Chapter 696 - 382: The Eighth Evolution (2)

’Absorbing external energy, or the power of heaven and earth, to strengthen oneself...’ Su Ze suddenly felt this whole theory was very much like something out of a cultivation novel.

No wonder the three God-level stages were named after the sun, moon, and stars. It was probably because they involved absorbing the "essence of heaven, earth, the sun, and the moon."

However, strengthening his body and soul were merely side effects. The true target of this power was Su Ze’s Origin Gene.

This energy bored directly into Su Ze’s cells and began to act upon the Origin Gene within him.

The energy merged into the hundreds of Origin Gene strands from other races. These hundreds of strands then began to circle a single point, casting a beam of light that shone upon the Human Race’s Origin Gene at the very center.

It was as if the Origin Genes of the other races were suns, and the Human Race’s Origin Gene was a plant, absorbing energy through this process.

Gradually, Su Ze saw the Human Race’s Origin Gene begin to grow at a rapid pace!

Its completion level rose all the way from 11%, breaking past 15% in the blink of an eye!

Su Ze had long known that completing an evolution would increase the completion level of one’s Origin Gene.

It was the same for every race. Aside from plundering one’s own kind, this was one of the few ways to rapidly increase the completion level of one’s native Origin Gene.

During his seventh evolution, because it had been a perfect evolution, his Origin Gene had grown by a significant amount.

But at this rate of growth, Su Ze felt the completion level of his Origin Gene was increasing a bit too quickly.

Su Ze had killed several Moon Gods by now, but without exception, not a single one of them had a native Origin Gene completion level that exceeded 20%.

None of them even reached 20%. The highest was 18%!

Yet in just a short while, Su Ze had surpassed 15%. Moments later, he broke past 18% and was heading straight for the 20% milestone.

A 20% completion level for one’s native gene was the threshold for a Moon God. But to have this level right after becoming one was something that, in practice, almost only the "Tainted" could achieve.

To achieve such a high completion level for their native Origin Gene, the Tainted paid a heavy price: a foul stench that clung to their bodies and the betrayal and abandonment of all their comrades and kin.

In return, they gained faster evolution speeds and formidable combat power against others of the same level.

Yet it seemed Su Ze was about to achieve an Origin Gene completion level that only the Tainted could reach, and with very little effort at that.

Su Ze guessed there had to be a reason for this. After a moment of thought, he came up with two theories.

First, it was because he had plundered a massive number of Origin Genes from other races. Based on the process he was observing, it was these absorbed alien Origin Genes that were converting the external power of heaven and earth into some form of energy, which then strengthened the Human Race’s Origin Gene.

Therefore, it was highly likely that the more Origin Genes from other races he possessed, the more his native Origin Gene would grow during an evolution.

The number of Origin Genes from other races that Su Ze currently possessed far exceeded the threshold required for the eighth evolution.

This was not only due to the legacy left by Mr. Ao, but also because he constantly defeated and killed enemies far above his own level.

Plundering a single Moon God from another race was worth more than plundering a hundred Star Gods.

Second, Su Ze suspected it might also be related to his "Divine Grace of Evolution."

The "Divine Grace of Evolution" skill was unique. It had a clear link to his Racial Talent, so it was only natural that it would also be closely related to his Origin Gene.

Although the Origin Gene’s growth rate had slowed, it was still inching forward.

Finally, it lost its momentum upon breaking the 20% milestone, and the completion level of the Human Race’s Origin Gene settled at 21%!

The absorbed power of heaven and earth within his body was now completely depleted.

Simultaneously, with almost no resistance, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, Su Ze completed his breakthrough and officially became a Moon God!

His evolutionary power upgraded in response to the might of his Origin Gene. This triggered a complete transformation of Su Ze’s own genes; his physique was reinforced, his soul expanded, and all of his skills were enhanced.

A being’s life level determined the upper limit of their skill levels.

As a Star God, even if Su Ze had mastered a Rank-8 skill, he couldn’t unleash its full power.

The same was true for Divine Artifacts. A Rank-8 Divine Artifact could only unleash its true power in the hands of an expert at the Moon God level or higher.

Therefore, abilities like the Shadowless Needle and the "Space Travel" skill had been like pearls gathering dust in Su Ze’s hands.

But things were different now. The Su Ze of this moment was truly a Rank-8 life form, a Moon God expert!

After the completion level of his Human Race Origin Gene broke past the 20% barrier, Su Ze felt himself awaken a new innate ability.

To be precise, his Evolutionary Sensing Ability had upgraded!

Previously, his Evolutionary Sensing Ability only allowed Su Ze to sense nearby materials suitable for upgrading his skills.

But after this upgrade, his Evolutionary Sense gained an additional sensing function—the ability to sense the Origin Genes he was missing!

Simply put, he could now sense whether the people around him possessed the specific Origin Genes that he lacked.

For example, Su Ze’s Dou Race Origin Gene completion was currently as high as 31%. If he captured a Dou Race Star God, it was possible that all of that individual’s Origin Genes already overlapped with the Dou Race Origin Genes Su Ze possessed.

If Su Ze were to plunder them, it would be a waste of resources and offer him no improvement whatsoever.

But since Su Ze couldn’t determine if an individual had the specific segments of the Origin Gene he lacked, this kind of waste was sometimes unavoidable.

But now that his Evolutionary Sensing Ability had upgraded, Su Ze no longer had this problem.

He just had to sweep the area with his Evolutionary Sensing Ability to know roughly how many Origin Genes an individual possessed that he lacked, allowing him to decide whether or not to plunder them.