Chapter 118: The Reward [Third Update]

Lin Huang eliminated the Pumo Vine deep underground. With the death of the main parasitic entity, the parasitic seeds automatically dissipated.

Over one hundred thousand residents and tourists of Little Xia City were thus saved from danger. Although Lin Huang did not know exactly what had happened on the surface, he could guess.

After waking up underground, Lin Huang did not leave immediately. Instead, he retracted Bai and Charcoal, summoning Tyrant in their place. Since he had already evolved Bai here, he decided to take advantage of the time before the Transcendents arrived to evolve Tyrant as well.

"Evolve Tyrant for the second time!" Lin Huang took out his last two Evolution Cards and crushed them.

The two shattered cards quickly transformed into two streams of golden light that coiled around Tyrant, circling him back and forth until they formed a giant cocoon, completely enveloping his massive frame.

Lin Huang stood by, patiently waiting for the evolution to finish.

A short while later, the cocoon crumbled and vanished. The previously flabby Sand Butcher, now completely devoid of excess fat, had transformed into a muscular hunk. His once stubbly and somewhat menacing face had also become significantly more handsome. Furthermore, he was now covered in a layer of golden armor that seemed to fit his muscles perfectly; had it not been for its golden hue, Lin Huang would have mistaken it for improved skin.

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining the Epic-level monster card—Golden Armored Giant Spirit.]

Examining Tyrant's new form, Lin Huang nodded in satisfaction, feeling that he looked much more formidable.

Retracting Tyrant, he used a Transformation Card and burrowed from the ruins of the Xia Palace to a deserted alley outside the South Gate before reverting to his true form.

Stepping out of the alley, Lin Huang was surprised to find the streets bustling with activity. Upon inquiring, he learned that the Pumo Vine had parasitized over one hundred thousand people, triggering a massive panic.

When the Pumo Vine's combat strength had skyrocketed earlier, Lin Huang had guessed it was related to the parasitic seeds absorbing life light. He hadn't expected its parasitic capabilities to be so terrifying; it could manage such a massive number of infections even at the Silver level.

After wandering around the vicinity and gathering more information, Lin Huang found a nearby hotel and checked in. Although his underground battle had been grueling, it hadn't taken much time—the entire stay underground had lasted less than twenty minutes, and the combat itself had only lasted about ten.

By the time Lin Huang checked into the hotel, it was past eleven at night, and the Transcendents of Xia Palace City finally arrived. There were six of them in total. They knew nothing of the parasitic entity but had sensed the residual aura of Bai and Tyrant's secondary mutations and had rushed over. Upon arriving at Little Xia City, they discovered that the auras had completely vanished, though they were shocked to learn about the parasitic incident. After an unsuccessful search, the Transcendents did not leave; they decided to stay and investigate the matter thoroughly.

Lin Huang was, of course, unaware of this. Once in his hotel room, he immediately began to carefully inspect Bai, Tyrant, and the newly acquired Pumo Vine card.

[Monster Card]
[Rarity: Epic]
[Monster Name: Four-Winged Blood Marquis (God Servant)]
[Monster Species: Blood Demon]
[Combat Level: Bronze-3]
[Skill 1: Blood Spirit]
[Skill 2: Godly Might (Primary)]
[Skill 3: True Blood Sacrifice]
[Skill 4: Super-Speed Regeneration (Primary)]
[Skill 5: Extreme Speed (Primary)]
[Summoning Privilege: Enabled]
[Note: When this monster promotes to Transcendent, the divine blood within its body will be activated, leading to a significant increase in strength.]
[Card Evaluation: Cultivatable]

"What does 'God Servant' in the parentheses mean under the monster name?" Lin Huang couldn't help but ask Xiao Hei.

[It indicates that this monster possesses an extremely diluted trace of divine blood. This is also why it possesses the skill 'Godly Might.']

After hearing Xiao Hei's explanation, Lin Huang clicked on several unfamiliar skills to check them.

Blood Spirit was a higher-order offensive energy evolved from blood energy, while Godly Might came from the divine blood within Bai. As for True Blood Sacrifice, it was a method of sacrificing one's own blood to temporarily boost strength. Extreme Speed granted the user superhuman velocity.

After reviewing Bai's information, Lin Huang turned his attention to Tyrant's card.

[Monster Card]
[Rarity: Epic]
[Monster Name: Golden Armored Giant Spirit]
[Monster Species: Giant Spirit]
[Combat Level: Bronze-3]
[Skill 1: Golden Battle Armor]
[Skill 2: Super Strength]
[Skill 3: Super-Speed Regeneration (Primary)]
[Skill 4: Extreme Burst (Primary)]
[Skill 5: Extreme Strength (Primary)]
[Summoning Privilege: Enabled]
[Card Evaluation: Cultivatable]

Lin Huang checked the new skills. Golden Battle Armor was a passive skill, similar to Charcoal's Absolute Defense, but with even greater defensive power. Super Strength was the ultimate state of the original Strength ability. Extreme Burst was a passive skill that granted the body explosive power. Extreme Strength was the ultimate state of Giant Force, also a passive skill.

