Chapter 8: Steel Flame Finger

At this moment, the Rock Melt Beast by the boulder had already noticed Su Yuan.

Su Yuan suppressed his other thoughts and carefully observed the Rock Melt Beast.

"Judging from the scattered Star Power fluctuations, this Rock Melt Beast should be at Star Apprentice Ninth Rank. It might be tricky for other Eighth Rank Star Apprentices, but..."

Su Yuan drew his E-3 model long blade, held his breath, and stared intently at the Rock Melt Beast.

"With my current Six Dimensions attributes, a Star Apprentice Ninth Rank Rock Melt Beast is nothing to worry about!"

Star Power slowly flowed through his body. Pressing down with his foot, Su Yuan charged forward with his blade.

The irritable Rock Melt Beast, already displeased about someone intruding on its territory, grew even more enraged upon sensing Su Yuan's attack intent. It swung its arms and legs, taking large strides toward him.

At a distance of two to three hundred meters, within just a few seconds, the two would clash.

As they drew closer, the Rock Melt Beast became clearer in Su Yuan's eyes. Although its body, formed of black rock, was short, it was firm and solid, with faint, flowing red light beneath its surface, hinting at immense energy lying dormant.

At that moment, the Rock Melt Beast clenched its fist, a large amount of Star Power suddenly gathering along its right arm and rapidly charging into its fist.

"Here it comes, Black Rock Punch!"

Silver light shimmered faintly in Su Yuan's eyes as he prepared to sidestep out of the way with a nimble movement.

But the Rock Melt Beast seemed determined not to let Su Yuan evade. With a raging roar, its forward charge suddenly accelerated, leaping to Su Yuan's side in an instant. A massive, boulder-like fist swung down with a powerful gust of wind—fast and heavy!

Just as the punch was about to land on Su Yuan, a flash of silver light erupted, and Su Yuan vanished from his original position as if he had teleported.

Missing its punch, the Rock Melt Beast displayed a moment of surprise on its face. It quickly stopped its forward movement in just a few steps but suddenly sensed some activity behind itself.

Startled, the Rock Melt Beast spun around hastily. However, as soon as it turned its head, a glint of cold light rapidly expanded in its vision!

"Slash!"

Su Yuan deftly stabbed his blade, striking precisely at the Rock Melt Beast's face.

For this particular target, Su Yuan had already done thorough research. Compared to its hard limbs and body, the face of the Rock Melt Beast was notably more vulnerable.

Now, with a single powerful strike, even though the Rock Melt Beast's whole body was shielded by the "Solid Rock" Talent Buff, its frailer face couldn't withstand the force. With minimal resistance, Su Yuan's blade pierced straight through its head!

One hit, one kill!

The Rock Melt Beast's body froze instantly; its arms fell limp, lifeless. Shortly thereafter, the firelight in its eyes dimmed and faded away as it collapsed to the ground.

"On Blue Sea Star, even the intelligence of Star Beasts isn't low..."

Su Yuan, withdrawing his blade, quietly reflected on the fallen Rock Melt Beast.

During the fight earlier, the Rock Melt Beast initially held back and didn't unleash its full speed, abruptly accelerating when using Black Rock Punch.

*Although it wasn't a complex maneuver, it showed that even the lowest-level Star Apprentice Level Star Beasts possess a certain degree of combat consciousness.*

"Furthermore, the shortcomings of Entry-level Instant Teleportation are certainly troublesome—slow casting time, noticeable consumption, limited range, and a roughly seven-second interval between uses...

The nearly one-second casting time, in particular, is really unbearable. Preparation needs to be done in advance.

Still, this is only the Entry-level Instant Teleportation skill. Once it's upgraded to Skilled or Master level, it should improve significantly."

*It wasn't as though Su Yuan hadn't wanted to improve Instant Teleportation earlier; he had tried before. But the result showed that with his current 60 Star Dust Points, it wasn't even enough for a single enhancement.*

How much Star Dust is required to enhance a blue skill remains uncertain until he hunts more Star Cards and decomposes them.

Bringing his focus back to the present, Su Yuan began cutting into the carcass of the Rock Melt Beast with his long blade.

"The Rock Melt Beast's Star Core should be around the chest area... Got it!"

Su Yuan sliced open the chest of the Rock Melt Beast and extracted a black-and-red core about the size of a duck egg. He held it in his hand for closer inspection.

"A Star Apprentice Ninth Rank Rock Melt Beast with E-level Star Power Talent—this Star Core indeed contains Star Power that is noticeably stronger than that of the Sixth or Seventh Stage Star Beasts encountered earlier."

Gripping the Star Core, Su Yuan channeled his spiritual power, preparing to extract a Star Card: "Hopefully, I'll draw Steel Flame Finger..."

For Star Card Masters, Star Cards are randomly extracted from Star Cores. Among white-level skills, the probabilities are identical. Therefore, Su Yuan currently had a fifty-percent chance of extracting Black Rock Impact from this Rock Melt Beast's Star Core.

If green or even blue skills were present, however, the higher the grade, the lower the probability of extraction.

Of course, there are a rare few Star Card Masters with unique talents or secret techniques that increase the likelihood of extracting certain Star Cards. These individuals are referred to as specialized "Card Drawing Masters."

