Swallowed Star: The Zerg Overlord

Chapter 62: Advancement

"So that's how it is." Qin Mu was completely immersed in the study of the "Basic 312 Moves," absorbing the knowledge within it like a sponge.

"It should be operated like this. My previous methods were all wrong. Just a slight change, and the amplitude has increased so much."

The images and text on the crystal walls were photographed by Qin Mu's tactical handwatch, translated into Chinese, and transmitted to the nest. The nest's computing power operated at high speed, deducing the mysteries of each human body illustration.

Countless inspirations burst forth in Qin Mu's mind. As his research deepened, his foundation became more solid, forming a complete theory, unlike before. These illustrations, from simple to complex, clearly explained various issues in the cultivation of spirit masters, illuminating areas that Qin Mu had not understood or even considered.

"Earth is far behind some of the truly powerful forces in the universe. And this is just the foundation of the Yun Mo lineage." The more Qin Mu delved into his studies, the more he marveled. At the same time, he became increasingly aware of the importance of inheritance.

The ruins provided ample food and water, and Qin Mu ate when he was hungry and drank when he was thirsty, devoting all his energy to his cultivation. In this completely immersive cultivation, Qin Mu's ability to perfectly control the short spears continued to improve.

One human body illustration, two illustrations...

With the powerful computing power of the nest, Qin Mu's learning speed accelerated. It took him a day to master the first human body illustration. The second illustration also took a day. By the third day, he could completely master two illustrations in a day. The subsequent illustrations became increasingly complex, yet Qin Mu used less and less time.

Especially when Qin Mu gradually mastered a complete theory, his speed increased at an astonishing rate.

His spirit amplitude also rose from 36 times.

37 times amplitude.

...

40 times amplitude.

...

43 times amplitude.

...

While Qin Mu was completely immersed in his training, a message from the nest temporarily halted his cultivation.

"Has the nest finally completed the required gene bank percentage?" He glanced at the time on his tactical handwatch; it was already October 15th. His consciousness descended upon Nest 023, located beneath the subway in the center of City 023. 

Beside it lay a giant lizard nearly a hundred meters in size, motionless, as if in a deep sleep. The giant lizard, merely by lying there, kept all monsters within a radius of hundreds of meters at bay. This was the only King-level monster in the swarm, and after such a long time, its injuries had healed, becoming the swarm's greatest trump card.

The swarm's smooth expansion in City 023 was largely due to its efforts.

"Begin the evolution. The swarm is about to enter a new era." Excitement flashed in Qin Mu's eyes.

After two months, the nest had finally accumulated enough gene data.

A Level 1 nest could only thrive in small towns, while a Level 2 nest allowed the swarm to dominate in medium-sized cities. Then what about a Level 3 nest?

When it could mass-produce high-level Horde Leader monsters, even King-level monsters would be intimidated.

But this also meant one thing: the swarm would find it difficult to remain hidden.

In City 023, a city inhabited by tens of millions of monsters, there were currently only five Level 2 nests, which could hatch over 30,000 Zerg units per day. During the time Qin Mu was immersed in his cultivation, the number of Zerg units in City 023 had grown to 800,000. The reason it was 800,000 was that at least 200,000 Zerg units had died in battles with monsters. With the secret support of the King-level monster, these 800,000 Zergs were hunting other monsters frenziedly.

Tens of thousands of monsters were killed every day. This number was still rising. Even a city as large as City 023 could not withstand the relentless hunting of so many Zerg units.

And this was just from five Level 2 nests. The capabilities of a single Level 3 nest was at least equivalent to ten Level 2 nests. Even more terrifyingly, a Level 2 nest could only hatch high Commander-level monsters, while a Level 3 nest could mass-produce high Horde Leader monsters.

This was a qualitative change.

When tens of thousands of high Horde Leader monsters appeared, even if they were just gathered together, humans would be terrified.

Unless Qin Mu deliberately controlled them to fight among themselves, it would be impossible to remain hidden.

"The full-scale war with the monsters is about to break out." Qin Mu understood this in his heart.

"Evolve! Evolve into a Level 3 nest. Make the swarm even stronger." The Level 2 nest began to pupate, turning into a giant egg that pulsed like a heart, growing larger with each beat.

Qin Mu retracted his thoughts and continued to study the "Basic 312 Moves."

