I began siphoning all that beast demon's soul energy into myself. If my understanding was correct, the level of an evolved being was related to their soul mass. Higher soul mass equated directly with their displayed level. Since that demon was level 49, I should be able to reach past level 50. Though, the toughest part was incorporating that much energy into myself. Since I was level 26, the energy I was trying to absorb was greater than me. An analogy would be a small fish trying to swallow a shark.

This will take a while.

I cocooned myself in a void barrier and a physical barrier. I readjusted the time flow of the second and outer layer of my subspace to be in the ratio of ten million to one. That was the maximum allowable after my evolution.

Anyway, this effectively meant that I had two layers of time barrier to delay any invaders in case the lock I had placed was cracked open.

With an orb of pure soul energy in front of me, after taking a deep breath, I began slowly absorbing the soul energy into my celestial core. Well, there was always a first time for anything.

Minutes passed.

Hours passed.

Days passed.

By the fifteenth day, I was able to absorb half of it. It wasn't because I couldn't absorb faster but rather |void| was hitting a cap. It could only recycle so much energy at a time.

During the waiting period, I began consolidating my newly acquired soul energy by enhancing my soul bit by bit and condensing excess mana generated by myself.

Surprisingly, over the past couple of days, I had yet to be bored out of my mind. Perhaps it was because I was just super absorbed in what I was doing.

Time continued to pass slowly.

Suddenly, without warning, I was given a notice.

[Evolution available. Proceed? Yes/No.]

I checked my status and apparently I had leveled to 50.

What would I evolve into? Is it a new race again? Pretty sure demons stayed demons after level 50.

[No. This is an evolution within a race.]

Ah, okay, so it's a regular evolution. Go ahead, evolve.

This time, the evolution was rather quick.

[Level 51 Celestial;
Species: Veraine;
Physical: 499/499;
<Health: 499>
<Force: 499 (enhanced)>
<Speed: 499 (enhanced)>
<Agility: 499 (enhanced)>
Spiritual: 798/798;
<Mana: 798>
<Mass: 767 (enhanced)>
<Mastery: 499 (enhanced)>
<Luck: 499 (enhanced)>
Traits: Bewitching, Coward Tactician, Creator, Dedicated One, Void, Limit Breaker, Enhanced Senses, Enhanced Spiritual, Enhanced Resistances, Enhanced Physical;
Abilities: Hypnosis, Subspace, Creation, Celestial Eyes;
Blessings: Enchanted Fate, Forced Destiny;
Description: A divine being.]

After my evolution, my physical stats had all capped to the first limit. I wasn't able to break those physical limits just yet. If I remembered correctly, De Planck didn't break those limits either.

None of my traits received any upgrades if just going by my status alone. But in fact, there were quite substantial upgrades to my two special traits, |void| and |creator|.

A new trait was also added. It was similar to the blessing that beast demon had which was [mind one]. |Dedicated one| provided me with unparalleled focus, dedicating all my resources available to complete a single task. In addition, it also curbed the side effects of |coward tactician| to some degree.

The <mastery> stat was an indicator of my ability to manipulate mana. The <agility> stat was an indicator for my ability to maneuver physically. Neither stat was useful to know.

My [hypnosis] ability now allowed me to actively alter another's state of consciousness. Now, it was actually an useable ability.

The peculiar part was the species name. It had completely changed to something incomprehensible, perhaps not translatable to common language. That reminded me. De Planck had a strange species name as well. Perhaps he too had evolved at level 50 but as a demon.

Anyway, a species name meant very little to me.

I still had lots of work ahead of me. I continued to absorb remaining soul energy while diligently integrating it into myself.

Ten more days passed until I fully absorbed everything that beast demon had to offer. However, I still wasn't as close to De Planck's level as I would like to be.

"I need more."

I began converting everything that was created with my special trait into soul energy. It wasn't much but any extra bits of energy was fine at this moment. I could always recreate the things I had destroyed.

Once that was done, I tried to look for other sources of mana and soul energy.

"Oh right, didn't I take some from that Oortez fellow when I was erasing some contracts? Well, he doesn't need that energy anymore so they're mine!"

