Swallowing the Stars: Starting with the Giant of Light

Page 20

After confirming that the adventure was worthwhile, Ultraman's clone turned his attention to the giant crystal ball above his head.

“Master, the crystal on the roof is the energy core of the entire pyramid. It stores the solar energy accumulated by the energy tower over countless years. Apart from maintaining the necessary operation, all the energy of the entire energy tower is stored here.”

Delacion quickly explained, "The entire secret chamber is made of at least Grade B metal. Once the crystal coffin is touched, the entire chamber will shut down, and the crystal, which stores countless amounts of energy, will explode, destroying both the intruder and the energy tower. According to calculations, in the environment of the secret chamber, the energy crystal can easily kill beings below the sixth rank of stars."

The entire pyramid was transformed into a cemetery. Once you overcome all obstacles and enter the location of the pyramid's owner, if you succumb to the temptation to desecrate the dead, it will trigger a program that results in mutual destruction.

"Solar energy!"

Ultraman's clone looked up at the sky. In fact, when he first entered outer space, he discovered that sunlight seemed to promote his growth, but because he was too far away, the effect was not significant.

Originally, Ultraman's clones planned to wait until they reached the star level before going to explore the surface of the sun, but now it seems there is a better option.

"Delicious food!"

The Ultraman clone clenched his fists and crossed them over his chest. Then, his entire body transformed into a blazing fireball, rushing directly towards the energy crystal above and completely enveloping it.

After being completely engulfed by the fireball, the crystal ball, which should have initiated its self-destruct sequence, seemed unable to receive the corresponding command and stopped detonating abruptly.

At the same time, the fireball formed by Ultraman's clone, like a glutton, thirstily absorbed the energy stored in the crystal ball for tens of thousands of years.

With sufficient energy support, the Ultraman clone, which had originally evolved naturally, began to grow rapidly at an evolutionary speed several times faster than before.

In just over ten days, Ultraman's clone advanced from Planetary Level 8 to Planetary Level 9, and then to the peak of Level 9.

After reaching the peak of the planetary level, there is a "long" accumulation between major realms, comparable to the growth accumulation from the first to the ninth level.

Ultraman's clone is evolving rapidly, while Lu Yunhe has also made new discoveries regarding his human body.

After undergoing a life-or-death ordeal in the jungle, Lu Yunhe's human physical strength reached the peak of the initial War God level, just one step away from becoming an intermediate War God.

After experiencing a jungle life akin to that of a savage, Lu Yunhe's spirit and temperament underwent a significant change, developing a fighting and adventurous spirit characteristic of martial artists.

Without interaction with human society or the protection of Ultraman's clones, Lu Yunhe continues to live and fight in this isolated place. Physical training is secondary; what matters more is the spiritual transformation.

Just as Ultraman's clone was undergoing evolution, Lu Yunhe also found a place where there were traces of humans.

"This seems to be the location of the No. 9 civilization ruins."

Lu Yunhe asked the Delacion clone in the communicator that after Ultraman clone obtained the intelligent light brain, he also allowed the intelligence to reside in the communicator on his body.

After confirmation by Delacion, this is indeed the ruins of Civilization No. 9, which were discovered before the Great Cataclysm, but there were no warriors at that time, so it was impossible to send anyone in.

After the cataclysm, the base here was also attacked by monsters and was completely wiped out. Human society was too busy to provide support, so it was temporarily shelved and awaited further development.

Soon, under Delacion's detection, Lu Yunhe discovered a strange dark brown passage, two or three meters in diameter, resembling a network of intertwined tree branches. At the end of the passage was a "mirror" that was constantly emitting light.

"Civilization Ruins No. 9 was a base established by Meteorite Star on some inhabited planets to select disciples, but unfortunately Meteorite Star disappeared tens of thousands of years ago..."

Lu Yunhe thought for a moment and decided that he could go in and try it out. He was quite confident in his strength, and the mortality rate in this ruin didn't seem to be very high anyway.

"That's decided. We'll go into the No. 9 Civilization Ruins for a trial. By the time we come out, my clone should be almost done too. Then I'll absorb the Wood Crystal and advance to the planetary level."

