This is not mechanical ascension...

Chapter 480: Decided?
In another palace, Li Ming was still in the midst of a difficult evolution, with tremendous pressure coming from all directions.

It was like a high-speed forging hammer of fine steel, constantly hitting this piece of scrap iron of his, as if it wanted to crush him into pieces.

The invisible pressure acts on the outside, and the special energy acts on the inside, and the whole process is extremely painful.

During the rapid evolution process, his body was undergoing transformation deep within its cells every moment.

If it only promotes metamorphosis, it will inevitably be an extremely painful process. Without the support of sufficient nutrients, this evolution will only consume itself.

Even though the [Field Doctor] can speed up recovery, the body's own nutrients will not appear out of thin air.

But the special energy that permeated into his body continuously replenished the energy needed for his evolution and filled this gap.

"What kind of power is this? It's too abnormal." Amid the pain surging like a wave, Li Ming was barely able to keep thinking, thanks to his experience in the Holy Castle.

It was difficult for him to feel the passage of time, but he could clearly perceive that his development progress had increased by about 10% during this period, reaching 16%.

If he follows the normal development speed, it will take him at least two or three years to develop 10%.

Although it is extremely painful, it is a great benefit that genetically evolved beings would love to have.

Li Ming clenched his teeth, and the surface of his skin was wriggling like water waves, with bulges appearing from time to time, as if something was about to grow out.

Without the support of defense, his body had already shown signs of deformation under such terrifying speed of evolution.

But Li Ming didn't care and didn't suppress it. The low-level gene seeds had been developed long ago and were in a stable state. The only unstable one was the Star-Swallowing Prison Dragon gene seed.

As time passed, Li Ming felt more and more that the level of his body's evolution had reached a limit.

There was a faint feeling of swelling in his body, but at the same time, the energy particles gushing out of his body became more and more violent, and were trapped on the surface of his skin by the pressure from all around.

"Just a little bit more..." Li Ming gritted his teeth. The only sound in his ears was the thunderous beating of his heart. The speed of blood flow had reached an incredible level. The temperature of his skin even made the surrounding space appear distorted.

At a certain moment, hiss - his skin was suddenly torn apart, blood spurted out, and black scales grew out of his muscles at an alarming speed visible to the naked eye.

It was flashing with a cold luster, its edge was as sharp as a blade, and it covered his entire body like a layer of solid armor.

Each piece is closely connected and fits seamlessly. At the same time, a surge of life breath gushes out of his body, powerful and hot.

“30%…”

Li Ming couldn't help but let out a long sigh, as if he had crossed a boundary. He felt the pressure around him suddenly decrease, and the terrifying development rate in his body also slowed down by more than a bit.

But even so, it is still advancing at a high speed.

This energy will not last long. For some reason, this thought suddenly appeared in Li Ming's mind.

As he expected, after a few breaths, the energy in his body that drove his rapid evolution left like the tide and disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.

The pressure from the outside world also disappeared at the same time. Li Ming took a deep breath, and the energy particles scattered from all around rolled in. Then as he exhaled, they spurted out from his mouth and nose, interweaving black and red.

When he stood up, the black scales on his body had disappeared without a trace. This was the ability that was awakened when the Star-Swallowing Prison Dragon's gene seed reached 30%.

His gene seed was not standardized, and there was no record of what abilities it would awaken.

When I raised my hand, a black diamond-shaped scale appeared on the back of my hand, which felt like metal to the touch.

Li Ming made a brief attempt and discovered that it possessed superior defensive properties. The seemingly inconspicuous scales actually had a very special internal structure.

The tiny energy channels crisscross like capillaries, and after the energy is called upon, they turn scarlet.

It can effectively weaken external physical and energy attacks.

Of course, it doesn't have much effect on him, it just serves as a symbol.

Because the development progress has been accelerated, the awakened abilities are of little use, but the improvement in strength they bring is quite useful.

Li Ming stretched his limbs and experienced a surge in strength that could only be felt when undergoing a life level transition.

The development progress has reached 30%, and he estimates that the conventional combat level can reach 70S.

This means that under the main combat system, the conventional energy level has exceeded 200X, and with a hammer it is 400X, and the peak attack when all means are used has exceeded 800X!

The overall strength has increased dramatically. At the current state, coupled with the [Guards Armament], the conventional energy level is close to 800X. In terms of power burst, it has surpassed Lancaster.

