After devouring the Ironback Azure Bear, Gustavo's strength improved significantly, with his talents such as [Magic Element Insulation], [Furious Roar], [Spider-Sense], and [Muscle Berserk] all being enhanced to some extent.
[Exoskeleton Enhancement] has evolved further, transforming into a brand new talent: [Thorn Iron Armor].
The new talent [Thorn Iron Armor] has both passive and active forms.
In passive form, in addition to a significant increase in defense, it also gains the ability to counterattack and take the initiative to attack, reflecting some of the damage from enemy attacks.
The Knowledge/Skills section remains largely unchanged, except for [Gravity Control], which has risen three levels to reach level 12, surpassing [Star Capture] which is at level 10.
Furthermore, due to absorbing too much soul information related to gravity, Gustavo's [Gravity Control] became somewhat unbalanced.
But this is a minor issue; in fact, from the perspective of improving combat effectiveness, it's a good thing.
All the improvements were directly reflected in his combat power level. In just half a month, Gustavo's combat power level increased by a full 37 Dale, reaching 645 Dale.
This level of combat power has already reached the mid-level of the Tier Eight Transcendent realm. This speed of improvement in strength can be described as a leap forward.
"Now, we can finally start building the Gene Warehouse!" Gustavo exclaimed excitedly.
With the Gene Warehouse, many of his ideas could be tested.
Building Gene Warehouse requires no materials; physical spider silk is sufficient.
Without hesitation, Gustavo spat out a large amount of solid spider silk, which entered his own body and eventually tangled into a honeycomb-like ball inside his abdomen.
The Gene Warehouse is not an abstract concept; it is more like a physical, Transcendent organ, but this organ needs to be created by the Dragon-Hunting Spider itself.
Gravity descends, penetrating the interior of flesh and spider silk, adjusting the structure of microscopic particles, and forming a binding force.
Strands of bright silver energy, like starlight, surged in from all directions, filling the gaps in the spider silk.
Weaving Gene Warehouse is an extremely intricate process; every single one of the various complex structures must be perfect, or all efforts will be in vain.
That is why a certain level of skill in [Star Capture] and [Gravity Control] is required before construction can begin.
If building Gene Warehouse is likened to constructing a house, then bodily energy is equivalent to cement, steel bars, and bricks.
Gravity is like a worker who takes action.
The skill of manipulating energy is equivalent to that of an engineer, acting as the brain, or it can be understood as a methodology.
With Sturdiness materials, skilled workers, and proper engineering guidance, a house can rise from nothing to something.
The same applies to Gene Warehouse.
All three are indispensable.
Time passed slowly, and three days quickly went by.
The Gene Warehouse is finally complete!
Divine Power scan revealed a hexagonal organ, about the size of a human head and resembling a beehive, hanging in the upper corner of the spider's abdomen. It was divided into several sections.
This organ is no different from other organs and flesh, with all its blood vessels and meridians, as if it were naturally formed, and it is connected to all systems of the body, especially the nervous system.
Gustavo can now store the gene fragments he has devoured in the Gene Warehouse with just a thought.
Open the information panel, and in the Talents section, the Gene Warehouse appears.
[Intermediate Gene Repository] Passive -- Can store, screen, filter, and release low- and intermediate-level gene fragments. Maximum storage capacity is 100 units. Current storage status is 0/100.
"It's already Intermediate Gene Repository right after it was built. Not bad, not bad. It was worth all the effort I put in."
"Maximum storage capacity is 100 units? How many gene fragments are in 1 unit?" Gustavo was a little curious. The status displayed on the panel was deduced by the Eye of Insight, and some things needed to be figured out by himself.
Gustavo understood the meaning of the low-level and mid-level gene fragments.
This classification is likely based on the theory of bloodline sorcerers.
Bloodline sorcerers in the Spellcaster Association divide their bloodline talents into seven tiers.
Low-level, intermediate-level, advanced-level, top-level, ultimate, perfect, transcendent.
The differences between talents of each level are quite obvious. However, this ranking system is rather general and vague because the Astral Realm has too many strange and unusual talents, making it difficult to measure them using this ranking system in many situations.
If we categorize abilities by potential levels within the Esper System, an SSS-level potential Ability Energy roughly corresponds to a limit-level talent.
In Gustavo's talent tree, the highest-level talent is [Luck Deprivation], which, according to the classification of bloodline sorcerers, is probably at the limit level.
The talents [Dragon Hunting], [Dragon Devouring], and [Soul Devourer] are at the top level. Because of this, the gene fragments provide almost no boost to them, since the gene fragments that Gustavo devours are mostly low- or mid-level and not of sufficient quality.
[Thorn Iron Armor], which has undergone one evolutionary transformation, belongs to an advanced talent.
The vast majority of other talents are at the intermediate level.
Originally, all the Attribute Talent were low-level. The talents that awaken 31 attribute points are basically low-level talents, with very few exceptions.
However, with the optimization of the gene fragments, these three low-level talents gradually transformed into mid-level talents.
The only one that remains a low-level talent is [Predator].
The immense help that [Predator] provides to Gustavo is based on the ultimate talent [Luck Deprivation]. Without the support of a high luck attribute, this talent is only slightly better than nothing, and even if it works, it requires thousands of years of accumulation to build up its effects.
Gustavo did want to raise his Predator level, but he had never encountered a creature with a devouring bloodline talent. He was like a skilled cook without ingredients—what could he do?
Shaking his head to clear his mind, Gustavo slowly walked towards the cave exit. "Half a month without moving, it's time to go out and hunt some monsters. Hopefully, those three Tier Seven magical beasts didn't escape!"
Leaving the Ironback Azure Bear's cave, Gustavo chose a direction and flew off.
A strong wind swept across the sky, growing faster and more violent, colliding and rubbing against the Thorn Iron Armor, producing a sharp, piercing sound like the cry of an eagle.
This is because Gustavo is constantly accelerating.
After his Gravity Control improved to level 12, he became more and more proficient in controlling gravity, and the intensity of gravity also increased, naturally providing more power to propel his body forward.
Five minutes later, Gustavo stopped trying; he had already tested his own flight performance.
Extreme flight speeds can easily break the sound barrier, but this also consumes a great deal of energy.
Maintaining a normal flight speed of Mach 0.7 is ideal; at this speed, the Gustavo can fly continuously for several days.
Compared to half a month ago, his progress in flight was very obvious, but Gustavo was not satisfied. Having witnessed Spider Mom's space jump, what was his progress? He still needed to keep up the good work.
About two minutes later, Gustavo landed quietly; he had already spotted his prey.