As Su Yuan concentrated his spiritual power for extraction, the dormant system within his body suddenly stirred.

"Ding! A Star Core with multiple skills detected for the first time. Reminder: Would you like to use the extraction function?"

"This Star Core contains the following skills: 1. Black Rock Punch, 2. Steel Flame Finger. You can consume 10 Star Dust Points to select one skill for targeted extraction."

...

"10 Star Dust Points for targeted extraction?"

"To randomly generated Star Cards from a Star Core, and now you're saying I can choose directly?"

Su Yuan was momentarily stunned—this was more "Card Drawing Master" than a Card Drawing Master!

Card Drawing Masters could only slightly modify the probabilities. This system, however, allowed him to outright pick any option, as long as he paid extra Star Dust!

Even among skills of the same grade, there could be significant differences in quality.

Take Black Rock Punch and Steel Flame Finger, for instance—though both are relatively ordinary white cards, the gap between low-tier green cards, blue Master cards, or even Epic purple cards, and top-tier skills can be astronomical!

*Suppressing a surge of excitement in his heart, Su Yuan resolved to put this to the test.*

"System, extract Steel Flame Finger!"

As soon as the command was issued, Su Yuan's Star Dust Points instantly dropped by 10. Simultaneously, bright blue starlight dust coursed down his arm into the Star Core.

The Star Power within the Star Core surged violently. Brilliant black-and-red light radiated outward, pulsating across its surface.

Within mere seconds, the core began to disperse and vanish, leaving behind a quiet white card depicting the Rock Melt Beast resting in Su Yuan's hand.

On the card, the Rock Melt Beast extended its right index finger, glowing fiery red and encircled by wisps of red flame!

[Steel Flame Finger]

[Attribute: Fire]

[Grade: Ordinary]

[Introduction: Converts Star Power into fire element, channels it into fingers for a penetrating strike with burn effects]

"It's really Steel Flame Finger—time to capitalize on this discovery!"

*Su Yuan wasn't thrilled about Steel Flame Finger itself but rather about confirming the system's "extraction" functionality.*

*This ability to choose Star Core skills could prove invaluable—not only as a moneymaking tool but also as a means to optimize growth efficiently and expedite his progression.*

"Let's use [Steel Flame Finger] right away."

Su Yuan gripped the [Steel Flame Finger] Star Card and infused spiritual power into it, activating the card.

Moments later, the [Steel Flame Finger] card vanished from his hand, transforming into a small, white star that orbited the Azure Sky Phoenix Soul Card.

Su Yuan raised his right hand. At his command, the Steel Flame Finger card glowed brightly beside the Soul Card. In an instant, a surge of red flames wrapped around his index finger, emanating intense energy.

Surveying his surroundings, Su Yuan walked over to the dark gray boulder the Rock Melt Beast had been leaning against. Extending his finger, he jabbed at the stone.

"Steel Flame Finger!"

The sensation was comparable to poking into charcoal; Su Yuan felt a slight bit of resistance as he created a finger-sized scorched hole in the stone—without even a single crack on the surrounding surface.

After delivering this attack, the fire-element Star Power on Su Yuan's fingertip was completely spent.

"Such potent damage!"

*Su Yuan himself was startled by the unexpectedly overwhelming power of Steel Flame Finger.*

*The small hole he created might seem unimpressive at first glance, but it demonstrated the highly concentrated nature of this skill's force, with no energy dispersed. Previously, Su Yuan could only manage to litter the rock's surface with fractures and breaks.*

In truth, Steel Flame Finger is a strength-enhanced close-combat physical attack skill, with its power influenced by strength and Star Power.

And ever since his awakening, Su Yuan's C-level Strength and Star Power Talents far surpassed ordinary individuals.

No matter the type of skill—whether melee or ranged, physical or energy-based, offensive or defensive—Su Yuan's Six Dimensions of all C-level attributes allowed him to unleash their maximum potential.

Su Yuan assessed the Star Power within his body. Overall, the consumption wasn't too severe; in peak condition, he should be able to use it multiple times.

Nodding in satisfaction, Su Yuan immediately activated the system and allocated points.

"System, enhance Steel Flame Finger three times."

After using the extraction function, Su Yuan still had 50 Star Dust Points left, enough to spend 30 points enhancing Steel Flame Finger to Master level.

Blue starlight dust materialized within his body and entered the mini [Steel Flame Finger] Star Card. The card flashed white three times, advancing to Master level.

At this moment, Su Yuan's system panel displayed the following information:

[Su Yuan]

[Level: Star Apprentice Eighth Stage]

[Soul Card: Azure Sky Phoenix]

[Grade: Master]

[Species: Phoenix]

[Element: Space]

[Talent: Azure Sky, increases power of space-element skills by 20%]

[Six Dimensions: Strength C, Agility C, Defense C, Constitution C, Spirit C, Star Power C]

[Soul Skill: Instant Teleportation (Master): Entry-level]

[Skill: Steel Flame Finger (Ordinary): Master]

[Star Dust: 20]

"Master level already…" Su Yuan marveled once more at the sheer potency of the system, "Getting Steel Flame Finger first thing today was a blessing. I'll rest tonight, then start tomorrow by searching for more skills and upgrading both Steel Flame Finger and Instant Teleportation!"