CHAPTER 102: CHAPTER 102: SPIRIT VEIN UPGRADE (SECOND RELEASE)

EDITOR: DRAGON BOAT TRANSLATION

["Armor Cloak," Blue Stripes Red Card. Effect: Doubles the layers of one’s own Armor.

"Pain Strike+," Gray Stripes Red Card. Effect: An active Skill with a 60-second cooldown. Each cast can inflict a critical hit on the target, and it will always strike the target’s weak spot.

Finally, came the Super-Evolution Card—

"Human Mimicry," Colorless Card. Effect: Allows Living Beings to mimic humans, increases Attribute cap to human levels, enables free transformation between ’True Form’ and ’Humanoid Form,’ with each transformation taking 10 seconds and a cooldown of 12 hours.

Ren Suo had never seen this type of Super-Evolution Card—the Colorless Card—before.

Without a doubt, "Human Mimicry," while seemingly decent, didn’t represent overwhelming strength in the natural world due to its human-level Attribute cap. If there were Super-Evolution Cards like "Tiger Mimicry" or "Whale Mimicry," then the Attribute cap would truly break through the sky. However, such beast states wouldn’t be more useful in the city than the Pangolin. Thus, Ren Suo didn’t hesitate much before choosing "Human Mimicry."

"Human Mimicry" didn’t offer much to the Pangolin at first—it only increased the upper limit of its potential. In the future, Ren Suo could continue to strengthen the Pangolin’s abilities when choosing cards like "Claws and Teeth" and "Consolidation" that increase Attributes.

Moreover, Ren Suo had vaguely discovered the terrifying aspect of the Pangolin: Its Physical Condition was roughly equivalent to a robust human athlete, but its body was so small. This indicated its reaction speed and unit Force were far beyond human capabilities; breaching a concrete wall would pose no problem at all.

The next few Evolution Cards weren’t worth mentioning, but there was one common Evolution Card that turned out to be practical—

"Cold-blooded Animal," Gray Stripes Red Card. Effect: Allows homeothermic animals to switch to having an Adjustable Temperature. As Adjustable Temperature animals, they maintain absolute equilibrium with the environmental temperature and, when resting in warm places, their Recovery ability is enhanced by 30%.

With "Filth Concealment" and "Cold-blooded Animal," Ren Suo finally felt at ease letting the Pangolin continue to open the Mysterious Country’s Spirit Treasury. If that still doesn’t work, I can only resort to using "Afterimage" to escape. But "Afterimage" should only be used as a last resort. Once "Afterimage" is deployed, the personnel near the Heritage Volcano will definitely sense something amiss. I don’t want the Pangolin to take the risk without being certain of success.

The Pangolin effortlessly jumped over a 3-meter-tall colored steel barrier. The screen displayed many scholars, personnel in Black Body Armor, soldiers, and rows of tents filled with various types of equipment, resembling a temporary research facility.

They hadn’t set foot on the Heritage Volcano to disturb its pristine, white jade-like surface; rather, they observed from behind a sealed perimeter outside.

The Pangolin stealthily approached the edge of the Spiritual Energy column. Time was fast-forwarded 12 hours, completing the second opening. This was followed by another Red Lotus aurora descending over Sky Capital.

The temporary research facility was in an uproar. Many instruments were screeching, and the personnel in Black Body Armor and scholars all gathered around the Heritage Volcano. The Pangolin took this opportunity to slip away, returning to the Imperial College Museum to continue drawing power from the steles.

On the third, fourth, and fifth openings, the temporary research facility at the Heritage Volcano expanded in size, with more instruments. Yet, they were still unaware that the bursts of Spiritual Energy from the Heritage Volcano were related to a small animal.

It seemed as though many foreign visitors had arrived in Sky Capital, lingering around the tourist viewing area outside the Heritage Volcano. Apparently, the Red Lotus aurora events had become a rare and marvelous astronomical phenomenon within just a few days, drawing attention from other nations.

During the last opening, Ren Suo rubbed his palms together, watching as the Pangolin hid in the noon sunlight and touched the Spiritual Energy column of the Heritage Volcano.

