Age of Evolution

After landing, her body stumbled slightly, her gaze clearly filled with disappointment.

She knew that she wouldn’t pass on her first attempt, but she wanted to test herself to see just how big the gap was. However, she never expected the gap to be so vast.

This dealt quite a blow to her confidence, especially since she would have to face Sun Liang and Zhu Xiaodie’s ridicule upon returning.

As she slowly walked back, sure enough, Sun Liang and Zhu Xiaodie burst into laughter.

“Sister, did you underperform a bit? Is this still my omnipotent sister? With your skills, aren’t you bringing disgrace to our family?”

Before Zhu Lingshan could respond, Lin Zhen impatiently said from behind: “Can you two hurry up? Maybe your results will be worse than hers, so what’s there to show off?”

“Alright! I’ll let you witness my true strength today, so you won’t talk tough when your arm gets chopped off!”

Sun Liang walked out and stood before the Heavenly Gate.

However, he wouldn’t draw much attention. After all, a Star System Stage warrior with a star power of over 10,000 was quite common here.

Regardless of how others viewed him, Sun Liang’s star power erupted as he charged upward with all his might!

His strength was indeed stronger than Zhu Lingshan’s, and he performed well on top of his good mood. In the end, his sprint reached a distance of 90,000 kilometers!

There was an unwritten rule here: when a Martial Artist charged beyond 100,000 kilometers, people would applaud and cheer for them, expressing respect and encouragement.

Sun Liang did well but didn’t reach the level where people would clap for him.

After falling back from the Heavenly Gate, he was exhausted but his face was full of excitement.

“Did you see that? That was my first attempt, and I’ve completed almost 10% of it. I still have plenty of time to train. Next time, it’ll be 20% or 50%, until I reach the Original World!”

“Liang, you’re so amazing, Xiaodie adores you!” Zhu Xiaodie became even more flirtatious, causing Lin Zhen to frown.

“Xiaodie, it’s your turn next. Just remember to maintain a calm mind. We’re currently leading by 40,000 kilometers, so as long as you perform normally, we’ll be able to secure victory. When it’s time to cut someone, you’ll be the one to do it!”

“Alright! I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time!”

As Zhu Xiaodie spoke, she glared fiercely at her disheartened sister before marching towards the Heavenly Gate.

She didn’t attract much attention either. Although she was considered beautiful, she paled in comparison to Zhu Lingshan. Not to mention, a Black Hole Stage wouldn’t easily draw others’ attention.

While the pressure faced by Black Hole Stages was said to be less, their strength was relatively weak too.

The Heavenly Gate had been open for over a century now. Although not many Star System Stages had passed through, there were still countless attempts. In contrast, not a single Black Hole Stage had successfully passed through the Heavenly Gate to date.

Perhaps some Black Hole Stage geniuses were still preparing and hadn’t yet attempted, but this still testified to the difficulty of a Black Hole Stage’s challenge.

Zhu Xiaodie began her charge. Lin Zhen thought that her 2000-star power in the Black Hole Stage was not bad; although it was said that the Heavenly Gate became harder as one progressed, she should be able to at least reach 5%.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Xiaodie could only reach 3.5% before falling back down.

“It’s so difficult at the Black Hole Stage. With 2,000 star power, I could only get this far. I’m afraid I won’t be confident in reaching the top.”]

Upon returning, Zhu Xiaodie didn’t feel disheartened but rather happy, as Sun Liang congratulated her: “You did well, Xiaodie. I’ve seen many Black Hole Stages not even reach 1% before falling. You’re already amazing, and we never expected you to pass at the Black Hole Stage initially. Once you’ve stabilized a bit more, let’s break through to the Star System Stage, and our progress will definitely improve greatly.”

Then, he said to Lin Zhen: “Kid, we’ve got a 7% lead now. If you can reach 8%, we’ll concede defeat.”

Lin Zhen nodded before walking forward.

At that moment, Zhu Lingshan suddenly looked up and grabbed Lin Zhen’s hand: “Little brother, I know you’re doing this out of kindness, but just forget it. This is our family matter, and you shouldn’t get involved. If an arm must be chopped, it’ll be mine. You should just quit.”

Lin Zhen said earnestly, “How can I do that? My mother taught me that a man’s word is his bond. I can’t just go back on a bet I agreed to. That’s not my style!”

“You stubborn blockhead… Fine, just go. But if we lose, you must listen to me. After all, this is my problem.”

“I’m sorry, but the word ‘lose’ doesn’t exist in my dictionary. I will win, and I’ll do so beautifully!”

With that, Lin Zhen strode confidently towards the Heavenly Gate.

Sun Liang looked at Lin Zhen’s retreating figure and scoffed, “Zhu Lingshan, is this your taste in men? How could you think that this idiot is handsome? Don’t say I didn’t give you a chance. Consider Xiaodie’s earlier suggestion, and if you can turn back and follow me, I can let the past be the past.”

