Chapter 479: Promotion! Upper Fifth-Rank!

This breakthrough to Middle Fifth-Rank lasted about three days.

Over those three days, Yang Ling underwent a genuine gene mutation.

Without Snow Spirit Marrow, he experienced the terrifying pain of gene mutation.

Fortunately, he was already a Lesser Master.

That pain was undoubtedly weakened several times over.

And every bout of pain meant his flesh, sinews, and bones were repeatedly torn apart and reformed.

The beginnings of his frightening recovery ability had already started to show.

As soon as the pain appeared, he could feel himself recovering.

But the process dragged on for far too long. Every time he recovered, another wave of tearing immediately followed.

“It really is an endless cycle. Those three days felt like thirty.”

Yang Ling exhaled a breath of stale air, feeling ever more reverence for the Fifth-Rank realm.

“If I weren’t Fifth-Rank, the gene mutation brought on by this minor breakthrough would be no different from a death tribulation...”

“But the benefits are obvious.”

He opened his Status Panel.

His HP had risen from 8,000 to 9,000!

He would not underestimate this 1,000-point increase. If one point of Strength granted 10 HP, this was equivalent to gaining 100 Strength!

Back when he was still an ordinary person, he had only a pitiful few dozen HP.

“Before long, I might become a ten-thousand-HP big shot.”

Yang Ling was secretly delighted.

As for Vital Qi, the increase this time was not as great. It had gone from 40,000 to 42,000.

“The biggest increase in Vital Qi came when I first broke through. That gene mutation had the most pronounced effect.”

“But another 2,000 Vital Qi is still pretty good. Its density is completely different from when I was Sixth-Rank.”

His attention shifted to his attributes.

Strength and Agility had both reached 240!

Each attribute had increased by 40!

“Eighty attribute points in total. I’d need to gain 80 levels to get that many from leveling up!”

Yang Ling felt his scalp go numb. He had been in the Divine Realm for so long, and he was only Level 99.

Leveling up from here on would clearly be much harder.

Who knew how long it would take him to gain 80 levels?

“Would an ordinary Lower Fifth-Rank martial artist get this much from breaking through to Middle Fifth-Rank?”

“Hmm... Even if they did, the Middle Fifth-Rank limit is 299 in dual attributes. It would probably take them a long time to temper their attributes to that level, along with the help of rare exotic herbs and flowers and pills.”

“But me...”

He looked at his Status Panel. He still had 121 Free Attribute Points!

“It’s not about having more attribute points. It’s about using them at just the right time!”

Yang Ling’s lips curled slightly upward.

“Allocate!”

He had 121 attribute points in all. He put 61 into Strength and 60 into Agility!

His dual attributes instantly broke through 300!

His Strength reached 301, and his Agility reached 300!

Yang Ling trembled with excitement from head to toe.

At this moment, all three of his attributes had broken through the 300-point mark!

He thought back to when he had seen other people with attributes in the dozens and felt so envious!

The first Fifth-Rank martial artist he had met was Xu Wuji, Eunuch Xu.

That man had dual attributes in the high one hundreds. At the time, the sight had left Yang Ling’s scalp tingling with awe and longing!

Later, when he saw a powerful expert like Cao Yunlong, whose dual attributes were in the high two hundreds, how terrifying had that been?

Just looking at him had left Yang Ling on tenterhooks, afraid the man might slap him dead!

Fortunately, Yang Ling’s strength had later improved in other ways, and he became more than capable of dealing with experts like that.

Even Xu Wenjun, a top Upper Fifth-Rank martial artist with dual attributes of 399, could no longer inspire the same terror he had felt the first time he met Cao Yunlong.

“Now, my Base Attributes have also broken through 300! I’ve reached the Upper Fifth-Rank realm, and I’m about to face another round of gene mutation!”

“Even without equipment, my strength can rank among the First Tier of Upper Fifth-Rank martial artists!”

“Someone like Cao Yunlong is nothing special!”

Yang Ling slowly clenched his fist. As his hand opened and closed, it wielded the strength of ten thousand jun!

At that moment, that familiar sensation of gene mutation came again.

His flesh, sinews, bones, and internal organs once again faced repeated tearing and reformation.

Yang Ling gave a cold snort. With his current Upper Fifth-Rank abilities...

“Ugh... That hurts...”

His face twitched, and cold sweat poured down him again. He could only slowly sit back down on the meditation cushion and endure the pain.

This time, the pain came even more fiercely!

