Chapter 187: All-Member Upgrade, The Druid’s New Form

Hilda Bloodkiss's tsundere attitude left Cao Xing speechless.

However, when he saw that Braum Ironwall's loyalty had reached its maximum, a look of joy appeared on his face.

With this, most of the spoils from this haul had been distributed.

The villagers who received rewards had looks of excitement in their eyes.

As for those who didn't receive rewards, they felt extremely envious.

At the same time, they secretly decided that if there was another battle like this, they must perform well in front of the Lord!

In Cao Xing's hands, there was still one Leader-level soul, one Boss-level soul, and 7 Elite-level souls remaining.

Among these, the most valuable was naturally the Leader-level soul.

To be honest.

He had many subordinates with great potential under his command.

For example, Dabai and Volibear, or Renice and Assam, and even the two Dragon Blood Warriors.

Even though they were currently only Elite or Boss level, they had already demonstrated powerful combat capabilities.

Once they broke through to Leader, they would surely undergo a qualitative change once again.

However, there was only one Leader-level soul.

After pondering for a moment, Cao Xing decided to give it to Andrew again!

After all, Andrew had failed with one last time.

He didn't believe that he could fail twice in a row!

Andrew looked at the Leader-level soul in Cao Xing's hand, feeling a bit uneasy for a moment.

"My Lord, perhaps you should give it to someone else. After all, I have already failed once…"

But Cao Xing smiled and said, "It's nothing; just succeed this time and it will be fine."

"As you said, the laws of nature are about balance, aren't they?"

Hearing this, Andrew also laughed.

"You are truly a wise Lord; nature will bless you."

He stopped declining and respectfully accepted it.

With this, the harvest from this battle had mostly been distributed.

There was still some equipment left, and Cao Xing hadn't checked its attributes yet, so he decided to look at it later.

Meanwhile.

Under Cao Xing's signal, everyone began to use these souls and Hearts of Strength to breakthrough.

The scene of a dozen people upgrading at the same time was quite spectacular.

Although it was already nearly eleven o'clock at night.

The hundreds of people in the territory had absolutely no sleepiness.

First, the ones who broke through earliest were those three Wild Boar Warriors.

[Your territory member: Derek has successfully advanced to a Tier 2 Elite creature, basic attributes increased by 30%, learned new skill: Dual Blade Dance]

[Your territory member: Miles has successfully advanced to a Tier 2 Elite creature, basic attributes increased by 30%, learned new skill: Dual Blade Dance]

Two system notifications.

Three Elite souls, two successes, one failure.

This success rate was decent.

Then, it was the group of Ascalon Warriors.

The first system notification appeared.

[Your territory member: Nikita has successfully advanced to Elite-level creature, basic attributes increased by 30%, learned new skill: Sword of Breaking Army]

[Sword of Breaking Army: Suddenly charge forward, impacting all enemies along the path, dealing 141% of attack power as damage, with a higher probability of knocking enemies into the air and disrupting the enemy's formation. Cooldown: 3 minutes.]

Seeing the skill description, Cao Xing's eyes lit up immediately.

"This skill is not bad!"

"Combined with their legion skill, Fearless Charge, there is almost nothing on the battlefield that can stop this army!"

Following the first breakthrough notification, five more system notifications appeared in succession.

Cao Xing nodded to himself.

Ten souls, six breakthroughs; that was pretty good.

Next were the two Dragon Blood Warriors.

Cao Xing couldn't help but feel expectant towards this powerful troop type.

They were already so powerful at the Elite level.

He wondered what skills they would activate after breaking through to Boss level!

At this moment, the Ice Dragon blood in their bodies was constantly being activated, and there was even a dragon aura continuously leaking out.

This caused the group of Tree Spirits to show expressions of fear on their faces.

System notification appeared.

