“Shen Lu,” a mysterious game that descended upon Lan Xing 20 years ago. Only one million spots are available each month. Once you become a player, you gain extraordinary power and rise to the top of society. ...... Ling Yi awakens the Super Mutation System. From consumables to divine artifacts, everything can be mutated! Once the mutation potential reaches perfection, he can even mutate multiple abilities comparable to a “golden finger”! By mutating the “Luck +1” talent, he gains the game-breaking ability—Probability Reversal! A 10% probability flips to 90%! A 0.1% drop rate becomes 99.9% for him! By mutating the “Eye of True Vision,” he gains the game-breaking ability—Eye of Truth! Not only can he see invisible units, but he can also view hidden information about items! In addition to these, there’s “Malice Manifestation,” which turns others’ ill will into voice-over commentary, and the “Intelligence-Lowering Aura,” which continuously reduces enemies’ intelligence… One year later.
Chapter 22: Summoning the Ice Emperor!
Returning from the Stele Space, Ling Yi reappeared at the exact spot where he had entered. [Time Remaining Until Descent: 2 hours 28 minutes] Seeing that there were still two and a half hours left, he didn’t rush to go back to killing monsters. Instead, he jumped down from the cliff and sat down, leaning against it. He opened his backpack and examined the item he’d obtained after breaking the record. [High-Tier Summoning Voucher]: Upon use, allows you to draw from all summoning skills rated five stars or higher. There is a small chance of obtaining an Elite Summoning Skill. “A summoning skill?!” Summoning skills refer to those that summon monsters, just like the [Fire Element Summon] he’d obtained a dozen or so minutes ago. Ling Yi was somewhat surprised. In his original plan, the next skill he expected to acquire was one that would grant him some close-combat prowess. If he were to use a Summoning Skill to occupy one of his star slots now, his hopes for “powerful close-combat abilities” would have to be put on hold. “Hmm… I’ll just give it a try first.” After pondering for a moment, Ling Yi decided to go ahead and use it. But before doing so, he habitually checked its mutation potential. “High-Tier Summoning Voucher—Mutation Potential: Medium” Medium mutation potential was good enough to give it a try. With that thought flashing through his mind, he proceeded to mutate it. A moment later, he opened it again. [High-Tier Summoning Scroll]: Upon use, allows you to draw from all summoning skills rated five stars or higher. There is a small chance of obtaining an Elite Summoning Skill. There is an extremely small chance of obtaining a Boss Summoning Skill. A Summoning Skill summons ordinary monsters. An Elite Summoning Skill summons elite monsters. As for the Boss Summoning Skill, it naturally summons boss monsters. However... “Can boss monsters actually be summoned?” Filled with doubt, he logged onto the forum and searched using the keyword “boss summoning skill.” What appeared, however, were posts like [“It would be so great if summoning skills could summon boss monsters”] and [“There are no skills to summon bosses in Shen Lu, but we can DIY one ourselves”]... and the like. After scrolling through for a while longer, he finally confirmed that there was no skill in the entire Shen Lu for summoning boss monsters. Or rather. Such a skill simply didn’t exist in the Shen Lu to begin with. “So doesn’t that mean I’ve mutated into a skill that doesn’t even exist in the Shen Lu?” Ling Yi couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off. He opened the skill panel, glanced at his [Starfall] and [Attribute Copy], and his expression returned to normal. “This mutation just created an effect that doesn’t exist in Shen Lu—there’s no problem with that, right?” As soon as the words left his mouth, he stopped dithering. He immediately used the mutated [Advanced Summoning Ticket]. Using an item requires nothing more than a player’s thought. No action or words are required. As the summoning ticket dissolved into a rainbow of light, Shen Lu notification appeared immediately. [You used [Superior Summoning Ticket]] [Random draw in progress... ] A moment later. [Congratulations! You have obtained the 10-star skill [Bing Ling Summoning]! ] Given his “Probability Reversal” talent, it makes perfect sense that he’d draw a 10-star skill, doesn’t it? Without pausing to marvel at his good fortune, Ling Yi eagerly clicked to open the skill’s details. [Bing Ling Summon (10-star)]: Summons a Bing Ling that lasts for 1 minute. “Is that it?” Ling Yi compared this skill to the [Fire Elemental Summon] he’d just obtained and found that, aside from the summoned creature and the skill names being different, everything else was exactly the same. Oh, and the star