Chapter 681
Evolution: The Body of Demonic Origin
Chapter 681 Evolution: The Body of Demonic Origin
After finishing today's rune practice, Gao De habitually glanced at the [Adaptive] progress.
[Prolonged exposure to the erosive effects of the Soul-Destroying Toxin increases your Soul Solidity by 76.9% and Soul Healing Ability by 79.5%]
[External magic has been completely severed. Your internal mana circulation has increased by 73.1%. Your body is gradually accepting the magic-free state, and the stress response caused by mana withdrawal will gradually lessen. Your magic-free adaptation has increased by 83.9%]
A hint of satisfaction flashed in his eyes.
The growth rate of magic-free adaptation is still rapid and has not stopped.
We are not far from reaching the 100% evolution threshold.
As the magic-free adaptation continues to improve, the amount of magic power that God can use also increases.
such as now
With a thought, Gao De channeled his magical power along the familiar magical pathways, gathering in the palm of his right hand.
A pale green magical light quietly shone forth, like a tender bud breaking through the soil in early spring.
The light gradually gathered and swirled, coalescing into plump, round fruits that exuded a sweet fragrance, making one's mouth water just by looking at them.
【Divine Berry Technique+】.
Yes, their supplies have been upgraded from honey water with [Water Creation+] to gem berries with [Divine Berry+].
Compared to honey water, which only quenches thirst and provides meager energy, jewel berries are a real food that provides the energy an adult needs for a day's activities, and their taste and nutrition far surpass the former.
"Try it." Gao De handed Liu Ying a gem-like sweet berry.
The jewel berries have a sweet and refreshing taste, and eating them instantly dispels any hunger pangs.
The two of them each ate a gem-like sweetberry, and the rest were carefully collected by Gao De.
Although he had more and more magical power at his disposal, Gao De did not let his guard down.
Because he knew very well that he could only use the magic power originally stored in the magic pool within his body.
The magic-free environment of the Desolate Soul Realm cannot be changed. Without the replenishment of external magic power, the mana in the body diminishes with each use, like water without a source or a tree without roots.
In the foreseeable future, they will most likely be staying in this plane for a considerable period of time, so it is crucial to plan ahead, save as much as possible, and never waste magic power unless absolutely necessary.
At this point, the advantages of practicing both methods of cultivation become fully apparent.
The dual mastery of the "Secret Transmission of Zhenbing" and the "Qingmu Longevity Scripture" at the third level allowed him to accumulate more than twice the magical power of an ordinary third-level mage.
Relatively speaking, such a reserve of mana is already abundant enough, so that it won't be insufficient for daily consumption.
After all, in the Desolate Soul Domain, apart from the withered soul erosion of the environment itself, there are no other obvious dangers. There are not many scenarios where spells need to be cast, and most of the time it is concentrated on replenishment and emergency response.
The supplies have been replenished, but the energy depletion caused by prolonged periods of intense focus will take time to recover.
Gao De leaned against the wall of the stone tower, closed his eyes, but couldn't fall asleep. He just felt bored.
He opened his eyes again, his gaze sweeping over Liu Ying's face, and the thought of boosting his resistance quietly began to stir within him.
However, before he could make any move or put his thoughts into action, Liu Ying noticed Gao De's gaze first and revealed a knowing expression.
"Here." Then, she extended her right hand and gently presented it to Gao De.
That hand was fair and slender, with rounded fingertips and a wrist so thin it seemed it would break at the slightest touch. The skin was as delicate as fine mutton fat jade, gleaming faintly in the dim light, with even the veins faintly visible, exuding a delicate and fragile charm.
"Huh?" Gao De stared at Liu Ying's fair wrist, momentarily stunned and unable to process what was happening.
"I'll hold your hand for you."
Liu Ying's voice was clear and melodious, with a matter-of-fact seriousness, as if she were saying something perfectly ordinary: "I think you really like holding my hand."
"Huh?!" Gao De's expression froze, and he was completely stunned.
I want to explain, but I don't know how; I want to refuse, but I can't bring myself to say it; and I can't deny it at all.
Miss Wang Mian, can't you just keep it a secret?
You won't feel awkward saying it directly, but I will. A jumble of thoughts flashed through his mind at that moment.
Finally, under Liu Ying's clear gaze, he "obediently" and silently extended his hand, tacitly acknowledging Miss Wang Mian's statement that "you seem to really like holding my hand."
The moment their fingers intertwined, the sensations of heat and coolness blended together.
Gao De could clearly feel the delicate lines on Liu Ying's palm, the faint pulse at her wrist, and an undeniable burning sensation.
