Chapter 652 - 367: Conditions for the Eighth Evolution (Part 3)

He had learned from the Pope that if one were to forgo plundering the Origin Genes of other races and focus solely on perfecting their own, they would need to reach 20% completion to undergo the eighth evolution.

However, that was the path of the Corrupted. It was impossible for a normal evolver to perfect their race’s Origin Gene to 20% at the Star God stage. The common method was to partially perfect one’s own Origin Gene and supplement it by plundering those of other races.

The required number of plundered Origin Genes from other races, however, couldn’t be quantified.

The number varied depending on the degree to which an individual had perfected their own race’s Origin Gene.

The more complete one’s own Origin Gene, the fewer were needed from other races.

Furthermore, the race from which the Origin Genes were plundered also made a difference.

The Origin Gene of a Strong Race could be worth several, or even dozens, of those from a Weak Race.

Plundering a single Star God from the Witch Race, for example, was as effective as plundering hundreds from the Nian Race.

Su Ze wasn’t worried about this third requirement, either, as the legacy Mr. Ao had left him contained a vast number of Origin Genes from other races.

’I need to find a way to continue streamlining, to reduce the number of Tier-6 skills.’

Su Ze mused, ’I plan to merge the Ant Power skill into Self-Control, Eye of Truth into Gravity Domain, and fuse Space Jump with Celestial Sea Wings. As for Knowledge is Power and Instant Simulation, they’re waiting on materials for an upgrade.’

’So what should I do with Regeneration Body and Thunder God Body?’

Both were status-type skills, and constitution-type skills at that, but they were slightly different from his other status skills.

Su Ze’s plan was to split Regeneration Body into two components: Self-Healing Ability and Regeneration Core.

He would then merge Self-Healing Ability into Self-Control. The Regeneration Core, however, was a bit of a headache, especially since it came with the Regeneration Fruit effect, leaving Su Ze unsure of what to do with it.

’Strictly speaking, the Regeneration Core is also a non-permanent status skill. It’s like a life-saving trump card that automatically triggers when I’m on the verge of death. As long as the Regeneration Core exists, it’s like I have an extra life. But once used, it takes time to reform.’

’That’s actually a bit like the Sponge Body skill. Should I try merging it into Sponge Body?’

As soon as the idea surfaced, Su Ze decided it was worth a try and began to split the Regeneration Body skill.

He split Regeneration Body into two parts: Self-Healing Ability and Regeneration Core.

’Self-Healing Ability into Self-Control, and Regeneration Core into Sponge Body...’

Just as Su Ze was about to proceed, a flash of inspiration struck him...

It’s often like that. A plan is just a plan; new inspiration always sparks during the actual execution.

It was like writing a novel: an outline is just an outline, but in the process of writing, you always get some brilliant idea that makes you want to kick the outline to the curb.

’Strictly speaking, the Self-Healing Ability from Regeneration Body is different from those other permanent status-type skills...’

The skills he had already merged or planned to merge into Self-Control could be activated permanently, with no time limit or cooldown, but they all had a cost.

To put it simply, they still had an "on/off switch." They only worked when activated.

But the Self-Healing Ability from Regeneration Body was different. It had fundamentally altered Su Ze’s constitution. There was no switch; the ability was always present.

This was the same principle as the enhancement from Knowledge is Power—a passive effect that was always active with no additional cost.

’So wouldn’t merging Self-Healing Ability with the Knowledge is Power skill be a more natural fit?’

Following this line of thought, Su Ze considered another skill: Thunder God Body.

Thunder God Body was purely a constitutional skill, not an offensive one. It had two effects: Thunder Immunity and the ability to store electricity in his body. It had an offensive application only because electricity itself was inherently damaging.

It was like a cup filled with sulfuric acid; you couldn’t call the cup a weapon.

’The Thunder God Body skill itself has no cost either and directly alters my constitution. Wouldn’t it also be a good fit to merge into Knowledge is Power?’

Next, Su Ze began to test his theory to see if it was feasible.

It took a full month, but Su Ze finally managed to merge the Self-Healing Ability and Regeneration Core from the Regeneration Body skill into Knowledge is Power and Sponge Body, respectively.

The fusion process wasn’t difficult. Su Ze could clearly feel a natural compatibility between the skills, but it was slow and time-consuming.

He could sense during the process that the slowness was due to the significant changes the fusion was causing in both skills.

Sure enough, the final result of the fusion was a pleasant surprise for Su Ze!

Knowledge is Power (Quasi-Divine Skill): A passive skill. Gain one Cell Enhancement for every skill mastered.

It didn’t seem to have changed much, aside from being upgraded to a Quasi-Divine Skill, but the nature of the Cell Enhancement had actually been altered.

Previously, Cell Enhancement had focused more on improving Su Ze’s overall constitution—his strength, speed, and defense.

But now that it had been merged with Self-Healing Ability, the Cell Enhancement process would also specifically bolster his self-healing capabilities.

A wave of heat washed over Su Ze as a surge of energy flowed into him. This was a compensatory enhancement from the Knowledge is Power skill.

This time, the enhancement focused primarily on his Self-Healing Ability!

Once the enhancement was complete, Su Ze took a moment to assess the changes. His body’s current self-healing ability was more than three times stronger than before!

And that wasn’t the limit. Every new skill he acquired in the future would grant another enhancement, making his self-healing even more powerful.

Upgrading the Knowledge is Power skill would also provide a compensatory boost to his self-healing.

All in all, it was a highly successful fusion that both improved the skill’s quality and amplified its effects.

The fusion of Regeneration Core and Sponge Body also exceeded Su Ze’s expectations.

Sponge Body (Tier-7 Divine Skill): Can absorb all energy-based attacks and store them within the body until saturated. The stored energy can be released all at once in an indiscriminate attack on the surroundings, after which the skill will enter a cooldown state. Alternatively, the internal energy can be extracted to create energy fruits. Condenses a "Regeneration Core" within the body; upon entering a near-death state, the Regeneration Core will automatically shatter, releasing life energy to instantly heal all injuries. The Regeneration Core can also be shattered voluntarily. Can absorb internal energy and convert it into life energy to accelerate the Regeneration Core’s reformation speed.

The various abilities of the Regeneration Core had integrated perfectly with Sponge Body.

Even the Regeneration Fruit ability, which had been of little use until now, had found a new application, significantly raising the ceiling of the Sponge Body skill.

Previously, once Sponge Body’s absorption capacity was saturated, there was no choice but to release the stored energy and put the skill on cooldown.

But now there was another option: creating energy fruits.

He could consume the energy in his body by making these fruits, bringing his internal stores below saturation.

The effect of the energy fruits depended on the type of energy used to create them.

If he extracted life energy, the effect was the same as the original Regeneration Fruit: healing. Su Ze could still draw life energy directly from the Regeneration Core to produce them.

If he extracted energies like fire, lightning, or wind, the resulting fruits, when thrown, would become corresponding Elemental Bombs.

This not only increased his offensive output but also extended the upper limit of Sponge Body. By expending energy to create the fruits, he could free up capacity to absorb more energy attacks.

This round of fusions was a huge win!