Growth Before the New Trial

"Its strength is equivalent to mental attributes, and its physical form can be destroyed."

Chu Danqing watched as the Life Link and Energy Link were shattered.

"No cooldown, no limit to the number of casts, plus the casting speed and link speed are fast enough."

"It only takes 1 point of energy to release a link."

"And it only shares the burden, not the recovery."

"The advantages outweigh the disadvantages; the flaws don't detract from its merits." Chu Danqing wasn't dissatisfied. These two skills were only Excellent-grade, so he shouldn't expect any invincible effects.

He couldn't help but smile. Linking one person meant sharing the burden equally, but what if he linked another?

Even with the White Wool Robe, Chu Danqing only had 35 energy points, and his recovery rate was a mere 1 point per hour.

If he first used Energy Link to set up a network, when the first link appeared, all his subsequent energy consumption would be halved.

And this ratio would continue to increase, meaning that as long as he was fast enough, he could turn the links into a damage-absorbing network.

There were also disadvantages: he had to bear the enemy's losses as well, so he needed extremely quick reactions to sever the connection.

He would link to others when he used it, and sever the link when others used it.

If the linked party included a skill caster, the skill caster could actively break the link.

As long as he linked Energy Link to five different individuals, the 20 energy points needed to summon a Repeating Crossbowman would be shared at a 50% ratio, meaning he would only need to expend 0.625 energy points.

The remaining energy points would be split equally among the five linked individuals. The first one linked would be the unluckiest, bearing half, while the second would bear half of the remaining half, and so on.

Life Link could also use this tactic, but with more variables.

There was also an insurmountable difficulty: he couldn't share the losses coming from the other side of the link.

When the loss of health and energy was transmitted through the link, he had to bear half of it; there was no way to further share it through another link in a recursive manner.

As for multiple links to the same person, the effect was the same, but it wasn't beneficial to Chu Danqing.

If he failed to sever the transmission of losses in time, he would be in trouble.

A single link could only share half the burden, but five links would skyrocket to 96.875%. If timed correctly, it could act as a damage skill and a damage reflection skill.

Unfortunately, each link could only share fifty percent, and no matter how many were stacked, it would never reach one hundred percent or even exceed it.

Otherwise, when Chu Danqing cast a skill or took damage, he might not only avoid consumption but even recover energy and health.

These operations could not only be used on himself but also on Da Bao, to make him more combat-efficient.

"Then there's the issue of the number of links and the range."

"With my current 5 points of Spirit, I can skillfully control five links, and ten is the limit."

"As for the range, I can only upgrade the skills or develop them myself."

"It's inextricably linked to my Spirit attribute." Chu Danqing was treating these two types of links as weapons, not just skills.

"Too bad I don't have the money to upgrade. It costs me 1000 Paradise Points to raise these two skills by one level."

Chu Danqing didn't plan to upgrade and would just make do with what he had.

Entering the Trial World required purchasing a language pack, which cost 200 points. He didn't have any detection skills, so he needed to rent one from Paradise, which would cost 500.

Then there was the Trial identity, which cost another 500 points; otherwise, it would be difficult to operate in the Trial World as an unregistered person.

Just entering the Trial World would cost a minimum of 1200 Paradise Points.

He also needed to activate two permanent permissions: Combat Log and Equipment Camouflage. The two permanent permissions together would cost another 1000 points.

Combat Log would record the damage he dealt and the damage he received in a data format.

Equipment Camouflage was exactly what it sounded like: it could rationalize equipment from different worlds, so that the natives wouldn't find it out of place.

So it was necessary to turn it on.

After calculating, he only had 450 Paradise Points left.

If he bought consumables, he could probably buy 2 to 4 health recovery consumables, depending on the effect.

As for energy recovery consumables, he could only buy one.

The price of energy recovery consumables was far higher than that of health recovery consumables, and Chu Danqing couldn't understand why the prices were like this.

Once he had a plan, Chu Danqing took Da Bao out to shop.

He searched the center of Apostle Plaza, arrived, bargained, and bought.

He obtained 3 consumables, and his Paradise Points dropped by 2200. He couldn't touch the rest and could only spend them after entering the Trial World.

[Weak Healing Potion × 3]

[Type: Consumable]

[Quality: Common]

[Effect: Restores 15% of health within 5 seconds after drinking. Can be consumed in multiple sips for different recovery percentages.]

Chu Danqing had also considered buying another item for permanently summoning creatures under contract, but it wasn't cost-effective at this stage.

It was better to choose summoning equipment or items, which saved resources for cultivation, and he could sell them to recoup the cost if he didn't need them anymore.

Cultivating summons also requires resources.

If Da Bao hadn't eaten the Cave Beast Priest back then, Chu Danqing would definitely have to provide the resources himself for cultivation.

For the rest of the time, Chu Danqing didn't leave his personal room. In the morning, he consolidated his knowledge of summonology and guided Da Bao in mastering the Blood Rage Power, and in the afternoon, he pondered Life Link and Energy Link.

He didn't need to worry about energy, as he had placed three Energy Links on Da Bao, and Da Bao was bearing 87.5% of his energy consumption.

Da Bao could recover 1 point of Blood Rage every minute, which was faster than Chu Danqing.

Twenty days passed like this, and after the rest period was exhausted, Paradise sent a reminder.

[Reserve Apostles will enter the Trial World to perform trial missions in one hour. Please prepare in advance.]

Paradise is still quite humane, reminding you an hour in advance.

Chu Danqing stretched his body. He didn't have anything to prepare, he just silently canceled the Life Link and Energy Link on Da Bao.

An hour was enough for Da Bao to recover.

"Skills can be improved on their own, but the efficiency..." Chu Danqing's gaze fell on his two Link skills.

[Life Link LV.2: Links 1 target within 11 meters, sharing 50% of health loss, consuming 1 point of energy per minute, no cooldown]

[Energy Link LV.2: Links 1 target within 11 meters, sharing 50% of energy loss, consuming 1 point of energy per minute, no cooldown]

He had only leveled up once in twenty days of pondering. The link range increased by 1 meter, and further levels could not be improved by pondering alone.

It was like his two basic summoning skills, which hadn't budged an inch so far.

However, Chu Danqing wasn't without gains. The saying "reviewing the old helps one understand the new" wasn't false.