Chapters [57 - 58]

Chapter 57. Return

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"Brother, you're finally home!" Xin Er squealed.

At No.7D101, as Lin Huang pushed against the door of his house, a pink figure ran into him.

It was 11 o'clock at night and Lin Huang thought that Lin Xin would have fallen asleep at that hour. He never expected to see her as soon as he opened the door.

She was wearing pink pajamas with pictures of cartoon puppies printed all over it.

"Why haven't you slept yet? It's getting late." Lin Huang asked with a stern face, pinching her cheeks.

"You told me through the communication device that you're coming back late at night. I wanted to sleep and check if you're back when I'm awake but I was too excited to sleep…" Lin Xin said as she hugged Lin Huang tightly, afraid that he would leave her again. "Did you know that you scared me to death when I heard the news of the monster horde? I used the Emperor's Heart ring to call you but I couldn't reach you," she scolded, pouting as she did.

"The signal might have been interrupted due to the monsters," Lin Huang shook his head and smiled. He switched the topic and asked, "Oh right, I got you a gift," he said. He then took out a video stone from the storage space and passed it to Lin Xin.

"What's this?" Lin Xin asked curiously.

"Yi Zheng recorded it for me. There's his signature behind it," Lin Huang said as he turned over the video stone. Yi Zheng's name was written on it as well as a date.

"Yi Zheng, the guy who is on the Gold Hunter Board?" Lin Xin's eyes brightened as she heard his name.

"Yes, you're right," Lin Huang replied and nodded his head.

Lin Xin immediately grabbed the video stone from Lin Huang and ran towards the stairs.

"Sleep early after you've finished watching it. You have school tomorrow!" Lin Huang immediately shouted after her.

"Yes, I know!" she answered.

"This girl…" he mumbled under his breath.

Lin Huang shook his head and smiled. He knew the girls who were still studying in the Hunter Reserve College admired the young and good-looking guys who were listed on the boards. It was the same as girls who admired handsome actors and singers on Earth.

Yi Zheng was a Gold Hunter in Division7 who ranked at the eleventh position on the board. He was handsome and very protective of his sister. Many girls admired him and he was even proclaimed as The Nation's Brother. This was why Lin Huang requested a signature and the video stone for Lin Xin.

It had been one day since the incident of the monster attack at the Snowy Mountain Town. Due to the fact that Yi Yeyu's green wooden door was destroyed, Lin Huang took half a day to arrive at the No.7C87 foothold by means of an eagle. As soon as he arrived, it took him quite a long time to settle his registration the Hunter Association. After he was done with work, the sky was dark. Yi Yeyu and Yi Zheng then treated the young people to dinner.

Yi Yeyu's memory regarding the damaged green wooden door had been altered. According to her, it turned out that the green wooden door was destroyed by the combat power of the two transcendents. It then left her body on its own into the air.

After having dinner, Lin Huang did not stay any longer at the foothold and straight away headed back home on an eagle.

After Lin Xin left, Lin Huang then took a shower and went back to his room.

He could not fall asleep. He just stared at the ceiling as he lay in bed. It was as if he had something to do but just could not remember what it was.

"Xiao Hei, please rearrange the card pieces I have and combine those that can be integrated," he instructed the card.

"You have 3657 card pieces. They will now be rearranged and integrated," it replied.

"Integration of card pieces is complete," it responded after a mere few seconds.

"You obtained a Monster Card - Lion-Headed Troll (Normal) x3"

"You obtained a Monster Card – Ox Devil (Normal) x3"

"600 card pieces deducted from your collection. The remaining card pieces are insufficient to integrate into a complete Monster Card," it said after completing the processes.

"Duplicate cards are found. Do you want to perform Card Engulfs to get a skill upgrade?" Xiao Hei inquired.

"Engulf them," he ordered.

Lin Huang decided without hesitation. Skills could not be extracted repeatedly from duplicate cards and he could only summon one monster at a time due to his summoning authority. Therefore, it was not important to keep duplicate cards. He chose to carry out the Card Engulf process to get a skill upgrade. Therefore, skills that he extracted would be skills that had been previously upgraded.

"Card Engulf completed. Lion-Headed Troll obtained a skill upgrade. Ox Devil obtained a skill upgrade," Xiao Hei said.

Lin Huang launched both cards. Both of the cards were a white-crystal color with the photo of the monster on the front. He turned the card around and checked the card's information.