Rune practice, rest, then practice again, then rest again, occasionally interspersed with casual conversation and holding hands.
Gaode's daily routine suddenly became unusually regular, almost to the point of being rigid.
Extreme focus and discipline have resulted in rapid progress in rune science.
This is an action taken by his own initiative.
The [Adaptive] talent, on the other hand, operates passively and continuously.
In the desolate and barren Soul Realm devoid of magic, the improvement in adaptability to magic seemed to break through all constraints, with no bottlenecks and no stagnation.
It simply climbed upwards little by little at an astonishingly steady pace.
Finally, after the seventh wave of the Soul-Slaying Wind, Gaode's progress in adapting to magic-free mode has reached 99.9%.
We are now only a negligible 0.1% away from that threshold of evolution, just one step away.
This final step didn't keep him waiting too long.
As the eighth wave of withered soul winds arrived, which was also the time when the energy of withered souls was at its peak, the [Adaptive] progress bar in Gao De's body quietly crossed the critical line.
hum.
A deep hum resounded deep within Gao De's body, audible only to himself.
The next moment, a faint glow suddenly appeared on his skin.
Beneath his skin, faint silver-blue lines could be seen slowly spreading and intertwining, like the veins of flowing water, eventually covering his entire body.
Amazing changes are happening to Gaode.
An indescribable sense of clarity swept over his entire body.
The physical discomfort and sluggish flow of magic caused by the magic-free environment vanished completely at this moment.
Instead, there was an unprecedented smoothness and fullness.
The magical power, like a rushing river, became calm and strong.
The stinging sensation from the withered soul's erosion vanished instantly, replaced by a warm, enveloping feeling, as if his soul were being protected by an invisible barrier.
A complex yet clear stream of information flooded into his consciousness like a tidal wave, announcing the final result of this transformation:
[Your body and soul have undergone ultimate tempering in the dual extremes of a magic-free environment and the corrosive influence of a withered soul. Your internal mana circuits have been completely reconstructed, adapting and evolving into a body of magical origin!] [Your mode of existence has undergone a fundamental transformation. Your soul is as solid as amber, transparent yet resilient; your mana is no longer dependent on the external magical environment, allowing you to thrive even in a magic-free environment, truly achieving "mana generated spontaneously, without external aid."]
[You will be completely immune to the physical and psychological discomfort caused by a completely magic-free environment, and can survive indefinitely in a magic-free environment. Your physical and mental energy consumption rate will return to the level of a normal magic-filled environment, and will no longer be accelerated by the absence of magic. After returning to a magic-filled environment, your body can freely switch between "magic-enabled/magic-free" states as naturally as breathing, and will no longer experience any form of magic withdrawal reaction.]
[You will be completely immune to the soul decay of the Desolate Soul Realm, gaining 25% natural resistance to all types of soul damage; the negative effects of fourth-circle and lower-circle soul spells will be completely ineffective against you, and the negative effects of fifth-circle soul spells will be greatly reduced.]
When in a non-magical environment, your body will automatically activate a "compensation mechanism": redistributing the excess energy originally used to maintain magical perception and magical resistance to basic physical fitness, sensory acuity, and self-repair ability.
Your basic physical qualities such as strength, speed, and endurance are improved, your mental attributes such as focus and memory are enhanced, your thinking speed is accelerated, your logical analysis ability is enhanced, and the sensitivity of your five senses such as vision, hearing, and smell is doubled, enabling you to capture the most subtle energy fluctuations and trajectories in the air.
Wound healing speed is increased; even deep wounds can quickly scab over and heal in a short time without relying on healing spells. Energy and mental strength recovery speed is also improved.
The moment the evolution was complete, a flash of silver-blue light appeared deep in Gao De's eyes, which quickly subsided and returned to its usual calm.
"You seem different?"
Although his evolution was completed almost instantly, and there were no earth-shattering phenomena, only a fleeting silver-blue radiance.
But Liu Ying immediately noticed the changes in Gaode Maps.
I don't know how she did it.
Perhaps it was because they had spent so much time together that she became exceptionally sensitive to even the slightest changes in him.
"Yes, now I can fully utilize the magic power within me without any restrictions." Gao De smiled slightly, not hiding anything from Liu Ying.
Gao De gently pulled his finger away from Liu Ying's lips with a slight pressure.
The moment my fingertips left my soft lips, I could still feel a faint warmth.
A fine layer of watery shimmered on the fingertips and knuckles.
