Chapter 270: The Void Qilin
Chapter 270: The Void Qilin
Before the upgrade, Alien Symbiosis was at Level 2 with 167/10,799 points.
Soon, as more than ten thousand units of spiritual source energy were invested, the Alien Symbiosis ability, which had long been integrated into his flesh and blood, was awakened, and the mental link with Qinghong became increasingly close and clear.
Qinghong crawled out of his pocket, revealing its true form, its sparkling eyes fixed on Ji Xinghuo.
It, too, was full of anticipation.
"It has to be either Minification or Gigantification!" Ji Xinghuo thought silently.
Each time Alien Symbiosis leveled up, it felt like a lottery draw. There were seven abilities that he could share with Qinghong: Minification, Gigantification, Spirit Scent, Gravity Mutation, Genetic Reconstitution, Rending Claw, and Bio-Field. This time, the odds of winning were two out of seven.
Similarly, Qinghong could also gain a new ability from him, and any one of them would greatly enhance its strength.
The progress of the ability felt like it was propelled by a rocket.
When Alien Symbiosis reached Level 3, Ji Xinghuo and Qinghong simultaneously sensed the changes within their bodies.
"Ouch!"
That was Ji Xinghuo's first sensation.
His entire body ached as if it were about to fall apart. He felt dazed and confused, his consciousness muddled, and his heart filled with uncertainty. When he regained his senses, he found himself unharmed, with no other apparent changes, as if nothing had happened.
"What's going on?" Sensing something amiss, he quickly opened the interface of the Myriad Existences Star Domain.
And then he was stunned.
On the left side of the interface, a new line had appeared in his ability information panel: 【Genetic Reconstitution (Cannot be Upgraded)】
"Holy sht!"
Ji Xinghuo couldn't help but curse, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
In theory, he should be happy to have gained a Starfall ability, but just as he had feared, Genetic Reconstitution came with a lot of restrictions and wasn't a good fit for him. Even if he found a suitable consumption target in the future, and managed to ingest it, what would happen if he reconstituted his genes and ended up transforming into a non-human form?
"I can't change the facts, so I might as well accept it," Ji Xinghuo shook his head helplessly. It was still a Starfall ability, something others could only dream of, and he shouldn't be so ungrateful.
After this upgrade, Alien Symbiosis had changed to Level 3 with 1/30,109 points.
"Oh, right, Qinghong!"
Only then did he remember Qinghong, and he found that Qinghong, who was in front of him, had already lain down on the ground, unmoving. The surrounding ether energy was like a boiling sea, frantically pouring into its body.
The tricolored scales on Qinghong's body shimmered with light, and its body became transparent, allowing a clear view of its insides.
This situation was similar to its previous evolution.
"It's evolving!"
Ji Xinghuo was overjoyed. Finally, after integrating so many abilities, Qinghong was evolving once again. With this evolution, it would ascend from a Superb Spirit Beast to a Calamity-level spirit beast!
He looked at the information on the right side of the interface and saw that Qinghong had gained a new ability.
"It's actually Titanocoelius Dragon Blood!"
"No wonder..."
Ji Xinghuo's heart suddenly understood. He saw that the blood within Qinghong's body was gradually changing from fresh blood to a silvery color. The vast ether energy was being transformed into dragon blood, flowing throughout its body, causing its strength, defense, speed, recovery, and burst damage to increase wildly, granting it the power of a true dragon!
"Damn, your luck is so much better than mine," Ji Xinghuo sincerely rejoiced for Qinghong. The ability that suited it the most from his repertoire was Titanocoelius Dragon Blood, and it had even gained it at Level 4.
Qinghong's strength was his strength.
Unlike Genetic Reconstitution, evolution didn't last for several weeks. Gradually, Qinghong's body began to change.
Its body was growing bigger and longer.
Its sturdy neck became slender, its back arched, its torso became more robust, its limbs grew, allowing it to stand taller, and its tail extended backward. After a couple of hours, its entire body, which had been just over six meters long, had grown to nearly ten meters, still retaining some lizard-like features.
At the same time, the color of the scales on Qinghong's body was also changing.
Its abdomen was silver, its back was green, and intricate golden scale patterns adorned its neck, claws, and spine, emitting a dazzling and vibrant glow.
As the evolution progressed, two sharp horns sprouted from the top of Qinghong's head, angled backward, and gleaming with golden light.
Around these two thick golden horns, which were over half a meter long, dark golden manes sprouted, dense and vibrant. However, they lacked substance and were composed of faint energy, resembling burning flames without heat. They moved with the wind, extending to a length of two or three meters, numbering in the thousands, and spreading out around its head, giving it a graceful appearance.
At Qinghong's shoulders and the base of its tail above its hind limbs, vibrant manes also grew, extending all the way to the very tip of its tail, resembling a horse's mane.
"What is this thing?"
Ji Xinghuo was astonished. He reached out to touch the dark golden mane, but his hand passed right through it.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed that these graceful manes penetrated space itself, and when they gently swayed, they caused invisible ripples in the air.
Obviously, this was no ordinary mane; it was connected to Qinghong's abilities!
As dawn approached, the evolution entered its final stage.
Ji Xinghuo stepped back a few meters to observe. Qinghong's form had changed significantly since its evolution; it was bigger but also more slender, reaching a length of ten meters.
With its four limbs supporting its body, it could stand even taller, its shoulders now more than two and a half meters off the ground.
