【Designated Enhancement】

Clang!

Seeing Bai Xiaodu's face, Lingxin could not hide her excitement and lunged toward him from inside the cage.

“Amazing! As expected of my Xiaobai, effortlessly accomplishing what ordinary people never could!”

Bai Xiaodu broke into a cold sweat, his hand holding the key trembling slightly.

There were gaps between the bars of the cage, which resembled a giant iron birdcage commonly seen in games.

As she stood up, her slender figure completely blocked the shafts of sunlight streaming through the window.

Her shadow cast down from above, almost entirely enveloping Bai Xiaodu.

With Lingxin's tall, statuesque older sister build, this movement caused her ample chest to be pressed against the iron bars, squeezing them into a breathtaking curve.

Looking up, he was met with her long legs pressed tight against the bars and her soft midriff almost touching his face. This flawless front-facing view was completely laid bare before him.

Her beautiful face was currently filled with pure joy, a radiant smile that could never be faked.

It looked as though the moment he opened the cage, she would leap out, pin him down, and plant a massive kiss on him.

“Um, please calm down a bit first.”

Quietly slowing down his movements with the key, Bai Xiaodu braced himself and braved her sticky, intense gaze that felt like she wanted to eat him alive.

He chose to claim his Affection reward.

He couldn't keep looking.

It truly was a law of physics that the larger an object, the stronger its gravitational pull. Bai Xiaodu felt a lingering wave of panic; his gaze had been instantly sucked in just now!

It was simply terrifying!

Shifting his focus back to the Affection progress bar, Bai Xiaodu stared blankly at the reward he had just received.

【Permanent Enhancement of a Designated Skill (Knowledge Pathway) (One-time use only)】

The term “skill” usually referred to martial arts and magic.

This item...

It was probably used to enhance one of those two categories. “Permanent” meant the skill would be permanently buffed, while “one-time use only” likely meant he could only choose a single skill.

But why was there a Pathway restriction appended to the end?

Did enhancements differ based on one's Pathway?

Stealing a glance at Lingxin, Bai Xiaodu asked as if casually bringing it up.

“Sister Lingxin, the prerequisite to becoming a transcendent is choosing a Pathway, right?”

Exhaling softly, Lingxin also seemed to realize that her current posture was a bit forward.

She quickly adjusted herself and squatted properly inside the cage, returning to her usual elegant demeanor.

Her wine-red eyes grew calm, and her cool, aloof, older-sister voice rang out.

“Yes, that's right. Why do you ask, Xiaobai?”

Sister Lingxin, please stop using that cutesy voice, you're scaring me.

Forcing down the urge to laugh, Bai Xiaodu adopted a serious expression.

“After ascending to a transcendent, do martial arts and magic undergo some kind of change?”

Lingxin nodded.

“Indeed. Depending on the chosen Pathway, upon completing the ascension ceremony, one receives an opportunity to permanently enhance a designated skill.”

“The effect is incredibly powerful, far exceeding the leap of breaking through to the Proficient rank. After all, it is a blessing from the gods.”

“For example, as a Mage of the 【Knowledge】 Pathway, the skill I chose to enhance back then was 【Fire Arrow】.”

“It directly evolved into 【Sixfold Arrow】, which allows me to fire six consecutive shots, each carrying one of six different effects: lightning, burning, freezing, darkness, poison, and mental damage.”

Seeing Bai Xiaodu's slightly dazed yet earnest listening expression, Lingxin couldn't help but smile.

“Alright, there's no need to be too envious. You have an incredible talent for learning, Xiaobai. If you work hard and complete your ascension ceremony, you'll get the same enhancement opportunity as me. Keep it up!”

“Oh, by the way, if there's anything you don't understand, you can always come and ask me at night. I'm free after eight o'clock. We can take our time talking about whatever you like—sharing our thoughts, talking about life, discussing the future...”

Bai Xiaodu nodded repeatedly, but in truth, he hadn't processed a single word after her explanation.

He had only one thought in his mind.

The system is freaking awesome!

A divine blessing that others had to risk their lives to obtain through an ascension ceremony was handed to him just like that.

Cheering inwardly, Bai Xiaodu licked his lips.

After asking his questions, the last of his doubts evaporated.

No wonder the reward was a 【Knowledge】 Pathway enhancement; Lingxin was indeed a spellcaster walking the path of wisdom, history, and contemplation.

It seemed that the Affection rewards were not only tied to level, but also closely linked to transcendent Pathways.

【Gust】 was currently a utility skill, so enhancing it wouldn't immediately boost his combat power by a significant margin.

Even if using it might raise his proficiency to Proficient, honestly, Bai Xiaodu wasn't lacking in training time.

Well, to put it bluntly.

Bai Xiaodu simply couldn't resist the allure of shooting an incredibly cool, invincible, super-lightning six-colored ray directly from his palm!

He resisted the urge to perform the enhancement immediately.

After all, the person involved was right in front of him. If she had just finished explaining it and he immediately whipped out an identical enhancement...

“An innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth”—Bai Xiaodu understood this principle well.

Although it was blindingly obvious that Lingxin liked him, having spent so much time working in the nightlife industry, Bai Xiaodu didn't dare gamble on human nature.

It was better to wait until they got out of here.

The cage door swung open. Restored to her freedom of movement, Lingxin stretched lazily and took a deep breath of air.

Then, a fierce, murderous glint flashed in her eyes.

“Come on, let's go kill that dragon beast.”

“Sure, but I have a small suggestion. You should rest for a bit and recover your strength first.”

“When the time is right, go back inside the cage. I'll lure it over, and we can play innocent and catch it off guard.”

Bai Xiaodu was talking nonsense with a completely straight face.

Given her strength, she could definitely kill that dragon beast.

But if spells started flying everywhere, he wouldn't be able to interfere at all.

Bai Xiaodu was still deeply obsessed with whatever passive skill or loot he would get from killing this dragon beast.

If she could launch a sneak attack and heavily wound the dragon beast, things would be much easier.

Lingxin gave him a thumbs-up.

“Great idea!”

...

Time flowed much faster inside the game, and three or four hours flew by in the blink of an eye.

Slipping back into the gold-patterned black robe, Bai Xiaodu adjusted his vocal cords.

He slowly climbed the stairs. The floor above, partially hidden beneath the roof, served as the dragon's bedroom.

It was unknown what materials this floor was constructed from, but the soundproofing was exceptionally good. The further up he went, the quieter it became.

Scarcely any sunlight could penetrate this high, and a heavy, suffocating atmosphere gradually closed in on him.

Stepping fully onto this floor, Bai Xiaodu paused.

Standing before him was a massive, heavy, and heavily weathered black wooden door adorned with intricate carvings.

It stood a daunting five to six meters tall, striking awe into anyone who looked at it.

Standing before the door, he slowly reached out a hand and attempted to push it open.

Creak...

Before Bai Xiaodu's hand could even make contact, the door swung open slightly on its own, leaving a narrow crack.

A massive, golden, and freezing cold dragon eye appeared behind the gap without warning.

It was Oter.

For some unknown reason, he had woken up early and seemed to be waiting here specifically for him.