Stepping into the fissure opened by the Leader Variant Ice Emperor.
The moment Lu Xing, following behind it, passed through the portal, an opulent "palace" materialized before his eyes—
Whether it was the ground, the walls, or the vaulted ceiling.
Everywhere was composed of purple crystals, formed from highly concentrated Honkai energy.
The sheer scale visible to him was equivalent to the energy required to condense hundreds of millions of [Honkai Lance Projections].
Natural and ancient.
This unadorned, primordial beauty allowed Lu Xing to more profoundly appreciate nature's... no, Honkai's breathtaking artistry.
And this sense of awe.
It peaked as Lu Xing's gaze shifted to the center of this entire "world."
A Honkai Energy Fissure!
A Honkai energy fissure that nearly spanned heaven and earth, standing like a celestial pillar in the center of his vision—compared to Lu Xing's former spring, this unparalleled fissure was simply beyond words.
Around the fissure.
Honkai energy crystals were lifted by an unseen force, forming a suspended framework resembling a DNA helix, accentuating its grandeur and magnificence.
Honkai energy, surging like a tide, continuously swept out from within the fissure. Even from a great distance, Lu Xing could feel an all-encompassing comfort—this place was truly a sanctuary for Honkai Beasts.
"Honkai be with you."
The Ice Emperor's voice echoed in Lu Xing's mind once more—his sea of consciousness, quite pragmatically, translated it into a version he was familiar with. The latter, without pausing, flew far off towards the apex of the Honkai Fissure.
The Ice Emperor's speed wasn't particularly fast.
Lu Xing followed closely behind, and soon, he was able to witness this breathtaking beauty up close.
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"Swoosh."
With a gentle rustle of wind.
The Ice Emperor gradually vanished from Lu Xing's sight—there was definitely something above the Honkai energy fissure, but unfortunately, with Lu Xing's current perception abilities, he couldn't see the very top.
He could, of course, revert to his Ranger-class form and fly up to take a look.
But neither transforming his form nor unauthorized scouting were things Lu Xing intended to reveal.
He had something more curious to investigate now: Honkai Beasts.
"Tap."
"Tap."
Treading on the crystal-textured path, Lu Xing, seemingly strolling leisurely, was already moving at a speed exceeding the limits of human sight—yet even with the aid of his [Dash], it took Lu Xing a full two minutes to circle the base of the colossal fissure once.
Normally.
Lu Xing definitely wouldn't be able to maintain the [Dash] state for two minutes.
But the overwhelmingly super-concentrated Honkai energy in the surroundings was constantly replenishing Lu Xing's expenditure—this was evident from the state of his horns, which were continuously flickering... no, it should be called shining, atop his head.
After one circuit.
Lu Xing successfully discovered three Honkai Beasts—among them were some "old faces" quite familiar to Lu Xing, as well as forms he had never seen before.
But without exception.
These behemoths, seemingly resting with closed eyes but actually continuously absorbing and purifying their own Honkai energy, had clearly already noticed Lu Xing, this new "companion."
The first thing Lu Xing saw was a colossal Honkai Beast, visually estimated to be around 25 meters tall, clad in what resembled medieval heavy armor, with arms like battering rams:
Race: Ice Emperor Guard Warlord-class
Level: 55
Other: Unknown
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This Warlord-class Honkai Beast wasn't the primordial purple-white color.
Instead, it boasted a gradient shifting from black to cyan—this appearance bore many similarities to the Ice Emperor, or even Lu Xing's own form—evidently a characteristic bestowed by the "Ice" affix.
Due to the inability to see its specific attributes.
Lu Xing roughly judged that although this creature lacked the "[Leader]" or "[Variant]" affixes, its raw power, 18 levels higher than his own, was definitely not something he could handle.
However...
Lu Xing also noticed something peculiar about this Honkai Beast.
In an environment so rich in Honkai energy, its level was actually only Lv.55... That wasn't quite right; it should be described as "excessively standard" Lv.55—just like when Lu Xing encountered the Ice Emperor, its displayed Lv.60 made it difficult for him not to suspect that some "rule" was restricting lower-ranking Honkai Beasts from advancing further.
Lu Xing's gaze didn't linger for too long.
The Warlord-class had not yet appeared on his evolution path, meaning it was at least one major tier higher than Lu Xing in rank.
However, though the Warlord-class was eye-catching.
Lu Xing's attention was soon drawn to two other creatures he had never seen before.
A diamond-shaped single eye, a triangular head.
It appeared to be only about 10 meters tall, its form resembling... a large jellyfish wearing a tutu, its "hem," materialized from Honkai energy, looking exceptionally exquisite.
As for its most striking feature.
It was actually the six conical, piercing lances that orbited its main body.
Race: Emperor Guard Quillspike-class
Level: 55
Other: Unknown
The last one resembled a winged whale; to be precise, a Honkai Beast shaped like the "Kun" from classical Eastern mythology—it was also the largest of the three Honkai Beasts Lu Xing had seen.
Race: Emperor Guard Cruiser-class
Level: 55
Other: Unknown
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Both were Honkai Beasts he had never seen before.
Lu Xing was very certain that in Sanbengzi before his transmigration, he had absolutely never heard of creatures like these—they clearly looked like distinct classifications of Honkai Beasts, not variants or subspecies.
This notion was soon verified, and in a manner reminiscent of a sensational news bulletin—without any other influence, the System's voice suddenly appeared in Lu Xing's mind.
"Honkai Beasts exceeding holder's cognitive scope detected."
"System update."
"Update complete. 'Honkai Beast Development Manual 5.8' update finished."
"System Bug fixed. Compensation distributed."
"?"
What's going on!?
Lu Xing had never heard that a system brought along by transmigration could actually receive version updates!
Never mind that the update even came with bug fixes—he actually wanted to complain more about how such an advanced piece of kit could even have bugs—no, the most outrageous part was that this "flash update" actually came with compensation!
The information transmitted by the System.
Instantly interrupted Lu Xing's conjectures about the two new types of Honkai Beasts. His attention was quickly drawn to the new system.
First and foremost was the main quest, which deserved the most attention.
The original quest, which had three branches, had been completely consolidated by the system, now updated to version 5.8:
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Mission: Kill a total of 10,000 Honkai Beasts/Humans/Mechs.
Reward: Attack/Speed/Constitution +3, Level +1; according to the proportion of individual kill types, the holder's [Dash], [Crystal Wall], and [Strike] skills will, based on completion status and corresponding evolution branches, advance to [Ice Dash], [Honkai Energy Crystal Wall], and [Heavy Strike].
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