Age of Evolution

Chapter 584: Chapter 585: Before the Heavenly Gate

“Line up, everyone! Keep some distance between each other!”

“The one in front of me, you stepped on my foot! Are you blind?”

“To that Rocky Clan member, can you lay down and cultivate? You’re like a wall here, and we can’t see the condition of the Heavenly Gate at all.”

“I used to think there were only a few Advanced Martial Artists, but here I realize, there are countless people in the universe. It’s so crowded that it’s suffocating!”

“Right? I’ve been waiting here for over a hundred years and only got one chance to challenge the Heavenly Gate. Damn it, those with connections always get opportunities, while we without the care of the World Kings suffer.”

About 23,400 kilometers away from the Life Pillar, a queue of Black Hole Period Martial Artists moved forward like a worm.

The towering Heavenly Gate in the distance seemed so sacred and unattainable to them.

Over the past century, Martial Artists have displayed their prowess in order to challenge the Heavenly Gate.

Once highly respected, they became ordinary people here, as everyone around them was as powerful or even more powerful than them.

This situation already took into account those who left out of hopelessness. Initially, the queue went millions of kilometers out from the entrance.

And this wasn’t just one line – there were many!

Some started using their wits, desperately building relationships with World King Powerhouses, offering the treasures they’ve collected. If a World King Powerhouse favored them, they might support them, taking them to their spot for a challenge at the Heavenly Gate.

As World Kings occupying the front lines, they could challenge the Heavenly Gate every day. Some even had the strength to do so but chose to stay and gather benefits, preparing their foundation for entering the Original World.

Many World Kings set a fixed price – one hundred billion Cosmic Crystals for a single challenge!

Most Martial Artists couldn’t afford such a price, and even those who could soon found the Heavenly Gate to be practically unattainable after their first try.

Those unwilling to accept this went back to cultivate and returned for another challenge once they felt their strength had significantly improved.

This cycle repeated itself, and with people to guide them every day, these Kings earned a fortune.

Of course, World Kings didn’t occupy all the spots around the Heavenly Gate. Out of a total of one hundred thousand spots, ninety thousand were taken by powerful World Kings.

The remaining ten thousand spots were reserved for those queuing Martial Artists. Six thousand spots were for Domain King level Martial Artists, who took turns moving forward, while three thousand were for Star System Stage Martial Artists and one thousand for Black Hole Period Martial Artists.

It was impossible to count the number of Black Hole Period Martial Artists throughout the universe. Thus, the queue for this stage was the longest, with a thousand lines full of people everywhere.

Some who couldn’t stand the agony of waiting would seek relationships with World Kings, offering them gifts. It worked once or twice, but too often, and they’d end up giving away all their savings.

Countless people without money gave away their territories, life stars, mineral stars, and even wives.

However, since everyone here was an Advanced Martial Artist familiar with all sorts of grand spectacles, even the most beautiful woman in a star system or an entire galaxy wouldn’t be worth much.

Only top-notch beauties from high-level civilization Universe Countries would be sought after by World Kings with such tastes.

To challenge the Heavenly Gate, being cuckolded and going bankrupt were nothing, and countless people even lost their lives.

Despite all this, the 300,000-kilometer-long queue still proved how popular the Heavenly Gate was!

The opportunity to pursue longevity was an irresistible temptation for Martial Artists.

If you couldn’t get through the Heavenly Gate this time, you’d likely never see the next chance.

After ten thousand years, almost everyone who failed would perish!

Of course, there was another way to advance quickly – challenging the person in front of you.

As long as you defeated the person in front, you could move up one spot, but you couldn’t skip challengers, or you’d invite group attacks.

Legend had it that this rule was set by a Longevity Realm Great God named Zhuiyue from the Original World when the Heavenly Gate first appeared.

The Longevity Realm was a level above the World Kings. Only by reaching this realm could one escape the limits of lifespan, stabilize one’s internal world, and avoid birth, aging, illness, and death.

Unless you committed suicide or were killed by someone, you could live forever.

When Zhuiyue appeared to announce the rules, disputing World Kings were quarreling over their positions. They refused to accept him and attacked him together.

As a result, with the pressure of his God’s might, Zhuiyue killed more than thirty World Kings on the spot, intimidating everyone. From then on, the rule for challenging the Heavenly Gate was established.

********

Lin Zhen’s spaceship arrived without causing any ripples.

Stepping out of the spaceship, Lin Zhen indeed felt the strong smell of alcohol.

“The Wine Red Star Nebula, truly lives up to its name.”

The ground beneath his feet wasn’t solid, but a void with a faint mist. Only when Martial Artists reached the Black Hole Period and had self-sustaining Star Power in their bodies could they stay here for a long time. This also explained why there were no Constant Star Stage Martial Artists here.

