Chapter 194 - 180: Skills Upgrade

Guan Lan was able to find Ye Mingzhe so quickly thanks to the enthusiastic public and Guan Xing’s abilities. Guan Xing had said that with everyone working hard, they would definitely find him. Guan Lan was also very confident about this. Not long after, Kunpeng’s intelligence team began receiving frequent tip-off calls from the public.

After cross-screening the information, the target was confirmed.

When a person worked and studied in society, they would inevitably come into contact with many people. Those who were observant could always spot inconsistencies in someone’s behavior. During this sensitive period, a reward of half a million was enough to give everyone eagle eyes.

However, after finding him, a new problem arose. Guan Lan asked Bai Qiang to consult Yin Zhen not to invite her to form a team to kill Ye Mingzhe, but to ask for her opinion. Killing Ye Mingzhe in Ancient Abyss was meaningless. If he died in Ancient Abyss, Autumn Tomb would simply spawn a new protagonist, and they would still have to waste time and energy searching.

Being able to confirm Ye Mingzhe’s Identity now was an advantage for them. But they couldn’t just leave him alone. Yin Zhen was experienced in handling these matters and understood the hidden rules of the invading game even better than Guan Lan, which was why Guan Lan needed her advice. Should they continue to monitor him in secret, confront him directly, or perhaps seek some form of cooperation?

After listening to Guan Lan’s thoughts relayed by Bai Qiang, Yin Zhen said she wanted to meet Ye Mingzhe.

Bai Qiang sighed. "You’re all treating me like a megaphone, aren’t you? Can’t you two just talk directly?"

"No," Yin Zhen said bluntly. She was a villain, while Guan Lan belonged to the protagonist group. Yin Zhen naturally felt repelled by them and was unwilling to have too much contact. The system definitely wouldn’t want to see her getting along too well with the protagonist group either. "Ye Mingzhe might have a way to unbind a Fierce Ghost without causing harm."

With just one sentence, Yin Zhen managed to coax Bai Qiang into compliance. Bai Qiang had indeed been crying so much lately that her heart was aching. She was gradually beginning to understand how Lin could cry herself to death.

"Wait for my news." After saying that, Bai Qiang hung up the phone.

Yin Zhen glanced at her watch. It was 7:30 AM on August 22nd. The second transmigration would take place tonight at 7:00 PM. She began browsing the Item list in the system mall. She needed a large-capacity game backpack to store the Items that couldn’t be placed on the system card table, such as the puppets she made herself.

The game backpack came in large, medium, and small sizes, with 10, 5, and 3 slots respectively. Each slot cost ten thousand words.

She currently had over forty thousand words, which was only enough to buy a small backpack at most. However, Yin Zhen didn’t want to spend these words. For her next transmigration, she would need a large amount of Emotion Suppressors and Emotion Amplifiers. She also had to save words for Half a Book to replicate Skills and Items.

After much thought, Yin Zhen told Bai Qiang that she could make substitute death puppets, providing an Explanation of the specific usage methods and Effects. She asked Bai Qiang to check if Guan Lan wanted to buy any. There was a production cycle, and Guan Lan would have to provide the blood needed to activate the puppet herself. This could be a long-term transaction.

A ten-slot game backpack would be exchanged for five substitute death puppets, and any subsequent substitute death puppet would be traded individually.

Yin Zhen would make one substitute death puppet for Bai Qiang free of charge as a brokerage fee. She told Bai Qiang to choose someone in the Autumn Tomb World to bear the fatal damage for her and send a full-body photo. Once in the Autumn Tomb World, Yin Zhen would make Bai Qiang’s puppet first.

Currently, the game mall only offered one-time damage-bearing Items that could only withstand physical attacks. They were useless against supernatural power, let alone an Item that could completely substitute death once.

Bai Qiang sent a string of cursing emojis. Yin Zhen chuckled and took out two Skill Upgrade Cards. One was the reward from logging into Renxin Hospital early, and the other was from the escape event.

Upgrading Basic Skills to Intermediate required only one Skill Upgrade Card. Upgrading Intermediate to Advanced required two, and above Advanced was the Master Level, which required three Skill Upgrade Cards.

Yin Zhen decided to upgrade the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method. Even though the Autumn Tomb World was a Mysterious World, this skill would still be very useful.

Before explaining this, it had to be mentioned that a few days ago, she had made a Faceless Puppet to contain a Fierce Ghost. After finishing it, she had a sudden whim and stuck Liu Hua’s face onto the Faceless Puppet, obtaining her first Fierce Ghost Puppet.

When controlling this puppet, her body rapidly developed rigor mortis, which was highly detrimental to her subsequent battles. She then tried using the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method to mobilize the blood throughout her body, maintaining it in a fast-flowing state. Unsurprisingly, this was very effective in eliminating the rigor mortis.

However, the rigor mortis would continuously intensify the longer she controlled the Fierce Ghost. This was the erosion of the body by yin energy, and keeping the blood flowing only addressed the symptoms, not the root cause.

Yin Zhen had briefly experienced the Advanced Flesh and Blood Torture Method, integrating her strong personal will into it to make herself indestructible. This will was actually a form of emotional power, which would inevitably counteract the yin energy invading her body.

