How Am I Still Alive?-Chapter 1425 - 1421 Advancement

The landscape in the courtyard was changing every day. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

From the day Lu Ping’an broke through to the Rule-level, this once "bonsai spot" had completely turned into a world... Although the presence of borders could still be felt, without intentionally seeking differences, the essence felt and the real world was no different in essential aspects.

At the same time, visibly, the boundaries of the courtyard were extending every day.

It was as if Lu Ping’an, this "bottle," had grown bigger and sturdier, naturally allowing more material to be piled inside.

But this description, though easy to understand, was not complete; it was more like Lu Ping’an’s seventh-tier "chassis" had become sturdier, and he started adding other sixth and seventh-tier supplementary services.

These newly added Decrees and rules greatly increased the complexity of the world, making it more "real" and overall more stable.

Lu Ping’an estimated that his "load capacity" had at least tripled this month, which actually also meant that his "contamination" capacity had at least tripled.

"Next time’s ’smuggling’ is going to be very difficult..."

Lu Ping’an understood that perhaps the so-called Deity’s Divine Kingdom/Divine Boat was just a larger container, a more spacious courtyard.

In a sense, this was also why the courtyard/Divine Kingdom had a clear carriage capacity. They could not bear material aspects like mass and weight but could handle "uncontrollable contamination."

Previously, Lu Ping’an had a smaller size... but now, compared to back then, it could be hundreds of times bigger, making unobstructed smuggling impossible.

Perhaps if Lu went even further, he might not be able to enter the Divine Boat at all.

And Lu Ping’an, too, could not leave his courtyard...

"Do we have results?"

"Almost. Here is the experimental report and some potentially useful application methods..."

Lu Ping’an’s courtyard housed research institutions in various fields including Magic Potions, factories, and life forms, proving useful in many situations.

Now, what lay on the research bench were several charred stars.

These were the remains of the Crimson Star King or, in other words, "materialized rule crystals."

Professional evolution, or the evolution of Extraordinary Beings, was all based on "ordered rules" as keystones to domesticate the disorderly Chaos contamination.

Even if professionals/ Extraordinary Beings died, their rules would naturally collapse, and the originally domesticated contamination would naturally disperse... but the crystallized, stabilized Rule Crystals, had a chance of remaining in a material form, becoming the most valuable spoils of war.

Of course, one could also take advantage of their incomplete collapse by binding their remnants to an object, and Lu Ping’an’s "War Flag," such raiders excelled in this aspect.

But if they were raided, and the total remnants were reduced, the value of the "spoils of war" would naturally decrease.

Killing professionals of the same career directly absorbs their residual rules, gathering their dissipating forces, which is indeed rapid progress.

A strong Decree System, or professionals with deep obsessions or resentments, also left something behind... Lu Ping’an’s previous Cards and Life Encyclopedia were similar materials.

Such spoils of war didn’t happen every time, and they had a lot to do with how the opponents died; the deeper the obsession, the more power that was unnaturally cohesive and the more likely they were to produce high-quality "Rule Crystals."

Incidentally, due to different evolutionary paths, professionals often leave relics, while Extraordinary Beings have a higher chance of leaving "Crystals."

"There are two rules in these, one as you guessed is ’Breed,’ and the other is ’Heat Up’..."

Upon hearing this, Lu Ping’an was unsurprised; his Panel identified more clearly than the experts, not only Breed (Lower Gold) and Self Heat Up (Lower Gold) but also Self-healing (Upper Silver) and Devour (Silver Mid-position).

This guy was actually much stronger than Lu Ping’an had anticipated, with two quite stable Golden Rules, indeed having standards to be proud of... The damaged crystals were often a sign of the Original Owner’s diminished power, mostly of a Lower level.

Lu Ping’an touched the charred stars in his hands, feeling both surprised and satisfied.

This time’s kill was exceptionally complete, the opponent wasn’t pushed into an "exhausted" state, nor was there the presence of robbing elements like the Abyss Beheading Sword/War Flag, preserving most of the Original Owner’s rules in the crystal.

"Sell off Breed, or focus on using Self Heat Up for Little Flame..."

Lu Ping’an handed the materials to his team, naturally expecting them to find a suitable use for them.

Often, a crystal compounded with rules is not necessarily a good thing, because craftsmen don’t have the skill level to modify it... For most professionals, the mottled rules are hard to handle, and for craftsmen tasked with turning them into weapons or equipment, maintaining more than two rules stable in the same object is too difficult.

A rule crystal that is incomplete is not equivalent to a "rule"; it requires various auxiliary materials and designs to function, and if it has two cores, it’s not as simple as just giving up one, as the two will interfere with each other.

For example, if this star were made into a weapon, the development team said it would most likely produce a weapon that "causes the user to become aroused and overheated naturally after use"...

"What? What kind of new age electric self-heating massage wand..."

Lu Ping’an thought for a moment; if this weapon were made, he himself would probably become instantly famous worldwide.

".... Alright, let’s have Little Flame use it."

Even the most valuable treasure, if it cannot be transformed into a tangible increase in combat power, is still meaningless.

This "splitting" and "recombination" trait is probably only something a very few life forms can handle... Energy creatures are one of those exceptions.

"Ooh... hot..."

"Little Flame" was soaking in Lu Ping’an’s cauldron, sometimes transforming into a fish, sometimes a bird, and sometimes a human-shaped flame, having a blast.

[Life Cauldron (Upper Silver): As a cradle nurturing life forms, it can re-cultivate certain specific demons/magic pets. When a new magic pet is ’born,’ it can provide certain buffs.]

As Lu Ping’an grew, this accessory from the Life Illustration that composed the "Heavenly Set", was also slowly evolving.

However, because Lu Ping’an kept it in a "hungry" state for a long time, it still could not break through to Rule-level.

As a life cauldron, this was already enough...

"... It’s ready."

Watching the star in the cauldron begin to disintegrate and turn into a viscous liquid coating Little Flame, Lu Ping’an knew it had worked.

The compatibility between the two was indeed good; otherwise, it wouldn’t have taken effect this quickly... Most of the time, when Lu Ping’an cooked magic pets, even if some good ingredients were added, it usually just ended in a soak.

Extraordinary beings also have their own evolutionary paths; aside from Zhi Xi, who took the path of a professional, they independently advance on their own evolutionary paths and hunt for the most suitable nutrition for themselves.

This time, what Lu Ping’an added was not only that unlucky star but also the precious "Divine Blood Lampgrass."

Being a Holy Fire Creature, Little Flame should be able to handle this extra rule.

It, or rather she, was still splashing around in the cauldron, occasionally splashing water on Lu Ping’an, quite mischievous... Although cooking fire in a pot is quite abstract, this "conceptual recombination" in the Life Cauldron was indeed altering Little Flame’s form.

She morphed between her past Ant Body Mantis form, the seductive Fire Demoness, and mimicked the formidable Abyss Lord. As a born energy creature, she had no fixed form.

Finally, when all settled down, what remained in the cauldron was a much smaller form.

She... smiled, like a sprite in the palm, playfully bouncing on Lu Ping’an’s hand.

[Little Flame (Lower Gold creature)]

And this also marked her successful evolution.

"Uh, let’s get you some clothes first..."

Having become a true Rule-level creature, she now possessed a "Fake Man" form, just like Rule-level professionals.

However, as the little flame leaped onto the floor and became a material form, Lu Ping’an was also busy finding fabric for her.

After all, conventional clothes would probably not be well-suited against this lower-body cloud-walking "Centaurs" form.

"Ooh!"

And her actions, as usual, eagerly jumping towards Lu Ping’an, only made it more awkward for him.