Master of Elements

When Old Luo was watching the commotion, Wang Qianduo was not in good shape.

After pure white energy enveloped him, he felt as if every inch of his body was being torn apart.

He even seemed to be hallucinating, seeing a riot of colors all around.

Seven-colored light spots swirled around his body, making him wonder if he had floaters in his eyes.

But the most painful part wasn't any of that. It was the feeling of something drilling into his body, a sensation that was both itchy and painful, so much so that it overshadowed the feeling of being torn apart.

Yet, these sensations ignited a ferocity within Wang Qianduo, a primal instinct he had suppressed his entire two lives.

He was never a rational person at heart; his edges had simply been smoothed by life in his first existence.

That solitary, wild heart, like that of a lone wolf, had been well-hidden.

Today, this ferocity was unleashed, and Wang Qianduo endured all the pain without a single cry.

He never knew he possessed such potential.

This feeling lasted for a little over two minutes before gradually fading. By then, Wang Qianduo was drenched in sweat, as if he had been pulled from water.

A minute later, gentle energy enveloped Wang Qianduo's entire body, restoring him to peak condition.

At the same time, the pure white energy surrounding Unit Zero slowly receded, revealing its completely new, evolved form.

It was a mecha with white as its primary color, accented with other colors representing the seven elements.

The evolved mecha was slightly taller than Unit Zero but still maintained a perfect nine-head-to-body ratio, appearing incredibly harmonious.

The mecha was slender, even a bit delicate, but this did not detract from its beauty.

Furthermore, the angular armor covering its shoulders and chest combined to form a V-shape.

In the center of its chest was a magic core, glowing with a faint blue light, emblazoned with a six-pointed star composed of seven colors.

Its shoulders were adorned with patterns of unknown significance, resembling some kind of rune.

Above its forehead, four long, sharp spikes extended backward, forming something akin to a crown.

This seemed to be the manifestation of the Elemental Crown, lending the mecha an air of majesty.

This was the top-tier mecha evolution, the Element Lord, that Wang Qianduo had painfully evolved into!

System Prompt: Unit Zero evolution complete. You have gained +10 to all attributes, the mecha trait [Element Dominator], the passive skill [Lord of Elements], and your basic skills have been altered.

The system prompt arrived as expected, but he didn't examine it closely. Instead, he piloted the Element Lord out of the energy pool.

Yes, he floated out, hovering in the air. Wang Qianduo found he had an uncanny grasp of the Element Lord's abilities.

After leaving the energy pool, he checked his own changes, starting with his physical body.

Wang Qianduo could clearly feel his body had improved. His eyesight was sharper, his hearing clearer, his mind more lucid, and his body stronger. He even had a six-pack now.

He knew that mecha evolution had a feedback effect on the pilot's body, but he hadn't expected it to be so pronounced.

Next was Unit Zero. The increase in all attributes was standard after mecha evolution. What he cared about were the newly acquired traits and skills.

Element Dominator (Trait): Can learn any elemental skill. Attack growth increased by 0.2.

The Dominator trait was simple and direct. Wang Qianduo could now equip any gear (a common trait) and learn any elemental skill.

Then came the passive skill, Lord of Elements.

Lord of Elements (Passive) (Epic)

LV1 (Only upgrades with mecha evolution)

Elemental attacks deal 10% more damage.

Elemental damage taken reduced by 20%.

30% of damage taken is converted to MP cost.

Elemental skill cooldown reduced by 20%.

Elemental skills with a charge time of 5 seconds or less become instant casts. Skills with charge times over 5 seconds have their casting speed increased by 20%.

Upon seeing this skill, Wang Qianduo could only exclaim, "Terrifying indeed."

The Lord of Elements skill perfectly embodied offense and defense in one, transforming his mecha into a terrifying magical artillery platform.

Take his Lightning Chain skill, for example. It was now an instant cast, and its 20-second cooldown was reduced to 16 seconds.

This was almost a qualitative leap. As long as he had enough skills, enemies wouldn't be able to get close.