She originally thought that such an "epiphany" would allow the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method to naturally break through, just like the protagonists in novels. Unfortunately, it didn’t. Reality slapped her in the face, telling her she was overthinking it.

Therefore, she had no choice but to obediently use the Skill Upgrade Cards to enhance the Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method.

[Congratulations Player, your ’Blood and Flesh Ascetic Method’ has been upgraded to Advanced. With the exception of Luck, All Attributes +10]

[Player]: Yin Zhen

[Race]: Human

[Life Value]: 100%

[Strength]: 20+10

[Constitution]: 15+10

[Wisdom]: 28+10

[agility]: 29+10

[Luck]: 2

A stream of heat surged from Yin Zhen’s heart, rapidly flowing throughout her entire body in accordance with her will. Her bones emitted bursts of muffled sounds, and she could clearly feel her muscles and skin tightening.

Yin Zhen stood in front of the full-length mirror, carefully examining herself in the reflection.

The transformation brought about by the Advanced Flesh and Blood Torture Method was clearly visible. The lines of muscles on her shoulders, arms, waist, abdomen, and legs were now smooth and firm. There was no exaggerated bulkiness, yet they were brimming with a restrained, vigorous sense of Strength. It was as if tempered steel had concealed its sharp edges, leaving only pure density and toughness. Her pale skin, a result of staying indoors year-round after her disability, now radiated a healthy glow.

Yin Zhen picked up a dagger and tested it on her arm. At first, the blade only pressed out a white mark. Only as she increased her Strength did the skin press inward slightly, demonstrating incredible resilience.

Her eyes focused, Yin Zhen applied Molecular Sharpening to the dagger and exerted force once more. Her skin was finally sliced open with a tiny slit, seeping a bit of bright red blood. However, the wound was extremely shallow, nowhere near as deep as an ordinary flesh wound.

She mobilized her blood to the wound, quickly stopping the bleeding. The healing speed was astonishingly fast. Moreover, the speed and efficiency with which she could mobilize her blood were now several times higher than before—more than enough to cope with rigor mortis.

Yin Zhen took a deep breath. The Strength of her entire body instantly condensed into her right fist. Unifying her waist and stance, she twisted her body and threw a punch!

Just the ultimate explosive burst of her physical Strength created a muffled yet piercing BANG in the air. It felt as if the air was instantly compressed and then torn apart, whipping up a fierce gust of wind. RUSTLE RUSTLE! The papers on the nearby table fluttered wildly.

Yin Zhen felt that the terrifying kinetic energy contained in this punch was enough to easily obliterate a brick wall.

The changes brought by the Advanced Flesh and Blood Torture Method didn’t end there. She closed her eyes and immersed her mind within her body.

Her previous theories and insights surged forth. Will, conviction, and emotions were all spiritual powers. Spiritual and physical Strength shouldn’t be separated; they should be fused together.

Under her guidance, two distinctly different powers—both belonging to Yin Zhen—began to clash and blend. Her body temperature spiked, her skin growing scalding hot. Thin wisps of white smoke could even be visibly seen steaming off the surface of her body.

This white smoke carried a scorching and pure aura, much like the Pure Yang Qi depicted in novels. It dispelled the cold, damp feeling that had accumulated in the old house over the years, rendering the air dry and full of vitality.

In the living room, Lucy, who was busy with something unknown in front of the computer, and Ying, who was playing games, both looked up at Yin Zhen at the same time. Lucy asked in a rigid, perplexed tone, "Did her motherboard overheat and combust?"

Ying shook its head and made an exaggerated, dramatic pose in the air, as if saying that no, it was her cosmos that was burning.

"I don’t understand, but it seems awesome!" Lucy uttered a stale, old meme from the Ancient Abyss World; she was starting to be thoroughly marinated by the internet culture of the Ancient Abyss World.

When Yin Zhen’s physical and spiritual powers fused into an unprecedented point of equilibrium within her body, she opened her eyes and spread out her hands.

In the palm of her left hand, a few pitch-black bullets condensed into shape out of thin air. The surface of the bullets was traced with dark red Bloodthorn patterns. This was the blood power’s Enchantment on the constructs manifested by the Inheritance.

In the palm of her right hand, Yin Zhen used the power of the Inheritance to manifest a real Weapon for the first time—a seamless, pitch-black Hand Axe.

The axe handle was rough yet comfortable to grip, and the lines of the axe head were sleek yet full of power. One end was a sharp Armor-Piercing Cone, and the other was a heavy curved edge. Coils of Bloodthorn patterns wrapped around the axe head as well, like living blood vessels connecting to her palm. They pulsed faintly in tandem with her heartbeat, emitting an icy, oppressive, and ferocious aura capable of severing anything.

BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP!

The Pet Machine hanging around her neck vibrated and chirped. Seeing all of this, Pixel Zoe clapped madly for Yin Zhen, jumping onto the sofa and cheering wildly while constantly wiggling her thumbs.

Yin Zhen had completely mastered the power of the Second Level Inheritance, At this moment, and could now continue to advance toward the Third Level, End.

"Come out, you dog system! I want to make a deal with you!"