Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener

Boris was the first to react, immediately stepping up to fulfill his role as the loyal lackey.

He had come to terms with the fact that, in combat, they couldn't offer Sterl any meaningful assistance. If that was the case, then at the very least, they needed to provide emotional value. Otherwise, what difference was there between them and useless dead weight?

The others quickly followed suit, using the most extravagant and flattering words they could muster to praise Sterl's unparalleled strength.

Sterl observed his followers' groveling with a faint smile. Unbeknownst to them, these so-called gods had already been reduced to nothing more than trivial garbage in his eyes, easily destroyed with a mere thought.

Still, being showered with relentless praise by his godly followers was rather enjoyable. At the very least, it lifted his spirits.

Afterward, Sterl checked the specifics of his soul power enhancements. Even without looking, he could already feel the significant improvements within his body.

Vitalityhad increased by 100%.Staminahad risen by an astounding 180%.His core attributes—strength, constitution, agility, and spirit—had seen a baseline improvement of approximately 60%.Recovery abilitieshad grown by 80%.His comprehension abilities(including formations, laws, skills, and talents) had improved by 30%.Finally, his lifespanhad extended by roughly 200 years.

Compared to the enhancements he gained from the 160,000 units of soul power he had previously absorbed, the numbers this time were in an entirely different league. It was important to note that his current baseline was exponentially higher than before, making any percentage increase far more significant.

A 1% increase now equated to what might have been a 5% or greater increase in his earlier state.

Moreover, even if the raw numbers didn't seem as astronomical, they were still terrifying in magnitude. For example, his vitality had already received a 40% boost from Hell's Blessing, and now it had grown by another 100%.

Sterl could feel the subtle transformation within his body accelerating. His physical form was beginning to exhibit signs of an extraordinary, almost divine vitality.

To test this newfound resilience, he extended his hand and lightly cut across his forearm.

A long, deep gash instantly appeared, but no blood flowed from the wound. Instead, the surrounding flesh and skin seemed to come alive, rapidly sprouting countless tiny tendrils of tissue. The wound closed almost as soon as it opened, leaving his arm as unblemished as before.

"Tsk tsk, one step closer to becoming unkillable."

Sterl chuckled in satisfaction. To him, survival was the ultimate priority. Only by staying alive could one have the opportunity to possess, achieve, or discuss anything else.

If survival wasn't guaranteed, then everything else was meaningless—hollow dreams with no value.

Moreover, the 60% boost to his core attributes was nothing short of astonishing when translated into raw numerical value—it was almost terrifying.

Overall, the 100,000 soul power was well worth the investment. Sterl could sense that with each round of soul power enhancement, his body was undergoing some sort of mystical transformation.

This transformation felt extraordinary, akin to an elevation and transcendence of his very essence of life. The most noticeable change was that divine-tier laws and divine authority were having less and less impact on him.

"Why does this feel so similar to those mysterious invaders?"

Sterl paused for a moment, recalling the combat form of the first maternal body. It didn't rely on laws or divine authority but instead achieved the power of upper-divine-authority purely through raw strength.

Most law-based powers couldn't even affect or constrain its body in the slightest.

Now, he realized that he too was unknowingly treading down a similar path—a path fundamentally different from the [Transcendence System].

He stood in silence, pondering. He wasn't sure whether this transformation was good or bad or whether it would ultimately cause the [Transcendence System] to reject him. But upon deeper thought, none of that seemed to matter. As long as he felt himself growing stronger, that was enough.

Next, he turned his attention to his soul level.

The 100,000 soul power had propelled his soul level from 70 to 75, a leap of five entire levels in one go!

Though it seemed like a mere five-level increase, Sterl could clearly feel that his soul strength had nearly doubled. His understanding of various laws had grown sharper, as if he were a natural-born master of laws.

"Almost there… I'm not far from level 99 now…"

Sterl took a deep breath, feeling a slight heaviness in his chest. Previously, 40,000 soul power had boosted him by six levels, but now 100,000 soul power had only managed five levels. It was clear that the difficulty of advancing his soul level was increasing exponentially with each step forward.

He glanced at his soul experience bar, which stretched endlessly. To reach level 76, he estimated that he would need at least 40,000 more soul power.

"Every time I cross a ten-level threshold, the experience requirement skyrockets even further. At this rate, even if I drained the entire underworld, it still wouldn't be enough," he muttered with a sigh.

Still, compared to the costs of conventional cultivation, his method was incredibly efficient.

For most beings, advancing their soul level even one step could take decades of arduous effort. Yet Sterl only needed to absorb the souls of others to continuously advance, achieving efficiency that was hundreds or even thousands of times faster.

However, with the Soul Prison's Eerie Eyes as his innate soul talent, Sterl could now perfectly maximize the benefits of every increase in his soul level.

"Move forward—to the next layer," he murmured, his voice steady and resolute.

As soon as the words left his mouth, a spatial portal materialized before him.

