Chapter 503 - Do You Wish To Continue The Evolution Process?
The skill All For One was undoubtedly a skill worthy of the word UNIQUE. Although Bai Zemin did not know exactly what the most noticeable differences between "normal" skills and "UNIQUE" skills were, the two UNIQUE skills that Bai Zemin had received so far were undoubtedly tremendously powerful.
For example, the skill Blood Berserker's Wrath that Bai Zemin managed to unlock during the war against the goblin race when the leader of the goblin race located in northern China was a skill that in Bai Zemin's eyes could simply be described as a godly skill. After all, depending on the level of wrath awakened, even a normal human could receive more than enough power to fight against a Third Order existence that had spent tens of years and even centuries to acquire such power or even more!
That was how powerful the UNIQUE skills were and the newly acquired All For One was definitely not far behind despite the clear difference it had with Blood Berserker's Wrath.
Although Bai Zemin had yet to test the skill All For One, it was clear that it was a skill that should not be used unless there was really no choice but to use it. Because unlike the first few levels of the skill Blood Berserker's Wrath and leaving aside the last two more dangerous levels, the skill All For One was undoubtedly a lot more dangerous than the skill Blood Berserker's Wrath.
For example, if Bai Zemin was badly injured or for unknown reasons could not fight with his 100%, he could entrust his full strength to one of his Loyal Followers without worrying about being betrayed and that chosen Loyal Follower would be able to use not only his/her strength but would also be able to use Bai Zemin's full strength to protect him from danger for a full 24 hours.
In return, however, Bai Zemin or the Loyal Follower who transfers his/her strength would automatically become harmless lambs. Even if Bai Zemin didn't need to worry about a possible betrayal by any of his Loyal Followers, becoming defenseless and falling to a mere normal human for a full day was definitely not something he wanted to experience unless he REALLY had no choice but to do so.
Besides, there were many things that still needed to be checked regarding the skill All For One. For example, Bai Zemin didn't know if by full strength it meant only the Soul Power or if his skills would also be transferred to the Loyal Follower or if the Lear Follower's skills would be transferred to him.
In case Bai Zemin wanted to transfer his power to a Loyal Follower and in case the skills would not be transferred, then unless that Loyal Follower was tremendously experienced in combat or had a skill similar to the skill Special Forces Soldier that Bai Zemin possessed, the Loyal Follower's true battle power would still be less than the battle power that Bai Zemin would be able to show despite having the same overall power level due to the clear difference in combat experience.
"An appreciated skill that needs to be studied." Bai Zemin concluded with a murmur that only he could hear.
Just then, Shangguan Bing Xue looked at him over her shoulder and Bai Zemin couldn't help but smile at her and nod slightly.
She tilted her head in an extremely cute way while looking at him with confusion but Bai Zemin just chuckled and gently shook his head without saying anything about it.
He was really grateful for whatever Shangguan Bing Xue had done. After all, not only had Bai Zemin's overall power increased a bit but he had received another powerful trump card that could save his life at crucial moments; if Bai Zemin did have the skill All For One before invading the Oblon World, then he wouldn't need to suffer as much as he had suffered.
Pushing what had just happened to the back of his mind and preparing to ask Shangguan Bing Xue later about it, Bai Zemin closed his eyes and focused for several seconds until he finally reached the part of his soul where the records of two skills were located.
One of these skills was Superhuman Health and the other skill was Regeneration.
Superhuman Health was a passive skill that directly affected Bai Zemin's Health stat and thus his body's recovery rate as well as his immunity to countless normal or deadly diseases, moreover, after evolving to the maximum level of the First Order, the skill Superhuman Health passively increased the effect of healing skills on Bai Zemin by a large 20%.
On the other hand, the skill Regeneration was an active skill but of the same level and Order as Superhuman Health.
So far, Bai Zemin had never been forced into a situation where he needed to activate Regeneration even once. After all, the number of beings capable of blocking magical attacks he had faced so far were only two and neither of them lasted long enough to deplete Bai Zemin's Stamina before they perished.
Therefore, until today, the skill Regeneration had been without a doubt the most useless skill in Bai Zemin's arsenal.
Although right now Bai Zemin had a few tens of Second Order Soul Stones at his disposal counting the ones he had brought and the ones Shangguan Bing Xue had managed to gather, such high-ranked Soul Stones were treasures that needed to be carefully invested. Therefore, Bai Zemin needed to think very carefully about which skill he would evolve next.
After careful thought and even though logic said that the safest evolution was undoubtedly Superhuman Health, Bai Zemin, who hated to follow definite paths, decided to take the risk again.
But, hey... Hadn't he been taking risks since day one when it all started? It was precisely because Bai Zemin had been brave enough to dare to walk blindfolded and because he had risked so much that he had managed to get to where he was now; a being that even a Third Order existence had to respect.
After all, safe paths would surely be able to lead Bai Zemin to the road of greatness, yet he aspired not only to greatness but to total and absolute domination! Therefore, he had to walk paths that were brimming with danger and risk!
Only by risking enough could one obtain great rewards!
Play big or go home!
