novelraw Chapter 295: Night Ranger
Chapter 295: Night Ranger
"As for you, Xiaowei — now that you have the Rare Scout Card, you'll inevitably walk the Night Ranger path in the future. So for your fifth card, I recommend binding and activating a Knight Card. Unfortunately, Rare Knight Cards are extremely hard to come by. For the next two years, do not attempt to replicate what happened today. Never push the difficulty to 180% again. The special bosses that appear will only get stronger, and no single person can hold back that tide."
"Don't worry, Second Aunt. I won't take those risks. But I'd like to understand — why would binding a Knight Card as my fifth card still make me a Night Ranger, while Li Yue became a Shadow Knight?" Li Wei asked. It was a rare opportunity — and Liang Yuzhi's spiritual field was free to use.
Frugality was a virtue.
"Are you dense? Li Yue doesn't have a Rare Scout Card. She only has a Rare Tailor Card. The Tailor Card has no inherent directional bias — so since she chose the Rare Knight Card, the only path available to her is Shadow Knight."
"You, on the other hand, have the Rare Scout Card first and the Knight Card second. The Rare Card carries more weight, so you'll inevitably become a Night Ranger — unless you somehow manage to get your hands on a Rare Knight Card too?"
Li Wei shook his head immediately. Out of the question.
"Then tell me more about these advanced classes, Second Aunt. I used to think Warrior was the only option."
Liang Yuzhi rolled her eyes. You little miser — acting like my spiritual field costs nothing.
But she answered anyway: "At our current level, the known advanced classes are four: Witch, Knight, Ranger, and Warrior. There may be higher-tier classes above Six-Star, but that's far beyond our concern for now."
"These four classes also come with four possible prefixes: Casting, Light, Night, and Earth. Different prefixes produce different effects.""For example — I currently have a Rare Scholar Card, which makes me a Casting Witch. 'Casting' is the prefix for my Witch class, meaning I can use certain spells that ordinary Witches cannot."
"Li Yue, having obtained the Rare Knight Card, is a Shadow Knight. 'Shadow' is a prefix with special enhancements."
"You, because of your Rare Scout Card, will inevitably become a Third-Order Night Ranger once you achieve full-attribute Level 3 Awakening."
"As for the Light prefix — that's the hardest to obtain. You need one Scholar Card and one Priest Card among your five, combined with other Rare Cards. That gives you a Light Knight, Light Ranger, or Light Mage. Universally recognized as the most difficult prefix to achieve."
"The Earth prefix is relatively accessible. Simply gather five ordinary cards and complete full-attribute Level 3 Awakening — and you become an Earth-prefix class. Earth Witch, Earth Knight, Earth Ranger, Earth Warrior — all follow that pattern."
"What if someone has already bound and activated ordinary Profession Cards? Besides unbinding, is there another way to upgrade their quality?" Li Wei asked quickly.
"There is, but it's extremely difficult. Upgrading an existing Profession Card to Rare quality requires two conditions: first, spending 50 Destiny Grid points; second, achieving a very high level of mastery in that profession. For example, Li Yue's Rare Tailor Card — she had to craft several Four-Star quality pieces of equipment and one Five-Star quality piece, then pay 10,000 standard gold coins at headquarters to complete the upgrade."
"All in all, it's an enormous investment of effort — far less efficient than simply grinding for a new Rare Card. And losing Destiny Grid points causes hidden attributes to disappear. Terrible value."
"Of course, if you have the time, the resources, and you've maxed out a particular Destiny Grid to 100, then by all means go for it."
"Alright — take out your Heart of Fire and Heart of Ice. I'll assess them for you, and then you can decide how to use them."
"Got it!"
Li Wei immediately produced the two shot-glass-sized magical materials. Liang Yuzhi took them, spent a few seconds, and tossed them back. That was the assessment?
It seemed very different from what she had done with Zhao Xuanxuan's Heart of Stone.
But Liang Yuzhi offered no explanation — she simply ended the spiritual field and walked out.
Fine.
Li Wei looked at the Heart of Fire and Heart of Ice again. The information on them was now perfectly clear.
[Name: Heart of Fire]
[Quality: Five-Star]
[Category: Rare magical material dropped by a special boss]
[Effect: Can be used to enhance a title or code name by one level, while simultaneously granting the title or code name a special fire attribute. If the title or code name already has a compatible fire-element trait, the enhancement will amplify it.]
[Can also be used to enhance a weapon or piece of equipment by one level, granting it a Flame trait.]
[Or can be used to directly enhance Destiny Grid, providing an immediate gain of 10 Destiny Grid points.]
—
[Heart of Ice]
[Similar to the above.]
—
After reading, Li Wei knew exactly what to do. He switched to the Flame Baron title and used the Heart of Fire to enhance it.
In that instant, he felt the flame python come back to life, staring at him with ferocious eyes — no, wait, why was it so vivid? Why was everything on fire?
He had no time to react — and no need to. The flames had already reduced him to a charred husk. He could move, he could think, he could probably still speak — but it hurt so much.
Like being trapped in a nightmare. In the dream, he seemed to have become the flame python itself. Deeply abstract.
He had no idea how much time passed before he woke, exhausted, with a splitting headache that felt like his skull was about to crack open.
His Spiritual Power, which had partially recovered to 15, was now down to 1. His stomach was hollow with hunger. His entire body was burning — was this a fever? It felt like 45 degrees. Half-cooked.
But the title enhancement had succeeded.
