Chapter 28: Growth Before the New Trial

"Its strength is equivalent to mental attribute, and the physical form can be destroyed."

Chu Danqing stared at the shattered Life Link and Energy Link.

"No cooldown, no limit on usage frequency, plus the casting speed and linking speed are fast enough."

"Only 1 energy point is needed to release one link."

"It only shares damage burden, not recovery."

"Advantages outweigh drawbacks; the flaws don't obscure the merits." Chu Danqing had no complaints—these two skills were merely excellent grade; don't expect godlike effects.

His smile couldn't be contained—linking one person splits the burden in half, but what if he linked another?

Chu Danqing’s current energy points, even with the White Fluff Robe, were only 35, and recovery was just 1 point per hour.

If he first deployed Energy Links to set up the field, when the first link appeared, all his subsequent energy consumption would be halved.

This ratio would keep expanding, meaning that if his speed was fast enough, he could turn the links into a damage-absorbing network.

There were drawbacks too: he had to bear the enemy’s damage as well, so he needed lightning-fast reactions to sever the links.

He used links to connect others; others used links, and he severed them.

In a link, the skill user could actively break the connection.

As long as he linked Energy Links to five different individuals, the 20 energy points required to summon Crossbowmen would be split at a 50% ratio, leaving him to pay only 0.625 energy points.

The remaining energy would be evenly distributed among the five linked individuals—the first linked bore half, the second bore half of that, and so on down the line.

Life Link could use the same tactic, but with more variables.

There were insurmountable limitations: he could not share damage originating from the other end of the link.

When life or energy loss passed through the link, he had to bear half of it—he could not further split it through another link like nesting dolls.

Linking multiple links to the same person had identical effects but was unfavorable to Chu Danqing.

If he failed to sever the damage transfer in time, he’d suffer the consequences.

One link could only share half the burden, but five could surge to 96.875%—with proper timing, they could function as damage-dealing and counter-damage skills.

Unfortunately, each link could only share 50%, no matter how many were stacked; it could never reach or exceed 100%.

Otherwise, when Chu Danqing cast a skill or took damage, he might not consume energy at all—perhaps even recover energy and life points.

These maneuvers could be applied not only to himself but also to Dabao, enhancing Dabao’s combat efficiency.

"Then there’s the issue of link count and range."

"With my current 5 mental attribute, I can handle five links effortlessly; ten is the limit."

"As for range, it can only be upgraded by improving the skill or through personal development."

"It’s inseparable from mental attribute." Chu Danqing treated these two links as weapons, not mere skills.

"Too bad I can’t afford upgrades—each level-up for these two skills costs me 1,000 Paradise Points."

Chu Danqing had no intention of upgrading; he’d make do with what he had.

Entering the Trial World required purchasing a Language and Script Pack, costing 200 points; he had no detection skills, so he’d need to rent one from Paradise, another 500.

Then the Trial Identity cost another 500 points—otherwise, a blacklisted user would struggle to move in the Trial World.

Just to enter the Trial World, he needed a minimum of 1,200 Paradise Points.

He also needed to activate two permanent permissions: Combat Log and Equipment Camouflage, totaling another 1,000 points.

Combat Log would digitally record all damage he dealt and received.

Equipment Camouflage, as the name suggests, would normalize equipment from different worlds so natives wouldn’t find it jarring.

So they were mandatory.

After calculation, he had only 450 Paradise Points left.

With that, he could buy two to four life-restoring consumables, depending on their effects.

For energy-restoring consumables, he could afford only one.

Energy-restoring consumables were far more expensive than life-restoring ones; Chu Danqing couldn’t understand why the pricing was like this.

With his plan set, Chu Danqing took Dabao out to shop.

He searched the Adept Plaza, arrived, haggled, and bought.

He acquired three consumables; his Paradise Points dropped by 2,200—the rest couldn’t be touched until after entering the Trial World.

【Minor Healing Potion ×3】

【Type: Consumable】

【Quality: Common】

【Effect: After consumption, restores 15% of life value over 5 seconds; can be consumed in portions for proportional recovery】

Chu Danqing had considered buying another item for permanent contract summoning, but it wasn’t cost-effective at this stage.

Better to choose summoning equipment or items—save on cultivation resources, and sell them off if unused to recoup costs.

Cultivating a summon required resources too.

If Dabao hadn’t eaten the Cave Beast Priest, Chu Danqing would’ve had to supply all the resources himself.

For the remaining time, Chu Danqing never left his personal room: mornings were spent reinforcing Summoning knowledge and guiding Dabao in mastering Blood Fury, afternoons were devoted to refining Life Link and Energy Link.

He didn’t worry about energy points—he had three Energy Links on Dabao, who bore 87.5% of his energy consumption.

Dabao recovered 1 Blood Fury point per minute, faster than Chu Danqing.

——

Twenty days passed; the rest period ended, and Paradise sent a reminder.

【Probationary Adept will enter the Trial World to execute Trial Mission in one hour; prepare accordingly】

Paradise was considerate—giving a one-hour heads-up.

Chu Danqing stretched his body; he had nothing to prepare, only silently severed the Life Link and Energy Link attached to Dabao.

One hour was enough for Dabao to recover.

"Skills can be self-upgraded, but the efficiency—" Chu Danqing’s gaze settled on his two linking skills.

【Life Link LV.2: Links one target within 11 meters, jointly bears 50% of life damage, consumes 1 energy point per minute, no cooldown】

【Energy Link LV.2: Links one target within 11 meters, jointly bears 50% of energy damage, consumes 1 energy point per minute, no cooldown】

After twenty days of contemplation, he’d only leveled up once—the link range increased by one meter; further levels couldn’t be achieved through mere study.

Like his two basic summoning skills, they remained unchanged.

But Chu Danqing wasn’t without gains—the saying “reviewing the old to learn the new” was no empty phrase.

(End of Chapter)