CHAPTER 65: BECOMING THE VESSEL OF INFINITY

"Go!" Aurelian yelled, eyeing the ten or so slimes ahead as he issued a command to the blades hovering before him.

He needed more. Even while suppressing the agony, soul-wrenching pain still engulfed him. He needed more! He needed to kill, and he was going to do just that.

His eyes narrowed as he cast his advanced appraisal skill on them.

[Evolved Acidic Slime — Level 26]

[Rank: Common (E)]

[Weakness: Intense fire elemental attacks, mana-coated attacks, soul-based attacks]

"Similar to the previous ones?" he groaned, shifting his attention as he watched his blades slice through the slimes, leaving slashing marks spreading across their gelatinous frames.

"Now!" he breathed, recalling his blades and ordering them to merge midair. He had learned the hard way that evolved slimes required more than a casual graze to kill, but his goal hadn’t been finishing them on the first strike.

A dark smile curved across his lips as the twin blades rested firmly in his grasp. The acidic slimes froze in place, dazed, spacing out momentarily.

An opportunity he didn’t miss. His figure blurred as he appeared before the first slime, watching its pale greenish, bubbly eyes widen in terror. Both blades drove deep into its slimy skin before twisting and pulling free. He moved on instantly, not waiting for the result. Behind him, a thud echoed as the first evolved slime collapsed lifelessly, its soul drifting into his blades—its energy soothing part of his pain.

And just like that, with a dark smile still etched across his face, his blades tore through the slimes one by one. They died helplessly under his brutal assault. With each kill, the dark sheen coating the blades grew more menacing, faint outlines of runes surfacing and adding to their mystical allure. Aurelian paid them no mind. Only one goal burned at the back of his head: Kill!

He was about to pierce through the last slime when it snapped out of its daze. Acid swelled in its body, ready to spew, but Aurelian’s smile only widened. His figure vanished and reappeared before it, brutally ramming both blades into its torso. He ignored the sizzling sounds as the weapons fried its innards, his attention flicking to the notifications appearing before him.

Ding! The host has slain a Level 26 Common Acidic Slime! 6,000 dungeon points awarded!

Ding! The host has slain a Level 26 Common Acidic Slime! 6,000 dungeon points awarded!

Ding! The host has slain a Level 26 Common Acidic Slime! 6,000 dungeon points awarded!

[Level 26: 43,000/50,000]

"Not bad," he snickered, nodding at the significantly increased dungeon points from common-ranked beasts. Then again, it was to be expected of E-rank creatures.

Scanning the ground, he shook his head, a bit disappointed. Not a single piece of loot had dropped since he entered this dungeon. Did evolving beasts not drop loot? He snarled, issuing another mental command. Every decision came instinctively now, hardly requiring thought. The feedback from the devoured souls was becoming increasingly prominent.

"Devour!" he groaned, pain flaring in his chest. Fighting while his body collapsed wasn’t ideal, but there was no choice. With a sigh, he watched the spectral blades unmerge and form a circular array over the beasts. A black hole swirled open at the center, sucking in the corpses.

A familiar notification followed.

[Ding! The Vortex of Doom has absorbed all the energy from the slain foes. Where do you wish to channel it? Attribute Points? Increase Talents and Skills? Equipment?]

"Attribute points," he said without hesitation. A shit-eating grin spread across his face as his unallocated attribute points jumped from 0 to 130.

"Now that’s what I’m talking about!" Aurelian smirked. His goal was becoming easier the deeper he ventured.

He paused, pulling up his supreme records before voicing the distribution:

[+32 Constitution | +26 Strength | +19 Intelligence | +37 Agility | +16 Willpower]

"Argh, fucking hell!" Aurelian yelled as waves of energy surged into him. Pain was nothing now—the bliss of his body growing stronger at such speed scratched an itch he hadn’t known existed. The collapse of his vessel had halted entirely. With just a little more, he’d be free of death’s grasp.

Even better, his Constitution, Strength, Agility, and Intelligence had all maxed out at 100, triggering his third supreme record awakening.

Now, only Toughness, Willpower, and Charisma remained before full awakening.

"Hahahaha! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!" His laughter echoed, a sense of accomplishment swelling in his chest.

More importantly, the strength surging inside him was explosive. With E-rank beings gaining an additional 15 attributes per level, his combat strength now eclipsed his peers entirely—and this was just the beginning.

Resisting the urge to go wild, he decided to test it. Raising one foot, he tapped the ground lightly.

The result was instant. Spiderweb cracks spread out across a meter around him. The sight only made him giddy.

"I can’t hold it anymore. Time to test this properly." His figure blurred forward, leaving mirages as the ground behind shattered into rubble. The air screamed in his wake.

"This is it. True power!" Aurelian breathed, crossing a hundred meters in a single heartbeat. He appeared before another target, his smile spreading dangerously as his advanced appraisal lit up.

[Evolved Acidic Slime — Level 31]

[Rank: Common (E)]

[Weakness: Intense fire elemental attacks, mana-coated attacks, soul-based attacks]

Satisfied, he blinked in front of it. Before the slime could react, his fist drove into its torso, a shockwave rippling out behind him.

The horrendous sight unfolded instantly. The ten-meter slime was hurled into a dungeon wall. Its frame quivered, trying to absorb the blow, but cracks spread across its body before it burst apart with a sickening sound. The walls were painted blue with blood and chunks of slime flesh.

Aurelian lowered his hand, staring at it in disbelief. "I killed a level 31 beast with a single punch?"

By all standards, it was a preposterous feat for someone who had only recently evolved. But the carnage sprawled before him proved it undeniable.

What’s more, he had only used about half his strength.

"More. I need more." Aurelian’s smirk widened as he prepared to devour the corpse. But just then, a new notification blinked before him.

[Ding! The host’s mortal vessel has grown strong enough to house the infinite mana pathways! Full merging resumed!]