Chapter 1031 1031. Chrysalis

The Kesier Apes taken captive in the hidden world remained inside Snore for a while before Noah remembered them. He had kept them inside a sack of dark matter for so long that he had grown used to their presence. Moreover, they were always quiet due to the innate pressure that he radiated.

His mind's condition had forced him to cut off most external inputs. Still, he assigned them to Thirty-seven once he noticed them, and he even left a few chunks of the black metal to the ecstatic automaton.

Healing all the cracks in his mind took almost three years. Noah had left them there for months, so the injury had taken roots. His crystalized mental energy had to remain in place for a long time before turning into part of the walls.

Noah didn't push his body after the limits of the fifth rank right away. He cultivated both mind and dantian for a while so that he could prevent any form of stagnation.

He didn't know how long the chrysalis would last at that time. His fourth center of power was a variable that had no priors in the cultivation world. He couldn't even begin to guess how much his body would take to turn it into part of Noah's existence.

His dantian's training went as smoothly as ever. Noah could see the laws of the world and study them directly from the matter in front of him now. Those pure and simple forces often carried true meanings that reflected shades of his existence.

Destruction and creation were everywhere he looked, but he went after those that resembled his individuality, improving his understanding and increasing the speed at which his dantian enlarged.

Those weren't his laws. They belonged to Heaven and Earth. Noah could only use them to study how they wielded the matter so that his expertise could reach the peak, and he could start becoming his law.

As for his mind, Noah only made sure that it recovered part of its past sturdiness, which wasn't hard since he had a piece of fur with the Sixth Kesier rune and his spherical rune.

Noah resumed eating two years after focusing on his mind and dantian. His body crossed the limits of the fifth rank when he took the first bite of the giant lizard, and his period of accumulation began.

That was the time to accumulate nutrients to use for the evolution of his body. Magical beasts would need an average of a hundred peak rank 5 creatures to make their breakthrough safe. Yet, Noah knew that his requirements were anything but ordinary.

His mind had warned him. His instincts feared the breakthrough. Something told him that even the entire body of a rank 6 magical beast wouldn't be enough to fuel the evolution.

Noah considered his options after his body had fully digested the lizard. Eating creatures on a higher rank always was a troublesome and long process, but his body had handled that better than he expected.

The main issue was that the drowsiness had already arrived, and he felt that it wouldn't take long for the chrysalis to form. However, the energy accumulated in his tissues wasn't enough, according to his instincts.

Noah had the time to take a teleportation matrix, reappear in a rank 6 danger zone, hunt down the area's leader, and digest it before the breakthrough kicked in. Yet, he wasn't sure if even that would suffice for the requirements of his body.

It took him less than an instant to decide on his next step. A divine aura spread in his mansion as the quasi-rank 7 winged beast appeared in his room.

What had once been a creature capable of defeating the world's powerhouses was a stuffed statue now. Shandal had taken away all its interiors and valuable body parts, but its skin was still in place.

Noah knew that he couldn't hurt the beast. His power wasn't enough to pierce its skin even after it had lost most of its body. As for eating it, he didn't even dream about it.

Nevertheless, any creature would release "Breath" upon its death, and the remains of the winged beast followed the same rule.

Noah placed his mouth on its hand before he started sucking. His instincts begged him to take a bite, but his teeth could do nothing against that skin. All he could do was licking away the primary energy released due to its deterioration.

Waves of power spread through Noah's body as he ate the thick primary energy accumulated on the creature's skin. He had never eaten something so pure, and the feeling of satisfaction that it gave him was addicting.

He had learnt to control his hunger though, so he could control himself and continue to stuff his body with energy that no other beast in the fifth rank had ever gained access to.

Noah continued even after he felt full. The drowsiness wanted him to fall asleep on the spot, but he suppressed it as long as he could.

Eventually, he collapsed on the floor, and he had only the strength to put the winged beast back inside his space-ring before his mind went dark, and a crystal-like substance filled the entire room.

Noah didn't dream about his Demonic Sword or the Light-devouring Dragons' past. Not even Snore's sensations appeared in his vision as his mind wandered.

What he saw was a starry sky becoming closer and zooming on the stars that he had pursued all his life. He watched matter burn and fuse as those majestic celestial bodies illuminated the dark void.

Noah didn't have his usual sporadic moments of awareness during that breakthrough, but he was in a nigh-conscious state through all of it.

He immediately realized that those dreams were only about him and signaled how his existence had broken free from his world's limits and aimed for the stars.

An existence with four centers of power was otherworldly. It didn't belong to Heaven and Earth's system, and it wasn't a natural occurrence. Its place was in the void, among other unique existences.

Noah's consciousness awakened at some point, and the simple opening of his eyes shattered layers of crystals in front of him. His hands closed to form fists, and that sudden movement caused shockwaves that reduced more crystals into pieces.

There wasn't any burst of hunger or prideful roar of success. Noah was calm, and he felt entirely in control of himself.

Noah could immediately sense that some of his features had changed. His nails were still black and pointy, and his hair didn't lose their metallic properties. However, the scales had disappeared, and his skin had become whiter as if it had reached a new purity.

His entire body felt hot. He didn't sense the heat, but he realized that his temperature was far higher than usual.

Smoke came out of his mouth when he breathed. There seemed to be a furnace inside him, and the cause was his heart. A black star had replaced his organ.