64: Chapter 64 A Million Points Shopping Spree! Skill Fusion Creates New Tricks

"Sir, please follow me. I will take you to the VIP reception room."

She turned sideways to lead the way, her high heels making a crisp "da-da" sound on the marble floor.

Lin Feng followed her through the lobby and into a private elevator.

The elevator ascended and stopped on the fifth floor.

The doors opened to a carpeted hallway lined with individual reception rooms on both sides.

Zhou Tingting led Lin Feng into one of them.

The room wasn't large, but it was elegantly decorated.

Leather sofas, a solid wood coffee table, a few abstract paintings on the walls, and green plants in the corners.

Through the floor-to-ceiling windows, one could see the entire view of Donghai City.

"Please take a seat, sir. What would you like to drink?"

"Water is fine."

Zhou Tingting poured a glass of water and then took out a tablet.

"Sir, which specific skill books do you need? I can help you filter them."

Lin Feng thought for a moment.

"Light-type, Advanced attack skills. The larger the range and the stronger the power, the better."

"Fire-type, burst category, preferably with continuous damage."

"Water-type, healing and control categories."

"Wind-type, acceleration and cutting categories."

"Earth-type, defense and field control categories."

"Lightning-type, penetration and paralysis categories."

"Ice-type, deceleration and freezing categories."

"Dark-type... something a bit more eerie, like invisibility, curses, and such."

Zhou Tingting's fingers slid quickly across the tablet; the more she heard, the brighter her eyes became.

"Sir, are you... looking to form a battle team?"

"Something like that," Lin Feng said vaguely.

Zhou Tingting didn't ask further and focused on filtering.

Five minutes later, she handed the tablet to Lin Feng.

"Sir, these are the Advanced skill books I've selected for Rank 15-25 Explorers. There are 86 books in total, with a total price of 1.87 million points."

Lin Feng took the tablet and flipped through the pages.

【Judgment of Light (Purple)】

【Rank Requirement: Rank 18】

【Effect: Condenses light elements to form a Sword of Judgment, dealing spirit × 12 light attribute damage to a single target. Consumes 200 mana.】

【Price: 120,000 points】

【Holy Light Radiance (Blue)】

【Rank Requirement: Rank 15】

【Effect: Expands a Domain of Light with a 30-meter radius centered on the user. Friendly units within range recover spirit × 1 HP per second for 10 seconds. Consumes 150 mana.】

【Price: 58,000 points】

【Firestorm (Purple)】

【Rank Requirement: Rank 20】

【Effect: Summons a Firestorm to sweep through the target area. All enemies within a 20-meter radius take spirit × 8 fire attribute damage per second for 8 seconds. Consumes 300 mana.】

【Price: 150,000 points】

【Absolute Zero (Blue)】

【Rank Requirement: Rank 16】

【Effect: Condenses extreme cold power to freeze all targets within 10 meters ahead for 3 seconds. Consumes 120 mana.】

【Price: 42,000 points】

【Void Walk (Purple)】

【Rank Requirement: Rank 22】

【Effect: Briefly escape into the Void Realm, becoming immune to all damage and untargetable for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes. Consumes 400 mana.】

【Price: 220,000 points】

【Shadow Clone (Blue)】

【Rank Requirement: Rank 15】

【Effect: Creates a Shadow Clone with 30% of the original's strength for 30 seconds. Consumes 100 mana.】

【Price: 36,000 points】

Lin Feng's heart raced as he looked at them.

Any one of these skill books was ten times stronger than the ones he had bought at the newbie bookstore!

Especially that 【Void Walk】; it was practically a life-saving divine skill!

"I'll take all of these," Lin Feng said.

Zhou Tingting's hand shook, and she almost dropped the tablet on the floor.

"All... all of them?!"

"Yes." Lin Feng pulled out his points card. "Swipe it."

Zhou Tingting took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

"Sir, the total price is 1.87 million. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

Zhou Tingting tremblingly took the points card and swiped it on the POS machine.

Beep—

【Payment Successful. Balance: 3.12 million points】

"It... it succeeded..."

Looking at the balance on the screen, Zhou Tingting's eyes nearly popped out of her head.

1.87 million points, just swiped away like that?

What was the background of this young man?!

"Sir, please wait a moment. I'll go get the books for you right now!"

