Chapter 963: Evolution Corridor

The Six Paths of Reincarnation, the Underworld.

On the Road to the Yellow Springs, player representatives stood respectfully.

Meng Po glanced at the strange trees and animals before her and said calmly, “By order of His Majesty, the God Emperor, and at the request of the Ultra-Ancient God, a contingent of Asura Path warriors will be dispatched to the new world.”

Bai Xiaojun showed a hint of surprise.“Hahaha! It’s really happening! I knew that with the advent of the Ninth-Tier Dao Attainers era, this new age would surely bring new maps and new developments! After all, the previous levels were completely insufficient. Now that the entire era has stepped into the Ninth Tier, the Ultra-Ancient God will truly make a grand move! One must remember, the Ultra-Ancient God is likely a weak Tenth-Tier being! Mere Ninth-Tier beings might barely catch the Ultra-Ancient God’s attention. It’s like Emperor Qi, a weak Ninth-Tier, looking at newcomers who have just entered the Eighth-Tier Divine realm…”

A thought struck Bai Xiaojun, and he quickly said, “Thank you, Your Majesty. We will surely dispatch our most elite troops to the new world…”

Meng Po pursed her lips, seemingly indifferent. She said, “The passage is ready. Entry is about to open, so be careful…. Also, no cultivators are allowed; only uncultivated newcomers may enter.”

“Understood!” Bai Xiaojun was overjoyed. “What if we don’t go in ourselves? We can provide remote guidance and live-stream the entire process. Everything the newcomers do, both inside and in the new world, will be perfectly clear to us!”

Full of confidence, Bai Xiaojun looked at the passage before him, calculated the time, and said, “We will begin preparations immediately.”

Outside, after just a few hours, the tri-daily PVP Fighting Tournament began again. A new batch of players, ten times the usual number, surged in. A host of bizarre plants and animals entered the Asura Path.

“Hahaha, originally it was just the top three, but now it’s the top thirty…”“We’re going to get rich!”

Soon, led by Bai Xiaojun, they saw the teleportation array and surged into the new world.

The world was a vast expanse of white. Before them was an incredibly long and narrow white tunnel. Within it, familiar sights appeared: pixelated plants and pixelated creatures.

“Is this… Caroline’s world?”“Hahaha! I knew it! Caroline’s mini-universe burst, and it hasn’t been rebuilt yet. Now that everything has calmed down, the Ultra-Ancient God must be helping Caroline rebuild her world!”“It all lines up. Everything makes sense.”“So the new world we entered is indeed Caroline’s world!”

They chuckled, their gaze following the tunnel’s depths. But in an instant, they witnessed an eerie, unforgettable scene.

The tunnel was the width of a basketball court and infinitely long. Countless pixelated trees, animals, and flowers formed a unique, vibrant landscape. The entire tunnel resembled an infinitely narrowing, elongated funnel. The further one walked, the smaller the passage became, and the creatures within it also diminished in size. The cyber-people at this end were of normal size, but those further down the tunnel had shrunk to the size of a palm, and the most distant ones were already thumb-sized.

They witnessed firsthand: A hopping pixelated rabbit ran past them, growing smaller and smaller as it moved down the tunnel, eventually shrinking to the size of a fingernail and merging into the continuously shrinking miniature world of the passage.

“What, what, what!???” This group of players was utterly astonished. This simply defied the laws of physics. “Could it be some kind of law affecting it?… The further you go in this white tunnel, the more matter’s density is compressed, making bodies smaller?” Even though they were new players, they had the insight of “internet experts” and offered a reasonable guess.

“Should we try walking forward too?” they asked.“Guys, I’ll give it a try!”

A small, uncultivated animal from the Asura Path attempted to walk forward. But as it walked, the entire passage gradually narrowed, while its body did not shrink at all. Its furry body became wedged in the passage, unable to proceed. At the same time, it felt immense pressure, its whole body squeezed until blood seeped out, frightening it into quickly retreating.

