Chapter 31: Upgrading

After Xiao Fen finished reading these attribute introductions, he did not yet have a general idea when new text appeared one after another.

“Existing Skills: Sharp Vision, Shooting Talent, Weapon Crafting”

“Existing Skill Points: 2”

“Existing Gold Points: None”

“Basic scan complete, transferring to normal upgrade phase.”

“Please select your attribute upgrade direction.”

“Every time an Awakened levels up, they will obtain 20 Attribute Points, used for personal distribution to various attribute increases. The investment of Attribute Points follows the principle of autonomy entirely. If the Awakened is unfamiliar with the investment of Attribute Points, it is recommended to use the upgrade scheme recommended by Yggdrasil.”

“Using Gold Points can also obtain Attribute Points; each Gold Point can gain an extra 5 Attribute Points.”

“Note: Since it is a fundamental change to the Awakened’s body genes, and is greatly affected by the Awakened’s gene intensity, upgrading is not absolutely safe. The higher the level, the greater the danger. At the same time, the Awakening process is very painful; please be prepared.”

Xiao Fen looked at the several upgrade schemes provided on the projection screen, thought for a moment, and directly selected the Spirit/Agility priority mode.

Improving the brain’s control ability over the body, and improving perception, making his originally excellent attributes more prominent—this might not be the best choice, but in the current situation, it was the most suitable choice.

Controlling his body more precisely, perceiving various dangers and the surrounding environment better, and avoiding battles with overly powerful opponents as much as possible; as for the lack of Strength and Constitution, they could be made up for by injecting various agents.

“Template selected, performing matching calculations.”

“Note: Under the Spirit/Agility priority template, the Trialist’s hidden attribute Endurance will be affected. The pain level of aftereffects caused by the Awakened upgrading or injecting agents increases by 25%, and the duration of aftereffects increases by 50%.”

“Note: Overly low Strength and Constitution will lower the Trialist’s explosive power; the probability of attack explosion in the melee phase will decrease.”

“Suggestion: Perform sufficient Strength training daily. The Strength that cannot be obtained during upgrading should be made up through daily training.”

“Upgrade in progress. The Trialist must be in a lying position. During the upgrade process, as the genes undergo twisting, huge pain will be generated. Please make corresponding preparations in advance.”

Xiao Fen let out a long breath, walked to the living room on the second floor, opened the small bag, took out the last tube of Nutrient Agent, and swallowed it forcefully. Then he lay on the ground, reached out, and selected “Preparation Complete.”

A huge sense of pain suddenly transmitted from every part of his body.

Completely different from the pain of the earliest two times, this genetic modification was more thorough and comprehensive. It was not just pain, but also soreness, itching, weakness, and various other feelings that made one feel unable to bear it.

Even while enduring such pain, Xiao Fen had to ensure he remained awake at all times. This time, Sylvia was not by his side. People from the Li Family could appear at any moment, and safety could only be guaranteed by himself.

His teeth made a grinding sound. The increasingly intense pain made him want to shout out loud, but his brain, struggling to stay awake, prevented all of this.

Shouting would only invite unnecessary trouble and danger. At a time like this, no matter what the pain, he had to bear it silently alone; it was best not even to struggle.

However, the pain caused by the genetic twisting clearly exceeded Xiao Fen’s previous expectations. That pain came from the depths of his cells. The constant combination and decomposition process of chromosomes and genes made this pain impossible to divert through methods like “thinking about other things.”

If he didn’t let himself faint, then he had to face the suffering like Hell.

In just one minute, his pupils had begun to diverge slightly. White foam began to appear at the corners of his mouth and nostrils. His hands began to push open forcefully, presenting a dangerous reverse curvature. His legs were tensed like two chopsticks. The sweat flowing down his body completely soaked all his clothes, and even water drops began to seep out of his leather shoes.

If such pain continued, even if Xiao Fen wanted to control his body, he probably wouldn’t be able to get his wish. Excessively restraining his body might eventually affect his brain.

Fortunately, the greatest pain had passed. The pain now was just the aftermath of all the pain.

It was just that the Spirit/Agility priority upgrade template allowed Xiao Fen to control his body more finely, but at the same time, it also made him feel the pain more keenly. Moreover, the duration of this pain was longer than before. He lay on the ground for another 4 minutes or so before slowly climbing up.

Xiao Fen felt his throat burning with pain. The body had lost water seriously during the upgrade process just now, which made him feel a little dizzy and palpitations. If this continued, he would soon fall into life-threatening danger due to dehydration.

What made him feel a little better was that his Spirit was very good now. He had not fallen into a tired state due to dehydration and internal Energy consumption. His body had not completely lost its strength either; he could still control his hands to do some simple work.

Leaning against the corner of the wall, he struggled to call out the projection screen. He used 1020 Gene Points to exchange for 4 bottles of water. Among them, 4 bottles of water only needed 20 Gene Points; the 1000 Gene Points were exchanged for “Wartime Supply Permission.”

Using this permission allowed the World Tree to deliver supplies to a designated location. It could only be used once in a Trial World, and each time only a single type of supply could be delivered.

A few seconds later, a glow began to emit beside Xiao Fen. Subsequently, four bundled bottles of Mineral Water slowly emerged from bottom to top. Xiao Fen dragged the water over forcefully, not caring to separate them, twisted open one of the bottle caps, and swallowed in big gulps.

He could feel some abnormalities; that was an abnormal experience he had never had before.

How every cell in his body that was on the verge of withering due to lack of water slowly became full because of the water replenishment, how the blood plasma that was viscous enough to block his blood vessels began to gradually smooth out, and how his body became full of vitality because of this water. Even his arms gradually filled with strength during this rehydration process.

Putting down the four empty bottles of water, Xiao Fen moved his arms a bit, looked at the Light Screen that had not dispersed, and said in a low voice: “Hey, I’m here. I’m here.”

“Congratulations, your level has been raised. You are now a Level 1 Trialist.”

“Reward: You have obtained one Gold Point. Please choose the investment direction of the Gold Point carefully.”

Xiao Fen nodded and checked his hidden attributes.

His body attributes had small changes. The previous Strength of 8 increased to 10, Constitution increased from 10 to 13. Spirit increased the most, now reaching 24, a full increase of 8 points. Next was Agility, now reaching 21.

Under these attributes, there were some hidden attributes, but just as the World Tree said, everything relied on self-exploration to master.