028. Sharpfang Peak
Losing nearly half of the experience from cleansing his secondary class was acceptable for Li Aozi.
With the colonial graft fusion complete, Li Aozi wasted no time, transmitting his consciousness into his body. The [Flesh Affinity] specialty allowed him to quickly adapt to the body's performance.
Splash—
Li Aozi rose from the bio pool, the potion on his body evaporating quickly. As he dressed, he began to check his new attributes.
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[Name]: Li Aozi
[Title]: Catastrophe, Pioneer of the Future
[Race]: Tanas Human
[Gender]: Male
[Age]: 22
[Template]: Advanced Veteran Combat-Type NPC (+10% max health, +15% damage rate)
[Faction]: Layer Abyss—Border of the Eye of the Galaxy—Crystal Tower Civilization
[Total Level]: lv.80
——[Main Class]: [Mutant] Lv.60 (MAX)
——[Secondary Class]: [Biochemist] lv.20; [Mage] lv.0
[Health]: 13,800/13,800
[Mana]: 19,400/19,400
[Attributes]:
Strength—100
Dexterity—100
Constitution—100
Charisma—111 (final benefit: 144.3)
Intelligence—92.4 (final benefit: 110.8)
[Talents]:
[Racial Talent•Spell Aptitude]: For every 50 points of [Intelligence], you can designate a magic system as your 'specialization.' Spells in the specialization gain 180% learning speed, and spell mana consumption is reduced by 8%.
Current specialization—"Universal Magic"
[Class Talent•Genetic Immortality] (Advanced)—You are the pioneer of life, the leader of flesh, and a revolutionary in species evolution. For every Biochemist-exclusive knowledge you learn, you gain 1 point of [Constitution].
Beta-tier advanced effect: Based on your [Charisma] attribute, for every 10 points of [Charisma], you gain an additional 200 points of 'mimic' health.
——From [Biochemist]
[Class Talent•Mutation]—Your genetic potential has been unleashed, and [Mutations] will occur periodically. These mutations may alter your appearance or provide certain benefits (Mutation modification: Mutations no longer produce negative effects).
——From [Mutant]
[Class Talent•Arcane Deconstruction]—Your energy value is converted to 'mana,' and for every piece of extraordinary knowledge you learn in your main class, your max mana and mana regeneration rate are permanently increased by 1%.
——From [Mage]
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Li Aozi didn't bother reviewing the excess information; the key points were clear.
"Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, and Charisma have all improved. Now I have no weaknesses, and while I'm not Gamma-tier, I've already surpassed it in stats."
With the status of [Genetic Damage] repaired, all of Li Aozi's Omega Energies and abilities were fully unlocked.
Now, by activating [Flesh Enhancement], his [Strength] would explode, and with a 220% increase, it would exceed 300 points.
Unfortunately, the colonial graft fusion boosted many non-primary attributes, but Li Aozi's main attribute, [Charisma], saw little change.
Using colonial grafts to boost stats, or using secondary classes to increase attributes, wasn't unusual. However, players couldn't pump out as much experience and gene fragments as he could in one go. For players, maxing out two secondary classes in one version would already make them hardcore grinders.
It's just like earning interest in a bank: everyone knows how it works, but when rich people put in their money, the results are entirely different compared to poor people. The former can withstand losses with their savings, while the latter have to withdraw savings to cope with risks.
Grinding stats wasn't difficult. By the late game, everyone's base attributes wouldn't differ too much... except for [Starfall Masters], who were notoriously fragile.
If the Qiqiao Network hadn't blocked the actual effects of player attributes, players and NPCs would probably have been playing mind games, instead of just running errands and unclogging toilets.
Li Aozi sorted his equipment and used the bio pool to produce some potions.
Although there might not be any fighting on this trip, it was better to be prepared.
Li Aozi didn't inject new Omega Energy awakening potions yet, as his current Omega Energies were sufficient. Accumulating too many Omega Energies would place too much burden on his genes.
In the future, he would gradually eliminate non-sequence Omega Energies and establish his combat system. The Blood Demon setup could be used all the way to Zeta-tier. Beyond that, he'd need sequence-level Omega Energies for support.
As for the [Mage] class, Li Aozi wasn't willing to invest experience in it for now.
He didn't have enough experience to learn knowledge and skills, and [Mage], unlike [Warrior], didn't grant passive skills just by leveling up.
None of the classes under the [Craft] category came with skill trees.
That's why Mages were hard to cultivate. Early-game Mages had to grind money and experience while learning knowledge to gain combat skills through combinations.
Now that his [Intelligence] was sufficient, leveling up his secondary class wasn't very meaningful. However, once the pigs—Li Aozi meant the players—entered the scene, [Mage] would become much more interesting.
After all, enchanting mana bars had no cost for Li Aozi.