“We can’t do it at all!” someone exclaimed.“Only these strange cyber-creatures can!”“Moreover, the further we walk into the tunnel, the more immense pressure we feel, squeezing our bodies. Just taking two steps is already impossible…”

They were stunned by this sight. The footage from the live stream gradually transmitted outside, reaching Bai Xiaojun and others.

Bai Xiaojun’s expression darkened. He sent a private message to one of the players responsible for communication inside, stating his assessment: “These cyber-people might possess some special physical characteristic, a certain force, or field energy… Or perhaps their bodies have a certain elasticity, like springs, allowing them to be easily compressed. Otherwise, even if the laws were warped, a human body couldn’t be compressed so easily; it would simply explode instantly.”

The players present were slightly surprised but also understood. Indeed, even if the laws were distorted and forcibly applied to them, they might not be able to adapt. The density of blood, bones, meridians, skin, and brain cannot be easily compressed. Normal biological structures would simply explode if compressed.

You could indeed continue to walk forward, and your body might indeed be compressed. By the end, your compressed body would indeed be as small as the other creatures… but you would be an amorphous, miniature ball of flesh. Particles, structures, cells—all would be a pulpy mess.

At this moment, the Alchemy Emperor connected to the live stream, stating gravely: “Everyone, if I’m not mistaken, these cyber-people have undergone some genetic mutation and improvement…. The reason they can be compressed is their structure: they don’t have blood cells, bone cells, or brain cells… They are simply individual ceramic spherical cells, with a simple structure that can withstand compression.”

The players were shaken. Theoretically, this was indeed the case. But was it realistic to so easily modify the genes of an entire race?

The Alchemy Emperor said, “Modifying the genes of an entire race seems complex, but it can be done by modifying the origin of the entire race—that is, the mother…. In Caroline’s case, it’s possible…. As long as Caroline has made new modifications to her own body, such self-transformation by a powerful being is quite normal. Therefore, the entire race she propagates would naturally possess similar characteristics. And this characteristic… compressed density, allowing for constant alteration, is very similar to iron-based life!”

Upon hearing this, everything changed. Yes, the cells of the entire race were very similar to iron-based life forms. Without stratified biological tissue structures, and theoretically composed of individual particles, they could indeed withstand compression…. So, Caroline started? Copying iron-based life?

“Guys, I’m afraid this is at the Ultra-Ancient God’s behest! To make Caroline secretly learn Ranimansgar’s ancestral martial arts!”“Has the Ultra-Ancient God already started secretly messing with Ranimansgar?”“That’s too ruthless!”“Oh my god! The Ultra-Ancient God probably planned this long ago, splitting into two paths: having Emperor Qi learn the Demon God’s system—quantum martial arts, and having Caroline learn the iron-based system—compressed body combat…. They’re going to strip Ranimansgar of both his main systems!”“Ranimansgar’s face must be black: ‘Who are these scoundrels, secretly learning my family’s martial arts?’”

Someone couldn’t bear it anymore and said exasperatedly: “What are you chattering about? What are you doing? You should be thinking about how you’re going to survive right now.”

Just as this group of players was looking bewildered in this passage world, Caroline’s cool, clear voice rang out:

“Welcome to the Evolution Corridor. Here, you must evolve species that can withstand the environment, progressing step by step. When you reach the end of the Evolution Corridor, infinitely shrinking, you will fully enter the new world. And the new world will be the most powerful world among all the heavens and myriad realms, bar none. It will completely revive the ancient Ultra-Ancient God civilization…. This will be a world where Ninth-Tier beings are abundant and found everywhere. The first thousand to pass through the Evolution Corridor will receive a pass to become Ninth-Tier powerhouses!”

Ninth-Tier? As soon as these words fell, all players’ eyes burned with eagerness, looking towards the end of the tunnel.

