Advancing to Level Four

That night, Rice lay down beside Chen Luo again.

By rights, it should have been Mi Li's turn to receive Rice's royal favor, but Mi Ling had chased Rice back.

There was no other reason. Rice had offended Mi Ling far too badly during the day.

Rice had the makings of a sharp-tongued menace.

Chen Luo quietly absorbed the crystals at an average rate of one per minute.

By the time he finished absorbing eighty crystals, over an hour had passed. He checked the power inside his body.

Chen Luo estimated that, if everything went smoothly, he could break through to Level Four tomorrow night by using the Rat King's and the Devourer's crystals, along with the Level One crystals from some survivors.

Level Four would bring a considerable qualitative leap compared to the levels before it.

At that point, the crystals from the current zombies would be completely useless to Chen Luo. He would have to wait for the zombies to evolve to Level One.

While Chen Luo cultivated, Rice could only roll back and forth on the bed in boredom.

Chen Luo smiled. "My little darling Rice, let's go to sleep. You'll sleep with me from now on."

Early the next morning, Ma Yu made scallion pancakes with soy milk.

Mi Ling also rolled around on her bed, utterly defeated. There was a particular kind of suffering in watching others eat when all you could do was look.

I think there's flour here. I could make scallion pancakes too, but I don't know how. And I don't have any scallions.

I really want some soy milk too.

Chen Luo had already needled Mi Ling once and didn't want to do it again.

For one thing, Mi Ling hadn't kicked him out. For another, she'd given up her own room. She had been generous about it, so Chen Luo couldn't be too childish.

At noon, Mi Ling gnawed on instant noodles in her room. Even with the door closed, the tempting aroma still found its way into her nose.

I can't live like this.

Eat, eat, eat. Let's see what you have for your next meal. Do you think I don't know how big my own fridge is?

Well, dinner was another feast.

Mi Ling realized something was wrong. Wait, my fridge isn't that big. At the rate they're eating, they should have emptied it in two meals.

Then Mi Ling opened the fridge. Good grief, it was still packed with vegetables and meat.

Unable to hold back any longer, Mi Ling went up to Chen Luo and asked in disbelief, "How is the fridge full again?"

Originally, Mi Ling had planned to wait until Chen Luo ran out of supplies and had to gnaw on instant noodles like her.

If that fridge never emptied, wouldn't she become a joke?

Mi Li slapped her forehead. It seemed she had never told her sister that Chen Luo was a Spatial Mage.

Mi Li glanced at Chen Luo. Seeing that he didn't object, she spoke timidly.

"Mi Ling, Chen Luo is a Space Esper Ability User. He's stored some food in his space, enough to last at least several years."

Mi Ling: ???!!!

Why didn't you say so sooner?

Do you know something, Mi Li? Right now, I feel like a complete clown!!!

Mi Li didn't dare say anything more.

Mi Ling snorted. "As agreed, we'll fight in a couple of days. You said that if you lost, you'd do as I told you."

Chen Luo smiled. "Maybe we can do it tomorrow. I'll do my best to satisfy your need for a beating."

To be honest, Mi Ling also felt that Chen Luo was no pushover. At the very least, the dog was quite strong, and Su Dazhu struck her as someone she shouldn't mess with either.

But what could she do?

Admit defeat outright?

Mi Li and Rice had both defected. Now, beating Chen Luo was the only way she could gain the upper hand.

Chen Luo had "kidnapped" Mi Li, leaving her no way out. She couldn't possibly abandon Mi Li.

Mi Ling imagined defeating Chen Luo tomorrow or the day after, with him groveling at her feet and calling her big sister, then offering her a huge pile of delicious food.

What should I eat?

Ugh, stop thinking about it. The more I think, the hungrier I get.

The little cookies in her hand suddenly lost all their appeal.

That evening, Chen Luo got ready early and began absorbing crystals.

Level Four was very important to Chen Luo. It would let him use Void Walk, bringing a qualitative leap in his strength and a dramatic change in his ability to stay alive.

Without Void Walk, what survival ability did a Space Esper Ability User really have?

First, he absorbed eighty crystals as usual. Normally, Chen Luo would be unable to absorb any more crystals at this point.

His body had reached saturation.

But it was like the day Mi Ling had eaten three bowls of rice and was full. Give her a chicken drumstick after that and see whether she could still eat it.

Once she finished the drumstick, how about a pound of crayfish?

After that, she could have some soup, then a little fruit.

How much you could eat depended not only on your appetite, but also on the quality of the food.

Low-level crystals were like rice, while high-level crystals were like abalone and lobster.

But this could only be done occasionally. The body couldn't handle prolonged binge eating, and it would also affect your appetite for the next meal.

Chen Luo first took out seven crystals from Level One survivors. After absorbing them, he used the Devourer's crystal.

He was just a tiny step away from Level Four.

Chen Luo took out the Rat King's crystal.

This was a Level Four crystal. It would even be slightly useful to a Level Seven Esper Ability User.

As soon as he began absorbing it, Chen Luo's body seemed to rejoice. It felt wonderfully soothing.

Well, it was probably like Mi Ling finally getting to eat the grapes she'd been longing for.

Streams of energy passed through his palm into the crystal inside Chen Luo's brain.

The crystal grew little by little until the accumulated energy reached a certain threshold and began undergoing a qualitative change.

A sudden burst of intense pain struck Chen Luo's head, making his face twitch involuntarily.

Still, it was well within his tolerance. The pain of breaking through to Level Ten and King Rank in his previous life was nothing like this.

Some female survivors had said that the pain at Level Seven was every bit as bad as childbirth.

Rice noticed Chen Luo's condition but didn't dare move, watching him anxiously for fear of disturbing him.

The crystal in his brain seemed to be continuously releasing some mysterious energy, which spread throughout Chen Luo's body.

It was strengthening his body.

Level Four, Level Seven, Level Ten, and the levels beyond Level Ten all brought major qualitative changes. At Level Four, elemental and special Esper Ability Users would have physical capabilities equal to those of Level Three Flesh Esper Ability Users.

The pain in his brain faded, but the crystal kept releasing energy to improve Chen Luo's body.

Only a minute later did Chen Luo let out a long breath, a smile appearing on his face.

More than half the energy in the Rat King's crystal remained unused.

At Level Four, his ability power had only increased by about a third compared to the peak of Level Three. That wasn't much, but its quality had changed greatly.

He could cast more powerful spells while using less mana.

Even two peak Level Three ability users were no match for a single Level Four Ability User, provided their combat experience was equal.

Most importantly, Chen Luo could now use Void Walk.

Walking over to the window, Chen Luo gazed up at the starry sky. I wonder if one day I'll be able to reach the moon with a single Void Walk.

Now that he could finally use Void Walk, Chen Luo couldn't resist trying it once.

Chen Luo had used Void Walk countless times in his previous life. Like drinking water, it had become instinctive. Until now, he simply hadn't had enough power.

With a thought, he felt that familiar spatial power. Chen Luo vanished in an instant and appeared in the living room.

The Dharma King had been lying outside Chen Luo's door in the living room, standing guard for him. Seeing a dark figure suddenly appear in the room gave the Dharma King an almighty fright.

"Woof, woof, woof, woof!"

The Dharma King jumped up in fright.

I'm guarding your door for you, and you still come out to scare me?