Chapter 888: Power Up

888 Power Up

Michael wasn't sure which Soultrait he should upgrade first. Of course, upgrading Extraction to 8-Star first would be helpful, but he wasn't sure if he had enough SoulStar Fragments to do that.

Fortunately, finding out wasn't too difficult. Michael spent the next 24 hours infusing more than two million SoulStar Fragments into the Soultrait Symbol of Extraction to form the 8th star and fill it. The star wasn't filled to the brim until Michael infused two and a half million SoulStar Fragments, leaving him with merely 500,000ish fragments.

But even that was enough to upgrade more Soultrait Symbols. Yet before focusing on other Soultrait Symbols, Michael focused on the changes in his body. Something was changing as Extraction advanced to an 8-Star Soultrait. First, Extraction created a small sphere in his Energy Pillar. It didn't look any different from the other spheres from his Elemental Spheres' Soultrait, but it was nothing like that. The Extraction Sphere absorbs excessive origin energy whenever the energy within the Energy Pillar reaches a certain threshold. It was absorbed and transformed into golden Essences.

His body began creating Extraction Essences naturally. But that was only the start.

Extraction's potency and efficiency skyrocketed. They reached new heights, which was affirmed when an influx of information entered Michael's mind. The influx of information was different than before. It informed him about his Soultrait's new capabilities but also shared certain techniques and complex weaves to tap into the Extraction's dormant potential.

At the same time, Extraction's advancement to an 8-Star Soultrait tightened his connection to the Wolf Curse. Michael had already predicted this beforehand, but the change in their relationship affirmed his prediction again. The Wolf Curse and Extraction belonged together. Maybe they weren't one entity; however, they had an intimate relationship.

It was a little frustrating to be even closer to the Wolf Curse than before, but that was also one of the reasons Michael had decided to upgrade Extraction to an 8-Star Soultrait in the first place. The Curse Seals of the Wolf were stronger than they used to be. A single minor seal impacted much harder, strengthening Extraction like five minor Seals did before the advancement. His 51 Cursed Seals were now as potent as 255 Cursed Seals would have been when Extraction was still a 7-Star Soultrait.

That was excellent. Soul Tears and Enhancement added to 8-Star Extraction and 51 highly potent Cursed Seals - plus Extraction Essence accumulated within the Extraction Sphere - should be strong enough to deal with most enemies in the Sacred Desert. Maybe it was not enough to kill the Blaze Patriarch, but Michael was already fairly confident in dealing with that bastard - whether Extraction was a 7-Star or 8-Star Soultrait didn't matter.

After Extraction was upgraded to 8-Star, Michael's Soul felt a bit stuffy. He recalled the World Serpent making fun of him for overestimating his capabilities and stupidly fusing with a portion of his Curses' Essences. Michael didn't think it was stupid, especially with his ability to nourish his Soul using SoulStar Fragments.

He considered using the remaining 500,000ish SoulStar Fragments to nourish his soul but decided against it. His Soul wasn't on the verge of bursting apart just yet.

Michael considered upgrading Insert because it would be the cheapest to upgrade since it was linked to Extraction at its core, but he decided to upgrade Enhancement first and check how many SoulStar Fragments he would have left.

Upgrading Enhancement wasn't further problematic. The Soultrait evolved into Greater Enhancement after consuming 275,000 SoulStar Fragments. The upgrade was slightly cheaper than expected, but that didn't mean Greater Enhancement's improvement was lackluster. On the contrary, Greater Enhancement was extraordinary.

First of all, Greater Enhancement could be used in the same way as Enhancement. However, an Enhancement layer did not improve the targeted object or body part by 50%. Instead, the improvement rate skyrocketed to 100%. A single layer of Enhancement was enough to double the efficiency of the target. But efficiency was not all Enhancement upgraded anymore. Greater Enhancement could also drastically strengthen a Soultrait's potency. The exact rate of strengthening depended on the amount of energy infused into Greater Enhancement when using it.

Greater Enhancement combined the pinnacle of potency and efficiency. However, even that was not the true extent of Greater Enhancement's power. By applying multiple layers of Greater Enhancement, it was possible to unleash the dormant potential of the targeted object. That meant Michael could use Greater Enhancement on his Cursed Seals to unseal more Cursed Seals and Serpent Seals - even if only temporarily. It also meant he could unleash his Soultrait Symbol's full power without the in-depth mastery or the necessary strength to withstand their power.

That was extraordinary, if not for the latter point. He might be able to unleash the full potential of Sacred Constitution and Extraction while also unleashing hundreds of Cursed and Serpent Seals, but what was the use of that if his body, mind, and soul couldn't withstand their full potential?

Michael had to study and learn how often he could use Greater Enhancement without accidentally tearing his body apart. At the same time, Michael would have to study his Soultraits more in-depth to understand their full potential. To boot, Michael could overclock Artifacts and other items using Greater Enhancement to unleash their full potential instantly. If used properly and at the perfect moment, it shouldn't be impossible to kill a stronger enemy with ease.

'Maybe I can defeat the Blaze Patriarch without the Pharaoh's...well, it doesn't matter. The plan has already been initiated.' Michael shrugged. Greater Enhancement was strong than he had hoped for, AND he still had more than 200,000 SoulStar Fragments to invest into Insert.

220,000 SoulStar Fragments later, leaving Michael with less than 10,000 SoulStar Fragments to use, Insert advanced to a 7-Star Soultrait.

Interestingly enough, not much about Insert changed. The Soultrait's energy consumption, potency, and efficiency improved drastically, but that was it. No, that wasn't the entire truth. The link between Insert and Extraction grew thicker. It had only been a faint connection before but transformed into a thick tendril, firmly connecting the two Soultrait Symbols at the core of the Soul Sphere.

Using Extraction and Insert together was easier now - not that it was difficult. The synergy of the two Soultraits burst through the roof, and Michael found himself exposed to another influx of information...related to the synergy of the Soultraits.

That was confusing. Michael never obtained something like that when Spirit Eyes was created. Still, it was pleasant to learn more about his Soultraits without having to put in the necessary work. He was already on a tight schedule and needed as much knowledge and mastery of his Soultraits as possible.

'One 8-Star Soultrait, four 7-Star Soultraits, five 6-Star Soultraits and two 5-Star Soultraits...Well and one dormant Soul Socket which I can unlock once I know what type of Soultrait suits Soul Grimoire.'

The dormant Soul Socket was still a bit confusing. Michael could insert any Soultrait Symbol into the Soul Socket, but the Soultrait would have to be compatible with Soul Grimoire if he wanted to use either Soul Grimoire or the new Soultrait in the future. They would probably be linked to each other and mutate like Spirit Eyes. Thus, no mistake was allowed!

It was a good thing Michael wasn't in a hurry to add another Soultrait. He had more than enough powerful Soultraits to study in-depth.

A few Lords and the Blaze Patriarch were also waiting to be thrashed!