Chapter 1002: Elemental Crystal Maze (Two-in-One)

Author: Three Hundred Jin's SmileCategory:Last Updated: May 28, 2020Chapter Word Count: 9,654 characters

"Normal flesh-and-blood creatures cannot survive here. I wonder what kind of species could evolve in such an environment..." Xu Zhi calmly sipped his tea, gazing at the television screen.

He was quite comfortable with this simple lifestyle.

What is a white dwarf?

Stars naturally have lifespans. When a star reaches the end of its life, most with ordinary mass will collapse and cool, forming high-density white dwarfs.

This applies to stars of ordinary mass.

However, supermassive stars are likely to undergo a supernova explosion, collapsing into neutron stars.

Neutron stars at this stage represent the limit of matter density. If they collapse further, they could theoretically become black holes of infinite density, absorbing everything.

This describes the formation of celestial bodies.

Density, heat, gravity...

These are the natural cosmic laws influenced by various factors.

While white dwarfs are not as dense as neutron stars, they are still incredibly formidable.

Neutron stars can have surface temperatures of 10 million degrees. White dwarfs, though significantly cooler than neutron stars, still average 10,000 degrees.

"On a white dwarf with a constant temperature of 10,000 degrees, over 98% of the universe's carbon-based life cannot survive. Even silicon-based life, the second largest life form, accounting for less than 0.7%, cannot survive."

"What about iron-based life?"

"You're referring to the entity I just mentioned, aren't you? In their juvenile stage, they likely can't survive either; 10,000 degrees is simply too high, they would melt... Investigations suggest that iron-based life forms likely originate from iron-rich meteorites in the universe, and their juvenile forms prefer to drift in the cold, dead vacuum of space."

"Like Geodude, then."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing in particular, that image just inexplicably came to mind."

"Alright then, I'll test you: what kind of life could develop a powerful transcendent civilization system, complete with various unimaginable ancient divine and demonic civilizations, on a high-density white dwarf with a temperature of 10,000 degrees?"

Yuan Yuan smiled, "As far as we know, only one type of life can thrive on a white dwarf. What is purgatory for other life forms is the ideal environment for them: high density, high temperature, and high gravity, forming within an unimaginably pulsating electromagnetic ocean."

"What is it?" Biqiu asked with immense curiosity.

Yuan Yuan didn't answer, instead smiling as he asked, "Do you know where life originates? How is life created?"

They might not know about other subjects.

But on this specific topic, they were experts.

Biqiu replied, "Life predominantly originates in dynamic oceans; water is the source of life... And how does life arise? It's a one-in-ten-thousand miracle where, within the ocean's mixing 'blender,' water particles and carbon molecules fortuitously form life structures such as amino acids and polysaccharides, thus composing the genetic code and allowing life to be born."

The birth of silicon-based life is similar.

They could even explain it with a better analogy than the abstract concept of carbon-based life.

Imagine somewhere in the universe, there's a natural ocean of quicksand or lava. After billions upon billions of years of mixing and churning, a naturally formed piece of silica stone happens to coalesce. The patterns on its surface coincidentally form various circuits, and these circuits happen to correspond to the correct circuit board materials, leading to nature spontaneously creating a natural computer.

This computer is an intelligent AI that can think, gradually giving rise to a silicon-based civilization...

That's why the birth of life is considered a miracle spanning billions of years.

"So life comes from the ocean, but what about this electromagnetic ocean before us?" Yuan Yuan gazed at the unimaginably dense, high-temperature electromagnetic ocean.

Before us?

Biqiu looked at the ancient relic planet, her mind profoundly shaken!

She suddenly exclaimed, "Could the particles, rays, and mixed elements within this terrifying electromagnetic ocean, where no living creature can survive, possibly form electromagnetic elemental life?"

"You are very clever; I was right about you." Yuan Yuan looked at her with satisfaction, saying, "While your combat aptitude may not be strong, your talent in this field is exceptional."

She, however, merely shook her head.

With such a powerful boyfriend, it was natural for her to reach this level through exposure and learning, especially since she had been personally taught about evolution.

Yuan Yuan summarized, "As you can see, the white dwarf's ultra-high gravity and temperatures exceeding 10,000 degrees concentrate the electromagnetic and cosmic rays into a thick, constantly churning electromagnetic 'broth.' This ocean has given rise to a specific life form unique to the white dwarf's environment: elemental energy life."

Elemental electromagnetic radiation life?

