Chapter 29: Reaching Level 20
“That’s pretty good.”
Xu Zhi didn’t want her familiars to end up looking bizarre. She hoped they would all become more aesthetically pleasing according to her expectations. She thought her sense of beauty was pretty good.
After petting Gouzi’s head, Xu Zhi picked up the book again to read while waiting for Yi to finish digesting the last fruit.
After Yi woke up, Xu Zhi picked up the game console and checked, and indeed, even after digestion, Yi was still a little short of reaching level 20.
[Familiar: Snake Lv18 → Lv19]
Mental: 600 → 740
Physical: 1800 → 2000
Attribute: Blade
Traits: Toxin Lv6, Sharp Lv5, Bloodthirsty Lv5, Cunning Lv4, Strength Lv6
Special Ability: Transformation Lv2
Evolution Points: 5000/6000]
Though the special ability didn’t level up, strength increased by one level, which was nice. The key point was that it was just 1,000 evolution points away from reaching level 20. Xu Zhi patted its head and ordered, “Go, head toward the southern part of the city, hurry up and level up.”
She was waiting for Yi to reach level 20 before using the two chances to draw traits.
Only 1,000 evolution points left—shouldn’t take too long to gather.
After all, the mutated animals in Cloud City were getting stronger each day, which meant the evolution points they provided were increasing as well.
She figured it was likely because, like Shen Jinwen, the power in their bodies was growing continuously, helping them mutate into even stronger creatures.
Xu Zhi suddenly thought about the Cloud City Zoo and the animals in the mountains. She wondered how they were doing now.
Cloud City was vast, surrounded by mountains in the south, and Xu Zhi wasn’t sure if there were any wild beasts in the area. But she imagined there would be plenty of animals in the mountains. Those areas were likely the animals’ territory, while the mutated animals in the city weren’t as numerous.
Humans, mutants, and mutated animals made up the three distinct “species” in this locked-down city.
This time, when Yi and Gouzi went out hunting, Xu Zhi didn’t bury her head in the book but instead intentionally observed for a while. After all, this was the first time she used the idle feature after the game update, and she wanted to see if there were any differences from before.
Yi’s speed was extremely fast now, and since most of the mutated animals near the old residential area had already been cleared by it and Gouzi, it directly followed Xu Zhi’s instructions and headed toward the southern part of the city to find prey.
Though Xu Zhi had intended for Yi to head toward the southern mountain villa area, that location was still too far from the old residential area. Even Yi wouldn’t hunt that far yet. But this was a gradual process, so Xu Zhi figured she could first get familiar with the general direction toward the southern mountain villa.
While Yi was hunting, Xu Zhi noticed that the mutated animals seemed to have naturally formed a new “food chain.” It was still survival of the fittest, where the strong were dominant, but formerly weak animals now leapt to the top of the food chain due to their abilities after mutation. Formerly strong creatures, on the other hand, had become prey due to their lack of powerful abilities.
“Animals adapt so quickly.”
Occasionally, Xu Zhi would also see cautious humans from Yi’s perspective. Compared to mutated animals, it seemed that humans adapted to environmental changes more slowly.
Soon, Yi gathered enough evolution points. After Xu Zhi recalled it, she clicked on the upgrade.
She eagerly awaited Yi to reach level 20, curious to see if there would be any changes after reaching that level and what new familiar options would appear.
[Familiar: Snake Lv19 → Anaconda Lv20]
Mental: 740 → 1000
Physical: 2000 → 3000
Attribute: Blade
Traits: Toxin Lv6, Sharp Lv5, Bloodthirsty Lv6, Cunning Lv4, Strength Lv7, Evolution Lv1
Special Ability: Transformation Lv3
Evolution Points: 0/7000]
Bloodthirsty and Strength both leveled up, and Transformation also upgraded. But the most significant change was the huge increase in mental and physical attributes, along with a new trait: Evolution.
Clearly, Yi had been continuously evolving during the upgrade process, but now it suddenly had a level 1 Evolution trait?
Unless this Evolution trait had a different, more important meaning.
“If I can draw this Evolution, I wonder what will happen,” Xu Zhi thought fleetingly, then shook her head. This wasn’t something she could control. Rather than focusing on this uncertain but clearly potential-filled trait, she hoped to draw a level 7 Strength first.
Simple, direct, and effective!
But if we talk about potential, perhaps Evolution had more value, considering its name.
“Or maybe I’ll just draw both of these.”
Xu Zhi had her plans, but the narrator didn’t immediately give her the chance to draw. A series of prompts popped up instead.
[Congratulations, your first familiar reached level 20, unlocking the third familiar slot. You can now draw your third familiar from the familiar selection interface.]
[Since you’ve raised a familiar to level 20 and entered the metamorphosis stage, the initial level of the familiars you can choose has increased.]
[Entering the metamorphosis stage means your familiar will undergo a period of rapid growth. Once its Evolution level reaches 10, the familiar will complete its metamorphosis, breaking through the limit and becoming a higher-level lifeform.]
[Familiar entering the metamorphosis stage will have a higher demand for energy. Please provide more suitable cores for it.]
[Congratulations, you have gained a general understanding of the game’s content since your familiar reached level 20. More content has been unlocked.]
[Spirit Body: The game will record the places you randomly visit. You can pay additional cores to summon a designated spirit body to drop at these recorded locations. The cost of core required will vary depending on the location.]
[When you use more than three different attribute cores for random spirit bodies, you will have a chance to reach farther locations, and these locations can also be recorded, but it will cost more cores.]
[When you invest more than ten cores, the summoned random spirit body will necessarily have some extraordinary ability. The more cores you invest, the stronger the extraordinary ability of the summoned spirit body.]
[Extraordinary Items: Unlocks the item forging function. Using any suitable item plus a suitable core attribute, the game will help you forge an extraordinary item.]
[The quality of the forged item is influenced by various factors, and there is a chance that the item may have no actual use. The creation and effects of extraordinary items are unstable. Improving affinity with * will increase the success rate and stability.]
[Most items have a time limit, and the more cores you invest, the longer you can use the item.]
[When you discover naturally occurring extraordinary items, the game will notify you.]
“Extraordinary items?”
Xu Zhi pondered over this line of text. She might need a lightbulb that never goes out.
Lately, she’s been using candles to read. If this keeps up, won’t she get nearsighted?
But forging extraordinary items required suitable attributes, and Xu Zhi wasn’t sure what combinations were ideal, meaning she’d need to go through a lot of trial and error, which she didn’t have the resources for right now.
