Chapter 1006: Evolution

This world was composed of countless dazzling, glazed crystal diamonds.

The ground, sky, houses, and trees all seemed to belong to a beautiful fairy tale world.

However, these crystal trees had withered, their broken remains standing like crystal sculptures on either side of the streets. Yet, one could vaguely sense that countless eons ago, these fractured trees were once vibrant, lush, and verdant, adorning this fantastical mythical kingdom.

“Elemental trees,” he thought, “with each crystal branch radiating elemental, flickering fiery leaves, like colossal, lush red maple trees towering on both sides of the street—that must have been incredibly beautiful.”

Even Xu Zhi marveled.

The world was truly vast and full of wonders; the universe was incredibly magnificent, harboring life with infinite possibilities.

Whoosh!

Life proliferated across these ruins.

Countless spores descended upon the remains of ancient creatures, absorbing their genes and undergoing furious evolution, striving to recreate the former glory of this ancient relic.

At this moment, Xu Zhi intended to reproduce this species, thereby acquiring their ancient racial heritage, their bloodline, and their cultivation techniques!

After all, the Zerg were masters of infiltration, adept at stealing the cultivation methods and legacies of other civilizations. It was not the first time they had behaved like an intrusive “neighbor,” stealing from others.

This civilization was truly formidable!

Even weak Tenth-tier entities might not be able to penetrate its core.

Xu Zhi’s current combat power was insufficient to forcibly breach the deeper layers of the ruins. Instead, he had to mimic the civilization's “security password,” like an intruder climbing through a window to enter a home.

Whoosh—

Radiation flowed.

Powerful electromagnetic waves were viscous like ripples, creating a hazy, golden ocean.

The spores rapidly began to die off, subjected to natural selection. After billions of eliminations and evolutions, a glimmer of life finally appeared within this “sea.”

“They’ve appeared, elemental creatures…” Xu Zhi’s expression remained calm. Evolving this species from their remains was clearly much simpler than doing so for iron-based life forms.

This was likely because the elemental race was not particularly rare.

The iron-based race, in contrast, was inherently extremely rare. After all, there was an unseen law in the universe: the more powerful a single transcendent creature, the lower its birth rate.

“It’s time to explore this race’s inherited memories,” he murmured. “Such a powerful race must possess a rich ancestral legacy…”

“However, great civilizations that once produced Tenth-tier inheritances typically establish unseen rules, prohibiting any foreign race from exploring their bloodline and system. Anyone who dares to pry into this race’s legacy and truths would self-destruct and perish…” Xu Zhi closed his eyes.

But what lay before him was pure elemental life.

No matter how they were examined, they remained pure elemental beings.

Their genetic structure also confirmed this:

1. Elemental Gene2. Empty3. Empty4. Empty5. Empty

The Zerg’s genetic talent, a latent “0th gene,” did not occupy any gene slots and was undetectable. This formidable camouflage ability allowed them to mimic any creature.

Boom!

“It has begun…” Through the elemental newborns proliferating before him, Xu Zhi peered into the inherited memory codes etched deep within their genes.

A terrifying entity from the unseen realm descended, observing.

It was as if the cosmic Dao, a great entity embodying unseen rules, descended with unimaginable cosmic might, pressing down, crushing, yet also lightly sweeping past.

“It’s useless…”

“If it were still alive, it might have been able to detect me. But a rigid will left behind after death simply cannot stop me…”

Xu Zhi strode purposefully into the inherited memories.

But as he uttered these words, he suddenly felt a strange, inexplicable sensation.

It was like that online saying:

“Cherish life, for once you die, the neighbor will break in, live in your house, sleep with your spouse, spend your money, and raise your children.”

“What on earth am I thinking?”

He chuckled wryly, feeling as if he had been corrupted by certain lines of thought.

He opened his eyes to find himself in a crystal palace corridor, surrounded by countless images. Unimaginable ancient information and legacies flooded his mind.

His mind was deluged as if by a waterfall, with vast quantities of information and data spreading throughout.

After a considerable time.

“So this is how it works?”

Xu Zhi opened his eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them.

He lowered his head, observing the elemental creature infants in the elemental sea. Through their inherited memories, he comprehended the cultivation methods and rules of this elemental system.

Xu Zhi had never formally acquired the legacy or cultivation methods of the Mother River civilization’s elemental creatures until now. He finally understood what kind of beings they were, as well as their strengths and weaknesses.

“Elemental, radiant, electromagnetic life forms are extremely rare cosmic beings, and their formidable nature should certainly not be underestimated,” Xu Zhi murmured, closing his eyes. “As pure energy entities, this race is immune to most physical attacks; only energy attacks can affect them.”

“What’s most astonishing is that they naturally possess infinite energy, essentially equivalent to everyone having an enhanced, super version of the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art!”

This was their most extraordinary advantage!

Ordinary corporeal beings, in contrast, require time and conversion rates to absorb energy and recover stamina during combat.

Just as humans need to undergo a digestion and absorption process to convert food into energy and nutrition…

But elemental beings?

They require no such conversion.

During battle, they can directly utilize energy aligned with their own attributes, instantly replenishing any losses incurred.

