Chapter 70: The Awakening of Immortal Aura and the Grand Plum Blossom Meditation

When learning the skill scroll, a fee of 20,000 currency points must be paid to acquire the LV1 level of Immortal Qi Activation—this is considered an ultimate skill, on par with the secret techniques of main characters in the King of Fighters universe.

As for the conditions to learn and use the skill, they are quite straightforward: one must possess at least one energy system, and the spirit value must be over 100, since using the skill consumes a full 100 points of spiritual power!

Reluctantly parting with the necessary currency points, Wang Ling obtained this formidable B-ranked skill:

"Immortal Qi Activation: Channel the energy you possess into your opponent's body, triggering a powerful explosion from within, causing massive burst-type damage. The magnitude of the damage depends on the strength and quality of the energy delivered. Current level: LV1. You can cause one energy explosion, consuming 100 points of spiritual power."

"Conditions to learn and use: Possess at least one form of energy; spirit value: above 100 points."

"Skill type: Active. Skill rating: B."

"Additional note: When this skill detonates inside the enemy, after the energy explosion ends, the user is knocked back by the recoil, entering a state of complete invulnerability for one second."

This skill does not have a fixed damage range. What Wang Ling valued most was its unique property—damage is tied to the strength and quality of the energy, meaning its potential is virtually limitless.

If the Dragon Soul awakens, and he channels the spiritual power of the Sky Dragon and Earth Dragon into Immortal Qi Activation, who knows how powerful it could become!

Of course, the drawback is that at LV1, only one energy explosion can be triggered, and it costs 100 spirit points each time—an extreme consumption! Even among B-level skills, such a cost is rare. This is why the Free Mage Guild abandoned this powerful ability.

Unless one’s focus is on intelligence, such a high cost is difficult to accept, especially since other skills also consume spiritual power. Moreover, Immortal Qi Activation is a close-range move, and with the 20,000 currency points required to learn it, those specializing in intelligence would have better options—ranged magic skills are far more practical, and their damage scales with intelligence.

Wang Ling, however, was not afraid of this level of spirit consumption. He wanted this skill as an ultimate, decisive finishing move. His attributes were well balanced, allowing him to learn both ranged and melee skills without restriction.

After mastering the skill, Wang Ling left his private chamber and contacted Su. With permission, he entered the room styled after Pokémon.

"You’re back already—you must have sold something. It’s good to see you," Su greeted him with an elegant smile, his manners impeccable. Then, noticing Wang Ling’s face, he exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? It’s only been just over an hour since we met, but you look better than before. Did you get some beauty treatment? But that’s odd—there aren’t any appearance enhancement services in Dreamspace!"

"Um, there were some changes, but no beauty treatment," Wang Ling replied awkwardly, touching his face and thinking of the gold-and-crimson mask in his inventory that concealed his features.

After a fair trade through the Dream Badge, Su beamed and said, "With the earnings from selling a few other things, I now have enough currency to buy the weapon I wanted!"

"The weapon you wanted?"

"Yes, the Nausicaa Spear—a very beautiful lance!"

Wang Ling was not familiar with firearms or weapons in general. Eager to get back and study his skills, he exchanged a few more words with Su before taking his leave.

Su seemed a little reluctant to see him go. He had few friends, and for a boy so young to be fighting in Dreamspace, the psychological pressure was immense. Fortunately, he had his spiritual companions—Pikachu, Abra, and Dratini—otherwise, he might have already suffered a mental breakdown.

Wang Ling was only a little older than Su, and since he also enjoyed Pokémon, they had plenty in common. Having helped Su before, Wang Ling felt very familiar and approachable to the boy.

"If you have time, you’re always welcome to come here and chat. I don’t mind you visiting my room..." Su said, blushing a little.

"Alright," Wang Ling nodded, leaving to return to his private chamber.

Thirteen thousand for a C-level skill was already quite reasonable. But with the additional 9,000 points paid for the skill scroll, the total of 22,000 still made Wang Ling wince.

"With all the Life Mushrooms sold out, I won’t have enough currency for a while to splurge on any more high-level skills. But now that I have the Dragon Bloodline and Immortal Qi Activation, along with Plum Blossom Grand Seat, I should focus on familiarizing myself with and training these skills, developing my bloodline, and refining my energy."

The prerequisites for learning Plum Blossom Grand Seat were: 33 points in strength, 16 in agility, 29 in stamina, as well as LV4 in Basic Melee, LV4 in Basic Parry, and LV4 in Basic Endurance.

His attributes alone were sufficient, even without any equipment, but he was lacking in basic skills. He had LV2 Basic Parry and LV2 Basic Endurance, so he needed 7 more skill points in total.

