I Have Infinite Skill Points-Chapter 496: Continuous Upgrades

"Wang Lan, in your heart... am I holding you back?" Jiang Xinyu asked with a smile. Seizing the moment, she grabbed Wang Lan’s arm and nestled gently against his shoulder.

Instantly, Wang Lan’s body trembled. His mind rapidly tried to recall if he had made some mistake. But if he had, Jiang Xinyu’s current dependent and gentle demeanor didn’t seem to fit.

"How could that be? You are Jiang Xinyu, the Ice-Snow Queen! You’re as intelligent as Ice Snow, as beautiful as an angel, unparalleled in elegance, wise as a crown jewel, and possess a stunning presence that transcends ancient and modern times. Having you is the fortune of three lifetimes. I don’t have enough time to cherish you in my hands or keep you in my heart, so how could I possibly feel like you are holding me back?"

Wang Lan lavished these compliments without hesitation, rattling them off in one breath without so much as a pause for air.

"You face life and death on the front lines, yet you have me staying leisurely in the rear?" Then, Jiang Xinyu pointed to a truck full of Soul Beads behind her. "And you expect me to reap the benefits without effort?"

"You’ve completely misunderstood. The headquarters did indeed have a mission for us when they called us back. You’re aware by now of the El Nino crisis facing the Cloud Sea space, right? To cope with this crisis, the headquarters recalled all the powerful Star Martial Warriors for centralized deployment.

The Exotic Beast tide this time was completely unexpected. Earth Walker and I went to the far west for preliminary reconnaissance. I planned to call you in after I confirmed the defensive region, but who would have expected the Exotic Beast tide to begin just as I had arrived?

I was also completely dumbfounded and unprepared at that moment. Since it had happened, there was nothing I could do but face it head-on. From beginning to end, it was all unexpected. I didn’t deliberately leave you in the rear."

"Really?"

"You can ask the Commander-in-Chief if you don’t believe me."

"Then what about this?" Jiang Xinyu inquired, still addressing the truckload of Soul Beads.

"They’re my spoils of war. You know I’ve just broken through to the Star Sea Stage, so even if you gave me more Soul Beads, it wouldn’t matter. But didn’t you say last time that your cultivation boundary felt like it was loosening? These are just perfect for your breakthrough.

If you don’t want them, I can only hand them over, and then they will be distributed centrally—whether for points, Star Martial Skills, money, military rank, or whatever. What use is that to us? So no matter how you look at it, using them for your breakthrough is the most reasonable and economical choice.

And this El Nino crisis is not going to be over so easily. Once you’ve broken through to the Galaxy Stage, your strength will greatly increase, which ensures your safety. If we encounter a similar emergency, I won’t have to worry so much about you anymore."

After listening to Wang Lan’s explanation, the wistful look in Jiang Xinyu’s eyes gradually softened. She leaned out and gave Wang Lan’s cheek a kiss. "You pass."

"Go break through. I have a feeling we’ll soon be in the midst of a great battle," Wang Lan said softly, holding Jiang Xinyu’s shoulders tightly.

Jiang Xinyu needed to make a breakthrough, and Wang Lan also had more important tasks at hand. After his recent upgrade to the Star Sea Stage, all of his skill points had been invested in the Infinite Fire Skill. As a result, all of Wang Lan’s other Star Martial Skills, apart from Phoenix Form and Infinite Fire Skill, were still at Platinum level.

As it turned out, upgrading the Infinite Fire Skill had been an extremely wise decision. Both Samadhi True Fire and Netherworld Ghost Fire were incredibly powerful. Once burned by them, there was no other way out but to sever one’s body or spirit.

Whichever method of self-rescue was used, one’s strength would be immediately reduced. The Infinite Fire Skill was like a giant Glutton beast, devouring its enemy bite by bite, pinning them down.

As Wang Lan stood guard for Jiang Xinyu, his mind also sank into the Spiritual Sea of Consciousness. There were not many Star Martial Skills left that could be upgraded to Diamond level—only Life Light, Mandala Flower, Holy Shield, Sunlight Sword Skill, and Void Storing.