He certainly had quite a few contracts. However, the amount of energy there was quite flimsy compared to the energy provided by that beast demon.

In total, I spent nearly sixty days empowering myself. Somehow I was able to sense the passage of time. Anyway, it was well worth it. In a straight up fight without abilities and traits, I should be able to easily overwhelm Vorte.

"Strange, why do I feel so refreshed and my mind so much clarity? Hm, maybe I'm due for a break."

I removed the barriers around myself and checked the mirror.

There were some changes to my appearance once again. The most notable was that I now had three pairs of wings, an extra pair compared to before. In addition, the color scheme had changed. Gold was now the dominant color while silver became intricate embellishment in flowery patterns. Similarly, my white gown now had fancy gold and silver embroideries.

Isn't this overdone? It's beautiful, but... Hmm... I wonder why Vorte only have that plain robe on him? Am I special? Ah... Whatever. This is a trivial matter.

I walked up to Vorte and crouched next to him before softly whispering, "How long do you plan to meditate?"

"I was waiting for you." He replied.

"Well, wait no longer! I'm done."

He only opened his eyes after I said that.

"I see. You have made good use of his soul energy."

"Yep, yep! It was very nutritious. Though, I doubt I could take on De Planck directly with my current power. Add to the fact, I know very little about him."

"Indeed. What will you do?"

"I want to strengthen myself even more before I head off."

"Oh? And how will you do that?"

"I will test my new power shortly. By the way, I know it's a bit late, but do you want something to drink? I can spare some energy to create something nice for you. How about it?"

"Very well. I appreciate it."

For the past couple of months, neither of us had eaten or drank anything. Unfortunately, for me, I had no such desire either, seemingly lost to the void. If I really dug deep, I could still find traces of my old desires. A bit of nourishment might just make them blossom again.

I want my desires back... Did they all get converted...?

[No.]

I wasn't asking you! Eh... Do you have a name? Wouldn't it be easier if I just called your name whenever I need to speak to you?

[No.]

That's no good. I'll call you Echo from now on! Nice to meet you.

While I was preparing something good to eat, I asked Vorte, "Do ever hear voices in your head, like for example when you evolve?"

"It is the voice of the world."

"I see. So it isn't just me."

"It is common knowledge."

Having a casual conversation with Vorte was just that difficult. He would shut me down if I asked something simple.

Using my ability, I created some fresh ingredients and cooked up a normal meal. I ended up with steamed rice, roasted vegetables, and lizard meat skewers. Well, the lizard part was because my mind wandered and some lizard meat popped up while I was crafting ingredients. It really had nothing to do with Oortez. Anyway, wasting food was no good so it ended up on the dining table.

As for drinks, it was my signature drink! Strawberry milkshake!

Making a meal was actually an excuse to test an upgrade to [creation]. It allowed me to now replicate complex biological matters. The limit was based on my past experiences which meant if it was something I had never come across or ever learned in detail about, I wouldn't be able to create it. Though, I still had to have detailed imagery, otherwise I might just get a lump of dust or weird slime.

Ehehe... Now I can recreate any dish I desire! Yeppie!

"So, how's my cooking skill?"

"Satisfactory."

"Eh? Only satisfactory? I poured sweat into it! I mean, not literally."

"Perhaps you may wish seek a culinary instructor. I cannot advise you on the matter regarding arts."

"Aww, okay."

I was hoping if I was good enough, I could cook for Smoothie eventually. As for the matter with her being unable to eat, I could theoretically alter her constitution. Whether she had any desire to eat was something else altogether.

Anyhow, I personally thought my cooking skill was more than satisfactory! I did my best to replicate seasonings so there couldn't be anything wrong with my seasonings.

"It's about time we leave." Vorte said.

"Yes. You're not afraid of being targeted by De Planck, are you?"

"No. Other guardians will step in."

"How nice! I have no one like that since I don't stand on either side."

I sighed wistfully. Truly, I would fighting a lone battle once I left my subspace. If being a god meant being alone, then that would just be plain sad.