Fully prepared, Li Aozi retrieved the weapon he had found earlier in the underground cave of the [Hero of Phalicia].
Previously, because he couldn't identify it, Li Aozi had been carrying it around without being able to use it.
In magical civilizations, appraisal fees were extremely expensive, charged at 3.8% to 5.5% of the item's value.
It wasn't that he couldn't afford it—Li Aozi could pay the price.
However, if he had it appraised, the real issue wouldn't be 'whether it works,' but 'whether it's legal.'
Now that his [Eye of Truth] had returned, Li Aozi naturally took it out.
He unwrapped the beast hide that had been covering it, revealing the sword's true appearance: a simple longsword with nothing seemingly special at first glance—a brass guard, deep red wrappings, and a simple lion-engraved pommel.
[Eye of Truth]
[Appraising item...]
[Specialty [Autocratic Actions]—Activated!]
[Charisma check passed! Critical success!]
[Appraisal complete]
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[Item Name]: Sword of Destiny's Awakening
[Category]: Sword/Cold Weapon
[Quality]: 「Mythic Creation」
[Attributes]:
Damage +200 (Mythic attribute bonus)
Keen: Deals a minimum of 80 additional physical damage to unarmored targets.
[Sword Exclusive]: Critical damage +20%, smoother consecutive attacks, can easily pass through an enemy's body.
[Description]:
"Unite all the forces that can be united, crush everything that stands in the way of our unity! Now, our destinies are linked. Don't forget to fight, for we will never vanish!"
——The one who said this disappeared into history.
This is the sword of a failure, belonging to the Phalicia civilization's god-bearer—'Sharpfang Peak' Kario.
Although of excellent quality, worthy of being called a god's weapon, the wielder refused throughout his life to acknowledge himself as a god.
'Sharpfang Peak' rose from obscurity. As an ordinary blacksmith, he took up the path of battle for the people of Phalicia and was lucky enough to ascend the path to godhood.
'Sharpfang Peak' believed his people could change, that even without divine power, his compatriots could unite and defeat the enemies invading their homeland.
However, after his fall, his followers only sang praises to his name, built statues in his honor, but never picked up his blade to fight their old enemies.
Over time, the sword gathered dust, and the people he had high hopes for perished.
Blade Length: 102 cm
Net Weight: 2.5 kg
Materials:
Magic-Haynes Cold Iron
Rare Mithril
Space Adamantine
Locks of Ancestral Elves
Demigod's Blood (quenched)
Sharpness Modifier: 100 (For every 1% increase in sharpness, gain 100 base damage, max 800 points)
"I left you with the sword and the ideals for battle, yet you chose to kneel in worship before my statue—how laughable."
[Requirements for use]:
"As long as you are not a citizen of [Society], you may wield this sword."
[Attached Skills]:
"Refine"—The blade of Sharpfang Peak is imbued with the fire of the forge. Even if damaged in battle, it can self-repair by absorbing minerals.
"King of Iron and Steel"—Activate the power of divine blood. Sharpfang Peak's divine power infuses the blade, granting it magnetic oscillation, which deals true damage to carbon-based lifeforms. (Consumes 10% of the wielder's max mana per second)
"Self-Forging Furnace"—Sharpfang Peak was a master forger, and this weapon inherits his will. As a mythic weapon, it does not require a professional forge. It can evolve on its own by absorbing specific minerals and materials.
"Armed Empire"—This sword seems to harbor an independent consciousness. Perhaps you need its recognition to fully unleash its power.
"Fierce Iron Tyrant"—(Unsealed)
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"A blacksmith's sword, finally in my hands."
As a 「Mythic Creation」 weapon, the Sword of Destiny's Awakening had attributes and effects that were actually inferior to the two 「Legacy Creations」 Li Aozi previously obtained.
In fact, most of the time, 「Mythic Creations」 didn't serve much purpose in actual combat.
However, 「Mythic Creations」 had one advantage that 「Legacy Creations」 could never match.
Li Aozi activated [Sword Saint of Souls] and immediately established a link with the consciousness inside the Sword of Destiny's Awakening.
[Can you hear me?]
Li Aozi spoke.
「...Ha, another grave robber.」
Li Aozi's consciousness was immediately answered. The sword's voice sounded extremely lazy, like a child who had just woken up.
「Year after year, people come seeking Sharpfang Peak's legacy, and now every single one of them has turned into a treasure-seeking thief. How sad.」
[Don't say that, you should be glad that it was me who found you, and not someone who couldn't even communicate with you.]
「Hmph, don't think you can sway me with sweet words. The one who buried me in a box and the one who tries to control my destiny are equally detestable.」
The divine sword was still bitter about being locked away in a box but also maintained a certain wariness toward outsiders.
Li Aozi cut straight to the point, quickly trying to gain favor:
[I found you in the tombs of the Hero of Phalicia. Who hid you there?]
「Some idiot.」