100% DROP RATE : Why is My Inventory Always so Full? - Chapter 178

Chapter 178: Chapter 178 – Leybound Assimilation
Metamorphosis Realm. Shedding the Mortal Husk.

Lucien sighed.

His level remained at 199. Just shy of the first stage of Metamorphosis.

It wasn’t that the experience points from the Monster Lords he’d slain were too small. No, the Primordial Slime had revealed the truth behind his stagnation, confirming what Lucien had long suspected.

The Metamorphosis stage is different. His level now weren’t direct measures of his true strength.

The power of creation was intertwined with his system. Every creature he killed had its essence split. Part transformed into drops and another fraction was converted into experience points.

He found out through their conversation that his growth wasn’t determined by the arbitrary numbers the system displayed. That’s why he asked the Primordial Slime to fix the system.

Now he understood the flaw in his current growth.

Leveling through killing… Only strengthens a part of him.

Mortals, as the Primordial Slime explained, were bound by three impurities.

The Body… tied to survival and decay.

The Mind… tied to fear, desire, and ego.

The Soul… tied to mortality itself.

To shed the first mortal husk, one must reach a certain balance in all three.

Lucien has known some of those information from the Mural World but hearing them directly from the slime helped him see through his flaw.

In simple terms… Lucien’s Soul had grown immense. It was saturated by the essence of countless beings he had slain.

His Mind too, was tempered. After living a hundred lifetimes within the Mural World, his psyche had long transcended that of any normal man.

But his Body lagged behind.

His physical form had failed to keep pace with the power of his Soul and Mind. That was the reason for his stagnation.

Still, he considered it a blessing in disguise. Unlike others, he didn’t need to start from nothing. To take his first step toward metamorphosis, he only had to fortify his body.

•••

Lucien flew toward a secluded mountain where the wind carried the hum of the world’s energy. He landed gently, crossed his legs on the ground and closed his eyes.

Fragments of his third life in the Mural World resurfaced. The time when he lived as a slime.

“How did the slime grow stronger back then again… without mana vessels?”

Directly absorbing ambient mana into their gelatinous bodies was extremely reckless. Doing so risked mana saturation and overload. It’s a fatal condition even for beings made of pure essence.

After all, mana or any form of energy is never meant to exist in high concentration without regulation inside a body.

That’s why living beings needed mana vessels. To circulate and balance the flow within the body.

Without such regulation, direct absorption would inevitably destabilize a slime’s form, causing its structure to collapse under the pressure.

But… slimes had evolved a workaround. One that fascinated Lucien even now.

It was called Division and Recombination.

When a slime neared its mana absorption limit, it would split itself into smaller bodies. Each body processed a fraction of the mana separately, stabilizing it. Once refined, the split bodies rejoined, merging their energy and experience into a stronger whole.

Through this cycle, a slime could grow exponentially while avoiding collapse.

The stronger ones even developed spawnlings or sub-slimes. They were created solely to share this burden. Each was designed for optimal mana refinement.

Yet, that wasn’t the only path.

Some pursued Symbiotic Fusion, forming bonds with other lifeforms. Plants, beasts, or even minerals. A slime fused with moss, for instance, could photosynthesize mana, drawing nourishment directly from sunlight and earth. It was a method that required deep harmony with nature.

Others practiced Essence Digestion. It was slowly consuming the essence of fallen prey until it became part of their being. It was stable but painfully slow. It’s much like leveling through killing, but without the violent surges or soul imbalance.

Lucien, however, had another method in mind. A technique that was especially useful in the Metamorphosis Realm.

Leybound Assimilation.

It’s a difficult technique even among slimes. It was one that allowed them to bond with the world itself.

It was not simple absorption. It was a symbiotic tether to a leyline. To the invisible veins through which the world’s energy flowed.

The process demanded absolute resonance between the slime’s internal mana and the leyline’s frequency. Once achieved, the slime would anchor itself and refine energy in perfect rhythm with the world’s pulse.

Simply… It was cultivation through harmony, not hunger.

It was a constant and steady nourishment.

