8: Evolutionary light maturity

As Li Changkong advanced, he quickly arrived inside a cave.

The cliff walls of this cave were covered with a faint frost, and from time to time, Frost Zombies, similarly covered in frost, could be seen slowly walking by.

These Frost Zombies had reached Rank 18.

This was one Rank higher than Li Changkong's own Rank.

But for Black Flame, they were still just small fry.

Wielding its claws, one Frost Zombie after another fell to the ground.

[Killed Frost Zombie X6, gained 240 experience!]

[Obtained Tier 1 Dark Attribute Energy Stone X1!]

The experience bonus from these high-Rank zombies was clearly more than that from the ordinary zombies outside.

However, in front of the long experience bar, this experience still felt like a drop in the bucket.

But the high drop rate of Energy Stones made up for the lack of experience.

Every time Li Changkong obtained an Energy Stone, he would immediately toss it to Black Flame.

And Black Flame was very fond of these “delicacies” of Energy Stones.

Each time it swallowed an Energy Stone, it would let out two soft cries, as if thanking Li Changkong.

After swallowing five Energy Stones, a black light enveloped Black Flame's body.

When the black light faded, Black Flame's size had increased by more than fifty percent compared to before.

Black Flame had already reached the late stage of its infant period, and its attributes also saw a significant leap.

At the same time, the Frost Zombies in this area were almost all cleared out.

After passing through the Frost Cave, everything around became even gloomier.

“Awoo.”

Along with Black Flame's roar, Li Changkong also noticed a pair of blood-red and eerie eyes appearing in the darkness in the distance.

The next second, a giant zombie covered in ice shards emerged from the shadows.

This zombie was three meters tall; even Li Changkong had to look up at it.

Upon appearing, the zombie's gaze immediately locked onto Li Changkong.

A hint of greed and hunger appeared in its crimson eyes, and it charged over like a mad demon.

“Black Flame.”

Li Changkong lightly shouted, and Fanatic Aura instantly enveloped its body.

Under the shroud of Fanatic Aura, Black Flame's body grew even larger.

It flapped its wings once and blocked Li Changkong's path.

Li Changkong knew that this was the Gloomy Secret Realm's boss, the Frost Zombie King.

The Frost Zombie King's Rank had already reached Rank 20, which was the cap for a Rank 15 Secret Realm.

When the Frost Zombie King saw Black Flame's body, which was comparable to its own, a hint of fear flickered in its eyes.

However, upon sensing Black Flame's Rank, this fear immediately vanished.

The next second, it opened its mouth wide and spewed out a bone-chilling blue storm of cold Qi.

Black Flame, however, was quite disdainful and spewed out a Black Flame from its mouth.

As soon as the Black Flame touched the blue wind, it instantly devoured the blue storm and smashed towards the Frost Zombie King's body.

Black Flame's Realm had already reached the late stage of its infant period, and its strength had significantly increased compared to before.

Even though the Frost Zombie King resisted with all its might, after a moment, it was still torn in half by Black Flame's sharp claws.

[Killed Frost Zombie King X1, gained 1000 experience points.]

[Obtained Tier 2 Dark Attribute Energy Stone X1.]

[Obtained Blue Equipment frost heart X1.]

As the Frost Zombie King fell, several pleasant sounds rang out.

The experience gained from killing a higher-Rank monster was indeed considerable, and being a boss, it directly provided 1000 experience points.

However, compared to the experience provided by the Ten Thousand Times Critical Strike Rebate, 1000 was indeed a bit paltry.

As for the Tier 2 Dark Attribute Energy Stone, Li Changkong threw it to Black Flame, who was beside him.

Black Flame leaped up excitedly and swallowed the Energy Stone in one gulp.

After swallowing the Energy Stone, it closed its eyes and began to digest the Energy Stone.

A Tier 2 Energy Stone contained more than ten times the energy of a Tier 1 Energy Stone, so it naturally required time to digest.

Li Changkong then turned his gaze to the frost heart necklace.

The necklace had a bone-chilling sensation to the touch, which was very magical.

[Equipment: frost heart]

[Rank: Blue]

[Attribute: All Attributes +10]

After clearly seeing the description of the frost heart, Li Changkong's eyes lit up slightly.

The all-attribute plus ten attribute was equivalent to the attribute points gained from four upgrades.

Each upgrade would provide ten free attribute points, so if all four dimensions increased by ten, that would be forty attribute points.

Li Changkong wore this useful piece of equipment himself.

As soon as he put on the equipment, Black Flame had already completed its evolution.

The originally somewhat cute Black Flame now had a hint of coldness and killing intent.

The scales covering its body became dark and lustrous, and its two-meter body appeared majestic.

[Black Dragon: Black Flame (Adolescent Period)]

[Rank: 5]

[Strength: 150]

[Agility: 130]

[Spirit: 100]

[Physique: 200]

Looking at these terrifying attributes, even Li Changkong gasped.

This adolescent Black Flame not only looked completely different, but its attributes also increased terrifyingly.

A Physique of up to two hundred was enough to make ordinary Transcenders awe-struck.

These attributes were even more terrifying than those of a Rank 10+ Secret Realm boss.

These summoned creatures were divided into three evolution Ranks: Infant Period, Adolescent Period, and Mature Period.

This Rank 5 Adolescent Period was already so terrifying; if it reached the Mature Period, wouldn't he be able to just lie down and do nothing?

“Congratulations, you have cleared the Gloomy Secret Realm dungeon. Please choose your reward.”

Three cards appeared before his eyes again. Li Changkong rubbed his hands and chose one of them.

“Congratulations, you have obtained the skill book Water Prison Technique (Upgradable).”

This time, he obtained a skill book. Although it was only a basic skill, at least it was upgradable.

His own skills were already scarce, so having one more skill was not bad.

With Black Flame as such a powerful fighter, he temporarily didn't need too many offensive skills.

And this Water Prison Technique could imprison enemies.

It could advance to help Black Flame imprison enemies and cause large-scale damage to them.

It could retreat to protect himself and prevent monsters from attacking the summoner.

“Congratulations to a certain professional for solo clearing the Gloomy Secret Realm dungeon! Completion time: ten minutes and twenty seconds!”

The Blue Sea city announcement rang out again, immediately attracting the attention of many people.

“Solo clear? Is this some big shot?”

“Probably some Rank 30 big shot smurfing, the Gloomy Secret Realm isn't easy to clear.”

“Before, five of us Rank 15 Transcenders with full equipment wanted to try this Secret Realm, but as soon as we saw the Frost Zombie King, we were instantly killed.”

...

As soon as the news of the solo clear spread, it immediately attracted the attention of many people.

Discussions about this matter immediately started on the Blue Sea forum.

After Li Changkong claimed his reward, he was immediately teleported out of the Secret Realm.