Levi whispered inwardly, trying to erase the hellish experiences of his past three evolutions from his mind. Then, the first thing he did was take a shower while listening to Ash'Kral explain his mutation.
"Against all expectations and side bets between me and Old Bark, your next organ to mutate was none other than your Spleen."
"Spleen?" Even Levi broke out of his daze. "That's a curveball... no wonder the pain was behind my stomach."
Levi had expected the Void to evolve something flashy to match the Sun Seed stealing the Skeleton. He noticed that the Sun and Void Seeds competed for organs with the largest surface area, like his skin and skeleton. He assumed the Void Seed would go for his flesh, which would have been amazing as a combo with his reforged bones.
But nope... the Spleen.
The Void Seed had gone for the most mundane organ, one most people didn't even know the purpose of.
"What you have now isn't a spleen anymore... that word is too small for it." Ash'Kral pointed to Levi's left side. "The spleen's original job was simple: filter blood, break down dead cells, and help the body decide what belongs and what doesn't. The Void erased your limited spleen, which explains the paralyzing pain, and bestowed upon you Oblivar's Divine Grade Abyssal Filtrum."
Ash'Kral paused to see if Levi was keeping up.
"When it mutated, it stopped filtering matter and started filtering existence. Anything that passes through your blood: curses, corruption, foreign energy, lingering intent... and, in addition to the usual filtration, none of it resists. It gets removed from the equation entirely." He made a small cutting motion with his claw.
Levi's brows raised in surprise, not expecting such immense powers.
"No wonder I smelled like I fell into sewage... every tint of toxin or harmful matter in my body was cleansed and expelled," Levi remarked.
"Of course, it's also incredibly efficient. Everything it erases gets broken down into stable Void energy. Nothing is wasted. That energy is redirected into your Void Seed's energy tank for later use."
Levi's smile widened as he listened to its benefits. If the Spleen could cleanse even corruption or other negative energies, he could now walk through any realm in the universe without feeling threatened. He possessed immunities not just to poison, but almost anything harmful.
Yet Ash'Kral wasn't done. He flicked his ear.
"That's also why your blood is dangerous now. After passing through that organ, it carries less presence and resistance. This allows you to remain hidden in plain sight if you hide your spiritual aura and keep your blood flow steady."
"It's like cats' camouflage," Levi nodded in understanding. "They can hide in plain sight by keeping their presence low and non-threatening. This lowers the guard of prey, causing their damnation."
Ash'Kral snorted. "It's really an annoying ability at higher levels, against beings who rely mostly on their sense of danger."
Levi confirmed with a nod, knowing many powerful entities trust their danger sense more than regular senses... after all, other senses could be manipulated, but danger sense was the sharpest because lives depended on it.
"If one can make themselves non-threatening, a powerful entity walking into a town of commoners wouldn't notice until they were decapitated by someone dangerously close," He said.
It was one of the best assassination and camouflage techniques... the ability to hide in plain sight, not shadows.
Yet, Ash'Kral had to remind him that this was still a mutation from the Void Seed.
"And here's the part you should actually fear," Ash'Kral said, looking straight at Levi. "The spleen sits between blood flow and soul signaling. With Void laws mixed in, it became a pressure valve. When you overload your body or force power beyond what you should survive, it absorbs the backlash before it reaches your core."
He leaned back, his expression turning slightly dark.
"But Void doesn't understand mercy. If your emotions destabilize you too much, if your sense of self fractures, the organ won't ask whether something is important." Ash'Kral narrowed his eyes. "It will only ask whether it is stable."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Levi frowned, uneasy.
"It means if you lose control, it won't kill you, Levi. It will clean you up from the inside out," Ash'Kral warned. "So keep your mind intact. That thing in your body doesn't care who you are... only whether you still make sense, or if you are nothing but waste that needs expelling."
Levi gulped while cleaning his stomach with soap and a sponge. His harmonic spine revealed the new Spleen. Its eerie appearance confirmed everything Ash'Kral had shared.
It was deep black-violet, slightly larger than normal, with a smooth surface that looked unfinished, as if light couldn't attach to it. Veins faded in and out, never fully forming. Every few seconds, the surrounding tissue felt cold and hollow, lasting only a moment.
"Abyssal Filtrum... Star-Forged Skeleton," Levi mumbled under his breath, recalling his other mutations. "If I keep going at this, will I still be human, or some bizarre Frankenstein monster?"
He would be lying if he said the possibility of losing touch with his humanity didn't scare him. He was slowly, surely straying from it. As much as he knew it was necessary, considering his human genes were just there for a good time, it still pained him.
He felt like he was enduring hellish experiences just to replace pieces of his humanity with Radian, Oblivar, or parts from other races... all for strength.
This made him always wonder if he ever reached Glorious Evolution, would there be anything left of his humanity to feel glorious about?
Levi shook those thoughts from his mind and kept cleaning. Too many existential questions would only stray him from his goals and revenge, which, at the moment, were everything... more than his humanity.
***
A month later, one week before the Faction Wars...
In the Imperial Sun Lineage Palace within the Boundless Expanse, Wei-Lan sat cross-legged on a circular futon. The room was exquisite and ancient, echoing of traditional Chinese architecture.
Yanhuan stood in front of his father, wearing a blue-and-purple royal robe. His long, silky dark hair was gone, leaving him bald as an ostrich egg, his smooth scalp gleaming under the soft candlelight.
Yet no one dared laugh. His polite, noble visage had transformed into an emotionless, threatening mask, as if a clone replaced him.
"A week is left before the Faction Wars. Your team has earned a slot, but I want you as the captain of our faction," Wei-Lan said coldly. "Defeating Levi isn't a request... It's a must. The Sun Imperial Lineage cannot have its heir led by someone else."
"I understand, Father," Yanhuan replied, his tone as emotionless as a pebble.
"I will be there to watch. Don't humiliate me."
"I won't... I promise," Yanhuan said, his tone breaking for a brief moment before returning to cold.