"Huh?"
Sacrificial Evolution? A unique hidden Talent?
Shen Xing stared at the prompt before him, feeling a bit dazed.
But he quickly understood. This was his very own golden finger!
However, this Talent sounded a bit strange. It actually required him to permanently sacrifice his own Attributes as offerings.
Just then, he noticed another line of small text annotated below the Talent description.
[Note: ’Sacrificial Evolution’ can sacrifice any Attribute, but the chosen Soldier Type will have its evolutionary path altered based on the sacrificed Attribute.
This Talent can be used once per day.]
...
’Sacrifice any Attribute to give a Soldier Type a directed evolution?’
’It seems really strong, but the cost is just too high.’
In the early stages of the game, a character’s base Attributes aren’t high to begin with.
Let alone sacrificing them to improve a Soldier Type’s Attributes.
Just then, Shen Xing looked at his attribute panel and suddenly realized something. ’What if... I sacrifice my Agility Attribute?’
After all, his current Agility was already 0. How much lower could it go?
’It can’t possibly go into the negatives, can it?’
Eager to try, he fixed his gaze on the mohawk-headed Beastman in the distance.
[Use Talent Ability: Sacrificial Evolution to increase the Potential of one ’Beastman Infantry’ in your territory?]
[This will require sacrificing Agility *10]
...
"Yes."
The moment he confirmed, it felt as if a special power drilled into his body.
A feeling of emptiness spread from his limbs and bones, as if something was being extracted from within him.
But when that power reached his legs, it suddenly halted, as if confused.
Shen Xing felt a bit anxious, unsure if it would succeed.
After all, he was basically exploiting a system loophole.
If this worked, it would be tantamount to discovering a game bug.
And it seemed unlikely that the developers who created such a realistic game wouldn’t have noticed such an obvious vulnerability.
However, after pausing for a moment, the power suddenly withdrew from his body.
Immediately after, a ball of dark red light descended from the sky, landing on the mohawk-headed Beastman in the distance.
At this moment, the ten Beastman Infantry were already engaged with the Lost Ones.
The group of Beastmen swung their Stone Axes, hacking wildly while letting out chaotic roars.
But because they were outnumbered, they were gradually losing the upper hand.
Several Beastman Infantry had been scratched and bloodied by the Lost Ones’ sharp claws.
Just then, as the red light entered its body, the mohawk-headed Beastman’s aura began to surge.
Beneath its Green skin, its muscles bulged at a visible rate, and its body grew taller.
Its legs, in particular, became thick and sturdy, filled with explosive power!
[Evolution successful! The Potential of one of your ’Beastman Infantry’ has been upgraded to Normal ★★, Agility permanently +10.]
[Attribute increases from this evolution: Power +4, Spirit +2, Agility +2, Constitution +3]
...
’Whoa, it actually worked!’
Shen Xing was stunned, then overcome with irrepressible joy.
The implications were self-evident.
This meant he could now use this Talent at no cost, essentially getting a free Soldier Type advancement once a day!
It was like Emperor Qin Shihuang touching an electric wire—a win of shocking proportions!
After completing its transformation from One-Star to Two-Star, the mohawk-headed Beastman’s eyes turned red, as if it had a power that desperately needed to be unleashed.
"ROAR!"
It swung its Stone Axe fiercely, slashing down hard on a Lost One.
The charred body was severed like a dead branch, splattering black liquid everywhere.
Without the slightest pause, the mohawk-headed Beastman charged toward the next enemy.
Its speed was astonishing, and it wielded the Stone Axe with a powerful, whistling force.
It hacked its way from the village entrance to the Campfire and back again without even blinking!
"THWACK! THWACK THWACK!"
Swarms of Lost Ones were cut down, and the pressure on the other Beastman Infantry eased dramatically.
Shen Xing watched from the side, secretly dumbfounded.
’This level of improvement is pretty ridiculous!’
With his own reaction speed, he could barely even keep up with the mohawk-headed Beastman’s movements.
But on second thought, it made sense.
A normal One-Star Beastman’s base Agility is 4. Add the 10 Agility from Shen Xing’s Sacrificial Evolution and the 2 Agility from its Potential upgrade...
Its current Agility had reached an astonishing 16 points, almost three times that of the other Lost Ones!
That’s why it was able to achieve such a crushing effect.
Under the mohawk-headed Beastman’s onslaught, less than half the enemies remained in the blink of an eye.
Just then, the remaining seven or eight Lost Ones suddenly stopped, and a black mist billowed from their bodies!