"Monster Card"

"Rarity: Normal"

"Name of Monster: Lion-Headed Troll"

"Type of Monster: Demon"

"Combat Level: Iron-level 3-star"

"Skill 1: Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate)"

"Skill 2: Horizontal Slash (Level-3)"

"Summon Authority: Activated"

"Card Remarks: Useless"

...

"Monster Card"

"Rarity: Normal"

"Name of Monster: Ox Devil"

"Type of Monster: Mutant"

"Combat Level: Iron-level 3-star"

"Skill 1: Champion Strength (Intermediate)"

"Skill 2: Brutal Dash (Level-3)"

"Summon Authority: Activated"

"Card Remarks: Useless"

...

"Xiao Hei, I would like to extract a skill," Lin Huang gave a new order after reading the stats.

"Skill extraction completed. You have gained two new skills, "Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate)" and "Champion Strength (Intermediate)," Xiao Hei replied.

"You have one more Monster Card (Sand Monster) to be engulfed. Would you like to carry out a Card Engulf sequence?" Xiao Hei continued.

"Engulf it," Lin Huang said and nodded his head. He only kept the Sand Monster in the first place as he needed him to watch the night. Since he had other Monster Cards now, it would be useless to keep a monster of the same type as Tyrant.

"Card Engulf is completed. Sand Monster (Tyrant) obtained a skill upgrade," Xiao Hei said.

Lin Huang looked at the message describing the Sand Monster. Immense Strength had been upgraded from a beginner level to an intermediate level.

After the integration of cards and the card engulfment processes, he launched his Exclusive Card to check on his personal status.

"Host: Lin Huang"

"Gender: Male"

"Age: 15"

"Combat Strength: None (Exceeded assessment limit)"

"Skill 1: Blood Power (Level-2)"

"Skill 2: Great Sword Scriptures (Sword skill)

"Skill 3: Robust (Intermediate)"

"Skill 4: Spectral Snowsteps（Body Movement Skill）"

"Skill 5: Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate)"

"Skill 6: Immense Strength (Intermediate)"

"Summon authority: Activated"

"Available Number of Summons: 1"

"Remark: No matter how many skills you have, it could not change the fact that you're weak."

He ignored Xiao Hei's last remark and looked at the two additional skills.

"Magic Eye Deterrence (Intermediate): The pupil of its eye exudes a threatening vibe. It has a probability of 80% that it would deter the target when exchanging gazes with each other, causing the target to go into a trance. (Such an effect would be rendered useless if it were applied to creatures that were two levels above or are stronger than the user."

"Immense Strength (Beginner): Passive skill. Strength gain increased four times."

These two skills were the new skills extracted from the Lion-Headed Troll Card and Ox Devil Card.

On the other hand, Lin Huang discovered that his passive skill 'Robust' had been upgraded to an intermediate level. He asked, "Xiao Hei, could getting a skill upgrade for the Monster Card lead to an upgrade of personal skills?"

"Yes, once the Monster Card is upgraded, the host's skill extracted from the Monster Card will be upgraded as well. If the Monster Card disappears, the extracted skills would disappear as well."

"The Monster Card would disappear?!" Lin Huang was stunned.

"Yes, if the monster died, the Monster Card would disappear and the skills extracted from the Monster Card will be removed," Xiao Hei explained.

This was not what Lin Huang expected. He thought that it was just a card game. If the summoned monster died in a battle, it would be recalled back to its card and he would be unable to summon it for a short period of time. He had never thought that the Monster Card and the extracted skill would disappear if the monster died. He realized that he was not playing a card game and he was in the real world instead. Just like what happened on Earth, you would be forgotten as soon as you were dead…

"Check the remaining Function Cards," Lin Huang inquired of Xiao Hei, as he remembered the other the nine cards he was rewarded for the rank-crossing kill. He had been rewarded a Flawless Card upon the completion of his mission to become a Reserve Hunter.

"You have Advance Card x1, Double Card x3, Provisional Transformation Card x3, Mission Card x1, Treasure Card x1, Flawless Card x1."

Lin Huang ignored the Mission Card and launched the two unfamiliar cards.

"Treasure Card: After using this card, it would lead the user to the nearest location of a piece of treasure. It includes mineral ores, burial grounds, virtual caves and more. It is only valid for one month after activation of the card."

