Chapter 54 : Chapter 54
Chapter 54: An Eighteen-Year-Old Junior Wolf Guard
External Incarnation was, in other words, a duplication technique.
【300 Triumph Points consumed. ‘External Incarnation’ unlocked.】
【External Incarnation: Creates clones to fight alongside you, or to perform a few tricks.】
External Incarnation also used a skill tree format.
But after taking one look, Li Mu sucked in a sharp breath.
He had unlocked quite a few Divine Abilities already, and had even been able to light up several nodes on their skill trees with ease.
That was only because the nodes closest to the roots of the tree cost fewer points.
Take the Blessed Field Art, for example.
Unlocking 20 mu cost 100 points. Unlocking 40 mu cost 200.
But if he wanted to keep going and unlock 100 mu, that would cost 500 points.
That was why Li Mu had not continued any further.
The deeper one specialized in any Divine Ability, the more the cost of Triumph Points nearly doubled each time.
The few thousand Triumph Points in Li Mu’s hands suddenly no longer felt so abundant if he wanted to focus on mastering just one or two Divine Abilities.
That was why he had chosen to unlock as many as he could for now whenever possible.
At the very least, that gave him more methods to work with.
But this External Incarnation had cost 300 points to unlock, making it the most expensive one so far.
Its current effect was:
【Creates one clone that inherits 100% of your strength, Divine Weapon Art, and Mountain-Bearing Art. Duration: 1 minute.】
To be honest, that was already far from weak.
But it was obvious that the clone could not use his other Divine Abilities, such as the Immobilization Art.
And unlocking the next node actually required 500 points.
Gritting his teeth, Li Mu lit it up.
【Creates two clones that inherit 100% of your strength, Divine Weapon Art, and Mountain-Bearing Art. When the main body uses the Immobilization Art, the clones may each use it once as well. Duration: 1 minute.】
The next node after that required 1,000 Triumph Points.
Li Mu did not dare spend more.
He now had exactly 3,000 Triumph Points left.
For the moment, he planned to hold onto them.
He would wait until he had adapted to the strength of Third Grade and raised Divine Weapon Art to the limit of its current stage before making further plans.
After a brief tally, Li Mu realized that he had already mastered no fewer than eleven Divine Abilities.
【Inferior Heavenly Immortal Art】【Listen Close】【Divine Weapon Art】【Mountain-Bearing Art】
【Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze】【Alchemy Art】【Immobilization Art】【Seventy-Two Transformations】
【Wine-Borrowed Might】【Blessed Field Art】【External Incarnation】
Most of them could only be considered beginner-level and far from profound.
But Li Mu only felt one thing.
Wonderful!!
This enormous round of improvement made his whole body feel clear and invigorated.
Li Mu could confidently say that he could thrash any so-called prodigy of the same stage.
Two at once!
At that moment, someone knocked on the door.
“Coming!”
Li Mu got dressed, put away the Thornflower Cudgel and the cloak, and opened the lounge door. Standing outside was Adjutant Zhang.
“How is your recovery?”
Though his face remained expressionless, Adjutant Zhang’s question carried a rare note of concern.
“Very good. My spirits are excellent.”
Li Mu stretched a little.
After sleeping for half a day and a full night, his spirits had completely recovered.
“Good. Your Merit award has been approved. I’ll take you to receive your honors.”
After saying that, Adjutant Zhang turned to lead the way.
But Li Mu said, “Uh... Adjutant Zhang! I wanted to ask, how are my teammates?”
“Can Ma Jun’s leg still be reattached?”
Adjutant Zhang slowly shook his head.
“Probably not. There is still a little time. You can go see them first.”
“Good!”
When Li Mu arrived at the Military Medical Department, Zhang He was supporting Ma Jun as he practiced walking back and forth.
Below Ma Jun’s knees, two metal prosthetic legs had actually been attached.
They were even the kind whose feet could still move quite nimbly.
Zhao Meiting and Song Biao were sitting nearby as well, both still wrapped in bandages.
The moment they saw Li Mu appear, all of them stood up.
“Hey! You’re here! How are you? Feeling better?”
