Ling Essence

Lin Hua's words were no different from dropping a bombshell into everyone's hearts.

That was right.

According to the usual rules, the second-round finals were mainly a one-on-one elimination format.

After finishing a match, contestants had to stop and rest.

Otherwise, if they remained active the entire time,

their minds or bodies would never withstand such a burden.

Li Yi's startup time of over an hour meant he had to keep the machine running throughout in order to physically participate in the next match.

If he failed to successfully start it up a second time within the stipulated time, he would naturally be eliminated.

Long Guanshan gave Lin Hua a surprised look. Had this woman deliberately said that to stir up the fighting spirit of those whose combat skills and startup performances were above average?

"If their compatibility isn't high enough, they might not be able to control it as naturally as their own limbs from the start. So while our combat skills may not compare to Li Yi's, we still have a chance of being stronger than him in short-term live mech combat."

After thinking it over, Long Guanshan decided to add fuel to the fire as well.

Other than Li Yi, Liang Shaocong was clearly the strongest opponent.

If he could inspire everyone else's fighting spirit and create some obstacles for Liang Shaocong, that would be good too.

Zhong Xiufa fixed his gaze on the Pluto Mech's movements without saying a word.

The others wore varying expressions, each occupied with their own calculations.

Crimson Gourd AI sat atop her large gourd and circled above the Pluto Mech. Her pale red eyes gleamed with a strange light as she excitedly waved her arms.

"Move, Li Yi!"

"The Celestial God Series has tremendous combat potential. You can amplify the essence of your fighting techniques through Pluto!"

"Fuck, why are you being so damn sluggish!?"

She turned into an irritable old woman, flitting around the Pluto Mech like a mosquito as she continuously shouted.

Inside the Pluto Mech's cockpit.

Li Yi's entire body was wrapped in some sort of pale red fluid.

He had initially thought it would suffocate him, but unexpectedly found that breathing had become smoother.

The violent shaking caused by the Pluto Mech's movements was also effortlessly absorbed by the fluid.

Within this special fluid, his brain and body seemed to have connected with the Pluto Mech.

His field of vision was a 360-degree panoramic view from the Pluto Mech's head.

The dense flow of sensory information—sound, touch, and more—made him feel as though he had truly become a forty-three-meter giant.

Crimson Gourd AI's voice was somewhat quiet, but he could still hear it clearly.

"Not bad, not bad. Don't just stand there—move already!"

Li Yi was helpless. It was not that he did not want to move.

It was simply that the Pluto Mech's bodily systems had not yet fully started up.

Other than opening its eyes relatively quickly at the beginning, its other movements were as horribly slow and laggy as an ancient computer booting up.

Forcibly obtaining control memories may not improve compatibility all that much, but at least the startup succeeded. As long as I keep capturing memories of controlling the Pluto Mech afterward, the startup speed will improve. I won't be stuck with its eyes open while the body still can't move properly.

Moreover, my advantage is that many of these memory fragments should be fragments that have undergone Divinity Radiation. Their enhancement efficiency should be even higher.

As Li Yi calculated inwardly, he also guided the Pluto Mech to move its body.

About four minutes later.

The Pluto Mech's body was finally able to perform smooth, natural movements.

Accompanied by the heavy thudding of footsteps.

The people below began to speculate as well.

For his first time controlling it, just how long could Li Yi keep the Pluto Mech moving?

Everyone knew that Li Yi's combat skills were formidable, but they might be able to glean some clues about just how formidable they were from the duration of his activity this time.

That was because the length of one's active time was closely related to physical constitution, mental resilience, and self-control.

"More than seven minutes already."

"Looks like matching Liang Shaocong won't be a problem."

"I estimate thirteen minutes."

"More than that. There's a difference of over a hundred points—at least fifteen minutes!"

"You think too highly of Li Yi. He only got so many points because he was lucky. In reality, it would already be impressive if he lasted eleven minutes."

The speaker was Xie Zhenye. As the conversation excited him, his voice grew louder and louder.

Lin Hua frowned. "You piece of trash with barely over twenty points, you climbed up by picking up scraps without even realizing it. What right do you have to mock someone with over three hundred points?"

Xie Zhenye's face darkened, and he said nothing more.

The others were somewhat surprised as well. Hadn't Lin Hua been rather pessimistic about Li Yi before? Why had she suddenly changed her tune?

Long Guanshan, however, could see what was going on.

It was true that Lin Hua did not think highly of Li Yi's performance in the finals, but she had never denied Li Yi's capabilities.

It seemed that, in Lin Hua's heart, Li Yi was the true great enemy.

Long Guanshan thought to himself.

Reality was far more terrifying than everyone had expected.

More than half an hour passed, yet Li Yi was still controlling the Pluto Mech and performing all sorts of inconceivable movements.

Its speed also grew faster and sharper.

Finally, after the forty-first minute.

The Pluto Mech suddenly paused.

Pfft!!!

The Insertion Pod was ejected and landed on the ground.

"Forty-one minutes. That time probably won't be enough for Li Yi to last until the final match, right? There are so many matches. Based on previous competitions, the entire process takes at least an hour and a half."

"Terrifying."

"If Li Yi can last an hour, then if he fights faster, he might have a chance at taking first place."

"An hour is a bit of a stretch, isn't it? Even the shortest full-competition record from past years took one hour and thirteen minutes."

Below, many people looked rather grim.

Whether Li Yi truly had a chance of winning the championship or not, those forty-one minutes of active time were genuinely incomprehensible.

They were all non-evolved humans, so why was the gap so enormous?

Crimson Gourd AI stepped forward and opened the Insertion Pod's valve. Pale red fluid immediately spilled all over the ground.

She touched the fluid on the floor and said thoughtfully,

"Only twenty percent of the Ling Essence in the fluid was consumed? I thought it would be higher."

"What Ling Essence?"

His face covered in fluid, Li Yi climbed out through the hatch.

"Ling Essence is the main component of this fluid. What I find strange is that you were active for so long. Logically, you should have consumed quite a bit."

As Crimson Gourd AI spoke, she stretched out her tiny hand to wipe the fluid off Li Yi's face.

Li Yi let her do so and continued asking,

"So, is it better to consume more, or less?"

"Simply put, lower consumption means that your physical constitution can better withstand the burden imposed by the Pluto Mech."

As Crimson Gourd AI spoke, her large eyes blinked as she revealed a puzzled expression.

"But what's strange is that you were active for so long. No matter how well you can endure it, you should still have consumed a lot of Ling Essence. How strange!"

Li Yi said, "People's constitutions cannot all be judged by the same standard. You don't need to keep finding this strange and that strange."

"Fine, then let's leave it at that."

Crimson Gourd AI tilted her head and stopped thinking about it.

Li Yi had managed to muddle through, and he smiled.

He roughly understood that it was because he could actually have lasted another ten or twenty minutes, which was why the Ling Essence consumption had been relatively low.

The reason he had come out early was because he was afraid the record would be too frightening.

Before entering the Pluto Mech, he had looked into everyone else's data and knew just how terrifying his performance of over forty minutes was.

At this moment, Crimson Gourd AI turned toward the others and reminded them,

"The rest of you, if you've rested enough, continue practicing with your Divine Mechs. You have forty hours left before the second round. Don't slack off!"