Building Interstellar Empire With Universal Synthesis

Since it would take around a week to begin production, Neo decided to visit the secret location where he could obtain those energy stones. The last time he had seen one was among the pile of Ghost’s tributes. After synthesizing it with his body, he had gained a 200-point expansion to his Cosmic Force.

​Increasing his Cosmic Force was not just useful for casting skills, but also beneficial for using Universal Synthesis on a large scale.

With that in mind, he decided to train a little more to get stronger, ensuring he could defend himself better if anything went wrong.

​For the next three days, Neo never left home. He trained within the enclosed walls of the basic training facility at Green Vine Mansion.

This mansion had been designed by Moon, and he cherished it dearly, realizing how thoughtful she had been regarding his needs.

Alas, she was now likely in some distant realm, untouchable and unapproachable.

​

Slash! Slash! Slash!

​Boom! Boom! Boom!

​Even though he didn’t have proper guidance, he trained nonstop.

The combination of his fire skills, the sharpness of his titanium blades, and his increasing raw force rained down on the training dummies like torrents of raging fire.

​The sounds of sizzling fireblades and his ragged gasps filled the space. A sector of the mansion became a forbidden zone where only two people were allowed: his sister and his mother. Others were forbidden to pry into it.

​Visible results emerged after three days.

General Index:

[ Name: Neo Godson ]

[ Age: 20 ]

[ Race: Human ]

[ Species: Hellfire Eragon (Variant) ]

[ Lifespan: 120 ]

[ Affiliation: Apex Nebula Mercenary Group, Sol-III ]

[ Biological Modifications: Spirit-Iron + Mystic Wolf + Titanium + Slime + Undead]

[ Wealth: $1,410,600,200 FD (Federal Dollars) | 0.00 UC (Universal Credits) ]

Physical Index:

[ Strength: 20 → 23 ]

[ Agility: 16 → 20 ]

[ Vitality: 20 →23 ( Health: 100%) ]

[ Endurance: 21 → 23 ]

[ Reaction Speed: 14 → 15.5 ]

[ Recovery Rate: 16 ]

Magical Index:

[ Physiques: Titanium Tempest Body (E) ]

[ Cosmic Force: 225.0 ]

[ Skills: Undead Regeneration (E), Obsidian Skin (E), Hellfire Burst , Ignited Blades (E), Heat-Signature Perception, Cinder Dash]

[ Unique Talents: Universal Synthesis (Supreme), Godsmith (Legendary), Necromancy (Legendary) ]

Neo wiped the sweat from his brow as he stared at the holographic status screen.

"Raah.." A low, frustrated growl escaped his throat.

​"Three days of breaking my bones and burning my lungs, and for what? A few points of agility and strength?"

Bang!

He slammed his fist into a scorched training dummy.

"The physical stats are fine, but these skills... they haven’t budged. At this rate, it’ll take months, maybe years, just to get a single skill to D-Rank. I don’t have that kind of time. Not while the world is moving this fast."

​He paced the scorched floor of the training facility, his eyes narrowing as he looked at the [Unique Talents] section of his profile.

​"There has to be a shortcut. I’m not a normal Beyonder, I don’t have to follow their rules."

​

"Oh wait..."

​He stopped in his tracks, a sudden, sharp idea piercing through his frustration. His gaze fixed on the words Universal Synthesis (Supreme).

​"If Universal Synthesis can fuse ores, biological materials, and even life forms... why should it be limited to physical matter?"

He smiled, a confident smile.

​"If I can synthesize a Spirit-Iron bar with a Mystic Wolf heart, surely I can synthesize the very essence of my skills. Why wait for experience to level them up when I can simply force them to evolve?"

​The thought of "Skill Synthesis" began to take root.

If he could combine the explosive nature of [Hellfire Burst] with the speed of [Cinder Dash], or perhaps fuse multiple E-Rank skills into a single, devastating D-Rank power, he wouldn’t just be a Beyonder, he would be a Godsmith of his own soul.

Neo closed his eyes.

The system interface faded into darkness, but the glowing words remained burned into his mind.

[ Universal Synthesis (Supreme) ]

For the first time since awakening the ability, he was not looking outward.

But inward. Toward his soul.

Every Beyonder who walked on the path of skills knew one absolute law: Skills were soul engravings.

The moment a person awakened, their abilities became permanently etched into the structure of their spirit. Skills could evolve through experience, enlightenment, or rare treasures, but forcibly altering them was equivalent to carving open one’s own soul with a blade.

Countless people had gone insane attempting it. Others exploded from spiritual backlash.Some simply vanished.

Yet Neo slowly raised his hand toward his own chest.

"I’ll become the first to succeed."

BOOOOM!

Instantly, a violent wave of Cosmic Force erupted from his body.