She hurried out of the reception room, the sound of her high heels fading into the distance.

Lin Feng leaned back on the sofa and took a sip of water.

1.87 million points for 86 skill books.

Was it expensive?

Yes.

But the one thing he didn't lack right now was money.

The shop had over seven million worth of goods; by selling them slowly, his cash flow would be ample.

Besides, after buying these skill books and fusing them, he could produce even better skills.

It was a guaranteed profit.

Ten minutes later.

Zhou Tingting returned pushing a small cart.

Stacked on the cart were exactly 86 skill books, colorful and piled up like a small mountain.

"Sir, please check the inventory."

Lin Feng stood up and flipped through them one by one.

【Judgment of Light】, present.

【Holy Light Radiance】, present.

【Firestorm】, present.

【Absolute Zero】, present.

【Void Walk】, present.

【Shadow Clone】, present.

Everything matched up.

"No problem."

With a wave of his hand, Lin Feng stored all 86 skill books into the wanxiang ring.

Zhou Tingting's eyes went wide.

That huge pile of books just... vanished into thin air?

"Sir, do you have storage equipment?"

"Yes."

Zhou Tingting swallowed hard.

Storage equipment, even the lowest grade, cost tens of thousands of points.

One that could fit 86 skill books would be at least Blue quality, starting at over a hundred thousand.

Just what kind of background did this young man have?

"Take care, sir. We look forward to your next visit!"

She respectfully saw Lin Feng out the door.

...

Walking out of the Skill Mall, the sunlight was a bit blinding.

Lin Feng squinted and pulled out his phone.

He scrolled to Zhao Tianhai's number and dialed.

Ring— Ring—

"Hello, Lin Feng?"

Supervisor Zhao's voice came from the other end, sounding somewhat surprised.

"What do you need from me?"

"Supervisor Zhao, I have something I'd like to trouble you with."

"Go ahead."

"I opened a small shop over at the market called 'Fusion Workshop'," Lin Feng said. "I might be going on a long trip soon and was hoping you could help keep an eye on it."

"A small shop?" Zhao Tianhai laughed. "You're opening a shop? What are you selling?"

"Equipment."

"Equipment? Where did you get equipment?"

Lin Feng thought for a moment and told the truth: "I made it myself."

Silence fell on the other end of the line.

After a few seconds, Zhao Tianhai's voice sounded again, his tone becoming somewhat complex.

"Made it yourself... With that F-Rank Fusion Talent?"

"Yes."

"What quality can you produce?"

"Mostly Blue, with occasional Purple."

There was another period of silence on the other end.

Then, Zhao Tianhai took a deep breath.

"Lin Feng, do you know what this means?"

"What?"

"A crafter who can stably produce Blue equipment is someone any faction would fight over," Supervisor Zhao said slowly. "You are not just a combat Genius now; you are also a rare crafting Talent."

"I'll help you look after this shop. Send me the address, and I'll send someone to check on it every day."

Lin Feng smiled. "Thank you, Zhao Tianhai."

"Don't call me Zhao Tianhai anymore," Zhao Tianhai said. "Your current Rank is higher than mine. Just call me Old Zhao."

"How could I..."

"Enough nonsense. Send the address over, and I'll make the arrangements."

After hanging up, Lin Feng sent the shop's location.

Then, he put away his phone and looked around.

He needed to find a place with few people to fuse the skills.

...

Ten minutes later.

Lin Feng found an abandoned factory building.

This was likely an industrial zone from decades ago, now long deserted.

Dilapidated factory buildings, collapsed walls, and overgrown weeds.

Not a single soul was in sight.

"This is the place."

Lin Feng walked into a relatively intact factory building.

Sunlight streamed through holes in the roof, forming pillars of light.

Thick dust had accumulated on the floor, moss grew in the corners, and the air was thick with the smell of mold.

Lin Feng found a relatively clean spot and sat down cross-legged.

He pulled out those 86 skill books from the wanxiang ring.

Colorful books piled up around him.

"Let's categorize them first."

He divided the skill books into eight piles according to their attributes.

Light-type had the most, with 12 books.

11 Fire-type, 10 Water-type, 10 Wind-type, 10 Earth-type, 10 Lightning-type, 10 Ice-type, and 13 Dark-type.

"Let's start with the Light-type."

