Andy's Spiritual Power

Within the passage leading to Susanna and her allies' tomb chamber.

The rhythmic 'thump-thump' of footsteps, like the grim reaper's heraldic horn, resounded from the corridor's depths.

Brockman, who had already resigned himself to death with closed eyes, abruptly snapped them open. Enduring the oppressive gravity—lighter than his foes, yet still crushingly heavy—he let out a booming laugh. 'Lord Philip, congratulations! Your grand vision has finally materialized!'

'Indeed, my dream—no, it is humanity's dream—that has finally come to fruition this very day!' Philip's voice echoed, yet his form remained hidden. 'My deepest gratitude, Brockman. Your unparalleled bravery today shall be etched into eternity! Now, as a token of appreciation for all you've accomplished, I bestow upon you the honor of naming the world's first Super Aberrant Beast, a creation born from the pinnacle of human ingenuity!'

Brockman cast a frigid gaze upon Susanna and Babylon. Both were floundering, their movements agonizingly slow under the crushing, multi-fold gravity, each struggling merely to survive!

'Pamir! In the tongue of Yetha, it signifies supreme wisdom and martial might. Only this name, Lord, is truly befitting your magnum opus!' Brockman bellowed, dragging his leaden feet towards the corridor, then collapsed. Philip's assistants swiftly intervened, hauling him into the colossal, shadow-shrouded cage for urgent medical attention.

The moment Brockman vanished into the corridor, Philip's voice turned chilling. 'Pamir, reveal the true extent of your power! Go, slaughter these beastmen! Leave no soul alive!'

'As you command, Master!'

A resounding clang, like the grating of iron on iron, vibrated through the air, piercing Susanna and Babylon's ears.

Thundering footsteps heralded the emergence of a figure, several *zhang* in height, from the corridor's entrance.

Clad in the hide of a silver bear, each strand of fur bristled like razor-sharp needles, radiating a chilling glint. Six pairs—twelve in total—of umbra-gold dragon wings burst forth from its back. Its blood-red eyes, disdainfully ignoring its adversaries, instead surveyed its own formidable, metallic claws, their tips as keen and elongated as the blades of an Asura's weapon.

A slight sneer twisted its maw, revealing four blood-stained fangs that bared contemptuously at its opponents. With a languid flick of its colossal Thorned Beast tail, Pamir strode into the very heart of the tomb passage, positioning itself amongst the grave robbers, who remained helplessly pinned by the super-gravity.

Beneath the surging, tyrannical pressure, Susanna's legs buckled. Her spirit was willing, but her heart simply refused to let her remain upright before the matchless, overwhelming power of this peerless, fierce beast!

Babylon reached out, gripping Susanna, and forced out a question. 'You were created by humans!? No, how can this be?!... What tier of Aberrant Beast are you!?'

A flicker of bewilderment crossed Pamir's blood-red eyes, before it erupted into a malicious laugh. 'You are an Eight-Star Battle God, and at the very apex of your cultivation, are you not? Hmm, once I've dispatched you, I shall definitively ascertain my own rank!'

'Frigid Dragon Hurricane Array!'

Whoosh! A swirling vortex, laden with razor-sharp ice shards, erupted around Pamir. With sickening 'thwack' and 'gush' sounds, the elite beastmen warriors were instantly shredded into mangled fragments!

Babylon and Susanna, though still standing, were covered in horrific wounds; Susanna's once beautiful face was now a bloodied mess. Yet, they lived... And their continued existence was not a testament to their inherent strength, but rather...

...because the formidable beast was not yet sated with its cruel game! It continued to toy with its adversaries, savoring the profound superiority of an ultimate being!

From the corridor's depths, the assistants were beaming with elation. 'Lord, it is too formidable! Pamir is exceptionally powerful, far surpassing all our projections! Heavens, we could never have imagined he would retain such immense power, even after that worthless Andy was incorporated!'

