Chapter 948
Chapter 948 - 934: Exploding Gold Coins!
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Every ability requires practical combat testing to prove its strength.
The spirit ghost produced with two gold coins plus one hundred life-points had already proven its practical value.
Interestingly, it was Big Cat who was most intrigued by Lu Ping’an’s new ability.
"That’s your first derivative ability from your main path, theoretically your core ability, and your investments are never about charity. As a ’bank,’ you provide others with ’funds’ only to fatten the lambs before the harvest..."
Since the bank itself cannot perform the harvest, that’s where the ’Lender’ comes in.
And mere ’debt’ is meaningless, so there must be a production system (Beast Taming Path) that turns ’debt’ into ’assets’ and ’power.’"
This logic and chain excited Big Cat; it was a more elegant, yet more effective ’harvest of life’ than her ’plundering’...
"...No, it’s not like that. Only fools eat alone, wise entrepreneurs get rich with friends, make more, stronger friends, then strike together and share the spoils after killing their rivals..."
Lu Ping’an smiled and denied Big Cat’s solitary view, believing that her ’all mine’ mentality would doom her path to a dead end.
"...The clearest proof is that after Meow became a spirit ghost, her presence is not negative; on the contrary, it is actually beneficial."
The use of ’gold coins’ is not merely malicious.
The mechanism of the three gold coins represents a chasmic difference for each.
The first coin is not difficult to acquire, and its effect is so weak that it’s more about establishing a mechanism, forming a connection.
’Two gold coins,’ in fact, already represents significant debt, but remains merely the consequence of ’owing,’ not ’life itself.’
To put it bluntly, it is still just ’currency,’ not the ’product’ that the currency can buy.
The core of its strength lies in ’Lu Ping’an’s needs’... what he wants to exchange for ’life’ with the ’currency (debt owed)’ and how he uses it, still depends on Lu Ping’an himself.
He could use it maliciously to directly ’purchase’ an opponent’s core components, whether it’s limbs or abnormal abilities, which would inflict severe damage.
He could also embed it in his own ’Beast Taming Path’ for further cultivation, where that one hundred points’ ’production cost’ is the material fee, and the gold coins provide the ’module’ and ’genes,’ with the core still being cultivated within the ’Life Illustration’ and ’Zoo’... The newly created ’Cultivation Chambers’ of the zoo are just for that purpose.
"One hundred points would boost spirit body strength, probably last an extra second of maintenance time, and increase range by 10% to 15%... worth considering."
"Three hundred points would increase the spirit body’s limit, with a chance to enhance an additional abnormal ability... I’m broke."
The creation of the spirit ghost did not end there; it allowed Lu Ping’an to take the Life Illustration to the cultivation chambers of the ’Zoo,’ where it could be further specifically strengthened.
Lu Ping’an gave it a try, and put down one hundred points...
"Meow, suddenly I feel so comfortable! My spirit is so good."
Meow actually felt her condition had improved, and from Chris Big Cat’s observations, it was a beneficial enhancement, with the ’Avatar’ continuously feeding back into the original body.
"...The summoned spirit ghost is just an ’Avatar,’ and it’s okay if it’s damaged. The avatar’s original body is cultivated in the Life Illustration, and in the long run, it’s beneficial. Meow’s feeling is not an illusion; her spiritual power has increased to some extent, which is very beneficial for her advancement..."
Her assessment reassured everyone else.
"...But if the Life Illustration is destroyed, the ’Clone’ inside it is also destroyed, it will definitely cause some damage to the Original Owner. With only two gold coins, it won’t be fatal, but dropping a tier is possible..."
Such a cost is quite heavy, but Lu Ping’an laughed.
"If the Life Illustration is destroyed, my loss would probably be more severe than just a drop in tier. I can accept such a consequence; ’company partnership,’ if the company collapses, I, the responsible person, am doomed, and the others lose some of their investment. On ordinary days, the company can provide dividends and help others get rich..."
