Chapter 43: Equipment Advancement, A Great Opportunity for Maomao

[Name: Yun's Wrath Temporary Buff Card]
[Type: Item]
[Description: Upon use, grants the temporary skill — Unrivaled Dance. For one minute, attributes are at least doubled. The stronger the anger, the greater the enhancement, and the duration can even be extended.]
[Note: In a state of extreme fury, I can strike down the enemy within a single bout!]

Damn it, it really is real!
Lu Wenwu stored the buff card away with the utmost care.
He finally had a trump card of his own, reaching the average level of a web novel protagonist.
Nowadays, wandering the pugilist world without eight or ten trump cards makes you too embarrassed to admit you possess cheats.

[You have acquired the Talent: A Real Man Does Not Die in Naked Armor]
[The Strong Do Not Die in Naked Armor: When your armor is damaged in battle to the point of complete uselessness, you can absorb a portion of its attributes, with a chance to acquire its inscribed skills.]

Lu Wenwu: "......"
What is this, is today's prize pool exclusively themed after the Three Kingdoms?
First Zhao Yun, now replaced by Cao Cao's general Xu Chu.
Even naked armor made an appearance.

Although Lu Wenwu complained in words, his body was utterly honest. He immediately integrated the new talent into himself and switched his combat armor back on.
If combined with Devour Heaven and Earth, this would simply be invincible.
When the equipment shatters, the talent consumes a portion of its attributes, and his own Devour Heaven and Earth consumes another portion. Simply invincible!
When it came to squeezing the residual value out of equipment, Wall Street would weep at the sight, and Jews would drop to their knees.

With the blind boxes opened, there was no hesitation left.
Lu Wenwu decisively applied the Epic Advancement Cards to the [Heavy Artillery Gauntlets] and [Iron Firmament].
True to expectations, both successfully evolved and advanced into epic-grade equipment.

Combat Armor: Do I have to be sacrificed?!

[Name: Heavy Artillery Gauntlets]
[Quality: Epic]
[Type: Weapon]
[Attack Power: Unrivaled]
[Truth: Your attacks will deal an additional 100% explosive damage]
[Heavy Hammer: When equipped, strength attribute increases by 25%, and hand defense doubles during punches]
[Description: Every heavy punch of yours is a heavy artillery shell fired at the enemy]

Simple, crude, unadorned.
Yet the effects were astonishing.
Lu Wenwu was extremely satisfied with the advanced Heavy Artillery Gauntlets.

[Name: Wings of the Firmament]
[Quality: Epic]

[Type: Flight Equipment]
[Firmament Skybreaker: When equipped, the user's physique increases by 20%, and strength by 10%]
[Extreme Sky Wings: Consumes a massive amount of energy and greatly increases physical burden, doubling the user's speed for a short duration]
[Description: This former steel creation is gradually evolving towards the transcendent realm]

The newly renamed Wings of the Firmament lost a bit of its mechanical sci-fi feel after advancing, looking much more like a biological pair of wings.
Aside from the enhanced attribute boosts, the original active skill was modified to directly boost the user's speed, significantly increasing its practicality.
As a result, it could be used not just in air combat, but in ground combat and even naval warfare.

After exhausting the rewards he could currently use, Lu Wenwu took out the two rewards that clearly were not meant for him.

[Name: Emperor Flowing Pulp (Bound)]
[Type: Exotic Object]
[Description: On the moonlight night of Gengshen, there is the Emperor Flowing Pulp. Its shape resembles countless olives and tens of thousands of golden threads, strung together and hanging down into the mortal world. Plants and trees receiving its vital essence can attain sentience and become spirits.]
[Note: Can only be used to bind the pet [Maomao], causing its bloodline to undergo atavism or evolution. Usage is guaranteed to succeed, requiring no other assistance.]

Though called "pulp," the Emperor Flowing Pulp was actually a substance akin to light.
Stored in a special transparent container, it looked like a small, miniature pillar of golden light.

Lu Wenwu beckoned to Maomao, calling the constantly spinning big golden retriever over.
Little Treasure seemed attracted by this glowing object.
Yet it merely lifted its head to look for a few seconds before curling back up on Maomao's broad back to snore soundlessly.

Lu Wenwu reached out to pet the dog's head, administered the Emperor Flowing Pulp into Maomao's mouth as instructed, and chose to use it.
Maomao's eyes widened instantly, and the entire dog began radiating a golden glow.
"Woof! Woof woof woof?"
The big golden retriever suddenly panicked a little.
These rays of light flowed across its body, gradually forming dark golden patterns that faded beneath its fur.
Whether it was imagination or not, the temperature inside the room seemed to be rising.
Little Treasure leaped off Maomao with a start, gazing in astonishment at its little underling.

No, this wasn't imagination.
Faint wisps of flame had already begun to flicker on Maomao's body.
"Wait here."
Lu Wenwu pondered for a moment, then directly brought Maomao into the immortal dwelling within Lingtian Mountain.
If they stayed in the villa any longer, he feared the building would burn down!

[Your pet [Maomao] is undergoing bloodline atavism]
[Your pet [Maomao] is undergoing attribute supplementation]
[Please wait]

Accompanied by the growing intensity of Maomao's aura, corresponding text prompts appeared on Lu Wenwu's personal interface.
Scorched by the increasingly blazing flames, Lu Wenwu watched with dropped jaw as Maomao's four-dimensional attributes skyrocketed all the way up.

Its soul attribute, growing the most fiercely, even broke past one hundred, surpassing the speed attribute that had previously been prioritized.
Stamina and strength also increased, though not by as much.

Roughly five minutes later, accompanied by Maomao's full-throated "Woof," the scorching flames vanished into nothingness.
The soaring attributes finally stabilized.
Strength: 32, Speed: 114, Physique: 98, Soul: 273!
A thoroughly classic mage stat allocation.
Soul as primary, physique as secondary.

Maomao's size had grown considerably.
If it stood on its hind legs now, it would almost match Lu Wenwu's height!
Its originally yellowish fur had darkened significantly, presenting a luxurious and textured black-gold hue.
Every single hair had become crystal-clear, almost possessing the texture of glazed jade.
The tip of its tail was slightly split.

[Your pet [Maomao] has acquired ancestral bloodline — Huodou]
[Your pet [Maomao] has gained a massive boost in cultivation speed]

Lu Wenwu immediately activated the Eye of Insight to check.
[Maomao (C)]: 9800/9800
[Current Status]: Happy, Exotic Object Lingering Resonance, Bloodline Amplification

Maomao was still that happy Maomao, completely unchanged by the bloodline atavism.
However, due to the bloodline atavism, the Eye of Insight could no longer define its racial classification, simply choosing not to display it.

As for the somewhat "ignorant of the wider world" master, Lu Wenwu, on the side:
He could not stop muttering "Holy shit" over and over again.

This was the Huodou bloodline!
The assistant to the God of Fire in myths and legends, the sidekick that chased after the God of Thunder!
Such immense virtue...
If he used the fire of Huodou to cook egg pancake wraps, Lu Wenwu couldn't even imagine how damn delicious they would be.
In fact, had he not yet applied the *Celestial Dog Devours the Moon Art* to Maomao, he would have already been itching to make some egg pancake wraps to eat!

"Master, hug!"
After its soul attribute greatly increased, Maomao's intelligence had also seen a marked improvement.
If its physiological structure permitted, it could practically speak human language right now.

Watching Maomao leap forward continuously to act spoiled, Lu Wenwu smiled and picked it up, spinning it around a few times.
Fortunately, fortunately!
He finally didn't have to worry about its attributes falling behind!