Chapter 219: Life and Death
"All things considered, the true breakthrough method for ordinary people should involve both internal and external processes simultaneously. One should extract a bit of body tissue and a small portion of Life Field fragments, then merge and collapse them into a Primal Matter Seed, which is then slowly nurtured within the body, allowing it to gradually become one's second life."
"Then, the main body's path should follow the direction of Xuanhua construction, which would theoretically maximize benefits."
"However, the issue of genetic collapse also needs consideration. What exactly is the connection between Primal Matter and genetic collapse...?"
"Logically, it's also possible to attempt multiple breakthroughs towards the Primal Matter direction, taking only a small step each time, but the significance is minor, and the effect is the same as directly using Primal Matter to devour one's own body."
"The unknown substance forming the outer shell of the Tianzhou Ghost King is actually Xuanhua; it's just that, being in a state of chaotic thought, it has no consciousness of restraint..."
"But if that's the case, then the Spirit Hub responsible for controlling the Xuanhua, much like external Spirit Clusters, wouldn't necessarily need to be a physical entity?"
...
In an instant, Bai Mo's mind raced through countless thoughts, yet many new questions arose.
As he pondered, the Heavenly Fate Transcendence, now one with Sarcasky, pressed closer and closer to the others, forcing more and more individuals to face a life-or-death choice.
But most still clung to hope, believing their defenses could hold out until missile aid arrived, unwilling to make such a desperate gamble with their lives.
"Heavenly Apex Quake!" Before long, one of those who began breaking through, unable to release his obsession with immense power, transformed his body into a wave of ultra-high frequency vibrations and surged towards Sarcasky.
Its frequency far exceeded the range perceivable by human ears, only barely discernible through the vibrations in the air.
Even those nearby who felt the tremors' aftershocks were injured, but compared to the despair of watching others fail their breakthroughs and perish, these minor wounds were nothing.
Detecting yet another suicidal attack, the Heavenly Fate Transcendence began to turn wildly, simultaneously using a barrage of energy weapons to try and weaken the terrifying shockwave, as such penetrating wave attacks were lethally destructive to the ship's structure.
However, despite desperately trying to evade, the massive vessel, having lost its absolute mobility advantage, was still grazed by the attack on its tail, and a quarter of its structure instantly turned to dust.
Tons of pulverized ship material formed an environment akin to a sandstorm within the chaotic airflow.
Regrettably, this attack did not achieve full success. Although the ship lost a quarter of its structure, its power and weapon systems were not catastrophically damaged; most remained functional.
Nevertheless, the damage to its tail did create a blind spot for its firepower, and the others swiftly moved towards that area.
"Die!" After completing his breakthrough, Chen Bo, manifesting a Xuanhua over ten meters tall, immediately delivered a punch to the warship.
"Someone finally succeeded!" Many felt relieved, both at the emergence of someone capable of holding back the enemy before them, and at the confirmation of the authenticity of the experience they had gained.
"What about the first person? Did he succeed?" Immediately after Chen Bo's successful breakthrough, someone remembered Bai Mo, who had initiated his breakthrough first.
"He succeeded too!" Soon, they spotted Bai Mo, his Xuanhua already condensed, at the edge of the battlefield.
"Is he spacing out?" To jolt Bai Mo back into the fight, a few individuals each launched a Spirit Energy missile at him.
"Coming." Bai Mo replied with a missile of his own.
"Boom! Boom!" Against such a massive warship, all other attacks paled in comparison to controlling a semi-solid Xuanhua, twenty to thirty meters high, and dismantling it piece by piece with raw, brute force.
In the interim of the battle, Bai Mo sharply noticed that Chen Bo's left thumb and index finger were missing, likely the price he paid for his breakthrough.
"As expected of a military man... his self-control is truly different. Much stronger than my first breakthrough, which cost me an entire arm," he thought to himself.
Little did he know, Chen Bo, fighting alongside him, was even more inwardly shocked upon seeing the perfectly intact Bai Mo!
"Sizzle, sizzle..." Just as the two were dismantling the warship at close range amidst artillery fire, a terrifying beam of light erupted from beneath them. A perfectly circular opening was cleanly cut into the ship's bottom surface.
The searing heat, merely grazing Bai Mo's Xuanhua, instantly evaporated a hole with a one-meter radius.
The dark red energy column effortlessly pierced through the Heavenly Fate Transcendence, then shot straight into the sky. It was fortunate that this area was within the Arctic Circle, with few satellites or planes flying overhead; otherwise, they would all have been annihilated by this unstoppable pillar of light.
"To think, Long Wang also fell during this breakthrough. This 'Long Wang's Sigh' was still his signature move." Many present knew the powerful Yamato Ability User nicknamed "Long Wang," and naturally understood that the indestructible beam of light was his trademark attack.
After two consecutive pieces of bad news, the remaining three individuals, however, all succeeded in breaking through. Two of them had lost an entire arm, and another had lost half an arm.
Perhaps these were irreversible disabilities before, but in the era of Spirit Qi, with enough rare heavenly treasures to replenish them, they could recover completely within half a year. And those at the apex of the Ability User pyramid clearly did not lack such resources.
As long as one survived the breakthrough, many problems ceased to be problems.
"They're finally here." After fifteen minutes of arduous resistance amidst a hail of bullets and artillery, they finally received the first batch of two hundred high-explosive missiles.
"This time, it should surely be blown to death!"
"Three hectares of area, covered by two hundred missiles... if it still doesn't die, then we will."
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
...
"Boom!"
Under the protection of its remaining shield system, the missiles still failed to completely destroy the Heavenly Fate Transcendence, but it now appeared to be tottering on the brink.
"If I must die, then let us die together! I won't leave anything for you bugs!" Sarcasky, now completely insane, no longer considered the consequences. He decisively activated the self-destruct system, causing the heavily protected conversion engine within the Heavenly Fate Transcendence to rapidly overload, continuously devouring the warship itself.
"Something's wrong."
"What is it?"
"Logically, with less than a fifth of its volume remaining, this thing shouldn't still be able to float!"
"Perhaps alien technology is just different?"
As the crowd chatted idly, an ominous premonition began to creep into their hearts.
"Something's not right, retreat!" Chen Bo yelled as he moved away.
Bai Mo's premonition likewise urged him to leave immediately, so he casually grabbed several nearby fragments of the ship with his telekinesis, then swiftly plunged towards the sea surface.
"Everything will return to zero." There was no explosion, only a frantic distortion of matter in the central area, then a crazed compression into a single point.
"Urgent warning! Super-strong gravitational anomaly detected over the Arctic! The observatory's preliminary inference is... a miniature black hole!" A shrill warning blared from the command center.
But it was too late. Within the gravitational pull of the ultra-miniature black hole, not even electromagnetic waves could escape. The distorted information naturally couldn't reach their ears; those present could only rely on their instincts to flee for their lives.
"Phew..." After realizing the irresistible gravitational force behind him, Bai Mo even considered letting his Primal Matter escape his body independently if necessary. But fortunately, the miniature black hole existed for less than a hundredth of a second, merely sucking the surrounding hundred meters into a vacuum.
However, he immediately discovered that this was not the end. After the super-strong gravity vanished, a genesis-like white light began to surge indiscriminately in all directions....
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