Having resolved any lingering worries, Lu Ping’an became more confident in handling gold coins.
But in the end, whether an ability is worth continued investment depends on its practical combat value.
"The summoning has no pre-casting animation, but there is a signature motion. It can be used for surprise attacks in combat, and even if anticipated, it’s still quite difficult to defend against....A Spirit Ghost can move within a ten-meter range, but it can appear out of nowhere within your reach (around one and a half meters), including from shadows and behind you. Uh..... it’s very worth investing in."
Big Cat gave a very professional evaluation.
In actual combat, starting by summoning a ’Soldier’ and then commanding it to ’attack’ is just too clumsy.
Mental manipulation is sufficient. It appears at specific angles and locations, attacks and then vanishes, like an assassin from the shadows, or an aggressive shadow...
"After attacking once, the Spirit Ghost needs a few seconds before it can strike again, and if the Spirit Ghost is destroyed by an attack, then the time until the next summoning is delayed."
"Uh, it kind of sounds like a ’Clone’."
But unlike a Clone, that is not Lu Ping’an himself, but rather a ’human-shaped’ figure controlled by his will.
Thus, it’s possible to summon several Spirit Ghosts at the same time, and they operate independently.
As more of the ability’s characteristics were tested, Lu Ping’an can now summon two Spirit Ghosts and have them attack simultaneously... but adding in his own body, he basically has no time to control them precisely, and can only let them attack instinctively.
Indeed, the second Spirit Ghost also became... Although Lu Ping’an was somewhat reluctant and didn’t want it.
"It’s a pity they didn’t fully inherit my Talent Abilities..." Xue En said regretfully as he nibbled on bamboo.
"Fortunately they didn’t fully inherit them, or else I wouldn’t be able to take them." But Lu Ping’an himself felt only relief and apprehension.
Meow’s Spirit Ghost is not a Complete-form; it is a hybrid of ’Spiritualization’ and ’Cat,’ not a full ’Spirit Cat.’
And the Spirit Ghost that was a Panda-man Xue En had was bulky and powerful-looking, taking the path of strength... but that’s not what matters. What’s important is that this Spirit Ghost possesses a peculiarly sinister power.
"A field of misfortune, causing ’accidents’ to frequently occur within its area..." Lu Ping’an resolved to avoid using this power if possible.
From all aspects, the Spirit Ghosts possess only the lower-level abilities of their original owners, but that is enough.
To obtain a full strength version, one must use the third gold coin... Lu Ping’an had realized that the third gold coin was completely different from the first two; from the moment he acquired it, he had full control over the life and death of the other party.
To be precise, the causality should be the opposite.
Essentially, it’s only after acquiring the other party’s ’Life’ that one can possibly obtain the third gold coin.
Simply relying on the Accountant, based just on gratitude, you can hardly acquire the third gold coin.
But other Professional Paths can obtain it more easily, such as using the Courtyard’s ’Lender’ and the ’Life-points system’...
But Lu Ping’an shook his head; at least 1400 points of debt had to be forgiven. A few more games and he could declare bankruptcy himself.
"Too expensive... That’s not right, there must be a simpler, more direct way to get the final gold coin."
He thought about it, and his intuition informed him of what he was lacking, yet it didn’t tell him how to achieve it.
But at this time, perhaps he should start from other Paths.
".....Next should be the Soldier system. With puppets and Active Weapons at hand, there naturally needs to be professional control methods and combat skills..."
Lu Ping’an asked, but Big Cat shook her head; she seemed to have a different opinion and directly gave Lu Ping’an the answer he wanted.
"Not only that, Soldiers belong to the War domain, and the core concept of the War domain is ’Plunder’......Perhaps, you can obtain the third gold coin through this."
"Uh, is this the New Era version of ’Old man, exploding with gold coins!’?"
— End of Chapter 948 —