Leveled Up a Little

"You want to give him a Silver Quality Star Skill, but what are the odds he could absorb it? And how many times could he use it? It's been two months. That meager Star Power of his is probably still at the very beginning of the Star Dust Stage, isn't it?" Xia Yan teased with a lovely smile as she watched the Star Pearl vanish in Jiang Xiao's hand.

Jiang Xiao knew Xia Yan meant no harm. Though she was rather blunt and had not considered Jiang Xiao's feelings, she genuinely wanted to help him.

As a twenty-five-year-old adult, Jiang Xiao knew which mattered more: words or actions.

At the same time, Jiang Xiao lowered his head and felt threads of energy gathering in his nearly frozen right hand. Driven by the scant Star Power in his body, a green glow gradually radiated from his right fist.

Xia Yan froze slightly. "It worked?"

Han Jiangxue was stunned as well. After all, she had given Jiang Xiao three White Ghost Star Beads before, yet he had gained nothing from them at the time.

"Not bad. Interesting. Your aptitude may be low, but your chances of absorbing Star Skills are quite high. You got Green Glow on the fourth try." Xia Yan nodded in satisfaction. "Whether you fight with your fists or weapons in the future, using Green Glow well will dramatically increase your combat strength."

With a flick of her wrist, Xia Yan spun the dagger in her hand and continued carving up the remaining two White Ghosts.

Jiang Xiao was studying his newly acquired Green Glow Star Skill, but he could also sense the girl beside him watching him all along.

Jiang Xiao shifted two steps to the right, leaned close to Han Jiangxue's ear, and whispered, "Same as last time."

Han Jiangxue's earlobes reddened slightly. She seemed unaccustomed to such an intimate gesture, but her excitement made her forget her discomfort and embarrassment. "Same as last time?"

Jiang Xiao nodded gently.

Han Jiangxue's beautiful eyes behind her dark blue ski goggles brightened slightly. What did he mean, same as last time? Another One Star Double Technique!? What did that mean? Jiang Xiao had saved another Star Slot! And from now on, Jiang Xiao could freely use White Ghost Star Beads as a regular means of replenishing his Star Power. He no longer needed to worry that, while using Star Beads to restore Star Power, he might accidentally absorb the Endurance Star Skill again and occupy another Star Slot!

Han Jiangxue reached out and grabbed Jiang Xiao's arm.

Even through Jiang Xiao's thick camouflage clothing, he could feel the strength in her hand.

"Hey! What kind of touching sibling reunion are you two putting on here? Let go, hurry up and let go!" Xia Yan stood up and glared unhappily at Han Jiangxue's hand.

Jiang Xiao was stunned. No way. Is she jealous? Han Jiangxue supported me the whole way just now.

"There was nothing in this White Ghost's head." Xia Yan kicked the corpse on the ground in disgust, then casually tossed a Star Pearl to Han Jiangxue. "Three White Ghosts produced two Star Pearls. Not bad. Take it, Xue Xue."

Han Jiangxue caught the Star Pearl and handed it to Jiang Xiao beside her.

Xia Yan: "."

Jiang Xiao: "."

"Ah! You ungrateful woman!" Xia Yan pointed at Han Jiangxue and stomped her foot in annoyance.

Looking at hot-tempered, unpredictable Xia Yan, Jiang Xiao did not hesitate. He raised his hand and cast Blessing on her.

Xia Yan's expression shifted several times. After enduring it for a few seconds, her body trembled slightly, and she let out an alluring nasal moan. "Mmm~"

At the same time, Jiang Xiao finally had a chance to test this so-called Star Skill upgrade.

Without hesitation, Jiang Xiao opened his Inner Star Map and embedded another White Ghost Star Bead into the second star that had already been lit.

As the Star Pearl in his hand turned into specks of starlight and entered his body, the Star Skills in the second section of his Inner Star Map changed slightly.

Star Skills:

1. Blessing: Slowly restores the target's Life Force. (Bronze Quality Lv.1)

2. Decoy: Creates an illusion to confuse enemies. (Bronze Quality Lv.1)

3. Green Glow: Powerfully strikes the enemy, increasing damage to the Green Glow-covered area and adding a Slight Knockback effect. (Bronze Quality Lv.2)

4. Endurance: Passive Star Skill. Increases the user's defense. (Bronze Quality Lv.2)

Very good. With eight more White Ghost Star Beads, both Green Glow and Endurance could be upgraded to Silver Quality! People were used to Bronze Quality Green Glow, but had anyone ever seen Silver Quality Green Glow? After its quality improved, would the body part enhanced by Green Glow strike enemies harder? Would its knockback effect become more pronounced?