rating was different, too. As for what accounted for such a difference in star ratings between the two skills, it had to be the summoned creature itself. Summoning a Fire Elemental is only 3-star, while summoning a Frost Spirit is 10-star. Needless to say, this Frost Spirit must be far more powerful than that Fire Elemental. He did a quick search on the forum and discovered that this Frost Spirit is actually the very first Boss on the main path of the Ultimate Map! What a coincidence. Currently, every player in the world tackling the Ultimate Map is stuck right there. So, to put it simply No one in the world has yet defeated the Frost Spirit! “Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Ling Yi smacked his lips, his heart filled with mixed emotions. “Since summoned creatures share the same level as their players, that means once I reach level 80 or 90, this single Frost Spirit alone will be enough to overwhelm countless opponents.” Previously, the mutated [Experience Orbs] had served as a safety net for his leveling. Now, [Bing Ling Summon] provided a safety net for his future strength. Even if he spent the rest of his days lazing around at home, in three years, he’d still easily reach level 100 and possess a level 100 Boss summoned beast. These two factors alone gave him the capital to stand at the pinnacle. And his home was safe. So this plan to “take it easy” was feasible—both in theory and in practice... After daydreaming for a while, Ling Yi slapped his face to shake those defeatist thoughts out of his mind. Setting aside the fact that the Shen Lu Stele would be updated in half a year, he wasn’t the type to be lazy and unproductive to begin with. It was down-to-earth hard work that truly made him feel fulfilled. Immediately afterward, he shifted his gaze downward. “Bing Ling Summoning—Mutations Potential: Extremely High” This was the information provided by the Super Mutation System. The mutation he’d just performed was on the lottery ticket; this skill itself hadn’t been mutated yet. “Mutate, mutate, mutate.” As soon as he saw the “Extremely High” potential, he made a decisive choice. “Are you sure you want to mutate Bing Ling Summoning (10-star)? (Requires 66 mutation points)” “Yes, yes!” Shortly after, he opened the skill menu again to check. [Ice Emperor Summon (10-Star)]: Summons an Ice Emperor. The summoned monster had changed. The duration had been removed. Apart from these two changes, he couldn’t tell if there were any others. “An Ice Emperor, huh? She should be a better boss monster than the Ice Spirit,” Ling Yi concluded briefly. Unfortunately, he only had two star slots left, which wasn’t enough to equip this skill just yet. So he’d have to level up a few more times to find out just how powerful this skill really was. “Alright, I’ll have to rely on Starfall again today.” He climbed back up the rock face and peered over to the other side. He’d killed all the nearby Fire Elementals, and they hadn’t respawned yet. He had to keep moving forward. With that in mind, he darted out from behind the cliff face and nimbly leaped down in a few bounds... The cypress forest and the plains were the favorite leveling spots for new players. Aside from combat chickens, there were also some very common low-level monsters, such as small grass monsters and flower sprites. Whoosh—! A fireball flew through the woods, slamming violently into a blade of grass that appeared to be only a few times larger than usual. Immediately, there was a “whoosh,” and the giant blade of grass was instantly set ablaze by the fireball, burning to ashes in just a few seconds. [You defeated a Grass Monster (Lv. 4), +2 EXP] 【Congratulations! You have earned enough experience and have automatically leveled up to Level 4! 】 【You have obtained... 】 Rustle~ The sound of footsteps crunching through leaves came from behind the trees. A moment later, a youthful and beautiful girl, who appeared to be around 20 years old, stepped out at a leisurely pace. The girl was about 1. 7 meters tall. She had beautiful, wavy auburn hair and a pair of delicate, pale golden eyes. Her well-defined, delicate features made her a delight to look at, and her collagen-rich face now bore a faint smile. Her outfit was simple: a beige jacket on top, a pure white top underneath, jet-black hot pants, and a pair of long boots. Just these four items made up her entire outfit. “Finally, Level 4.” With a bright smile on her face, Luo Yao opened the character panel and began assigning skill points. She planned to pursue the Agility Mage path, allocating her points according to the “3 Magic, 2 Agility” ratio. Players who allocate points this way are often simply referred to as “Magic Assassins” in the game. Luo Yao didn’t mind others calling her that, because she truly intended to follow this path.