Moreover, Void Storing was still at Gold level. Since he wasn’t particularly versed in Space Attribute abilities, Wang Lan did not dare to upgrade it rashly. What if, after being upgraded to Platinum level, the space pocket just got a little bigger? That would be a great loss.

Life Light, as an Innate Ability, theoretically could be upgraded indefinitely. This was also something Wang Lan must upgrade. From Platinum 9 to Diamond 1 required one hundred thousand skill points. Wang Lan didn’t even frown and directly upgraded Life Light.

In an instant, a bright white light flashed within Life Light, lasting several seconds before gradually fading away. Once the white light dissipated, a Diamond skill icon with a raised, tactile appearance appeared in the skill slot.

Life Halo, Diamond LV1 (0/200,000)

After Life Light progressed to Life Halo, information instantly flowed into Wang Lan’s Spiritual Sea of Consciousness like a tidal stream, and Wang Lan understood what the changes in Life Halo meant.

Indeed, as Wang Lan had anticipated, every progression of an Innate Ability brought transformative changes in two aspects. It began with Self Healing, and after upgrading to the Star Shine Stage, he gained the ability to heal others.

Last time, after obtaining the duplicate rebirth ability, Wang Lan now could bestow this rebirth ability onto others. First, the method of healing underwent a revolutionary change. Previously, the Life Lock Chain needed to be connected to the healing target before treatment could begin, but now, the Life Lock Chain was supplanted by the Life Halo.

Wang Lan would throw a halo to the target, which would not be interfered with or interrupted. No matter how the target moved or whatever state they were in, the halo would not vanish, unless Wang Lan actively terminated the healing.

Under the halo’s effect, even if the target died, they could be reborn within the halo. The method of rebirth was similar to that of the duplicate rebirth ability, with the sole flaw being that this form of rebirth could only occur within the halo.

That meant if the Fetus Bead wasn’t retrieved promptly, the target, having turned into the Fetus Bead, might suffer a secondary attack. If the Fetus Bead itself was destroyed, there would be nothing Wang Lan could do.

Sure enough, healing others was only a secondary ability. While it had significant limitations and risks, there was no doubt that the ability was becoming increasingly formidable.

The other enhancement was to Wang Lan’s Self Healing ability. With Self Healing upgraded to Diamond, even if his head was chopped off, he could heal without relying on rebirth through duplicates.

But the way of self-healing was somewhat gruesome: it wasn’t that a new head grew from the body, but rather a new body grew from the head. At the same time, Wang Lan acquired a brand-new skill: The Skill of Duplicates for Limb Division.

He could sever one of his own limbs, and the severed limb would autonomously grow into an unconscious body connected to Wang Lan’s brain, like an additional remotely controlled body. The strength and toughness of this body were equivalent to the main body, but the Star Power had to be provided by Wang Lan’s main body. Moreover, this body could be controlled from an ultra-long distance, but not across space. Strictly speaking, this autonomously cloned body could be considered a variant application of the duplicate rebirth ability.

This duplicate ability was very powerful. Compared to Wang Mingling’s method of seizing control of a target by soul possession, it shared a similar ingenious principle. However, Wang Mingling’s method could not exert the target’s full strength, and creating one puppet required killing a person.

But the clone created by Wang Lan was himself, so there would be no conflict, and his strength could be perfectly exhibited. The only thing that annoyed Wang Lan was... Damn, he actually had to amputate his own limbs?

Although the limbs could regrow in a few seconds through Self Healing after amputation, chopping off an arm or a leg required a great deal of courage, didn’t it? Furthermore, he couldn’t create many duplicates, as each one needed to be controlled by Wang Lan. This was not just a matter of dividing his attention; his strength would also be divided, and each could only display fifty percent effectiveness.

In Wang Lan’s view, having one duplicate with one hundred percent fighting power was much better than having two with only fifty percent strength each.

Wang Lan was quite satisfied with the results of upgrading the Life Halo and then turned his attention to another Star Martial Skill. Having already witnessed the Blue Diamond level strength of the Sunlight Sword Skill, he was not in a rush for that one at the moment.

In the end, Wang Lan decided to invest one hundred thousand skill points in the Mandala Flower.

