Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

After leaving the warehouse and restocking his supplies, Su Chen returned to the bridge and waited for a while.

Perhaps it was because the elemental embers left by the Flame Burst hadn’t just lingered but had grown even thicker. As a result, no monsters came to deliver themselves to his doorstep for some time.

More than two and a half hours had passed since he’d started blocking the bridge from the bottom of the slope.

With the massive haul of essences he had just collected, especially the batch of Dark Element essences, his summoning Rune had long been ready to upgrade. Even Xiaoye had undergone a formal evolution.

[Shadow Summoning]Lv2 → Lv3 successful advancement!

The Shadow Hound has successfully evolved to the next stage: ’Netherworld War Dog’.

Pet Skill unlocked: Shadow Shifting

(Shadow Shifting: The Netherworld War Dog can briefly slip out of the physical plane and perform a short-range, untargetable shift.)

Traits enhanced: Damage Amplification, Shadow Claw

...

[Shadow Summoning](Lv3): The Spellcaster summons one Netherworld War Dog from the Netherworld. Its maximum time on the field depends on the Rune Energy Bar.

Contract Slots: 1/1

Promotion requirements: Shadow Summoning Runes 2/4, Spiritual Dust Sand 0/1

’Xiaoye evolved.’

Its form and appearance had undergone a complete transformation.

First, its body had grown larger again, with a shoulder height of nearly one meter. This was taller than most large dog breeds on Earth.

Moreover, the pitch-black aura coiling around its fur had morphed into semi-corporeal Shadow Armor, covering its pauldrons and limb joints. Even its four claws had evolved into retractable shadow blades that glinted with a deep, dark-gold light.

With such a weaponized appearance, he could see why it was called a "War Dog."

Its weight was hard to estimate, but it had to be at least a hundred kilograms. Of course, compared to the giant bear, this was still nothing—perhaps not even a tenth of its weight.

But in a fight, the Netherworld War Dog could definitely seize the initiative with Shadow Shifting. A single Shadow Claw could break the giant bear’s defense and make it bleed. After that, it would all come down to individual skill and luck.

After all, Elements were just Elements.

Standing nearly four or five meters tall, the giant bear could severely wound the Netherworld War Dog—or even kill it on the spot—with a single heavy swat of its purely physical Power.

Fighting it in close quarters would be incredibly difficult.

At the very least, Su Chen couldn’t even imagine what kind of physical attribute panel would be needed to fight it hand-to-hand.

But in terms of overall strength, with the Netherworld War Dog’s help, Su Chen was confident he could take down the giant bear the next time they faced it.

Through his experimentation during this time, he had also discovered many of the Dark Element’s traits.

One, it could grant invisibility.

Two, when it hit a target, it would apply a negative status effect depending on the amount of Dark Energy. This usually manifested as terror, causing the weak-willed to lose their will to fight.

The Dark Element was clearly something special. Its counterpart, the Light Element, which both complemented and countered it, must also have some powerful traits.

Light and Dark... they were definitely something else.

Moreover, since he had obtained a large number of Dark Element essences at once, the upgrade progress for Shadow Summoning Lv3 was already nearly halfway complete. Su Chen wasn’t in a hurry to feed the Spiritual Dust Sand to it just yet.

’I should wait and see.’

Then, he took stock of his extra essences. He had six Earth Element essences alone.

Su Chen didn’t plan to absorb them. Instead, he prepared to use them for essence trading to get the ones he needed to upgrade his own Runes.

As for the Wind Blade War Axe, he naturally planned to keep and use it.

And the golf club enchanted with Fireball Technique Lv2? He made his decision on whether to keep it at that very moment.

’The Wood Element essence has finished converting.’

Su Chen glanced down at his chest. A moment ago, his family’s Jade Pendant had evidently finished converting the Plant Energy, sending an ancient, crude, and primal character into his body.

Like a seed taking root, a warm current flowed through his entire body, suffusing his limbs and bones, seeping into the depths of his flesh and blood until it reached the very core of his cells.

The faint sense of fatigue that had just started to build up dissipated and vanished along with it.

BZZZT!

A tremor ran through his Sea of Consciousness, and a stream of information followed.

’Cellular activity enhanced, immune system upgraded.’

’Physique +1!’

Attributes: Power 13 / Physique 16 / Agility 13 / Intelligence 12 / Perception 11.

In an instant, Su Chen felt his five senses sharpen and his body become lighter, as if he had been completely revitalized.

Increased cellular activity corresponded, to some extent, to his body’s healing ability.

As for the immune system upgrade, that was also a great boon. At the very least, it would speed up the removal of toxins and pathogens.

Along with these changes, a wave of hunger quickly washed over him.

It was as if he had suddenly gone half a day without eating.

’Time to head back.’

Su Chen was in no mood to linger by the bridge any longer. This expedition to block it had been a huge success.

Before leaving, on a whim, he took the bottle of Spiritual Dust Sand from his backpack. As he brought it close to his chest, the family Jade Pendant resonated and trembled, clearly wanting to absorb it.

’It really works.’

Su Chen pondered for a moment. ’Could this spiritual item enhance mental attributes?’

Considering that Spiritual Dust Sand was a scarce upgrade resource, he suppressed the urge to feed it to the pendant.

After putting it away, Su Chen took out the golf club. A raging flame erupted from his right hand. A small amount of the Flame Burst’s power easily destroyed the titanium alloy club head, blasting out the Fire Element Rune embedded within.

The Fireball Technique Lv2 Rune was then instantly and completely absorbed by the Jade Pendant.

The originally pure, flawless white peace-buckle jade instantly transformed into a piece of Hetian Red Jade, as vibrant as a cockscomb, its surface seeping a red light that resembled congealed blood.

Fortunately, it didn’t feel scorching hot against his skin. It was warm and smooth, not the least bit uncomfortable.

Watching the crimson patterns continuously spread across its surface, Su Chen knew the materials he had fed it were sufficient, so he let it continue its growth.

Soon, he drove his car back to the North Bridge. Through the window, he could see two furtive, rat-like shadows fleeing from the giant bear’s corpse, evidently startled by the sound of the engine.

However, before they could get far, a Netherworld War Dog moved like a phantom. Using Shadow Shifting, it pounced and killed both giant rats in quick succession.

Just like that, Su Chen had two more Earth Element essences on hand.

...

「Meanwhile.」

Behind the vehicle barricade on the slope, there were few people in sight.

"I told you there wouldn’t be many monsters on the east side. It’s been dead quiet here since broad daylight, real peaceful. The other directions are a life-or-death struggle, though," someone said with a casual laugh, sitting in a camping chair and eating barbecue.

"Don’t talk nonsense. In the beginning, we had Night Monkeys and Night Tigers, both Dark Element. They could turn invisible and ambush us. A lot of people died right off the bat," a steady-looking middle-aged man retorted, keeping watch from behind the barricade.

He held a thermal imaging night-vision device, which had no problem dealing with invisible Dark Element monsters.

This was the countermeasure the people at the campsite had quickly figured out after taking heavy losses in the early stages.

The monsters’ invisibility could hide them from visible light and near-infrared wavelengths, but it seemed they couldn’t deal with thermal radiation. That’s why infrared night vision was useless, but thermal imaging equipment could see them as clear as day.

But even with the right equipment, not a single monster had been seen at either of the two uphill entrances for nearly three hours.

’Where the hell did they all go!?’

Given the boring stillness here, while other directions reported frequent activity—even signs of internal infiltration that repeatedly threatened the safety of the shelter behind them—it was no wonder a bunch of people from this post had left.

Just then, an SUV abruptly drove up from the bottom of the slope.

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