That giant Hollow earthworm was exceptionally massive; even with the remaining small portion of its body, Yoru Chikao still appeared incredibly tiny in comparison, about seven or eight times smaller than it.
Yoru Chikao greedily devoured every piece of flesh and blood; if not for some blood seeping into the desert and being impossible to consume, he would have wanted to eat even the sand.
Because Yoru Chikao knew the original plot and understood that everything in Hueco Mundo was composed of high-density spirit particles, he had the wild idea to try eating the white sand to see if it could increase his spiritual pressure. However, he choked himself half to death several times before giving up in frustration.
Before long, the enormous remaining corpse, far exceeding his own size, had been completely devoured by Yoru Chikao. This time, unlike before, after finishing half of the earthworm Hollow, Yoru Chikao finally experienced a long-awaited feeling of fullness.
"Roar!!!"
Wisps of dark golden spiritual pressure swirled around Yoru Chikao's body, and he couldn't help but let out a long roar to the sky!
"Am I about to evolve?"
Noticing his own transformation, a hint of a smile appeared on Yoru Chikao's large face, which was covered by a pale mask.
Immediately, Yoru Chikao felt incredibly comfortable, as if he had returned to his previous life and someone was giving him a full body SPA.
A dark golden pillar of spiritual energy erupted from his body, and Yoru Chikao's form underwent a complete evolution within the spiritual pressure pillar.
The light pillar did not last long; it dissipated completely after about ten seconds.
As the golden light faded and the dust settled, Yoru Chikao's new form was revealed.
His original body, four to five meters long, had now become even larger. Including his centipede-like tail, Yoru Chikao's entire length was about seven to eight meters, nearly double his previous size.
His originally pale centipede limbs now had some dark golden lightning patterns, and even the pale mask covering Yoru Chikao's entire head, like a helmet, also gained a touch of dark golden lightning pattern.
His humanoid upper body was interwoven with golden and black patterns, appearing even more demonic than before.
"I've evolved into a Powerful Hollow!"
Yoru Chikao said, his expression invigorated.
Based on Yoru Chikao's exploration over the past half month and his understanding of the original work from his previous life, Yoru Chikao had a general grasp of the Hollow hierarchy.
In the original work of his previous life, it was only stated that there were ordinary Hollows and Menos Grande. Among the Menos Grande, they were further divided into the lower-class Menos Grande Gillian, the mid-class Menos Grande Adjuchas, and the most mysterious upper-class Menos Grande Vasto Lorde.
After Yoru Chikao's on-site investigation and personal experience, he understood that not only Menos Grande had classifications, but even ordinary Hollows also had classifications.
**First Stage—Freshman Hollow**: Yoru Chikao and the Lizard Hollow that he killed when they first appeared in Hueco Mundo both belonged to this category.
These Hollows had just formed or had not been formed for long, and had not yet devoured enough of their kind or human souls. Their strength was generally low, and their power mainly depended on the strength of their soul before transforming into a Hollow.
The reason Yoru Chikao could crush that Lizard Hollow was entirely because his soul strength as a human was higher than the latter's.
**Second Stage—Powerful Hollow**: Yoru Chikao, after his initial evolution, is currently at this level.
**Third Stage—Giant Hollow**: The Giant Hollow earthworm that was easily instantly killed by that unique Gillian was at this level.
**Fourth Stage—Lower-Class Menos Grande Gillian**: This type of Menos Grande is a colossal monster formed by at least a hundred or more Giant Hollows fighting and devouring each other. They are the gatekeepers among Menos Grande, and over ninety percent of Gillians look identical.
Most of them will completely lose consciousness, becoming mindless killing machines. These unintelligent Gillians are commanded by mid-class Menos Grande Adjuchas.
Only a very few unique Gillians will retain their intellect and continue to consciously devour their kind to evolve into higher-level Menos Grande Adjuchas. For example, the one Yoru Chikao encountered before.
In addition, there is a special type of existence among Gillians: special Gillians that have degenerated from mid-class Menos Grande Adjuchas.
This type of Gillian is formed when a group of Adjuchas are injured during their evolution and struggles, leading to physical defects and a fall from the Adjuchas rank. This special Gillian will not degenerate into the common Gillian body type, retaining the form they had as an Adjuchas, and their strength far exceeds that of ordinary Gillians.
**Fifth Stage—Mid-Class Menos Grande Adjuchas**: Evolved from unique Gillians through continuous fighting and devouring. Their size is usually larger than ordinary Hollows but smaller than Gillians. They can command Gillians in battle and can use high-level abilities such as Cero and Sonido!
However, they still need to constantly devour their kind to seek evolution. Once bitten by a Menos Grande of the same or higher level, even if the lost part is extremely small, their evolution will permanently stop. After that, no matter how many more of their kind they devour, at most they will only maintain themselves from degenerating into a Gillian, and will never have the chance to become a Vasto Lorde again.
**Sixth Stage—Upper-Class Menos Grande Vasto Lorde**: Vasto Lorde are the highest-ranking Menos Grande in Hueco Mundo, evolving from Adjuchas with sufficient potential, or naturally forming in Hueco Mundo. Their size is comparable to humans, their numbers are extremely rare, and their combat power is extremely formidable, enough to rival Squad Captain level individuals in Soul Society.
"There's still a long way to go!"
Yoru Chikao was not overly delighted by his promotion to a Powerful Hollow, because he knew that if it were in the later stages of the plotline, even Arrancars of the Vasto Lorde level would not be enough, let alone his ant-like Powerful Hollow.
Without knowing the current timeline, the only correct path is to quickly strengthen himself! Otherwise, he might be crushed to dust by the residual shockwaves of two Adjuchas fighting one day.
Thinking of this, Yoru Chikao felt an even greater sense of urgency. So he quickly familiarized himself with his body after the evolution and was delighted to find that he had gained two brand new abilities.
**Ability One—Concealing Presence**: Yoru Chikao can conceal his spiritual pressure to a near-zero state. Only those whose spiritual pressure is more than a hundred times greater than his own can perceive his spiritual pressure.
**Ability Two—Gran Rey Cero**: Yoru Chikao can wrap arcs of lightning around the segments of his centipede-like lower body. Unfortunately, this Gran Rey Cero can only adhere to his body and cannot be used for long-range attacks.
Learning about his two new abilities, Yoru Chikao couldn't help but be overjoyed. With these two new abilities, combined with the special terrain of the Hueco Mundo desert, Yoru Chikao would be the most excellent hunter, greatly accelerating his process of devouring and evolving.
"As for long-range attacks, I have those too!"
A subtle smile appeared on Yoru Chikao's face beneath his mask. Immediately after, images of the Cero released by that unique Gillian, which he had witnessed firsthand, flashed repeatedly in his mind.
Then, he extended a pale right index finger and pointed forward. A wisp of black and red spiritual pressure gathered at his fingertip. Five seconds later, a black and red beam of light erupted from Yoru Chikao's fingertip, shooting towards a distant sand dune.
"Rumble!"
A huge roar accompanied by a swirling cloud of sand and dust swept over.