Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

Enchanting firearm ammunition would undoubtedly be more powerful.

Their initial kinetic energy is just too high.

But this also presented a problem. Even assuming the material of such a small bullet could handle the infusion from a Flame Burst Rune, it was far too small to be filled with the vast, scorching energy required.

’Besides, I’d have to be careful not to detonate the primer.’

’If it blew up in the chamber by mistake, I’d be the one getting hurt.’

In any case.

’Thinking about all this is pointless. The level difference between Runes is what gives the real advantage.’

Su Chen glanced at the upgrade requirements. The number of Flame Burst Runes needed had doubled, which was within his expectations. Two more units of Spiritual Dust Sand were also acceptable. But the final requirement, a never-before-seen Spirit Marrow Crystal, clearly meant he would have to hunt down more powerful monsters.

’I’ll leave it to fate.’

For now, my priority is to get my other Runes to Lv. 4.

’And this one is a Lv. 4 Rune, too.’

His gaze immediately shifted to the Thunder Element Rune that had dropped from the thunder beast’s remains.

The Rune’s structure was composed of the Thunder, Light, and Fire Elements, which combined to form a Lightning Shield.

When the first batch of synthesis formulas was officially released this morning, the Lightning Shield was included as one of the revealed Defense-type Runes.

Its main drawback had also been announced: it had no so-called friendly fire protection. Once activated, it could easily harm others. For a lone wolf player, however, this didn’t pose much of a problem.

Su Chen mulled it over for a moment and decided not to absorb it himself.

First, all three of its constituent Elements were needed for his other Runes, creating a conflict of priority.

Second, he wasn’t lacking Defense Runes. Besides his Water Mirror Rune, which was just one step away from reaching Lv. 3, he also had a highly functional Wind Element shield.

Giving it to Xiaoye was also an option.

But no matter how the Netherworld War Dog fiddled with the Thunder Element Rune, it remained unresponsive. Wisps of piercing electric arcs even made Xiaoye’s paw pads smoke slightly.

’So it was an issue of elemental affinity after all.’

’Then the only option left is to use it for an Enchantment on a weapon.’

Su Chen had just acquired a flawless, sturdy wooden stick, so he figured he might as well use it to absorb the Rune.

’It’s actually working.’

After only three seconds of contact.

The Thunder Element Rune gradually sank into the body of the stick. Countless purple electric arcs wove themselves across the wooden surface like vines, appearing to form a series of intricate electrical circuits.

The once-plain wooden stick now began to take on a purple, metallic sheen.

In some places, purple crystals even began to form.

Once the transformation was complete, the upper half of the stick exuded the majestic air of a fantasy scepter, while the lower half remained plain, unadorned wood.

The moment Su Chen gripped it, he resonated with it. In less than a breath, a translucent lightning shield materialized around him. Arcs of electricity flowed ceaselessly across its surface, enveloping him completely.

Xiaoye was only a meter away, and tendrils of electricity were already lashing out in its direction.

Withered leaves drifting down from the ancient trees were repelled by static electricity before they could even touch the shield, instantly getting scorched to cinders.

’So aggressive.’

Inside the shield, Su Chen was completely unaffected, feeling instead a sense of security.

According to the official description, the Lightning Shield continuously absorbed free-floating electrical charges from the air to replenish itself. Because of this, its duration was significantly longer than other Defense Runes of the same type.

As for any other functions or auxiliary buffs, it had none.

However, Su Chen couldn’t forget the Thunder Bear’s desperate, last-ditch attack—a move meant to drag him down with it.

’Turning the shield into a weapon?’

Forcibly dispelling the Lightning Shield to transform it into a circular thunderstorm, indiscriminately bombarding everything in the vicinity.

’This must be a mechanic that only unlocks once the Rune Level reaches Lv. 4.’

After a bit of experimenting, Su Chen found the ”switch” for this release mechanism. Noticing that the cave had gone quiet, meaning the bear cubs inside had been dealt with, he didn’t bother trying out the new move.

In a way, it compensated for his lack of a massive area-of-effect attack.

’Might as well absorb this one, too.’

Emboldened by his success, Su Chen simply touched the wooden stick to the other Thunder Element Rune on the ground.

He didn’t know the effect of this Thunder Element Rune, as the Thunder Bear hadn’t used it at all, but he could tell from its structure that it was composed of the Thunder, Water, and Light Elements, and it was Lv. 3.

