Chapter 132: Evolution Level Lv8!
[Do you realize you’ve completely offended the Cup now?]
Xu Zhi: “I thought I already offended them long ago?”
[…]
[Fair point.]
[But!]
[Now you’ve offended them even more!]
Xu Zhi raised an eyebrow: “Just because I gave that path to the Little Aberrant?”
[Yes.]
[Do you know what that means?]
“How would I know?”
Although her brain had absorbed a great deal of knowledge, most of what related to her abilities centered around [Moth]. The rest was obscure and difficult to digest—despite constantly processing it since awakening, she’d only managed to grasp maybe 1% of it. Even she didn’t fully understand what it was.
Maybe only once she had fully understood everything within her mind would she truly know.
[The Little Aberrant only listens to your commands. And now that it’s transformed, it can no longer leave the city center. It must stay here to suppress that place—meaning the Cup has temporarily lost an archbishop-level path, and a powerful bishop.]
[Remember what I once told you—about what happens when your life level increases?]
“I remember.”
That was when she asked when she could have her next Follower.
If the Narrator hadn’t brought it up now, Xu Zhi might’ve forgotten entirely.
[Each higher level of life represents a new path. Now that the Path of Wrath has been severed, the Cup has lost an entire route!
You will become the most hated enemy of all Cup-aligned followers. They will loathe you to the core. In their eyes, you’ve destroyed a sacred path. You and the Little Aberrant will be hunted down by every Cup believer.]
“Is it really that serious?”
[The Cup’s paths are unique. There are only seven in this generation. All followers compete for just those seven. Now…]
Thanks to Xu Zhi, one of them was gone.
It wasn’t hard to imagine how furious the followers of [Cup] must be.
[Not just the followers—even the Cup itself will be enraged. You’re already marked.]
[In Cloud City, it’s fine for now. But once you leave—danger will follow you everywhere.]
“Leave Cloud City? How would I even leave?”
Xu Zhi picked up on the implication in that phrase.
[I don’t mean now. I mean someday. You won’t stay in Cloud City forever, right?]
“Well, no.”
But since the Narrator brought it up so suddenly… did that mean a way out of the city might appear soon?
[Anyway, the point is: the Cup now utterly despises you. Even Yu Shenwei may suffer indirect consequences. You’d better strengthen your control over her. And also—]
[It’s not just the Cup. Even things within Midnight are watching you now.]
[You’ve angered too many things you shouldn’t have. And those things… are a real headache.]
“Whatever.” Xu Zhi shrugged.
“If they’ve got the guts, let them crawl out of the rift and hit me.”
[Obviously they can’t do that yet. But Midnight will descend again eventually. Don’t get cocky!]
“But that reminds me—what is this rift? What are those things in Midnight? And what’s that shard that entered my body?”
Xu Zhi asked, confused. There were so many things she still didn’t understand, but she had a hunch the Narrator knew.
[The rift connects the real world to Midnight—but it’s not naturally occurring.]
[As for the shard…]
[You ate it and gained immense benefits.]
[Your life level has increased. Guess what your evolution level is now?]
“You’re changing the topic way too abruptly!” Xu Zhi grumbled.
[Lv8.]
The Narrator ignored her complaint and gave an answer that truly shocked Xu Zhi—successfully distracting her.
“So high?”
Jumping straight from Lv1 to Lv8?
Is that even legal?
[Normally, Transcendents don’t evolve like this. This path of evolution…]
“Yeah, yeah, got it. Stop ranting.”
She was well aware by now that she wasn’t exactly “normal.”
[Back to the point. We’ll talk about the rest later. Open up the Little Aberrant’s stats.]
“‘Talk later’… More like you just don’t want to explain,” Xu Zhi muttered, but she obediently opened the aberrant’s status panel.
*
Follower: Aberrant Lv40
Mind: 100
Body: 40,000
Attribute: Cup
Traits: Bloodthirsty, Agile, Strength, Pain Tolerance, Evolution Lv7, Growth, Tenacity, Sealing
Special Abilities: Seed of Parasitism, Seed of Greed, Cup of Wrath
Special Class: Archbishop of the Cup (Wrath)
*
Xu Zhi: “…!”
She was stunned.
40,000 physical strength?!
Mind still at 100?!
And Stealth was gone. Understandably—how could something with that body type sneak around?
At least Agility was still present. The aberrant wasn’t paralyzed—it just couldn’t move.
It had gained Tenacity and Sealing. Made sense. Sealing was for closing off the rift—it was the key reason why the aberrant couldn’t leave anymore.
Xu Zhi didn’t really care whether the things in the rift escaped or not. But the Narrator had said it “must suppress the rift”—which clearly meant the rift wasn’t supposed to be opened yet.
Still, what Xu Zhi cared most about was—
“Why is it Lv40, but its Mind stat is still 100?”
“Why hasn’t it gotten even a little smarter?!”
[Then maybe ask yourself?]
[It’s aligned with Cup—and it’s an aberrant. Double debuffs to intelligence! Its brain is worse than your average follower, and you know it!]
[Now it’s even a Wrath Archbishop. You’ve tried Wrath before, right? That thing basically lowers your IQ—tell me I’m wrong.]
“You’re not wrong…” Xu Zhi muttered, deflated.
[The fact it can still function with this much brainpower is… Look, just be grateful!]
“I… guess?”
Xu Zhi felt the Narrator’s mental state was a bit off—but she didn’t dare say it aloud.
[Anyway, the aberrant just ascended to Archbishop. But it’s unlike any normal Archbishop—the path it took is… pretty crooked.]
The Narrator let out a deeply human sigh—in text.
Xu Zhi wisely stayed silent.
[Becoming an Archbishop is the second major phase after a life-level breakthrough. You’re also in your second phase as a Transcendent. In terms of rank, you’re equivalent to an Archbishop—but if we break it down into smaller sub-phases, you’re actually even stronger.]
Xu Zhi frowned. “I don’t feel all that different.”
[Of course you don’t.]
[You haven’t even fully absorbed or understood the power and knowledge you’ve just obtained. It’ll take time.]
[Just know this—you’re no longer a mortal. In fact, in many ways, you’re no longer even human. Your body’s been reconstructed. Most of the rules that apply to humans don’t apply to you anymore.]
[The second phase is marked by the transcendence of the flesh, mastery of higher levels of mystic knowledge, and—]
[The ability to influence small-scale rules.]