Shen Xing’s heart skipped a beat as a bad feeling washed over him.
"Fall back immediately! Create distance."
Hearing their Lord’s command, the simple-minded Beastman Infantry immediately stopped and ran back, axes in hand.
Even the mohawk-headed one, who was already in a bloodlust, forced itself to a halt and hurriedly pulled back.
At the same time, waves of a strange sonic energy washed over them.
"BZZZ..."
Two Beastman Infantry who didn’t retreat in time froze, a dazed look appearing in their eyes.
—Voice of the Lost: Emits a soul-bewitching sound, causing the target to fall into a brief [Dazed] State.
"Hrrk..."
The Lost Ones seized the opportunity to pounce, preparing to tear the two dazed Beastmen to shreds.
"ROAR!"
The mohawk-headed Beastman let out a furious roar and charged in again, swinging its Stone Axe and cutting down the enemies one by one.
The other Beastmen also swarmed forward, and the battle was over in moments.
[You have commanded your soldiers and won a small-scale victory.]
[Battle report: 15 Lost Ones slain, 0 allied soldiers killed, 5 lightly injured.]
[Based on a comprehensive evaluation, you have received an ’S-class’ rating.]
[You have received the rating reward: Soul Stone x12, Food x120, Void Hand (Skill Book).]
...
Shen Xing stared at the pile of new resources in his inventory and the Skill Book glowing with a faint Blue light, a bit stunned.
Is this the S-class reward? It’s absurdly generous.
According to Qin Lang, the C-class rating he got only gave him 4 Soul Stones and 40 units of Food. The difference was a full three times!
Not to mention, mine came with an even rarer Skill Book.
As expected, this first battle was incredibly important.
Meanwhile, the Beastmen who had finished fighting lined up again.
Their eyes filled with reverence as they gazed upon the figure in the wheelchair.
Although they didn’t know what had happened,
they could vaguely sense that their Lord had used some special means to instantly make one of their companions powerful.
"Boss... this is... the spoils of war..."
The leading mohawk-headed Beastman walked over, respectfully presenting a pile of coins to Shen Xing.
[Obtained: Vinar Silver Coins x13]
[Obtained: Broken Soul x11]
...
"Quite sensible."
Shen Xing smiled, then gave the Beastman Infantry the order to clean up the battlefield.
Then, he looked at the Skill Book.
[Void Hand]
[Quality: Blue (Excellent)]
[Type: Skill Book]
[Skill Effect: Consumes Spiritual Power to materialize an invisible hand that can grab a target or deal a certain amount of slapping damage.]
...
’The requirements are fine. I can use it even without legs.’
Shen Xing nodded in satisfaction and clicked to learn it.
The Ancient manual in his hands turned into countless Blue specks of light that flowed into the space between his eyebrows, and all sorts of incantations and methods for controlling Energy appeared in his mind.
Ah, this feeling... knowledge flooding into the brain, only to flow out just as smoothly.
Just like when a teacher lectures in class...
No, this time it didn’t flow out. It was firmly etched deep within his mind.
’Is it this magical? It actually made me remember the method for controlling this skill’s Energy.’
’Then does that mean I can... in reality...’
Shen Xing pondered for a moment, then shook his head, feeling he was getting carried away with wishful thinking.
Just then, he suddenly felt his body grow tired, and waves of drowsiness washed over him.
He opened his phone to check the time. It was already past seven in the morning.
He had pulled an all-nighter, and on top of that, playing this game had consumed a lot of his energy. He felt completely drained.
’Well, that’s that for now. Time to sleep.’
He took off his glasses, propped himself up with his arms, and skillfully moved from his wheelchair to his bed.
He pulled up the covers and fell into a deep sleep.
...
...
"BEEP! BEEP!"
Shen Xing was woken by his phone vibrating on the bedside table. He blearily glanced at the lock screen—it was already past two in the afternoon.
Many messages had also popped up in their group chat.
Coriander: "You guys awake yet?"
"Let’s meet up at Sichuan Pavilion this afternoon. My treat. We can talk about the game."
Lend Alone for Ten Thousand Generations: "Sounds good. I was just stressing about how to reroll my character."
I Eat and Eat: "Order me extra spicy diced chicken and fish in chili oil, and make sure it’s super spicy!"
Shen Xing looked at the messages on the screen, feeling a little emotional.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gone out since his legs were paralyzed.
Besides, he wanted to talk to them about the game too.
So he opened the input box and replied.