Back in the real world, Li Cheng immediately rushed into the three-dimensional warehouse to study the newly obtained [Liangyi Blade].
It can only be said that it is worth the priceless epic artifact, the Insect Lord Demon infection which Zhangsun Yao regarded as a near incurable disease in her eyes, dramatically receded the moment Li Cheng grasped the hilt.
His mind became incredibly clear, breathing was exceptionally smooth, and his body felt as if a heavy burden was lifted, like pouring a bucket of ice water on himself in the scorching summer heat.
He muttered, raising his arm and gently clenching his fist, summoning the Mantis Arm Bone Blade.
The Bone Blade sliced through the air, the entire process incredibly smooth, completely devoid of the previous pain, stiffness, and noise.
Not only that, but the Bone Blade itself had changed. Google seaʀᴄh novel[f]ire.net
The blade was denser, the edge sharper, and its length and curvature more harmonious, like a beautifully delicate piece of art.
"The Liangyi Blade has weakened the invasive power of the Insect Lord Demon infection, retained the mutation ability, and enhanced the adaptive capability. This must be the ’Forced Balance’ mentioned in Special Effect One."
Now, it was time to test Special Effect Two.
Li Cheng held the Liangyi Blade in reverse and gently slid it across his shoulder.
A cut opened on his skin, from which blood gushed out. Instead of falling downwards due to gravity, the blood defied gravity, floating upwards and covering Li Cheng’s whole body.
Inside his body, continuous sounds of bones transforming and popping could be heard.
Bones grew longer, tendons thickened, muscles swelled, and a perfect balance was achieved between the more durable red muscle fibers and the more explosive white muscle fibers, adapting to Li Cheng’s continuously increasing height.
Not only this, but the Mantis Arm Bone Blades on both arms elongated further, and a large number of black chitin Armor pieces simultaneously protruded beneath his skin.
These chitin Armor pieces interlocked with each other, collectively forming a thick and heavy full-body Armor.
Spiny thorns grew from the elbows, calves, and shoulders.
A chitin plate extended downwards from the Beetle Horns on top of Li Cheng’s head, automatically spreading sideways to form a pitch-black mask that perfectly fitted the contours of Li Cheng’s face.
Inside the mask, there were tiny tubes similar to insect blood vessels.
These tubes were interconnected with the complete body Armor, and each breath Li Cheng took would cause the whole body Armor pieces to slightly fluctuate.
When inhaling, greedily pumping oxygen into his lungs. When exhaling, concurrently expelling the waste heat generated by the vigorous functioning of internal organs.
Once the growth trend finally stopped, Li Cheng slowly turned his head to look at himself in the mirror.
His height had reached about 2.4 meters, his whole body covered in fierce Armor, physically embodying the perfect golden ratio; making him appear strong but not overly muscular and cumbersome.
The only flaw probably was that transforming into this form would directly burst his clothes, pants, and shoes...
"Next season I’ll guard James."
Li Cheng shook his head and took out the Information Integration Glasses to look again at his reflection in the mirror.
The Information Integration Glasses activated the Look Through special effect, scanning a great deal of information, including but not limited to height, weight, body temperature, muscle dimension, and the degree of physical degradation under Insect Form.
"In Insect Form, the Attribute scores of Strength, Agility, and Constitution in my personal panel have all risen from 10 points to 12 points. Additionally, overall body protection has been enhanced, and the Mantis Arm Bone Blades have been further strengthened."
He looked at the data flashing across the lens of the glasses, thinking to himself: "As a trade-off, the newly increased metabolism in Insect Form accelerates drastically, both the basic metabolic rate and energy metabolism rate increase significantly, nearly five to six times the normal state.
The transformation can only last for a maximum of five minutes each time."
He pondered for a moment, again lifted the Liangyi Blade, slicing from his left shoulder to his right waist.
Blood spurted out, covering his whole body, as Li Cheng gradually reverted to his normal human form. The residual blood on his body reflowed, and the wound itself also quickly healed.
He randomly took a new piece of clothing from the shelf and put it on, muttering, "Just one auxiliary epic artifact is this unreasonable; I can’t imagine how exaggerated an offensive epic artifact would be.
A super battleship that can erase a mountain with a single bombardment?
Heavy Mecha with a cruising radius of thousands of kilometers?
A divine-level Magic Wand that can summon meteorites and unleash Dragon Breaking Slash?"
Li Cheng silently put away the Liangyi Blade, looking at the last few gains from this mission.
First were the rewards received from other players.
Catherine from UK, Mendoza from Philippines, these two, fortunately, returned to the real world and proactively reached out to the Global Supernatural Alliance.
As per the norm, if new players receive help during their first mission from seasoned Transcendents, their home countries (or future guild they may join) are expected to provide part of the reward to the veterans.
This isn’t about veterans leveraging favors; it’s straightforward market logic—each player’s capability on the black market could fetch twenty to thirty million US Dollars.
Why wouldn’t veterans directly kidnap the newbies and sell them to the needy tycoons or warlords if there weren’t stable benefits?
This is exactly why the Global Supernatural Alliance took the lead to establish a reward system and strictly combat the trade of capabilities, which stabilized the situation and prevented it from devolving into a Dark Forest state where everyone was a threat to each other.
Back to the main topic, Catherine and Mendoza each transferred 800 Game Coins to Li Cheng, while Cliff from the Mercury Alloy Guild transferred 2500 as a life-saving reward.
It seems like Cliff is not planning to give up the Mercury Alloy Guild brand; in the communication interface, he requested Li Cheng not to disclose the details of this mission to the outside world.