Lin Zhen stepped forward and joined the queue of Black Hole Period Martial Artists at the end of the line.

In front of him was a martial artist dressed in black with a single horn on top of his head.

The Single-horned Tribe, besides the sharp horn on their heads, didn’t look much different from other humans.

“You’re new here?” The man turned and glanced at Lin Zhen.

“Yeah, I just arrived.”

“Galaxy Beast Tribe?”

This guy had sharp eyes, sizing up Lin Zhen in a glance and recognizing Lin Zhen’s Galaxy Beast bloodline.

“Yes, from the Star River Giant Beast Alliance.”

“Then you’d better not hang around here. You should head over to the Star River Giant Beast Alliance area. There, there are teams for flying creatures, ground creatures, aquatic creatures, and armored creatures, and the number of people is relatively less compared to here.”

“Oh, thank you.”

Lin Zhen thanked the Single-horned Tribe martial artist and quickly found the team of the Star River Giant Beast Alliance.

There were five teams here, separated into ground creatures, flying creatures, armored creatures, aquatic creatures, and feathered creatures.

Lin Zhen was a Fire Kirin Black Hole Beast, so naturally, he had to join the ground creature team.

Upon arriving, Lin Zhen frowned slightly.

Looking ahead from his angle, the team continued as far as the eye could see. Compared to the nearby teams of flying and armored creatures, the ground creature team was disproportionately long.

He did a quick calculation and estimated the length of the team to be around two hundred thousand kilometers. Lin Zhen thought that if he queued up one by one, he would probably be here for at least a few decades, if not a hundred years.

“It seems I can only fight my way through. This is the Black Hole Period team, so challenging them should be easy for me.”

As he walked to the back of the team, before Lin Zhen could say anything about the challenge, the interstellar communication from the Dimensional Universe rang.

It was Han Sha from the Star River Giant Beast Alliance.

“Hey, Brother Han Sha! Long time no see!”

“Yeah, Little Brother Lin Zhen, it’s been over a hundred years since we last met. How have you been?”

“I’ve been great — eating well, sleeping well, and having a good life. Everything is good, haha.”

“That’s good to hear. So, Lin, have you come to the Heavenly Gate?”

“I just arrived. How did you know, Brother Han Sha?”

“That’s simple. I searched for nearby friends in the Dimensional Universe, and I found out that you arrived. Are you now at the end of the Star River Giant Beast Alliance team?”

“Yes, I’m right at the last position, and who knows how many years it will be until I get a chance to go to the Heavenly Gate. I’m just about to challenge my way up.”

“Don’t challenge anyone. Just come to the front. I’m in the 300th position or so. When you get here, I’ll introduce you to some people who can help, so you won’t have to stand in line or challenge anyone.”

Lin Zhen immediately agreed, and if he could skip challenging others, he would prefer not to. Whoever he challenges now might enter the Original World later, and it’s very possible to end up as an enemy after such a challenge.

Following the queue to the front, Lin Zhen had his eyes opened on the way.

The team of Galaxy Beasts was the most diverse with unusual creatures. Some people did not want to appear in human form, and in the eyes of many martial artists, having a Galaxy Beast bloodline is something to be proud of and to show off.

They would even maintain their Galaxy Beast forms during normal times.

As he walked through the ground creature team, Lin Zhen felt like he had entered an exotic zoo.

“Roar! Another person using the backdoor, shameless!” A giant saber-toothed tiger spoke in human language, complaining about Lin Zhen as he passed by.

“Coward! If you’ve got the guts, challenge us! I can’t stand people like you with connections – a disgrace to martial artists!” A double-headed demonic wolf shot sparks as it spoke, appearing very irritable.

“Come on! You gutless thug! I’ll crush your balls!” A muscular White Ape broke a stick with its knees and threatened Lin Zhen.

“Big brother, who are you here to see? Can you take me with you? I can be your girlfriend!”

A beautiful red fox swayed her tail and cast a flirtatious glance at Lin Zhen.

Feeling helpless, Lin Zhen could only speed up, creating a gust of wind beneath his feet, as he quickly left behind those harassing others and went to the front of the queue.

“Lin, over here!”

Finally getting a view of the Heavenly Gate up ahead, Lin Zhen heard someone calling him.

He saw Han Sha in the crowd.

Han Sha was also at the Black Hole Peak. The Star System Stage is not that easy to enter, and having Lin Zhen’s help, a powerful individual, provides many advantages over others.

Lin Zhen felt a little emotional, looking at Han Sha, who seemed somewhat disheveled compared to his past glory. At least, his strength, amidst the vast sea of people in the universe, had become insignificant.

“Brother Han Sha, it’s been a long time!” The two embraced for a moment.