Because of the marginal effect, the higher the level, the smaller the benefit provided by the guards will be.

"Unfortunately, the power of the Infinite Hammer cannot work on the Mechanical King. It can only be used as a weapon..." Li Ming still shook his head with some regret.

The Guards' Armament blesses him, and the Infinite Hammer also blesses him, but the two cannot be combined.

However, Li Ming was in a good mood as he had obtained this benefit so easily. At least it saved him five years of sleepless time.

After a slight adjustment, he couldn't help but speculate: "According to what the Star Spirit said, every life form that comes here will receive a similar reward."

The situation for other people should be similar, but I don’t know how it will manifest.

"Your Excellency Star Spirit?" He tried to shout, but in the empty palace, there was only his own echo.

Then, what should I do next? Li Ming frowned slightly and walked forward step by step.

It was basically certain that the fellow called Star Spirit had no intention of killing them, so he felt much more at ease.

"Your Excellency Star Spirit..." He called out again. Before he finished speaking, his eyes moved slightly and the scene around him suddenly began to change.

"Are we going to change places?" Li Ming pondered in his heart, waiting attentively.

……

What are you waiting for?
As soon as Xing Ling finished speaking, everyone's heart was in their throat. Looking at Xing Ling who seemed to have crashed, they were most afraid of such an unexpected situation.

"Your Excellency the Star Spirit?" Costat tried to call out, but the other party did not respond and looked in a certain direction with a slightly fiery look in his eyes.

A bad premonition was brewing in everyone's hearts. When they looked in the direction they came from, they saw that an area of ​​space not far from them began to distort.

Then, a figure walked out.

"Li Ming?" Dius' voice suddenly became high-pitched.

"Everyone..." Li Ming's heart skipped a beat and he looked around. All the people he had met before were here, staring at him with different expressions.

"How could your potential be like this? Why hasn't it been detected?" The star spirit seemed to have discovered something puzzling and floated in front of Li Ming with a puzzled look.

“Uh…” Li Ming did not respond immediately. He glanced around and looked at the reactions of the crowd. It seemed that they did not care that he showed up so late.

But their expressions were all strange, as if they were a little nervous and uneasy.

He didn't know what was going on, so he remained silent.

It's him again... Costat couldn't help but feel a little impatient. "Sir, the duel can begin. We are all ready."

"Duel? What duel?" Li Ming was acutely aware that he seemed to have missed something. He couldn't help but look at the star spirit in front of him, but the other party just stared at him with fiery eyes, as if thinking about something.

"It's a duel to decide who owns the secret..." Reynolds roughly explained what happened before to him.

Li Ming's eyes flickered. It turned out that everyone had that benefit, but Gonzalez didn't. Was it because he didn't have any potential?
"…Holy Spirit Civilization's hope of reviving, everyone is suppressed to level X, and no external objects are allowed to be used?"

Li Ming thought about it and felt it was a little tricky.

With his current strength and the objects he controls, almost no one can beat him even in a head-on fight except Lancaster.

Not to mention being suppressed to the lowest level of X-level standards, but it's hard to explain after winning.

No, it can’t even be said that it is difficult to explain. It is simply impossible to explain.

"Well, Your Excellency Star Spirit, can't it be suppressed to S-level?" he asked tentatively.

Everyone's faces changed slightly, and Cedric immediately scolded: "This Star Spirit has already said that there is no extra power to suppress. The rules have been set, how can they be changed?"

"Your Excellency Star Spirit..." Deus also urged: "We are ready."

"Why don't you all suppress yourselves? Just don't exert power beyond S-level." Li Ming took the initiative to make a suggestion.

"Shut up!"

"Nonsense!"

“How can you ensure fairness by suppressing yourself?”

Everyone spoke and glared at Li Ming. They were at the same life level as Li Ming and had no chance of defeating him.

The star spirit came back to his senses, "Suppress each other?"

Hearing this, the surroundings fell silent, and various eyes gathered, but Xing Ling shook his head and said, "Forget it, there is no need for this."

Can't it?
Li Ming frowned slightly, still hesitant about whether to join the duel among this group of people.

However, just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief, they heard Xing Ling say, "But the rules do need to be changed."

