stop at all, and continued to move forward until it pierced through the enemy's back, leaving behind a brilliant energy trail.

The body of one of the Yuan clan members flew backwards like a kite with a broken string and fell heavily to the ground. The fate of the other Yuan clan member was no different. The battle lasted less than a minute from start to end.

"…How could this happen? Why can he burst out with such powerful strength?"

He found it difficult to understand and quickly called up the other person's physical data. He was shocked and the processor was unable to explain it.

Due to some unknown ability, his physical data soared to the lord level.

"Anything else?" Li Ming shook his hands and looked at the four figures walking out of the surging mist. His cheeks twitched involuntarily.

This is just the trial for lower-level generals. In normal combat, is there really any living being that can pass it?

He felt incredible. His control system was still usable, so it looked simple and ordinary, but if it were any other life form.

In a one-on-one situation, it is difficult to win even with 30% progress. In a four-on-one situation, even with 60% progress, it is not certain to win. Only the evolved bodies with various top-level gene seeds still have a certain chance.

(End of this chapter)