Cultivating for a hundred lifetimes to ascension Chapter 1425: 766: Evolution

The pink mist lingered suspended in the air, twisting and swirling relentlessly, as though desperate to reform its prior shape.

Spotting this, Zhao Sheng exhaled softly toward it: Hoo~

Whoosh—a powerful gale arose out of thin air, swiftly engulfing the entire pink mist and roaring outward in every direction.

Everywhere the gale surged, the vast steaming clouds that blanketed the skies churned and bubbled fiercely, and in mere moments, it impacted a ten-thousand-mile expanse, triggering massive transformations throughout the cave.

As moments ticked by, innumerable primordial cells infused with bloodlines dispersed like dandelion fluff, blanketing the cave's every corner, poised to launch into an eternal battle for existence.

By now, the cave had split into four distinct “levels”: at the base lay the myriad Magma Rivers and Lakes blanketing the floor, rising a thousand feet above that was the rain convection zone, beyond a thousand feet stretched the thick, perpetual Burning Cloud Layer, and crowning it all was a immense Thunder Sea, where a gigantic silver-white ring hovered deep inside—the unmistakable remnant Immortal Artifact known as the Five Elements Thunder Ring.

To prevent any disruption to the evolution, Zhao Sheng readily offered up this Immortal Treasure, using it solely as the power core for all that existed there.

Once genuine evolution kicked off, the brutal law of survival of the fittest and natural selection would play out in full force.

Certain primordial cells tumbled by chance into the Magma Lake, where scorching heat in the thousands of degrees vaporized them on the spot; others soared into the Thunder Sea, wiped out just as swiftly by ceaseless bolts of lightning, while a few dropped into the milder Burning Cloud Layer and convection zone, managing brief survival by luck, though lacking the core body's aid, their days were numbered.

Still, no matter the peril, life inevitably discovers a path forward!

In a bid to endure, the myriad primordial cells bearing Zhao Sheng’s life imprints swiftly unleashed diverse survival mechanisms; around ten percent slipped into dormancy, sprouting a fungal-like shell over their surfaces, then drawing their life force inward without end.

Another twenty percent of these primordial cells buzzed with vigor, each awakening hidden potentials and drawing on the profound essence of their bloodlines by instinct, undergoing a flurry of fascinating shifts in no time at all.

The other seventy percent or so met grim fates, plunging into unforgiving terrains and crumbling to dust in a flash.

Witnessing the sharp drop in primordial cell numbers, Zhao Sheng didn't waver, repeatedly drawing from his own essence and expelling vast clouds of pink mist, multiplying the cells into the trillions.

Though most met swift ends, survivors multiplied, growing ever more attuned to this realm through innate drives, and even sparking cycles of evolution.

Zhao Sheng observed the spectacle, patiently awaiting the emergence of outcomes.

At that point, he perched exalted upon Meteor Mountain, akin to an almighty ruler overseeing the world's every facet, his gaze crackling with boundless thunder, vigilantly tracking each minute shift inside the cave.

The thunder within his eyes twisted through ceaseless transformations, adhering to some fixed pattern while also fostering fresh developments.

Every element—earth, water, wind, fire, cloud, thunder, and even the faintest air currents—entered his vision completely.

Under the sway of an enigmatic force, time appeared frozen in place, yet also rushed ahead at thousands of times its normal pace.

To Zhao Sheng, scant time had elapsed, but the scene before him felt like it spanned eons, with sections of the cave bursting into teeming vitality, evoking the return of an ancient wild expanse.

In the cave's southwest, across a hundred-mile stretch, twisting dark red Magma Rivers snaked over the terrain, their blistering heat warping the air into hazy distortions.

Even in this brutal setting, hundreds of scarlet “earthworms” bobbed and weaved along the river's edge, some crimson worms frolicking freely with abandon, others stretching their thread-like forms to gulp down the ambient air greedily, crafting a bizarre display of wind-devouring frenzy.

A nearer look revealed these scarlet earthworms as sleek and uniform, noodle-thin in build, yet armored underneath with tightly packed diamond-like crystalline scales; only a tail-end segment stayed bare, dotted with thin hairs, hinting at an unfinished shift.

This marked a fresh species, the earliest lifeform to arise a hundred years prior, its bloodline tied to the Primordial Flood Dragon.

Hundreds of miles from the magma zone, a standout cloud cluster in the Burning Cloud Layer hosted odd black-and-purple beings darting in and out.

These had sleek forms, massive heads like water vats paired with slim trailing bodies, evoking oversized “tadpoles.”

Dubbed Wind Nest Loaches, these “tadpoles” possessed remarkable talents, innately wielding control over rain and gales, and driven by fierce aggression, they quickly rose as overlords of this domain.

Ascending from the Burning Cloud Layer, the expansive Thunder Sea birthed numerous entities too, where the ruling kind consisted of pristine white four-hoofed beasts akin to Qilins, sized like lions or tigers. From afar, they resembled a pack of playful “dogs,” gleefully pursuing the ever-present lightning and harassing frailer creatures on impulse.

These “dogs” went by the name Thunderbolt Dogs, a label Zhao Sheng had idly assigned, their lineage stemming from the Thunder Roar Lion.

This very connection made Zhao Sheng value them highly.

Apart from the Fire Qiu, Wind Nest Loach, and Thunderbolt Dogs, twelve additional lifeforms dwelled in the cave.

Yet they suffered from major flaws, or lacked growth potential, or failed to breed successors; often just a lone specimen endured, rendering them largely irrelevant.

That said, outliers existed even among the failures.

Zhao Sheng materialized swiftly over the Five Elements Thunder Ring, watching silently from ten miles off, where an unseen spherical entity with a bulbous head hung in suspension.

This entity shrugged off the Immortal Artifact's oppressive aura and the all-around thunder, floating aloft while slowly inflating and deflating like a breathing, immature heart.

A subtle golden glow cloaked its exterior, enigmatic and serene, beyond ordinary sight, Divine Thought's reach, or any spell's grasp.

Only the Original Spirit could pierce its secrets!

This unidentified entity stood as an oddity, seemingly deprived of a fitting habitat for development, having long stalled its own progression.

Across the last century, Zhao Sheng had exhausted all methods, yet achieved nothing.

And it sprang from that enigmatic bloodline.

Through repeated trials, Zhao Sheng verified the enigmatic bloodline as the fabled “Innate Origin Blood.”

Likely because the bloodline's purity was far too thin, it repeatedly fell short of truly spawning “life.”

“No good, it’s happening again!”

Zhao Sheng’s face shifted abruptly, and he vanished in an instant.

The moment he faded, a formless golden radiance swept across, ballooning outward to infinite reaches without delay.

At the same instant, that “meatball” halted suddenly before evaporating from sight, its vanishing act mirroring Zhao Sheng’s eerily.

In the following instant, Zhao Sheng rematerialized at the spot, palms pressed together at his chest, as the meatball dropped precisely into his grasp, pulsing frantically like it battled an unseen restraint.