“Elemental life forms are terrifying precisely because of this,” Xu Zhi mused, his expression turning odd as he watched the combat demonstrations within the inherited memories. “They’re like unkillable cockroaches, constantly chugging elixirs for infinite replenishment… This system is simply outrageous!”

How could one possibly fight them?

It seemed impossible!

He felt even the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art fell short in comparison!

Because the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art’s regenerative abilities had limits.

Limited by the size of its internal space, by the beings within that space, and by the upper limit of its power core’s energy storage, the energy, while vast and providing powerful recovery, could still be depleted.

But what about their opponents?

Their reserves were boundless.

As long as they continued to accumulate sufficient energy, one would face a terrifying combat monster with infinite stamina and limitless regeneration!

“This is truly terrifying… It’s the first time I’ve encountered a transcendent cultivation system with greater regenerative capabilities than the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art.” Xu Zhi closed his eyes, pondering deeply.

He had never believed that the Nine Revolutions Mystic Art techniques were the most extraordinary; he was certain that even more incredible super life systems existed within the universe.

“However, their flaws are equally significant. Their advantage lies in their lack of a physical body, but this is also their disadvantage…”

Xu Zhi sighed.

“Because elemental life forms lack a physical body, they cannot integrate with most genes in the universe. They can only assimilate genes from other elemental life forms. This severely limits the range of genes they can acquire, making it extremely rare.”

Elemental life forms themselves were inherently extremely rare in the universe!

To find similar life forms and integrate their genes to elevate one’s own life level—this was an incredibly difficult task.

“Alas, all things are balanced…” He gazed at the remnants of civilization in the ruins, the elemental beings clinging precariously to life amidst the crystal wreckage. “Elemental gods, though powerful and vast energy entities, nonetheless…”

He finally understood why, despite inheriting a complete ancient legacy, possessing vast ancient resource reserves, and even having free access to ancient ruins and tombs, they could not rise again to reclaim their ancestors’ glory.

It was because they couldn’t acquire new elemental genes.

They were perpetually single-gene creatures; without new genes to fuse, how could they ever rise? They could only cling to existence in the ruins, watching helplessly as others plundered their ‘ancestral graves’ and stole their ancestors’ wealth.

Xu Zhi carefully pondered the inherent rules, feeling his eyes opened by the structure of this civilization.

Just as iron-based, carbon-based, silicon-based, and various other life civilizations possessed their own unique structures, many previously unclear aspects of this elemental civilization now became clear.

“They are indeed powerful, but for me, it doesn’t seem to bring about a qualitative change, though I had anticipated this,” Xu Zhi said, his expression calm. “After all, how many things perfectly suit one’s needs? Even when stealing genes, the probability of finding a suitable match is too small. However, this *can* compensate for one of my deficiencies: a historical void.”

He looked at the newly evolved elemental creature infants and said calmly, “The prototype has appeared. So, Genesis… it’s truly about to begin.”

Name: Phoenix.

Genetic Traits:1. Energy Manipulation2. Energy Toxin3. Energy Immunity4. Rebirth from Ashes5. Empty

During the last evolution in the Genesis God Courtyard, Medusa refined her Evil God structure, and Phoenix simultaneously refined her own.

She transformed from a fire phoenix into a platinum-colored phoenix.

Three genes that manipulated elemental energy transformed her into a semi-elemental creature.

She was surrounded by a massive energy aura; if fully extended, it would appear as an ant-sized miniature phoenix core enveloped by a divine bird’s energy cloak the size of an elephant.

Her phoenix body was the core, while the external energy cloak served as her elemental form.

Similarly, the semi-elemental creatures within the Four Elemental Planes, which had evolved from her bloodline, also possessed a core of flesh encased in an energy cloak.

Splash.

Xu Zhi gently dropped a single drop of the phoenix’s blood into the sea.

“Long ago, the phoenix’s blood evolved into the ancient innate gods of the Primeval World,” he murmured. “Now, the evolved phoenix is a semi-elemental creature, having given rise to the Four Elemental Planes and the elemental beings of the Mother River civilization. And you all…”

“I hope you can bring forth a new species evolution.”

In this sea, the spores, having integrated the new bloodline, began to rapidly die and evolve. By the afternoon of the first day, the entire species showed signs of decay.

Over the subsequent century, all life forms gradually perished, making way for the slow emergence of a new species.

It was a completely new type of elemental life.

Its crystalline core was neither pure diamond nor mere flesh, but an opaque, dark red flesh-gem, a hybrid of the two.

It possessed remarkable hardness, while its semi-transparent crystal interior was veined with blood vessels and contained a pulsating heart.

“It has appeared, quite conventional,” Xu Zhi remarked, his expression perfectly calm.

He continued to evolve the species, allowing this nascent form to undergo countless eons of development, transforming entirely from a crude embryo into mature perfection.

Another century passed.

“Hmm, perhaps in another half-day, I can bring Phoenix over to claim this group of her 'inexpensive' descendants,” he mused. “After all, she quite enjoys raising them…”

“And while she’s here, she can acknowledge her ancestry within this ancient elemental ruin civilization.”

While Xu Zhi continued his focused evolution within a small area, tumultuous changes were unfolding in the outside world.