Lin Feng picked up two Light-type skill books.

【Judgment of Light (Purple)】+【Holy Light Radiance (Blue)】

"Fusion!"

Buzz—

A pale golden light enveloped the two books.

The two books melted within the light, turning into two clumps of golden liquid light.

The liquid light intertwined, fused, and restructured.

Ten seconds later.

Fusion complete.

A new skill book floated in the air.

The cover was pure gold, engraved with a Greatsword burning with holy flames.

【Judgment of Light (Purple)】

[Rank Requirement: Rank 20]

[Effect: Condenses light elements to form a Greatsword of Judgment, dealing spirit × 15 light-attribute damage to all enemies in a 30-meter straight line ahead, and applying a 'Burn' effect (loss of spirit × 1 health per second for 5 seconds)]

[mana Consumption: 350 points]

[Cooldown: 30 seconds]

[Learning Requirement: Light element affinity above 90%]

[Description: A Fusion product of Judgment of Light and Holy Light Radiance, combining single-target burst and area-of-effect damage]

"spirit × 15! Area damage!"

Lin Feng's eyes lit up.

His spirit was currently 738; 15 times that was 11,070 base damage!

With the light element bonus, it would actually reach around thirteen thousand!

"Continue!"

He picked up the other two light-attribute skill books.

[Holy Light Shield (Blue)] + [Light Wings (Blue)]

Fusion!

[Obtained: Holy Light Protection (Purple)]

[Effect: Generates a shield composed of Holy Light, absorbing spirit × 20 damage for 30 seconds. While the shield exists, movement speed +30%, and allows for brief gliding]

"A shield of spirit × 20, plus accelerated gliding... Good stuff!"

Lin Feng tucked it away happily.

One by one, he fused them frantically as if he were addicted.

12 light-type books fused into 6 purple skill books.

11 fire-type books fused into 5 purple and 1 blue.

10 water-type books fused into 4 purple and 2 blue.

10 wind-type books fused into 5 purple.

10 earth-type books fused into 4 purple and 2 blue.

10 lightning-type books fused into 5 purple.

10 ice-type books fused into 4 purple and 2 blue.

13 dark-type books fused into 6 purple and 1 blue.

A total of 86 skill books fused into 48 purple and 10 blue.

The mana consumption exceeded one hundred thousand.

But Lin Feng had a 250,000 limit, so he could handle it completely.

"That's about enough..."

Lin Feng looked at the small mountain of skill books beside him and grinned.

Any one of these skill books could be sold for hundreds of thousands of points.

And he had only spent 1.87 million in costs.

"Next, I'll pick a few to learn myself."

Lin Feng began filtering through them.

First, [Judgment of Light]—a must-learn!

Next, [Holy Light Protection]—a must-learn!

Then, [Firestorm]—area clearing, a must-learn!

[Absolute Zero]—control, a must-learn!

[Void Walk]—survival, a must-learn!

[Shadow Clone]—confusing the enemy, a must-learn!

[Wind Wings]—flight acceleration, a must-learn!

[Earth Protection]—defense, a must-learn!

[Thors Hammer]—burst, a must-learn!

[Ice Seal Domain]—crowd control, a must-learn!

He picked twenty skill books that suited him best and pressed them to his forehead one by one.

Hum— Hum— Hum—

Golden light flashed repeatedly.

One skill after another was imprinted deep in his mind.

[Learning Successful: Judgment of Light (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Holy Light Protection (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Firestorm (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Absolute Zero (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Void Walk (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Shadow Clone (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Wind Wings (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Earth Protection (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Thors Hammer (lv1)]

[Learning Successful: Ice Seal Domain (lv1)]

...

When the last skill book turned into golden light and vanished, Lin Feng let out a long breath of relief.

He opened his attribute panel.

[Name: Lin Feng]

[Rank: 19]

[spirit: 738]

[Spell Attack: 3690]

[mana: 250,000]

[Skill List: Light Bullet Technique, Light Flame Slash, Blasting Light Flame Technique, Holy Healing Ring, Judgment of Light, Holy Light Protection, Firestorm, Absolute Zero, Void Walk, Shadow Clone, Wind Wings, Earth Protection, Thors Hammer, Ice Seal Domain... (38 skills in total)]

[Special Abilities: Eye of the Elements (Passive), All-Element Affinity Mark, Gravity Comprehension 0.2%, Earth Control]

"Thirty-eight skills..."