Philip's cadaverous smile, though terrifying, was suffused with profound satisfaction. Yet, a flicker of doubt creased his brow. 'Peculiar indeed. According to our initial schematics, Pamir's power, while destined for the apex of contemporary martial arts, should not possess such tyrannical might. At best, it should merely rival that of the 'Old Madman.' And its current form, too, deviates from our blueprint! Nevertheless, regardless of these minor divergences, the experiment has been an unequivocal and flawless success!'

'My Lord, experiments, as you well know, are always subject to subtle variables that can slightly alter the outcome. However, observe! Number One's sentience still predominantly governs the body, and its overall visage remains largely modeled after the Golden Behemoth. Thus, you have already achieved a success that transcends all initial expectations!'

Philip nodded, a look of deep contentment on his face. 'Precisely. As long as Number One successfully asserts dominance over the body and executes my commands with unwavering loyalty, then it is indeed a triumph!'

By this juncture, Du Chen had already ransacked every Funerary Chamber, with only the central grand hall remaining as his ultimate objective. Concealed within a narrow crevice, wary of approaching Philip who stood perilously close to the Composite Aberrant Beast, Pamir, Du Chen retrieved the human skin mask bestowed upon him by Flaying, and then, Number Six—that subtly bulging, heart-guard-like Lotus Sacred Artifact!

'Deboning, swiftly don this disguise and continue to mask your aura. In a moment, I shall deploy 'The Sixth' to airlift you out! Circle around to the deepest chamber, seize every item within, and then we shall make our retreat! Under no circumstances are you to engage Philip or his retainers!'

Deboning inquired, 'Young Master, you do not wish to engage Philip in direct confrontation at this moment?'

'Confront him directly!? How dare you even suggest such a thing!?' Du Chen suddenly exploded in a fit of vexation. 'Confound it! I explicitly sabotaged Number Six and even inserted that useless Andy to disrupt the experiment, yet it still succeeded!? My original calculations, based on the precedents at Mount Tianshan, indicated the experiment would consume at least an hour. That would have granted me ample time to pilfer all the funerary offerings, then, at Philip's most vulnerable juncture, deliver a decisive, cold-blooded strike. If all had proceeded as planned, Philip's forces, exhausted from their clash with Susanna, would have been no match for you and the Grand Matriarch! But now...'

Du Chen sighed deeply. 'I misjudged Philip's experimental timeline entirely; who could have foreseen him completing it successfully in merely ten minutes!? Alas, behold that Aberrant Beast! With its presence, I dare not risk an ambush on Philip—though I possess the means to certainly dispatch him. My hesitation stems from the uncertainty of whether his spiritual perception could detect my Lotus Sacred Artifact as it drew near him!'

'If an ambush is impossible, I certainly won't engage in a direct, brute-force confrontation! The Grand Matriarch and you represent the entirety of my assets. Should I lose either of you in a battle against that Aberrant Beast—its true strength unknown, yet undeniably immense—I would be utterly devastated, my heart shattered into a thousand pieces!'

Despite Deboning's lingering reluctance, Du Chen's gruff yet heartfelt words swayed him, and he nodded in understanding.

...Within the esteemed Battle God Academy, a particular course, 'The Strategic Allocation and Utilization of Elemental Primal Force,' is taught. Its foundational theory is encapsulated in a deceptively simple maxim: A Battle God's ultimate power is directly proportional to the volume of Elemental Primal Force they can command. While the underlying principle appears straightforward, its practical application is profoundly abstruse. The primary dilemma, then, is this: In precisely which facets of their being should a Battle God deploy the battle qi transmuted from Elemental Primal Force?

Raw strength, lightning speed, intricate technique, the very Battle Soul, battle qi affinities, communion with divine beasts, the mastery of sacred artifacts, and even their Spiritual Power itself... all these critical domains demand the sustenance of battle qi! This, then, presents a profound conundrum: given the finite nature of human resources, how does one judiciously and optimally distribute their limited Elemental Primal Force across such a vast array of necessities?

Du Chen, upon first encountering this very question during the course, had privately chuckled to himself. 'Is this not merely the allocation of upgrade points across various attributes, precisely like in the online games of my previous life?' he'd thought.

