Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 559

Chapter 559: Chapter 559: Soul Level Up! A Power Connected to a Cheat?
Sterl narrowed his eyes slightly, a deep sense of clarity washing over him. Every tiny wound on his soul had been thoroughly repaired. While it seemed insignificant, the result left him feeling extraordinarily refreshed, as though his entire soul had undergone a profound baptism. Even his perceptions felt sharper and more attuned.

“So this is the effect of soul power? It can even repair the soul itself,” he remarked, an edge of awe in his tone.

Having possessed the Soul Devourer Sphere for so long, Sterl had finally experienced its true potential. Even without considering its other features, the ability to restore the soul alone was enough to classify it as a legendary treasure. And yet, he knew this was just the tip of the iceberg.

“However,” he muttered, “the prerequisites for using this thing are absurdly high. I hadn’t expected the most significant backlash wouldn’t come from absorbing or refining souls but from actually drawing on the soul power itself. If you’re not careful, the damage could be irreversible.”

The moment he absorbed the soul power, the shock to his soul was at least ten times greater—if not more—than the backlash from refining the million souls earlier.

Even Sterl’s vast and resilient soul, with its unparalleled strength and scale, had experienced a faint tremor and minor damage. For an ordinary god, with a soul level of around 4 or 5, such an impact would be catastrophic, splitting their soul in half on the spot.

The consequences would be dire:

At best, their soul would fracture, leaving them a mindless lunatic.

At orst, they would suffer instant death, obliterated with no hope of revival or reincarnation—a complete and eternal end.

For most gods, the Soul Devourer Sphere was not a treasure at all. It was a suicidal artifact, a perfect tool for ensuring a swift and agonizing demise.

Sterl glanced at the soul power reserve after the brief healing and cleansing session.

[Soul Power Reserve: 9,700]

This meant that restoring and purifying his soul had consumed 117 points of soul power. By the calculation that one point of soul power required the souls of 100 beings, this equated to approximately 11,700 second-class and third-class soldiers’ souls!

To Sterl, this wasn’t a significant cost. With his current strength, harvesting souls was a trivial matter. And considering that this restoration involved the soul—one of the most fundamental and critical aspects of existence—the price was justified. Anything related to the soul always demanded a steep cost.

“Still,” he thought, a faint smirk on his lips, “for most beings, this would be completely impractical. But for me? This thing is priceless. Tailor-made.”

He tapped the Soul Devourer Sphere lightly, marveling at its potential and the strength it could unlock.

Sterl now truly understood why the gods of Orichalcum had relegated the Soul Devourer Sphere to a dusty corner, forgotten and unused. Restoring even the smallest of his soul’s injuries required a significant amount of soul power. While his soul strength was exceptionally high, making it inherently more challenging to heal, the situation for other gods was even worse.

When he considered it from their perspective, the Soul Devourer Sphere was nothing but a resource sink—a losing bargain with a terrifyingly high risk of death.

Imagine enduring the agonizing pain of soul damage, relying on some trump card or sheer willpower to harvest and refine the souls of hundreds of beings, only to earn a single point of soul power. Then, upon attempting to use that point to restore one’s soul, discovering to their horror that it barely repaired the surface, offering no meaningful improvement at all.

Faced with such a dismal reality, even a god would be left speechless—if not utterly despondent.

And before they could even absorb that single point of soul power, they’d first have to endure the soul-shaking backlash of the process. While it lasted only a moment, the impact was at least ten times stronger than the backlash experienced during soul harvesting. Even the soul of a god at full strength could be shattered outright, let alone one already battered and on the brink of collapse.

The odds of survival? Likely 90% in favor of death.

As for the remaining 10%? They’d either emerge as a raving lunatic or a mindless fool. In the end, no one benefited.

Not just ordinary gods with weak Divine Power, but even Supreme Deities or High Divine Power entities would find the Soul Devourer Sphere an impractical tool. With its abysmal return on investment, it had long ceased to hold any meaningful value. No matter how rare or precious a treasure might be, it becomes little more than an ornament of historical significance when it serves no practical purpose.

But in Sterl’s hands, the Soul Devourer Sphere had finally found its true master.

After all, his level 62 soul was unlike anything most beings could fathom. To put it into perspective, even hunting multiple gods would fail to provide him with enough soul experience to advance a single level. That alone spoke volumes about the staggering strength of his soul.

However, even for Sterl, reaching this level had been the result of an extraordinary combination of circumstances: countless opportunities, relentless effort, and above all, the unique advantage of his evolutionary cheat ability. It was a convergence of luck, chance, and hard work—one that could never be replicated.

This was why he considered the Soul Devourer Sphere to be a treasure tailor-made for him.

“Now… let me see where your limits truly lie,” Sterl murmured, his tone heavy with anticipation.

