"Don't worry, I won't damage your gold cloth!" Shin said, a black mist sweeping from his hand, directly absorbing the Aries Gold Cloth. He then used the power of the Gulp-Gulp Fruit to fuse it with himself. Slowly, the Aries Cloth began to grow out of Shin's body.
The so-called synthesis of a person and their cloth is merely a realm for a Saint, describing a high degree of synergy between the two. But for Shin, this was a physical form; it was truly synthesized, with the cloth literally growing on him!
Although the gold cloth possessed a faint self-awareness, it was miles away from Shin's consciousness. After the synthesis, Shin naturally took the lead, and he could, of course, utilize the Cosmo contained within.
The power of the Cosmo didn't have much effect on Shin. However, the Seventh Sense Cosmo carried within the entire gold cloth caused a massive elevation in Shin's consciousness and senses.
Only then did Shin realize some of his initial misconceptions: Cosmo appears to be a form of energy, but in reality, it is closer to a type of innate ability rooted in one's own consciousness.
It involves using one's own consciousness to mobilize the body's strength, stimulate physical potential, and even directly manipulate one's own atoms to unleash incredible energy.
It appears to be a physical or energy-based power, but it is actually a spiritual power, which explains why it can inhabit the gold cloth.
If one thinks carefully, it becomes clear. Starting from the Eighth Sense, a Saint can leave their body and exert full combat power as a soul entity. Therefore, Cosmo cannot possibly be a purely physical ability, even if it initially requires a certain level of physical strength.
Furthermore, Shin's persistent belief that Cosmo offered him no enhancement was also incorrect. Even the so-called Seventh Sense Cosmo was enough to advance Shin's strength further. Superman's power represents the physical body, Chakra represents energy, but Shin had never achieved any real success in the spiritual domain.
At most, he had sometimes boosted his mental power indirectly by relying on various Devil Fruits, Yin Release Chakra, and Observation Haki, but he had never systematically perceived the essence of spiritual power, let alone possessed a complete training system.
After acquiring the Seventh Sense Cosmo, Shin immediately felt his body, energy, and spirit achieve a perfect harmony. He even felt that he was vaguely touching the boundaries of Silver Superman, capable of sensing conceptual objects like timelines and multidimensional space.
With this perception, Shin immediately became interested in the Cosmo cultivation system.
Theoretically, Shin was not qualified to cultivate Cosmo, as the rules of their respective worlds were different. His current bloodline originated from the DC World, a place that doesn't even have a concept of the Big Bang. How on earth could Shin cultivate it?
Absorbing the bloodlines of others might work in other worlds, but in this world, Cosmo primarily comes from the human soul. Even the gods rely on soul reincarnation. Hades used his own body to fight Saori Kido, the reincarnation of Athena, and there was no great difference observed between them. Clearly, the fleshly body is merely useless material.
But... Shin glanced at the gold cloth on his body. He could totally cultivate by borrowing the Cosmo attached to the gold cloth!
In fact, every one of the 88 Constellation Cloths should possess a certain amount of Cosmo, but only when they reach the level of a gold cloth can it truly manifest.
But for Shin, he could sense the Cosmo on any type of cloth. By drawing inferences from these sensations, Shin felt that even if he wasn't keen on the Hot-Blooded Cultivation Method, his understanding of Cosmo could reach an extreme limit based solely on this vast accumulation.
Although he didn't possess Cosmo himself, by injecting his understanding of Cosmo into the cloth and strengthening the cloth's Cosmo, he could be considered to possess Cosmo indirectly.
However, if he did that, his Cosmo would be completely locked onto the cloth on his body. He would definitely have to forge an unprecedentedly strong Super Cloth; otherwise, if the cloth's strength was weaker than his physical body, wouldn't that become his weakness?
While Shin was pondering this, Mu was looking him up and down.
As a Gold Saint, especially one specialized in Cloth Repair, Mu was quite interested in Shin's form. It felt less like the gold cloth bestowed Cosmo upon Shin, and more like Shin and the gold cloth had thoroughly merged, resulting in the gold cloth gaining thought and ability.
To put it simply, this fusion was more like the gold cloth had gained sentience!
Although everyone constantly claimed the cloths were alive, Mu had truly never seen such a vibrant gold cloth. He asked Shin tentatively, "How does the gold cloth feel?"
Shin subtly sensed the gold cloth's memories. Currently, the gold cloth's consciousness and Shin's consciousness were completely merged. Since the gold cloth's self-concept was sparse, it couldn't influence Shin, but Shin could perceive its memories and other data.
"It's alright. Your gold cloth seems quite satisfied with you," Shin replied. After all, as a professional in Cloth Repair and manufacturing, his compatibility with the cloth was probably second to none among all the Gold Saints.
Mu was somewhat speechless. He truly hadn't expected the gold cloth to have an opinion of him. "Mr. Shin, what exactly is this ability of yours? Why do I feel like you and the cloth have completely become one?"
"Your feeling is correct. The cloth and I haven't merged through spiritual communication; rather, the cloth has become an organ of mine. This is a special ability of mine: I can perfectly fuse with any inanimate object and change my life form."
"Alright, now that I have your Aries Gold Cloth, I fully possess Cosmo. You can teach me some basic knowledge about Cosmo and cloth manufacturing."
"Once I create my own cloth, I won't need to occupy your Aries Gold Cloth anymore. Or perhaps, when the time comes, I can just go seize the Sagittarius Gold Cloth and try borrowing its Cosmo."
Hearing this, Mu showed a hint of envy. Directly fusing with the cloth and even communicating with it telepathically was an extremely abnormal ability for any Saint.
Throughout the Holy Wars, Saint died generation after generation, but the cloths never changed, only being repaired after being shattered.
Even the weakest cloths, such as those worn by the Bronze Five, contained Cosmo imprints and the experience of the cloth's master that could not be underestimated.
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Now available - Chapter 698: Finale (ENDING)