Otherworldly Skeleton Evolution

“Boom!”

With a thunderous crash, the massive body of the Stone Troll toppled to the ground.

It smashed into the earth, sending countless stone fragments flying.

In its wake, items glowing with one green and three blue lights scattered across the ground.

Equipment, silver coins, special items and potions littered the area, dazzling to the eye.

[Congratulations on defeating the Stone Troll! You have gained 20,000 experience points, 20,000 Evolution Points, and 400 Enhancement Points.]

“Only 400 Enhancement Points?”

After seeing the meager 400 Enhancement Points rewarded for slaying the Stone Troll, Jiang Cheng felt slightly dissatisfied.

It seemed earning Enhancement Points was far more difficult than Evolution Points.

A level 20 Hidden Boss only dropped 400 Enhancement Points.

One could only imagine how stingy other bosses would be.

“Let’s first see what else it dropped, if there’s anything I can use.”

Jiang Cheng strode forward, his skeletal frame clacking, and rummaged through the loot on the ground. He disregarded the equipment since he couldn’t wear it anyway.

Skill books were what he desired most.

With a 200% drop rate boost, Jiang Cheng wasn’t sure exactly what had been dropped.

However, in the upper right corner, a peculiar object caught his eye. He quickly made his way over and picked it up.

“You have obtained 1 × Skeleton Horse Token.”

“Skeleton Horse Token?” Jiang Cheng looked at the bone-white token resting in his skeletal hand, his interest piqued.

【Skeleton Horse Token】

Quality: Common

Level: 1

Special Item: A token that can summon a skeleton horse. Recite the incantation to summon a skeleton horse. Single-use only.

“How worthless,” Jiang Cheng muttered disdainfully.

He had seen summoning tokens like this before during beta testing, just with different appearances.

The game had all sorts of bizarre summoning tokens – dragons, phoenixes, qilins, giants, treants, spirits, you name it.

But he also knew that creatures summoned by such tokens had abysmal stats, dying in one hit. They were purely decorative.

Generally, they existed for players to show off in town.

That said, their value was still quite high. After all, which player didn’t enjoy flaunting their status?

But if you expected to rely on summoned creatures for combat, that would be no different from delivering yourself to the enemy on a silver platter.

Only those with money to burn would entertain such a foolish notion.

“I wonder if it can evolve?” A sudden thought struck Jiang Cheng.

“By the decree of the Hexagram of the Underworld, heed my call from the Sea of Bones and rise from the depths of the Netherworld!”

Staring at the words on the token, Jiang Cheng recited the incantation in his mind.

As the spell was invoked, within the skeletal oceans of the netherworld, a full Skeleton Horse rose from the endless sea of bones.

An array then materialized beneath its four hooves.

“Whoosh!”

A Skeleton Horse appeared before Jiang Cheng, its entire body a pale assemblage of bones. The bones of its four legs were exceptionally thick, indicating it must have been a magnificent steed in life.

Its stats, however, were dismal.

【Skeleton Horse】

Quality: Common

HP: 1

Defense: 0

Movement Speed: 10%

Description: A decorative skeleton horse. Cannot be revived upon death.

“Truly worthless,” Jiang Cheng remarked wryly.

[Evolution requires 10,000 Evolution Points. Proceed with evolution?]

Out of curiosity, Jiang Cheng decided to give it a try. To his surprise, evolution was indeed possible.

Since that was the case, he didn’t mind having an extra mount.

Horses were significantly faster than players, especially at a full gallop. With a steed, he would gain an additional life-saving means.

Weapons like spears and sabers excelled when used from horseback. After a mounted charge, damage was calculated based on speed, allowing damage to skyrocket.

There was a world of difference between a knight with and without a mount.

Although he had defeated the Hidden Boss with ease, that was only because the game had just launched. A level 20 Hidden Boss was hardly a challenge.

Moreover, the Stone Troll’s speed was too slow, allowing him to slay it effortlessly.

Many bosses possessed not just blinding speed, but also undodgeable area-of-effect attacks, forced invincibility, one-hit kills, status effect immunity, magic immunity, physical immunity, and other nightmarish abilities. They couldn’t be knocked down or have their defense reduced.

He was still far from invincible.

Only bosses dropped Enhancement Points. Going forward, he was destined to clash with all manner of bosses.

With only one life to live, he couldn’t afford to gamble it.

So any improvement in strength, no matter how small, was worth pursuing.

He had no more Evolution Points to gain anyway.

[Consuming 10,000 Evolution Points. Successfully evolved the Skeleton Horse.]

[Obtained Skeleton Stallion.]

【Skeleton Stallion】

Quality: Common

HP: 300

Defense: 5

Movement Speed: 20%

Description: A common-grade Skeleton Stallion. Cannot be revived upon death.

“Only this little improvement? Let’s keep going.”

[Spent 15,000 Evolution Points. Skeleton Charger evolution successful…]

[Spent 20,000 Evolution Points. Skeleton Warhorse evolution successful. Quality improved.]

【Skeleton Warhorse】

Quality: Elite

HP: 1000

Defense: 20

Movement Speed: 50%

Skill: Leaping Stride

Description: The cream of the crop among warhorses, possessing blinding speed. Can leap up to ten meters. Cannot be revived upon death.

“Now that’s more like it,” Jiang Cheng thought, pleased.

From now on, riding this Skeleton Warhorse with Zhang Mengmeng in tow, traversing the map would be much quicker.