Chapter 170: Chapter 155: Myriad Aspect Evolution, Shadow Form

And that was with Han Ning specifically instructing it to use the lowest power for the test.

’The power isn’t that high. The real strength of this Soul Technique must be its Freezing Effect. It should work well when paired with any Wood Type Soul Technique.’

Han Ning nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the frost-covered ground.

If it could slow an enemy’s movement speed, then both Cyan Wood Radiance and Sword Stab could easily land a hit.

Yin Yi’s Soul Techniques currently had a small weakness: their projectile speed wasn’t fast enough. Furthermore, its own movement speed was a major disadvantage when compared to more agile Soul Beasts. Having a Soul Technique that could restrict an enemy’s movement would undoubtedly compensate for this deficiency.

Additionally, he discovered that Ice Crystal Bomb’s projectile speed was extremely fast, even a notch faster than that of Cyan Wood Radiance.

For comparison, its speed was similar to that of the Blood Bee he had seen on the Blood-colored Grassland that afternoon.

Even with his Tier One Spiritual Power exceeding the 50% mark, he could only vaguely make out a frost-white trajectory and had a hard time tracking the Ice Crystal Bomb’s movement.

’No matter the Soul Technique, it has to hit the enemy to work.’

’Leveling up once consumed four Extraordinary Level Crystal Stones. It looks like if I want Yin Yi to advance in the future, I’ll have to find more Extraordinary Level Crystal Stones.’

"Alright, you two go and play." Han Ning scooped up Yin Yi’s relatively petite body and placed it on Egg Pancake’s head.

"Ling~" Yin Yi poked its head out and nuzzled against Han Ning’s chest like a spoiled child. Then, it turned around and, following the hard line of Egg Pancake’s back, WHOOSH—it slid right down.

A pancake-shaped slide.

"SQUEAK SQUEAK~"

Egg Pancake’s body was quite large now. Its entire frame was squeezed into the dormitory hallway, taking up nearly two-thirds of the space.

’If it gets any bigger, I’ll either have to put it in the Soul Beast Space or knock down the walls between a few dorms.’

As Egg Pancake’s size and mass continued to grow, and as the Spiritual Energy within Yin Yi became more abundant, Han Ning finally understood why the system panel imposed a Spiritual Power requirement on the Beast Master when a Soul Beast evolved.

The stronger a Soul Beast was, the more Spiritual Power it consumed each time he recalled it to the Soul Beast Space!

In other words, if a Soul Beast became incredibly powerful but its Beast Master’s Spiritual Power didn’t keep pace, the Beast Master wouldn’t be able to recall the Soul Beast into their Soul Beast Space.

Doing so would completely drain their Spiritual Power.

After he finished helping Yin Yi increase its power, Han Ning turned his gaze to his own palm.

A fleshy sprout wriggled slowly from his fingertip.

’In two days, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm has already finished digesting the Blood Qi and Energy from the Winged Demon Heart.’

Han Ning looked at the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s status panel. The "Limit Reached" notification at the end of its stats had disappeared.

The Blood Qi from just half a heart had pushed the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm to Entry Level IV. The other half still sat on the table, wrapped in thick vines.

But for some reason, it hadn’t broken through to the Awakened Level.

Han Ning took out the other female Winged Demon’s heart, along with the remaining half-heart. Using the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s power, he pushed aside the vines covering the hearts. A sharp spike shot out from his fingertip, piercing first into the half that was duller in color.

Wisps of eerie, blood-red light flowed out from the heart. They traveled along the blood-patterned spike and entered Han Ning’s body.

In an instant, Han Ning felt the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm inside him spring to life. Like a starving diner, it began to greedily gulp down the Blood Qi from the heart.

The Extraordinary Level Winged Demon Heart before him shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In Han Ning’s view, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s stats began to slowly rise.

The heart contained a wealth of Energy and Blood Qi, making it essentially a Blood-type Crystal Stone. He converted the Energy absorbed into his body into panel Energy, then into Attribute Points, and added them to the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s Attributes without wasting a single one.

In a short time, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm had broken through from the Entry Level to the Awakened Level.

By the time its power reached Awakening II, the half-heart before him had finally become a limp, dim husk of bloody skin, completely worthless.

Seeing that the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm showed no signs of hitting its attribute limits, Han Ning turned his finger toward the other heart—the larger one, surging with even more potent Blood Qi.