But it came at a cost. During Leybound Assimilation, the slime entered a deep and immobile state called Ley Slumber. Its body would remain still while its awareness spread along the ley currents, sensing the pulse of distant lands. Some among them could even develop territorial awareness, exerting influence over small domains of nature.

Lucien smiled faintly.

To others, it was a difficult method. But for him… it was perfect.

He possessed Perfect Calculation and Parallel Thoughts, skills that allowed him to monitor his energy flow and surroundings simultaneously. He could visualize the ley lines, perceive fluctuations and adapt instantly.

To make the process even smoother, Lucien activated Slime Beast Mode. Then… invoking the effect of Transcendent One, he opened his senses to the world’s law.

Veins of radiant energy revealed themselves.

The Leylines.

Lucien took out the Worldroot Staff which he had borrowed from his grandpa Ciel. Using his enhanced perception, he located the nearest leyline node beneath the mountain and thrust the staff into the earth.

To normal eyes, nothing happened.

But Lucien could see everything. The ley currents bent. It was redirected toward the staff’s core.

The Worldroot Staff acted as a bridge, channeling the world’s energy safely.

Lucien’s lips curved into a calm smile. “Success.”

Actually… stronger slimes could produce energy filaments from within themselves to directly connect to ley currents. But his body was not yet capable of that.

So he improvised.

He let the staff act as the conduit.

Lucien sat once more. He placed his palms on the staff’s glowing surface. Energy surged. It was vast.

He took a slow breath and closed his eyes.

Then, he attuned.

His divine energy shifted frequency, harmonizing with the world’s pulse. With Perfect Calculation, Lucien adjusted the flow effortlessly. Parallel Thoughts allowed him to monitor the surroundings for any disturbance.

He had become one with the ley current.

Lucien could feel it…

He was breathing in harmony with the world. He was flowing with it.

The Worldroot Staff glowed faintly as the threads of energy spiraled upward.

The energy from it… They were the raw circulation of the world’s vitality. It was perfect for Lucien who needed to strengthen his Body.

Lucien moved.

He began by splitting his divine energy into countless microstreams. He then guided the threads of raw energy through every fiber of his being.

Using Perfect Calculation, he monitored the flow in real time. He adjusted the intensity, the rhythm and the frequency like a conductor refining a symphony.

The leyline currents surged into him, coursing through his gelatinous body. Pain followed.

Lucien was startled.

His slime form began to tremble violently. It looked as if he were shedding. Layers of translucent essence peeled away, dissolving into streams of light that sank into the ground.

His body trembled as if the laws of nature themselves were rewriting his existence. Every cell screamed as the energy scoured away impurities. It was burning away what remained of his mortal impurities.

He didn’t resist. Instead, he let the leyline energy move through him in closed loops.

Gradually, the violent flow steadied. His blood shimmered faintly with traces of light.

Lucien realized something profound. The Body… It wasn’t meant to overpower the world’s laws. It was meant to mirror them. The stronger his alignment with the world’s flow, the closer his mortal shell moved toward transcendence.

Hours passed… or perhaps days.

Then with a deep exhale, Lucien opened his eyes. His skin emitted a faint luminescence. Every breath he took felt bound to the rhythm of the leyline itself. The impurities that once weighed down his body had turned to dust, dissolving into particles of light that scattered into the air.

Inside him, his divine energy core pulsed once. And then… He felt its expansion.

A surge erupted, shaking the mountain. The leyline responded in kind, resonating with his awakening.

He had done it. He had shed his first mortal husk.

Lucien had entered the First Stage of the Metamorphosis Realm.

He looked at his hands, flexing them as faint motes of energy followed his movements.

He smiled faintly.

“So this is what it means… to shed one’s mortal husk.”

He deactivated Slime Beast Mode. And he observed what changed in his body.

His blood flowed differently now. It was richer and now carrying traces of ley energy. His skin felt lighter but harder than steel. Even the flow of divine energy from his divine energy core was smoother, responding instantly to his intent.

And when he moved, the world seemed to ripple faintly in acknowledgment.