[Absolute Devourer (Active)]
[This Skill allows the host to devour anything, without limitation, and absorb its fundamental essence, regardless of defense, spiritual strength, or spatial restriction.]
[Passive skill loading....]
[Passive skill obtained!]
[Skill: Consuming Growth added.]
[Consuming Growth (Passive)]
[The host's physical body and spiritual dimension will undergo rapid, passive accumulation of mass and length with every soul consumed. This growth grants immediate, raw increase in physical strength, regenerative capacity, and spiritual density, scaling infinitely with the host's consumption rate.]
[Dear Host, Fate hasn't been cruel to you, you reincarnated as the Void Eroding Soul King and at the Soul Devouring Cultivation Stage.]
[Your Luck has become fate defying, and by consuming enough souls you will gain evolution points and by gaining enough evolution points you can decide to evolve to any species of your desire.]
[Tutorial Loading...]
[Consume 1,000 souls to gain 1 evolution point.]
Li Mo stared at the glowing blue text floating in front of him. Fate wasn't cruel? Fate-defying luck?
He could hardly believe it. The System said he could evolve into any species he desired by consuming enough souls. Did that include human? It was the only way out. It was the only way to get his real body back and escape what awaited him.
Now, to become human again, he had to eat souls. Not just a few, it may be millions or even billions. He had to start here, with this ship. He would have to commit genocide, he will have to kill every person in this entire colony.
A terrible fight started inside Li Mo's mind, "I was righteous in my past life," he thought. "I practiced the righteous dao! I never practiced demonic arts or killed the innocent." He was a true cultivator, someone who helped people. Now, to survive, he had to become a monster that's probably worse than the Void Eroding Soul King itself.
"But wait, they are going to tear me apart! They want to use my very essence for their own endless life. They are the ones who trapped me! It is kill or be killed."
The choice was clear, even if it was horrific. With the Absolute Devourer skill, he knew he could easily break the blue barrier.
As he decided, the blue spherical barrier surrounding him began to move. Just as he feared, the scientists were taking him out of the main hall, as they moved him to the Dissecting Lab.
.....
The Dissecting Lab, United Stellar Federation Fourth Colony Ship, Great Stellar Domain.
The barrier carried Li Mo into a large, cold room filled with steel tables. The smell of burnt flesh and strange chemicals filled the air, as this was the place where they harvested the spiritual essence of alien life.
On the tables, he saw other creatures that the Federation had captured, all being brutally cut apart by sharp instruments and laser beams. They were all Star Beasts, used for their spiritual energy.
To his passing left was the Thousand-Winged Mosquito Lord. A mosquito the size of a grown dog. Its body was dark purple, and it had shimmering golden wings. The scientists were carefully extracting the needle-like proboscis from its head. This needle contained a condensed spiritual poison that was perfect for making gene weapons.
Nearby, was a giant frog, the Six-Legged Celestial Frog with its colored jade green and six strong legs, lay motionless. Its eyes were closed, and a deep cut ran down its belly. The scientists were removing its massive stomach sac. This sac, full of pure energy, was the main ingredient for high grade pills that guaranteed powerful body refining effects.
And among the many was the Mountain Crushing Spirit Ape. A huge, gray ape with diamond hard skin was chained down. Its essence was being extracted through long, thick needles driven into its heart. This ape's strong spirit was used to make the 'Cosmic Soldier' suits for humans like Lu Chen, giving them immense power.
Li Mo saw their dead eyes and realized his fate would be worse than theirs. He didn't even waste a second further thinking about it. It was either that or be like the other star beast in the lab.
Now focusing all his energy on the Absolute Devourer skill, he pointed the ability directly at the blue barrier.
With a loud, screeching scream, a wave of pulse emanated from its mouth and struck the barrier, shattering it like fine glass. Everything was in shards. It all happened in mere seconds, and the essence of the barrier was absorbed by him.
Immediately, everyone turned their attention toward the beast. It was now free, and that meant the worst.
"How is that possible?" one of them asked.
An alarm rang through the colony ship, the beast was now free. Every procedure was followed, and a communication signal was sent to a nearby colony ship in case of the worst case scenario.
The surroundings immediately turned red, as the red alarm light flashed, a sign that immediate danger was near.
Without wasting time, Lu Chen instantly materialized a sword, and the Galactic Sword King immediately charged at Li Mo. To Lu Chen, he was a cosmic soldier of great reputation, so he needed to step up. He was also the only cosmic soldier nearest to the situation, so it was his duty to attack it.
But as he approached Li Mo, he sensed it, like a prey sensing the predator's aura before being consumed. Lu Chen wasn't stupid, the reason he had lived this long was his ability to know when to back down from a fight, and this was one of those times.
