Chapter 73. Leveling Up To Iron-Level
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After he was transformed into a vampire, Lin Huang's body was a complete copy of Bai's characteristics. His movements were as fast as Bai, they were chasing after the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress but it was still faster than they were.
Initially, when the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress gave up on attacking Lin Huang, it was already out of the attack zone of his Blood Power. Now that the both of them were chasing it, the distance was getting farther. Lin Huang could not get over the fact that the demon was getting away. He was almost killed by the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress and he was forced to use his provisional transformation card. If he did not kill this Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress, he would never forgive himself.
Furious, he was utilizing his Spectral Snowsteps without even realizing. His speed was a few times faster and soon, he was near the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress.
"Wait, can I still use my own skills while in transformation mode?!" Lin Huang thought he could not use his own skills after he was transformed. His eyes brightened up, "That means I can also use my 'Great Sword Scripture'!"
He caught up to the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress soon and turned his right Blood Power wing into a sword and swung at it. It was the 19th style in the 'Great Sword Scripture'. The red gold sword was like an arrow plunging towards the back of the demon's head under the moonlight.
The demon had senses in its back and tried to dodge Lin Huang's attack. Just when it attempted to escape, it realized that one of its arms on its left was tied by a crimson gold object. Lin Huang had secretly turned his left Blood Power wing into a long rattan to tie one of its arms up while he attacked earlier.
The demon turned his head 180 degrees and stared a deadly stare at Lin Huang with its bloody eyes under the pale mask. It then plunged towards Lin Huang. Just when Lin Huang was plunging forward, it lunged at him as well. Their distance was so close. Its six arms were turned into six different weapons and attacked Lin Huang like a thunderstorm.
If Lin Huang was in his regular combat mode, he would definitely die under these attacks. However, now that he was transformed into a vampire that was the same with Bai, a mutated vampire, his combat level was also on iron-level rank-3, which was the same with this Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress. He was not afraid at all, his Blood Power wings were turned into a pair of sharp knives and collided with the demon's arms. Seeing that Bai was getting closer to Lin Huang, the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress seemed to give its all so that it could kill Lin Huang before Bai arrived. It then used its ultimate skill, the Thousand-Handed Soul-Reaper at Lin Huang. Its six arms were so fast that they seemed to turn into more than 10,000 arms attacking him.
Lin Huang stopped attacking and started defending immediately and blocked all the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress's attacks. Within seconds, they collided more than 100 times. Bai finally arrived, his Blood Power wings were extended when he was 10 meters away and attacked towards the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress. It knew that it could not fight the both of them, it attempted to escape again.
Just when the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress turned around, a crimson gold blade shone. It pierced through the back of its head and broke its mask. The Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress was motionless, its mask was breaking down and its body was fading away fast. Withdrawing his crimson gold blade, Lin Huang smirked, "Try to escape from me?! I've been defensive not because I couldn't kill you, but I was familiarizing the use of these Blood Power wings so that I could use my 'Great Sword Scripture' accurately."
Just when Lin Huang was done talking, a white glow flowed out of the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress' head that was covered by its mask. Lin Huang was completely covered in the glow.
"You are experiencing a Life Light Baptism, abort from transformation by force!"
Xiao Hei's voice was heard and before Lin Huang could respond, he was withdrawn from his vampire transformation and turned into a human again.
His body was showered in the white glow, there were changes to his Life Wheel.
His Life Wheel that was made of gray stone was changing to a black metal one. Lin Huang knew that his Life Wheel was transforming into an iron-level Life Wheel. After it was turned into a black metal material, it shrunk into 1/3 of its original size and three circles of white columns were created. Each circle was the same with the Life Light columns, having 360 columns in each circle. However, it was not Life Light columns, but Life Power columns. If the inner circle was filled with Life Power, that would mean iron-level rank-1, the second circle would be iron-level rank-2 and the third circle would be iron-level rank-3. When all 1080 Life Power columns were filled, another round of Life Light Baptism would take place and he would be leveled-up to bronze-level.
Lin Huang had researched about this countless times on the Heart Network.
When the transformation of Life Wheel was done, the Life Light Baptism would end as well. Just when the Life Light Baptism was almost over, a black-gray colored bead that was the size of a thumb came out of the Six-Armed Demon's body and went into Lin Huang's body. It absorbed into his new iron-level Life Wheel.
Lin Huang looked into his Life Wheel. Among the Life Wheel that was covered in a white glow and more than 10 cards, there was an additional black-gray colored bead in it.
"Life Seed has been detected, do you want to turn it into a card?" Xiao Hei said.
"I can turn the Life Seed into a card?!" Lin Huang asked.
"You can directly turn it into a card without needing to add any materials."
"If I turn it into a card and you escape from my body, does that mean that my Life Seed gifts would be gone?" Lin Huang was obviously concerned.
