40,000 Years of Cultivation

In addition, there are countless strange shapes of carbon-based intelligent life. It is even hard for Li Yao to distinguish whether it is carbon-based, silicon-based or other forms of life. They have all fallen into different test levels.

What left a deep impression on Li Yao was a kind of intelligent life with a deformed brain.

Their body seems to have only a huge brain left, far more powerful than the Pangu brain, but it is stored in a magic weapon similar to a flying saucer, relying on the supernatural powers of the air and the psychic magnetic field to absorb all kinds of machinery. The arm and the external magic weapon unit are mounted on the flying saucer and combine themselves into various forms, which can be called the most perfect combination of biology and machinery.

However, such a perfect creation also fell in front of the black star gate, turning into a gray-white statue.

The Moonwatcher once said that there was once an extremely intelligent race, whose evolution level was among the best among a hundred ancient civilizations. It perfectly solved every problem thrown by the original ancestors, passed the ultimate test without any blemish, and was ultimately defeated by the original. Zu ruthlessly obliterated.

This wise race wailed before its extinction, saying that the original ancestor did not leave any precious inheritance at all. This is just a cruel death trap, and it also warned the latecomers not to snare themselves.

Come to think of it, this brain deformity swells, the flesh and blood body is completely degraded, but it is a race replaced by steel and iron bones, which is what Mochizuki calls the "perfect passer".

And these pictures, the meaning of the information in Li Yao's mind is also clear. This is a warning, a warning, and even a threat.

The original ancestor seems to be telling the tester in this way that its secret treasure is not something that can be obtained easily, and the cost of failure is extremely high. Therefore, it is best for the tester to think clearly in a state of extreme calm, whether it should change direction. Go back home.

This is the last chance to give up the test.

Unfortunately, the word "give up" is not in Li Yao's dictionary at all.

Crossing the scrolls of countless civilizations annihilating, across countless corpses of civilizations that are smarter, stronger, braver, kinder, or colder than him, Li Yao's speed is getting faster and faster, and he pierces the center of the dark abyss.

The giant soldiers were shattered, the mustard seed battle clothes and crystal armor were turned into dust, the flesh and blood were disintegrated and disappeared, and even the Scarlet Heart Demon and Lu Qingchen were swept away by a powerful force, making Li Yao no longer in contact. Not for them-think about it, a certain procedure of performing the "ultimate test" treats them as independent individuals, preparing three tests for Li Yao, Scarlet Heart Demon, and Lu Qingchen at the same time.

They must single-handedly complete the test alone.

Li Yao became more anxious, and his fighting spirit became more determined. No matter the Scarlet Inner Demon, Lu Qingchen, Miezhongdao, Longlianzi, or anyone else, it is impossible to be faster than him. He must be the first person to pass the level. !

at last--

The stars dissipated, the darkness shattered, and a faint dim light appeared in his vision. Although the light was a little fuzzy and distorted, he could barely distinguish the layers of scenery.

Everything in front of him surprised Li Yao, stunned.

Passing through the black star gate, stepping past the corpses of countless civilizations, and returning to the time and space of the ancient times, he seemed to have fallen into a hot pristine ocean.

The sky was full of strong dark clouds and violent thunder. Lightning struck the sea like golden knives, stirring the sea up and down. The plates on the bottom of the sea moved extremely violently, and orange-red magma spewed out from time to time in the torn gaps. The black plume of smoke stretched its teeth and claws like a strangely shaped ancient creature.

At this time, the ocean, silence and noise coexist.

Silence is because the first real life has just been born, and the ability to swallow and communicate has not yet been mastered.

The noise is caused by the eruption of submarine volcanoes, the constant collision of ocean currents and waves, the endless roar of thunder in the sky, and the rise and fall of the continent. All of these have awakened the original vitality of the sea, showing hundreds of millions of life explosions. may.

Li Yao was in the ancient ocean, but found that he had lost his body and turned into an archaea.

No, it is not appropriate to use "an archaea" to describe it. In fact, he feels that he has become a large collection of archaea of ​​the same nature, a blanket of fungus hundreds of meters in diameter, attached to a submarine volcano. Next to it, rely on the heat of magma for a living.

But on the other hand, his consciousness is not only condensed on the fungus blanket, but can expand to the seabed thousands of miles away, and even swim in the lightning and thunder, the unpredictable sky, like standing in the "first" From the perspective of the "three", quietly watching how the first creatures in this world evolved.

"Isn't it, here again?"