[Your territory member: Jonard has successfully advanced to Boss-level creature, attributes increased by 30%, learned new skill: Dragon Blood Extraction]

[Your territory member: Josent has successfully advanced to Boss-level creature, attributes increased by 30%, learned new skill: Dragon Blood Extraction]

[Dragon Blood Extraction: Extract the blood of Zhuoma within the body. For the next 120 seconds, all skill cooldowns are reduced by 50%, all attack ranges are increased by 30%, and attack speed is increased by 30%. After the skill ends, the user will suffer immense painful backlash. Cooldown: 5 minutes.]

(Note: Those who steal the power of dragons, while gaining great power, will be gradually devoured by immense pain until frost covers their necks, and in the end, they can only watch their stiff bodies and wail in despair.)

"Haha! Both of them actually succeeded!"

"And this new skill is so damn powerful!"

What does it mean to reduce skill cooldown by 50% and increase attack range by 30%?

The Dragon Blood Warriors' two signature skills: [Dragon Spear Assault] only has a 40-second cooldown.

[Ice Dragon Spear · Break] only has a three-minute cooldown.

After being halved, their damage output will skyrocket significantly.

Coupled with the increase in attack range, this means Dragon Spear Assault can leap to an even greater distance.

Ice Dragon Spear · Break can also jump from its original 50-meter attack range directly to 65 meters!

It's truly terrifyingly powerful!

Cao Xing was overjoyed.

However, this skill has a huge side effect.

That is, after the effect ends, one will suffer extreme pain.

Jonard had said before that ever since they integrated the Ice Dragon blood into their bodies, their Norn Clan had been constantly suffering from the backlash of the Ice Dragon's power.

Clearly, the sequelae that must be endured for this skill are even more intense than the pain they were already experiencing!

Cao Xing pondered, "I wonder if this skill will be enhanced by Eternal Power."

"If it is, then after they use it, will they continue to suffer this side effect, or will they never need to suffer the backlash?"

He decided to test it out.

So, Cao Xing walked directly to the two Dragon Blood Warriors.

"Jonard, use your Dragon Blood Extraction skill and try it out."

Upon hearing Cao Xing's command, Jonard nodded and said, "As you command, my Lord."

At this moment, Jonard seemed to remember something and then said solemnly, "However, there is something I need to remind you of."

"Because this move obtains power by extracting the dragon blood within the body, and dragon blood is quite unstable."

"After using this skill, I might lose my combat ability or even fall into a brief state of madness, attacking our companions."

"At that time, please, my Lord, subdue me!"

Hearing this, Cao Xing frowned.

Because the skill description only said it would cause extreme pain, it didn't say it would drive someone into a state of madness.

It seems that the backlash of dragon blood is truly not something an average person can endure.

Cao Xing nodded, "Okay, I will subdue you, don't worry…"

Hearing this, a smile appeared on Jonard's face.

Then, he stretched out his left hand, as if drawing on some kind of power!

The next moment, he clenched his fist, and the veins all over his body bulged instantly.

Not only that, Cao Xing even saw his blood vessels moving, as if worms were crawling inside!

From his body, a tyrannical, disdainful power gradually overflowed!

At the same time, Jonard's eyes became icy, and a hint of emotion that did not belong to a human appeared.

And just at this moment, a system notification appeared.

[Your territory member Jonard successfully cast the skill [Dragon Blood Extraction]. Influenced by the talent [Eternal Power], this skill has become a permanent state.]

…

Just as Cao Xing expected, this skill also became a permanent state.

And Cao Xing also watched Jonard's changes with some nervousness.

Is it permanently suffering this backlash, or is it able to directly permanently suppress this pain?

After a moment, Cao Xing asked, "Jonard, how do you feel about your current state?"

Hearing Cao Xing's voice, the coldness in Jonard's eyes gradually faded.

He looked at Cao Xing with an expression of disbelief, "My Lord… this, this, this…"

"This is truly a magical power!"

"This power not only helped me suppress the backlash of the Ice Dragon blood in my body, but it even allows me to use the power of the Ice Dragon at any time!"

Hearing this, even Josent beside him was full of shock.

"My God! Jonard, are you serious?"

"Suppressing the backlash of Ice Dragon blood and using the power of dragons at any time is something even the Holy Maiden cannot do!"

Jonard said excitedly, "Yes."