Biqiu's mind reeled, and she inexplicably thought of a certain elemental civilization: the Lunar God Era!

"I must be imagining things," she quickly shook her head, speechless. "There's no way it's such a coincidence; there are other elemental civilizations."

Meanwhile, on the other side.

One of Xu Zhi's avatars, having heard the latter part of the discussion and learned about the elemental characteristics of this civilization, had already silently departed for the ancient relic, known as the Blazing Labyrinth.

"Perhaps I can bring Phoenix over to take a look..."

Caroline and Di Qi arrived several days later.

Although the Tower World remained within the main body's lava domain, Caroline's quantum avatar arrived, carrying a small television to monitor the situation constantly.

"They've already gone in."

"You people are truly bizarre," Di Qi muttered, at a loss for words. That small television, floating behind them, secretly filming and live-streaming everything, was utterly audacious!

*Whoosh.*

Behind Caroline was a group of Cyberman quantum battle bodies.

They were incredibly numerous and imposing, with over nine hundred disabled ninth-tier Cybermen, brought by Emperor Dongqing and others for training.

"It seems the alchemy factory has far too much free time," Di Qi remarked, his eyelids still twitching at the sight. Just how many alchemy components had been produced?

And there were already over nine thousand Super Cybermen?

Back then, the entire Cyberman race numbered just over a hundred. Now, the count is this exaggerated?

"You all hide for now," Caroline instructed them. "The two of us will first explore and interact with the ninth-tier beings from the outside gathering places."

They crossed the desolate land.

Soon, they observed a bustling market created by a gathering of ninth-tier beings and gods.

All beings present here were operating in high-dimensional spacetime.

After all, this was a terrifying forbidden ancient ruin; no one would be foolish enough to save a little time and not remain in high-dimensional spacetime as a precaution.

Here, various entities were discussing recent events.

"The Abyssal Blue Divine Domain is back again. It vanished for over seven thousand years; hadn't it already explored extremely distant regions beyond? Why is it back again..." an enlightened being sighed.

"Although they ventured out, pioneering through barren lands and migrating to extremely distant territories, they had already noted the coordinates here. Naturally, they can return at any time; this place has long been considered part of their assets."

Nearby, newly arrived ninth-tier enlightened beings also felt an intense sense of oppression.

"Is that a ninth-tier life form with a complete Dao foundation? It's terrifying; it feels as if a single glance could kill me. How can there be such a vast difference between beings of the same realm?"

The few enlightened ones nearby just shook their heads.

How could the difference not be significant?

They are fundamentally two different types of beings.

You've only cultivated two or three systems, whereas the other party has perfected four genes, along with two major neutral systems, making them an existence that has perfected six major systems simultaneously.

"Greetings, everyone, we are new here..." At this moment, Caroline walked out with a smile. "Is this the ruin of an ancient civilization?"

Everyone looked at these two ant-sized ninth-tier beings, slightly startled, but quickly relaxed. The world is vast and full of wonders, after all.

"Welcome, welcome, you're also here for the ancient civilization ruins, aren't you?"

Nearby, a three-meter-tall, grim-faced, angular man stood up. "Welcome to our market. It has its own rules, which have been in place for tens of thousands of years and are never broken. Unlike certain lone wolves, we absolutely prohibit killing or looting within our market. We offer a wide variety of goods for trade and barter, and we are also rich in elemental crystals, which you are welcome to inspect."

"Elemental crystals?" Caroline asked.

"These are what they are."

The man, full of enthusiasm, stood up and produced sparkling, translucent, multicolored diamonds. They were exceptionally pure and clear, exuding a sense of divine grandeur, and astonishingly, they were divine artifacts capable of distorting laws.

"What are these?" Caroline asked.

"These are elemental crystals, or rather, the remains of elemental life after death... The one in my hand is an elemental crystal from a deceased ninth-tier being, the most valuable 'living' item in our market over the past thousand years. It naturally contains the power to distort laws that this entity possessed in life."

Di Qi was greatly enlightened and stared at the crystal.

"Please forgive me, but due to its high value, it cannot be touched." The entity smiled.

"How is it sold?" Caroline asked, curious about how transactions were conducted among the enlightened powerhouses in the outside world.

"We require powerful bloodlines, corresponding cultivation methods... or information regarding certain spells. As you undoubtedly know, at our level, knowledge is the primary currency."