Having made up his mind, Lu Yunhe did not hesitate and rushed into the passage. When his body came into contact with the glowing round mirror, the mirror was like a rippling water surface, easily swallowing him up.

When the light faded, Lu Yunhe found himself in a huge black hall, where a dreamlike, colorful light enveloped him.

After a brief pause, a complex voice rang out, but thanks to Delacion's translation, Lu Yunhe understood it perfectly.

"Please proceed to Gate A!"

Despite the apparent choice, only one passageway appeared in the black hall after half a minute; there were no other passageways at all.

"Type A is for martial artists, while Type B is for mentalists. Compared to mentalists, whose brain capacity can be directly tested, it is much more difficult to test the aptitude of martial artists."

Observing the duration of the detection light, Lu Yunhe shook his head and rushed directly towards the only passage in the hall.

"Trial participant's strength detected - Apprentice Level 7!"

As Lu Yunhe stepped into the passage, about 300 meters from the entrance, a blurry black shadow seeped out from the passage wall entwined with tree roots. Then, as if dripping water, the shadow landed on the passage floor and transformed into a black-robed figure wearing a silver-gray mask and green pupils.

"There's something!"

When Lu Yunhe ran into a secret room that ran from front to back, he immediately spotted the black-robed man blocking his way, as well as the closed passageway behind him.

Inside this interconnected secret chamber, there were some food and water, seemingly to sustain the survivors.

Upon seeing the completely bare secret room, a thought suddenly popped into Lu Yunhe's mind: "What about going to the toilet?"

Chapter 31 Elite Passage

"There was no direct attack?"

Looking at the black-robed man still standing in the same spot, Lu Yunhe carefully examined the already small passageway and finally spotted a red light in front of his toes.

As Lu Yunhe attempted to step across the light, the black-robed man, who had been standing still, instantly looked at him with murderous green eyes, and his entire body began to move.

However, as soon as Lu Yunhe withdrew, the man in black robes also immediately stopped attacking and retreated to the center of the secret chamber.

"It seems that the trial in the ordinary martial artist passage is simply a battle."

After a brief probe, Lu Yunhe discovered the significance of this secret room: simply defeat the black-robed man guarding it, and then he could continue forward.

During this time, the black-robed man will only move around in the secret room. The trial participants can be guaranteed to be safe as long as they retreat to the passage. Moreover, food and water can be provided in the secret room.

However, given the mortality rate in the original story, this water and food are probably not unlimited. Therefore, one must either starve to death or defeat the black-robed guards and continue onward.

"That's quite humane."

This is probably because the disciple selection base is for planets that have not been exposed to the virtual universe network, so it allows enough time for the trainees to grow.

After figuring out the trial mode of the Martial Artist Passage, Lu Yunhe breathed a sigh of relief. What he feared most was encountering some kind of test that required him to meet certain specific requirements, which would prevent him from using his full strength. In that case, he would have no choice but to use the Giant of Light to punish this ruin.

Fortunately, it was just a test of strength, so Lu Yunhe was very confident. Even if the selection was based on the standards of the universe's humans, he could force his way through with his high level advantage. He had mastered two domains at the apprentice level. Are you scared yet?

"A mere trial for a basic martial artist!"

Having thought it through, Lu Yunhe crossed the red line and entered the room, while the black-robed man guarding the room swung his fist, which was gloved with silver, at the intruder.

Bang!

The two fists met, and Lu Yunhe easily blocked the black-robed man's punch. After the attack was blocked, the latter did not hesitate at all and launched another roundhouse kick at the enemy.

"His strength is 1.5 times mine, and his movement technique is at the basic level."

In just one exchange, Lu Yunhe had fully ascertained the black-robed man's strength: double his power, reaching the basic realm.

"too weak!"

Lu Yunhe swung his fist, which was as big as a sand pot, and hit the black-robed man in the head with three times the force.

This attack seemed to trigger some mechanism on the black-robed man, instantly stopping his attack, and at the same time, the closed passage opened.