"Although I also find it hard to believe, this is indeed the truth."

"The Lord's great power is simply omnipotent!"

Josent, on the side, was so excited after receiving confirmation that he was almost incoherent.

"Great… that's great…"

"Our Norn Clan is saved…"

Seeing their excited reactions, a smile also appeared on Cao Xing's face.

At this moment, Josent said apologetically, "I am very sorry, Lord, we were just too excited!"

"Because within our tribe, there are some powerful Dragon Blood Warriors who can also use the technique called Dragon Blood Extraction."

"However, regardless of whether they are Leader-level or Boss-level Dragon Blood Warriors, after using Dragon Blood Extraction multiple times, they all lose their sanity completely and even become one of those Ice Nest Monsters."

"Forced by circumstances, we had no choice but to kill these brave warriors."

"The blood of the dragon gave us powerful strength, but for us, it is also a curse that we cannot escape!"

"And now, because of your mighty power, we have been freed from this curse!"

"That is why we are so excited!"

Cao Xing shook his head with a smile, because he was also very excited!

The stronger the two Dragon Blood Warriors were, the more helpful they would be to him.

At this moment, Cao Xing suddenly had a different idea.

Since the Norn Clan's talent allows them to fuse Ice Dragon blood into their own bodies.

Then, could they fuse the blood of other races?

Yes, that is, Demon blood!

After Cao Xing defeated that Soul-Eater Demon last time, he obtained a class change item: Demon blood.

This drop of blood could increase the user's total attack power by 50%, which was quite formidable!

By then, they would be both Dragon Blood Warriors and Demon Warriors.

Would they receive a double bonus?

Therefore, Cao Xing asked directly, "Jonard, Josent, see if you can fuse this drop of blood into your bloodlines."

Looking at the pitch-black blood in Cao Xing's hand, which was contained in a wooden bottle.

Jonard felt an evil and powerful aura.

Then, he shook his head and said, "Lord, Josent and I are not the top warriors of the Norn Clan."

"Given our constitution, fusing one type of blood is already our limit."

"However, if you can find Norn people with even stronger talents in the future, you could try fusing two types of blood."

Hearing Jonard's explanation, Cao Xing nodded in realization.

It seems that, just as he had imagined, the bloodline talents of the Norn Clan are also graded.

Although these two Dragon Blood Warriors were formidable, they were not the most elite, and could not withstand the fusion of two powerful blood types.

Cao Xing also temporarily abandoned this idea of his.

And during their conversation.

Braum and Hilda had also both broken through to Tier 3.

Cao Xing looked at their stats.

[Ice Shield Guard: Braum Ironwall]

[Race: Human]

[Level: 20, 0/100000 (Tier 3 Leader-level Creature)]

[Detailed Stats: Click to View]

…

[Blood Spider Queen: Hilda Bloodkiss]

[Race: Blood Spider]

[Level: 20, 0/100000 (Tier 3 Boss-level Creature)]

[Detailed Stats: Click to View]

…

After reading their stats, strong joy appeared in Cao Xing's eyes!

After being blessed by the Pale Tree, Braum's HP had broken through to 30,000, and his armor had exceeded 500!

And this Blood Spider Queen had HP directly exceeding 37,000, and her attack power had broken 2,000!

At this moment, Hilda's body was erupting with strong blood energy, making everyone feel their breathing stifle.

It seemed she possessed the aura of that former Blood Spider Queen who had wiped out two duchies in one fell swoop!

Cao Xing praised, "Braum, Hilda, you two are very impressive."

Braum rubbed his bald head and said embarrassedly, "It is all thanks to the Lord's gift!"

"Braum never imagined that within just a few short days of being summoned by you, I would possess such powerful strength."

Hilda, having just broken through to Tier 3, appeared high-spirited, with blood energy constantly radiating from her.

Only Isabelle frowned slightly, condensing holy light to disperse the blood energy in front of her.

By this point, everyone's breakthroughs were almost complete.

Only Andrew remained, still transforming toward the Boss level.

He needed a bit more time.