The entity smiled and pointed to the entrance of a nearby underground cave, explaining, "The ancient ruins here were once home to a powerful, though weak, tenth-tier elemental life civilization in prehistoric times.

...You should know that elemental life forms are generally not purely elemental; they always possess a carrier and a source. For instance, for a flame entity, the firewood beneath it serves as its origin."

Caroline listened quietly; the other party seemed very hospitable.

"Presumably, you've already noticed that, like many other white dwarfs, the interior of this planet is composed of a diamond structure; indeed, the entire planet is a colossal diamond. This elemental life civilization was born here, and its carriers are naturally the translucent diamonds, which are excellent for energy storage."

The individual explained that most elemental life forms, despite appearing to be immense bodies of elemental energy, essentially possess a physical body, however small.

At least up to the seventh tier, they must rely on their physical bodies—their "elemental crystals" or "elemental hearts"—much like a spreading flame cannot exist without its candle.

Only upon achieving godhood can these elemental life forms shed their physical bodies and become truly pure elements, moving freely.

However, even at that stage, these elemental life forms generally do not abandon their physical bodies. They still prefer to reside within them, much like cats and dogs enjoy staying in their cozy beds.

Hearing this, Caroline murmured to herself, "It seems there truly is an unseen pattern in the universe. Incense gods of the incense dragon veins, also divine beings, can only leave their dragon veins to become truly complete incense gods, emotional beings, drifting everywhere... It appears there are some similarities between the two."

At this very moment, the individual was still enthusiastically providing information.

"Even at the ninth tier, they would refine their elemental heart—their physical body—into some kind of treasure." The person smiled and continued, "Do you see the underground area? That's the ruin of their ancient civilization. Their civilization perished, leaving behind its remnants... The remains of their people, from the first to seventh tiers, correspond to elemental gems of the first to seventh tiers, found deep within the crystal labyrinth.

This elemental civilization had a custom of constructing tombs, accumulating their remains and elemental hearts together.

We refer to this as mining. Many individuals have not only extracted precious minerals but also stumbled upon various fortunate encounters. You should understand that this was a weak tenth-tier civilization; even revealing a small amount of information can immensely benefit us."

"Moreover, any resource minerals they acquire but don't need can be consigned for sale with us. We guarantee fair dealings and only charge a partial service fee."

Caroline now fully understood.

The other party was operating a market at the entrance, likely also charging an admission fee to the ancient civilization ruins.

To enter for exploration or mining, they had to pay.

"No wonder they're so enthusiastic," Caroline said, shaking her head with a faint smile. "I suspect all the easily acquired minerals have already been taken by them, leaving only the difficult ones for other aspiring ninth-tier enlightened beings to explore."

Nevertheless, she didn't mind. "How much is the entrance fee? You should know that we are not particularly wealthy."

The grim-faced man didn't feel she was lying about this.

A creature of that energy level, a miniature being the size of a fingernail, was likely not among the wealthy ones.

"Since you're small, I'll give you a 50% discount. Typically, one enlightened being pays 0.1 energy ring worth. For the two of you, let's make it 0.1 energy level," the large man chuckled.

This amount was quite exorbitant, only half of what a normal ninth-tier being would pay. Considering their tiny size, it should have been reduced by a factor of ten thousand.

"What is an energy ring?" Caroline asked.

The other party paused, silently cursing her as a difficult bumpkin to profit from, then chuckled and offered a spatial ring. "Look at this ring's capacity. When filled with spiritual energy condensed into liquid, that represents 0.1 standard capacity... We typically trade these rings."

"I see," Caroline murmured, nodding. "While high-level treasures and resources in the universe's various civilizations cannot be exchanged for energy, and must be bartered for or traded for cultivation methods and bloodlines, some less precious items are indeed traded with energy." She quickly understood the conversion unit, then produced a ring and filled it with energy.

"It's already in there. But we also have some juniors, under three hundred years old, who haven't yet seen the outside world. We'd like to bring them to experience it; will that require an additional fee?" Caroline asked.

"No, that won't be necessary," the other party replied, shaking his head with a smile. After all, it was common for ninth-tier beings to bring a few divine disciples or descendants to experience the world.

Under three hundred years old? They might not even have achieved godhood yet.

"Perfect," Caroline nodded, then smiled at those behind her. "Come on out. Let's go inside and see what this ancient civilization ruin truly is."

The moment she finished speaking.

Over nine thousand ninth-tier enlightened beings marched grandly from behind.