The moment Ma Jun saw Li Mu, there was not the slightest trace of pain on his face over losing both legs. Instead, the first thing he did was ask about Li Mu’s condition.
Watching Ma Jun hold out his arms to keep his balance, like a child learning to walk, Li Mu suddenly felt his heart twist.
After all, Ma Jun had lost those legs to save Li Mu.
If Ma Jun had not risked his life to slam aside that claw strike from the giant Bone Ghoul, Li Mu would have been seriously wounded even if he had not died.
There was absolutely no way he could have held on until the dense fog ended.
“What happened? Couldn’t his original legs be reattached?”
Li Mu asked in a low voice.
The atmosphere immediately grew heavy, and Zhao Meiting let out a sigh.
“They could be reattached, but he...”
As she spoke, she looked toward Ma Jun with a complicated expression.
Feigning boldness, Ma Jun laughed heartily.
“Even if they were reattached, I’d still need a long time to recover, and the doctor said the bones would definitely be left with hidden damage.”
“But metal is different. Flesh and blood are frail, after all! If I attach metal ones, there won’t be any lingering injuries.”
“And I can get back into battle quickly. If they break, I can just replace them!”
“When I get rich in the future, I’ll switch to a tougher pair! Maybe I’ll even install boosters on them!”
“What I’ve lost isn’t a pair of legs. It’s a weakness!”
Ma Jun spoke boldly.
But all of that was really just an excuse he kept repeating to convince himself.
For a Martial Artist, however, a complete body gave a strange sort of security.
Li Mu drew a deep breath and said nothing more.
Silently, he made up his mind.
If he ever got the chance to obtain medicine that could regenerate limbs, he would definitely make sure Ma Jun grew those legs back.
“All right. You saved all our lives.”
“Being alive is already more than enough for us!”
Seeing that Li Mu’s mood had darkened, Song Biao patted him on the arm and spoke.
“That’s right. And we all benefited greatly because of you.”
“Each of us was exceptionally awarded 20 Merit Points. Ma Jun got 40.”
Zhao Meiting added.
Even if they had been beaten to death, they never would have expected each of them to be awarded 20 Merit Points this time.
The only battle merit they had earned in this fight was that their performance, together with Li Mu’s, could be held up as a positive example.
Because it had a positive effect on military conduct rectification, a special commendation had been approved.
“Has your battle merit come through yet?” Zhang He asked.
“No. I’m just about to go.”
“Come on, we’ll go with you.”
Li Mu could not refuse them, so he could only let them accompany him to the Honors Department.
Along the way, quite a few people recognized Li Mu.
Even if they did not catch sight of his face at first, once they saw Ma Jun and the others, they knew this was the very same Vanguard Squad.
Some veterans greeted them warmly.
And when the Reserve Force recruits saw Li Mu, they immediately stood at attention.
With a sharp snap, they gave Li Mu a Knight’s Salute to show their respect.
Although Wang Longcheng had already told Li Mu that they had been made into a positive example, Li Mu had not expected the impact to be this great.
By the time they reached the Honors Department, a huge crowd had already gathered behind them to watch the excitement unfold.
A rough count put it at at least two hundred people.
That was already an enormous number. After all, the Pearl Military District only had ten bases.
Each base only had around a thousand people, and many high-ranking figures were out on missions.
As for low-ranking Second Grade and Third Grade soldiers, there were only five or six hundred in total.
Honors ceremonies could be observed, and some were the sort you could not help but watch.
That was the power of honor as encouragement.
After Li Mu identified himself, an officer quickly came out from the Honors Department.
Behind him followed a large crowd of officers, soldiers, and even office staff from the department.
Each of them craned their necks and peered outside curiously.
The burly man looked to be around forty. The moment he saw Li Mu, his eyes filled with admiration.
He first stepped forward and squeezed Li Mu’s firm arm with his hand.
“Kid, how old are you this year?”
“Eighteen!”
Li Mu answered.
“Good! Damn good! Do you know what rank you hold now?”
“I don’t.”
The burly man grinned, turned around, took a box, and opened it.
“One Second-Class Guardian Medal, 150 Merit Points!”
“Congratulations, Junior Wolf Guard!”