Taking a deep breath, he tightened his grip on the Soul Devourer Sphere, and immediately, the soul power stored within surged into his body. This time, the influx was even faster than before.

Sterl’s mind went blank for a moment, as if struck by a sledgehammer. His soul trembled visibly—his mountain-like soul, unshakable and vast, quivered under the pressure, shedding chunks of metaphorical soil and stone.

Yet after weathering this initial impact, an even stronger, soothing coolness surged through his consciousness, spreading rapidly throughout his body. He could feel it vividly—the soul power, after fully restoring his soul, transformed into a nourishing essence specifically designed to strengthen it.

His soul was growing stronger, bit by bit.

Sterl quickly summoned his attribute interface. On the section for Soul Level, the previously lengthy and stagnant experience bar was now filling rapidly. Within moments, it had progressed by more than half—an achievement greater than what he would gain from hunting seven or eight gods’ souls.

And this was only the beginning. As more soul power poured into him, the soul experience bar continued to fill at an astonishing rate. It wasn’t long before the bar reached its limit. Accompanied by a faint vibration in his soul, a wave of refreshing energy emanated from the depths of his consciousness.

In that moment, Sterl’s soul underwent a subtle but significant transformation. His Soul Level rose from 62 to 63.

The process didn’t stop there. Shortly afterward, another similar tremor rippled through his soul. Sterl’s expression lit up with uncontainable joy—his Soul Level surged again, reaching 64.

At this point, Sterl halted the flow of soul power from the Soul Devourer Sphere, allowing the growth in his soul experience to subside. As he assessed the changes in his soul, his excitement was palpable.

“This is… this is…”

His chest heaved as he searched for the right words. But for all his effort, he couldn’t find an adequate way to describe what had just happened.

In less than a minute, his Soul Level had increased by two whole levels!

It was an unthinkable achievement. Soul Level advancement was notoriously difficult. In the early stages, when one’s soul was still relatively weak, such rapid progress might have been possible. But at Sterl’s current level, he hadn’t experienced growth like this in an incredibly long time.

Moreover, each new level required an astronomical amount of soul experience to achieve. The higher his Soul Level, the harder it became to advance.

And yet, this mattered immensely—because the first condition for the next evolution of his cheat ability was a Soul Level of 99!

For Sterl, this moment was more than just progress—it was a glimpse into the impossible. The path ahead, though steep, now seemed a step closer to realization.

Before obtaining the Soul Devourer Sphere, Sterl had all but lost hope of ever reaching that fateful day. After crossing level 60, each subsequent level required as much soul experience as the total combined for all levels leading up to level 59.

But now, with the Soul Devourer Sphere, hope was no longer just a faint glimmer—it was a blazing certainty. Sterl didn’t merely see the possibility of achieving his goal; he could vividly foresee it as an inevitable reality.

Glancing at the remaining soul power reserve in the Soul Devourer Sphere, Sterl noted there were still a full 6,000 points left. He had used 3,700 points to raise his soul level by two.

Granted, this was an immense amount of soul power—enough to accelerate a soul from level 1 to unprecedented heights in record time. Yet for Sterl, even with the remaining 6,000 points, he could only raise his Soul Level by another two levels at most.

However, he chose not to continue pouring soul power into his soul. The Soul Devourer Sphere’s effects were not limited to soul enhancements alone.

[Soul Devourer Sphere Effects]:

When the wielder kills an enemy, the Soul Devourer Sphere automatically absorbs the soul energy of the recently departed.

The absorbed souls are refined within the sphere, converting them into pure soul energy.

The refined soul energy can be used by the wielder for various enhancements and recoveries, including but not limited to: stamina, vitality, physical attributes, Divine Power, insight, lifespan, and soul strength.

The wielder can channel the refined soul energy into followers, worshippers, or subordinates, empowering or restoring them according to their will.

The wielder can condense all refined soul energy within the sphere into a single, overwhelming burst of [Transcendence]-level power, which can either be used to enhance the wielder’s own strength or released as a devastating attack. This power is irresistible by any means other than soul-based defenses.

Reviewing the sphere’s abilities again, Sterl noted its versatility. Beyond soul repair and enhancement, it could be used to improve virtually every aspect of his being.

This realization struck a chord. The Soul Devourer Sphere’s effects bore an uncanny resemblance to his cheat ability, Evolution, which also allowed for limitless enhancements. Both seemed capable of “adding points” to any attribute, improving anything.

A thoughtful smile spread across Sterl’s face. Could there be a connection between the Soul Devourer Sphere and his cheat?

No… no. The Soul Devourer Sphere was just a vessel. The true value lay in the pure soul power it contained.

Could it be that his cheat ability—the power to evolve—was itself a form of soul energy manipulation?

The idea intrigued him deeply. His mind raced as he searched for parallels between the two powers, piecing together fragments of understanding.

…