On the fingertip, a small wound is healing at a speed visible to the naked eye:
The edges of the broken skin quickly closed up, and the pale red blood vessels receded rapidly.
Feeding blood has become the norm.
Whenever Liu Ying experiences severe discomfort due to the erosion of the withered soul, Gao De will proactively reach out and feed Liu Ying blood, replacing the fragments of soul essence to eliminate the soul damage Liu Ying suffers.
Because the Soul Essence Fragments are needed to fully support his learning of Soul Runes, and at the same time, sufficient raw materials and energy must be reserved for the subsequent replication of the Guiding Rune Array 21.0.
The Guiding Array 21.0 is the core key to breaking through the dimensional barrier, and its complexity far exceeds that of ordinary fourth-order arrays.
It not only requires a massive amount of high-purity soul essence fragments as the foundation for construction, but also sufficient soul energy to drive the magic array to operate.
Therefore, we should save money wherever possible right now.
Accumulating as many Soul Essence Fragments as possible became Gaode's primary consideration.
Although he can kill the withered soul servants very easily now.
However, the difficulty in obtaining Soul Essence Fragments has never lay in killing, but in finding them.
The number of withered soul servants in the Desolate Soul Domain is fixed; killing one reduces the number by one, and they do not respawn automatically.
In other words, every fragment of soul essence used reduces the available supply.
Anyway, given his physique, even if five or more meteorites sucked his blood together, they still couldn't keep up with the speed of his blood regeneration, let alone one meteorite.
"Feeling much better?" Gao De's tone was filled with natural concern, and his hand slid down naturally to take the other person's hand.
"Mmm, much better," Liu Ying replied, while naturally tightening her grip on Gao De's hand even more.
[You are currently being eroded by pure, divine, radiant energy. Your body is undergoing extreme adjustments in response to its survival instincts. Your tolerance to radiant energy is gradually increasing, your resistance to radiant damage is increasing by 99.9%, and the rate at which divine energy erodes your life is decreasing by 99.9%.]
Without any hindrance to the magic-free adaptation, the evolution was completed in one fell swoop.
However, the progress of light adaptation has not been as smooth.
Like many of the adaptation thresholds it has encountered in the past, it has firmly stuck at 99.9%.
This is understandable.
After all, being in the desolate and barren Soul Domain, an environment absolutely devoid of magic, the divine radiance energy within Liu Ying's body was greatly suppressed, and its intensity had been reduced to its lowest point.
Even so, Gaode still feels the stimulation and its adaptation has not stopped, only the growth has become less obvious.
This made Gao De realize more clearly the terror of the sacred radiant energy within Liu Ying's body.
Even though its strength is suppressed to the minimum by the magic-free environment, its extreme purity alone can still cause slight "holy light damage" to him, who already has a high degree of light adaptation, and continue to promote the growth of light adaptation progress.
Actually, you can see some clues just from the name.
The light energy within Liuying's body is not the common, ordinary light energy, but rather carries a "sacred" prefix that Gaode has never seen before.
I don't know what the word "sacred" means.
After briefly adjusting to the light, Gao De withdrew his hand and turned his gaze back to the basic rune sequence he had drawn on the ground.
His rune learning progressed much faster than he had initially anticipated.
According to Gaode's initial plan, it would take at least a year to solidify all the foundations and truly reach the threshold of a fourth-tier rune master.
After all, a fourth-tier rune master not only needs to master a massive amount of basic runes, but also needs to have a deep understanding of rune logic and energy flow, which cannot be achieved in a short period of time.
And he was only a half-baked third-tier rune master.
The reality is that the progress has far exceeded expectations.
Behind this, on the one hand, Gaode underestimated its own talent.
He underestimated the speed at which he could progress after immersing himself in runic literature.
In the past, he had to be distracted by his sorcerer practice, challenges at the magic hall, and dealing with various emergencies. He had never had such a pure and undisturbed environment to devote himself to rune literature.
When all his energy is focused on one point, his extraordinary learning ability and logical comprehension are fully unleashed, and his progress is naturally faster than he could have imagined.
Not to mention the will to survive that spurred his progress.
Another point is that the evolution of the Demonic Body has brought comprehensive benefits to his rune learning.
The Demonic Body not only improved his basic physical attributes, but also gave his mental attributes a great leap forward.
The improvement in his concentration and memory has increased his learning speed by nearly 40% compared to before.
The increased speed at which his energy and mental strength recovered significantly extended his effective study time.
This two-pronged approach allowed Gao De, now possessing a body imbued with demonic energy, to learn runes at a 50% higher efficiency than before.
(End of this chapter)