VMMMM!

The second Thunder Element Rune also merged into the staff’s body without any resistance.

That did it. The plain wooden material of the lower half was also reforged, its wood grain instantly covered by layers of complex, arcane purple patterns.

The entire staff was finally a seamless whole, completely transformed into a scepter of thunder.

When Su Chen tried to resonate with it to activate its effect, the scepter immediately released an upward-pulling force.

Soon.

Free-floating electrical charges in the low sky not far away began to gather frantically. A breath later, a purple bolt of lightning, having fully formed, came crashing down, blasting a deep crater in the ground.

’A Thunder Rune?’

Su Chen was slightly surprised. ’No wonder the Thunder Bear never got a chance to use it. I successfully ambushed it the moment it ran out of the cave.’

’Not bad.’

He hadn’t completely figured it out yet, but that didn’t change the fact that it was a good Skill.

’This should be good for dealing with those tree-hollow monkeys.’ Su Chen still hadn’t forgotten about that troop of monkeys.

That was enough testing of the thunder scepter for now.

After bottling the remaining Gold Element essence from the ground, he followed Xiaoye’s lead into the deep, dark cave.

The cave was quite large and had a winding, twisting layout.

Along the way, Xiaoye knocked over a pile of bones near the wall, completely revealing a faint, eerie green glow emanating from just beneath the ground’s surface.

”No wonder you were in such a hurry.”

Su Chen knelt down, his fingertips brushing against the cool mineral vein. ”So it’s Plant and Mineral Crystals.”

He glanced toward the end of the cave. The faint light emanating from within was a mix of purple and green, giving it a strange and captivating allure.

As he slowly approached, he saw a bizarre, massive purple flower rooted in a crevice in the rock.

And on the opposite cave wall, two clusters of Plant and Mineral Crystals jutted out. They were shaped like coral reefs, glowing a brilliant green, and looked incredibly rich and dense.

’This place is a real treasure trove.’

The Thunder Bear had occupied a prime spot. Even when seriously injured, it could heal and recover here.

It couldn’t bring it back from a fatal wound, though. The place didn’t have that kind of resurrection effect.

After all, its two cubs had already been torn to death by the Netherworld War Dog’s clones.

Xiaoye also trotted over, carrying two scattered Thunder Element essences in its mouth.

After bottling the essences and putting them in his bag, Su Chen took an Engineer Shovel from his hiking pack. He walked over to one of the crystal formations and began digging at its base. As he shoveled away chunks of bedrock, more of the coral-shaped crystal cluster was revealed.

’It’s huge.’

This was much larger than the Grass and Wood Crystal Cluster he already had in his backpack.

Considering his backpack’s limited capacity, he didn’t dig any deeper.

’I’ll just chisel off the protruding part for now.’

He pulled out a golf club and immediately infused it with the power of his newly upgraded Flame Burst. Amplified by his Amplification Bracelet, the entire shaft was instantly rendered crimson, wisps of scorching heat coiling from it.

He suppressed the energy output, so the metal club head only turned slightly red, and the outer carbon-fiber layer showed no signs of peeling.

The next instant.

Su Chen swung the club at the rock formation. With a loud CRACK, he successfully broke the mineral crystal cluster free.

He bent down to inspect the broken surface on the rock wall. Although there was a faint glow, it was dim and sparse. He figured there probably wasn’t much else worth digging for underneath.

As for the other eerie green crystal cluster, he decided to leave it in the cave for now. Past experience told him it would make for good bait; with the Thunder Bear dead, other monsters were sure to try and claim this treasure trove.

Then he could ambush them, easy as pie.

As for the strange purple flower, Su Chen studied it carefully from a distance, taking out his phone to capture photos from multiple angles.

Besides the fine arcs of electricity crackling around the flower itself, its stem was a translucent, deep purple. Inside, liquid lightning could be seen flowing slowly.

Although he didn’t know its effects, just based on the Thunder Element energy—so dense it was almost liquid—Su Chen decided he would feed it to his Jade Pendant later.

’It’ll have to wait, though. There’s a queue.’

An hour ago, the Jade Pendant had just finished absorbing a massive surge of Fire Element energy. Based on the estimated conversion time, it would probably need another two hours or so to finish processing it.