"No, Life Seeds are not really cards but they're an object instead. If I were to escape from your body, the Life Seed would turn back into its regular form."
Lin Huang was relieved after Xiao Hei's explanation, "Alright, turn it into a card!"
Soon, Xiao Hei spoke again.
"It has been done. A new card is added, Life Seed Card!"
Lin Huang immediately looked at the Life Seed Card that he had just obtained. There was a fluffy gray-black ball on top of the card. He then turned the card around to read the detailed description.
"Life Seed Card"
"Life Seed Name: Sly Hands"
"Rarity: Rare"
"Type: Synthetic"
"Talent Effect 1: Finger agility +20% (Beginner)"
"Talent Effect 2: Attack speed of both arms +20% (Beginner)"
"Talent Effect 3: Flexibility of both arms +20% (Beginner)"
"Level-up Effect: With every upgrade, the three gifted effects would gain an additional 20% each"
"Card Remarks: Passable"
Lin Huang was shocked to see the gift card. He remembered clearly that the Sly Hands Life Seed would give an addition 10% only for beginner stage and each upgrade would also be an additional 10%. But now he was given a 20%. He thought about it and figured probably the Six-Armed Demon in the purple dress that he killed had a higher rarity. Therefore, the 20% talent effect was nothing out of the ordinary. However, he was still surprised at what he got.
"Beginner would get an additional 20% and if I am upgraded to gold-level, I would gain an additional 80% which means my speed would be twice as fast. This talent effect isn't bad at all!" Lin Huang had finally achieved his mission to be leveled-up to iron-level. It was a bonus that he obtained a better Life Seed! He let out a gentle sigh, "I am finally an iron-level!"
Thinking of his characteristic changes, he tapped open his exclusive card to take a good look.
"Host: Lin Huang"
"Gender: Male"
"Age: 15"
"Combat strength: Iron-level rank-1"
"Life Seed: Sly Hands (Rare)
"Combat Skill 1: Great Sword Scripture (Sword Skill)"
"Combat Skill 2: Spectral Snowsteps (Body Movement)"
"Monster Skill 1: Blood Power (Level-2)"
"Monster Skill 2: Robust (Intermediate)"
"Monster Skill 3: Powerful Strength (Intermediate)"
"Monster Skill 4: Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate)"
"Monster Skill 5: Absolute Defence (Beginner)"
"Summon Authority: Activated"
"Available Number of Summons: 2"
"Remark: Wow, you have finally been leveled-up to iron-level."
"Finally, my combat strength is no longer 'none' like it used to be…" Lin Huang took a closer look, "There's Life Seed added, combat skills and monster skills were separated. Now I can summon two monsters at once!" He had got used to ignoring Xiao Hei's mean remarks. In conclusion, the journey into Wangyou Forest exceeded his expectation. Not only he was leveled-up to iron-level, the gift of the addition of his Life Seed was a pleasant surprise. Besides, he had also obtained an epic dragonkin summon card.
"Now I'm wondering when Miss Leng and the rest will complete their mission. I shall try my best to fill up the Life Power in my iron-level Life Wheel in the next few days!"
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Chapter 74. Glorious Return
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Lin Huang left the Six-Armed Demon's territory immediately after he leveled-up to iron-level. Although he obtained a card piece for killing the Six-Armed Demon in purple dress earlier, he could not bear the sight of that monster. If he were to summon the monster on the street, people would be terrified.
After a fairly decent distance from the Six-Armed Demon's territory, Lin Huang found an empty space in the forest and summoned the Undying Baby Dragon. It was a three-meter-long baby dragon and was pitch black. Its wings were about five meters wide when they were fully spread and there were horns on its head that were about 10 centimeters long. Its face was flat and round, looking nothing like the ferocious monster it was from the dragon family, more like an ugly monster that was quite adorable.
It rubbed its head against Lin Huang when it saw him, almost causing Lin Huang to fall from its playful act. "I did not expect you to have such great strength." Lin Huang smiled, shaking his head. He patted the baby dragon's head, "Since you're black, I'll name you Charcoal."
"With one more upgrade, Charcoal's rarity would be upgraded from Epic to Legendary. The concentration of dragon blood in its body would also be upgraded from beginner to intermediate." He then said, "Xiao Hei, I would like to use an Advance Card on Charcoal."
"You do not have enough Advance Cards."
"How is that possible? I remember that I have one Advance Card." Lin Huang knew he had kept an Advance Card and had been waiting for the perfect time to utilize it.
"To upgrade Normal Cards to Rare Cards, one Advance Card would suffice but from a Rare Card to an Epic Card, you require two Advance Cards. From an Epic Card to a Legendary Card, you would need three advance cards and from a Legendary Card to a Mythical Card, you would need five Advanced Cards. Lastly, to upgrade Mythical Cards to Godlike Cards, you would need 10 Advance Cards!" Xiao Hei finally explained the rules of upgrading.