SQUELCH!

The spike plunged into the heart, and a dense, bloody light once again enveloped them both.

The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm inside him was like an insatiable glutton, frantically draining the Blood Qi from the heart.

Awakening II→Awakening III→Awakening IV...

By the time it reached the peak of Awakening IV, the same Level as Egg Pancake, the plump Blood-Colored Heart had also become a withered husk, collapsing limply onto the table.

At the same time, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm within him finally radiated a sense of satisfaction.

Then, like a couch potato after a huge meal, it unexpectedly fell into a deep sleep within Han Ning’s perception.

’It fell asleep?’

Han Ning tried to call out to the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm with his Spiritual Power.

But he received no response. It was as if the silkworm had curled into a ball and was sleeping soundly.

[

Race: All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm

Gender: Male

Talent: D

Level: Awakening IV (1600/1600)

Talent: Muscle Activation, Entomologist

Soul Techniques: Dissection, Blood Qi Burst

Power: 52 (Limit Reached)

Body: 120 (Limit Reached)

Agility: 0.1

Spiritual Energy: 55 (Limit Reached)

Insect Type Affinity: 50 (Limit Reached)

]

A notification appeared at the end of the stats—

[This Soul Beast has met the requirements for its first evolution. The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm has multiple evolution paths. Please select one.]

1. [All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm (Burning Fire Form): Primary Attributes: Body, Power. Support Attribute: Spiritual Energy. Type: Fire, Insect. Talent: C. Requires Beast Master’s Spiritual Power to be at least 15.]

2. [All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm (Cyan Wood Form): Primary Attributes: Body, Power. Support Attribute: Spiritual Energy. Type: Wood, Insect. Talent: C. Requires Beast Master’s Spiritual Power to be at least 15.]

3. [All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm (Geng Metal Form): Primary Attributes: Body, Power. Support Attribute: Spiritual Energy. Type: Gold, Insect. Talent: C. Requires Beast Master’s Spiritual Power to be at least 15.]

...

9. [All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm (Starlight Form): Primary Attributes: Body, Power. Support Attribute: Spiritual Energy. Type: Star, Insect. Talent: C. Requires Beast Master’s Spiritual Power to be at least 15.]

Streams of data flowed like a waterfall, flashing before Han Ning’s eyes.

He studied the options for a moment and came to a conclusion: this so-called "evolution" was really just about adding another attribute to the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm.

However, unlike other Soul Beasts, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm could only gain an additional attribute through evolution.

’What effect would an extra attribute have?’ Han Ning focused his mind on the first option to view the detailed information.

[Materials required to evolve into All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm (Burning Fire Form)]: One Extraordinary Level Fire Attribute Soul Beast Crystal Stone, one piece of Extraordinary Level Soul Beast Flesh and Blood Essence.

[All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm Path to Evolution—The Ritual]:

Drain the complete blood supply from over 10 Awakened Level Soul Beasts, collect the corpses of at least 20 Soul Beasts of the Awakened Level or higher, and in an open area, draw the Blood Absorption Array as shown in the diagram.

This line of text was accompanied by several images.

A cluster of cells resembling a clump of red blood cells throbbed slowly before Han Ning’s eyes, like a heart.

Below it was a series of crimson arrays drawn with blood.

The wielder of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm must stand in the center of the Array, holding the Soul Beast Crystal Stone and the Flesh and Blood Essence, to complete the first stage of evolution.

The evolution of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm was both complex... and simple.

It was simple because... Han Ning had originally thought that, like Egg Pancake’s evolution, it would require extremely valuable materials.

As it turned out, it only required an Extraordinary Level Attribute Crystal Stone and Flesh and Blood Essence, without even a minimum Talent requirement.

It was complex because... he hadn’t expected it to require such a strange ritual.

An evolution ritual...

The raw material for the Array—the blood of Awakened Level Soul Beasts—wasn’t particularly hard to obtain.

’This must mean... the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s innate potential is much higher than Egg Pancake’s. That’s why its evolution requirements are lower, and it doesn’t require as much effort.’

Understanding dawned on Han Ning.

This fit perfectly with the Taman Insect Master’s expectations for the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm.

’An Extraordinary Level Soul Beast Crystal Stone and Flesh and Blood Essence...’ At this thought, Han Ning’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t help but look at the sixth evolution branch.

’All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm (Shadow Form).’