Martial Era: Starting With The Strongest Talent-Chapter 140: Cryogen D
Adam placed his hand on the disfigured corpse of the Infinity Worm, as he activated Equip and Connect simultaneously.
Then a notification appeared.
[Slots Full]
He dismissed it without hesitation and
another prompt surfaced immediately.
[Talent Compatible for Fusion with Stone Cold E>Regeneration E.]
Adam initiated the fusion and in the next moment a sharp and condensed pain ignited in his chest.
But compared to the agony of implanting Fake Skin, it was manageable.
He endured it calmly as the pain rose.
Then stopped just as quickly.
A subtle shift passed through his body as it became denser and more stable.
After getting used to it he pulled up his panel.
╭───────────╮
〖Name: Adam〗
〖Rank: Profound Apprentice〗
〖Cultivation Talent: G〗
〖Special Talent: Equip ❖ Connect ❖
Analyze ❖ Fuse〗
〖Affinity: Wind ❖ Death〗
〖SLOT〗
↳ SOUL (5): Rapid Charge D ❖
Cryogen D ❖ Cultivation D ❖
Mind Control E ❖ Bone Generation D
↳ BODY (6): Empty
╰───────────╯
[Star Power: 31+]
[Existence: 3837]
[Martial Spirit: Profound — 3 Star]
His eyes focused on the new entry.
Cryogen D.
He opened the description.
[Cryogen D: If it hurts put ice on it]
"...."
For a moment, Adam genuinely believed his panel was mocking him.
He dismissed the description.
Reading it had become a habit, but it was not a reliance.
Function mattered more than wording.
Stone Cold E had originally formed from the fusion of Freeze F and Petrification F, an immobilization framework that later evolved into partial cellular control.
Now, with Regeneration E fused into it, the control extended deeper.
It was not just immobilization or defense, it was cellular authority.
Cryogen.
Adam generated a bone knife in his left hand, then he activated Cryogen.
Crystalline material, similar to Stone Cold but denser and more refined, spread over his right arm.
He deactivated the outer layer deliberately.
Then, without hesitation...
He sliced off his own hand.
The bone blade severed cleanly and his hand fell to the ground.
Adam didn’t scream.
The stump where his hand had been severed bled steadily onto the rocky ground but his pulse remained stable.
It was unsettling how little reaction there was. But pain had long ago lost its authority over him.
The bleeding didn’t last, as a crystalline substance began forming over the stump, it was thin at first and almost translucent. It spread outward like a living organism, layering over exposed bone and muscle, thickening inch by inch, as the transparency faded and a cold chill radiated from it, frosting the surrounding air.
Then...
It stopped.
The crystalline casing shattered outward in fine shards.Where the stump had been, his hand reappeared.
Pale at first.
Then a tingling sensation spread through it. Blood surged into the newly formed vessels, restoring color gradually.
Adam flexed his fingers.
"Now that’s neat."
Cryogen had regenerated a severed limb.
Which meant, functionally, he was now as difficult to kill as the Infinity Worm.
But better.
The worm regenerated instinctively.
He regenerated deliberately.
Cryogen granted him a stabilized defensive layer and a powerful healing factor.
Yet he was certain that wasn’t the limit.
The panel’s description had been uselessly simplistic.
Stone Cold had immobilized targets while inflicting passive damage.
Cryogen had to retain that external application or evolve it.
It wasn’t purely self-focused.
It couldn’t be.
He activated Connect in the next moment and his perception expanded outward.
There a soul flame pulsed beneath the earth, it was another Infinity Worm digging through the solid ground.
Rapid Charge activated and Adam’s body surged forward, with lightning trailing behind him as he accelerated across the rocky terrain.
****
An Infinity Worm writhed violently on the rocky ground.
Crystalline material spread over its body in layered growth, encasing it completely. The substance thickened, hardened, then shattered.
What remained was no longer a worm.
It was a grotesque mass of compressed flesh, twisted and folded into itself like a ball of muscle and sinew.
Adam observed it calmly.
The worm wasn’t dead.
Good.
Cryogen required testing.
As he continued applying the ability, patterns emerged.
Cryogen didn’t merely freeze.
It granted cellular authority.
As long as the target remained within his field of vision and its star power was below his own, he could manipulate its cellular structure directly.
Reshape, compress, stretch and warp.
The writhing mass on the ground was proof.
He altered its form repeatedly, elongating it, flattening it, spiraling it inward again. Each transformation forced regeneration to activate, consuming energy reserves.
Eventually, its regeneration slowed.
Then nearly stopped.
The worm was completely exhausted.
But Adam didn’t kill it.
Not yet.
He wanted one more confirmation.
He ceased altering its structure and focused instead on restoration. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶
He attempted to return it to its original form.
Crystalline material formed over the distorted mass once more.
If the worm had possessed a face capable of expression, it would have been pleading but Adam would be unmoved regardless.
The crystal casing thickened.
Then it shattered and a fully restored Infinity Worm lay on the ground.
There were no visible wounds or structural deformities. It was a complete anatomical recovery.
But it didn’t move, since its energy reserves were depleted and regeneration required fuel.
Without it, the system stalled.
Adam raised his scythe and a wind blade sliced forward cleanly.
The worm died instantly, as a notification appeared.
[Existence +3]
Adam exhaled slowly.
Cryogen allowed lethal suppression of regenerative targets by exhausting them through forced cellular manipulation.
He could distort, immobilize, dismantle
Or heal.
The latter was secondary.
The former changed combat dynamics significantly.
Opponents reliant on regeneration were no longer prolonged threats.
That was a major advantage.
Healing others was simply structural versatility.
Adam turned his attention outward again.
Connect expanded.
Multiple soul flames pulsed beneath the terrain.
He activated Rapid Charge once more.
Lightning streaked behind him as he started his hunt for existence.
****
Adam’s Existence hunt accelerated significantly after acquiring Cryogen.
Worm after worm surfaced.
Worm after worm fell.
He prolonged exchanges no longer needed. Instead of grinding through regeneration cycles with layered damage, he simply warped their cellular structure until exhaustion set in, then finished them cleanly.
Each kill added steadily to his Existence count.
Yet killing alone wasn’t enough.
To force a rift exit, he needed to reduce its saturation by at least 0.5%.
But he was not quite there.
At the moment, Adam stood between two elevated rock formations, partially concealed. From that vantage point, he observed a group of martial artists engaged in battle below he was curious to see how they would handle the worms regeneration.