Why had his experience with the Heart of Fire been so different from Zhao Xuanxuan's with the Heart of Stone?
Li Wei had a vague theory, but he was too exhausted to think it through.
His mind felt like a parched desert. With great effort, two lines of information surfaced.
[Rare title Flame Baron successfully enhanced by one level. Life +100, Stamina +100, Strength +5, Agility +5, Defense +5, Spiritual Power +5, Perception +1.]
[Title trait gained: Fire-element magic resistance +10%.]
—
Excellent.
Li Wei was satisfied — and the next second, he fell back into unconscious sleep. When he woke again, he was no longer on the fifth floor but in a room on the first underground level.
Aside from hunger, all negative conditions had cleared. Even his Spiritual Power had recovered to 20.
He was wearing the Flame Baron title.
Under its current effects, his Life could reach 310, Stamina 450, Strength 34, Agility 38, Defense 25, Spiritual Power 20, Perception 4.
Level 2 Awakening wasn't far off.
Of course, attribute gains from wearing a title didn't count toward Awakening thresholds.
'But I could grind some Two-Star attribute cards next — that's an important step.'
As he was thinking this, Liang Yuzhi pushed the door open. Seeing him awake, she smiled. "Xiaowei — it seems your title compatibility is higher than average. Three days of sleep and you're back to normal."
"Why was it like that? I watched Zhao Xuanxuan enhance her Destiny Title and it was over in seconds."
Li Wei asked instinctively, but Liang Yuzhi just looked at him without answering. Ah, Second Aunt and her stingy habits. Li Wei had no choice but to activate a Four-Star Conspiracy Card.
"I tampered with her Heart of Stone — drew out roughly a third of the refined magical energy for myself. So of course her enhancement went smoothly. Your Heart of Fire was the original, untouched article. Naturally it was different."
"And I did it for her own good. You, with your level of ability, were unconscious for three days. That little waste has maybe six or seven points of Spiritual Power. She couldn't withstand it. If she'd tried to enhance her Destiny Title with the full Heart of Stone, she wouldn't have woken up for three to five months."
Liang Yuzhi said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Li Wei had nothing to say.
She continued: "Li Yue left for the Small City Base yesterday. It's safe there — don't worry. Over the past three days, scattered mutant creatures have been showing up daily, but the freemen can handle them. Nine Universal Gold Cards total — I made the call per your standing instructions: five donated, four exchanged for Black Iron Clearance Tokens. I've also had eight Two-Star attribute cards prepared for you."
"But Xiaowei — your injuries from the last battle were severe. I recommend you rest and recover. Don't worry about what's happening outside. Leave it to us."
Liang Yuzhi's words carried deeper meaning. Then she tossed down eight Two-Star attribute cards. "Li Yue and I respect your decision — but Chu Wushuang is not easy to deal with. At the very least, you need to reach Level 2 Awakening a few times over."
"There's food in the kitchen — rice, dishes, and mushroom broth. I made it myself. That's all — I have things to do!"
She turned to leave, but Li Wei caught her arm.
"Second Aunt — I want to use the Heart of Ice to enhance Adai. Is that feasible?"
"Not feasible. The Heart of Ice is too high-level, and Adai is too weak. Absorbing and integrating it would take at least a year — and there's a real risk of death in the process. But if Adai does successfully integrate the Heart of Ice, the result would be extraordinary — combined with your Projectile Lock ability... are you sure you want to do this?"
"Yes. And it needs to be done within three days." Li Wei was firm.
For the raid he was planning, ranged attacks would be critical. The other side had a Five-Star Cross-Border expert — getting close would likely mean instant death.
"If that's what you want, you'd be better off giving me the Heart of Ice as payment and having me come with you to kill Chu Wushuang." Liang Yuzhi said suddenly.
"Second Aunt, I'm serious — stop joking. What I need is to establish a deterrent. If you kill Chu Wushuang for me this time, there'll be endless harassment afterward." Li Wei was exasperated. If it came to that, the "charming general" label would be stuck to him for life.
"In that case, it's actually simple. I'll draw out a third of the refined magical energy for myself, and the remaining two-thirds will go toward enhancing Adai. That's the fastest method. Do you want that?"
"Yes."
Li Wei didn't hesitate. He had already sketched out his future development path in his mind — priority was to grind the Hunter Card to Rare quality, so every advantage in that direction mattered.
In the last battle, the four-grid resonance had added 1 Destiny Grid point to each of his grids — but it wasn't enough. He also needed to complete an outstanding hunt, the way Li Yue had once crafted a Five-Star piece of equipment.
He needed to complete a solo hunt of a Five-Star Cross-Border player.
"Good — it's settled then."
Liang Yuzhi seemed to have guessed his intentions. She gave him a brief, approving look, took the Heart of Ice, and left quickly. She was busy — and despite how casually she spoke, she was genuinely on edge. The special boss was dead, but the Radiation Storm had not weakened in the slightest.
With Li Yue gone to the Small City Base, she was the only one watching over this camp.
She could have coasted before — but now this place represented the retreat option for both her and Li Yue. How could she not take it seriously?
These details — Liang Yuzhi didn't say them aloud, but Li Wei understood.
A few minutes later, Ellen personally led several kitchen staff in carrying food. Li Wei was starving.
He ate ravenously — twenty-five large white bread rolls, four grilled fish, two stir-fry dishes, three full pots of meat broth, and a bottle of wine. He sweated through everything, and only then did he feel like himself again.
He was finally alive.