Crystals can be obtained through exchanges for various energy-infused items, completing guild tasks, or even by battling in virtual arenas. These crystals are essential resources for guild upgrades, raffles, and other strengthening activities.
"Hmm, 150,000 crystals... That's enough to evolve my spatial body once," Rimuru said thoughtfully. "Although the Time Fruit is a bit overpowered, I believe Guy and the others should be more than enough to handle that guy. But just in case..."
"System, begin evolution!" Rimuru ordered in his mind.
"Evolving Spatial Body will cost 100,000 crystals. The evolution process will cause some discomfort. Do you wish to proceed with the evolution?"
"Yes!" Rimuru exclaimed, annoyed at the hesitation. A little discomfort? Even if it were 100 times worse, it wouldn't be a problem! I'm a Demon Lord! There's no way I'd back down. Come on, Rimuru! You've got this!
With a final command, a brilliant blue light appeared out of nowhere, wrapping around Rimuru's body like a web of threads. Enormous energy surrounded him, gradually encasing him in a giant cocoon of glowing light.
And in that moment, Rimuru realized he had made the gravest mistake of his life.
Once enveloped, he reverted to his slime form, and his body split apart. Since he was a slime, his body and soul were intertwined. When his body split, his soul shattered as well. The pain was unimaginable—beyond what words could describe. His consciousness grew blurry, and he fell into a deep slumber.
The Spatial Body was composed of endless space. As it fractured, each piece of space resembled a tiny particle. But within each particle lay a small world of its own. Massive amounts of energy were slowly absorbed by these worlds, and they began to expand. One meter, ten meters, one hundred meters, one thousand meters, two thousand meters, three thousand meters, four thousand meters... The space continued to grow.
Suddenly, after surpassing ten thousand meters, the entire space collapsed into a singular point. Then, with a sudden explosion, this point expanded rapidly—first the size of an egg, then a soccer ball, and finally into a glowing sphere over 100 meters in diameter, emitting a gentle light.
It was like a star.
From the outside, the cocoon surrounding Rimuru seemed to shrink, but its radiance grew ever brighter. Looking at it, it almost seemed as if one were gazing upon endless stars.
Inside the cocoon, Rimuru's fragmented body began to slowly gather. Thousands of stars within him began to align in an orderly fashion, forming countless star domains that slowly began to rotate.
Then, a blue light flashed.
One star domain started to change. The stars within it transformed into giant bookshelves. The central star's light shifted into a calming blue, and the bookshelves began to rotate around it. Soon, books began to materialize from thin air, filling the shelves in an orderly fashion—forming what appeared to be an enormous library.
At the same time, three other star domains underwent similar yet distinct changes.
One domain's stars began to dim, until they emitted black light—seeming to devour everything in sight.
Another domain's stars shimmered like colorful bubbles, appearing dreamlike and fantastical, their seven colors swirling in the starry sky. Within this domain, ethereal figures drifted between reality and illusion: snakes, tigers, werewolves, dragons, and more.
The final domain was bathed in a golden light so sacred it seemed untouchable. Within it, figures hovered in the air, each one extending a chain that tightly connected them to the central golden star.
As these changes unfolded, the glowing cocoon that had encased Rimuru began to dissipate. A giant slime emerged from within, its semi-transparent body subtly revealing the beauty of a starry sky within.
"Uh, where am I? What happened?" Rimuru muttered, slowly waking from his slumber.
"Wait... Oh! I remember now! I was evolving my abilities, and then I passed out," Rimuru suddenly realized. "Seriously? A little discomfort? It nearly killed me!"
"Wait, what's this?" Rimuru finally took notice of the changes in his body.
"Why are there so many stars inside me? Is this... the Star Body?" Rimuru thought, scratching his tiny slime head, though his form prevented him from actually doing so.
He felt the stars within him. The God of Wisdom had transformed into a library. The God of Devouring had become a black hole star domain. The God of Transformation had become a dreamlike star domain. The God of Oaths had become the Oath Star Domain. In addition to these, thousands of ordinary star domains were slowly rotating within him, enhancing his strength.
But what stunned him even more was that his powers had become his instinct, perfectly fusing with his Star Body. Previously, to grow stronger, he needed to evolve his abilities manually, but now, by simply increasing his power, these abilities would evolve infinitely—saving him a tremendous amount of crystals.
Rimuru marveled at the terrifying power coursing through his body. Although his Star Body was still far from the true meaning of a "Star Body"—each star inside him was only about a hundred meters in diameter, nowhere near comparable to the true stars of the heavens—he was confident that soon enough, he could make each of his stars rival the ones in the sky, and even transcend them, evolving to the level of a Cosmic Body, or even a World Body.
He could feel it. His true evolution had only just begun.