Nine hours later, the evolving nest in the subway of City 023 burst open, transforming into a giant nest over twenty meters tall, occupying most of the subway station. At the moment of successful evolution, Qin Mu, who was still diligently studying the "Basic 312 Moves" in the ruins, suddenly felt a strong warm current feedback through his soul link.

Qin Mu's spirit, which had already reached the peak of an advanced Wargod, was strengthened once again. This strengthening continued for a while, and Qin Mu suddenly felt a tremor in his sea of consciousness.

The vast spirit force in his sea of consciousness spontaneously gathered and began to rotate. The rotating spirit force spun faster and faster like a tornado, condensing into wisps of mist. As the mist grew thicker, it spontaneously coalesced into a liquid state. Noticing the changes in his sea of consciousness, Qin Mu's expression changed.

"This is... The spirit force is becoming too vast, naturally transforming, about to evolve into a Planetary-level." Sensing the continuous changes in his sea of consciousness, Qin Mu understood what was happening.

You see, the human body is mainly divided into two parts: the physical body and the soul. The soul is further divided into willpower and spirit.

A spirit master is someone whose spirit is strong enough to be released externally, known as spirit force. When the spirit force reaches the peak of an advanced Wargod, which is the ninth stage of Apprentice level, and the willpower and spirit amplitude reach a certain level, one can break through to the Planetary level.

Willpower and spirit are like a commander and soldiers. Qin Mu did not lack spirit; the swarm constantly fed back, and his spirit force continued to grow.

Nor did he lack willpower.

Since arriving in the world of Swallowed Star, although the time was not long, Qin Mu's journey on the path of cultivation was extremely firm, akin to the ascetic practice of a monk. Every day was spent studying the techniques of fighters and the controlling of spirit masters, or battling various monsters in the wilderness. Even the leisure time during rest was spent learning biological knowledge, enriching his mind.

Was it tiring? Was it hard? Of course, it was tiring. But Qin Mu reveled in it. The pleasure of continuously improving his strength was far beyond the indulgence in the pleasures of the flesh. Moreover, as the ruler of the swarm, possessing the entire swarm, his willpower was naturally extremely strong. 

Ordinary ninth-stage Apprentices could only control four or five weapons. The stronger ones could control ten. But Qin Mu even before entering the ruins, could perfectly control thirty-six short spears. After days of research and study, he had reached forty-nine, which meant his amplitude had reached forty-nine.

This was stronger than many Star-level, even Universe-level spirit masters.

You know, Luo Feng later obtained the Soaring Shuttle, which had three forms. The third form was the ultimate form of the Soaring Shuttle, requiring the Universe level strength, your own domain, and an amplitude of forty-eight to be used.

Qin Mu's spirit amplitude had already met the requirements for the third form. This was terrifying.

When willpower and spirit amplitude meet the conditions, there are three ways to break through to the Planetary level.

The first is to wait for an opportunity, perhaps breaking through in a moment of emotional excitement. The second is for the consciousness to become strong enough to break through naturally. The third is to use a secret technique, which is how most spirit masters in the universe break through.

Qin Mu belonged to the second category, with both his spirit amplitude and willpower strong enough to break through naturally.

His consciousness returned to his sea of consciousness, where the spirit force formed a tornado that continued to spin, and the mist grew thicker, gradually condensing into a large mass of crystal-clear liquid at the center of the storm. Enveloped by the mist, the crystal-clear liquid became more and more solid, eventually forming a crystal-like sphere.

"Boom—"

When the crystal-like sphere solidified, a force exploded forth as if a great explosion had occurred, expanding throughout the sea of consciousness and then violently contracting, absorbing all the mist into the crystal sphere. The sea of consciousness continued to vibrate, the storm disappeared, and all the mist vanished, leaving only the bright sphere at the center of the storm.

When the sphere of light stabilized completely, rotating automatically like a planet and emitting a beautiful glow, an invisible and strange fluctuation emanated from it. This power spread throughout Qin Mu's body and then radiated outward. 

The moment this power spread to his body, Qin Mu underwent unprecedented changes. From the inside out, from his internal organs, muscles, and bones to his blood and skin, everything trembled and underwent essential changes. Not only the structure of his body, but even the deepest layers of his genes rapidly decomposed and recombined.

"This feeling, it's too magical, too wonderful." Qin Mu closed his eyes, perceiving every change in his body.

It was a leap in the essence of life. An evolution in the level of life.

*****

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