"continue!"

Having easily defeated the black-robed guardian of this level, Lu Yunhe didn't even finish a warm-up, let alone fight, so he directly bypassed the black-robed man and rushed into the passage.

After traversing several hundred meters, a familiar room appeared before Lu Yunhe once again, along with the same black-robed guardian and the closed passage door.

Bang!

"Twice the power, reaching the level of subtlety."

Lu Yunhe defeated the guardian of this level with another punch. Compared to the previous level, the black-robed man in this level had significantly increased in strength, but he was still no match for him.

"2.5 times the power, reaching the pinnacle of mastery."

Thud, one punch each.

"Three times the effort, reaching the pinnacle of mastery."

Thud, still one punch after another.

"Three times the power, a perfect level."

Bang!

When Lu Yunhe defeated the black-robed gatekeeper and crossed the passage again, he found himself back in the original black hall, except that there was now a metal platform in the black hall.

On the metal table were two items: a black vest and a metal plaque.

At the same time, a voice rang out in the hall, and the AI ​​provided a synchronized Chinese translation: "Congratulations, you have passed the Martial Artist Basic Trial."

"That's it? I've already cleared the game?"

Hearing the sound from the ruins, Lu Yunhe was speechless. This trial was just a matter of running around the map for him. He wondered if there was a questionnaire, as the sentence completion questions were very simple.

However, Lu Yunhe also understood his special circumstances. Under normal circumstances, to pass the basic martial artist trial, one's power exertion skills must be at least three times stronger, and one's movement technique must reach the perfect level.

This configuration is extremely difficult for planetary civilizations that have not come into contact with cosmic forces. Even on Earth, which had a relatively complete training system at the beginning of the story, there were not many people who could reach this standard at the God of War level.

Just as Lu Yunhe had thought, the trial base took into account that planetary civilizations could not contact cosmic forces and could only create their own cultivation methods. Therefore, it set the power exertion skills relatively low and the basic realm higher.

The black-robed gatekeepers have corresponding power generation techniques and movement skill programs installed in their bodies for the trial participants to refer to and learn from. The trial base is also equipped with safe zones and necessary food and water, giving the trial participants ample time to improve.

Unfortunately, everything the trial base had prepared was completely useless to Lu Yunhe, who directly and quickly passed the basic trial.

Just then, the voice of the ruins rang out again: "The reward for a successful mission is a Tier 1 Force Set and a token to enter the Basic Training Base."

Lu Yunhe walked to the metal platform and looked at the two items on it: "The black vest should be the Black God Set from later generations. As for the token, Meteorite Star has been gone for many years, so why would it come to the training base?"

Just as Lu Yunhe was somewhat disappointed and preparing to leave with the Black God Set, the voice of the ruins sounded again: "Basic Apprentice Lu Yunhe, you now have two choices in front of you. First, take the two rewards and leave the base; second, choose to start the 'Elite Trial Mission'. Please make your choice."

"There are even elite missions!"

Lu Yunhe was somewhat curious, but instead of making a choice immediately, he asked, "Is the elite mission the same as the previous trials, given the lack of AI support for the ruins?"

Seemingly because it had been a long time since the Elite Warrior quests had been activated, the voice from the ruins still gave a brief explanation: "The Elite Warrior quest is similar to the basic quest, but failure to complete it within the time limit results in failure..."

"Failure is death."

When the voice from the ruins mentioned the word "death," a chill inexplicably rose in the empty black hall, and an aura of death spread throughout the entire hall.

However, Lu Yunhe only noticed that the challenges of elite missions and basic missions were very similar, and he was overjoyed: "I choose to start the elite mission, hurry up."

Lu Yunhe's decisiveness seemed to silence the voice from the ruins. A few seconds later, the familiar voice rang out again: "Congratulations on opening the 'Elite Channel' of the Trial Base."

Buzz!

The entire black hall trembled, and a familiar black passage opened once more, awaiting the entry of the trial participants.

"Please enter the elite passage!"

Without hesitation, Lu Yunhe rushed into the new passage.