SSS-Rank Talent: Super Upgrade System
Chapter 174: Forged Anew!

Chapter 174: Forged Anew!

The Celestial Suite was a haven of lavish comfort, quietly suspended above the grit and desperation of the resting platform.

The grand feast had ended. Kendi, the Treasure Aardvark, lay curled on a luxurious rug, likely worth more than a small spaceship, snoring softly, his odd face relaxed in steak-induced bliss.

Nyx, the SS-Grade Ice and Fire Draconic Wolf, lay sprawled across a velvet armchair, her two massive heads resting on her paws, eyes of soulfire and frostfire closed in peaceful sleep.

For the first time in a long while, Daniel’s small, monstrously powerful family was at peace.

But Daniel himself was not at rest. He sat cross-legged on the floor in the center of the vast living area, his mind sharp and focused.

The time for celebration was over. The time for cultivation had come.

He reached into his S-Grade [Elementary Storage Ring] and carefully retrieved the prize he had risked so much for in the dark, unstable tunnels of the Western Mine.

The Luminark Stone. It pulsed with a soft, pure white light, filling the entire suite with a calm, powerful energy that made the very air seem to hum.

It was the size of a human head, a single, flawless crystal of immense purity.

Daniel could feel the incredible power contained within it, a foundational energy that promised to reforge his very skeleton, to grant him a strength and resilience that his current, assimilated form could only dream of.

This S-grade treasure was the key to the second stage of his cultivation: Perfect Bone Refining.

He held the stone in his hands, feeling its cool, smooth surface. The path was clear.

He was supposed to consume it, to endure the agonizing process of its power shattering and rebuilding his bones, just as he had with the ginseng for his skin.

It was the plan laid out by the Principal, a proven, if brutal, method for forging a perfect foundation.

But as he stared at the glowing stone, a familiar, whisper of thought tickled the back of his mind.

It was the voice of his SSS-Rank [Soul Assimilation] talent. It was not a voice of words, but of pure, undiluted potential.

It hummed with a quiet, predatory hunger, viewing the S-grade treasure not as food, but as raw material for its next evolution.

What if, the thought resonated, it could be better?

It was a daring, almost insane idea. This was an S-grade treasure, one of the rarest and most potent materials in the entire lower Verge.

To tamper with it, to try and change its fundamental nature, was a risk of immense magnitude.

If his talent failed, if the energy was too pure or too powerful for him to control, he could destroy the stone entirely, rendering his entire, painful journey through the mine utterly pointless.

He would lose his only chance at Perfect Bone Refining. The Principal’s test would end in failure.

But the temptation was too great. His talent had already shown him the impossible. It had upgraded B-grade items to A-grade, and A-grade weapons to S-grade.

What could it do to an S-grade foundational treasure? What new, unforeseen heights could it reach? Daniel’s heart hammered in his chest.

Life, he had come to believe, was a gamble. And this was the biggest bet he had yet made.

"Alright," he whispered to the silent, opulent room. "Let’s see what you can really do."

He took a deep breath, calming his mind, focusing his will into a single, sharp point. He held the Luminark Stone before him with both hands and activated his talent.

<Assimilate?> No. Not assimilate. <Enhance. Evolve.>

He poured his own energy, his will, and the full, unrestrained power of his Tier 3 [Soul Assimilation] into the S-grade stone.

The reaction was instantaneous and cataclysmic.

"BOOM!"

A silent explosion of pure, white light erupted from the Luminark Stone, so brilliant it forced Daniel to squeeze his eyes shut.

The entire Celestial Suite, a structure built to withstand minor energy blasts, shook under the strain.

The reinforced smart glass windows vibrated violently, threatening to shatter.

The lights flickered out, briefly casting the room into darkness before the stone’s brilliant glow lit it once more.

The air crackled with raw energy, and wind roared through the sealed room as it was pushed aside.

The Luminark Stone levitated from his hands, hovering in the air before him, pulsing like a newborn star.

The pure white light began to shift, to change.

The air buzzed with raw energy as wind tore through the sealed room, violently pushed aside.

The stone’s humming energy deepened, its frequency changing from a calm, steady pulse to a profound, resonant thrum that seemed to vibrate in Daniel’s very soul.

The process lasted nearly minute, a silent and stunning display of cosmic transformation.

Then, as suddenly as it began, the light receded, the humming softened, and the transformed crystal floated gently back into Daniel’s waiting hands.

It was no longer just a white Luminark Stone.

It was now a deep, radiant purple, streaked with shimmering silver-white veins.

It felt heavier, denser, and the power it radiated was on a completely different level, so potent it felt almost holy.

Daniel’s Nexus Interface, which had been flickering erratically from the energy surge, chimed with a clear, golden tone, a sound reserved for achievements of the highest order.

[WARNING: High-Tier Treasure Evolution Detected!]

[SSS-Grade Talent: Soul Assimilation has successfully refined an S-Grade material!]

[Item Evolved: Luminark Stone (S-Grade) has undergone a fundamental transformation, becoming... Radiant Luminark Core (SS-Grade)!]

SS-Grade! Daniel stared at the notification, his mind reeling. He had done it. He had pushed an S-grade treasure to the next tier of existence.

He quickly accessed the new item’s description, his hands trembling slightly with anticipation.

[Item: Radiant Luminark Core]

Grade: SS

Effect: A transcendent core of purified life force and nomological bone essence. When consumed, it will not merely strengthen the user’s existing skeletal structure.

It will initiate a process of Complete Skeletal Replacement.

The user’s original skeleton will be systematically disintegrated and replaced with a new framework of Astral Bones, a material of immense durability, perfect energy conductivity, and profound growth potential.

Grants a flawless foundation for all future body tempering and cultivation.

Daniel’s breath caught in his throat. Complete Skeletal Replacement. This had changed everything.

The original stone would have reinforced his bones, making them stronger. This new, SS-grade core would give him an entirely new skeleton, a perfect, flawless framework.

The potential for his future growth, the very ceiling of his power, had just been raised to an unimaginable height.

The gamble had paid off spectacularly.

He looked at the beautiful, glowing purple-and-silver core in his hands. The path ahead would be painful, agonizing even.

But the reward... the reward would be a body truly worthy of the power he wielded.

With a final, deep breath, his resolve hardening into unbreakable steel, Daniel brought the Radiant Luminark Core to his lips and consumed the SS-grade treasure, beginning the second, and now far more profound, step of his cultivation.