46: Chapter 46 The Effects of the Transformation Stone

The shock in Ao Qingyan's heart was like raging waves, unable to calm down for a long time.

When her icy blue eyes looked at Lin Muyang again, the feeling had completely changed.

How could this be just an ordinary human Summoner? This was clearly a cheater.

Those Auras surrounding him, whose effects could be called heaven-defying, any one of them if leaked would be enough to cause frantic pursuit and bloody storms throughout the entire world of Class Transferees!

And he was actually able to possess so many at the same time, and use them with such ease!

"Reaching level 20 and unlocking the fifth Aura slot makes tactical choices much more diverse." Lin Muyang did not notice the towering waves rising in the Dragon Maiden's heart; he was focused on planning the most efficient Aura combination for grinding monsters.

"Attack, Defense, and Experience—these three are the core for ensuring damage output, survival, and leveling speed; they must be kept active."

"The guaranteed critical hit effect provided by 【Eye of Lethality】 can greatly increase burst damage, so it also needs to be kept."

"There is one spot left..." His consciousness swept through the vast list of Auras, finally resting on an Aura named 【Vulnerability】.

Its effect was simple and brutal: all enemy units within the Aura's range take 100% increased damage!

This was equivalent to doubling the entire team's damage output, and the efficiency of clearing monsters would surely soar again.

However, his gaze fell back on the newly joined Ao Qingyan. This Dragon Maiden companion was a pure physical melee class, wielding a longsword, and every slash relied on attack speed.

"Perhaps I could change my approach?" A flash of inspiration struck Lin Muyang.

Previously, because Lilia and Elabess were both magic-type classes, and their skills were mostly instant or had fixed casting times, the ten-fold attack speed provided by the 【Deadly Rhythm】 Aura didn't offer a significant direct boost to them. But now that there was a physical core in the team, the situation was completely different!

Imagine, a Dragon Maiden who was already skilled in swordsmanship receiving a ten-fold attack speed buff—what kind of scene would that be? She would likely turn into a ruthless blade storm meat grinder!

"That's settled, let's try the new combination!"

Lin Muyang's thought shifted, and he instantly completed the Aura swap. Besides keeping the 【Aura of Attack】, 【Sacred Barrier】, 【Experience Surge】, and 【Eye of Lethality】, he assigned the fifth slot to 【Deadly Rhythm】!

Hum!

A new power infused Ao Qingyan's body. She immediately felt her arms and wrists become incredibly light, as if swinging her longsword required no effort at all; wherever her mind went, the blade followed! She even had the illusion that if she wanted to, she could strike hundreds or thousands of times in an instant!

"Again with this inconceivable buff..." She was already numb to it. Earlier, when flying in her dragon form, she had vaguely sensed the anomaly in speed and thought it was some kind of talent of Lin Muyang's. Only now did she realize that this was actually just one of his many "miracles"!

Lin Muyang was not in a hurry to let the team push forward.

He skillfully switched the combat Auras to the classic loot-gathering combination, along with the long-awaited 【Divine Touch】!

Just at the moment the Aura swap was completed, a sudden change occurred!

The place where the two vampire servants had turned to ash did not immediately dissipate completely; instead, a soft and pure golden light seeped out from the void. This light rapidly condensed, actually forming a strange tentacle-like creature about half a person's height, entirely resembling forged gold and constantly wriggling!

"It finally triggered!" A glow of surprise burst forth in Lin Muyang's eyes.

Ever since he unlocked the fourth Aura slot at level 15, he had been keeping the 【Divine Touch】 Aura active while grinding Dungeons, but unfortunately, he had gained nothing after grinding all afternoon yesterday. He didn't expect that just after entering this level 22 gold rank Dungeon today, he would successfully summon it!

He immediately concentrated his mind to check the information on this strange creature: 【Divine Touch (Special summon)】 Description: A special existence composed of pure divine energy; killing it guarantees a drop of 1 "modification stone (god grade)". HP: 100. Attack Power: 0. Special Ability: 【Sacred Barrier】: Immune to all single instances of damage higher than 1. Each time it is attacked, regardless of how high the original damage is, it only takes 1 point of fixed damage.

"As expected..." After reading the description, Lin Muyang immediately understood the strategy. This thing doesn't take burst damage; it only takes damage based on attack frequency!

"Qingyan, it's up to you. Attack it with your fastest speed!" Lin Muyang immediately gave the order.

Ao Qingyan, who was under the ten-fold attack speed buff, although confused, already had a degree of trust in Lin Muyang's commands. Her figure flashed, and she appeared before the golden 【Divine Touch】 as if teleporting.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish—!"

She didn't even need to use any skills; with just a flick of her wrist, the longsword in her palm turned into a dazzling white curtain of light, pouring down upon the golden tentacle like a torrential storm! The sword speed was so fast that it even left trails of afterimages in the air!

"This speed is incredible!" Even Ao Qingyan herself was stunned by this terrifying frequency of sword strikes. This was more than ten times faster than her fastest speed when practicing swordsmanship on ordinary days!

This feeling of surging power and doing exactly as one pleases made an indescribable sense of exhilaration well up in her heart!

Every sword strike landing on the 【Divine Touch】 could only deal a mandatory "-1" damage. But under Ao Qingyan's phantom-like sword speed, that 100 HP melted away rapidly like snow under the sun.

