Devouring Stars: Master of Evolution

Chapter 4 Larval Metamorphosis

With the help of the original owner's memories, Qin Mu learned very quickly, and his fist strength also improved significantly.

After a day of repeated experimentation, the best punching power test result was 786kg, with a speed of 25.26m/s.

Compared to the original owner's best performance, this result shows an increase of approximately 30kg in strength, and the speed has already reached the minimum requirements for a quasi-martial artist.

The original owner was naturally skilled in speed, and was only a hair's breadth away from meeting the requirements of a quasi-martial artist.

"His punching power has indeed improved, and his speed has met the requirements."

It's a pity his injuries haven't healed yet, otherwise his results could have been even better.

Qin Mu was very satisfied. Although it only increased his strength by 30kg, it meant that his strength had indeed improved.

I sensed the larvae in the house that were still feeding continuously.

"After the Zerg larvae molt into worker Zerg, their strength can increase significantly, reaching 900kg. It's not impossible."

Qin Mu's heart burned with passion.

However, this test also revealed a very serious problem.

That is, after he transmigrated, although he inherited all the memories of the original body, he was just an ordinary person in his previous life and had not been trained.

In addition, the hidden injuries to his body caused his movements to always be distorted.

Simply put, it means the mind can do it, but the body can't.

This is just a simple way of punching and generating power.

Movement techniques and marksmanship, which are more complex, will likely be even worse.

As for the solution to this problem, there is only one: practice, repeated practice, until it becomes a bodily instinct.

"During this period, I must quickly familiarize myself with power generation, movement techniques, and marksmanship."

Qin Mu absolutely could not allow himself to be eliminated because his physical condition was too poor, even though he had already met the requirements.

No further tests were conducted on strength or speed.

As for nerve reaction speed, it's obvious that the situation is terrible without even testing it, so Qin Mu plans to practice his marksmanship and movement first, and then test it after he's familiar with them.

Walk to the door of the armory next to the training hall.

Pushing open the door and entering the armory, one finds a vast array of weapons on display, including knives, spears, swords, halberds, axes, hammers, and many other weapons of the eighteen kinds.

Each type of weapon is further subdivided into various categories. For example, spears are divided into fancy spears, long spears, double spears, double-headed spears, hook-and-sickle spears, and so on.

The original owner trained with a gun.

Following his memory, Qin Mu picked up a gun he used to frequently use.

This is a Po Jun 2 series spear. The entire spear is made of a special alloy, and the shaft is very hard yet has a certain degree of flexibility.

Qin Mu is 182cm tall, and the spear is slightly taller than him.

Of course, this isn't a genuine Po Jun 2 series spear; it's just a replica. It's similar in weight and appearance, and while unsuitable for actual combat, it's excellent for practice.

The spear is considered the king of weapons. As a long weapon, it has a great advantage when dealing with monsters and is the preferred weapon for many martial artists.

Even Hong, the world's strongest man, uses a gun as his weapon.

Picking up the Broken Army Spear, Qin Mu swung it a few times, and his heart immediately filled with excitement.

As a man, who could resist such a cold weapon?

Following the method he remembered from the past, Qin Mu began to practice.

There are many types of spear techniques, but the basic ones include thrusting, stabbing, striking, slapping, entangling, circling, blocking, seizing, pouncing, pointing, deflecting, and fancy techniques.

The basic movements of spear fighting mainly involve blocking, seizing, and thrusting.

Qin Mu practiced only three techniques: blocking, seizing, and thrusting.

In my memory, the words of the martial arts instructor echoed in my ears.

The thrusting motion should be level, swift, straight, and powerful, reaching the tip of the spear. The spear should be thrust in a straight line, like a dragon emerging from the water when thrusting out, and like a tiger returning to its den when withdrawing.

After practicing for a while, Qin Mu still felt very unfamiliar with the routine.

Although he had absorbed the original body's memories and knew what to do in his mind, his hands and feet just couldn't keep up, and his movements were always distorted, giving him a very awkward feeling.

"A month for a staff, a year for a knife, a lifetime for a spear—mastering the spear is indeed not easy."

With continuous practice, Qin Mu gradually found his footing.

"Hey, Mu-ge, long time no see you training! Is your injury healed?"

