> Lumine's Musou · World Lv.10 (Void Starsea Manifestation, Boundless)!
Nolan gazed at the new skill that had fused on his status panel. The name hadn't changed, but the properties were now subtly different.
The original Starsea Manifestation was essentially a virtual starfield that he could freely shape and control—a mental landscape, much like "One Heart Pure Land."
But when the skill rose to the level of "World," its trait became Void Starsea Manifestation. At that point, it was no longer just an illusory cosmos, but a real starry sky governed by complete laws of its own, one he could also freely command.
The difference was stark: when it was still his mental domain, Starsea Manifestation could imprison enemies within. If the enemy also possessed a mental world, or if their strength far exceeded his, they could resist or break free.
But once it became a real cosmos, things changed. It wasn't enough to simply surpass Nolan's strength—one would need the might to shatter worlds.
Alternatively, they would have to locate him within the Starsea and defeat him directly. If they couldn't find him, then even if he faced an enemy he couldn't handle, he could simply trap them within the Starsea.
Now, after merging his divine-tier stealth skill, it transformed again into Void Starsea. The feedback told him this starry domain had gained the "unobservable" trait from the stealth ability.
He could appear anywhere within the starfield at will, render vast objects invisible, dive into deeper layers of space or projection realms, and more.
Essentially, the stealth skill's properties had fused with the Starsea. And because it had the foundation of a world-class skill, the fusion produced subtle, fascinating reactions.
For example, before, when using the stealth skill to sink into the projection space, his coordinates constantly shifted because of that realm's nature. But now, with Void Starsea, he could set it as an "anchor," fixing his location and ensuring he'd return to the same spot later.
That meant even if he encountered something in the projection space, he wouldn't lose track of it the next time.
Though at first glance the projection space seemed barren—just strange, indecipherable projections—he had always been curious about it. Until now, he lacked the means to deal with its shifting coordinates.
So, when he used it to exit into outer cosmos before, he hadn't explored much further. After all, what use was finding something only for it to vanish the next moment? Now that he had an anchor, he could come back and explore at leisure.
Nolan had the feeling that projection space wasn't as simple as shifting coordinates.
Having completed the fusion, he turned invisible, opened a "door" to his fairyland dimension, and once more returned to an unknown corner of the starry sea.
When he arrived, the colossal Great True Stinger was nowhere in sight. He'd half expected that—it had no reason to wait around for him. And since he'd fled in a hurry last time, he hadn't marked it in any way.
Still, its flight speed through space wasn't especially fast. Without space-warping methods, it shouldn't have gone too far. Hopefully, he could encounter it again.
Casting out his spiritual sense like a radar sweep, he scanned linearly through the void.
Soon enough—perhaps thanks to Ganyu's qilin blessing on his luck—he spotted the giant worm roughly five thousand kilometers to his left.
Without hesitation, he teleported via spatial traverse.
The next instant, he appeared about a dozen kilometers from the beast, close enough to observe its titanic form.
Its bulk was staggering—its height easily over a thousand kilometers, perhaps three to four times the size of its own stomach. A terrifying creature.
From the perspective of cosmic scale, its flight speed was sluggish: in several days, it had traveled barely five thousand kilometers.
Just as Nolan prepared to wait for it to open its maw so he could teleport inside its gut again, he sensed spatial waves ahead.
Gravity around the worm wavered, and countless meteors suddenly rushed toward it—like a black hole had opened before it.
The space in front of the worm seemed to sink inward. Nolan frowned instinctively.
Was it about to teleport away?
Spatial teleportation could take many forms depending on the principle used. The colossal stir it caused suggested it was the kind that consumed vast energy for long-distance transport.
That explained why, since its last teleport, it had taken this long to perform another—clearly it had been charging up.
Nolan couldn't just let it escape. The universe was far too vast; if he lost it now, where would he ever find it again?
He decided quickly: before it vanished, he'd teleport onto its body. Entering the distorted space around it should allow him to follow through its teleportation.
Without hesitation, he disappeared again—reappearing atop the worm's immense form.
Hidden by the unobservable stealth, the beast didn't notice him. Even if he hadn't been invisible, it might not have—the meteors falling on its carapace were all far larger than him.
But the worm suffered no harm from the barrage. Unlike the stomach's soft interior, its body was armored with a shell as hard as steel. Meteor impacts were like pebbles bouncing off a fortress wall.
The violent spatial distortion continued for half an hour. Then, at last, the Great True Stinger abruptly vanished, as though flung from space itself.
All that remained was the warped gravity, pulling the meteors into collisions. Shattered fragments scattered, rebounded, and were slowly drawn together again—gradually coalescing into a sphere.
Given time, as the gravitational disturbance settled, this place would likely birth a new asteroid, formed of broken stone.
—Unknown Starfield—
A gigantic Great True Stinger appeared. Though it had teleported through space, it still carried some strange inertia.
As soon as it emerged, it beat its wings in reverse, yet its massive body still hurtled forward into the void ahead.
Fortunately, there was nothing ahead—no asteroids, no debris—so after flapping its wings for more than ten minutes, the massive Great True Stinger finally came to a halt.
Standing on its back, Nolan couldn't help but wonder:
Could it really have used space itself like a slingshot? Otherwise, why would there be inertia after teleportation?