Wait!

There was a problem.

Jiang Xiao suddenly realized something extremely serious.

Since Jiang Xiao's Star Skills could be upgraded using the Star Pearls of the same creature, then he should not absorb the Star Skills of rare creatures.

Take a simple example. On this Snowfield, White Ghosts were the lowest-level and most common species. That meant Jiang Xiao's Green Glow and Endurance could easily be upgraded to Silver Quality, or even Gold Quality.

But what about White Ghoul Witches?

As rare creatures, White Ghoul Witches' Star Pearls were much harder to obtain. When would Jiang Xiao's Medical Star Techniques, Blessing and Decoy, ever be upgraded?

Jiang Xiao's future path of absorbing Star Skills was already set. From the perspective of upgrading quality, Different Dimension Creatures could be high-level and high-quality, but there was only one requirement: they could not be rare! From this perspective, absorbing White Ghost Star Skills was actually the most reliable and profitable choice for Jiang Xiao.

Skill Points could naturally be used to upgrade the levels and qualities of Star Skills, but there was one problem: Jiang Xiao had no idea how to obtain Skill Points.

"Put them away. We can make a little extra money and trade them for some pocket money when we get back." Xia Yan glared at Han Jiangxue unhappily, seemingly still upset.

"Mm." Han Jiangxue ignored Xia Yan's resentful gaze entirely. With a casual wave of her hand, the space ahead folded and overlapped.

Using a Star Skill slightly did not require activating one's Star Map, just like when Jiang Xiao had tested Green Glow earlier.

Of course, if one wanted to go all out in a serious battle, one had to activate the Star Map.

Xia Yan kicked the White Ghost corpses one by one into the layers of overlapping space.

A Space Skill?

Han Jiangxue actually possessed such a miraculous Star Skill?

Sensing Jiang Xiao's stunned expression, Han Jiangxue rarely offered an explanation. "White Ghost fur is very effective at keeping out the cold. It's worth some money."

Jiang Xiao scratched his head. Was I questioning the value of White Ghost fur? I don't go online? I don't know White Ghost fur can be sold for money? I was asking about your Space Skill, okay?

Besides, since you have a Space Skill, why are you making me carry such a heavy Marching Pack? Jiang Xiao adjusted the shoulder straps of his Marching Pack with both hands and looked at Han Jiangxue.

Han Jiangxue returned to her expressionless state. "Carry it. I can't always stay by your side. After you enroll, you'll enter the Snowfield under your teachers' guidance. I want you to experience all of this now."

Xia Yan nodded sympathetically. "Yeah. Lots of people die every year."

Jiang Xiao nodded and said, "Thank you."

Jiang Xiao was not someone who failed to appreciate kindness, much less someone who pushed his luck. Once he understood Han Jiangxue's intentions, he was naturally willing to follow her arrangements.

Han Jiangxue froze. Though she had noticed Jiang Xiao's changes over the past few days, when she truly heard him say something like "thank you," she could not help feeling deeply moved.

"You have Green Glow now too, so you have some ability to fight. Don't position yourself as a Medical Awakened who needs the entire team's protection. Though you will be someone who receives special protection in any team, you should still have the ability to protect yourself." Han Jiangxue patted Jiang Xiao lightly on the shoulder.

"Haha, kid, don't put too much pressure on yourself. Go look at those combat teams. Which Medical Awakened isn't a lazy lord who gets pampered? They're all treated like treasures. No one is willing to let a Medical Awakened charge into battle." As Xia Yan spoke, she looked deeper into the Snowy Forest, seemingly deliberately opposing Han Jiangxue.

"Just like your position in the team right now, you only need to stand in the safest possible place and ensure the team's endurance. As long as a Medical Awakened is alive, that is the greatest help to the team."

"And us." Xia Yan's voice suddenly turned grave. She sheathed her dagger at her thigh, gripping the long handle over her shoulder in a reverse hold as though she might draw the massive blade and begin slaughtering at any moment.

"Mm?" Han Jiangxue hurriedly looked ahead. Several scarlet glows emerged from within the Snowy Forest.