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[Regeneration (First Order active skill) level 5 - Evolution requirements.]
[All stats +200 natural points: Complete.]
[First Order Soul Stone: 7/7]
[Second Order Soul Stone: 2/2]
[Do you wish to continue the evolution process?]
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"Starting strong from the beginning, eh?" Bai Zemin sighed softly.
Although he had expected something like this, the reality was as cruel as ever.
+200 natural stat points in each of the six trackable stats was insane without a doubt. After all, a powerful existence at the peak of the First Order would hover around that amount of stat points but possibly in a single stat or maybe two. As for the six... Probably only a Second Order creature would be able to afford such luxuries.
Simply put, were it not for the fact that Bai Zemin was Bai Zemin, possibly only Shangguan Bing Xue in his entire faction would be able to barely evolve the skill Regeneration to the next stage while still a First Order being.
Not to mention the big number of Soul Stones of considerable rank that would be needed. After all, if not for the fact that Bai Zemin and Shangguan Bing Xue were monsters among monsters, it was unlikely that another existence would be able to gather so many high-rank Soul Stones at their scale of power.
Even someone like Evangeline who was tremendously powerful was barely able to fight against around 5 First Order beasts at the same time at present and to date, she had never obtained a Second Order Soul Stone by herself.
Therefore, even though the requirements seemed to be simple, this was only so because Bai Zemin was Bai Zemin; but in reality, it was far from a simple thing to achieve.
Regardless. Since Bai Zemin had made his decision he would not back down no matter what. Therefore, he agreed to continue with the evolution, and soon the skill Regeneration began to grow to new heights.
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[Regeneration (Second Order active skill) level 1: Regenerates 2 Stamina points for every 1 Mana point consumed. No cooldown time.]
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Although it had been a simple evolution, the improvement was undoubtedly remarkable. Going from consuming 2 Mana points to regenerate 1 Stamina point to the opposite was undoubtedly a great growth.
However, Bai Zemin was far from happy. In his eyes, this skill was still far from being worthy of such high evolutionary requirements, and asking for so many First Order Soul Stones and even 2 Second Order Soul Stones for this crap was no different from daylight robbery.
Bai Zemin gritted his teeth and continued evolving the skill anyway. There was no way he would back down now.
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[Regeneration (Second Order) level 1 ---------------> Regeneration (Second Order) level 2]
[All stats +220 natural points: Complete.]
[First Order Soul Stone: 5/5]
[Second Order Soul Stone: 1/1]
[Do you wish to continue the evolution process?]
-----------------------------------
Yes!
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[Regeneration (Second Order) level 2 ---------------> Regeneration (Second Order) level 3]
[All stats +240 natural points: Complete.]
[First Order Soul Stone: 7/7]
[Second Order Soul Stone: 1/1]
[Do you wish to continue the evolution process?]
-----------------------------------
Yes!
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[Regeneration (Second Order) level 3 ---------------> Regeneration (Second Order) level 4]
[All stats +260 natural points: Complete.]
[First Order Soul Stone: 10/10]
[Second Order Soul Stone: 1/1]
[Do you wish to continue the evolution process?]
-----------------------------------
Yes!
...
...
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[Regeneration (Second Order active skill) level 5: Regenerates 10 Stamina points for every 1 Mana point consumed. No cooldown time.]
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Ten Stamina points in exchange for only one Mana point. Undoubtedly, it was a more than worthy exchange. However, far from being happy, the face of Bai Zemin was as pale as a sheet not having noticed the changes he expected in the skill.
When Bai Zemin decided to take up one of the five free slots he had to learn active skills with the skill Regeneration, it was because something inside him told him that he would not regret it. However, the regret threatened to grow at any moment.
Bai Zemin had consumed 6 Second Order Soul Stones and 34 First Order Soul Stones to bring the skill Regeneration from First Order level 5 to Second Order level 5. Such consumption was simply monstrous and was far from something that many in a world that was just beginning to evolve could afford.
Even beings that inhabited worlds in their Second Evolutionary Stage would probably bleed from expending so many Second Order and First Order Soul Stones just like that.
Although the evolution had not been bad, the skill Regeneration was far from turning into what Bai Zemin expected it to become. Furthermore, he had already consumed about 1/6th of all the Second Order Soul Stones that the Transdent faction currently had.
Under such disappointment, it would be impossible for Bai Zemin not to feel hesitation and the feeling of wanting to back out threatened to rise in his heart. However, just as this was happening, Bai Zemin felt something very strange inside him calling out to him and urging him to keep going.
Bai Zemin did not know what this strange feeling was, but it was something that had been with him for as long as he could remember. His parents often teased him saying that it was his little gift when even without studying he got good grades in school thanks to the multi-choice section.
Hesitantly, Bai Zemin checked the requirements needed to evolve the skill Regeneration to the next Order.
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[Regeneration (Second Order active skill) level 5 - Evolution requirements.]
[All stats +600 natural points: Complete.]
[First Order Soul Stone: 30/30]
[Second Order Soul Stone: 5/5]
[Third Order Soul Stone: 1/1]
[Do you wish to continue the evolution process?]
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Done! kept my word
Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3