Of course, Ice Age also had evolution routes to choose from. Lin Mo glanced at the two routes for Ice Age:
Evolution Route 1: Permafrost I: skill damage +30%, freeze duration +50%
Evolution Route 2: Prolonged Frost I: skill damage +30%, skill area of effect +50%
Compared to Nine-Headed Dragon Flash, these two Ice Age evolution routes seemed more conventional.
But conventional did not mean weak. In fact, whichever route he picked, the effects were exceptionally powerful.
One route raised the skill damage while extending the freeze time, the other raised skill damage while expanding the skill’s range. Both increased base damage while granting valuable extra effects.
Considering this was an AOE skill, Lin Mo initially planned to choose the route that increased the skill’s area.
However, after thinking it over, he realized he already wasn’t short on wide-area damage skills. More importantly, given the current situation and likely future developments, he would need skills to deal with far stronger opponents rather than merely hordes of lesser monsters.
So in the end Lin Mo chose Evolution Route 1.
Skimming through that information, the battle continued.
Newly acquired skills naturally needed to be tested. Lin Mo quickly found a perfect target.
It was a gnome whose strength reached mid-Heroic Realm, engaged with an adventurer of similar level. That adventurer was not weak, but with the Dark Tide boost on the gnome, he was clearly at a disadvantage. As the fight dragged on, the adventurer had already suffered multiple wounds and looked bleak.
Without hesitation Lin Mo used Flash to close the distance, and the next moment, before the gnome could react, his blade had already struck.
The gnome stared at the suddenly appearing Lin Mo as if his eyes would burst. Time seemed to slow; he tried to dodge, but the sword’s descent outpaced his movement by far.
Nine-Headed Dragon Flash!
In an instant, nine consecutive slashes landed on the gnome, the tremendous force cutting it into a pile of pieces.
A legendary skill was truly extraordinary—far stronger than the previous Twin Dragon Flash!
A look of delight surfaced in Lin Mo’s eyes, and notifications floated before him almost immediately.
Nine-Headed Dragon Flash proficiency +700 (+350 +1750)
Flash proficiency +700 (+350 +1750)
What the—!
That proficiency gain startled Lin Mo.
No doubt this gnome, being stronger and higher level than the earlier gnome, gave much more proficiency. Add the proficiency bonus from Dark Tide, and more importantly, the bonus from defeating a higher-level enemy...
Lin Mo’s highest profession level was currently 29, while this gnome was level 35. That meant the bonus from an overleveled kill alone was 2.5 times!
That meant, besides the base proficiency provided by the enemy itself, Lin Mo could get a 2.5× proficiency bonus, not merely 1750 points.
The total proficiency gained from killing that gnome reached an outrageous 2,800 points!
That explained why overleveled kills, especially against higher-tier monsters, yielded such large gains.
Because of that gain, Lin Mo’s Flash skill and his Knight profession’s levels both increased.
Flash rose to level 7.
When he had previously upgraded to level 6, Lin Mo had chosen the evolution option that increased Flash’s distance. As a result, Flash’s maximum distance had reached 6,000 meters; the next choice would be to reduce the skill’s cooldown.
As for Nine-Headed Dragon Flash, being newly acquired, it jumped from level 1 straight to level 6 with this surge.
"Skill Nine-Headed Dragon Flash Lv1 (60/60) upgraded!"
...
"Current skill Nine-Headed Dragon Flash Lv6 (700/1800)"
"Received base attribute points Strength +4, Agility +6!"
From level 1 to 6, he received base attribute points twice, totaling 20 points.
He also gained two opportunities to choose evolution routes.
Lin Mo first chose without hesitation the previously unselected Evolution Route 2, and as for the second evolution choice...
Please choose the evolution direction—
Evolution Route 1: Accumulated Slash III: After the skill finishes casting, spend an additional single set of Qi and Blood consumption to immediately perform another accumulated slash, activating Nine-Headed Dragon Flash again!
Evolution Route 2: Flash Counter III: When struck after using this skill, trigger a “counterattack” effect, increasing skill damage by an additional 45% and forcing the hit target into a 1.5-second “immobilize” and “seal magic” effect.
Both evolution routes were decent. Route 1 allowed the originally doubled Qi and Blood cost to revert to a normal single consumption for the follow-up release—meaning after a full release, you could immediately release it again at normal cost. Route 2 further increased skill damage by 15% and extended the control effect from the original 1 second to 1.5 seconds.
Both routes offered substantial boosts, but overall Route 2’s improvements were more straightforward.
Although legendary skills definitely carried very high costs—double consumption being even more demanding—Lin Mo’s Qi and Blood were richer than most professions’, so he could generally bear it.
Therefore, the more practical Evolution Route 2 better suited Lin Mo’s current needs.
After selecting the evolution route, Lin Mo resumed fighting, weaving through the battlefield and killing gnomes that were locked in fierce combat with other adventurers.
Thanks to the suddenness of Flash, these gnomes rarely prepared for his ambushes. Combined with his own formidable power, he often achieved instant kills, playing a significant role on the battlefield.
While they tangled with those gnomes, on the other side the battle among the Gnome Emperor, the Roxez Empire’s Royal Astrologer, and the Elven High Priest was also ongoing.
As the Royal Astrologer had predicted earlier, at this stage the Gnome Emperor’s strength was roughly mid-Legendary Realm, but because of the Dark Tide’s nature, in general he was even stronger than a typical mid-Legendary.
For the Empire’s Royal Astrologer, this power was hard to defeat or resist. In a single duel, he would likely fall in minutes.