Consequently, Du Chen promptly abandoned the class!

Alas, a Battle God truly perfect in every conceivable aspect is an impossibility! Consider Deboning, for instance: his technique and speed are exceptionally potent—so much so that even Flaying, who invariably bests him, would hesitate to claim absolute superiority in those specific domains. However, his Spiritual Power pales in comparison, to the extent that a mere Nine-Star Battle God was effortlessly 'Deeded' by little Beibei. Thus, within the vast Battle God World, this particular question presents a truly monumental challenge!

Indeed, Andy had devoured an Eight-Star Silver Dragon. Under normal circumstances, he ought to have inherited every aspect of Pike, including Pike's 'point' allocation schema. This would theoretically have resulted in an Eight-Star Aberrant Beast—supremely swift, immensely powerful, yet with a less formidable Aberrant Beast Soul Crystal and Spiritual Power!

Yet, minor deviations manifested within the actual process. When the Elemental Primal Force contained within Number Five was redistributed throughout Andy's body, Andy utterly failed to 'allocate points' to strength, speed, or technique. Instead, he channeled *all* the Elemental Primal Force into Spiritual Power—his very soul's essence! Andy, however, remained utterly clueless about this, and certainly possessed no means to utilize it. Thus, a noble Snow Wolf was born: possessing an overwhelmingly potent aura, yet whose actual combat prowess was, in truth, entirely worthless!

Perhaps, this peculiar outcome was merely Andy's indolent subconscious at play. 'If I "allocate points" to strength, speed, and technique,' it might have mused, 'won't I be forced to engage in physical combat later? Far better to pour everything into Spiritual Power! How much more efficient, how much more effortless, to simply frighten opponents to death!?'

But was this truly the explanation? No one knew, neither Andy himself nor Philip, the mastermind behind the experiment, why this divergence occurred. At least, not yet.

However, now, the ramifications of this deviation proved to be monumental!

Within the very soul-realm of that Composite Aberrant Beast, lay a mysterious, ethereal expanse.

The surroundings shimmered like a dark, brilliant starscape. Andy, floating like a nervous little pug amidst the cosmos, trembled as he gazed at the nearby Golden Behemoth, who was none other than Number One. 'Boss, you've already devoured Number Two, Number Three, and Number Four. I know I'm next on your menu, but I, Chris Andy, am a noble Snow Wolf with grand aspirations and a voracious appetite, and...'

He pleaded, 'I haven't tasted sustenance in an eternity! I beg of you, before you consume me, grant me but a morsel of food!'

The Golden Behemoth seethed with irritation. A portion of its immense power was dedicated to toying with the adversaries outside, while simultaneously, it was forced to contend with this bizarre Snow Wolf. 'Confound it! Every other component willingly flew into my maw! Why do you resist!? Come here! You *are* meant to be devoured by me! Hasten! A Super Aberrant Beast of my unparalleled might, deigning to consume a speck of trash like you, should fill you with profound, heartfelt honor!'

It viciously 'threatened' and 'enticed' him.

Andy stubbornly shook his head. 'No, absolutely not! I *must* partake of food before I am consumed! Otherwise, I shall not find eternal peace! For I possess dreams, and an appetite...'

'Silence!' The Golden Behemoth, exasperated by Andy's incessant babbling, was suddenly struck by a thought: Why had its own soul failed to assimilate Andy's? Could it be that this Snow Wolf's soul power—its Spiritual Power—could genuinely rival its own!?

Impossible! How could this worthless wretch possibly compare to *it*!? No, utterly impossible! It had successively absorbed Number Two, Three, and Four, augmenting its Spiritual Power by at least double, if not more! Could this insignificant scrap before it truly be its equal? Preposterous!

At that precise moment, Philip's command resounded once more. The Golden Behemoth, having no time to dwell on the enigmatic Snow Wolf who had inexplicably manifested within its soul-realm alongside it, focused its entire formidable attention on engaging its external adversaries!

A sniveling Snow Wolf, begging for mercy, was utterly beneath its consideration!