Chapter 972: Michael, the Space Pirate
Chapter 972: Michael, the Space Pirate
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Michael changed his strategy and attacked larger units of Hyumans. It was a little annoying to hide his other Soultrait Symbols from them, but the results were great. By spending a full week in the deepest parts of the Supreme Human Alliance's territory in the Novix Galaxy, Michael located and eradicated five spaceships manned with reinforcement. Each spaceship contained more than three thousand Higher Lifeforms and some Divine Lifeforms, but they were defeated rather easily. The Cosmos Beasts stopped the spaceships while Michael summoned an Emperor Qi Sword with a massive length of more than one hundred meters. The spaceships might have had a strong dome of protection, but enhancing Emperor Qi with several layers of Greater Enhancement and simple use of Unlimited Enhancement was enough to destroy them.
Michael was not feeling too great about using Greater Enhancement on top of Emperor Qi and Cosmic Stride as it might expose him, but the whitish hue of Greater Enhancement shrouding his vibrant silver Emperor Qi was barely visible. Nobody had the time and nerve to focus on Greater Enhancement's hue. They were too focused on the massive sword cutting through the spaceship repeatedly.
The spaceships fell apart, their protection domes too weak to block the Enhanced Emperor Qi Sword.
Once destroyed, the spaceship's protection was no more. The Divine Lifeforms could easily survive in space, but the same couldn't be said about Higher Lifeforms. Most didn't have enough high-quality energy, or control of their energy, to travel through space using bursts of energy. Their utility wasn't precise enough to walk or fly through space, and they would spin around wildly. But that was not everything. It was only a minor problem compared to the lack of oxygen and the cold of the wide-open space.
Higher Lifeforms weren't built to survive in space. They had to envelop their bodies in energy, which was rapidly drained, to stay alive and warm.
Michael had a much easier time surviving in the open space when he was a Higher Lifeform since he could use Extraction to supplement his body with energy and the Spheres of Elements to create oxygen, heat, and everything else he needed. Cosmic Stride made it much easier to move as well.
But now that he was a Divine Lifeform, Michael didn't have such problems. He could survive in the open space even if it wasn't for his Soultraits. One way or another, the Higher Lifeforms suffered a lot once the spaceships were destroyed. Michael didn't even have to focus on them once they were exposed to the wide-open space. Instead, he paid the most attention to the Divine Lifeforms. Fighting them with three active Soultraits and the passive abilities of Seer and Sacred Constitution should have been a challenge, but Greater Enhancement, Emperor Qi, and Cosmic Stride were all 8-Star Soultrait with powerful Ancient or Primordial-grade Soul Techniques. His Soultraits were also boosted by the Links of Loyalty of hundreds of millions of trusted subjects. He had more than enough Soul Power to strengthen his Soultrait Symbols, pushing them to an even higher level, and to execute his Soullife Arts and Soul Techniques way too often.
The Divine Lifeforms hated Michael to the core. His tactics disgusted them since he unleashed a series of Soullife Arts and Perfect Soul Techniques to empower his body and Soultrait Symbols. He overwhelmed the Divine Lifeforms one by one and ended their lives. n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
After a week of sniping spaceships, Michael changed his tactic again. He'd killed a dozen Divine Lifeforms and 15,000ish Higher Lifeforms. That was a considerable number of the Hyuman's reinforcement deployed to the Novix Galaxy…and Michael defeated them all. He acquired more than 2,000 Soultrait Symbols, some of which were shockingly powerful and useful beyond whatever the Hyumans had done to block and defeat Michael, and 76,540,000 SoulStar Fragments.
Michael's first move was to upgrade Sacred Constitution to 9-Star. Jormungandr had been bothering Michael to upgrade the Soultrait Symbol the entire week because he wanted to show Michael what he could do with the Authority of Power.
Sacred Constitution evolved into Primordial Vessel, an unexpected name if one were to ask Michael, but he accepted it with a warm embrace. Once Primordial Vessel came into existence, Michael's physique improved drastically. Not only was every Link of Loyalty much more valuable to Primordial Vessel than it had been to Sacred Constitution, but the amount of Soul Power infusing into Primordial Vessel was also several times higher. But that was not all. Every Serpent Seal augmented Primordial Vessel, further amplifying Michael's physical strength.
But, of course, acquiring Jormunganr's Divinity was much more valuable than upgrading Sacred Constituion to 9-Star Primordial Vessel. The Authority of Power was unique, but it wasn't all Jormungandr's Divinity was based on.
The World Serpent demonstrated his power once after Michael stopped hunting spaceships. They traveled to the strongest being in the Novix Galaxy – enemy, to be precise – where Jormungandr unleashed his Divinity to show off.
The Authority of Power was unleashed alongside Jormungandr's other powers, expanding Michael's size by more than ten times. His power didn't skyrocket by ten times, but it increased drastically. He appeared before the Hyuman Overlord, the man ruling the Hyumans in the Novix Galaxy…and crushed him with the Authority of Power, freezing him in his tracks and squashing him like an ant.
The Hyuman Overlord would have been difficult to defeat under normal circumstances, but he was a weakling before the might of Jormungandr's Divinity.
[I don't have to brag to kill a weakling like this. Your powers are too obvious. Mine are silent and deadly.] Hel announced when she sensed her brother's attitude. Jormungandr had just killed the Hyuman Overlord through Michael's body, nearly melting him alive, as Hel scoffed.
[Don't take this away from me!] Jormungandr roared.
Michael chuckled as the siblings' fight continued, and he smiled through whatever they said. Their comments didn't bother him, and he became more interested in the power he gained through Jormungandr's power display. Primordial Vessel's Symbol changed after the first use of Jormungandr's Divinity. The same phenomenon happened again. Tendrils, or roots –in darkish green instead of golden – emerged from the Soultrait Symbol and wiggled around wildly. The seed of Jormungandr's Divinity hadn't fully formed yet, but it would only require a few more uses. The same was the case with Extraction. Fenrir hadn't used his Divinity anymore after the last time. He wasn't against using it but made clear that his Divinity didn't regenerate quickly as a Curse. He had accumulated most of his Divinity's power over the course of tens of thousands of years.
Michael didn't want to use it all against Divine Lifeforms. He could tell Gods – especially the Primal – were bound to come his way at some point. They would come knocking at his doors, and Michael had to prepared by then. Thus, he had to form the Divinities without wasting too much of the God Curses Divinity too quickly. They had to retain enough of their Divinity to replenish their used-up power and fight the Primal with him. Otherwise, he would die long before he acquired the power needed to fight the Primal head-on.
After all, they were bound to come looking for him before he would attain godhood.