Chapter 8: Metamorphosis
This was a European medieval-style castle. In the spacious castle hall, thousands of various creatures were nervously working.
Countless intangible octopus-like objects floated in midair. One of them suddenly descended from the air and landed in front of a human girl.
The girl, who had been pretending to sleep, opened her eyes and stared at the faintly visible octopus for a moment.
Seeming to understand some information, the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
She waved her hand, and the octopus returned to the air, resuming its floating state.
The girl had her own seat in the great hall, as did the other thousand or so beings around her - each representing a different species.
"Gurgle gurgle," a creature near the girl's seat looked at her, its throat vibrating as it spoke, "My kin are completely hopeless, only 817 have undergone metamorphosis so far, and that's only because they were lucky enough to get fragmented energy crystals. Gurgle gurgle."
This creature was massive in size, resembling a giant worm but with a human face.
"The attrition rate has already exceeded 30%, gurgle gurgle, looks like I'm going to fail my evaluation again."
The human-faced worm looked dejected, its small eyes rolling as it asked, "How about you humans? Gurgle gurgle..."
The girl crossed her legs and gave a wicked smile.
"Attrition rate is about the same as yours," the girl replied casually.
The human-faced worm's expression brightened - at least it wasn't at the bottom.
"But..." the girl drew out her words, "I just found out that a human has already completed a regional strongest kill, and the Origin merit points have been awarded. As for the number of metamorphoses, it's just a mere 893."
"Gurgle gurgle... gurgle gurgle," the human-faced worm looked shocked, its emotions completely reflected on its face, "How is that possible? It hasn't even been one Origin cycle yet."
"Heh," the girl chuckled lightly, too lazy to continue entertaining this annoying worm.
However, the fact that someone had completed a regional kill in just ten Earth hours was something even she couldn't comprehend.
As a member of the Galactic Order's adjudication department at the Origin, she was responsible for guiding and evaluating the human newcomers. Though her rank wasn't high, the number of humans transported to the Origin this time numbered in the hundreds of billions. [T/N: Yes, its hundreds of billions]
The metamorphosis rate met expectations, but this regional strongest kill - what was going on? Were human physical abilities this strong now? While not unheard of in the Galactic Order, such feats were usually only seen among the top-tier species, those with monstrous physical capabilities.
The girl looked toward the far end of the hall - still so far from her current position. She hoped this might help her seat move closer.
This little guy deserved some reward. With a thought, the girl summoned Liu Xiang's information.
Wait? This little guy hasn't even completed metamorphosis... The girl's face darkened.
Whatever, considering you helped me annoy this worm... The girl snapped her fingers.
The scene zoomed out.
Outside the castle, rolling mountains and more structures were scattered about, but all of this existed on the back of a giant mystical turtle that spanned tens of thousands of meters. This colossal turtle floated leisurely above the clouds, soaring through some part of the Origin.
...
Liu Xiang applied shade grass powder to his wounds. The effect was immediate - except for his back which he couldn't reach, all other wounds stopped bleeding.
[Received message initiated by Galactic Order. Receive? This message was actively initiated by Galactic Order and approved by Origin.]
Receive.
[Metamorphosis method for intelligent lifeforms: Energy crystals contain the life force required by spiritual bodies. Absorbing the spiritual energy within energy crystals is one of the core methods for lifeform metamorphosis.]
This...
A knowledge care package from Galactic Order?
Absorbing energy crystals could directly cause biological metamorphosis..... So that lizardman metamorphosis process he witnessed? That glowing object must have been an energy crystal.
Wait, the primary hazard zone kill reward included an energy crystal option. Didn't that mean he could claim the reward and use it for absorption?
No no no. Liu Xiang resisted the urge to immediately select the energy crystal reward.
Instead, he first organized his loot from this trip.