Seeing the Lord of Elements skill, Wang Qianduo didn't hesitate. He poured all his attribute points from the upgrade directly into Intelligence, going for an extreme build.

With the Lord of Elements skill, Wang Qianduo was confident that in the late game, as long as he had MP, no one could stop him.

He firmly believed that offense was the best defense, and a destroyed enemy was a good enemy.

After allocating his points, Wang Qianduo's attack power just broke 300, reaching 301, and his MP surpassed 2000, reaching 2080.

In addition to these skills, Wang Qianduo's basic skills had also changed. Energy Bullet, Charged Energy Bullet, and Magic Burst all gained elemental properties and could be controlled.

Magic Burst, in particular, had different effects with different elements. If the damage wasn't so low, it would be a legend-tier skill.

After admiring his own mech's stats, Wang Qianduo finally noticed Old Luo's mech beside him.

[???]

LV60

??

Under the Fire Eyes Crystal Scrutiny skill, everything about this mech was a question mark except for its level.

This proved Wang Qianduo's guess was correct; Old Luo was indeed not simple.

A Level 60 mech pilot, could he be simple?

Wang Qianduo piloted the Lord of Elements, floated in front of Old Luo, and landed slowly. He said to Old Luo, "Master, I have fulfilled my mission!"

"Heh, good! But what level of stone did you use to activate the crown, you brat?" Old Luo said with a smile, looking at the nearly perfect mech before him.

That year, ever since she obtained the Crown of Elements, she had wanted to research its function.

But unfortunately, fate was not in her favor.

Having just deciphered the Crown of Elements' function, she couldn't survive that war.

So, her wish became his wish. However, the Crown of Elements could only be used by the initial mech, and the war was in a white-hot stage at that time, forcing him to put the idea aside.

It wasn't until after retirement that he began cultivating the next generation to help her fulfill her wish, but his successors all failed.

Some even experienced several failures and permanently lost their magic energy mechs, having to pilot artificial mechs.

This incident almost caused a complete rift between him and his family; they thought he had gone mad.

Just as he was about to give up, Wang Qianduo appeared.

Old Luo felt he was quite unscrupulous because he had never told Wang Qianduo about the consequences of failed evolution.

To fulfill her wish, this mech warrior who had fought for humanity his entire life had his own selfish desires for the first time.

This actually tormented him greatly, but thankfully, Wang Qianduo succeeded!

"I used an Epic-grade one. Is there a problem, Master?"

"Heh... heh!"

What problem? You almost drained me dry, and you ask if there's a problem? But he didn't expose it. Instead, he turned serious and said, "There will definitely be some problems. Mech advancements generally require assessments, as you know.

With what you've done, your advancement assessment will be much harder, and the materials and energy consumed will increase severalfold.

But there are benefits too, such as your mech will be much stronger than others.

Especially during the third evolution, when the mech evolves into its complete form."

Wang Qianduo: "Is that so~ It's fine, I still have some savings, I should be able to afford it!"

Old Luo: "..."

Is this guy showing off his wealth to me? But thinking of his seven Epic-grade elemental crystals, Old Luo held back.

He looked at the nearly perfect mech before him and suddenly felt a sense of emptiness.

Is this what it feels like when a dream is realized? Do you feel it?

Old Luo recalled his mech, looked up at the Lord of Elements, and silently walked out of the cave.

Seeing this, Wang Qianduo also recalled his mech. He also felt the loneliness of the old man before him.

"Master, don't do anything rash, you still have to live a long life!"

Wang Qianduo's words made Old Luo stumble forward, then turn around and curse, "You little brat, what are you talking about? And do you even know how old I am to wish me a long life?"

"You're not even 60!"

"Get lost! I am 631 years old this year. With your wish, my grave should be level by now!"

Wang Qianduo: "...??"

"Don't be confused. The evolution of magic energy mechs feeds back into the human body itself. Even you now can live for two to three hundred years!" Old Luo saw Wang Qianduo's confusion and explained.

"That's awesome! Then can't I achieve immortality by evolving continuously?"

"Easier said than done! And is immortality truly a good thing?"