Chapter 526 - 339: Accumulation, Pushing for Tier Five

Chapter 526: Chapter 339: Accumulation, Pushing for Tier Five

With his four Soul Beasts’ evolution currently at a bottleneck, and plenty of resources on hand, he grew somewhat expectant of the trial’s reward—a high-Talent Soul Beast cub.

With this anticipation, he subconsciously began to view the strongest Trialists as potential rivals.

"CHIRP~~"

The battle was over. The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm flew out of everyone’s bodies, the blurry red flesh coalescing in mid-air into a chubby little silkworm. With a soft PLOP, it landed on Han Ning’s shoulder.

By now, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s appearance had changed noticeably.

The layers of folds on its body had vanished without a trace, replaced by skin as smooth as jade.

On its round, plump head, a pair of pitch-black eyes glinted with intelligent Spiritual Light. Compared to the dazed creature he had first met, it looked like a completely different being.

It had short little claws at its front and back, which it used to grip its master’s shoulder tightly. It held its head high, its gaze fixed intently on the Heart of the Flood Dragon, which had barely shrunk.

From a distance, it didn’t look like a living creature at all, but rather an exquisite jade artifact from the hands of a master carver.

"Well done, Little Fatty Silkworm. You deserve most of the credit for fending off the enemy."

Han Ning scooped up the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s plump body and gently poked its round little forehead with his finger.

"COO~~"

The All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm blinked its big, round black eyes and subconsciously wiggled its plump body, letting out a high-pitched, delicate cry as if embarrassed.

"Go on, eat your fill."

Han Ning pushed the levitating Heart of the Flood Dragon to the tips of the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s claws. The other Soul Beasts also came closer, gathering around Little Fatty Silkworm and observing it with curiosity.

He placed the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm on Egg Pancake’s forehead, surveyed the palace hall full of treasures, and called out, "Alright, little ones, one more push. Get all this treasure into the pouch."

"If you come across anything you want to eat, help yourselves. You’ve all worked hard."

As he spoke, he took out the High-grade Storage Pouch gifted by Bobo Man and placed it on the floor.

What he carried now was a Spatial Pouch in the truest sense. It had been crafted by Bobo Man using a Space Stone imbued with the Power of Space, combined with a Spiritual Array. It could hold enough supplies to fill a hall of this size roughly twice over.

"CHIME~" "CHIRP!" "COO~" "SQUEAK~"

The four Soul Beasts split up and, using their various abilities, began stuffing all the treasures in the great hall into the Spatial Pouch.

A moment later, the once-magnificent hall was completely empty. Even the decorative coral on the walls had been plucked off by Egg Pancake.

Aside from Yin Yi, who possessed an Elemental Body, the other three little ones lay on the ground with round, bulging bellies and expressions of pure bliss.

In the course of their gathering, quite a few high-grade materials had ended up in their stomachs, greatly satisfying the little ones’ appetites.

’It’s time to leave...’

Han Ning gazed at the projected map on his panel and said to the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm,

"Little Fatty Silkworm, release the Flesh Puppets. Have them move into all the square zones and search for any sign of Irena and Miss Lin Ke."

With the treasure collected, there was no reason to linger. He didn’t want to leave the Dragon Palace just yet, as it was relatively safe. He planned to find a remote location, enter secluded Cultivation, and raise his Spiritual Level to Tier Five before making his next move.

Of course, before he went into seclusion, he needed to inform his two companions of the situation and guide them to his location.

Although his panel controlled the central hub of the Dragon Palace’s Spiritual Array, it couldn’t identify which specific Beast Master was inside each pocket dimension. He could only have the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm do a full sweep to find his companions.

Now that it had broken through to the Monarch level, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm could create 300 Lord-Level Puppets, so transmitting information wouldn’t be much of a problem.

...

「In a lifeless side hall.」

With a flash of light, Han Ning and his Soul Beasts appeared.

He beckoned with a hand, and the slowly rotating Heaven-Reaching Tower materialized.

’By frantically absorbing the Flood Dragon True Essence, the panel seems to have upgraded and unlocked a new function.’

Han Ning recalled a notification that had flashed across his panel during the battle. He hadn’t had time to read it carefully then, but now he focused his mind and took a closer look.