It was obvious that, as his strength increased, the gene mutation had a more intense effect and caused more severe pain.

“It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt! My Spirit is so high, it should be enough to block it!”

“Why does it still hurt so much...”

“Suppose attributes work like experience, with a higher threshold the further you go.”

“Then, apart from Free Attribute Points, any other method of increasing attributes will inevitably become more difficult...”

As he endured the pain, Yang Ling kept his mind busy. It helped take some of the edge off.

“Then! The further you go, the more valuable Free Attribute Points become!”

“That’s right. The stronger a martial artist’s cultivation level, the harder it naturally is to raise their attributes. There’s no reason it should be easier than when they first started practicing martial arts!”

“So the players’ advantage becomes this obvious in the late game!”

Yang Ling’s eyes lit up.

Players could level up. Even if it became harder and harder to gain levels, the attribute points they received were real!

Other players did not have Free Attribute Points, but their points would still be added to Strength, Agility, or Spirit.

It had to be much easier for them than for the Natives of the Divine Realm!

“My current Internal Techniques need an enormous amount of experience.”

“I can make up for my Martial Arts Technique Proficiency with Spirit Nurturing Pills.”

“I also have the Swallowing Heaven Golden Sword for Divine Armaments.”

“Next time I complete a dungeon quest and receive a reward, I should prioritize claiming Free Attribute Points!”

“After 399 comes the threshold between Fifth-Rank and Fourth-Rank.”

“I need to get both attributes to 399 as soon as possible and break through to the Fourth-Rank Grandmaster realm!”

At the thought, Yang Ling’s lips curled upward, and his body seemed to hurt a little less.

He opened his Status Panel and watched the values on it change bit by bit.

Strength, Agility, HP, and Vital Qi, these four main attributes were steadily rising.

With every point gained, he felt a secret thrill. His face was still pale, but his eyes shone brightly.

Day after day passed.

This gene mutation lasted a full five days.

“It’s finally over!”

Yang Ling let out a long breath. His bodily functions visibly recovered to their peak.

He opened his Status Panel:

Character: Yang Ling

Class: Judgment Officer (Spirit Pet Venerable)

Level: 99

Strength: 351

Agility: 350

Spirit: 300

Exclusive Skill: Insight x4 (Illegal activity within 30 days)

Exclusive Skill: Flame Immunity (One Minute)

Exclusive Skill: Spirit Pet Space

Exclusive Skill: Ironclad Fortress (Five Minutes)

Martial Arts: Vajra Bright King Technique (Skilled)

Great-Grade Azure Dragon Force (Flawless Proficiency)

Experience Points: 35000/100000

Heavenly Will Hundred Battles Diagram (Flawless Proficiency)

Experience Points: 0/100000

Divine Ape Contemplation Diagram (Skilled)

Experience Points: 35000/1000000

Heavenly Will True Scripture (Flawless Proficiency)

Experience Points: 55100/100000

Boulder Crushing Fist (Flawless Proficiency)

Proficiency: 6502/100000

Dragon-Capturing Saber Technique (Skilled)

Proficiency: 0/1000000

Ethereal Steps (Transcendent)

Wind God Vajra Legs (Transcendent)

Heaven’s Will Divine Blade (Flawless Proficiency)

Proficiency: 0/100000

Candle Dragon Seven Star Sword Technique (Skilled)

Proficiency: 165000/1000000

HP: 10000

Vital Qi: 45000

Faction: Ironclad Department

“My dual attributes are both 350 now! That’s like getting 100 attribute points for free!”

“My Vital Qi increased by a full 3,000 this time!”

“My HP has passed ten thousand! I’m a ten-thousand-HP big shot now!”

A hint of excitement gleamed in Yang Ling’s eyes.

The values on his panel had improved far, far more than before the breakthrough!

His HP had doubled, and his Vital Qi had more than doubled.

“Most importantly, Strength and Agility have more than doubled!”

“The breakthrough process alone gave me 60 attribute points when I went from Sixth-Rank to Fifth-Rank, 80 when I went from Lower Fifth-Rank to Middle Fifth-Rank, and a full 100 when I went from Middle Fifth-Rank to Upper Fifth-Rank!”

“That’s 240 in total!”

Yang Ling could not help but marvel. The attributes he had gained from these breakthroughs were quite a bit more than the points he had saved up over all this time.

“Right, it’s time to eat the Golden Dragon Treasure Fish too!”

He took the jade box radiating a chill from his Green Dragon Ring. Inside was the Golden Dragon Treasure Fish!