Super Cyber-people, with no Ninth-Tier threshold, truly allowed for an average of Ninth-Tier beings. As long as one could break through to an Eighth-Tier God, they were destined for the Ninth Tier. Becoming an Eighth-Tier God was still a relatively high possibility. However, while breaking through had no threshold, a large number of Ninth-Tier beings would still require an enormous amount of energy. If it were a world where everyone was Ninth-Tier, the energy required would be unimaginably vast!

And Caroline genuinely wasn’t without it. She had obtained an incredibly vast reserve of tens of thousands of years’ worth of energy from the Teer Empire! How vast? Tens of thousands of years of interstellar colonization amounted to an astronomical figure, certainly enough to create an entirely new world.

“Caroline is creating the new world using spoils borrowed from the Cosmic Garden.”“The first thousand will receive a Ninth-Tier pass! The energy obtained must be an incredibly massive energy reward!”“And this grand world will truly far surpass the Seventh-Tier Heavenly Court and the Lava Land World…. If Ninth-Tier beings are found everywhere, then the energy density must be so abundant that Fifth- and Sixth-Tier beings are commonplace…. This is terrifying!”

At this moment, all players exerted their full effort, looking towards the depths of the tunnel. “Climb this journey of evolution, the first thousand, Ninth Tier!”“Do we also have hope for the Ninth Tier?”“What incredible luck! What an opportunity!”“This is a Dao Attainer of the universe, a great existence beyond universal laws!”

Outside, Caroline looked at the Ultra-Ancient God and said, “The scale of this world is simply too immense, unimaginably vast…. The Teer Empire civilization I acquired can probably only sustain a hundred years of unchecked development!” A foundation of tens of thousands of years from an interstellar empire could only last for a century; one can imagine how severe the depletion was.

“It’s fine,” the Ultra-Ancient God said, looking into the distance. “I still have some reserves. It’s enough to help you create this unprecedented super-world.”

“Yes,” Caroline lowered her head, her face filled with longing and emotion.

The Ultra-Ancient God, as a weak Tenth-Tier being, had not revealed much of his wealth before. Now he was truly making a move, and it was an earth-shattering one. It made sense; someone of this level, having lived for hundreds of thousands of years, would still possess an exaggerated amount of wealth even after wars, even if only one remained.

Xu Zhi, however, had a calm expression, thinking to himself: “Caroline’s resources lasting for a hundred years is enough…. I’ve just exhausted all my financial resources, but a hundred years of recovery should be enough…. The entire Zerg race providing for this world’s development will be enough to sustain a massive subsequent energy reserve…”

Currently, Xu Zhi essentially lacked no energy. The Mother River Civilization was a true solar system! Hundreds of billions of sentient beings resided within it. Even without war, the daily cycle of life and death was immense. And, mind you, they were all cultivators. All were normal-sized creatures, providing energy for the ants to cultivate… Furthermore, with the Lava Domain and the Seventh-Tier Heavenly Court, the current efficiency was such that it was probably enough to produce three ordinary Ninth-Tier ant breakthroughs in a single day! How terrifying was this output capacity!

Even with Xu Zhi’s power, only a week’s worth of energy would be enough for him to break through. He was currently just stuck on the Ninth-Tier path, needing to slowly accumulate his foundation; energy was not the crucial factor.

“Rather, I should use all my energy to develop this world…”“When the Zerg truly develops, they become a swarming force, a race that never lacks energy…”

Xu Zhi’s gaze deepened as he placed a huge gamble: “My energy, dense throughout the entire Tower of Gods, can form tangible energy lakes, energy rivers, and energy rain, visible everywhere on the land, utterly luxurious! I fear even naturally born ancient gods, spiritual beings, and fairies will be incredibly powerful… Coupled with these players’ dedication, a large number of Ninth-Tier beings can be born. This world seems very promising.” He planned to use this world as his vanguard for invading the universe.