Chapter 545 - 234: Sub-dragon Warrior, the Heaven-Defying Effect of the Golden Mechanism

’An unknown, superior race that looks exactly like a human but whose life form is countless levels higher?!’

Just as Ah Qiang’s mind raced with wild thoughts, Lin Ye stopped what he was doing.

He raised an eyebrow.

After advancing to a Sub-dragon Warrior, he could clearly feel that he had become exceptionally sensitive to energy-infused substances.

Previously, he had to swallow the Source Crystals to absorb their energy most effectively.

But now...

’It seems I don’t need to go through all that trouble anymore.’

Lin Ye looked at the mountain of Source Crystals piled in the center of the hall, and a thought stirred in his mind.

In the next instant, an unbelievable scene unfolded!

From the small mountain formed by countless Source Crystals, wisps of ethereal blue energy, visible to the naked eye, were drawn out from the Crystal Stones by an invisible force.

These streams of energy converged into a creek, which then swelled into a surging torrent, flowing powerfully into Lin Ye’s body!

The entire process was silent and swift.

As their energy drained away, the internal glow of the once-shimmering Source Crystals rapidly dimmed. They turned into grayish-white stones covered in a web of cracks, looking as if they would crumble to dust at the slightest touch.

Lin Ye paid no mind to his utterly dumbfounded minions behind him.

His full attention was fixed on the strange phenomenon before him.

As more Source Crystals were brought over, the pile before him grew taller. He suddenly noticed a string of pale gold numbers floating in the air above the mountain of Source Crystals.

1.06

’What does this mean?’

Lin Ye was puzzled.

He gestured for the Curse Bone Warriors to keep bringing more.

The entire Painful Labyrinth had now become his personal domain.

As for the members of the Celestial Abyss Race who had refused to submit, the grass on their graves was likely already ten feet high.

Source Crystals were continuously scrounged up from every corner of the rift.

The number in front of Lin Ye slowly ticked upward.

1.27

1.56

The number increased slowly. It seemed this huge pile of Source Crystals only provided a small increase.

Lost in thought, Lin Ye waved his hand, signaling his minions to stop for now.

Then, he accelerated his rate of absorption.

The surging torrent of energy grew even more violent. In just over ten minutes, he had completely absorbed the entire mountain of Source Crystals.

All the Crystal Stones turned to dust, which scattered and vanished with a gust of air.

Lin Ye immediately opened his system panel.

His eyes locked onto the Evolution Points section.

[Evolution Points: 1.56]

’Just as I thought.’

Realization dawned on Lin Ye.

When he unlocked the Evolution Point function, the system had informed him that Source Crystals, along with some rare Spiritual Objects and Spiritual Artifacts, could be directly converted into Evolution Points.

He just hadn’t expected that a mountain of Source Crystals of this size would convert into so few Evolution Points.

’The conversion rate is way too low.’

However, Lin Ye wasn’t too disappointed.

After all, as long as he was in the Celestial Abyss Rift, Source Crystals were everywhere.

They weren’t hard to come by.

He once again ordered all his minions to turn the entire Painful Labyrinth upside down and find every last Source Crystal.

A massive scavenging operation began throughout the entire rift.

...

「An hour later.」

As Lin Ye finished absorbing the last cluster of Source Crystals.

He had consumed the Painful Labyrinth’s entire reserve of Source Crystals.

Lin Ye glanced at his Evolution Point balance on the panel, which finally stopped at 52.3.

At the same time, he felt the Gang Sha within him had been completely refined, each strand condensed to its absolute limit.

A distinct sense of stagnation washed over him—he was stuck at his current realm, unable to advance a single inch.

Gang Condensation Realm, Great Perfection!

A portion of this massive amount of energy from the Source Crystals had been used to refine his Gang Sha, while the vast majority was converted into Evolution Points.

points. He was still about halfway from the one hundred points needed to upgrade [Taotie].

The soulfire in Ah Qiang’s hollow eye sockets flickered.

’The Source Crystals... are gone.’

’The Master used up all the Source Crystals in the entire Painful Labyrinth by himself.’

’Without Source Crystals, we of the Celestial Abyss Race have lost our food supply.’

’We’ll be fine in the short term, but over time, our power will fade, our souls will wither, and we will eventually perish.’

Just then, Lin Ye’s voice rang out coolly.

"You have a contract with me. As long as I live, you will not die."

"Your fear that you and your people will starve to death now that the Source Crystals are gone—that will never happen."

At these words, not only Ah Qiang, but all the powerful Curse Bone Race minions behind him, led by Carlos, were stunned.

That was indeed what they had been thinking.

Their dependence on Source Crystals was carved into their very instincts.

To them, being without Source Crystals was like a human being without food and water—it was a death sentence.

This was an ironclad rule that hadn’t changed for millions of years.

But they had overlooked one crucial fact.

They were no longer purely members of the Celestial Abyss Race.

Under the influence of the [Power of Life and Death] ability, their lives and deaths were now completely bound to Lin Ye.

As long as Lin Ye did not die, they were immortal!

The so-called Source Crystals, their "food," were no longer a necessity for them!

It was merely a habit, ingrained in their very bones over countless years!