[Your Spiritual Power has reached the minimum level required to unlock the "Body-Spiritual Transformation" function.]

[Body-Spiritual Transformation]: On the premise that it does not affect your health, this converts excess Energy overflowing from your Body into Spiritual Power. This process is irreversible. (A dangerous transformation can be performed, with the limit being the basic state required only to sustain life. Note: The stronger the host’s physical constitution, the greater the degree of transformation.)

’It sounds impressive. I wonder what the actual effects are.’

Body-Spiritual Transformation:

Safety Threshold: Current convertible Energy is 17.618% of the Body’s total Energy.

Danger Threshold: 70% of the Body’s total Energy.

’I’ll try one conversion first, just to test the waters.’

Han Ning locked his focus on the safe conversion range and silently commanded:

’Begin conversion!’

HUMM—

The instant he issued the mental command, Han Ning felt a sudden, violent, stabbing pain surge through his entire body, from his limbs to his very bones.

It felt as if thirty-six thousand hair-thin needles were being viciously jabbed into his Body.

His vision went black as he experienced symptoms of severe low blood sugar.

Keep in mind, his current Physical Strength was comparable to that of a War General Level Soul Beast.

After the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm’s breakthrough, his Physical Strength had improved even further, nearly reaching the War General Limit.

This sudden weakness meant the Energy in his body was draining away at a frightening rate.

At the same time, Han Ning noticed a visible, hazy red mist seeping out from his cheeks, chest, and limbs, spinning rapidly around his body.

About ten seconds later, these gossamer-thin wisps of red mist began to change color.

It slowly transitioned from the dark red of blood to the color of Starlight—white with a hint of pale yellow.

They all floated to a point three inches before the space between his eyebrows, resembling a rotating nebula.

A primal, instinctual hunger arose from within his Spiritual World.

Without needing any prompt, he instinctively marshaled his Spiritual Power and tried to connect with the nebula before his brow.

In the next second, the rotating nebula found an outlet.

Using the space between Han Ning’s eyebrows as its focal point, the surrounding nebula spiraled into his brow in a vortex.

A peculiar, bone-chillingly cold sensation spread through his brain.

Waves of weakness washed over his physical body, the kind one feels when Physical Strength is completely overdrawn.

And yet, from the depths of his brain, came a surging sense of satisfying fullness.

Caught in this contradiction, Han Ning felt suspended between agony and ecstasy.

Thirty seconds later, his body stopped seeping the bloody mist.

The nebula vanished without a trace.

He staggered, nearly collapsing to the floor.

He caught his reflection on the palace wall and saw it clearly: his cheeks were gaunt and wizened, and his body looked like nothing more than skin stretched over a skeleton.

Though his Spiritual Power was brimming, he still felt an exhaustion that stemmed from the depths of his soul, as if he had overindulged in some carnal pleasure and been completely wrung dry.

Seeing this, the All-Encompassing Spiritual Silkworm cried out in alarm and quickly burrowed into its master’s body, helping him rapidly restore his vitality.

He steadied his body with a hand on the floor, closed his eyes, and checked the progress of his Spiritual Power Cultivation.

Current Spiritual Power Progress: Tier Four (81%)

"Incredible..." Han Ning’s lips were pale, his expression a mixture of shock and excitement.

A single conversion had increased his progress by 1%!

At his current Spiritual Level of Tier Four, it would have taken him a month or so to increase his progress by 1%, even with the help of the Heaven-Reaching Tower.

But just now, in a matter of seconds, it had shot up by a full 1%!

Han Ning summoned his panel and looked at the displayed parameters.

Body-Spiritual Transformation:

Safety Threshold: Current convertible Energy is 0% of the Body’s total Energy.

Danger Threshold: 50% of the Body’s total Energy.

You are currently in a state of Soul Fatigue.

Estimated recovery time: 20 days. (This time can be shortened with vigorous exercise and a proper diet.)

’Twenty days...’

’A shame I can’t just spam it, otherwise it would be a perpetual motion machine.’

On second thought, Han Ning felt he was being too greedy and couldn’t help but give a sheepish smile.

’Well then... next up, I’m going all out to reach Spiritual Tier Five!’