「Fast-forward 12 hours!」

The scene shifted from day to night. When the fast-forward ended, it wasn’t red light that filled the screen.

All that could be seen was Radiance; looking up, the sky was filled with Meteors!

From inside the Heritage Volcano, strands of brilliant light, like golden sand, scattered in all directions from its crater. The entire sky was rendered as bright as day, like a spreading wildfire—the Inheritance manifested!

"You have opened the Mysterious Country’s Spirit Treasury."

"Mysterious Country Spirit Vein Level +1."

"Increased Awakening chance for Mysterious Country commoners."

"Cultivators practicing in the Mysterious Country’s Spirit Treasury during its opening are highly likely to receive the Spirit Vein’s gift."

"The world’s Spiritual Energy has slightly increased."

"Due to the opening of the Mysterious Country’s Spirit Treasury, eleven other Spirit Treasuries on Earth will also automatically open in thirty days."

"As an opening reward, you have gained 15 Evolution Counts."

A stream of information swept past. Then the entire scene came to a halt, with the ticking hours, minutes, and seconds in the top-right corner completely paused.

"You have gained one exclusive Trump Card Evolution!"

In the scene, the Heritage Volcano, erupting with brilliant golden Radiance, slowly shrank. It transformed into a painting and merged into a crimson-colored card back.

"You have acquired the Crimson Ace Card: Immortal Legacy."

The Crimson Ace Card rotated to reveal its front: an arm drenched in fresh blood with its right fist clenched. Blood dripped from its wounds onto neat pages, transforming into deep, blood-red text.

"Immortal Legacy: Active Skill. Devouring the Spirit of the World allows the user to bestow an Inheritance upon a Living Being whose will is far weaker than their own. The recipient of the Inheritance gains all the Evolution Counts of the bestower but does not inherit their Evolution effects (Crimson Ace Cards are always fully inherited).

Based on the number of Evolution Counts, the recipient can select a number of Evolution Cards equal to their total Evolution Counts from a pool three times that size (i.e., select X cards from a pool of 3X cards). This Skill has a cooldown of 72 hours."

There’s no choice; the Trump Card Evolution from the Mysterious Country’s Spirit Treasury seems to be "Immortal Legacy."

But Ren Suo had no time to delve deeper. This Trump Card Evolution was different from the others; the other Evolutions were known only to the Pangolin. However, when this Trump Card Evolution occurred, a crimson Meteor shot out directly from the Heritage Volcano—DUANG!—hitting the concealed Pangolin.

This is too obvious!

He immediately selected "Afterimage," and the Pangolin turned into a wisp of smoke in the night, bolting outside!

"Catch it!"

The Pangolin was already extremely fast, but the other personnel in Black Body Armor were also incredibly quick!

Several of them drew their guns while running, shooting at the Pangolin with astonishing precision despite being on the move!

The members of the Sky Capital Strategic Bureau are too strong, aren’t they?!

It wasn’t easy getting that Armor Evolution! But the 60 layers of Armor on the Pangolin couldn’t possibly withstand bullets—they shattered in an instant!

"Stop right there!"

Although I have no idea why they’re trying to convince a Pangolin to surrender, I have no intention whatsoever of reasoning with them. After all, ’those not of our kind are sure to be of a different mind.’ I understand this principle. Even if I let the Pangolin surrender, the Sky Capital authorities would most likely detain it temporarily until they uncover the truth behind the Heritage Volcano.

But the current problem is that I can’t afford to let the Pangolin waste so much time in the game. Because, after I opened the Mysterious Country’s Spirit Treasury, the Combat Power data of the World’s Strongest in the top-right corner skyrocketed by more than 10,000! It’s now 61,500! I finally understand what the game meant when it hinted that ’Opening the Spirit Treasury would lead to a series of unpredictable consequences.’ By Opening the Spirit Treasury, the Character I control can indeed gain a significant increase in strength, but the World’s Strongest also benefits from it!

Devouring the Spirit of the World, in its quest for the Source of Spiritual Qi to plunder Spiritual Energy, is not just an act of plunder but also one of pioneering a new source!