Chapter 50: Skill Book
"Damn it, we're too late."
Tang San showed a flash of annoyance. He stopped at a distance, dispersed his Blue Silver Grass martial spirit, and frowned.
Yu Xiaogang shook his head slightly. "Go take a look anyway. Even if Lin Bai picked up the drops, some might not suit him. If there's something you can use, we'll trade it back."
"Understood, Teacher."
Tang San calmed himself, suppressing the frustration in his heart, and followed Yu Xiaogang forward.
By then, Lin Bai had already picked up the loot dropped by the Ice and Fire Demonic Wolf. He casually handed the white and green quality items to Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu, while carefully examining the three best drops.
Two of them were blue items — a pair of red and blue gauntlets.
[Ice Wolf Armor Right Arm]
Quality: Blue (Excellent)
Equipment Requirements: Level 15 monster-dual cultivation profession
+15 Strength
+10 Intelligence
+10 Constitution
+20 Ice Resistance
[Fire Wolf Armor Left Arm]
Quality: Blue (Excellent)
Equipment Requirements: Level 15 magic-martial dual profession (excluding agility and fighting types)
+15 Strength
+10 Intelligence
+10 Constitution
+20 Fire Resistance
Set Effect (2/2): Resistance bonuses doubled.
Lin Bai took a quiet breath. A two-piece set. Though limited in number, the stats were strong. With doubled resistance — 40 points each to Ice and Fire — attribute attacks below the Soul King level would barely scratch a wearer properly equipped with these gauntlets.
The equipment restrictions conveniently ruled out Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu. Only Lin Bai met the requirements. And just as well — he was the one who killed the boss, claimed most of the experience, and even leveled up three times to reach Level 15.
Without hesitation, he equipped the gauntlets. His attributes instantly spiked.
Neither Xiao Wu nor Zhu Zhuqing asked about the specifics of his new gear. They quietly sorted through the rest of the loot.
Tang San watched Lin Bai equip the gauntlets and sighed inwardly, knowing there was nothing left for him. His gaze shifted toward the final item in Lin Bai's hands — a book. The item referenced by the announcement.
A Skill Book.
A skill derived from the Ice and Fire Demonic Wolf. Tang San didn't know whether Lin Bai qualified to learn it, but he silently hoped not.
Lin Bai checked its information.
[Ice and Fire Demonic Body]
Quality: Purple (Rare)
Type: Growth Skill
Learning Requirement: Possess two opposing attributes.
Description: Opposing attributes repel and strengthen each other. The Demonic Wolf family tempers itself by hosting conflicting attributes within one body. Those who survive such torment mutate, significantly enhancing all attributes and potential. Purified by dungeon rules, this ability now exists as a skill. Adventurers with two opposing attributes can learn this to refine and strengthen both traits over time.
Skill Levels:
Level 1: Allows simultaneous use of both attributes for offense and defense. Level 2: Temporarily convert one attribute into the other to strengthen oneself. Level 3: Transform into elemental clones. As long as one clone remains, the other revives.
Note: Skill quality scales with attribute rarity. Purple (Rare) at minimum, Colorful (Mythic) at maximum.
The lengthy description made Lin Bai's heart pound.
This skill was practically made for him.
While his two professions didn't come with fixed attributes, his Ruyi Qiankun Gun carried both light and dark elements — perfectly fulfilling the learning condition.
Even more, he'd spent a year grasping those two forces, though rarely using them outside of forming a yin-yang shield. After all, compared to his ultimate gold attribute, light and darkness felt… mediocre.
But now — with this skill — he could actively refine them, raising their strength. Possibly even helping his Ruyi Qiankun Gun ascend to a god-level martial spirit before his eventual divinity.
Without hesitation, Lin Bai slapped the skill book onto his head.
Bang!
The book shattered into purple light, which swirled around him before vanishing into his mind. The Ruyi Qiankun Gun shuddered in response, stirring both light and dark attributes. Golden light flickered as his physique shifted.
[Congratulations on acquiring the Legendary Skill: Demonic Body of Light and Darkness.]
The system panel shimmered with gold.
Lin Bai looked at Tang San and the others, smiling politely.
"I'll apologize for making you wait so long. I'll be holding on to these three items — I'll trade with you another time if the opportunity comes."
In dungeons, resources were endless. Even if he looked down on Tang San, Lin Bai wouldn't offend him outright. That was why he hadn't left him crippled during their last encounter — he simply rewound time afterward.
'The function of the Time-Space Godhead should be to let me endlessly farm bosses and snag the best drops. No wonder this cheat nearly crashed the dungeon. With a plugin like this, there's no way it wouldn't come with a loophole to exploit. The logic tracks.'
Lin Bai thought silently.
As for the Demonic Body skill reaching legendary quality? No surprise. Compared to common pairings like water and fire, light and darkness were far superior.
City Lord Xiao, ever calm, simply smiled. "It's fine. We were just trying our luck. Let's continue hunting monsters. Lin Bai, if you have time, come visit the city lord's mansion sometime."
City Lord Xiao wasn't strong, but he had broad tolerance. He didn't act displeased over this wasted trip. The same went for Dean Chen and Master Matthew Nuo.
Tang San alone seemed slightly bitter, though he hid it well. He believed that with the Tang Sect's secret arts, he'd eventually kill a dungeon boss himself and claim another skill book.
As for Master Matthew Nuo and the others, while they kept calm faces, none of them could ignore the quiet embarrassment of being outdone by a child under ten.
After signaling his intention to befriend Lin Bai, the city lord took his people and left.
Tang San and Yu Xiaogang also said their farewells. Both were fanatics when it came to cultivation, and with the dungeon now open, Yu Xiaogang wished he could spend every hour slaying monsters to regain strength he'd long lost.
Tang San wasn't faring much better. After years taking care of Tang Hao, he now had to manage Yu Xiaogang too.
And since the dungeon's appearance, Tang San had all but given up working in the blacksmith shop. Monsters dropped dungeon coins, and collecting them was far more profitable than any forge labor. As for the Random Cloak Hammer technique — he'd already mastered it. With twenty-stacked strikes, it was now a hidden weapon forging technique.
Once the five were gone, Lin Bai turned to Xiao Wu.
She was beaming — her smile wide and mischievous, white teeth and red lips dazzling.
"You're grinning awfully hard now that they're gone. Did you find something?"
"Hehe~"
Xiao Wu clasped her hands behind her back, acting mysterious.
"Take a guess. What good stuff do you think I picked up?"
Lin Bai rolled his eyes. "Wasn't that my boss kill? How is it your find?"
"Hmph. You tossed it my way. Who told you not to pay attention? Go ahead — look around. Notice anything odd?"
Lin Bai gave a quick glance.
Sure enough — after all this time, the Ice and Fire Demonic Wolf's corpse hadn't disappeared.
********
If you want to read more there's 15, 30, 50 chapters there of my written fanfictions and translated works in my Pat.Reon.
Here is the link:
https://patreon.com/LordFisherman?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink
And if you can't find it just type my name: patreon.com/LordFisherman