50: Chapter 50 Talent Upgrade and the Mountain-Suppressing Spirit General

It wasn't until Lin Yan's successful evolution concluded, the majestic geothermal aura slowly subsided, and the cheers and awe of the entire army slightly paused, that Lin Tian's mind relaxed from its state of high concentration. That strange sense of "difference" belonging to his own core finally emerged clearly and distinctly, like a reef revealing a new shape after the tide recedes.

"Hmm?" Lin Tian frowned slightly, subconsciously sensing his talent. He pulled up his personal status panel, and the description of his talent had strikingly changed:

[Talent]: Fusion Evolution - Intermediate (Unique)

"Intermediate? It upgraded?" Lin Tian was first startled, then filled with immense curiosity and excitement. "When did this happen? How did it upgrade?"

He immediately began to recall and analyze his recent actions.

"Number of Fusions?" He immediately dismissed the idea. From the time he crossed over until now, he had performed hundreds, if not thousands of Fusions. If it were based on accumulation, it should have upgraded long ago instead of waiting until now.

"The quality of the Fusion materials?" He mused. crimson sun meteorite iron, holy moon ancient wood, geothermal xuanhuang mother stone... these were all top-tier materials far beyond the ordinary, especially the mother stone Fusion just completed, which had drawn upon the vast geothermal veins. It was very likely! High-grade materials triggered some kind of deep resonance, driving the growth of the talent.

"Or... is it the increase in my own level?" Lin Tian thought about how he had recently stepped into the Silver rank. Talents were bound to one's soul and strength; as a Lord's level increased, the talent rising accordingly seemed like the most logical explanation.

Furthermore, he hadn't felt anything obvious when he promoted to Silver yesterday, only "happening" to discover it today while driving his talent for Fusion.

"It's most likely brought about by the level increase, manifesting and stabilizing during high-level Fusions." Lin Tian quickly reached this most probable conclusion, an "I see" smile appearing on his face.

"It seems this talent isn't a static, dead thing; it grows along with me! Not bad at all, it has great 'growth potential'! I like it."

Lin Tian calmed his heart and carefully sensed the subtle changes within.

At first, it seemed the energy was simply purer; the Fusion process might be smoother, the consumption lower, and the upper limit higher. But as he gradually extended his will, attempting to "understand" the essence of this upgraded talent, a brand new, unprecedented "possibility" entered his perception like the first flicker of a flame ignited in the darkness.

It was a kind of... deeper touch and manipulation of the essence of energy.

If the previous talent was like a master key that could open the door to "Material Fusion," forcibly "blending" and "evolving" different materials according to certain rules...

Then now, this key seemed to have become capable of sensing the deeper structure of the "keyhole," even... attempting to "understand" and "fuse" non-material forms of pure energy bodies, or special energy attributes contained within matter!

"Special energy Fusion?" Lin Tian's heart skipped a beat as an attempt he had almost forgotten instantly surfaced in his mind.

He immediately retrieved a lowest-grade spirit crystal emitting a faint white light from his storage space.

He remembered when he was first brought to this continent, penniless and full of curiosity and expectation for his talent, the first object he tried to fuse was this spirit crystal! The result was no reaction at all; the spirit crystal remained a spirit crystal, and the talent didn't budge. This had once made him somewhat depressed, thinking the talent only worked on physical materials.

"So, does that mean the lack of reaction back then... was because the level was too low?" A light of realization and eagerness flashed in Lin Tian's eyes. "Now that it's... Intermediate, will it work?"

He took a deep breath, as if performing a sacred experiment. After recruiting a new soldier, he slowly mobilized the power of his Fusion Evolution talent, which had already transformed to "Intermediate."

Buzz!...

For the first time, the spirit crystal in his palm emitted a slight resonant tremor as Lin Tian drove his talent! It then turned into a streak of light and merged into the new soldier. After a flash of white light, an Elite Primary aptitude Militia appeared before Lin Tian, looking to be in better spirits and with clothes that had upgraded from tattered to normal.

Seeing this scene, Lin Tian couldn't help but facepalm... looking at this Militia's information panel, an Elite Militia? He only had one passive skill: High Energy.

"This actually made me laugh. After an upgrade, this is it? ...Is it because the spirit crystal contains attribute-less pure energy?" Lin Tian muttered to himself, becoming more certain of this reason. He would try again when he encountered something with an attribute.

"Level is the key! I must level up faster! I also need to collect more high-grade materials! Practice brings true knowledge; I have to try more to figure out the boundaries and uses of this new ability!" Lin Tian clenched his fist, his previous fatigue swept away and replaced by infinite motivation and a desire to explore.

"However, one must eat one's meal bite by bite and walk the path step by step." He quickly calmed down. For now, he should look at his mighty and extraordinary Zhenyue Spirit General, Lin Yan.

He saw that Lin Yan's physique seemed to have grown another size, his height approaching two meters. The set of Mystic Rock Spirit Guard armor on his body had completely changed, transforming into a set of even more ancient, heavy, and power-filled Zhenyue Spirit Armor.

The material of the armor no longer seemed to be simple rock, but a perfect Fusion of xuanhuang divine iron and earth crystals tempered for tens of millions of years in the core's furnace. It presented a deep dark-gold color, with natural patterns like mountain veins flowing across the surface, which glowed slightly with his breathing.

The pauldrons were as heavy as two miniature mountains, and the breastplate was embossed with the ancient seal character for "Suppress," surrounded by geothermal vein patterns. The entire set of armor was seamless, as if grown from nature and perfectly fused with him, exuding a suffocatingly heavy pressure and an unshakable sense of stability. It gave off a feeling of absolute defense, as if "one man could hold the pass against ten thousand."

Lin Tian impatiently opened his new status panel:

[Fusion Successful! Mystic Rock Spirit Guard → Zhenyue Spirit General, Lin Yan]

[Unit Quality: Extraordinary High → Legendary High]

[Growth Potential: Diamond 9-Star]

New Skills:

[New Skill 1]: Earth-Sinking Prison

Effect: Can communicate with Earth Vein Power to instantly trigger violent terrain changes in a designated area (currently maximum radius 50 meters, increases with strength). The ground can turn into a quicksand pit to swallow enemies, or rise to form a circular rocky mountain cage to trap them, and can also create complex fissures to slow enemies and disrupt formations. Within the skill range, enemy units will be subjected to continuous double gravity restrictions.

Note: More than just defense, it is a strategic-level control skill for dominating the battlefield.

[New Skill 2]: Earth Vein Power (Passive/Active)

Passive Effect: While standing on the earth, automatically absorbs geothermal energy to continuously and rapidly recover health and stamina, significantly enhancing own defense, resistance to abnormal statuses, and standing stability (difficult to be knocked back or launched).

Active Effect: Can be actively triggered to form a "Geothermal Domain" centered on oneself, covering up to fifty meters (increases with strength). Within the domain, all friendly units receive "Earth's Blessing" (slight increase in defense and stamina recovery), and all enemy units receive "Earth's Binding" (reduced movement and attack speed).

"Earth-Sinking Prison! Earth Vein Power!" After reading the skill descriptions, Lin Tian was ecstatic. "This isn't just an ultimate increase in personal defense; it's the tactical core of legion combat! Crowd control, buffs, recovery... Lin Yan is now a mobile super defense tower and terrain controller!"