The flames inside Li Xiuman's eye sockets seemed to possess intelligence as they scanned the skeletons one by one in the deep canyon.
However, the skeletons didn't notice anything unusual as his gaze swept over them.
After all, devoid of intelligence, they could only wander about on instinct before receiving commands from Pound.
Li Xiuman didn't have many requirements for his targets: low level, good skills, and isolated.
However, in this dragon's den, finding one with a level similar to his own was incredibly difficult. After all, describing a Lv.1 skeleton as “rare” was not an exaggeration.
Most of the skeletons were Lv.5 or higher. Those below Lv.5 were few and far between, and as for Lv.1, Li Xiuman had not encountered a single one besides himself.
But as long as he worked hard, nothing was impossible. During his patrol, Li Xiuman luckily found a skeleton that satisfied him.
It was a Lv.3 skeleton with the skill [Swiftness].
He took a liking to its long, white legs, which were as smooth and beautiful as white jade.
He silently stalked behind the skeleton, his literally burning, ghostly blue eyes fixed on those long, white, bare bone legs that resembled white jade.
The skeleton didn't notice anything amiss, mindlessly walking ahead.
Li Xiuman waited for his chance, waiting for a moment when it was isolated.
Skeletons wandered without any pattern. If he just waited, this cute skeleton would eventually end up alone.
When that time came, it would be Li Xiuman's chance to strike.
Moreover, skeletons slept. Once it isolated itself and fell asleep, his opportunity would present itself!
Having become a skeleton, Li Xiuman had also grown much more patient, like a hunter locking onto its prey.
As time flowed by, Li Xiuman seized his opportunity.
The skeleton in front of him had lain down, its bare skeletal body resting on the ground, those long legs with [Swiftness Lv.1] radiating an alluring aura.
Li Xiuman did not eagerly rush forward.
He continued to wait patiently. Only when [Asleep] appeared on the skeleton's status bar did he pick up a large rock and stealthily make his way over, now well-practiced in the routine.
The ghostly blue flames flickered slightly inside his dark eye sockets.
He swung the rock down with a heavy thud.
The skeleton's alluring legs shook as its skull split and caved in, its ghostly blue flames slowly fading.
[Ding! Killed Low-Tier Skeleton. EXP +30]
Suppressing his excitement, Li Xiuman reached out toward the skeleton's smooth legs.
He pulled off its better-looking right leg, detached his own right leg, aligned it with the joint socket, and activated [Bone Manipulation].
They fused together seamlessly.
A familiar warm current surged into his body from his newly attached right leg. The cracks on his body healed a bit more, and the blackish tint completely vanished, leaving only a withered yellow.
The pitted, rough surface of his bones also recovered slightly.
[Ding! Obtained skill: Swiftness Lv.1]
He adjusted the size of his leg bone and stood up from the ground.
After testing his footing, he took a few steps forward. The scenery on both sides quickly blurred past; his speed had clearly increased significantly.
The strength of his bones, hm... seemed to have improved slightly.
Li Xiuman felt his ribs, deep in thought.
Then, he stopped his rapidly moving long legs.
His current race, even among skeleton monsters, was a Low-Tier Skeleton, which was the lowest grade. Its level cap was only Lv.10.
If he wanted to escape Pound's clutches, evolution was absolutely essential.
However, the requirement for evolution was for all three of his stats to reach 10 points.
“Can replacing my bones with higher-grade ones increase my stats...?”
After crushing two Low-Tier Skeletons, Li Xiuman felt it was about time to take a break. After all, haste makes waste.
He slept in a hidden cave he had previously discovered to restore his mental and physical strength.
Since he lacked a physical body and was merely a skeleton, it was only natural that he felt no hunger.
However, also due to the lack of nourishment from a living body, his exposed bones were continuously degrading, leaving him with only a year's lifespan.
Hm...
Li Xiuman carefully observed his status panel and realized that the rate of his bone degradation had slowed down.
Originally, the panel estimated his bones could only last for a year, but now it had changed to a year and a month.
Was it because his Constitution stat had increased?!
The sense of urgency in Li Xiuman's heart eased slightly.
It seemed he had to be more diligent in borrowing bones from his lovely colleagues.
After waking up, Li Xiuman straightened his spine, easing his stiff lower back, before approaching the other skeletons again to search for desirable skills.
Eventually, he locked onto a Lv.4 skeleton that possessed [Great Strength Lv.1].
Its thick, sturdy arm bones faintly gleamed with an alluring pure white in the dark valley.
After all, with [Hard Bone] to increase defense and [Swiftness] to increase speed, his strength was indeed lacking.
Stalking, lying in wait, biding his time—all became routine.
He swung the large rock down hard.
Although this skeleton didn't have a bone-hardening skill, it was Lv.4. It took Li Xiuman two successive heavy blows to finally shatter its skull.
[Ding! Killed Low-Tier Skeleton. EXP +40]
[EXP maxed out. Leveled up to Lv.2]
[Free Stat Point +1]
The ghostly blue flames in Li Xiuman's ribcage and eye sockets suddenly surged and flared up before slowly returning to normal.
The chipped and pitted areas of his bones began to fill in and grow back piece by piece.
So leveling up grants Free Stat Points.
At the very least, he now knew a reliable way to increase his stats.
At the same time, the maximum value of his EXP bar had increased from 100 to 200.
Li Xiuman assigned his Free Stat Point to Strength.
Following a brief tingling sensation, the density of his bones seemed to have slightly increased.
Next, he detached the skeleton's left arm bone, ripped off his own, aligned it with the joint, and activated [Bone Manipulation].
After the familiar sensation passed, the physical boost was no longer as noticeable. A notification popped up on his status panel.
[Ding! Obtained skill: Great Strength Lv.1]
After a moment of thought, Li Xiuman tried to detach his other arm bone, but the moment he did, a change occurred on his panel.
The [Hard Bone Lv.1] skill vanished from his panel, and it felt as though something had been drained from his body, making all his bones slightly more fragile.
Li Xiuman quickly reattached the arm bone, and the skill immediately reappeared.
“As expected...”
Li Xiuman stared at his skill panel, not particularly surprised.
If he could continuously gain new skills simply by swapping out limbs, it would be far too overpowered.
The maximum number of skills he could obtain by swapping limbs was only four, with each limb representing one skill.
Currently, rather than fully acquiring the skills, he was merely borrowing them from the attached limbs.
To thoroughly integrate the skills into himself and make them truly his own, he would probably have to undergo a species evolution while these limbs were still attached.
Li Xiuman cleaned up the remains of the skeleton before him and began looking for his last skill.
Smashing two skeletons a day—it was important to establish such a good habit.
With persistent daily effort, he believed he would eventually break free of the evil bone dragon Pound's clutches.
Rate on N.U.