In less than two seconds, accompanied by a faint "pop" sound like a bubble bursting, the golden 【Divine Touch】 completely dissipated into the air. At the same time, a stone about the size of a thumb, round all over, and emitting a warm and divine golden light, landed on the dusty floor of the ancient castle with a soft "ding" sound.

【modification stone (god grade)】!

"Lilia, go pick that up." Lin Muyang still habitually ordered the Elf Maiden around.

At first, Lilia was full of freshness regarding exploring and collecting loot, but as the number of times increased, especially in situations like "only dropping one stone," she gradually felt a bit bored and dull. But constrained by Lin Muyang's orders, she could only pout and unwillingly run over, pick up the golden stone, and stuff it into Lin Muyang's hand with a huff.

"The equipment drop rate of mobs in a platinum rank Dungeon is indeed much lower than in a gold rank team secret realm." Lin Muyang glanced at the empty ground and was not surprised, "Two mobs didn't even drop a piece of white-tier equipment, let alone a skill book."

"However, being able to get this 【Divine Touch】 is already a huge profit!"

He soothingly ruffled Lilia's soft silver hair, then took the 【modification stone (god grade)】 that was emitting an alluring light, and couldn't wait to check its attributes: 【modification stone (god grade)】 Type: Special Enhancement Item. Effect: Can be used on equipment of any rank and any level. After use, one of the following two effects can be chosen: 【Attribute Sublimation】: Designate one existing attribute of the equipment to permanently increase its value by 200%. 【Rule Addition】: Add an extra, completely new random attribute to the equipment that fits its class and rank. (The same piece of equipment can have the modification stone used on it multiple times; there is no upper limit to the number of times, but after each modification, the number of modification stones required for the next modification might increase.)

???

Lin Muyang looked at this short description, and his breath couldn't help but hitch slightly.

Perverted! This effect is simply heaven-defying!

In this era of universal Class Transfer, all equipment dropped by monsters or crafted by artisans has fixed attributes from the moment of its creation and cannot be changed or improved by any known means. This is also why equipment with top-tier attributes is so precious.

And this seemingly inconspicuous 【modification stone】 could actually break this iron rule! It could not only violently increase the equipment's existing attribute values to three times their original amount but even create something out of nothing, adding brand new attribute entries to the equipment!

Regardless of which effect it was, once leaked to the outside world, it would be enough to make countless top experts, large guilds, and even national forces go crazy, willing to start bloody storms just to fight for it!

"This thing is a true priceless treasure, a strategic-level resource!" Lin Muyang carefully put the modification stone into the deepest part of his storage space.

He could imagine that if he had enough modification stones, he could even take a level 100 expert's full set of top-tier equipment, increase every single attribute by 200%, and then add several powerful new attributes... What kind of terrifying monster would that eventually create? The increase in combat power would far exceed the scope of ordinary human understanding!

The key is that the description doesn't say a piece of equipment can only have a modification stone used on it once! This means that, theoretically, as long as there are enough modification stones, one could completely perform infinite enhancements on a single piece of equipment!

"There is only one right now; using it on these current transitional low-level pieces of equipment would be too wasteful."

"I'll hoard it first. Wait until I get truly top-tier items that can serve as lifelong equipment, then use them all at once!" Lin Muyang made his decision instantly.

He realized that just by relying on the production capability of this 【modification stone (god grade)】, he had the potential to become the wealthiest and most influential person on the entire Blue Star!

Of course, before possessing enough self-protection capability, this secret must never be leaked even a little. The strategic value of this thing is comparable to nuclear weapons in the world before he transmigrated, and it is one of the strongest trump cards in his hand.

"It seems that only the corpses of monsters level 20 and above have a probability of triggering 【Divine Touch】..." Lin Muyang recalled yesterday's lack of results and understood, "No wonder I couldn't farm it before."

"But from now on, the more of these things, the better!"

Meanwhile, in a highly confidential meeting room inside the Tianqi Tower headquarters building.

The atmosphere seemed somewhat heavy and carried a trace of strange restlessness.

Nearly twenty male and female Class Transferees sat around a huge circular conference table; every one of them exuded powerful and restrained energy fluctuations, with levels generally around 95, making them the true core elite and high-level combat force of Tianqi Tower.

At this moment, most of their faces carried a look of doubt and disbelief.

"President, has the news been confirmed? 'Burial Ground'... that Sovereign-rank secret realm, can we really try to clear it again?" A burly man with a giant axe on his back and a full beard asked first in a deep voice, his tone like muffled thunder.

"Yes, the time is set for tomorrow noon." Shen Yanshan, sitting in the main seat, nodded, his tone steady.

"Nineteen of us core members, plus an 'outside help' of unknown origin?" A female mage wearing deep purple robes with a cold and elegant temperament frowned slightly, her fingertips gently tapping on the table, "President, it's not that we are questioning your decision. It's just that we have personally experienced the difficulty of that Sovereign-rank secret realm twice, and returned empty-handed both times, even paying a significant price. Can a mysterious person who won't even show their face really lead us... to clear it?"

These words voiced the doubts in the hearts of almost everyone present. For a moment, everyone's gaze focused on Shen Yanshan, waiting for his explanation. The air in the conference room seemed to have frozen somewhat.