Lord of the Elements

Old Luo watched from the sidelines while Wang Qianduo was in anything but good shape.

After the pure white energy enveloped him, every part of his body felt as though it were being torn apart.

He even seemed to be hallucinating. All around him was a riot of color.

Seven-colored specks of light circled his body, making him briefly suspect he had developed floaters.

But that wasn't even the worst of it. It felt as though something was burrowing into his body from all around. The sensation was both itchy and painful, so intense that even the feeling of his body being torn apart couldn't drown it out.

Yet these things stirred the ferocity Wang Qianduo had kept so well hidden through two lifetimes.

Deep down, he had never been a rational person. It was only in his first life that the hardships of living had worn down his edges.

He had kept that lonely, wild heart of a lone wolf carefully hidden.

Today, that ferocity was unleashed, and Wang Qianduo endured all the pain without making a sound.

He hadn't even known he had it in him.

The feeling lasted for over two minutes before it gradually began to fade. By then, Wang Qianduo was drenched in sweat, as though he'd just been fished out of water.

A minute later, gentle energy enveloped Wang Qianduo, restoring him to his best condition.

At the same time, the pure white energy surrounding Unit Zero slowly faded, revealing its new form after evolution.

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

The evolved Mecha was a little taller than Unit Zero, but still had perfect nine-head proportions, giving it an incredibly harmonious appearance.

Its overall frame was slender, even somewhat delicate, but that did nothing to diminish its beauty.

Angular armor covered its shoulders and chest, arranged together in a V shape.

At the center of its chest was a Magic Energy Core glowing with a deep blue light, marked with a hexagram formed from seven colors.

Its shoulders were also decorated with mysterious patterns that looked like some kind of runes.

Four long spikes extended backward from its forehead, forming something like a crown.

It looked as though the Elemental Crown had transformed into this. It lent the Mecha an air of majesty.

This was the ultimate Mecha Evolution form Wang Qianduo had gained after enduring such agony:

Lord of the Elements!

"System notification: Unit Zero has completed evolution. All attributes increased by 10. You have gained the Mecha Trait [Elemental Dominator] and the Passive Skill [Lord of the Elements]. Your basic skills have changed."

The system notification arrived right on cue again, but he didn't bother to look it over. Instead, he piloted Lord of the Elements as it slowly floated out of the energy pool.

Yes, it floated out through the air. For some reason, Wang Qianduo had a perfect grasp of Lord of the Elements Mecha's abilities.

Once he had left the energy pool, he examined the changes in himself, starting with his own body.

Wang Qianduo could clearly feel that his body had improved. He could see farther, hear more clearly, and think more lucidly. He was stronger, too, and even had a six-pack now.

He knew that Mecha Evolution fed back into the pilot's body, but he hadn't expected the effect to be so dramatic.

Then there was Unit Zero. An increase to all attributes came with every Mecha Evolution, so what interested him were the new trait and skill.

Elemental Dominator (Trait): Can learn skills of any attribute. Attack growth increased by 0.2.

The Dominator trait was simple and clear. Wang Qianduo could now not only equip any gear, thanks to his Universal User trait, but also learn skills of any attribute.

Next was the passive skill, Lord of the Elements.

Lord of the Elements (Passive) (Epic):

LV1 (levels up only through Mecha Evolution)

Elemental attack damage increased by 10%

Elemental damage taken reduced by 20%

30% of damage taken is converted into MP loss;

Cooldown time for elemental skills reduced by 20%;

Elemental skills with a charge-up (chanting) time of less than 5 seconds become instant. The casting speed of skills with a charge-up time of more than 5 seconds is increased by 20%;

After seeing this skill, all Wang Qianduo could say was, "Terrifyingly powerful."

Lord of the Elements perfectly embodied the idea of offense and defense in one, while also turning his Mecha into a terrifying spell turret.

Take his Lightning Chain skill, for example. What had once required a charge-up became instant, and its 20-second cooldown dropped to 16 seconds.

