Chapter 754: The Path Of Evolution

Military Guard Bureau.

Li Xiaofei was escorted by a young, beautiful female staff officer to Director Li Sheng. Li Sheng had presided over the Military Guard Bureau for one hundred and sixty-three years and was the most trusted confidant of City Lord Song Jinglun. His strength and capability were formidable as he ranked twentieth on the list of Chongque City’s top one hundred experts. A hundred and forty-three years ago, he retired from the Star Battlefield, and was rumored to have been a fearsome and formidable warrior in his prime.

“Sit,” said Li Sheng as he pointed at the chair opposite him.

He was a very capable man. Military discipline was still vividly present in his demeanor. Li Xiaofei thanked him and sat down.

Without wasting a single word, Li Sheng immediately activated a void projection using a security key. A vividly futuristic image appeared in the air to the left of the massive office. They had twenty-four lines of text; these were the evolutionary paths available to all base planets.

Martial Arts. Cultivation. Mechanical Technology. Biological Science. Collective Consciousness. Beast Taming. Summoning. Superpowers. Arcane Magic. Super Card Systems. Aberration Fusion. And many, many more.

Even though Hu Shuo had previously given him a general overview, the moment Li Xiaofei truly laid eyes on the list of evolution options, countless thoughts surged through his heart.

The Earth he had originally come from had followed the Martial Arts path. No, more accurately, every ‘failed evolution’ planet he had visited in the past had adopted martial arts as their route.

However, Earth No. 1818 had displayed potential for a superpowers route during the initial assessment. A large number of superpowered individuals had already begun to emerge.

Li Sheng handed the key in his hand to Li Xiaofei and said, “There’s no rush. Take your time and look carefully. Each option has a detailed description, along with examples of successful evolutionary cases. Remember, your decision is of utmost importance. It concerns the fate of billions of lives on Earth No. 1818.”

He then stood and headed toward the office door. “Once you’ve made your decision, just let me know.”

Startled, Li Xiaofei stood up quickly and asked, “I can decide on my own? There’s no need for review from the Strategy Department or the Council?”

Li Sheng turned at the doorway and looked at him. He said, “Bureaucratic systems are too slow. Their outcomes are usually compromises among various factions, and rarely truly suitable. Debate and consideration is what the position of Chief Evolution Officer was created for. Now that the appointment has been finalized, the entire evolutionary direction of the planet falls under your sole responsibility. No one else has the authority to interfere.”

Use the capable without doubt. If you have doubts, don’t use them.

With that, Li Sheng left the office. He had an overwhelming workload every day. Though he had a prestigious position, he remained extremely busy. A newly appointed Chief Evolution Officer wouldn’t normally be granted an audience with him. Today’s meeting with Li Xiaofei was a rare exception.

Many subordinates didn’t understand why. But Li Sheng had never explained his actions to anyone except the City Lord. And in the past one hundred and sixty-three years, the City Lord had never once questioned Li Sheng.

Holding the key in his hand, Li Xiaofei began to carefully browse through the data. Each option came with a comprehensive breakdown.

For example, the Martial Arts path had an extensive classification of cultivation realms with thousands of distinct categories. It included various martial techniques, weapon systems, evolutionary trends, combat effectiveness on interstellar battlefields, success rates, and a list of planets that had succeeded with that path.

The success rate for Martial Arts evolution was less than twenty-one percent. One example of success was Base Planet No. 19884. It had since become a major source of soldiers for the Star Battlefield, providing about a million cosmic warriors to the frontlines every year. It was a brilliant achievement.

Every other evolution path had the same detailed analysis. One that especially intrigued Li Xiaofei was a path called Super Card System. It was a mystical method that used cards to manifest various powers.

The potency of the cards was beyond imagination. At their peak, they could rival celestial or demonic beings. On Base Planet No. 12699, which had succeeded in this path, the strongest individual used stars as raw material to craft cards and each card held power equivalent to an Emperor-class immortal.

Li Xiaofei couldn’t help but click his tongue in amazement. Other evolution paths were equally fascinating. Beast Taming, for example, involved domesticating Star Beasts to fight for the user. It reminded him of the Pokebon anime he’d watched in the past. Some evolutions even allowed for human-beast fusion, resulting in super lifeforms. The Summoning path, meanwhile, called upon heroic spirits of the dead, akin to invoking divine possession... There was a whole universe of possibilities waiting at his fingertips.

Li Xiaofei carefully went through every single evolution option. He was extremely meticulous. After reviewing everything, a question emerged in his mind,

Is a base planet only allowed to have one fixed evolutionary path?

That question was answered affirmatively by the beautiful female staff officer outside the office, whose name was Guli Reza.

Yes. Based on Chongque City's extensive experience gathered from countless failed and successful evolution cases across the base planets, those that followed a single evolution path had a measurable chance of success. In contrast, those that attempted composite evolution paths had zero success. Every last one had failed.

“Only pure singularity, and high-intensity unified competition, can become the true driving force of evolution,” the staff officer explained patiently. “Take the hundred thousand base planets for example, their civilizational paths were completely unified before their evolution was triggered. They all developed along the lines of material energy, as well as mechanical and electronic technology. There was no sign of any alternative evolutionary route before the year 2023.”

Li Xiaofei thought it over and indeed, it made perfect sense. Earth, the origin of the hundred thousand base planets, had followed a singular evolutionary route before Chongque City’s intervention.

They had gone from unicellular life to multicellular organisms, from marine to terrestrial species, from primitive tools and fire, and from villages and cities. The same had held true for ships, trains, airplanes, electricity, and nuclear energy. The direction of evolution had always been coherent and focused. History had never presented any major divergence or internal disputes on the evolutionary path.

“Multi-path evolution equals no evolution at all. It leads only to stagnation. And the most crucial reason,” the staff officer added patiently, “is that multiple evolutionary systems demand enormous resources and energy, far beyond what a single base planet’s scale can provide.”

Li Xiaofei nodded in understanding. He then used the security key to begin simulating calculations.

In the end, the result given by the key’s simulation was clear. Earth No. 1818 was best suited for the evolution path of Superpowers. This matched Li Xiaofei’s earlier assumption. After all, a considerable number of superpowered individuals had already emerged on Earth-1818 during the initial testing phase.

However, Li Xiaofei suddenly recalled that the Way of Ancient Martial Arts he had been teaching on Earth No. 1818 had also shown remarkable results. Figures like Daoist Sanjue and Swordmaster Wukong had displayed extraordinary strength.

Did this mean that Superpowers and Martial Arts could coexist?

Given the conclusions drawn from Chongque City’s long evolutionary history, even Li Xiaofei wasn’t confident in that possibility. Still, he decided to run an experimental trial first. Ultimately, he selected Superpowers as the primary evolution path.

“All set.” Li Xiaofei stretched lazily, relieved, and asked, “So... what’s the next step? How do we guide Earth No. 1818 into the Superpower Era?”

Guli Reza replied, “By using Energy Spores.”

“Energy Spores? What is that?” Li Xiaofei asked curiously.