Chapter 22 - We Live, They Die

Lu Xing was sent flying.

In terms of speed, it was like those daredevil racers on the road at two in the morning, speeding towards each other, their speedometer needles already pressed to the very bottom.

In terms of rotation, he was like a spinning top whipped with full force by a grandpa in the plaza, generating a central speed no less than that of a Category 12 typhoon warning along the coast in summer.

With a muffled roar like rolling thunder, mimicking the diligent posture of an ox plowing a field...

No, Lu Xing didn't complete the task of cultivating the land; that wasn't something a Honkai Beast should do. The moment the mechanical fist hit him, the results of his long-term training were thoroughly stimulated. A trajectory change of less than 10 degrees allowed him to successfully fly, no, it should be said, charge towards an impact target slightly different from his original plan:

The Floater-class Honkai Beast!

"BOOM!!"

No gunpowder, no flames produced.

A pure, pollution-free, harmless impact directly hit the Floater-class, which was writhing its tentacles on the ground.

This unexpected blow.

Directly cut off all of the Floater-class's plans—whether it had any or not—turning it from playing dead to being truly dead stiff.

Arno, seeing this scene, should have been pleased.

After all, this one punch directly resolved two major worries... if it weren't for the [Honkai Lance Projection] that had pierced his body.

Entering through the front chest, exiting through the back spine, heart and lungs stopped, spinal column fractured.

"Swish!!"

The spear composed of Honkai energy surpassed the speed of sound.

Otherwise, the sound wouldn't have—after he felt the "pain," as nerve signals transmitting electrical impulses were never slow—only then resounded in his ears as a sharp, wind-breaking whistle.

This time, it was a fatal wound.

"Thud."

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What happened in that instant.

The system prompts flashing incessantly in Lu Xing's mind could probably explain a thing or two.

"Your level has increased to Lv.19." (He had reached Lv.17 when defeating Ethan; this was the prompt for heavily injuring Xiū.)

"Your level has increased to Lv.20." (When impacting the Floater-class.)

"Your level has reached the 'Ranger-class' limit. You are about to evolve into 'Hyper Hasty-class'."

"Holder detected to not possess [Dash] or [Spinning Slash]. Evolution conditions not met. Excess experience will be automatically converted to skill learning requirements."

"Experience conversion complete. You are about to evolve into 'Hyper Hasty-class'."

"Holder detected to possess [Power Strike]. Evolution conditions met. You are about to evolve into 'White of the Purple-White Twins'."

"Your mission (Branch Three: Defeat an opponent with constitution twice your own or higher in a single blow) has been completed. Your level has increased to Lv.21 (Forced)."

"You have unlocked a new skill: [Ballista]."

"Holder's mission (Branch One: Continuously defeat three opponents of the same or higher level within 15 seconds) is still in progress. 'Lock and Cancel Branch' function cannot be executed."

"Holder detected to have killed a [Variant] for the first time. Hidden Function 2 [Achievement Forged in Iron and Blood] has been revealed."

"Achievement 'Slaying a Kinsman' completed."

"Based on the type of 'Kinsman' target killed, you have unlocked a new skill: [Honkai Lance Projection]."

"System Holder's level detected to exceed Lv.20."

"Random Mission function has been enabled."

In less than half a second after impacting the Floater-class, this massive amount of information flooded into Lu Xing's mind.

And Lu Xing, in the first instant, noticed the most crucial thing—not the level-up and mission completion prompts, nor the activation of the new "Random Mission" function, but the new skill unlocked by the achievement:

[Honkai Lance Projection]

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Xing directly channeled all the Honkai energy in his body to condense the only ranged skill he had mastered so far.

Its power was definitely far inferior to what the Floater-class could unleash.

But against a human who no longer had the ability to fight back...

"Thud."

With the muffled sound of a sack being dropped, system prompts once again flooded Lu Xing's mind like snowflakes.

————

"Your mission (Branch Two: Defeat one opponent of the same or higher level from a distance of over 50 meters using ranged means) has been completed. Your level has increased to Lv.22 (Forced)."

"You have unlocked a new skill: [Crystal Shot]."

"Holder detected to already possess [Crystal Shot]'s advanced skill [Honkai Lance Projection]. This skill will be reset to an adaptive random draw."

"Drawing—"

"You have unlocked a new skill: [Space-Time Rend]"

"[Space-Time Rend: Cannot be locked onto by space-time. Gain the ability to break free from space-time fractures.]"

"Your mission (Branch One: Continuously defeat three opponents of the same or higher level within 15 seconds) has been completed. Your level has increased to Lv.23 (Forced)."

"You have unlocked a new skill: [Spinning Slash]."

"Holder's skill count detected to exceed 4 (Appraisal, Dash, Spinning Slash, Power Strike, Ballista, Space-Time Rend, Honkai Lance Projection). Holder's evolution path detected to have unlocked up to 'White of the Purple-White Twins'."

"Evolution conditions met."

"Excluding lower evolution paths 'Space-Time Ripper' and 'Space-Time Guardian', you are about to evolve into 'Great Universe'."

"Evolution commencing—"

"Finally, I wish you good health. Goodbye."

Without any warning, and with no time to react.

Powerful Honkai energy surged forth from the Honkai Crystal. In a mere instant, it healed all of Lu Xing's injuries.

And in the next second, Lu Xing's body underwent a heaven-and-earth-shattering transformation:

Shedding, peeling, a brand-new rebirth.

A deep, obsidian-like rhomboid body.

Charming starlight twinkled in the night sky.

From the previous white tinged with faint purple, it had transformed into a new form, now as black as ink.

Although its volume hadn't changed, the sense of pressure it exuded was countless times stronger—

————

Race: Variant Great Universe (Ranger-class Variant)

Level: 23

Abilities: Appraisal, Power Strike, Dash, Spinning Slash, Ballista, Space-Time Rend, Honkai Lance Projection

Equipment: None

Attack: 38 (+3)

Speed: 37 (+2)

Constitution: 37 (+2)

Evaluation: Novice Village BOSS

On a side note.

In the Ranger-class echelon.

The attribute bonuses brought by each racial "leap" varied.

Just like the data for "Little Purple" seen earlier, a Level 20 "Little Purple" had all its attributes increased by 20% from its original base. Lu Xing's current evolution into "Great Universe," however, came with a terrifying 50% all-attribute bonus.

In other words.

Lu Xing, though only Lv.23, could now go head-to-head with a Lv.37 ordinary Ranger-class and would definitely win completely.

After all, his skills were far too numerous.

At the same time, Lu Xing's next stage evolution branch missions were also displayed.

————

Mission Branch One: Be pursued by a Honkai Beast stronger than yourself (Knight-class or above) until the opponent is exhausted.

Reward: Speed +3, Level +1, Obtain [Dash]

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Mission Branch Two: Withstand the powerful attacks of a Honkai Beast stronger than yourself (Knight-class or above) until the opponent is exhausted.

Reward: Constitution +3, Level +1, Obtain [Crystal Wall]

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Mission Branch Three: Control a Honkai Beast stronger than yourself (Knight-class or above), rendering it unable to act until the opponent is exhausted.

Reward: Attack +3, Level +1, Obtain [Strike]

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