Perhaps because of the previous breakthrough.

This breakthrough went very smoothly.

In Cao Xing's pleasantly surprised eyes.

A breath of life rose from Andrew's body!

[Your territory member: Andrew has successfully transformed into a Boss-level creature, base stats increased by 30%, learned new skill: Treant Form]

[Treant Form: Transform into a powerful treant, movement speed reduced by 30%, max HP +30%, and additionally learn skills 'Life Bloom', 'Entangling Roots', 'Reinforced Bark', 'Thorns'. Transformation duration 5 minutes, cooldown 10 minutes.]

…

Seeing the system prompt, Cao Xing was immediately overjoyed, "Haha! As expected, a new form appeared!"

He couldn't wait to check Andrew's stats after the transformation.

[Ice Plain Druid: Andrew]

[Race: Druid]

[Level: 25, 19792/200000 (Tier 3 Boss-level Creature)]

[Detailed Stats: Click to View]

…

Cao Xing was immediately startled, "So fierce! HP is almost breaking 40,000, and attack power has also broken 2,000. This is almost comparable to the Blood Spider Queen's stats!"

In other words, if Andrew enters [Moonkin Form] now, any [Starfire] could deal over 3,000 damage.

And [Moonfire] could also deal over 2,000 damage!

Combined with its output frequency, Andrew's damage would once again surpass Cao Xing, firmly securing the throne of the team's second-highest damage dealer!

However, that was not Andrew's biggest upgrade this time.

The biggest upgrade was the new form he unlocked.

Cao Xing said excitedly, "Let me see what surprises the new skills obtained this time have!"

[Reinforced Bark: Passive skill (Armor increased by 30%)]

[Entangling Roots: Release 5~10 roots to bind enemies in place for 1~30 seconds, draining HP equal to 72% of the opponent's attack power every second, cooldown: 90 seconds]

[Life Bloom: Within 7 seconds, recover HP equal to Spirit * 3 for self or allied unit, cooldown: 45 seconds]

[Thorns: Surround self or allied unit with a layer of thorns. When receiving melee attacks, reflect 9 points + Andrew's Agility * 0.5 damage. Effect lasts 600 seconds, cooldown 60 seconds.]

…

"Good heavens! This strong?"

Clearly, Andrew's new form leans toward defense, healing, and support—very versatile!

The most crucial point is!

With this transformation, Andrew has gained two status skills!

One for healing, one for damage reflection!

[Life Bloom] can recover Andrew's HP equal to Spirit * 3 within 7 seconds.

That is nearly 2,200 in recovery value, which is about 314 HP per second.

The key point is that this skill can be used in conjunction with [Ice Healing Art].

In other words, with Andrew's [Life Bloom], Cao Xing and his team's recovery data per second will now reach 854 points!

After calculating this data, a look of intense joy appeared on Cao Xing's face.

"Haha, with such high healing, it'll be hard to die now!"

Besides this, there is also [Thorns].

This thing should be equivalent to a damage reflection aura, reflecting a fixed 9 + Andrew's Agility * 0.5 damage.

In other words—

Units affected by [Thorns] will reflect nearly 370 damage every time they receive a melee attack.

It sounds like it isn't much.

But one must know that the total HP of some Tier 1 creatures is only a little over 500 or 600.

In other words, as long as you casually cast [Thorns] on an Arctic Person and have them stand in a group of monsters.

Those monsters would kill themselves after hacking at the Arctic Person twice.

Combined with the terrifying recovery methods, the whole team becomes unkillable cockroaches.

Cao Xing could even imagine the scene on the battlefield.

Those soldiers looking at Cao Xing's army, unable to kill them, unable to touch them, like a group of iron-skinned hedgehogs.

That scene must be very funny!

Cao Xing shivered suddenly.

"Too overpowered!"

Even himself, facing such an army, besides using various ranged attacks to one-shot them, there would be no way to deal with it.

He said excitedly, "Andrew, your new form is very strong and is a great help to our territory."

…

PS: The second chapter is under review, fellow book friends, please wait until tomorrow morning~