Chapter 889: Becoming an Iron-Based Lifeform

Urban Novel

Iron-based life.

This was Xu Zhi's first encounter with the genetic lineage and cultivation method of a true cosmic powerhouse. Naturally, he was extremely curious.

"After all, I've always evolved and deduced civilization systems on my own. Looking at other civilization systems will also broaden my horizons." Xu Zhi took a deep breath.

"The universe is too splendid, with all sorts of terrifying and awe-inspiring life civilizations."

Although this civilization's cultivation method wouldn't become his mainstream practice—as it wasn't fundamentally his own, with the Nine Revolutions Mysterious Art being his core—it didn't prevent Xu Zhi from observing it and drawing parallels.

"'Bug Race Sub-brain, integrate the genes, deduce the species!'" Xu Zhi, the flesh-and-blood giant, sat at his study desk and issued a command.

A mechanical voice replied:

"'Integrating.'"

The entire desk seemed like a vast, small continent. The iron-block gem in his hand slowly dissolved, undergoing analysis.

Under a microscope, countless spores would be seen corroding, moving, and evolving on it, like a culture medium waiting for them to integrate into cells and mutate.

"'This piece of iron-based flesh should hold up...'"

Xu Zhi took a deep breath, watching the spores continuously devour the iron-based cells, then perish. Survival of the fittest—they were attempting to adapt, hoping for a variant that could integrate the genes.

In reality, this process was quite simple.

It was similar to how he had previously merged with the ancient beasts of the Cosmic Garden: by finding their fossilized genes, integrating them, and reviving them.

So why couldn't others recognize them as bug races? Why did they think they were ancient beasts?

Because the primary gene of these beasts was their original ancient beast gene.

Therefore, anyone who saw them would assume they were ancient creatures revived, not bug races.

The entire iron-based cell mass rapidly dissolved. It was continuously consumed by spores, and the spores kept dying.

Xu Zhi felt a slight unease. "What if all the iron-based cell flesh is consumed, and no suitable mutated spores appear?"

That would be quite awkward.

The higher the cell's complexity, the lower its compatibility. It was possible that the entire cell mass would be consumed, and none of the billions of spores would survive to successfully acquire the iron-based gene.

"'This is probably due to insufficient energy... Bug Race Sub-brain, evolve the 'Primordial Species'.'" Xu Zhi commanded.

The mechanical voice responded again:

"'Evolving.'"

Transparent primordial worms began to cover the bug race spores, providing sufficient mutation energy.

With the addition of the primordial substance, the spores' death rate slowed down.

"'This is a big investment... It all depends on whether a bug race capable of integrating the gene can emerge from this mass extinction.'" Xu Zhi's expression remained perfectly calm. Fortunately, at this point, his own cultivation no longer required vast amounts of energy, so he could afford to gamble directly.

After a long while, even with the frenzied consumption of cells, spores were still dying in large numbers, with none surviving.

He didn't know how long it took, but just as the entire mass of flesh was about to be completely consumed, a wisp of nascent cells actually survived and began to move.

"Success!"

A strange gleam burst forth in Xu Zhi's eyes.

Xu Zhi gently covered this spore, placing it into the ocean of primordial substance. It began to absorb rapidly and grow.

"'Retrieve the gene,'" Xu Zhi said.

A mechanical voice replied:

"'Retrieving.'"

Iron-based Life.1. Iron-based Gene.2. Empty.3. Empty.4. Empty.5. Empty.

"'It worked.'" Xu Zhi continuously supplied matter, allowing it to grow rapidly in high-dimensional spacetime. In the blink of an eye, it grew into an iron sphere.

The "iron sphere" began to emit a desire for a "lava" environment.

"'It craves specific living conditions?'"

It was Xu Zhi's first time encountering such a life form. Silently, he guided it into the lava within the Cosmic Garden.

After all, this Cosmic Garden was composed of countless "living planets," with only their surface soil merged together. Their planetary cores remained deep within the garden's soil, providing power for the entire garden's dynamic cycles: volcanoes, lava, air currents, heat circulation...

Xu Zhi brought the small iron sphere to the core of the garden's lava. To his surprise, it began to float and sink within the lava, absorbing thermal energy and growing rapidly.

After some time in high-dimensional spacetime, this iron-based life began to develop rapidly.

"'That's enough. It can serve as a future body, and now I can also acquire its inherited memories...'" Xu Zhi took a deep breath, slightly closed his eyes, as if sensing something.

"'From today onwards, this clone's identity will be that of the true Renimansijia...'"

Following the myriad genetic code information, he seemed to witness the inherited memories of this species.

On a vast land of black iron.

Xu Zhi seemed to have transformed into an adult, iron-based giant, walking across this land.

The ground was made of lumpy, black iron plating.

It was a color of extreme, pure black—deep, dark, ancient, as utterly black as a black hole, with not a speck of dust floating anywhere.

"Indeed, it cheated the laws," Xu Zhi thought.

Xu Zhi marveled that the bug race's "stealing" technique was truly their ancestral skill.

"'Is this the place of racial inherited memories? This is my first time seeing it. Is this a path, a path of inheritance? Or something else?'" Being a covert observer for the first time, he still found it quite interesting.

The air in this entire world was unprecedentedly clean.

Because the terrifying gravity here was crushing everything relentlessly.

Just walking here felt as if every electron in his body was being squeezed to burst, and atomic nuclei were being crushed into lumps.

Xu Zhi stepped forward.

He discovered an extremely bizarre phenomenon: with every step forward, his cultivation realm increased by an inch.

The corresponding cultivation methods for each realm appeared in his mind with immense detail.

Fifth-tier,Sixth-tier,Seventh-tier,

Xu Zhi continued forward, murmuring:

"'Is this a path of inheritance?'"

With every step, cultivation information corresponding to a new realm surged into his mind.

This was a unique cultivation method of iron-based life, concerning "Field Gates." It involved compressing their physical form to create an extremely terrifying gravitational field.

The further Xu Zhi walked, the higher his realm became, and the smaller the iron-based giant's body became.

Gradually, their entire bodies were violently compressed, reaching an incredible density.

"'If it were normal flesh-and-blood life, it would have died long ago, right?'""'Cells would instantly explode from the pressure.'""'Nuclei? Cytoplasm? DNA sequences? Everything would collapse into primal chemical substances—carbon, hydrogen, oxygen—shattered...'""'Then, as gravity intensified, they would further break down from various chemical substances into a chaotic hot soup of electrons, atomic nuclei, protons, neutrons, quarks—all sorts of particles mixed together. Yet, iron-based life was incredibly adapted to this environment...'"

Xu Zhi felt a profound shock, realizing that this body possessed a peculiar characteristic:

It ignored compression.

He felt as if he were an iron spring, able to easily change his form in response to gravity and pressure, without any strong discomfort.

He sensed that within this iron-based body, countless iron particles and electrons were pressed onto atomic nuclei, and the distances between atoms were shortening.

"'So that's it,' he mused. 'Iron, the most common metallic substance in the universe, possesses both elasticity and ductility... Life forms based on this have pioneered an extraordinary cultivation path, transforming their entire race into springs...'"