The universe was indeed full of wonders—things beyond imagination were always possible.
The worm, having just finished its teleport, seemed to be resting. Meanwhile, Nolan looked around the surrounding starfield.
Dim starlight dotted the void, but there was little else—very few asteroids in sight.
Then he looked upward and froze.
Hovering above was a gray-colored planet. Nolan's face lit up with surprise. He hadn't expected the Goddamn Worm to reappear right next to a planet!
Could there actually be life on that world?
Suddenly, the worm's enormous maw parted slightly.
From within, countless swarms of insects poured out, surging toward the gray planet above.
With no atmosphere to stop them, they streamed forth like a living tide of locusts, sweeping straight into the planet without hindrance.
When the swarms reached the planet, they wasted no time. They devoured everything in sight—soil, stone, whatever lay before them.
Nolan guessed this was a kind of resource-harvesting, a way for the worm colony to replenish.
And he realized this was his chance.
With so many swarms descending to feed, he could slip down to the planet, ambush them, and harvest Adventure EXP. Compared to what he'd encountered inside the worm's stomach, the numbers here were far greater.
If he wiped them all out, another wave of level-ups was guaranteed.
Excitement surged through him. Farming EXP on a planet like this was far safer than grinding inside the worm's gut.
He instantly teleported to the planet's surface.
The ground was scorched black, as though fire had consumed it long ago—no wonder the planet looked so dull and gray from afar.
He watched the insect swarms devour everything indiscriminately—soil, rocks—then, after gorging themselves, they began birthing new young Lesser Stingers.
Nolan was a little taken aback.
Eat your fill and instantly spawn offspring… truly the mark of a species that wields the power of "Breeding."
He summoned dozens of "Lumine's Sword Gods," directing them to quietly sweep through the planet, thinning out the swarms.
He deliberately avoided the larger True Stingers capable of spawning hordes of offspring—the more bugs, the better. Those he could save for later.
Soon, the Lumine's Sword Gods were spread across the planet, cutting down insects under Nolan's control. He himself drew his weapon and joined the fray.
> Adventure EXP +4521
> Adventure EXP +6525
> Adventure EXP +4764
With dozens of Lumine's Sword Gods hunting simultaneously, the kill notifications flashed so fast across his panel they left afterimages.
In less than five minutes, his EXP soared from six million to over ten million. And this was only from sub-worms and larvae—once he moved on to the True Stingers, the growth would be even faster!
Half an hour later, though he was slightly drained from controlling so many Sword Gods at once, most of the swarms on the planet had been cleared.
The leading True Stingers had sensed something was wrong, but they couldn't locate the culprit.
It was getting late, and to avoid spooking them too much, Nolan decided to retreat for now. Better to let them recover. Tomorrow night, there would surely be even more swarms to harvest.
He wasn't worried about them fleeing—the colossal worm's space-jumps required days of preparation.
Satisfied, he returned to his fairyland dimension.
> Adventure EXP: 38,652,090
He had broken past thirty-eight million—approaching forty million, another record high.
Settling on the sofa, he immediately invested the points.
> EXP -33,974,538
> Lv.107 (1,025,462 / 17,000,000) → Lv.109 (0 / 19,000,000)
Two levels gained in succession. Power surged through his body, strengthening flesh and soul alike.
Nolan had undergone another full transformation.
Now, he felt confident he could suppress either Raiden Ei or the Shogun one-on-one. Facing both at once would still be difficult, but this was already an overwhelming leap in power—he had surpassed the pinnacle archons of Teyvat, perhaps even Zhongli himself.
> Status Panel
Name: Nolan Walker
Level: 109 (0 / 19,000,000)
Race: Human
Titles: Honorary Knight, Distinguished Citizen of Liyue, Legendary Adventurer, Honorary General of Watatsumi Island, Sumeru Sage
Innate Talent: Entangling Affection
Skills:
- Lumine's Musou · World Lv.10 (Starsea Manifestation, Boundless)
- Domain of Objective Illusory Shadows · Divine Level Lv.10 (Unobservable State)
- Flowing Sky Shot: Arcane Level Lv.10 (Frostglow Arrow)
Specialties:
- Beloved by Maidens (Exclusive)
- Unmoving Gospel of the World Tree (Exclusive)
- Threads of the Northern Wind (Exclusive)
- Spiritual Core (Exclusive)
Adventure EXP: 4,677,552
---
Four million remained. Another fifteen million or so, and he'd reach Lv.110—likely unlocking a new racial specialty.
Tomorrow, a sweep of the gray planet should be enough.
The thought filled him with anticipation.
It was already past eleven at night. After a long day, he planned to relax with a bath, maybe even share a little "training" time with the girls.
But since he'd returned late, everyone seemed to already be asleep—except, perhaps, those who always indulged him when it came to late-night "training."
Alone, he slipped into the hot spring baths. Without a soft girl in his arms, it felt… lacking.
And training couldn't be neglected—for him or for them.
Nodding to himself, Nolan resolved to see if anyone was still awake and invite her for another soak, along with some cultivation practice.
Mona, for instance—she often stayed up late with her astrology studies. That couldn't be healthy. He decided he'd help her unwind tonight.
With that thought, he headed toward Mona's room.
(End of Chapter)
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