And on its head had grown a pair of horns, making it resemble a dragon even more.
The hard and heavy tricolored scales, along with the graceful dark golden manes, endowed Qinghong with the formidable power of a true dragon, as well as an air of mystery.
Qinghong opened its eyes, revealing irises that had turned into a dazzling duo of gold and silver.
It gazed at Ji Xinghuo, lowered its head, and affectionately licked his face. Excitement shone in its peculiar eyes, and after shrinking in size, it scampered around the cultivation room, eager to showcase its new abilities. However, it seemed that they kept malfunctioning, causing it to frantically bark in distress.
Ji Xinghuo accessed Qinghong's new form information.
【Spirit Beast: Void Qilin】
【Level: Calamity - Flood】
【Abilities: Dimensional Stomach, Minification, Sacred Scale Armor, Spirit Scent, Aetheric Resonance, Thunderclap, Gigantification, Gravity Mutation, Genetic Reconstitution (Cannot be Upgraded), Rending Claw, Bio-Field, Titanocoelius Dragon Blood, Void Sensory, Blink】
"So it really is a Qilin!"
Ji Xinghuo was perplexed. Could it be that each time Qinghong evolved, its new form was named according to his own thoughts?
Qinghong had awakened two new abilities: Void Sensory and Blink.
Both were Transcendent abilities, and they were related to space.
Ji Xinghuo recalled seeing information about Void Sensory in the ADC database before. It was a perception-type ability that allowed one to sense spatial fluctuations within a certain range, thus grasping all movements without any blind spots, providing a more comprehensive and subtle understanding than ordinary perception methods.
This perception method was somewhat similar to magnetic field sensing.
It was one of the two core abilities of the "Void Strider," the other being Spirit Sense, which was also the best ability for tuning strings.
To become a Void Strider, one must possess Void Sensory.
Ji Xinghuo wondered to himself, "If Qinghong shares or fuses with the Spirit Sense ability in the future, will it become a Void Strider?"
The essence of gravity is space.
Qinghong had already mastered some of the abilities of a Gravity Mutant, and there was no problem with it evolving further in the spatial direction. Moreover, the abilities 'Minification' and 'Gigantification' were already related to spatial dimensions.
The other new ability, "Blink," was also space-related.
However, as they were not in the Star Realm, Qinghong's attempts to use Blink always failed.
"To awaken two Transcendent abilities with each evolution, and for them to perfectly match its evolutionary path, is truly astonishing," marveled Ji Xinghuo. Normally, non-intelligent beings would not evolve so dramatically. Even for a spirit beast like Qinghong, this was unusual.
The only explanation was Genetic Reconstitution.
This Starfall ability had significantly enhanced Qinghong's potential, allowing it to awaken stronger and more suitable abilities during its evolution.
As Ji Xinghuo watched the joyful Qinghong scampering about, he began to question his own reluctance towards Genetic Reconstitution.
The path of evolution was one of constant change and transformation.
If one were to be constrained by psychological factors, fixated on human form and appearance, and afraid to break free, then they would be limiting themselves and inevitably missing out on many abilities and powers.
"Perhaps..."
"If the opportunity arises, I should give it a try."
"Even if my body ends up looking less human or develops strange new organs, there are many shape-shifting abilities that can hide them when necessary."
Ji Xinghuo tried to convince himself, but he still felt conflicted.
His attention returned to Qinghong, who had evolved into a Calamity-level spirit beast, its strength increased significantly. However, there was no way to test its full capabilities within the shelter.
With this evolution, several of Qinghong's abilities had improved considerably, but none had leveled up.
Its two new abilities were: Void Sensory (Level 1/409) and Blink (Level 1/269).
With over ten thousand units of Spiritual Source Energy remaining, Ji Xinghuo did not hold back. He called Qinghong over and placed his hand on its head, upgrading its abilities.
Soon, Void Sensory reached Level 3 (1/8999), and Blink attained Level 3 (1/4339). Both were Transcendent abilities, but there was a clear difference between them, as the difficulty in upgrading them was vastly different. Despite both being at Level 3, the amount of Spiritual Source Energy required was doubled.
At Level 3, Qinghong's perception radius with Void Sensory reached approximately 1000 meters.
This could complement his electromagnetic perception.
"I wonder how many levels are needed for Void Sensory to evolve into 'Void Conduction'?"
Ji Xinghuo was filled with anticipation.
Void Conduction was a Starfall ability that could absorb energy from the void, amplify the damage of creative energy abilities, accelerate the recovery of stamina and stellar power, and even directly manipulate infinite vacuum energy to create various powerful effects.
With Blink reaching Level 3, Qinghong's movement distance must have increased significantly, but it was useless on Planet Abyss.
With over six thousand units of Spiritual Source Energy remaining, Ji Xinghuo calculated that it was just enough to upgrade "Minification" and "Gigantification" by one level each.
Soon, both abilities reached Level 3.
"That's it," Ji Xinghuo said, seeing that his [Spiritual Source Energy: 0]. He spread his hands towards Qinghong, indicating that it was over.
Only then did Qinghong reluctantly scamper away, continuing to frolic in the cultivation room like a happy puppy, but it didn't forget Ji Xinghuo's reminder and stayed within the room, ensuring that the Crystal English monitors didn't capture its form.
Ji Xinghuo rested for a moment.
After dawn, he had Qinghong shrink and hide in his pocket before stepping out of the shelter.
(End of Chapter)
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