The lights inside the training chamber flickered wildly as silver-blue energy spiraled around him like a storm. Then veins of volcanic crimson appeared beneath his skin, glowing brighter and brighter until they resembled magma flowing through transparent flesh.

Neo inhaled sharply, then activated Universal Synthesis.

[ Universal Synthesis Activated ]

[ Target Selected: Skills ]

[ WARNING: Unknown Procedure ]

[ WARNING: Fatality Probability: 57.3% ]

[ Continue? ]

Neo grinned through gritted teeth. "Continue."

The moment he accepted, agony descended.

"AAAAARGHHHHHHH!"

He collapsed onto one knee as invisible claws tore through his consciousness.

It felt as though molten hooks had pierced his spine and were dragging his soul out piece by piece.

His vision shattered. Darkness replaced reality.

Then he saw it. His vast inner world.

It was a black void filled with floating symbols made of burning light.

Each symbol represented one of his skills.

[Undead Regeneration] appeared as a pulsating green core wrapped in chains of death.

[Obsidian Skin] resembled jagged black armor floating silently in space.

[Hellfire Burst] was a black star exploding endlessly.

[Cinder Dash] looked like burning footsteps racing across the void.

[Ignited Blades] manifested as twin flaming swords.

[Heat-Signature Perception] appeared as countless red eyes scanning the darkness.

Neo stared at them while blood trickled from his nose in the real world.

"So these are... my skills?"

The symbols trembled violently as [Universal Synthesis] spread across the void.

Six radiant silver threads emerged from Neo’s body and wrapped around the six skills like divine chains.

[ Initiating Skill Synthesis ]

[ Undead Regeneration (E) + Obsidian Skin (E) ]

The two engravings resisted instantly.

The green core erupted with deathly energy while the obsidian armor expanded aggressively, refusing fusion.

BOOOOM!

Naturally, the backlash slammed into Neo’s consciousness.

He screamed as cracks spread across his spiritual body.

He felt pain he had never known. After all, this was not physical pain.

This was existence itself being rewritten.

But Neo endured.

The silver threads became stronger and more resilient.

Ding!

[ New Skill Acquired ]

[ Abyssal Revenant Hide (E+) ]

Neo’s skin darkened momentarily before returning to normal. But his regeneration multiplied. His defense also hardened.

The synthesis was not over yet.

Blood spilled from his lips, but his eyes burned with madness.

"Again..."

[ Hellfire Burst (E) + Cinder Dash (E) ]

The crimson star collided with the burning footsteps.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire soul world exploded into fire.

Neo felt his nerves burning alive.

His muscles convulsed uncontrollably in reality as flames erupted from his pores.

The skills resisted fusion because they embodied opposite applications.

One was explosive destruction. The other was movement.

But Universal Synthesis forcibly broke their boundaries.

Eventually, the flames transformed into a blazing phantom streaking through space like a meteor.

[ New Skill Acquired ]

[ Infernal Velocity (E+) ]

Neo gasped violently. "Huff, huff, huff!"

His heartbeat sounded like war drums.

The air around him distorted from sheer heat.

Yet he refused to stop. His eyes locked onto the final pair.

[ Ignited Blades (E+) + Heat-Signature Perception (E) ]

The twin flaming swords floated beside the countless crimson eyes.

This time, the fusion happened differently.

Instead of resisting... The skills resonated.

The eyes embedded themselves into the blades.

Suddenly the swords gained awareness. They could predict heat. Track movement. Sense life.

The flames sharpened into terrifying precision weapons.

[ New Skill Acquired ]

[ Predator’s Flame Armament (E+) ]

Neo’s breathing became very weak.

At this point, his soul was already nearing collapse.

Any normal Beyonder would have died several times over.

Neo slowly stood within his soul world.

His expression turned fanatical.

"Not enough."

His hand rose toward the three newly created skills.

"A true evolution requires complete synthesis."

Clang, clang, clang.

The silver chains wrapped around all three.

Rumble!

The void shook violently.

Even the system hesitated.

[ WARNING ]

[ Attempting Multi-Layer Soul Fusion ]

[ Soul Force: Extremely Unstable ]

[ Estimated Survival Rate: 31.1% ]

Neo laughed weakly. "31% is still a chance."

BOOM!

Inside the training space, windows exploded into sparkling glass particles, the training dummies disintegrated instantly from pressure alone.

Neo floated in midair while silver and crimson energy spiraled around him like a cosmic hurricane.

His flesh cracked apart, nones shattered and regenerated repeatedly, his muscles burned into ash before reforming stronger.

Inside his soul world, the three synthesized skills collided endlessly.

Defense. Regeneration. Speed. Hellfire. Perception. Blades.

All concepts began merging together; and a new existence was being born.

[ Skill Synthesis Successful ]

[ New Skill Acquired: Vellsing Transformation (D) ]