Li Yao wanted to be dumbfounded, but at this moment, not only did he have no eyes and tongue, but even the flagella for waving had not evolved. He could only think blankly, "Is this the ultimate test, like some kind of consciousness? The'game' that I came to play, then what is considered to be a pass, now I am just a squirming fungus blanket, and I don't even have half of the object to communicate with. Where is the original ancestor and what are the rules!"

This thought had just flashed in his consciousness, and there was a stream of crystal clear pale golden information that slid down like a waterfall from his horizon, providing him with countless data and options.

Li Yao understood instantly.

This is the "first question" of the ultimate test. The tester must manipulate these primitive fungal blankets to re-evolve and evolve into a carbon-based intelligent life that can communicate with the original ancestors.

Every archaea in the original fungus blanket is constantly growing, dividing and dying. In the process of countless divisions and deaths, there will be a very small probability of mutation. The tester must choose those "correct" mutation directions. , And the elimination of "failed" mutants can make the entire ethnic group stronger and ultimately ignite the fire of wisdom.

Of course, different testers must have different understandings of what is "correct" and what is "wrong".

But the slightest loss is a thousand miles away. When the initial life is born, every tiny direction of variation will determine how strange or wise and powerful the final intelligent life is.

Li Yao didn't have time to think about it, the directions of hundreds of millions of mutations exploded within his horizon.

The ultimate test condenses hundreds of millions of years of evolution in just a moment, so every second there are countless variant directions waiting for Li Yao's choice.

Some mutation directions can make the archaea live longer, at the cost of a slower rate of division.

There are also some mutations in the opposite direction, shortening the lifespan of archaea by half, but speeding up division by 50%.

Some mutation directions can make the archaea become spherical, spiral, rod-shaped, disc-shaped and irregular, and some mutations can make the archaea evolve Li Yao's favorite flagella, improve mobility and the ability to swallow food.

Some mutation directions can change the outer cell membrane structure of archaea, making archaea more suitable for the environment near submarine volcanoes, but there are other changes that can increase the strength of the flagella and the overall strength of the fungus blanket, so that the fungus blanket can stay away. Submarine volcanoes, marching to the wider seabed.

Every second, hundreds of pale golden options drifted past Li Yao's vision. In many cases, he didn't even have time to think deeply, so he could only select and make choices based on his instinct.

Li Yao instinctively screened out those mutation directions that prolonged the lifespan of the archaeal bacteria, but retained the ability to "more divisions".

Only more divisions can bring more evolutionary possibilities. Now is not the time to talk about longevity and stability.

Later, he ruled out the variation direction that changes the structure of the cell's outer membrane, which can absorb more magma heat energy.

Li Yao knows very well that life is inert. If archaea evolve a structure that is very suitable for the environment of submarine volcanoes, they will stay here forever, always maintaining a simple and low-level structure, and it is impossible to march into the wider sea. , Thereby evolving more, more complex, and more advanced structures.

Born in peace and dying in sorrow, all life is the same. It is too adaptable to the environment. It is a gentle land that kills without blood. Only forever to move forward, always fight against the environment, fight against the world, and march toward the cruel unknown. The true meaning of life!

At this time, a new mutation direction flashed past Li Yao's eyes.

Li Yao's consciousness almost shrank to the tip of a needle, and he grasped this option like lightning.

that's it!

After a long period of competition and evolution, there is finally an archaea in his flora, which has mutated the ability to carry genetic information with "deoxyribonucleic acid"!

Before that, all archaea used "ribonucleic acid" to store and transmit genetic information.

Li Yao is very clear that although "ribonucleic acid" is also a long-chain molecule that is very suitable for carrying information, it is far inferior to "deoxyribonucleic acid" in terms of the amount of information stored and its stability!

Only by evolving "deoxyribonucleic acid" can the capacity of genetic information exponentially explode, completing the leap from "primordial life" to "ancient life"!

boom!

Just after he chose to use "deoxyribonucleic acid" to replace most of the functions of "ribonucleic acid", the entire pristine ocean was swallowed by golden light balls, like an earth-shattering explosion.

Immediately afterwards, the surrounding environment became completely different, the eruption of submarine volcanoes gradually subsided, the crust and the weather became relatively stable, and more and more ancient marine life evolved, such as trilobites, nautilus and The multicellular advanced life of the armor fish swims among the sea anemones, seaweeds and colorful jellyfish.

Li Yao once again faced a life-and-death choice.

The golden flow of information told him that according to the mutant genes he now possesses, he can choose to evolve into trilobites, nautilus, carapace fish, and other top predators in the ancient ocean. Of course, he can also choose to become a next-level predator. The prey is compensated by other evolutionary directions.