"Flawless Card: Using this card could replenish his body for once. All of the hidden problems in his body could be healed, including Life Columns, Life Wheel, and blood vessels. "

"There is a time limit for the Treasure Card. I'm quite busy now so I should just put it on hold first. The Flawless Card is a very useful card. My Life Wheel has been repaired and there shouldn't be any problems with my body. However, there's something wrong with Bai's blood vessels. He is easily affected by the septic divisor. If Bai used it, he would not be easily affected by the septic divisor anymore," Lin Huang thought and summoned Bai.

Bai sat quietly at the edge of the bed, looking at Lin Huang. Lin Huang got up and took out the Flawless Card. He crushed the card and a layer of golden pieces surrounded his fingertips. He tapped his finger in between Bai's eyebrows.

Bai's body was then shrouded in a golden aura as if he was being wrapped in a golden cocoon.

After a while, the glow faded. Bai's wings extended automatically, turning a copper color. Lin Huang checked the messages, and it showed no changes. However, he knew that Bai's Blood Power could have healed. Otherwise, the color of the Blood-powered Wings would not have changed.

"We should try it with septic divisor when we are free," Lin Huang said to Bai.

Lin Huang then recalled Bai and he jumped back in bed.

He started to feel sleepy after a short while and could finally satisfy the tiredness and fatigue he felt. He fell asleep almost immediately.

_ _ _ _ _End_ _ _ _ _

Chapter 58. Choosing The Life Seed

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The next morning, Lin Xin got out of bed and found Lin Huang was still fast asleep. She was afraid to wake him up, so she silently crept back to her room, and got ready. She did not even eat breakfast, afraid that any noise in the kitchen might wake him. She tiptoed quietly and after washing up, she left for school.

It was 12 o'clock in the afternoon when Lin Huang finally woke up. He stretched his arms, feeling that the tiredness from the night before all gone. He jumped out of bed to start the day.

After changing his clothes and washing up, he rushed to the kitchen on the first floor.

There was sufficient food and drinks in the refrigerator for him to have a hearty meal. Obviously, Lin Xin had bought them not long ago.

Lin Huang felt odd when he saw the refrigerator in this world as it did not use electricity as a source of power but it used a frozen spinel instead. Also, it used a special type of skeleton-like material as a substitute for the insulating material. Its appearance looked like a single cabinet fridge on Earth.

He took out two eggs from the fridge and leftovers from the day before. He then cooked some fried rice with eggs for himself.

There were many types of homebred birds in this world, more than on Earth. Considering only those that were sold and available in the markets, there were more than 20 types. If wild monsters were considered, there were around 280 types of birds that were included in human recipes.

After finishing the plate of fried rice, Lin Huang washed the pots and went back to his room. He started to carefully read messages that were with regards to Life Seeds.

As a Reserve Hunter, Lin Huang was provided with only level-1 authority by the Hunter Association. Regarding the information of the Life Seed, he merely had access to the most basic version. Yi Zheng as a Gold Hunter, and he was granted Level-4 authority. Therefore, Lin Huang asked for a copy of the information on Life Seeds.

He recommended several Life Seed notes to Lin Huang as he knew that he was looking for one more suited for himself. Regarding his recommendation, Lin Huang looked at it on the spot. He was not satisfied with it so he decided to look through the information and choose the right one.

He opened the "Life Seed Book" that Yi Zheng sent to him and filtered the qualities for selection again.

"Strengthening System, Sword, Iron-level."

In just a short while, the results, after applying the filters, were shown. There were only around 10 remaining Life Seeds

A sword type Life Seed was quite ordinary.

Lin Huang went through the information listed one by one.

"Name of Life Seed: Sword Swiftness Mastery"

"Talent effects: Beginner level, 20% increment in attack speed. There would be 20% attack speed increment for every upgrade in level. On the third upgrade, there will be an 80% increment in attack speed."

"Method to Obtain: It can be obtained by killing a Rapid Sword Mantis."

…

"Name of Life Seed: Sword Power Mastery"

"Talent effects: Beginner level, 50% increment in strength. There would be 50% attack power increment for every level upgrade. On the third upgrade, there will be a 200% increment in attack power."

"Method to Obtain: It can be obtained by killing a Powerful Combat Puppet."