The maternal entities in the various layers of hell were now aware of his presence, making it imperative to act swiftly. Sterl needed to eliminate as many maternal entities as possible in the shortest time, denying them the opportunity to prepare ambushes or defenses.

Without hesitation, Sterl stepped through the portal. Boris and the others quickly followed his lead.

As for the remaining Evil Wasps army, they were left behind. While their combat power wasn't insignificant, compared to the invaders Sterl faced, they were nothing more than ants.

Soon, the familiar sensation of spatial distortion swept over them. After a brief moment of disorientation, they emerged on the other side of the portal, greeted by a chilling, biting cold.

They had arrived in the tenth layer of hell: Frozen Desolation.

The frost in this realm was potent enough to freeze second-class powerhouses into solid ice within moments. But Sterl paid it no heed, instead focusing on the urgent message relayed to him by the Will of Hell as soon as he arrived.

The information struck his mind with an almost frantic urgency.

"Damn it—an ambush!"

Sterl cursed under his breath. Without wasting a second, he waved his hand and used the followers' imprint to force Boris and the others into a state of suspended animation. He swiftly stored them in his personal world for safety.

Then, without hesitation, he activated the Stellar Barrier of his Starry Battle Armor.

The next moment, a shadowy figure hurtled toward him at breakneck speed, its fist surging with devastating power.

BOOM!

The ground trembled violently, and a massive shockwave rippled outward. The impact shattered the earth within a radius of hundreds of miles, collapsing towering glaciers and sending a cascade of ice and snow into oblivion.

The Stellar Barrier in front of Sterl absorbed the brunt of the attack, its shimmering surface rippling under the assault. A dense, gray energy began eroding its defenses, eating away at the barrier's absolute protection.

Despite Sterl's recent power enhancements, the Stellar Barrier—which could previously endure for nearly twenty seconds—was now reduced to barely half its duration, leaving only a little over ten seconds of functionality.

"Damn it! You think I'm afraid of you? Get out of my way!"

Sterl's senses went into overdrive. In his ascend-to-godhood state, his body—refined and enhanced through multiple soul power infusions—had reached an extraordinary level of perception.

It didn't take long for him to pinpoint the figure's exact position.

Channeling the power of the Stellar Barrier, Sterl retaliated with a punch of his own, unleashing his full strength in a single, devastating strike.

A deep, resonating thud reverberated through the air!

Two forces of pure, unbridled power collided, the resulting shockwave akin to the detonation of two nuclear bombs smashing into each other. The boiling energy erupted outward in a terrifying display of destruction.

Under the protection of his Stellar Barrier, Sterl remained entirely unshaken. In contrast, his assailant faltered ever so slightly under the force of his counterpunch.

It was only then that Sterl got a good look at the creature that had attacked him.

The being was pitch-black, its humanoid body perfectly proportioned and disturbingly flawless. It lacked any features—no facial structures, no hair—its smooth, metallic-like skin gleaming with an eerie, otherworldly sheen.

Sterl's mind immediately drew a comparison to the combat form of a maternal entity; the resemblance was uncanny.

But when he activated Soul Insight, his body tensed in shock.

This creature had no soul.

No—that wasn't entirely accurate. It wasn't that it lacked a soul, but rather its soul was in an incredibly abnormal state, wrapped entirely in that same mysterious gray energy that was eroding his barrier. Its soul also lacked the massive scale typical of maternal entities, appearing instead as if it hadn't absorbed or merged with any additional souls at all—a blank canvas.

"What the hell is this thing?" Sterl muttered, his eyes widening in disbelief.

Before he could analyze further, the creature vanished. Its speed was staggering—so fast that even the Silver Moon Wolf God, an upper-divine-authority being renowned for its swiftness, would pale in comparison.

Its strength was equally daunting, rivaling gods wielding upper-divine-authority and Divine Power.

Worst of all, the mysterious gray energy surrounding it posed a constant threat, relentlessly corroding his Stellar Barrier. It was as if the creature had a built-in cheat, making it a truly vexing opponent.

Suddenly, another heavy blow struck from Sterl's left side. The Stellar Barrier rippled violently under the assault of the gray energy, and its duration dropped sharply to just ten seconds.

"Damn it! You think I can't deal with you?!"

Sterl gritted his teeth in frustration. The ferocity of the ambush had caught even him off guard. Without the Will of Hell's warning, he might have suffered serious consequences despite his heightened vigilance.

Seizing the fleeting window provided by the barrier, Sterl launched a relentless barrage of punches, matching the creature blow for blow. When his attack momentarily forced the creature to halt, he wasted no time.

Without hesitation, he activated Phantom Purgatory, targeting the bizarre monster directly.
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As the Purgatory Space opened, a terrifying, soul-consuming suction force surged forth.

The Phantom Purgatory exerted an absolute pull on souls—a power so formidable that not even the greatest gods could escape its grasp.

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