Chapter 383: The Difficulty of the Trial at the Holy Castle
Under the guidance of Suzaku, the other party arrived quickly. He was a Beiseruo 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...are you back?"
The news of his return is still confidential 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, but now he couldn't help feeling a little nervous.
Li Ming didn't waste any 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, frozen in place.
Li Ming asked Zhuque to record his physical data in detail and remained calm.
Until one moment, his heartbeat suddenly accelerated. Lucas roared, stood up suddenly, and looked around vigilantly out of his mercenary 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 didn't dare to neglect it, his face a little dazed, as he described, "I don't know what happened just now, I felt like I entered some kind of teleportation channel, and then flew up and up, and in a very bright light, I seemed to see something..."
"…It seemed like a huge palace. Then I heard something like 'obliterate' and 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 His consciousness was withdrawn and he went to a certain place in a strange way.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 he spoke:
"Okay, you can go now. I will arrange special work for you and will be your receptionist 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 recent situation 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 out.
This time, the target was chosen to be himself. As expected, he felt a sense of being pulled away, as if his body was being 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 gate is huge and magnificent, with two huge human-like metal statues standing on both sides, with majestic and solemn faces.
The steps in front of the door were made of an unknown metal, emitting a faint golden halo and surrounded by a layer of light energy mist, 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?
Just as this thought appeared in 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 kind of place is that?" He pondered, many doubts rising in his mind. "Doesn't meet the requirements? What requirements? Bloodline requirements, or... being the chosen one?"
"No, I should have arrived as a conscious being. How could he possibly detect my body? Is it because I don't have some kind of sign?"
Li Ming gradually understood what was going on, and then quickly took out the purple skull. The thing was still yelling: "Error, error..."
Li Ming didn't care what he was shouting about, and directly consumed the metal energy to construct it. The purple metal on the surface underwent a transformation and instantly became radiant.
In the flash of light, 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, turning into a mechanical body about one meter tall, which looked strange and weird.
"Master..." He half-knelt on the ground, looking completely different.
Li Ming felt a little painful. This time he consumed 70 million metal energies, and the assembly ratio reached 1:1, 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, the knowledge is similar to that of the housekeeper, because the permissions are not unlocked and cannot be obtained through information state replacement.
"Just choose me as the successor." Li Ming made preparations and gave the order.
"Yes." The skeleton nodded, and the green flames in its pupils burned extremely brightly, emitting rays 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 front of the metal palace again.
After waiting anxiously for a moment, those big eyes really did not appear.
"Did it really pass?" Li Ming felt relieved.
The next moment, his vision was infinitely withdrawn, and he 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, bones, flesh, nerves, and blood vessels on the base quickly condensed into shape, turning into another him.
"This kind of technical ability..." Li Ming was secretly amazed.
A virtual screen appeared before my eyes, and it was actually the interstellar universal language.
"Trialist--No. 1, General-level..."
Number 1? I'm 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 information, the warrior level should correspond to an A-level life form.
The screen blurred, and new text appeared. "Error... Non-transcendent life forms cannot proceed to the final trial. Switch to the ladder trial. Bloodline 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 hesitated for a moment, feeling somewhat puzzled. He had only opened the Holy Castle, and the steward was talking 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, while 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 in the dark were analyzing him, seemingly puzzled. "How did 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 only have three chances. If you fail, you will be wiped out. This is not a virtual annihilation, but an annihilation of your true body. Are you sure you want to continue?"
Li Ming's eyes narrowed slightly, but now that things have come to this, how could he give up? "Can we stop midway?"
"After completing each trial, you can temporarily suspend your practice. 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 in Li Ming's ears, his face changed slightly, and he secretly estimated:
"Lower-ranked General? An A-ranked lifeform with 30% development progress?"
Everything around me was changing. A ground like a ring appeared under my feet, and a gray-black mist was everywhere.
"Why do I feel that this fog is a little familiar..." Li Ming looked around, his eyes suddenly condensed. As the fog dissipated, a shadow gradually walked out.
His facial features were standard, but his pupils were pitch black, giving off a sense of no one being watched. His skin was gray-black, the color 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 can burst out with amazing power at any time.
Not just one, but another one came 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 two at once, 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 isn't even a test for normal Titans. For humans, it's a sure death..."
Outside the gray-black mist, an exquisite mechanical body with its right hand behind its back looked 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.
Its face was covered by a translucent energy shield with complex data flowing on it. Its posture was elegant, and its anthropomorphic features were furrowed as it stared at Li Ming.
"This human was able to bypass the Holy Castle's review and crack the Dimensional 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 this difficulty."
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 prevent a similar situation from happening again.
However, he paused slightly, turned around suddenly, his mechanical pupils condensed, and his facial features revealed a very human expression of astonishment: "This..."
On the screen, the seemingly ordinary human general took the lead in attacking, and his speed was as fast as a flash of lightning.
The two fists punched out, and the air wave 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 to the surroundings.
His arm turned into an indestructible blade, easily tearing through the Yuan Clan's defense. His chest was pierced, and a strange light flashed at the wound. The broken tissue and splattered blood instantly vaporized under the action of the huge force.
The piercing arm did not stop at all, but continued to move forward until it pierced through the enemy's back, leaving behind a brilliant energy trail.
One of the Yuan clan members flew backwards like a kite with a broken string and fell heavily to the ground. The other Yuan clan member suffered a similar fate. The battle lasted less than a minute from start to finish.
"...How could this happen? Why can he unleash such powerful strength?"
He couldn't understand it, and quickly called up the other person's physical data. He was shocked, and the processor was unable to explain it.
His physical data unexpectedly soared to the lord level due to some unknown ability.
"Anything else?" Li Ming waved his hands and looked at the four figures walking out of the surging fog, his cheeks twitching 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 it was incredible. His control system was still usable, so it looked simple and ordinary, but if it were any other living being.
It is difficult to win in a one-on-one situation even with 30% progress. In a four-on-one situation, even with 60% progress, victory is not certain. Only the evolved bodies composed of various top-level gene seeds still have a certain chance.
(End of this chapter)
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