...…

"Name of Life Seed: Sword Skill Mastery"

"Talent effects: Beginner level, 5% increment in sword skills. There will be a 5% increase in sword skill for every level upgrade. On the third upgrade, there will be a 20% increment in sword skills."

"Method to Obtain: It can be obtained by killing a Single Armed Sword Slave."

...…

Lin Huang continued reading as he walked around. Soon, he finished reading about all of the 13 types of Life Seeds.

Aside from than Sword Skill Mastery, he was not at all satisfied with the rest of them. However, he was actually not that pleased with the Sword Skill Mastery too since it did not have any significant improvement on his personal combat skills. Besides, after three upgrades to achieve gold-rank, the sword mastery skills would have merely increased by 20%. It was still far behind the effects of specialty medicines.

"There does not seem to be any satisfying sword type Life Seeds on iron-level…" Lin Huang thought to himself and frowned. He initially thought that since he had obtained a sword skill of an Epic level, which was "The Great Sword Scripture," if he chose another sword type Life Seed, he could train his sword mastery to perfection. His enemies would barely be a threat him when they had almost similar combat capabilities.

However, the fact was there was not a single iron-level Life Seed that fulfilled his requirements.

"Let's take a look at the Compound Life Seed. If there were no suitable Life Seeds, then I had to choose one of the Firearm Life Seeds." Lin Huang mumbled in a low voice and changed his filtering criteria on the "Life Seed Book".

"Compound Life Seeds, Iron-level."

Soon, the results were shown once again. However, the results available were even fewer than the previous one. There were only two types of Life Seeds.

Although, Lin Huang was not surprised. The Compound Life Seeds and Special Life Seeds usually had the least amount of Life Seeds. Since there were two results available, he took a closer look at the two types.

"Name of Life Seed: Flower Fairy"

"Talent effects: Beginner level, 10% increment in self-healing ability, healing effects increased by 10%, monster affinity increased by 10%. There would be 10% increase in the three abilities for every upgrade in level. On the third upgrade, there will be a 40% increase in all three abilities."

"Method to Obtain: It can be obtained by killing White Fairy Vine."

Lin Huang ignored the Life Seed as soon as he finished reading the description because the abilities were useless and a White Fairy Vine was an extraordinary plant. It was rare and no one knew if it existed in this world, which would make his task rather tedious.

Lin Huang looked at the second result.

"Name of Life Seed: Sly Hands"

"Talent effects: Beginner level, 10% increment in finger agility. Attack speed of both arms increased by 10%, the flexibility of both arms increased by 10%. There would be 10% increase of the three abilities for every upgrade in level. On the third upgrade, there will be a 40% increment in all three abilities."

"Method to Obtain: It can be obtained by killing Six Armed Demon."

Lin Huang was intrigued by the Sly Hand. Despite not directly increasing his combat prowess, this could be effective in assisting him in using swords and firearms.

He was not worried, though. He jotted down notes on a few of the Life Seed descriptions and started to check if there were any better Life Seed of for firearms.

It took him a few minutes to skim through the Firearm Life Seeds and soon, he had made up his mind.

"It's going to be the Sly Hand Life Seed. There was no other Life Seed of an iron-level that is more appropriate than this. Now I should have a look at what the Six-Armed Demon is and where I can find this monster," he thought to himself.

Lin Huang checked the Heart Network page to find information on the Six-Armed Demon.

"Name of Monster: Six-Armed Demon"

"Type of Monster: Undead"

"Combat Level: Iron-level rank-3"

"Common skill: Heart Seizure, Spirit Catcher"

"District distribution: Wangyou Forest, Demon Burial Ground"

"Remark: This is one of the most dangerous iron-level monsters. Not recommended to be chosen as Life Seed prey."

Lin Huang found the image of the monster after reading the description about it.

It was a creature in a red dress, floating in the sky. She had no legs and only six weird-looking arms. Each of her arms was around two meters long with two joints. She had a terribly pale grimaced mask on her face that seemed to also have been doodled on intentionally. Her face was then framed with long, black hair that fell down to her waist. There was no sense of beauty to her at all, only savagery.

She was a ferocious ghost with six long arms.

Lin Huang was speechless at the sight. "If this monster happened to exist on Earth, I've no idea how many people would have been frightened to death…" He said aloud, the thought running a chill down his spine.

_ _ _ _ _End_ _ _ _ _