SSS Evolution: Upgrading My Trash Grade Skeleton to Godhood

Chapter 148: Grandmaster refusal

In the first sequence, an awakened used mana to refine their body to its limits, all in preparation for the second sequence. Humanity, after much imitation and experimentation, had managed to create star-energy-absorbing skills, but when it came to raw power, they were far behind the star monsters. As such, the awakened, in order to fight with monsters, decided to become monsters themselves.....

That’s right — in the Blood Infusion Realm, as the name implied, an awakened would slowly bring the blood of star monsters into their veins and pray that their body accepted the foreign blood instead of immediately bursting into a shower of blood.

Some of you might think, Who in their right mind would want to do such a thing? But this was something humanity did to survive. Most died, but a few extremely lucky ones survived. Slowly, as time passed, human awakened started to understand a few things: if they chose the blood of a star monster whose abilities were similar to the talent they had awakened, then the chances of their body rejecting it fell by half.

That was massive. From that day on, a huge effort to catalog every monster in the star dimensions was launched, and it continues even today so that every awakened can get what suits them best.

For example, someone with a fireball talent would select the blood of a fire-breathing salamander and so on.

Thinking up to this point, Lukas’s eyes narrowed slightly. The star dimensions were vast. The monster an awakened wanted might be millions of miles away from them. There was no practical way to travel such an enormous distance.

They would have to return back to Earth.

Earth was the only place connected to the uncountable number of settlements spread all over the star dimensions, and one could only hope that the monster they were looking for also had some connection to the same path.

As such, an awakened’s breakthrough to the second sequence heavily depended on timing and luck.

However, Lukas was not worried about much of this. He already had a plan in mind.

He just needed to wait for Tommy to finish evolving.

After all, what could suit him more than the Death God’s bloodline flowing through that skeleton’s veins? The problem that remained was how Lukas’s body would adapt to that golden blood, but that was a problem future Lukas was going to deal with, so there was no need to think about it for the time being.

Now that he could not break through and reach the second sequence yet, there was nothing to do except wait.

Time continued to pass. It was only during the evening of that day that Mark returned, a heavy and somber expression on his face as he made his way toward Lukas.

Even from a distance, Lukas could tell that this fellow was hiding something.

Thinking of this, he raised his hand and asked Mark to hurry over.

"What happened? Your father refused to refine the pill?"

Lukas’s thought was only natural. From what he had heard, all grandmaster alchemists were very arrogant people. They would not easily entertain other people’s requests. But still, he had held onto some hope, considering the fact that he had saved Mark’s life.

However, judging by the look on Mark’s face, it became evident that Mark’s grandmaster father did not really value his son that much.

Lukas scanned Mark’s figure up and down before commenting again,

"What happened? Your father refused to refine the pill?"

As if his words had hit the mark, clear signs of panic appeared on Mark’s face. However, instead of accepting it, he vehemently shook his head.

"No, no, Big Brother, you misunderstand. It’s not that Father doesn’t want to refine the pill. It’s just that during these days, he is too busy and doesn’t have time for anything else."

Lukas simply sighed and already started thinking of other sources where he could procure the pill, but all of them were super expensive.

The most obvious route was returning to Earth and buying it from somewhere else. The pill might not be available in the White Knight Settlement, but among the countless settlements spread across the dimensions, there might be someone willing to sell.

It was just that there was no real way to get back to Earth other than through teleportation formations.

Teleportation formations...

Without even realizing it, the teleportation formation had become Lukas’s biggest enemy, even bigger than Star Mother.

It was holding him back in so many ways that he could not even begin to comprehend.

Just as he was thinking this, another thought occurred to him.

Could there be someone who awakened a talent that allowed travel between two dimensions without using teleportation at all?

As soon as this thought occurred to him, he had a feeling that there was most likely someone capable of such a thing.

All this time, he had completely stopped paying attention to Mark. That young fellow, seeing Lukas’s expression darken, thought to himself:

Damn it, it appears Big Brother is really angry this time...

Yes, at some point, Mark had started calling Lukas "Big Brother." It was definitely not because he saw the White Knight Guild Master talking with him, or because she allowed him to stay in her residence.

At some point, Mark had realized that this "Big Brother" of his might be the biggest opportunity he had ever gotten in his life.

However—

"You don’t need to be disappointed, Brother. If I had promised to give a Star Energy Pill to you, I will keep my word."

With those words, Mark took out a glass container from his backpack, a tightly sealed bottle.

Lukas’s gaze was instantly drawn to the item, his eyes focusing on the bright gold-red pill placed inside the container.

Before he could ask what it was, Mark hurriedly explained:

"Although my father didn’t have time, I still didn’t want to disappoint Big Brother. Father had one pill for me before he went into seclusion..."

Just one look, and Lukas immediately understood what was going on. After all, he was not the only one in need of a Star Energy Pill. Mark might have stored this pill for a crucial moment or breakthrough, but was now offering it to him instead.

For some reason, Lukas was genuinely moved this time. Mark really had no business going this far. He could have simply said that his father refused to refine the pill, but he had not said anything and instead took the responsibility into his own hands.

He was not someone who cared much for formality. Without a word, he accepted Mark’s kind offer with a big heart.

For a brief moment, a pained look flashed through Mark’s eyes when Lukas took the pill away, but in the end he gritted his teeth and simply brushed it off.

No big deal. It’s only natural that I repay Big Brother for saving my life. If only Big Sister Ambrose hadn’t left in such a hurry, I would have given her something as well...

Hearing this, Lukas’s ears almost perked up. A possibility appeared in his heart.

Could he have another Star Energy Pill?

Immediately, he looked at Mark and said in a deep voice,

"If you have something to give, just give it to me. I will send it to her..."

Mark’s face paled subtly as he regretted what he had said.

"No, no... how can I trouble Big Brother? I will personally thank her when I meet her next time..."

Still, Lukas did not want to give up that easily. He continued, slightly aggressively,

"Are you sure? Who knows when Ambrose might return? By that time, you might have turned into a pile of bones."

Lukas’s straightforward words might have seemed slightly rude and discouraging, but this was simply how life was in the star dimensions. It did not matter how young or powerful you were — anyone could lose their life at any moment.

In his mind, the fate of Roaring Dragon Nettle was still fresh.

After another round of polite talk, Mark took his leave.

Lukas did not even bother seeing him off. He immediately returned to his meditation spot and sat down cross-legged.

After doing so, he took the pill out of the container and swallowed it.

Once in his mouth, the pill melted, sending intense waves of star energy coursing through every vein in his body. It felt as if his entire body had been set ablaze. Although the pill looked small, it was made from materials saturated with star energy.

Sitting cross-legged, he entirely focused on the torrential star energy, using all of his willpower to guide the energy toward the two stars. As the energy surged from both directions, the stars destabilized, creating a perfect environment of chaos. The resistance that had been forcing the stars to fuse slowly began to vanish. It was something similar to wheels experiencing no resistance as they rolled down a smooth road.

Immediately, he could feel the fusion process accelerating.

But as the pace increased, Lukas felt an intense sucking force emerge from the center of the fusion, trying to draw in every single drop of star energy. Thankfully, he had already been prepared.

Slowly, as time passed, the two stars inched closer together under Lukas’s careful guidance.

The fusion progress rose from 2% all the way to 10% before the Star Energy Pill could no longer support it.

Lukas stopped the flow of star energy, reverting the process to its earlier state.