"The strength was equivalent to the Spirit Attribute, and its physical form could be destroyed."
Chu Danqing looked at the shattered Life Link and Energy Link.
"There's no cooldown, no limit on casts, and the casting speed and linking speed are both fast enough."
"It only takes 1 Energy Point to create a link."
"And it only shares losses; it doesn't share recovery."
"The advantages outweigh the flaws; the jade's blemish cannot hide its radiance." Chu Danqing had little to complain about. The two skills were only Excellent Grade, after all. He could not expect some invincible effect.
He could barely suppress his smile. Linking one person meant splitting the burden in half, but what if he linked another?
Even with the White Wool Robe, Chu Danqing currently only had 35 Energy Points, and his recovery rate was merely 1 point per hour.
If he first laid out an Energy Link network, then once the first link appeared, all his subsequent Energy consumption would be halved.
And that proportion would keep expanding. This meant that as long as he was fast enough, he could turn the links into a damage-sharing network.
There were drawbacks as well. He would have to bear the enemy's losses too, so he needed extremely fast reactions to sever the links.
When he used it, he would link others. When others used it, he would cut the links.
As long as one party in a link was the skill caster, that caster could actively dissolve the link.
As long as he linked Energy Link to five different individuals, the 20 Energy Points needed to summon a Summoned Repeating Crossbowman would be distributed at a 50% ratio, leaving him to pay only 0.625 Energy Points.
The remaining Energy cost would be shared among the five linked people. The first person linked would be the unluckiest, bearing half of it. Starting from the second, it would be half of half, and so on.
Life Link could use the same method, though there were far more variables.
There were also insurmountable difficulties: losses from the other side of a link could not be redistributed.
Once the loss of Health Points or Energy Points was transmitted through a link, he had to bear half of it. He had no way to distribute it a second time through further links, nesting dolls within nesting dolls.
As for placing multiple links on the same person, the effect was the same, but it was unfriendly to Chu Danqing.
Once he failed to sever the transmission of losses in time, he would be the one out of luck.
One link could share at most half the burden, but five would soar to 96.875%. At the right moment, they could serve as both a damage skill and a retaliatory damage skill.
Unfortunately, each link could only share fifty percent. No matter how many were stacked, they could never reach one hundred percent, much less exceed it.
Otherwise, when Chu Danqing cast a skill or took damage, he might not only spend nothing—he might even recover Energy Points and Health Points.
These methods could be used not only on himself, but also on Da Bao, allowing Da Bao to possess greater combat efficiency.
"Then there's the issue of the number of links and their range."
"With my current 5 Spirit, I can comfortably control five links. Ten is the limit."
"As for range, I can probably only upgrade the skills or develop it myself."
"It can't be separated from the Spirit Attribute." Chu Danqing was treating the two kinds of links as weapons, not merely as skills.
"Too bad I don't have the money to upgrade them. Raising these two skills by one level costs me 1,000 Paradise Points."
Chu Danqing did not intend to upgrade them. He would make do with what he had.
Entering a Trial World required purchasing a language and writing package, which cost 200. He had no detection-type skill, so he also needed to rent one from Paradise, which would cost another 500.
Then there was the Trial identity, which would cost another 500 points. Otherwise, it would be difficult for an undocumented person to operate in a Trial World.
Just entering a Trial World required at least 1,200 Paradise Points.
He also needed to unlock two permanent permissions: Combat Log and Equipment Camouflage. Together, those two permanent permissions cost another 1,000 points.
Combat Log could record the damage he dealt and the damage he received as data.
Equipment Camouflage was exactly what its name implied. It could make equipment from different worlds seem reasonable, so the natives would not find it jarring.
So it was a must-have.
After calculating it all, he would only have 450 Paradise Points left.
If he bought consumables, he could probably purchase two to four Health-restoring items, depending on their effects.
As for Energy-restoring consumables, he could only afford one.
Energy-restoring consumables were priced far above Health-restoring ones. Chu Danqing could not understand why the prices were so absurd.
Once he had a plan, Chu Danqing took Da Bao out to shop.
He searched Apostle Plaza's central area, arrived, bargained, and bought.
That got him three consumables, dropping his Paradise Points straight to 2,200. He could not touch the rest; he had to wait until after entering the Trial World to spend them.
Weak Healing Potion ×3 Type: Consumable Quality: Common Effect: After drinking, restores 15% Health within 5 seconds. Can be consumed in portions to obtain different recovery percentages.
Chu Danqing had also considered buying another item to contract a Permanent Summon, but it was not cost-effective at this stage.
It would be better to choose summoning equipment or items. That would save the resources needed for training, and when he no longer needed them, he could sell them to recover some of the cost.
Training summons also required resources.
If Da Bao had not eaten the Cave Beast Priest back then, Chu Danqing would definitely have needed to provide the resources himself if he wanted to train him.
For the remaining time, Chu Danqing did not leave his personal room again. In the mornings, he reinforced his knowledge of Summonology and guided Da Bao in mastering Blood Rage Power. In the afternoons, he studied Life Link and Energy Link.
He did not need to worry about Energy Points. He had placed three Energy Links on Da Bao, and Da Bao bore 87.5% of his Energy consumption.
Da Bao could recover 1 Blood Rage Point per minute, far faster than Chu Danqing's recovery speed.
--
Twenty days passed just like that. Once the rest period was exhausted, Paradise sent a reminder.
Reserve Apostles will enter a Trial World to carry out a Trial Mission in one hour. Please prepare in advance.
Paradise was still quite considerate, giving him an hour's notice.
Chu Danqing stretched his body. He had nothing to prepare, merely silently canceling the Life Link and Energy Link hanging on Da Bao.
One hour was enough for Da Bao to recover.
"Skills can improve on their own, but the efficiency..." Chu Danqing's gaze fell upon his two link skills.
Life Link LV.2: Links 1 target within 11 meters, jointly bearing 50% of Health loss. Consumes 1 Energy Point per minute. No cooldown. Energy Link LV.2: Links 1 target within 11 meters, jointly bearing 50% of Energy loss. Consumes 1 Energy Point per minute. No cooldown.
He had studied them for twenty days and only raised them by one level. The link range had increased by 1 meter. For the levels beyond that, they could not be improved through study alone.
It was like his two Summoning Basics skills, which had not budged in the slightest even now.
Still, Chu Danqing had not gained nothing. The saying that reviewing the old reveals the new was no empty phrase.
Before you continue