Chapter 6 - Breakthrough

Thinking of all the benefits, I couldn't help but be greedy. If I had eyes, they'd be red and my breath would be heavy. I slowly slid over but the energy being emitted was lethal. If it wasn't for my dome shell absorbing and repelling some of the energy, it would've long killed me. I did not give up though and finally got right next to the body. I fell into a dilemma on how to proceed.

The location of my mouth is on the underside, or on the flat surface below the dome. The second I expose my mouth in the open, I'll probably disintegrate. This Leonardo's energy is not being restrained as it just blowing out intentionally. It's like being in a highly radioactive area while wearing a hazmat suit. The only way to get the meal is to expose your mouth, and end up dying.

I moved closer but was blocked by an energy shield. I used devour to disrupt the flow of energy, causing it to temporarily lose it's shielding effect. However, it closed up too fast for me. I pressed my side against the shield before attempting again. A small portion of me managed to bypass it. I slowly drilled my way into the shield before getting my entire body across.

Sliding near the guy's body, I saw that most of the wounds had already healed. With most of his skin showing, you can see the few scars on his body. The rest of his skin looks like baby skin. If this was on Earth, this guy'd probably have the key ingredients for the best skin moisturizer. I tried thinking of a solution but couldn't come up with one. But as I observed, I could faintly see that his aura and energy was slowly retreating into his body. I decided to carefully wait. But this waiting took quite a long time.

Several days of frustrating boredom followed before the aura was at tolerable levels. At this time, I carefully slid onto the guy's arm before attempting to bite his skin. I bit down and it felt like I was biting into metal. If I thought about it, a person with a high cultivation will obviously possess a powerful body.

Back to square one, I thought for an hour before coming up with another idea. I infused the laws of devour on my teeth which turned them completely black. I bite down once again and I easily broke through the defenses like butter. I chewed off the skin before ingesting it. Being careful, I ingested a drop of blood.

I almost lost consciousness from the pain the moment it hit my newly developed stomach. It's like some creature in your stomach is trying to break free by punching and attacking your stomach line. I quickly used the force of devour in a desperate attempt. The blood essence fiercely resisted and quickly drained my Qi. I had to focus on recovering while suppressing.

After 20 minutes of a fierce struggle, the blood essence seemed to have lost the war. The essence permeated through the lining before being absorbed by the circulatory system. It spread throughout my body and it felt like I had taken the best drug ever. My cells screamed in excitement as they absorbed the essence. My meridians expanded and several blocked ones were suddenly released. Black impurities exited from my mouth which floated off into the waters.

Only when it was fully absorbed did I sigh in relief. If it wasn't for devour, I would've died a tragic death. The potency of a single drop was enough to struggle for 20 minutes. But a drop isn't enough. I need to be strong enough so I can be lazy. Otherwise I'll just be eaten by my predators and possibly put up for decoration.

I absorbed another drop from the guy. This time went much better. After the first drop, each cell in my body had become much stronger. With devour, it took 10 minutes before it stopped resisting. My cells greedily absorbed the essence and more impurities were expelled. My flesh became increasingly glossy and vibrant. Several dozen gaseous streams of Qi had formed in my dantian which were revolving.

After absorbing three more drops, I felt as though my cultivation broke through. My dantain is now full of revolving gaseous blue Qi that is constantly refining my urchin body. My flesh has become extremely sturdy and strong, having way more vitality and little impurities. The circulatory system has five drops of essence blood that makes it rich and vibrant. The exoskeleton is now greatly sturdier. My size has grown to 14 inches. If those two were to duke it out again, I'm confident I'd be fine with my underside exposed.

I started taking in two drops at a time which sped up things. I lost count of time and the amount of drops. The vitality from my body has reached a great level. I couldn't help but fall in ecstasy each time my blood essence increased. Even the shingles on the dome look more beautiful and complex.

However, I had a limited amount of time. Since I have devour, I can see all energies including soul energy. The shards spread through his body are becoming seemingly more unstable as time passes. It won't take more than a few days before they break free and quickly reassemble. If he awakes and spots a sea urchin draining his essence like a parasite, it's game over. There'd be no excuse.

I've tried to absorb the fragments, but the seem to barely move in response. I guess I'm not powerful enough to absorb them. To be honest, I could care less about the guy. His misfortune has nothing to due with me. Just count it as bad luck bub. Just be my stepping stone to laziness.

The next day went by, and I finally took a rest. The original vibrant vitality and energy that was being emitted from his body has dimmed by half. Even his skin seemed to start having wrinkle. My body size has expanded to a diameter of three feet, which would probably make me the largest sea urchin back on Earth.

My body hasn't improved much although it has become very refined. My absorption speed became fast enough that the guy must've lost a gallon of blood by now based on his looks. Poor guy, I wanna see his reaction when he wakes up.