But he didn’t need to take on the Gnome Emperor alone. His role was to assist and harass on the flank; the Elven High Priest bore the task of directly confronting the Gnome Emperor.
This Elven High Priest far surpassed the Empire’s Royal Astrologer in strength, and was even noticeably stronger than the Gnome Emperor himself. However, age had caused his body to deteriorate, somewhat reducing his combat capabilities.
Even so, he was still able to suppress the Gnome Emperor fairly easily. With the Royal Astrologer’s assistance, from the current standpoint this skirmish was going very smoothly.
Two legendary-level experts had unleashed fields—the Royal Astrologer used one technique, the High Priest another—and the Gnome Emperor’s domain, which should have been a “gnome domain,” was instead infused with the Dark Tide’s aura, becoming darker and more powerful.
Still, the gap in raw strength was hard to bridge, and the Gnome Emperor struggled in the fight, fully suppressed. If the battle continued like this, his defeat would be only a matter of time.
But...
As many powerful gnomes were slain by human professionals, the Dark Tide power that had resided in those gnomes spilled out with nowhere to go.
The Gnome Emperor, suppressed by the two, naturally absorbed the dissipated Dark Tide energy into his body.
Thus his aura and strength increased, and he quickly turned the tide to stand toe-to-toe with the two opponents.
It seemed the situation had reached a stalemate, which was exactly what they had hoped for.
The Royal Astrologer could clearly feel that the Elven High Priest still had not truly unleashed his full power. He was holding back, or fighting in a way that preserved his remaining vitality as much as possible.
After all, the High Priest’s life was nearing its end. If he exploded his full strength, it would draw him closer to death.
So before the situation they had previously strategized for truly arrived, he would not exhaust the few remaining origins of his power.
Next, they might need aid from others...
Right on time, the Holy Son of the Holy Light Church released a powerful buff for them.
As the Church’s Holy Son, Lyons’ strength approached Legendary Realm. The buff he cast was naturally potent; even for legendary-level experts like the Royal Astrologer and the High Priest, it provided considerable augmentation.
Thus the Gnome Emperor, who had just recovered, was once again heavily suppressed.
Meanwhile, in surrounding sectors the fights between professionals and high-level gnomes had reached a white-hot intensity.
At this scale of battle, although humanity held some overall advantage, individual safety was never guaranteed. By now many strong fighters had been wounded, and some had even fallen.
This was despite Lin Mo frequently arriving in time to save the situation. Without him, there would have been even more casualties.
With the conflict at this stage, no one had a retreat. If they abandoned the fight now and the Dark Tide disaster engulfed the continent, no one would escape. So everyone used their full strength and the fighting grew ever fiercer.
Lin Mo continued to shuttle across the battlefield, fulfilling the roles of reaper and support. Skill proficiencies rose rapidly, and his base attributes kept increasing.
Under these circumstances, when Lin Mo killed these gnomes he would instinctively use the skills of his lower-level professions.
At his current level it was time to consider universal promotion to the Heroic Realm.
The most lagging was naturally the Knight profession, but after successive battles Lin Mo no longer lacked Knight offensive skills. Though fewer than other professions, he still had some powerful Knight skills.
For example, Unfading Shield and Earth-Shaking Hammer.
Although those Knight offensive skills were middling in raw power, when paired with Lin Mo’s strong attributes they were sufficient.
With such efficient kills, the epic Unfading Shield soon completed its universal promotion.
"Skill Unfading Shield Lv8 (2000/2000) upgraded!"
"Current skill Unfading Shield Lv9 (Max)"
"Received base attribute points Constitution +10!"
"Automatically evolved into new skill Disaster-Extinguishing Wall!"
"Comprehended skill Disaster-Extinguishing Wall! Received base attribute points Constitution +10!"
Disaster-Extinguishing Wall Lv1 (0/60): Channel Qi and Blood to attach the force to the shield or form an invisible barrier directly, consuming Qi and Blood to block 50% physical damage and 25% magical damage. It can also actively attack—use Disaster-Extinguishing Wall to ram enemies, dealing damage.
Please choose evolution direction-
Evolution Route 1: Damage Reflection I: Damage absorbed by Disaster Wall is partially reflected when initiating the active ram, ratio 25%
Evolution Route 2: Fortitude I: Disaster Wall’s damage absorption improves to 65%/35%
A very practical and well-rounded skill, able to both attack and defend.
Especially after choosing an evolution direction, it not only absorbs damage but can reflect the absorbed damage.
At base it already blocked 50% of physical damage and 25% of magic damage.
That’s the baseline; evolution would further enhance it.
Of course the damage reduction looks great, but it comes with conditions: your Qi and Blood must be sufficient.
Blocking damage consumes Qi and Blood, meaning higher blocked damage drains more Qi and Blood. Facing an opponent far stronger than you could quickly deplete your reserves; after a few blocks you might be exhausted.
So this skill is undeniably miraculous against equal-level foes, but against significantly stronger enemies it becomes a double-edged sword requiring careful judgment.
For now Lin Mo didn’t plan to treat this skill purely as defense; he intended to use it offensively as a way to raise his base Constitution attribute.
Before this, his Knight profession had already reached level 26 and was not far from level 27. After obtaining the new skill, Lin Mo used it to kill gnomes and quickly raised it to level 6, gaining another 20 base Constitution points.
His Knight profession level then rose to 27,
Chapter 407: Fierce Battle, Another Legendary Gain, Level Up
10 min read