He hadn't realized it at the time, but as he took out items one by one, he discovered he'd actually scavenged quite a lot:
Punch daggers +4
Breastplates +5
Machetes +2
Daggers +4
Boning knives +2
Trap clamps +3
Poison vials +12
Dark red pills +30
Foul-smelling meatballs +11
Unknown white pills +17
Glow-bug vials +3
Belts +4
Backpacks +7
Complete animal hides +5
Complete animal fur +1
Unknown biological organs +41 (including horns, tendons, internal organs, tails, bones, etc.)
Animal hide maps +3
Animal hides with special writing +9
Metal hammer +1
Large metal rivets +12
Ropes +3
Meat skewers +1
These were all items he'd grabbed from several stone huts. At the time, he was in a hurry and really just took whatever he saw. Looking back now, it seemed he'd missed many small items.
Regrets - still the original sin of insufficient strength.
Now for the main event. He pulled out the corpse of the regional strongest creature - that dark red-skinned lizardman.
This guy had not died peacefully, with holes in his neck and face, his entire head now blackened.
Sorry about that, brother.
Liu Xiang still felt some reverence for the title "strongest." He quickly stripped all items from the corpse.
Finally, he yanked the short staff from the corpse's grip.
The staff was about half a meter long, made of what seemed like wood but lighter than normal wood. The top of the staff was embedded with a statue of a monster in a sitting position.
Tossing it aside, Liu Xiang picked up the belt and opened each pouch one by one.
There were also 4 pouches. The first contained a crystal vial holding two red stones about the size of fingernails, faintly glowing red. The second pouch held a black gelatinous sphere. Liu Xiang fiddled with it and found the sphere was warm, though he didn't know its purpose. When he rubbed it, sparks appeared on the sphere's surface? When he rubbed harder, the entire sphere actually caught fire.
This thing was basically the lizardman's lighter!
This was a good find - it could provide light in emergencies and serve as a hand warmer normally.
The third pouch also contained a crystal vial, this one holding golden liquid of unknown purpose.
The fourth pouch contained... a stone, about the size and shape of a chicken egg...
This couldn't be an egg laid by this lizardman, could it? A chill ran down his spine as he casually tossed it into the Defective Product.
Lastly was a hide bag tied to the belt. Liu Xiang was most interested in this bag's contents.
Sure enough, when he opened the bag, Liu Xiang got excited.
Inside was a pear-shaped crystal, smooth and transparent, emitting pure white light all over. This must be the energy crystal. There should have originally been two, with one used by that small lizardman, leaving this last one unused.
This thing could enable biological metamorphosis.....
Liu Xiang carefully took out the energy crystal with his hand.
The moment his fingers touched the crystal, a system message appeared:
[Discovered Spirit Energy Crystal (Fragmented), absorb?]
No wonder the Galactic Order's message didn't explain how to absorb energy crystals - it was automatic...
Liu Xiang took a deep breath and selected "Yes"
[Spiritual body charging in progress...]
Grow bigger, my body!
Liu Xiang shouted inwardly, preparing for the same kind of physical strengthening the lizardman had undergone.
However, what came wasn't the sound of his body enlarging.
But rather an internal transformation.
A certain part inside him was rapidly filling up - a part that clearly belonged to him but which he had never been aware of before.
At the same time, his heart rate kept decreasing.
His brain's central system seemed to no longer need the energy from blood, having been replaced by another energy source.
The energy crystal in his hand gradually dimmed until it lost all luster.
[Spirit Energy Crystal absorption complete, intelligent lifeform has completed spiritual metamorphosis.]
[Detected intelligent lifeform has spiritual energy supply, establishing central link]
[Central link complete]
[Obtained intelligent lifeform Origin ID: 87242-82231-25241-2241]
[Intelligent lifeform Origin permissions upgraded]
[Galactic Order merit exchange unlocked]
[Universal language switching unlocked]
[Basic Origin missions unlocked]
[Galactic Order missions unlocked]
[Galactic Order merit exchange unlocked]
[Spiritual attributes unlocked, Pneuma: 1; Spirit Pool: 5]
....
What is all this supposed to mean.....
Liu Xiang was utterly bewildered.