15: Great first step!

In the Abyss Arena, a team of Goblins was bustling with activity.

Suddenly, a chill ran down their spines, and their hair stood on end, as if countless pairs of murderous eyes were fixed on them.

Ten Goblins turned their heads simultaneously, and the sight before them froze them in place—the Worms, which had just been locked in fierce combat, had now ceased their struggle.

Hundreds of blood-soaked Worm bodies slowly straightened, their massive mouths aimed at the Goblins, and crimson slime dripped from their sharp teeth.

Before the Goblins could react, the surging Worm Army swarmed over them like a tide.

Piercing screams mixed with the sound of flesh being torn apart echoed through the arena.

In the blink of an eye, only dismembered Goblin limbs remained on the ground, and the air was thick with the stench of blood.

After the Goblin squad was annihilated, Ye Chen pulled up the income and expenditure information panel generated by the Abyss Will.

This was a “bill” he specifically requested the Abyss Will to create for precise calculation of resource consumption.

Seeing the Abyss Power returned after the Goblins’ deaths, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes; he had found another “consumable” that could be repeatedly utilized.

As for the Harpies, which cost a whopping ten Abyss Power…

Unable to resist his curiosity, Ye Chen still summoned a Harpy and tossed it to Gluttony to improve his diet.

Upon the Harpy’s death, the income and expenditure information clearly showed an entry of +5.

Evidently, Abyss Harpies were recycled at a discounted rate after their deaths, returning Abyss Power.

Ye Chen, who had already anticipated this, wasn’t too disappointed; after all, they were Extraordinary-level units, and if all consumed resources were fully refunded, it would truly be a bug.

After returning the newly revived Harpy to her nest, Ye Chen continued to study the Soul Mill.

He threw the 10 Goblin souls he had just recovered into the mill.

The transparent millstone slowly rotated, and the ten transparent Goblin souls let out mournful wails as they were sucked into it.

Immediately after, a black-robed soul phantom appeared, silently pushing the millstone.

Pure soul fragments flowed like water from the edge of the millstone, falling into the collection box below.

Ye Chen watched this scene with interest, never expecting the millstone to be operated by “ghost” power.

What was this? Money makes the world go round?

Shaking his head to stop his wild thoughts, Ye Chen began to experiment with the soul reforging function.

Three options appeared on the wooden table in the center of the mill: Worm, Goblin, Harpy.

After selecting Worm, two Worm-shaped molds appeared, and five white soul fragments automatically flew into the molds.

The two molds merged into one.

A flash of light, and a brand new Worm soul was born, immediately absorbed by the Abyss Will.

After calculation, ten Goblin souls could yield one hundred fragments, which could be synthesized into twenty Worm souls, making it extremely cost-effective.

Next, he chose to reforge a Goblin soul, which cost 15 soul fragments to succeed.

Evidently, 5 soul fragments were lost during the grinding process.

He wondered if they were consumed or taken as a commission by the mill owner.

He also attempted to condense a Harpy soul, but the result showed insufficient soul fragments.

Clearly, Extraordinary-level Abyss Harpies were much more expensive than Worms and Goblins.

He grabbed another ten Goblins and threw them into the mill, watching the mill owner grunt and groan as he pushed the mill.

Ye Chen suddenly had an idea and wanted to check the mill owner's attribute panel.

The moment his consciousness probed, a panel appeared before Ye Chen.

This was… an instruction manual?

Ye Chen looked at the panel before him, feeling a bit speechless.

This was not the mill owner’s attribute panel, but rather the mill’s instructions.

It turned out that soul fragments were divided into multiple rarity levels: White, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, corresponding to different qualities of souls.

And the higher the rank, the more soul fragments were consumed.

Ordinary Worm and Goblin souls could only produce White fragments; to get Green fragments, one had to grind elite-level souls.

This meant that, in the short term, the plan to mass-produce Harpy souls could only be put on hold.

Ye Chen shook his head regretfully; if he could produce Harpy souls, he would even sell everything he owned to gather a powerful Harpy army.

However, the enhancement function mentioned in the instruction manual made Ye Chen’s eyes light up.

Adding attribute materials or negative auras when reforging souls could grant special talents to the souls.

For example, by integrating a berserk aura, a soul with a berserk talent could be created.

If this soul were used to create a Goblin, then this Goblin would be braver and more berserk than its other kin, its warrior talent would be much higher, and it would be easier to advance to a Berserk Demon.

This discovery excited Ye Chen immensely.

Previously, he had been troubled by the singular nature of Abyss units, and the cost of individually enhancing other races with Abyss Power was too high.

The ultimate result of scattered Abyss Power enhancements was that all races remained mediocre, making it difficult to cultivate ace troops.

Now with the targeted cultivation function, he could focus on developing the Worm Army.

Through Devour Enhancement and Evolution, combined with different attribute materials, he could transform them into various types of demons, creating a diverse demon army!

For example, Gluttony’s evolved Fly Nest Host, although it had changed species, still retained the added Devour Enhancement and Evolution talents.

Because it was essentially still a Worm, it could benefit from the talents bestowed upon the Worm race.

This was also why Ye Chen did not spend Abyss Power on the Harpies.

Although they were powerful, they could only be considered transitional units.

The main focus of cultivation was still our Worm Army, the future Demon Army!

And with the function to add negative auras, he could precisely produce certain types of units.

If he wanted a team of Berserker-class demons, he would add a berserk aura to their souls.

These Worms, after Devour Enhancement and Evolution, would have a high probability of evolving into Berserk Demons!

If he wanted Fire Element demons, he would add Fire Elements to their souls.

After Evolution, the Worms would naturally evolve into Flame Demons!

It could be said that with this function, his Abyss units would truly become diverse.

Ye Chen, who was envisioning a wonderful future, couldn't wait to try it out.

However, reality quickly poured cold water on him—he had no available attribute materials or negative auras at hand.

Although various negative auras permeated the Abyss, they were too mixed and not pure enough.

This meant he couldn't precisely cultivate the desired units.

Moreover, mixing these chaotic auras into souls would not be very meaningful.

It would be better to wait for the Worms to be born and let them absorb it themselves.

Tsk, in the end, I’m still dirt poor.

Ye Chen looked at the nascent Abyss before him and shook his head regretfully.

However, he quickly cheered up; building the Abyss was a long journey, and now that he had taken a crucial step, was reaching the pinnacle of life still far off?

The great first step!

With that thought, Ye Chen stopped overthinking and exited the Abyss; building the Abyss had consumed a lot of his brain cells.

He rubbed his rumbling stomach, deciding to go out and treat himself, celebrating this milestone breakthrough.

Clutching his savings tightly, Ye Chen strode out of his house, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.