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

After seeing the Lord of the Elements skill, Wang Qianduo didn't hesitate at all. He dumped all the attribute points he'd gained from leveling up into Intelligence, going all-in on a specialized build.

With the Lord of the Elements skill, Wang Qianduo believed that later on, as long as he had mana, almost no one would be able to touch him.

At the same time, he firmly believed that attack was the best defense, and a dead enemy was a good enemy.

After allocating his points, Wang Qianduo's Attack broke 300 to reach 301, and his MP topped 2,000, reaching 2,080.

Besides that skill, Wang Qianduo's basic skills had also changed. Energy Bullet, Charged Energy Bullet, and Magic Energy Burst now all had attributes, which he could control.

Magic Energy Burst had gained different effects for different attributes in particular. If its damage weren't so low, it could practically have risen all the way to Legendary.

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

[???]

LV60

??

Under the Fiery Golden Eyes scouting skill, everything about this Mecha except its level was marked with question marks.

This proved Wang Qianduo's guess was right: Old Luo was no ordinary person.

Could a level 60 Mecha pilot really be ordinary?

Wang Qianduo piloted Lord of the Elements over to Old Luo and floated gently down before saying, "Master, I've done what you asked."

"Heh, good! But what grade of crystal did you use to activate the Crown, kid?" Old Luo said with a chuckle, gazing at the nearly perfect Mecha before him.

Back then, after she obtained the Elemental Crown, she had always wanted to figure out what it did.

But fate had other plans.

She had just figured out the Elemental Crown's purpose when she failed to survive that war.

And so that wish became his. But the Elemental Crown could only be used by an initial Mecha, and the war was then raging at its fiercest, so he had no choice but to put the idea aside.

After he retired, he began training the next generation to help her fulfill her wish, but all his successors had failed.

Some had even lost their Magic Mechs for good after several failed attempts, leaving them able to pilot only Artificial Mechs.

It had nearly torn him and his family apart. They thought he was crazy.

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

Old Luo felt he had been utterly inconsiderate, since he had never told Wang Qianduo what would happen if the evolution failed.

To fulfill her wish, this Mecha warrior who had spent his life fighting for humanity had, for the first time, acted out of selfish motives.

It had tormented him, but thankfully, Wang Qianduo had succeeded!

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

"Heh... heh!"

What problem? You almost drained me dry, and you're asking what the problem is? But he didn't say that. Instead, he turned serious and said:

"There are bound to be some problems. You know that Mecha advancement usually comes with an assessment.

"What you've done will make your advancement assessment much harder, and the materials and energy it consumes will increase several times over.

"But there are benefits, too. Your Mecha will be much stronger than other people's.

"Especially after its third evolution, when it becomes a complete form."

Wang Qianduo said, "I see. No problem. I've still got some savings, so I should be able to afford it!"

Old Luo: "..."

Was this guy bragging about his wealth? But when he thought of the seven Epic Elemental Crystals Wang Qianduo had, Old Luo held his tongue.

As he looked at the almost perfect Mecha before him, he suddenly felt a little hollow inside.

So this was what it felt like to see a dream come true. Could you feel it, too?

Old Luo recalled his Mecha, looked up at Lord of the Elements, then silently headed toward the cave's exit.

Seeing this, Wang Qianduo recalled his Mecha, too. He could sense the old man's melancholy.

"Master, don't do anything rash. You've still got to live to a ripe old age!"

Wang Qianduo's words made Old Luo stumble. He turned around and cursed:

"You little brat, what are you saying? And do you even know how old I am? How can you wish me a long life?"

"You're not even sixty, right?"

"Get lost! I'm 631 this year. With the way you're wishing me a long life, I should already have a grave with a level mound!"

Wang Qianduo: "...??"

"Don't look so confused. Mecha Evolution feeds back into the human body. Even you could live two or three hundred years now!" Old Luo saw Wang Qianduo's confusion and explained.

"That's insane! If you just kept evolving, could you live forever?"

"Easier said than done! And is living forever really a good thing?"