“Stop dreaming! I’d rather die than be with a scumbag like you. It’s just an arm, after all. It’s not like it won’t grow back.”

“Hahaha! Fine, we’ll see about that!” Sun Liang, furious and humiliated, walked to the side, with his sword already prepared.

His sword was poisoned, capable of inhibiting body regeneration. That’s why he proposed allowing the other side to cut the arm.

Since Zhu Lingshan was being stubborn, he wouldn’t show any mercy!

*********

Lin Zhen arrived at the starting point, standing tall like a handsome jade tree.

Seeing that someone else was attempting to breach the Heavenly Gate, the surrounding people looked over. However, when they saw Lin Zhen’s realm, many instantly lost interest.

“Useless. A Black Hole Period martial artist trying to challenge the Heavenly Gate? Doesn’t he know how difficult it is?”

“I’ll bet a million Cosmic Crystals that he can’t reach a height of 100,000 kilometers.”

“Heh! Are you trying to scam us again? How many Black Hole Period martial artists can even reach 100,000 kilometers? He’ll probably fall down after reaching a few hundred or thousand kilometers.”

“Let’s move on, get back to training.”

Lin Zhen ignored the gossip around him and looked around. It wasn’t just him who was attempting this, but thousands of others too. In the first ten thousand positions, there were ten thousand martial artists all launching into the sky like fireworks.

However, most of them quickly fell back down. When someone surpassed the distance of 100,000 kilometers, the crowd below cheered and spurred them on.

As Lin Zhen prepared to set off, a slight disturbance from the Dimensional Universe came forth, as someone directly connected to Lin Zhen’s Dimensional Universe communication channel.

Lin Zhen was immediately startled, as he had never encountered such a situation where someone could connect without his permission.

An elegant middle-aged man holding a white folding fan appeared in the image, grinning at Lin Zhen.

“Welcome, young man, welcome to the Heavenly Gate challenge. I am the Heavenly Gate Guardian, Zhuiyue, from the Original World. You cannot use teleportation here, and you must rely on your own strength to ascend. If you can pass the Heavenly Gate at one million kilometers, I will be waiting for you at the top.”

“A Longevity Realm Martial Artist!”

Lin Zhen had seen countless messages about Zhuiyue in his Dimensional Universe. Every person who attempted the Heavenly Gate would see his image. He didn’t expect it to appear this way.

His appearance greatly inspired the other martial artists, as this was a living Longevity Realm figure.

Lin Zhen also wondered if Zhuiyue could simultaneously communicate with hundreds of people attempting the Heavenly Gate. How strong was his Spiritual Power to do that?

In an instant, Lin Zhen’s ambition soared.

Longevity Realm! That was his goal!

Taking a deep breath, Lin Zhen felt his Star Power rising.

Lin Zhen’s original Star Power was 70,000, with his clone’s Star Power at 65,000. After the Star Energy Transfer, it totaled to 135,000. With such a strong foundation, Lin Zhen had every reason to believe that he could make his way upward in one go.

This was the power of a World King; no matter how difficult the Heavenly Gate, it couldn’t be set so that only those at a World King’s level could pass.

He crouched slightly, getting ready to jump on the spot.

“Let’s go!”

“Whoosh!”

Lin Zhen shot into the sky like a bullet!

With the wind roaring in his ears, Lin Zhen instantly soared to a height of 10,000 kilometers!

There was a heavy pressure overhead, making it impossible to teleport. To continue upwards, one could only rely on their Star Power to withstand the pressure. This was the only standard to test a martial artist’s strength.

But in Lin Zhen’s view, this pressure was nothing.

With the Star Power surging around him, Lin Zhen seemed to have a booster under his feet, rushing upwards with incredible momentum.

13,000… 15,000… 18,000… 20,000!

23,000… 25,000… 28,000… 30,000!

Lin Zhen easily surpassed Zhu Xiaodie’s record, but he hadn’t the slightest intention of stopping. The difficulty presented hasn’t troubled him yet, nor had he even felt strained.

Although he thought no one was paying attention to him, some people, including those who knew Lin Zhen, were actually watching him because of his handsome appearance.

At first, most people just watched for fun, but now they were all getting restless.

“Holy shit! Who is this guy?!”

“Damn! That’s so fast. This guy’s amazing!”

“Sub-light speed charge! Is he really in the Black Hole Period? Old Li, pinch me, am I dreaming?”

“This is bad! He’s going to break the record! The highest Black Hole Period charge record is just over 500,000 kilometers, right? Is he going to break it?”

Almost in a blink of an eye, Lin Zhen had already passed the 50,000-kilometer mark, and his speed showed no sign of slowing down. He seemed to be heading for 100,000 kilometers!

Countless people opened their mouths in shock, looking up as Lin Zhen soared into the sky, rising higher and higher!