After another prolonged white light lasting several seconds, the light dissipated, and the fourth Diamond-level Star Martial Skill appeared on Wang Lan’s skill page.

Manjusaka, Diamond LV1 (0/200,000)

Manjusaka, the Flower of the Other Shore. It symbolizes life and death and carpets the path to the Netherworld. Upgraded from the Mandala Flower, once activated, the Flowers of the Other Shore bloom. Crystal vines interweave and entangle to form defenses or attack and bind opponents, subduing them. It can create the Other Shore Illusion and the Paradise. Targets caught in the Other Shore Illusion will be forever lost, sinking into the Paradise for eternity.

In plain terms, compared to Mandala Flower, Manjusaka’s attack and defense had doubled, and it also added an illusion ability. Mandala Flower could also initiate illusions, but it did so by blooming and spreading Star Martial Toxins. With Manjusaka, this kind of illusion became a mysterious power.

As for how powerful it actually was, Wang Lan would have to wait until he actually used it to know.

Next, naturally, was the Sunlight Sword Skill. Although Wang Lan was on autopilot when Liu Changfeng used the Sunlight Sword Skill, the power of that sword still left Wang Lan with longing admiration.

The Platinum level Sunlight Sword Skill manifested as Sword Light, but the true transformation of the Sunlight Sword Skill began with the Sword Spirit. Gritting his teeth, Wang Lan instantly added one hundred thousand skill points to the Sunlight Sword Skill.

White light flickered, as if nurturing the very Laws themselves.

Gradually, the white light faded, and a Gujian sealed within a diamond appeared on Wang Lan’s skill icon panel.

In an instant, Wang Lan’s surroundings suddenly rippled with a fierce fluctuation. Jiang Xinyu, who was sitting nearby absorbing Soul Beads to break through her bottleneck, suddenly paused, stopped her actions, and turned to look at Wang Lan beside her.

After confirming there was nothing unusual with Wang Lan, she returned to focusing on absorbing Star Power.

A streak of Sword Qi shot into the sky. In a flash, the clothes on Wang Lan’s upper body burst instantly, turning into countless butterflies fluttering about. A green aura whirled around Wang Lan.

The aura gradually solidified, turning into slender strands of Sword Qi. Although the Sword Qi seemed solid yet illusory, the patterns on it appeared as though they were meticulously carved by a skilled swordsmith.

As the Sword Qi pierced the sky, the experts at the Command Center immediately noticed it. Every individual qualified to hold a position at the Command Center was a peak master of the Star Sea Stage. Almost all of them paled instantly and looked unanimously in the direction where the Sword Qi soared.

Shen Xiaowu had already vanished in a flash.

Not far from where Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu were cultivating, an elite squad of Shen Xiaowu’s personal guards was covertly protecting them. The squad had only ten members, but their average Cultivation Level was at the peak of the Galaxy Stage.

Originally prodigies who were entitled to be proud, the ten-member squad now all looked at Wang Lan, who was surrounded by swirling Sword Qi, with eyes full of reverence.

Indeed, prodigies were entitled to be proud, but they also knew who truly deserved their respect. Someone like Wang Lan, who could single-handedly suppress a large-scale Exotic Beast tide, annihilate the invading Exotic Beasts, and defeat abyss-level Exotic Beasts, was an existence they could only admire wholeheartedly and with complete deference.

Given Wang Lan and Jiang Xinyu’s status, how could there not be people secretly protecting them? What if a moment of sudden enlightenment was interrupted, causing them to miss a fortuitous opportunity?

Shen Xiaowu appeared in a flash, and the ten-member squad hurried to greet him.

"What happened?"

"Commander-in-Chief, it’s Greedy Wolf Crown! He must have comprehended some Sword Dao Mysteries. A fierce Sword Qi suddenly emanated from him. Such powerful Sword Qi! I even feel that Greedy Wolf Crown could easily slaughter me with a single slash."

"Heh..." Shen Xiaowu looked towards the rising Sword Qi and let out a cold laugh. "Be more confident. Remove that ’I even feel.’ Even I’m not sure I could take that strike of his."