Lin Huang was bummed. He only had one Advance Card at the moment and that card not enough, not even for Bai and the Sand Monster. He would be rewarded one Advance Card if he completed the mission and from then, he would still only have two Advance Cards!
"Even if you have accumulated enough Advance Cards, I don't suggest you upgrade your Undying Baby Dragon." Xiao Hei seemed to know what Lin Huang was thinking about.
"Why?" Lin Huang asked, confused.
"You do not meet the required qualification. The Monster Cards that you're able to master at the moment are limited to cards that are Epic and below. Monster cards that are Epic and above are temporarily sealed and can only be unsealed when you are a transcendent."
Hearing Xiao Hei's explanation, Lin Huang had to give up on his wishes of upgrading Charcoal. In reality, Lin Huang knew very well that even if Charcoal was not upgraded, its ability combined with Bai was sufficient for him to handle the risks at the borders of Wangyou Forest. If Charcoal was not restricted by Lin Huang's combat level, such dragonkin types were usually stronger than a common transcendent at birth. Bai, on the other hand, was a mutated vampire at bronze-level rank-3 since the very beginning.
Since Lin Huang was leveled-up to iron-level, Bai and Charcoal's combat strength was automatically upgraded to bronze-level rank-1. Lin Huang was fearless for what danger may lurk the border of Wangyou Forest because he felt safe with Bai and Charcoal. He trusted their strengths.
In the two days since he leveled-up to iron-level, Lin Huang has killed plenty of iron-level monsters with Bai and Charcoal's help. When the first 360 columns in the first layer of his Life Power circle for his Life Wheel was almost full, he got Xiao Hei to disconnect his Life Wheel.
He did that because he was concerned that Li Yanxing and the rest would figure out what he was able to do. After all, he was in Wangyou Forest to level to iron-level. If they found out that he managed to level-up from an ordinary person to iron-level rank-3, Li Yanxing and the rest would know that he had the ability to accumulate Life Power quickly.
Under normal circumstances, earning Life Power required the practice of Life Skill. By absorbing Life Crystals using Life Skill or the Life Light in Life Crystals and to convert them into Life Power. There were different grades of Life Skill depending on the conversion rate of Life Power.
A Life Power conversion rate between 30% to 40% would be considered as a Beginner Life Skill.
A Life Power conversion rate between 40% to 50% would be considered as an Intermediate Life Skill.
A Life Power conversion rate between 50% to 60% would be considered as an Expert Life Skill.
A Life Power conversion rate between 60% to 70% would be considered as the Ultimate Life Skill.
A Life Power conversion rate that surpassed 70% would be considered as Holy Life Skill. Lin Huang had never heard about any that surpassed 80%.
An iron-level's Life Power was 10 times concentrated than Life Power. A hundred years worth of Life Crystal could only fill 10 columns of Life Power even though the conversion rate was 100%. Aside from the Ultimate and Holy Life Skill, most of the Life Skills had a conversion rate of 30% to 60%. That said, a Life Crystal that was worth a hundred years could only fill three to six columns of Life Power.
However, even with sufficient Life Crystals, the level-up from iron-level rank-1 to iron-level rank-2 could not be done within a couple of days as it would take a large amount of time for Life Skill to convert Life Light into Life Power. With sufficient Life Crystals, it would usually take around two hours to convert one Life Power. Time spent on eating and sleeping aside, it would be good if a person could convert seven or eight Life Power a day. 360 columns of Life Power would take at least more than a month for the conversion to complete itself.
Of course, some people with unique body physiques would have a faster conversion rate which would result in a shorter conversion time. As for Lin Huang, the cycle was shorter. Whenever Bai and Charcoal killed monsters, they would absorb Life Light which would be converted into Life Power immediately and sent to Lin Huang's Life Wheel. As long as Bai and Charcoal killed sufficient monsters, Lin Huang could easily level up to iron-level rank-3 without needing to do anything.
Considering that he would need to be with Li Yanxing and the rest during the return trip, Lin Huang had to maintain his level at iron-level rank-1 so that they wouldn't find out. After disconnecting his Life Wheel, Lin Huang brought Charcoal and Bai to the borders of the forest to fight bronze-level monsters.
Since Lin Huang was leveled-up to iron-level, he could use his Life Power and had more combat skills now. Aside from the Blood Power wings, he had a couple of weapon rings on his fingers. A black armor, a sword, and a BlackEagle33 gun. The BlackEagle33 gun was especially useful - it can morph between a rifle and a pistol. It was no less powerful than a bronze equipment. It could easily kill a bronze-level monster when it was in the form of a rifle.
He used to be very careful wherever he was because of abrupt monster attacks but now, he feared nothing in the forests. He had only one goal at the border of Wangyou Forest - accumulate as many card pieces as he could.
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