As time went by, some familiar students came over to practice and saw Qin Mu training hard.

Qin Mu looked up, stopped his gunplay, looked up again, and replied with a smile.

"I'm feeling better. I haven't exercised much in a long time, so I've gotten rusty."

Almost everyone knows that Qin Mu was taken away by ambulance because he overtrained at the Extreme Martial Arts Gym six months ago.

After that injury, unable to train, the original owner rarely came to the Limitless Martial Arts Gym anymore.

The visitors didn't seem to mind, and after a few casual words, they went back to their own cultivation.

Throughout the day, aside from a few acquaintances who showed concern for Qin Mu, he focused all his energy on training and didn't encounter any embarrassing or pretentious incidents.

During training, although there is still some physical discomfort, it is still acceptable as long as I don't go all out.

It wasn't until evening, when Qin Mu was completely exhausted, that he returned home.

After a quick wash and some food, Qin Mu collapsed onto the bed.

"That was awesome!"

Although he was physically exhausted, Qin Mu was mentally very excited.

The feeling of mastering power is so captivating, especially the sensation of gradually becoming stronger, which is incredibly exciting.

The Zerg larvae are also making good progress in consuming the meat; most of the 300-pound unicorn boar meat has been eaten. The worker larvae have also accumulated 3 energy points.

At this rate, by tomorrow morning, we will have accumulated enough energy for transformation.

Filled with excitement, Qin Mu drifted off to sleep.

The next day, Qin Mu woke up at just past five o'clock, without even waiting for the alarm clock to ring.

"Phew, as expected, I've accumulated enough energy to transform into a worker insect."

The 300-pound wild boar meat was almost finished, and the larvae, about the size of an arm, had slightly swollen abdomens.

After being devoured, this flesh and blood are transformed into a liquid with extremely high energy density and stored within its body.

Now, with just a command, the larvae that have accumulated 6 points of energy can transform into worker larvae.

Qin Mu brought the larvae to the living room, cleared out a large enough space, and couldn't wait to start hatching them.

"Hatching into worker insects."

The moment the thought crossed my mind, the larva's body began to swell rapidly.

Like an inhalation, it transforms into a pupa, beating like a heart.

With each jump, the pupa grows at a speed visible to the naked eye.

In just fifteen minutes, the larva, which was the size of an arm, grew into a giant pupa that was 1.5 meters tall and nearly 1 meter wide.

A cracking sound rang out.

A strange insect, curled up inside a pupa, crawled out of the pupa.

This strange insect resembles a giant ant, with a ferocious and terrifying appearance. It is nearly two meters long, has six legs, a pair of large pincers at its mouth, and a thick carapace on its back.

This is the worker, the most basic unit of the Zerg, an auxiliary unit that collects resources and hatches into various Zerg buildings.

Although not combat units, worker insects still possess considerable strength.

The worker insect weighs over 300 pounds, its carapace can withstand light weapons fire, and it can easily lift objects dozens of times its own weight. Its speed is slightly lacking, but overall its strength is at least that of an H-class monster.

The moment the worker insect hatched from its egg, Qin Mu clearly felt a strong warm current flowing through his body, coursing through every limb and bone.

"The hatching was successful. My strength has indeed increased, and my injuries have healed a lot."

Qin Mu clenched his fist, feeling the increase in power within his body, and felt a surge of excitement.

"I'll go to the martial arts school later to test whether I've reached the level of a quasi-martial artist."

A smile appeared on Qin Mu's face.

"But for now, we need to buy some meat first, as the worker insects need enough energy to hatch into a mother nest."

"Once the energy is fully accumulated, the worker insects can use their natural talent to pupate and disguise themselves as monster eggs. After I become a quasi-martial artist, I will take them outside the city."

"According to the worker insect's memory, it takes 500 points of energy to transform from a worker insect into a nest. That means a worker insect needs to consume at least 5 catties of ordinary pork or 2.5 catties of wild boar meat to hatch into a mother nest."

Qin Mu did a quick calculation, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.

Even if you buy cheap, ordinary pork, 50,000 jin (25 tons) of pork would cost 600,000 to 700,000 yuan, even if you go wholesale.

If you want to buy wild boar meat, it will cost at least two million.

After doing the math, I realized that my little bit of money wasn't nearly enough.

(End of this chapter)