Chapter 163: Silver Horn Evolution

The alluring atmosphere didn't last long; as Yue Li gradually came to, she tilted her head again, watching Qin Chuan stare blankly at the hand that had slipped around her waist, and a complex emotion suddenly welled up in her heart.

She felt shy, yet for some unknown reason a hint of excitement lay hidden within her shyness.

"I'll be more careful." Yue Li murmured softly, "You also need to seize the time."

"I know." Qin Chuan replied, hearing her, and came back to his senses.

The super lucky time of a full hour that Yue Li had painstakingly won for him must be put to good use.

Merely influencing the transfer of rare-type resources is still not enough.

He had prepared in advance the nine pieces of Silver Horn's Starlight equipment materials and the fine forging stone for this achievement store's attribute, all set to attempt crafting now.

The difficulty of obtaining a lucky critical strike during crafting is indeed high; so far, besides Yue Li, the entire Yan Huang Country seems to have only two cases.

You should know, many formal-level players are stuck on rare-type resources, yet Starlight equipment was already crafted early on, and this number is not small.

However, under the triple luck of the prayer, Yue Li's three crafting attempts all succeeded in gaining lucky critical strikes, so Qin Chuan's crafting this time should theoretically also obtain one.

For him, this is the first time.

Shui Hua and Ice Cream, who had previously crafted Starlight 9th Tier equipment, could only later think of ways to see if they could improve it.

He pressed confirm and dropped the hammer.

In the bursting light, a helmet-shaped piece of equipment appeared before Qin Chuan's eyes; compared to Silver Horn's current bone armor helmet, this helmet completely sealed off the mouth and nose area, its surface covered with dark black patterns, and above the head there was no longer a single horn but double horns.

【Crafting Success】

【This craft triggered a lucky critical strike, affix level +1】

【Congratulations, player successfully crafted Starlight equipment: Gloommare Skullhelm, obtaining equipment affix: Darkmare (Starlight 10th)】

【Darkmare (Starlight 10th): Attribute Might Increase 60%】

A fairly ordinary Starlight equipment, with no special variation in its affix.

But its genuine strength is enough to let Silver Horn rise by a great leap.

Time quickly arrived at the half‑hour mark; Qin Chuan, right on schedule, unhesitatingly activated the Sundial Second Blessing.

After seeing the location of one of the resources clearly, he smiled.

Just a distance of a few hundred meters.

Is this what maximized luck looks like?

In less than a minute, Shui Hua fetched that resource back, and Silver Horn's breakthrough officially began after Qin Chuan completed the inlay of the dual formations.

Accompanied by the intertwining advancement and evolution formations, dazzling light burst forth around Silver Horn; its slender body grew ever more robust as power rose steadily, and when the light faded, a spirit beast the size of a lion appeared before the companions.

It had a feline physique, its four claws more sharp and sturdy, blazing with black light flames; the tip of its tail bore a spine‑shaped tail ring, and the snowy‑white tail ring likewise surged with black light flames.

The original helmet was replaced by the Gloommare Skullhelm; the fluffy single ear and the cracks around the mouth and nose vanished, causing its appearance to gradually shift from a cat to an entirely new species, and its dangerousness rose sharply as a result.

After maxing out the upgrades, Qin Chuan looked at Silver Horn's brand‑new panel.

【Spirit Beast Species: Nightmare Beast】

【Spirit Beast Attribute: Dark】

【Spirit Beast Level: Elite Tier Lv30】 【Advancement】

【Spirit Beast Trait: Night Dark Ruffian】

【Spirit Beast Base Value: 10000】

【Spirit Beast Affection: 85%】

【Spirit Beast Skills: Star‑Darkflame (Passive), Star‑Shadow Erosion Body (Active), Star‑Dark Shadow Escape (Active), Star‑Devouring Shadow Poison (Active), Star‑Desolate Darkness Moment (Active)】 【Equipment Affix: 【Darkmare (Starlight 10th): Attribute Might Increase 60%】】

【Current Affix Use/Cooldown: 5 minutes/15 minutes】

【Spirit Beast Introduction: Dark Spirit Beast Nightmare Beast, evolved from Shadowflame Cat, the pale skullhelm seals terrifying pure darkness power.】

The skullhelm seals terrifying pure darkness power…

Looking at this puzzling description, Qin Chuan couldn't help but glance again at Silver Horn's new form.

Afterward, he first opened the detailed description of the new trait.

【Night Dark Ruffian: In a dark environment, active skills cancel pre‑ and post‑cast】

Seeing this description, Qin Chuan froze for a moment, and after grasping its meaning he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

A spirit beast's active skill requires manual activation, and when casting the same skill twice in succession there is a certain casting interval between them.

This casting interval is not a skill cooldown, but rather the sum of the skill's pre‑cast and post‑cast times, which varies depending on the skill.

For example, Shui Hua's Torrent Break has a very short casting interval, almost allowing continuous use, whereas Ice Cream's Breaking Frost Slash has a longer interval, making sustained consecutive slashes difficult.

Among the three spirit beasts currently, the longest casting interval belongs to Ice Cream's Frost Trace Search.

This skill has no cooldown limit, but the interval between consecutive uses is as long as two seconds.

And Silver Horn's two attack skills, perhaps because they deal true damage, have considerable pre‑ and post‑cast times.

Canceling this pre‑ and post‑cast would be enough to boost Silver Horn's strength by a major step.

Qin Chuan then turned his gaze to Silver Horn's transmuted skills.

【Star‑Darkflame: Passive skill, can switch to Darkflame form at any time, gaining 15% damage reduction.】

【Star‑Shadow Erosion Body: Active skill, using massive shadow power to erode the target's shadow, dealing true damage that ignores defense and applying the 【Breach Armor】 effect.】

【Breach Armor: Reduce target's defense by 50%, lasting 2 seconds】

【Star‑Dark Shadow Escape: Active skill, opening shadow space within shadows, while inside the shadow space one can conceal aura and gain 20% damage reduction, and can jump between different shadows.】

【Star‑Devouring Shadow Poison: Active skill, condensing mutated shadow power, any target that contacts it will receive true damage that ignores defense and continuously have its defense reduced.】

【Star‑Desolate Darkness Moment: Active skill, centering on oneself to temporarily create a certain range of dark environment and gain 20% damage reduction, lasting 5 seconds.】

Qin Chuan: "!!!"

The Star‑Darkflame effect hasn't changed much; damage reduction increased by 5%.

But the four active skills bring too much of a surprise.

First, it is the armor‑breaking effect added by Star·Shadow Erosion Body.

Silver Horn, which inherently deals true damage, does not need this.

But other teammates without true damage need it! This means Silver Horn can indirectly increase teammates' output.

Similarly, there is also the altered Star·Shadow‑Devouring Poison.

The effect of continuously reducing defense is, in the short term, not as good as 【Armor Break】; but if the duration is long enough, theoretically it could directly reduce the target's defense to zero, turning all attacks into true damage.

In the past, Shadow Escape could only hide within a single shadow; to move to another shadow, there were only two methods: first, if the two shadows overlap; second, Silver Horn emerges from the shadow and enters another shadow.

Now, Star·Shadow Escape adds the ability to jump between different shadows, greatly increasing its mobility.

What surprises Qin Chuan the most is also the new skill Star·Silent Darkness Moment.

It perfectly matches Silver Horn's entirely new characteristics. —(End of chapter)