nashuaworldcup Chapter 202 Houtu Guides the Way, Stage 2 Evolution
Chapter 202 Houtu Guides the Way, Stage 2 Evolution
Boom—
A muffled thud came from deep within the earth's veins around the capital.
The entire nine-story underground base shook.
This vibration wasn't an attack alarm; it was more like a resonance.
In the training room, Zhao Leiguang stopped smashing the wall, and Xiao Qianyu also gripped the battle halberd in her hand tightly.
Everyone stood up alertly.
A warm and substantial aura suddenly filled the entire space.
Tender green grass sprouts were actually emerging from the cracks in the cold alloy wall.
Then, one after another, unknown spiritual flowers bloomed, radiating a golden halo.
The air in the center of the training room began to slosh around, and a figure slowly appeared.
She wore an ancient, earth-yellow palace dress, her face was kind and gentle, and she was barefoot, standing in the air.
She didn't possess any astonishing divine power, but everyone present felt an urge to kneel down and worship her.
That's a sense of belonging to "the earth" and "mother" that comes from one's bloodline.
Ancient Chinese goddess, Mother Earth.
Houtu Niangniang (Goddess of the Earth).
"Kids, you've worked hard."
The voice of the Goddess Houtu has a calming power.
She looked at the group of young people in front of her, their faces filled with anxiety and murderous intent, like a few small, bristling animals, and shook her head with a smile.
"Do you feel like no matter how hard you try, you can't see any hope?"
No one spoke, but everyone's expressions said it all.
"The world you see, your profession, level, stats..."
The Goddess Houtu delivered a surprising "scientific" speech.
"In fact, it is all a set of rules imposed on this world by those foreign 'gods' in order to more easily reap the 'fruits'."
"They assign you jobs so that you can each perform your duties and grow better."
"They set levels for you to give you a false hope, allowing you to nurture your souls into becoming increasingly 'plump' in the illusion of constantly getting stronger."
"And the level 50 bottleneck is the last 'lock' they set up."
"A shackle to prevent the 'fruit' from ripening too much and becoming uncontrollable."
Houtu Niangniang's words caused everyone's minds to buzz.
The upgrade system they had been working so hard to build turned out to be a deception and a cage set up by the enemy!
"but……"
Houtu Niangniang continued.
"The heavens evolve into forty-nine, and man escapes to one."
"Rules always have loopholes."
"When an awakened being hones their power to the extreme, at level 49 with full experience, they will encounter a more fundamental evolutionary rule that they have deliberately hidden."
"We call it..."
"Second-order evolution".
Houtu Niangniang stretched out her hand and gently waved it towards the open space in front of her.
"Buzz!"
It seemed as if the dragon veins beneath the entire capital city were responding to her call.
Countless forces of earth converged and were forcibly extracted from the data stream of the high-dimensional network, reconstructing a stargate radiating chaotic light.
"This is the trial realm leading to 'second-order evolution'."
Houtu Niangniang's expression turned serious.
"I must warn you, this is unlike any secret realm you have ever experienced before."
"There are no monsters for you to farm, and no treasure chests for you to open."
"It tests your ultimate understanding and mastery of the rules of your profession."
"If you fail, you will be completely wiped out of this world by the rules; you will not die."
"Not even their souls will remain."
Houtu Niangniang's gaze swept over each person in turn.
Her gaze finally settled on Lu Yan.
"Lu Yan".
"Your Black Lotus Zen Master profession was given to you by the Palace Master of Jade Void Palace, so your trial is the most dangerous."
"What you are about to face is the most fundamental trace of dark will that constitutes this universe."
"Once you all pass, your attribute panels will undergo a qualitative leap of a hundredfold, no longer just a simple increase in values."
"Only then will you truly be qualified to sit at the same table as those false gods."
"Everyone, is there anyone who doesn't want to participate? It's so dangerous, you don't need to..."
"Enough with the nonsense, I, Xiao Qianyu, am the first to participate!"
"Understood! I, Zhao Leiguang, will be the first... the second!"
"I'll participate too!"
"Me too, me too"
Lu Yan nodded.
Almost simultaneously, everyone in the first squad began checking their equipment and replacing their spare ammunition and medicine.
Lu Yan took out the captured copy of "Gospel of Divine Grace" from his storage space.
Beside him, Zhao Leiguang pulled out a metal brazier from somewhere and placed it on the ground with a bang.
Lu Yan casually tossed the law codex inside.
Orange flames ignited and engulfed the animal hide cover.
The list of sinners and the gilded names on it turned black and curled up in the fire, eventually becoming a handful of black ash.
After doing all this, Lu Yan turned around and led his team to perform an ancient salute for Chinese warriors before the Goddess Houtu.
Then, he was the first to stride into that chaotic Awakening Star Gate.
Xiao Qianyu, Zhao Leiguang, Wen Yue, Lin Chuxue, Su Yunqing, Shen Xinglin...
Six figures followed him inside.
The stargate is closed.
Meanwhile, in Europe, the holy city.
The statue of Michael, forged from the pure power of faith, stands atop the sanctuary, overlooking the millions of believers below. Hymns converge into a milky-white stream of light, continuously flowing into the statue.
Inside the statue, on the throne, the twelve-winged archangel Michael was enjoying this nourishment.
click.
A soft cracking sound echoed deep within his soul.
He opened his eyes, a look of surprise in them.
Beneath the throne, an eight-winged archangel lay prostrate on the ground, trembling. Just moments before, a thin crack had appeared between the eyebrows of the statue of Michael, which stood in the center of the holy city.
The power of faith has begun to dissipate.
"What's the panic?" Michael's voice was unreadable.
But he knew that the problem was more serious than a crack.
That's not dissipation.
It is theft.
Just now, a bit of the world's most fundamental "divine energy" was drawn away.
The quantity is very small, almost negligible.
But their natures are completely different.
It wasn't consumed by believers, nor devoured by that new ally from the Sakura Kingdom, but rather analyzed and reorganized by a fundamental logic that he couldn't understand yet was very familiar with.
absurd.
"My lord, the energy fluctuations... are coming from the east." The eight-winged archangel's voice trembled.
East?
Michael frowned.
Could it be that the ancient gods of China have awakened from their slumber? No, if those old guys were to awaken, the commotion would be far greater than this.
This feeling...
A word that he had buried deep in his memory suddenly popped up.
Second-order evolution secret realm.
"impossible."
Michael's subconscious denial.
In the divine war thousands of years ago, in order to prevent these "extraterrestrial visitors" from completely corrupting the rules of this planet, the gods of the East personally destroyed all paths leading to the second tier.
That's a fighting style that inflicts a thousand wounds on the enemy but also eight hundred wounds on yourself.
It was from that time onward that the awakened beings of this world were locked at the level 50 threshold, becoming fruits that these "gods" could harvest at will.
Could it be that crazy woman who did it?
He thought of Amaterasu, who had just signed the alliance. That cunning fox might be hiding something.
But the connection between the soul and spirit doesn't seem to be the same.
That power carried an ancient, chaotic energy, like Pangu creating the world, and was the most primal pulse of this planet.
"A bunch of livestock that haven't even gotten fat yet, trying to push open our own door?"
Michael gave a cold laugh.
He stood up and looked down at his ranch.
"Fine."
"Let me see which foolish insect is gnawing at the foundation of my lord."
He gave orders to the archangel who was lying on the ground.
"Pass down the order: dispatch the 'Eye of Holy Light' to infiltrate China along the energy trajectory."
"I'd like to see who dares to touch my plate."