Chapter 736 - 396: Starry Sky Guard Team

Although the ninth-rank Divine Artifact, the Cursed Fang, was more valuable, Su Ze’s greatest gains from this trip were the upgrade material—the Giant Beast’s Claw—and the Origin Genes of four Beast Race Moon Gods.

The right upgrade materials couldn’t just be bought with money; it also came down to luck. Finding a suitable one at the very first stop of his journey meant his luck was already quite good.

Everyone on the spaceship received an eighth-rank Divine Artifact, and each of them was all smiles.

Lin Hua said, "The only thing is, we were in too much of a hurry. We didn’t have time to sell off many of our resources, or to procure new ones."

"It’s fine," Su Ze said. "Our next stop is the territory of the Moon Race, a first-rate Strong Race. It won’t be too late to do our trading once we reach Jade Plate Star, the largest Public Planet under their control."

The Moon Race was one of the few races in the universe skilled in healing. That they could also rank as a first-rate race was exceptionally rare.

To outsiders, the Moon Race had always projected an image of being friendly and kind, but that didn’t mean they were weak and easily bullied. Su Ze knew that every Strong Race stood upon a platform built from mountains of bones. ’How could they become a first-rate race without having devoured dozens, even hundreds, of other races?’

He had included the Moon Race’s territory in his itinerary this time because he wanted to find someone among them who could heal the Mother Tree’s master.

If he could wake its master sooner, he wouldn’t need to go to the Tree Spirit Race’s home world.

"I need to take some time to process my gains. Mr. Ya, I’m leaving you in control of the ship. You can slow down a little on the way and see if any Star Pirates decide to walk into our trap," Su Ze instructed as he rose.

Mr. Ya chuckled. "Don’t worry, I get it."

Su Ze had told them before that on this journey, they shouldn’t forget to punish the wicked and do their part to maintain peace and order in the universe.

Any Star Pirates they encountered along the way were not to be spared.

Su Ze turned and entered his private quarters. He didn’t immediately absorb the Giant Beast’s Claw to upgrade his skill. Instead, he first took out the scepter that the Mother Tree had become.

Back on Zexing, Su Ze had always been cautious, typically keeping the scepter and the Emerald Spaceship inside the underground base.

On the rare occasions he took it out of the base, he was extremely careful, ensuring it was properly shielded so the Mother Tree couldn’t learn Zexing’s coordinates.

The Mother Tree was, after all, only a damaged Divine Artifact. Su Ze still didn’t know if its master would be friendly. It paid to be wary.

Now that they were far from Zexing, he no longer had this concern. He spoke directly to the Mother Tree:

"I’m heading to the territory of the Moon Race. I’ll see if I can find a Moon Race Sun God there to help heal your master."

As an existence akin to an Artifact Spirit, the Mother Tree showed no emotional fluctuation, merely expressing its gratitude.

Its investment in Su Ze was finally paying off.

Although Su Ze had never made the Mother Tree’s request his top priority, he had never considered breaking his promise either. He could have easily seized all the resources left behind by its master and abandoned the rescue of someone who could turn out to be friend or foe.

With his current power, the Mother Tree would have been helpless to stop him even if he had.

However, he was a man who always repaid his debts of gratitude. He had never failed anyone who had helped him.

’Once the Mother Tree’s master awakens, I’ll gauge their attitude then and decide whether to befriend them or not...’

Su Ze had a plan. A master at the Moon God level posed no threat to him.

If their attitude was sincere, he wouldn’t mind using the master as a link to establish good relations with the Tree Spirit Race. After all, he held a great gift for them in his hands.

He had brought Feng Bqing along on this trip, and rumor had it that the Tree Spirit Race would be very interested in him.

But if he felt the master was not worth befriending, Su Ze would drop the idea. He and the Mother Tree would go their separate ways.

The Mother Tree had helped him grow, and he had helped it save its master. They would be even.

...

After his conversation with the Mother Tree, Su Ze took out the Giant Beast’s Claw, which he had compressed to the size of a fist, and began to absorb it.

Upgrading skills by absorbing materials had one major advantage over skill fusion: it saved a great deal of time.

The higher the level of the skill fusion, the more time it required. Upgrading by absorbing materials, however, didn’t take long at all.

In just a few days, before the Magic Cube had even reached Jade Plate Star, Su Ze had already finished absorbing the Giant Beast’s Claw.

Tossing the now-useless husk of the Giant Beast’s Claw into space, its energy fully absorbed, Su Ze closed his eyes and focused on his upgraded Rhino Charge skill.

That’s right. The skill he’d upgraded was Rhino Charge, which was now an eighth-rank divine skill.

Rhino Charge (Eighth-Rank Divine Skill): Lock onto a target within range and launch a charge that ignores all spatial obstructions. During the charge, you are immune to all damage and control effects. All surrounding lifeforms are continuously subjected to a trampling attack for ten seconds, inflicting Dizziness.

After absorbing the Giant Beast’s Claw, the Rhino Charge skill gained a new "trample" attack effect. Furthermore, instead of just attacking enemies within a certain range along its path, it had become a ten-second area-of-effect attack and crowd-control skill.

Although the trampling attack lasted for ten seconds, the Dizziness effect didn’t. It would simply refresh each time an enemy was hit by the trampling attack.

The charge itself had also been enhanced. Before, it merely "ignored terrain"; now, it "ignored space." This meant that once a target was locked on, no matter how far it ran or what lay between them—be it a gauntlet of peril or a dimensional rift—the charge was guaranteed to connect.

The Rhino Charge always delivers.