Building Four, downstairs.
“Evolution materials?”
For the first time, Li Ran turned his gaze toward the evolution materials section in the Points Mall.
He had already browsed through the equipment and skill categories. With 6,000 points, he could indeed afford some high-quality gear and skills—but none of those matched his Shadowfiend system.
There were some that did fit his system, but they cost over 10,000 points. Too expensive, and the time required to save up wasn't worth it.
Just a moment ago, he’d seen a skill similar to a Sword Demon’s—Skycleaving Hundred Slash. Absolutely badass.
But if he were to purchase that skill, he’d have to build his entire setup around it—matching equipment, complementary skills, and even a weapon change. A long blade or tachi would be best, and unfortunately, weapons were the priciest of all. The cost of replacing everything was simply too steep.
Given that, it was better to look at other options.
“Damn, a Life Drop costs 3,000 points?”
Back when he killed Deng Zhiwei’s demonized Blood Mantis, it had dropped a Life Drop. Since then, he hadn’t seen another.
One Life Drop increased each of the four base stats by fifty.
Spending 3,000 points on it? Li Ran didn’t think it was worth it. He’d rather trade for a high-quality skill or piece of equipment. Of course, if he were flush with points, the Life Drop would make for a great consumable.
Besides Life Drops, skills, equipment, weapons, pets, and contracted beasts could all be evolved.
If your weapon was a gun, regular bullets could be upgraded to enhanced rounds.
Same with bows and arrows—upgraded arrows meant longer range and higher damage.
Upgrading equipment was like refining in online games: +1, +2, +3...
Skills could be leveled up too, improving damage, area of effect, control, cooldown, and more.
“Rare-quality stuff isn’t eligible for evolution.” After going through the list, Li Ran reached this conclusion.
Most of what he had was rare-grade gear and skills. If he bought evolution materials, 6,000 points would only get him two. And even after evolving, the value wasn’t all that impressive.
“Either too expensive or not worth it.”
Just as he was about to give up, something caught Li Ran’s eye.
This item might not boost his personal combat strength, but it could power up Chitong.
[Material: Evolutionary Star Vein (Rare)].
[Effect: Can elevate a pet’s class and enhance its skills. Guaranteed success on first evolution.]
To Li Ran, a pet was a partner. Enhancing a partner’s combat power was as good as strengthening himself.
Sometimes, for dealing with small fry, you didn’t even need to lift a finger. That alone saved a lot of hassle.
Li Ran activated his Summoner’s Crest and summoned Chitong. The creature appeared with sleepy eyes, clearly not fully awake yet.
“Chitong, you’re in luck! Look what daddy got for you!”
“Squeak?!”
Li Ran spent 5,000 points and bought the Evolutionary Star Vein.
“Chitong is currently B-rank. After this, it’ll be A-rank.”
He held the item in his hand—a deep blue six-pointed star-shaped crystal.
All he had to do was shatter it and let his pet absorb the star vein’s energy to complete the evolution.
“Get off me. Got something cool to show you,” Li Ran said.
Chitong obediently hopped off Li Ran’s body and landed on the ground in a blur.
“Release transformation,” Li Ran commanded.
“Squeak.”
A surge of shadowy darkness burst out from Chitong. When the black aura faded, a sleek and majestic Dark Three-Tailed Fox stood before Li Ran.
Li Ran stepped forward, placing one hand gently on Chitong’s head while using the other to crush the Evolutionary Star Vein.
Crack!
The crystal shattered with a crisp sound, bursting into sparkling energy that rained down on Chitong.
Chitong’s eyes widened curiously, staring up at the misty blue glow above its head.
“Try absorbing it,” Li Ran said.
“Squeak.”
Chitong tilted its head back and opened its mouth, taking in a deep breath.
The ghostly blue star energy turned into streams of light and flowed into Chitong’s body.
Li Ran slowly backed away—he knew a transformation was about to occur.
“Squeeeeeeeeaaak!”
Chitong suddenly howled skyward, its entire body glowing with a faint and shimmering blue aura. From its limbs to its head, tail, and even its fur, that eerie blue light shimmered and danced.
Whoooosh—
Suddenly, a swirling pillar of blue light erupted from beneath Chitong’s feet, shooting straight into the sky.
“Chitong… evolve!”
Li Ran could practically hear a nostalgic and adrenaline-pumping BGM blaring in his ears.
After a while, as the brilliant blue vortex faded—
A majestic and elegant beast stood tall, its body cloaked in noble azure-blue fur. It exuded an aura of menace, dignity, and dominance. With its lean and powerful limbs, a streak of blood-red fur swept from its brow back over its head, flowing like a king’s cloak. The ghostly blue fur danced in the breeze, and the six magnificently dramatic tails behind it swayed with wild charm and bloodthirsty flair!
Its eyes still bore the iconic crimson diamond-shaped pupils—but now they held a deeper cold pride and demonic allure.
Li Ran’s pupils were filled entirely with the overwhelming presence of the six-tailed fox before him.
His jaw hung so wide in shock, you could fit an entire apple in his mouth.
He had no words to describe how damn badass Chitong now looked.
It was simply… ridiculously cool!
[Nether Six-Tailed Fox]
[A-rank Mental Infection-Type]
[Eerie Force: 1000+ (406)]
[Agility: (164)]
Strength: (94)]
Constitution: (90)]
Active Skills: (Thunderclaw) (Transform) (Lightning Blink) (Six-Tail Spiral Slash) (Charm)]
[Passive Skills: (Child of Dark Night) (Thunder Mark)]
“Holy—Chitong’s base stats have doubled, active skills went from four to five, and it even gained an extra passive. This is a massive leap,” Li Ran said, almost too stunned to speak.
“Before, Chitong only had the dark attribute. Now it has a Thunder Mark attribute, and its attacks have switched to lightning-based. Plus it got a Charm skill?!”
“What’s next, are you gonna evolve into Su Daji or something?”
Thunderclaw and Six-Tail Spiral Slash were self-explanatory.
Lightning Blink: Instantly strikes behind the target. All enemies along the path are hit by lightning.
Thunder Mark: Attacks apply a Thunder Mark. A second hit on marked enemies deals bonus damage and grants lightning energy absorption.
After reviewing Chitong’s new attributes, Li Ran quickly pulled up his own status panel.
Thanks to the Maniac’s reward and the completed quest from Zhao Yingzhi, his stats had improved across the board.
[Li Ran]
[Eerie Force: 2030]
[Agility: 820]
[Strength: 470]
[Constitution: 450]
[Points: 1100]
[Active Skills: (Shadowstep) (Shadow Assault) (Shadowfang Bite) (Blood Scythe Blade) (Explosive Arrow) (Summoning Space) (Weakness Insight) (Divine Sense)]
[Enhanced Skills: (Shadowgrip) (Shadow Snatcher)]
[Passive Skills: (Phantom) (Thunder Scar) (Focus Mind) (Immunity) (Shadow Stomp) (Vigilance) (Blade Strike) Sprint) (Enhancement)]
[Special Cards: (Phoenix in Flight) (Family Summon) (Attribute Swap)]
“This feels amazing. If every day went this well, life would be perfect,” Li Ran said excitedly, turning to look at Chitong.
Chitong still seemed unaccustomed to its new form. It tugged and bit at its own new fur, then flinched in pain—only then realizing it was, in fact, its own hair.
“Chitong, let’s find a target to test your new—”
Before Li Ran could finish his sentence, a black shadow suddenly plummeted from the sky and landed hard right in front of him!
BOOM!
With a muffled crash, a splatter of fresh blood painted the ground—a shocking sight!
(End of Chapter)