027. Reforging the Body
Li Aozi's goal is the supreme deity seat on the [Starfall Master] path.
This path isn't controlled by any narrative-level civilization, and high-level [Starfall Masters] are always scattered and isolated, which means the path lacks the foundation for ascension to godhood.
If a group all fights their own battles, even without natural disasters or external troubles, they will gradually fall apart and eventually collapse.
The only flaw in the [Starfall Master] path is that it doesn't allow choosing the C3 Luka-type cosmic humans as the original race.
Therefore, Li Aozi didn't have many choices. Although there are many races in the Layer Abyss, only a few have strong spellcasting potential.
"Since that's the case, I might as well take advantage of the six days of free activity and head straight to the [Temple of Annihilation] to complete myself."
[Colonial Graft Unit I, fully repaired]
Li Aozi took off his clothes, lay down in the bio pool, and then opened the colonial graft tuning interface.
[Two colonial grafts detected within the transmission range. Transmit consciousness?]
Li Aozi didn't choose to transmit but instead opened the interface and selected another option—[Colonial Graft Fusion].
Previously on Azure Star, he had consumed a lot of gene fragments to upgrade [Flesh Enhancement] to fight against [White Knight] Yuhelai.
Luckily, for his Beta-tier body, merging a Gamma-tier colonial graft didn't require many gene fragments.
Moreover, because of the tier penalty for merging a Beta-tier body with a Gamma-tier graft, the system even refunded 20,000 gene fragments as compensation.
[Warning! The tier difference between the colonial grafts is too large. Continuing the fusion will forcefully drop to Beta-tier.]
[Proceed?]
Li Aozi didn't hesitate, making further drastic adjustments to the merged form, optimizing the magic conduction nerves.
The colonial graft tuning for [Mutants] isn't very effective, but Li Aozi wasn't just a [Mutant]; he had studied the basics of magic, was a [Biochemist], and had the [Flesh Affinity] specialty, making it easy to correct the defects in his body.
Unfortunately, there weren't many areas he could modify.
On the one hand, the Tanas human race had already evolved quite perfectly, solving most of humanity's flaws. Digging deeper into potential didn't yield much.
On the other hand, magical organs were quite precious. After casually modifying the mental power area of his brain, he ran out of gene fragments.
With no other choice, since he couldn't modify his mental power, Li Aozi expanded the tissue cells responsible for adjusting elemental affinity to his sensory system.
This way, he could clearly sense where various elements were distributed, making prolonged battles much easier.
Li Aozi didn't want to be treated as a colonial weapon, so he directly modified his genetic chromosomes, first changing them to [Tanas Human-Dominant].
The Tanas humans had far greater resilience than the new generation Homo sapiens of Azure Star.
This also meant that during colonial graft fusion, rejection reactions were less likely to occur, preventing a repeat of the previous graft, which was destroyed after only a short time.
[Colonial Graft Body, tuning completed]
[Fusing colonial grafts...]
Li Aozi's consciousness was once again detached. He had grown accustomed to observing the lower realm from this perspective above the body, no longer feeling excited or curious.
From his god's-eye view: the bodies of 'Li Aozi' and 'Leo' in the bio pool began to decay, their flesh melting like chocolate under heat, their bones shattering and breaking down—within seconds, the two colonial grafts completely melted away as if dropped into a pool of strong acid, being corroded and destroyed, with every cell breaking apart and leaking telomeres and genetic material.
The entire bio pool turned into a gruesome feast of flesh soup.
But soon, this gory and grotesque scene came to an end.
The cells, driven by some mysterious will, intricately wove together structures, sturdy bones were reassembled, newly formed flesh intertwined, and magic and elemental channels stretched upward. Under the surge of magic, layer upon layer of muscle membranes tightly fused together, forming a powerful mana heart.
In this artistry comparable to the wonders of nature, a human body gradually took shape.
His face had two features, allowing him to freely switch between 'Li Aozi' and 'Leo,' with the energy-storing Haynes crystals in particulate form hidden within his bones and joints, perfectly concealing his identity as a [Mutant].
The fabric of life was woven here.
Then came the rumbling.
His bone marrow began producing blood, and with the continuous infusion of energy, the newly born colonial graft body swelled from its shriveled state, its muscles growing strong and resilient as blood filled the vessels. His powerful [Charisma] had already drawn in dispersed magic and elemental matter from the air, automatically adjusting the balance.
[You have undergone a beneficial mutation, gene fragment integration in progress...]
[Your excellent genetic traits are manifesting. Please select one direction from the following mutation traits.]
At that moment, the long-awaited mutation notification appeared.
Perhaps this time, the constant recombination of genes during the tuning and fusion of colonial grafts triggered the mutation by chance.
Li Aozi glanced at the first batch of mutations. The bonuses were average and not suitable for his direction.
Luckily, he still had one final perfect reset opportunity. Li Aozi figured that if everything went smoothly on this trip, he would successfully complete his class transfer soon.
He probably wouldn't need it in the future, so he decided to use it here.
[Reset complete]
[Presenting you with a flawless genetic modification:]
A—[Gene Selection Inorganic Synthesis]: Your genes have integrated in an excellent direction, and now, your body will become a factory. You can refine inorganic matter and metals within your body, such as titanium, iron, magnesium, sodium, and use them as your own weapons.
If you choose to retain this trait, your genes will no longer focus on combat and slaughter, and options related to production, digestion, and adaptation will become more frequent, while combat-related mutation options will appear less often.
B—[Gene Splicing•Mana Nerve Interface]: Your genes have spliced an unexpectedly excellent gene sequence, and now you can equip yourself with magical prosthetics and colonial grafts. Mana will replace electrical potential to control the operation of prosthetics and grafts.
If you choose to retain this trait, you can enchant the organs and conscious bodies on your person, and in future mutations, you will automatically select the mutation paths of [Magical Consciousness Upload]—[Magical Digital Ghost]—[Magical Network Link].
C—[Gene Grafting•Dark Source Energy Absorption]: During your travels in the universe, your body was invaded by dark source energy, a tyrannical and primal force. It once destroyed your Omega Energy, causing you great pain, but with the reconstruction of your body, this energy has remained inside you. Now, its component fragments are before you. You can either absorb it or miss the opportunity.
The [Gravity] Omega Energy is very fond of dark source energy.
When releasing gravity, you will gain an additional 'Dark Oppression' effect, and you can maintain a stable strong gravitational field by consuming dark elements.
Dark Oppression: Deals 3% dark corrosion to controlled targets every second, and at 99%, the target will be immobilized.
If you choose to retain this trait, you will unlock the ability to absorb dark source energy and open a new elemental pool—Dark Element. However, your Omega Energy awakening will also lean more towards 'darkness,' 'destruction,' and 'shadow'-related dark Omega Energies.
—————————
"CCCCCC!"
Li Aozi didn't hesitate, afraid of missing the opportunity.
"I choose C!"
It wasn't because he had a dark personality or liked choosing abilities that sounded villainous.
It was because...
"There's no dark-related Omega Energy below Omicron-tier!"
[Gene Grafting complete]
[Your new colonial graft body has been successfully transformed]
[Specialty•Flesh Affinity—Activated]
[This colonial graft's race will be regarded as—[Tanas Human Subspecies]]
[You have unlocked a new elemental pool—Dark Element]
[Due to the conflict with your primary class—[Mage] will now be treated as your secondary class]
[Your secondary class—[Elementalist] has been cleansed, 750,000 experience points refunded]