Finally, Lin Huang looked at the Pumo Vine card.

[Monster Card]
[Rarity: Epic]
[Monster Name: Pumo Vine]
[Monster Species: Parasitic]
[Combat Level: Bronze-3]
[Skill 1: Seed Parasitism]
[Skill 2: Absolute Control]
[Summoning Privilege: Enabled]
[Note: This monster's skills are not fully developed; it can still acquire three new skills.]
[Card Evaluation: Cultivatable]

"Xiao Hei, there are only two skills, and it says three are undeveloped. What's going on?" Lin Huang asked, puzzled. Logically, an Epic-level monster card should come with five skills.

[The Pumo Vine is a new species. As a first-generation monster, it only evolved basic skills. It can acquire other skills through later learning.]

Following Xiao Hei's explanation, Lin Huang looked into the two skills. Seed Parasitism was the ability to generate and control parasitic seeds to infect a target. Absolute Control allowed it to completely dominate the infected target.

Lin Huang opened his personal exclusive card, where the information had changed.

[Host: Lin Huang]
[Gender: Male]
[Age: 15]
[Combat Level: Black Iron-3]
[Life Seed: Trick Hand (Rare)]
[Combat Skill 1: Great Wilderness Blade Scripture (Blade)]
[Combat Skill 2: Thunder Blade (Blade)]
[Combat Skill 3: Stepping on Snow Without a Trace (Movement)]
[Combat Skill 4: Flowing Cloud Steps (Movement)]
[Monster Skill 1: Blood Spirit]
[Monster Skill 2: Transformation]
[Monster Skill 3: Giant Force (Intermediate)]
[Monster Skill 4: Breath Concealment (Primary)]
[Monster Skill 5: Super Strength]
[Monster Skill 6: Demonic Eye Intimidation (Intermediate)]
[Monster Skill 7: Absolute Defense (Primary)]
[Monster Skill 8: Bloody Hunt (Primary)]
[Monster Skill 9: Extreme Vision (Primary)]
[Monster Skill 10: Copy Eye (Primary)]
[Summoning Privilege: Enabled]
[Available Summons: 2]
[Evaluation: Barely qualified.]

The original Blood Energy had been replaced by Blood Spirit, and the original Strength had been replaced by Super Strength. Lin Huang raised an eyebrow and issued a new command: "Extract the skills from the Pumo Vine."

[Extraction failed. The host has reached the limit of monster skills. To acquire new ones, you must first use a Skill Fusion Card or Skill Deletion Card to reduce the existing number of monster skills.]

"So there is a limit to the number of skills. I knew it! If I could just accumulate hundreds of different monster cards without limits, I could have hundreds of skills!" This notification from Xiao Hei surprised Lin Huang, but it wasn't entirely unexpected. He had suspected a limit existed, but now he finally had the answer.

Putting away his personal card, Lin Huang playfully toyed with the three Epic-level monster cards. Having three new Epic cards at once put him in an excellent mood. However, he didn't forget that he had helped Xiao Hei this time.

Retracting the three Epic cards into his body, Lin Huang asked with a slight smirk, "Xiao Hei, what new function did you gain from devouring that alien energy?"

[Added the Death Substitution function for cards.]

"What is the Death Substitution function?" Lin Huang asked immediately.

[If a monster card with higher rarity dies, it can be substituted by another monster card of equal combat level with lower or equal rarity.]
[Substitution rules: Normal monster cards have one chance to be substituted by another Normal card upon death.]
[Rare monster cards have two chances: the first death can be substituted by a Normal card, the second must be substituted by a Rare card.]
[Epic-level monster cards have three chances: the first can be substituted by a Normal card, the second must be a Rare card, and the third must be an Epic card of equal rarity.]
[Legendary cards and above follow the same progression, with increasing substitution counts.]
[All cards used for substitution must have the same combat level as the card being replaced.]
[If the number of deaths exceeds the substitution count, the card will permanently perish.]

"That sounds pretty good!" Lin Huang felt jubilant. He now had four Epic monster cards, and this new function resolved some of his concerns.

However, he quickly thought of something else and smirked again. "Xiao Hei, since I helped you get that alien energy, I deserve some credit. Isn't there a reward?"

[I can reward you with a ten-draw card opportunity. What you draw depends on your luck.]

"A ten-draw!" Lin Huang's eyes lit up. This was the first time Xiao Hei had been so generous. "Then hurry up, don't stall!"