In the Double Dragon world, defeating Abobo earned him 3 points, Brunov 1, killing Luo Hou 1, and clearing the stage 2 more, for exactly 7 points. Spending 2,000 currency points to buy Basic Melee, he then brought all three skills up to LV4, meeting the prerequisites for the skill scroll.

When the glowing dots from the scroll merged into his body, Wang Ling mastered this grappling-type C-level skill:

"Plum Blossom Grand Seat: A grappling technique with two stages. First: Grabbing and Judgement. You attempt to grab an enemy within arm’s reach; success depends on the difference in strength between you and your target. If successful, you enter a super armor state—you cannot be knocked down, and damage taken is reduced by 50%. If you fail, depending on the strength gap, you become stunned for 1–5 seconds."

"Second: Ascension and Descent. Upon success, you flip and lock the enemy, spinning upward to a height of 5 meters in the air, entering an ultimate super armor state—this cannot be interrupted, and damage taken is reduced by 90%. After ascending, you slam forcefully to the ground. The base damage is 115 points plus twice the difference in strength between you and your target. Actual damage depends on the defender’s stats and is further modified by the hardness or softness of the landing surface."

"Current level: LV1. Consumes 1 point of spiritual power and 3% of HP per use."

"Learning and usage requirements: Strength: 33, Agility: 16, Stamina: 29, Basic Melee LV4, Basic Parry LV4, Basic Endurance LV4."

"Skill type: Active. Skill rating: C."

"Additional note: This skill is highly affected by the hardness of the ground. It is wise to use it on a solid surface. Also, you may take some recoil damage, depending on your physical strength and the ground’s hardness."

After reviewing the data, Wang Ling nodded to himself. The base damage of Plum Blossom Grand Seat was high even at LV1, and a hard surface would further boost it—truly an explosive skill! Moreover, the super armor and ultimate super armor states during execution could be extremely useful if applied wisely.

The only problem was the risk of being stunned for 1–5 seconds if the grab failed—which could be dangerous. However, whether to use the move could be decided based on the opponent. If facing a strength-type adversary, he could choose other tactics, such as Immortal Qi Activation.

In short, with Plum Blossom Grand Seat and Immortal Qi Activation, Wang Ling’s burst potential and output increased dramatically!

Of course, his wealth had dropped sharply. Now all he had left was 13,600 currency points.

Aside from currency, Wang Ling also had 4 attribute points and 3 Dream Skill points. He had once considered using a large number of skill points to create an android with a dedicated maid, but now that dream would have to wait—after all, androids cost 20,000 currency points.

He also wanted to level up his Trouble Maker talent by one or two levels, but that too was now out of reach. For such talent skills, upgrading them required not only Dream Skill points, but also a large sum of currency.

Raising Trouble Maker from LV1 to LV2 alone required 10,000 currency points!

"Hmm, with a bit over 10,000 currency points left, I should save some to unlock new Kung Fu scenario cards and challenge a few more martial arts masters, and also upgrade my equipment a few levels. Right, the pseudo-Rainbow Dream Equipment, Linda’s Wish, seems to hold some secret!"

Wang Ling immediately took off the emblem he wore on his chest and studied it for a while, then consulted the sub-brain. The answer he received was: "The secret it contains must be discovered by the holder personally; with a specific opportunity, the secret can be unlocked."

Holding the exquisite emblem in his hand, Wang Ling thought of Linda, the female rogue, and the three exceptional lolis killed by Kuroko. Even though they were just story characters, he couldn’t help but feel a twinge of regret.

True Rainbow Dream Equipment required soul-binding to use; Linda’s Wish, being only a pseudo-Dream Equipment, had no such restriction.

Wang Ling considered the emblem’s built-in skill, and with some anticipation, spent 900 currency points to upgrade it to LV2.

"Linda’s Wish: Type: badge accessory; Rating: E; Attribute: pseudo-Rainbow Dream Equipment; Effect: Life +16; Enhancement level: LV2."

"Equipment requirements: Strength, Agility, Stamina, Intelligence—each at 13 points."

Compared to the previous +8 life, it now granted 8 more points. Unfortunately, Wang Ling had hoped that upgrading its enhancement level would also boost the summoned Dark Warriors’ strength, but he was disappointed.

"The three super Dark Warriors still have the same stats as before. As the world’s difficulty increases, the mohawked midget, the musclebound thug, and the fat hippie will become less and less useful, and this emblem’s value will diminish as well. Still, the life bonus is somewhat helpful. But what is the secret hidden within this badge? I am really curious!"