Everyone's hearts were hanging in the air before they could even settle down, but then they all felt as if someone was squeezing them tightly, and they all sank at the same time. They glanced at Li Ming, feeling uncomfortable. An unexpected event had occurred.

Oh? There's still hope? Li Ming was slightly looking forward to it.

"His potential is amazing..." Xing Ling looked at Li Ming, "In fact, even before the Holy Spirit Civilization was destroyed, I have never seen a life form with such a high potential level."

Everyone has become immune to this kind of exclamation. At this age, Li Ming is already an S-level life form. Is there anything else to say?

He couldn't help but curse inwardly, this star spirit, even the agreed rules could be changed.

Several people exchanged glances implicitly, and Costat felt that the situation was tricky. If they really fought with Li Ming, no one could be sure of winning.

But now it seems to be a foregone conclusion, so we have to give it a try.

On their respective evolutionary paths, the resources they used were all top-notch. Even if they were suppressed to the same life level, their experience was still there, which was already a considerable advantage.

"In that case, do we need to suppress ourselves to S-level?" Deus asked.

"No..." The Star Spirit shook his head, his body suddenly disintegrated and gathered not far away, his voice drifting, "There is no need for a duel."

"No need for a duel, what do you mean?"

Everyone was stunned.

"The duel is cancelled. I will hand over the secrets I have kept directly to him."

The voice of the Star Spirit came, although it was as calm as water, but to the ears of the crowd it was no less than a dark matter annihilation bomb, which directly blew them over!
"Ah?" Li Ming was stunned.

"Just give it to him!?" Deus lost his composure, looking stunned, "No...no duel?"

"The reason I asked you to duel is because I haven't decided who to give the thing to, but now that I have made up my mind, there is naturally no need for you to duel." The star spirit was very calm.

"But... why him?" Costat said with difficulty, "Just because he has great potential?"

"His potential is not very high, it's extremely high..." Star Spirit emphasized.

But everyone still couldn't accept it, Lancaster and Cedric frowned.

The worst outcome they could accept was to compete with Li Ming on the same stage. Although they had no guarantee of winning, they could still give it a try.

As a result, it has now been directly confirmed?
Mikhail remained silent, his eyes frequently sweeping over Li Ming. Reynolds clicked his tongue twice, not knowing what he was thinking.

"We are willing to suppress ourselves to S-level." Lancaster took the initiative to speak, and the others followed suit.

"No longer necessary." The Star Spirit still refused.

"We don't accept it!" Gonzalez suddenly shouted with a grim look.

After squeezing in here with great difficulty, he didn't get the initial benefits. It was thought that Li Ming had no chance to get the so-called secret.

In the end, there was no need for any comparison and it was directly assigned to Li Ming. How could he accept this?
The successive defeats almost made him lose control of his emotions. He said in a deep voice: "This is not fair to us. You clearly agreed on it."

"I've said before, there is no such thing as fairness." The Star Spirit's reaction was still calm, "Whether you accept it or not, the result is the same."

"Li Ming, aren't you going to say something? It will be very hot if you hold it in your hands like this." Costat said in a deep voice. Everyone looked at him, and an invisible pressure fell.

"Uh, thank you all?" Li Ming narrowed his eyes and nodded.

Everyone's eyes fell on him, but Li Ming was not afraid and remained expressionless.

"Good boy." Reynolds couldn't help but say.

"Come with me." Xing Ling ignored them and just waved his hand. The surrounding palaces suddenly collapsed. Kostat and others disappeared, leaving only Li Ming.

Li Ming looked around and couldn't help but said, "Sir Xing Ling, I have a question."

"Ask." A soft voice came, and Xing Ling didn't know what he was doing with his back to him.

"What is the Guixu Stage?" he asked. He had been curious about this question for a long time. The star spirit in front of him should not be like the giant.

"The Guixu period..." Xing Ling paused, and then continued slowly, "It is the period when Yongyuan is highly active. During this period, the universe's suppression of Yongyuan reaches its lowest point."

"The Yuan Clan can freely move around in the main universe without any restrictions."

Li Ming nodded, which was similar to what he guessed. "How often does this Guixu period occur?"

"There is no specific time." Xing Ling shook his head, "It may be hundreds of thousands of years, or it may be a million years or even longer."

"Then in this process, will all civilizations in the entire universe be unable to escape the abyss?"

(End of this chapter)