Free Web NovelChapter 366: Chapter 181: Skill Fusion, Castling
Although the puppets created by [Silk Puppet] couldn’t inherit all the Racial Traits and Racial Skills from their previous life, their combat power would be weakened.
But its advantage was that it had no quantity limit. As long as there were enough mycelia and corpses, it could raise an Undead Army.
This [Summon Minion] skill, on the other hand, had too many restrictions.
Not only did it have a quantity limit, but summoning also consumed his own attributes and Life Value, and the summons had a time limit.
Most importantly, at low levels, the template’s evolution tier couldn’t exceed 0.8.
This meant he was completely unable to replicate powerful combatants on the level of an Eight-armed Race chieftain or a Molten Demon Race elite.
At most, he could only summon some ordinary members of the Celestial Abyss Race.
’I can make as much cannon fodder of this level as I want with [Silk Puppet]. Why would I waste precious skill points and my own attributes to summon a single one?’
’This skill is completely useless; it wouldn’t even be a shame to get rid of it.’
Lin Ye gave up on it without hesitation.
Lin Ye’s gaze finally fell on the last skill icon of the P3 phase, the one with the strangest name.
[Castling].
’This seems to be a term from chess.’
The moment Lin Ye saw the skill, his expression suddenly froze.
This skill had no preview option.
Level 1 was its maximum level.
The skill description wasn’t long-winded; it was as simple and unadorned as could be.
[Castling Level 1]
[Skill Type: Active Skill]
[Cost: 50% of maximum Physical Strength Value.]
[Effect: You can select one of your summoned minions and exchange positions with it.]
[Note: You cannot exchange positions again with a minion you have already exchanged with, but you can exchange positions an unlimited number of times with minions you have not yet exchanged with.]
[This skill’s level cap is Level 1, but activating it requires 10 skill points.]
This skill sent monstrous waves crashing through his mind.
Even an idiot could realize the terrifying strategic value hidden behind this skill.
’Because the skill’s description had no spatial restrictions at all!’
The most direct, and also the most terrifying, thought surfaced in his mind.
’If I left a minion at my home thousands of kilometers away...’
’Then right now, with just a thought and by consuming half of my Physical Strength Value, I could return home instantly.’
’And if I also left a minion at the training camp...’
’I could come right back within the span of a breath!’
’This isn’t just a simple movement skill anymore.’
’This is, in the truest sense, teleportation across space!’
Previously, Lin Ye had thought the [Summon Minion] skill was too restrictive and somewhat useless.
But now that [Castling] had appeared, everything was different!
That seemingly unremarkable summoning skill had instantly become the sole cornerstone for achieving this god-tier mobility.
Without any hesitation, he immediately allocated 1 skill point to the [Summon Minion] icon.
Just as he was about to spend another 10 skill points to activate [Castling], a new system notification sounded in his mind.
[Host has been detected to possess the temporary skill: Silk Puppet.]
[This skill has a high degree of synergy with Summon Minion. Upon unlocking Summon Minion, skill fusion will commence.]
A trace of surprise flashed in Lin Ye’s eyes.
’It can do that?’
’Skill fusion?!’
’This is absolutely crucial!’
’This means the [Silk Puppet] skill will no longer take up one of my valuable temporary skill slots.’
’I’ll be able to control my puppets smoothly while simultaneously having [Shadow Scale] or [Crystalization] active.’
’No more constantly switching in the middle of a fight!’
Soon, a preview of the fused skill appeared before him.
Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Ye dragged the preview’s progress bar to the maxed-out state of LV20.
[Fungal Dominion LV20 (MAX)]
[Skill Type: Active Skill]
[Cost: A certain percentage of maximum Life Value]
[Passive Effect 1: You can select a creature you have killed with an evolution tier no higher than 2.5 and record it as a template.]
[Passive Effect 2: You have obtained a Summoning Space that can store minions. This space can hold a maximum of 100 minions.]
[Active Effect: Select a minion template and consume a portion of your maximum Life Value to grant it life. The minion will possess the template’s base attributes, Racial Traits, and Racial Skills.]
[You can invest a portion of your maximum Life Value and attribute points into your minions to enhance their combat power.]
[Your minions are generated with black spores inside them. In a suitable environment, the spores will rapidly multiply within their bodies, eventually maturing into their complete form.]
[When your minions fall in battle, as long as mycelia still exist within their bodies, they can be resurrected, but they will lose their Racial Traits and special skills.]
[You and your minions will constantly spread black spores. After creatures with an evolution tier no higher than 2.5 die or are infected, if spores are present in their bodies, you can choose to catalyze them.]
[Once the mycelia mature into their complete form, you will gain a new minion.]
[Current maximum number of coexisting minions: 88,462 (Spirit attribute * 10)]
[Current maximum number of concurrently controlled minions: 88 (Spirit attribute / 100)]
[Current maximum Life Value investment for a single individual: 50%.]
[Current maximum attribute point investment for a single individual: Varies by template, but will not exceed 50% of your own attribute values.]
Lin Ye read the skill description, which was practically a short essay, word for word.
Without a doubt, this was the most complex skill he had possessed to date.
But all in all, this new [Fungal Dominion] skill perfectly inherited all the advantages of [Summon Minion] and [Silk Puppet], elevating them to an entirely new level.
First, he no longer needed to go through the tedious process of "kill monster -> implant spores -> wait for mycelia to grow -> become puppet" to create his minions.
Now, he could simply activate the skill and, using his own attributes and Life Value, create a living minion out of thin air, complete with its own internal mycelia.
Their combat power would be far superior to the previous Fungal Puppets, which were stitched together from severed limbs.
Second, when these minions weren’t in use, they could be recalled to a specific Summoning Space.
Within this space, their consumed mycelia could be restored, and they wouldn’t perish from energy depletion.
’This means that if I ever enter a sealed space like the Nirvana Tower again, or venture into a Celestial Abyss Rift...’
’I won’t need initial corpses as startup material. As long as I have minions in my Summoning Space, I can start immediately, snowballing my forces through combat and raising a truly elite legion.’
’The overall strength of this legion will surely far surpass the puppet army that was wiped out in the Doomsday Volcano.’
After reviewing all the skills, Lin Ye prepared to allocate his points.
’No matter what, the [Castling] skill had to be activated.’
Although spending a full 10 skill points made him wince, the benefits were absolutely worth the cost.
skill points vanished in an instant.
DING! [You have consumed 10 skill points and unlocked the active skill: Castling!]
[Current skill has been raised to LV MAX!]
Now, he had 9 skill points remaining.
Lin Ye’s gaze shifted back and forth between two skills, [Fungal Dominion] and [Elemental Mastery], and he fell into a moment of contemplation.
’One would bring a qualitative change to his legion system, while the other would round out his personal combat abilities.’
After hesitating for a moment, he finally made a decision.
’Since I can’t be sure which skill would give a greater return on the points invested, I’ll just distribute them evenly!’
He allocated 5 of his remaining 9 skill points to [Fungal Dominion] and put the other 4 into [Elemental Mastery].
DING! [You have consumed 5 skill points. You have unlocked and upgraded the skill: Fungal Dominion!]
[Current skill upgraded to LV5!]
DING! [You have consumed 4 skill points and upgraded the skill: Elemental Mastery!]
[Current skill upgraded to LV5!]
Point allocation complete.
Lin Ye let out a slow breath and closed his personal panel.
He couldn’t wait to test out the effects of these new skills!