Lin Feng was startled himself.

Usually, at this Rank, it would be good to have learned seven or eight skills.

He had more than doubled that.

And most of them were of Purple quality!

"Now I have enough survival methods."

Lin Feng stood up and stretched his limbs.

He glanced out the window.

The sun was slanting westward; it was already past four in the afternoon.

"Time to head out."

Lin Feng put all the skill books into his wanxiang ring and walked out of the abandoned factory building.

Standing by the roadside, he pulled out his phone and opened a ride-hailing app.

He entered his destination—the Old City District.

A line of red warning text popped up on the app.

[The destination is a high-risk area. Please confirm that you have entry authorization.]

[To continue, please upload your Explorer badge for verification.]

Lin Feng took out his S-Rank badge, took a photo, and uploaded it.

Three seconds later.

[Verification passed]

[S-Rank Explorer Lin Feng meets the entry requirements.]

[Matching a driver for you...]

[Match successful. Estimated arrival time: 5 minutes.]

Lin Feng put away his phone and waited by the road for the car.

His mind was on the Old City District.

He had heard about that place since he was a child.

Supposedly, thirty years ago, it had been invaded by the Void Realm.

A massive void fissure tore open in the sky above the city, and countless void creatures poured out.

Many people died in that battle.

The entire district was destroyed, turned into ruins.

Although the fissure was later sealed, many residual spatial cracks remained.

Those cracks were unstable and could erupt with void energy or release low-level void creatures at any time.

Ordinary people entering would surely die.

The Explorer Association had designated it as a forbidden zone, accessible only to Explorers of C-Rank or higher.

Furthermore, one had to sign a life-and-death waiver before entering.

"The ruins of a void invasion..."

Lin Feng murmured.

Could there be secrets about the Void Realm there?

Could there be clues regarding his parents' disappearance?

While he was thinking, a black hovercar stopped in front of him.

The window rolled down, revealing the face of a middle-aged man.

He had a buzz cut, a square face, and a faint scar over his left eyebrow.

"Mr. Lin Feng?"

"That's me."

"Get in."

Lin Feng pulled open the back door and sat inside.

The interior was very clean and had a faint scent of perfume.

The driver glanced at him through the rearview mirror.

"Sir, are you sure you want to go to the Old City District?"

"I'm sure."

The driver was silent for a few seconds before slowly starting the car.

"That place... it's very eerie."

"How so?"

"I can't quite say," the driver shook his head. "But in all my years of driving a taxi, I've taken quite a few Explorers there."

"Some went in and came out. Others... never came out again."

He paused and added.

"Just last week, I drove someone in his early twenties, about your age, a C-Rank Explorer. He went in and hasn't come out since."

Lin Feng didn't say anything.

The car drove out of the city and onto the highway.

The scenery outside changed from high-rise buildings to low factory sheds, and then to barren fields.

The sky gradually darkened.

The setting sun dyed the sky orange-red.

An hour later.

The car stopped.

The driver pointed ahead.

"Sir, I can only take you this far. Any further is the forbidden zone."

Lin Feng looked through the window.

Five hundred meters ahead stood a tall wire-mesh fence.

Warning signs hung on the fence, their red characters particularly striking in the sunset.

[High-Risk Forbidden Zone · No Entry]

[Unauthorized entry at your own risk]

[Explorer Association · Donghai Branch Announcement]

Behind the fence was a cluster of dilapidated buildings.

Buildings had collapsed, walls were cracked, and the streets were overgrown with weeds.

The sunset shone on the ruins, casting long shadows.

A wind blew from the ruins, carrying an indescribable... eerie aura.

It was like the smell of something rotting, mixed with the scorched sensation of residual energy.

"We're here," the driver said.

Lin Feng paid the fare and pushed the door open to get out.

He stood by the roadside, looking at the ruins.

The evening breeze blew, kicking up a cloud of dust.

"Old City District..."

Lin Feng took a deep breath and stepped toward the fence.

Behind him, the black hovercar turned around and left, disappearing into the night.

The last ray of sunset sank below the horizon.

Night fell.

The outlines of the ruins loomed in the darkness.

Like a sleeping giant beast, waiting for its prey to walk into the trap.