MTLNOVEL CHAPTER 238
Chapter 238: The Divine Fire Shield
Lu Ming's Origin Power flowed into the Inheritance Orb, and within two seconds, he had acquired the Physique Realm Protective Technique: Divine Fire Shield.
He opened his attribute panel, his gaze falling on the skill's description.
Divine Fire Shield (Entry 1/100): Physique Realm Protective Technique. Its defense is slightly weak, but it can counter-injure the enemy.
You have a preliminary grasp of the Divine Fire Shield. Your overall attributes +1, free attribute points +1!
[Additional Special Effect: Defense Enhancement: Significantly increases the defense of the Divine Fire Shield!]
"As expected!" Lu Ming exclaimed.
The Defense Enhancement special effect from his Origin Power Armor had been applied to the new Body Protection Technique.
With a thought, a thin, pale red light film materialized around him.
The film was delicate, as fragile as an eggshell, seemingly ready to shatter at the slightest touch.
But this was merely the Entry-level Flame Shield.
A faint blue light shimmered on its surface, a testament to the underlying power of the Origin Power Armor.
Intrigued, Lu Ming reached out and struck his own waist with 30% of his strength.
A sharp "Ah!" escaped his lips.
Even with his restrained power, he couldn't break through the Entry-level Flame Shield's defenses!
"This is good..." Lu Ming's eyes lit up with excitement.
He gradually increased the force of his strikes, testing the Flame Shield's limits.
Soon, he had determined its defensive capabilities.
"It's slightly weaker than the Micro-level Origin Power Armor, but not by much."
This was already incredibly impressive.
The Micro-level Origin Power Armor protected every cell in Lu Ming's body, a multi-layered defensive field that was a nightmare for any attacker.
Now, even the seemingly fragile Entry-level Divine Fire Shield possessed nearly 80% of the Micro-level Origin Power Armor's defensive capabilities. The potential for even greater protection at higher levels was tantalizing.
This was the profound impact of the Divine level proficiency Origin Power Armor on Lu Ming.
A thought flickered through his mind: The Origin Power Armor hasn't truly disappeared; it has simply transformed and continues to protect me.
He now understood the true meaning of the system's message: Your efforts will never be in vain.
Origin Power skills evolved rapidly, and until they reached the Divine level proficiency , they were merely a means to increase attributes. But once they ascended to that realm, everything changed.
Aside from the tenfold increase in cultivation speed, the Divine Level special effect alone made them worth pursuing.
With renewed determination, Lu Ming sat back down and re-entered the Void Space.
A few seconds later, within the void...
The Divine Fire Shield advanced to the Proficient level.
All attributes +2, free attribute points +2.
The attribute gains were minor, but the true value of Origin Power skills lay beyond mere numbers.
A few minutes later, the Divine Fire Shield reached the Master level.
All attributes +3, free attribute points +3.
A few hours later, it ascended to the Perfect level.
All attributes +4, free attribute points +4.
Just like the Origin Power Armor, the Divine Fire Shield's cultivation could be combined with the Body Forging Technique or other Origin Power skills, resulting in incredibly rapid progress.
Day 230 of the Black Mist Calendar
Less than a day after acquiring the Divine Fire Shield, Lu Ming had already cultivated this Physique Realm Body Protection Technique to the Intricate realm!
All attributes +40, free attribute points +40.
The terrifying tenfold increase in cultivation speed was undeniable.
"What kind of changes will advancing Explosive Fist to the Divine level proficiency bring me?" Lu Ming wondered, his curiosity piqued.
Having experienced the transformation of a defensive skill, he was eager to see what awaited him with an offensive one.
And curiosity, for Lu Ming, always led to action.
He resumed his relentless practice of the Explosive Fist.
Meanwhile, in Archean City, within Heluo's research laboratory...
Heluo had made a breakthrough.
Or rather, the earliest victims of the Dream Virus, the members of the Soro Team, had progressed to a new stage.
A chilling scream pierced the sterile silence of the laboratory, echoing off the cold metal walls. Liu Qingmin's raised hands slowly fell, the light in his eyes extinguished, replaced by a dull, grayish haze.
"He's dead," Huo Sheng announced, his voice muffled by the protective suit he wore.
"Cause of death: organ failure and severe malnutrition," Meng Jie added, her tone clinical.
Even though patients in the third stage of the Dream Virus infection couldn't eat voluntarily, there were methods to sustain them in the Black Mist Zone, such as the commonly used Nebulized Supplementary Feeding. This technique atomized food and delivered it directly through the patient's pores, a more efficient version of intravenous feeding.
According to their calculations, Liu Qingmin should have been immune to death by starvation or dehydration. Yet, his condition had deteriorated rapidly this morning, his body's energy reserves inexplicably drained in a matter of hours.
Drained, as if something had siphoned it away.
Heluo, protected by Ivy and Quan Chao, closed her eyes, her precognitive abilities reaching out into the unknown.
Fragments of a vision flashed before her, hazy and indistinct.
Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, and she pointed at Liu Qingmin's lifeless body.
"Something's coming out!" she exclaimed, her voice urgent.
As if on cue, an ethereal figure emerged from the center of Liu Qingmin's forehead.
It was a small, palm-sized creature, pitch black and vaguely reptilian in shape, with a single, unblinking eye. It crawled slowly from the cavity where Liu Qingmin's brain had once resided.
The creature's emergence was unsettling. It didn't burst forth from Liu Qingmin's skull, but rather seemed to crawl out of a peculiar, otherworldly space connected to his head.
Everyone in the lab stared, momentarily frozen in shock.
Then, with a gurgling sound, the one-eyed, lizard-like creature vanished, disappearing like a popped bubble.
No one understood what had transpired, except for Heluo. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with fear.
"Prepare for battle," she said, her voice strained. "I don't know what that thing was, but..."
She paused, her voice trembling slightly.
"In one hour, Archean City will become a battlefield!"
The Soro Exploration Team might have been the first to be infected, but they weren't the only ones.
The green poisonous gas that had emanated from Jing Yi's transformed body had spread through the light door, infecting the Flame Clan Ruin's forest.
The Dream Virus, carried by the wind, had quickly blanketed most of the forest.
Anyone searching for treasures within had inhaled the poisonous gas. No one was spared.
Some of the infected were explorers from Archean City. Upon their return, they had been captured and quarantined by the Land God Association.
But others belonged to the surrounding tribes.
These individuals lacked the Sky Monitoring Bureau's guidance and weren't as vigilant against such threats.
At this very moment, countless people within the Hundred Thousand Mountains were infected with the Dream Virus. And an unknown number had already progressed to the fourth stage of the infection.
The stage of death.
End of Chapter 238