But how? he asked himself. It hadn't even been ten minutes since he came into close contact with the beast, and he hadn't sensed such an aura then. Can a change this big happen in such a short period?
Quickly, he began to retreat, knowing that what awaited him wasn't just a beast but death. With a loud scream, Li Mo released his Devouring Pulse and aimed it at Lu Chen.
Screech!!
The pulse wave was incredibly quick, so fast that Lu Chen quickly activated the full power of his suit, consuming all the stored backup origin energy and risking burning himself up with an amount of energy that wasn't meant to go into the human body in the first place.
It was as if an unseen force pushed him to his side, as the robotic suit glowed blue. But it still wasn't fast enough, the pulse still managed to touch him, though not fully, only devouring his right arm.
With a painful groan, he landed on his back, immediately clenching the shoulder of the missing arm.
Li Mo fixed a predatory gaze on Lu Chen. In Li Mo's mind, it was Lu Chen who had commanded the scientists to quickly dissect him in the name of a 'Million-year Era.' It was Lu Chen who was just moments before trying to strike him down, and it was still the same Lu Chen who had released that killing aura the first time they met gazes, as if he was itching to slice the beast down.
To Li Mo, Lu Chen must die immediately.
With another release of the devouring pulse wave, Li Mo aimed for the absolute disintegration of Lu Chen. But as luck would have it, Federation soldiers showed up and began to fire plasma bullets at Li Mo, causing him to shake a little.
That split-second distraction was just what Lu Chen needed. He quickly activated his suit, and as if a force pulled him by his legs, he was dragged like a dead corpse outside the dissecting lab.
With a smirk on his lip, he locked eyes with the Void Eroding Soul King, Li Mo, as if they acknowledged each other and swore to kill the other first.
The Federation soldiers kept firing their plasma guns at Li Mo, but it was to no avail; the extremely thick skin of the Void Eroding Soul King couldn't be easily penetrated by their mere plasma guns. Some began to wonder how they were even going to dissect such skin in the first place.
With another screech, but louder this time, Li Mo released another wave of his devouring pulse, covering a wider radius.
Immediately, all the Federation soldiers were devoured, their souls consumed by Li Mo.
Ding!
[Host has consumed 17 Souls]
[Remaining 983 Souls.]
Li Mo ignored the desperate, scattered fire of the retreating Federation soldiers, as he turned his focus inward. The consumption of the barrier's essence and the few souls of the immediate threat had tasted like a drop of water in a desert. He needed more, much more if he wants to be a human again.
The Void Eroding Soul King burst from the dissecting lab, the area immediately outside was a maze of panic, as scientists, technicians, and high-level medical staff, all scrambling for the emergency exits.
These weren't ordinary civilians. Many of them possessed genetically enhanced, tempered bodies, designed to withstand radiation exposure and grant superior strength and speed necessary for high pressure deep space research, and also to withstand attacks from star beasts. But as the scientists tried to flee, Li Mo moved like an ancient god among insects. Their augmented speed was nothing compared to his blur.
A group of three senior researchers, their faces pale with terror, tried to barricade a door with a heavy cryogenic chamber. Li Mo reached them in a flash.
The first scientist, was seized by Li Mo's massive jaws. There was a sickening, wet CRUNCH as Li Mo's jaw closed, crushing the man's enhanced sternum and lungs instantly. Blood erupted from the victim's mouth like a fountain, splashing across the walls. The scientist didn't even have time to scream, only a gurgling, strangled sound escaped. The crushing power of the bite broke the man's pelvis and spine simultaneously. "AAAAHHHH!"
The second researcher, a woman, tried to dive through a ventilation shaft. Li Mo's Devouring Pulse quickly hit her lower body. The effect was immediate and horrifying, as her legs and abdomen vanished instantly, leaving a clean, sizzling separation where her torso met the floor. She watched the process in terror for a split second before she SCREEEEEAM, but it was cut short as Li Mo brought his tail down, reducing her upper body to a messy smear of blood and shattered bone.
The third, frozen in shock, was simply consumed whole by an expansion of Li Mo's absolute devour skill. The scientist's entire body was ripped from existence in pulse , leaving absolutely nothing.
Li Mo continued his rampage. He cornered a cluster of technicians behind a server rack. Some he chose to crush, the sound of their bones snapped, as they were swallowed by a desperate "NO! PLEASE!" screams echoing through the corridors. The floor turned red with visceral fluids and blood. Others, those who offered no resistance or were simply too far away, were consumed by the spreading wave of the Devouring Pulse, their souls extracted and absorbed by him.
The truth was starkly evident, even a genetically enhanced and tempered body was pathetic against the absolute devour skill and the crushing maw of the Void Eroding Soul King.
The screams faded, as barely anyone remained in the colony ship.
Ding!
[Host has consumed 990 Souls]
[1 Evolution Point Gained]