Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1516: Is this the way? (Part 1)

First, there was an unexpected encounter, then a trial followed by a deadly battle, and now everything has returned to what seemed like a simple test at first glance.

Alexia tried to break through the barrier by force, ignoring the Head Golem’s warnings, but obviously, she failed. All she got was a few bruises.

Adam, in turn, decided to listen to the Head Golem, which led him to an unexpected choice.

“Hmm? You want to hit me?” Adam raised an eyebrow, caught off guard. Until that moment, the Head Golem had not been in a hurry to attack them. He had been peaceful and even polite for the most part.

The Head Golem nodded.

“You can respond to my blow with the same… or just take it… My goal is not to hurt you, there are enough monsters in this place who will do that without saying a word…”

Adam’s facial muscles twitched. The Head Golem was right, as the ice worm did not hesitate before attacking him. If someone weaker had been in his place, it would have been just another snack for the ice worm.

“How will that help me? What is the ancient energy? It’s different from the Midnight Crystal and Twilight Crystal, right?”

A multitude of questions fell upon the Head Golem. Adam indeed hoped that the Head Golem would answer at least some of them.

Adam already knew enough about this world to understand that all the energy that had surrounded him his entire life came from the Midnight and Twilight crystals. This did not happen directly, but through the World Wipe.

The Twilight Crystals were part of the First Star, while the Midnight Crystals were part of the Last Star. When the First Star and Last Star collided once every 250 years, the World Wipe occurred, basically a complete world reset except for the strongest beings in this world who had the power not only to survive the World Wipe but also to protect others.

As was known, after the World Wipe, the energy density in the world is at its peak. All this energy comes from the shock wave caused by the collision of the First Star and the Last Star.

So, until a Phantom reaches a sufficient level of power, all it can encounter on its path is the star energy. At the Dead Lands, there is no place where a Phantom could encounter another type of energy, namely, the ancient energy.

This was something Adam understood to some extent. He knew that although the energy in each territory differed slightly in properties, especially in density and purity, it was still the energy coming from the Two Stars.

But… the Primal Lands were different. The ancient energy was not something he had encountered anywhere before.

The only exception was the Hollow Spire Island, where he received the Desire of Beyond. However, many years had passed since there had been even a trace of the ancient energy there, from an ancient monster that had perished in battle.

The Head Golem did not answer any of Adam’s questions. Instead, he brought his hand back and clenched his fist tightly.

“Be ready, young man… I will not spare you… If you want to get to the Frost Oasis, you must be able to take blows much stronger than this one.”

Whooooooooosh.

Cutting through the wind, the Head Golem brought his fist down directly on Adam.

Alexia, who was standing nearby, immediately jumped aside. She acted instinctively, sensing how powerful this single punch was.

Now, the choice was Adam’s.

He could dodge, block the attack, take it with his chest, or respond to the blow with his own.

Well, Adam wasn’t going to let himself be beaten, even if he needed to learn something new.

Step.

Adam stepped forward, directing all his strength into his fist.

The next moment, their fists collided.

“Agh?” Alexia’s eyes widened.

For a moment, it seemed to her that Adam had managed to stop the Head Golem’s fist, which was as big as he was.

But… reality was much more brutal.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

The skin cracked as numerous gaps opened up along Adam’s arm, with streams of blood gushing out in all directions.

The impact passed through his body, throwing him back dozens of meters like a cannonball.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Adam crashed into chunks of ice, rocks, and bones with his back until he hit the ground and stopped after several dozen meters, leaving a bloody trail behind him.

Alexia gulped as she stared at Adam’s arm. She didn’t know if Adam’s arm was broken or not, but in any case, one simple punch turned out to be much stronger than she expected.

‘Shit! He’s an idiot!’ Alexia exclaimed inwardly. ‘Why did he respond to that strike? If he had blocked the golem’s punch with both hands, he would have gotten a couple of bruises at most!’

In fact, Alexia was right.

Instead of allowing his body to absorb the incoming damage and suffer minimal injury, Adam put his arm in the way of the blow.

Crack.

Adam rolled onto his side as he got up from the ground. He leaned on his right arm, which, despite the bloody streaks, was not broken. He was lucky that after such a punch, his arm remained intact.

With difficulty, Adam got up, confidently standing on both feet.

“Gha…” He exhaled cold vapor, looking at the tiny ice crystals suspended in the air. They reflected light like prisms, but not pale blue like the rest of the world, but gray-purple, like the energy at the Primal Lands.

Then, his gaze rose upward to the sun that lit his path while its light reflected off the expanse covered with a thick layer of snow.

Alexia looked from the Head Golem to Adam. She couldn’t understand what was happening.

Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.

After a few moments, Adam’s aura trembled as it rose sharply and then began to fall just as quickly.

Perhaps he was about to do the most risky thing he had done in a long time, because he was about to become completely helpless on his next strike.