Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 221: Joint Cultivation Evolution, Pre-Departure Gifts

Actually, during this period, Finnie's progress had already been quite substantial.

I still remember when Lin Mo first met her, Finnie was just a Level 1 Priest.

Of course, this was also because she was relatively young.

The minimum age for people in this world to obtain professional favor and receive professional blessings is 16 years old.

Before the age of 16, even wealthy nobles could only focus on building foundations, hiring tutors to explain various skill techniques and key points in advance, and using various materials to enhance physical attributes to accelerate skill mastery and professional advancement after reaching the appropriate age.

Before turning 16, no matter how high one's talent, they cannot complete promotion or obtain the attribute bonuses brought by professional favor.

For Finnie to advance from a Level 1 Priest to her current Level 3 in such a short time is already quite remarkable talent.

Well, that's right, right after Silverstream City's defensive battle, Finnie was promoted to a Level 3 Priest.

At the same time, during those few days of rest, Ellie also became a Level 3 Warrior with Lin Mo's help.

This was already an astonishingly fast leveling speed, but compared to Lin Mo, it still fell far, far short...Later, we'll need to practice the [Joint Cultivation] skill even more diligently.

Strive to evolve this skill as soon as possible, perhaps it could further improve attribute correction efficiency, or even unlock new functions.

Lady Behira continued: "Fargard City is indeed a good place, very suitable for adventure training. The lord there is quite decent, just a bit eccentric in personality... When you arrive there, you can try to contact the two adventurer groups that came to support Silverstream City earlier."

"Mm, I understand."

Lin Mo nodded. Lady Behira's thinking was essentially identical to his own.

His previous deliberate efforts to chat and interact with members of those two adventurer groups at the banquet were precisely to pave the way for the future.

"But before that, you should stay in the city for a few more days... The smelting of that Spirit Vein Mithril is almost complete. Depart after that's done. Additionally, Shachel has been preparing some gifts for you recently."

Lin Mo looked towards Madam Shachel, who stood nearby with a kindly smile. He had to admit, her help towards him and Finnie had truly been considerable.

"Alright, alright, I won't talk so much with you young people. Too much chatting will just annoy you. Go relax properly..."

Lady Behira said, waving her hand: "It just so happens the city has been holding many activities recently to celebrate successfully repelling the goblin invasion. Take Finnie out for a good stroll."

Her tone seemed casual, but actually carried a hint of sadness.

After all, the daughter she'd raised for so many years was about to fly far away, leaving her for another city. In the future, meeting would likely be much more difficult. As a mother, how could she not feel reluctant?

But she didn't want to become a burden in Finnie's heart. Children always have to grow up, just like when she herself left the imperial capital and came to the Doria Kingdom.

At least, like herself, Finnie had chosen a very reliable support. Even compared to that child's father, Lin Mo wasn't just superior in character and appearance—his talent was first-rate, arguably unparalleled in the current era.

Apart from his relatively ordinary background, you probably couldn't find a more outstanding young man even if you searched the entire continent...

With such a reliable youth taking care of her, Behira could feel more at ease.

Finnie pursed her lips, looking at her mother.

Of course she could sense her mother's emotions. In fact, suddenly realizing she'd have to separate from her mother, she herself felt very reluctant, even considering staying.

But ultimately, she still didn't want to give up—didn't want to abandon her true feelings, nor her wish to become a powerful priest who could help and save more people.

In the mutual gaze of their light purple eyes, she saw her mother smile and nod, giving her an encouraging look.

Finnie clenched her fists, suddenly mustering courage, her eyes determined as she actively took Lin Mo's hand.

Lin Mo glanced somewhat surprised at the girl beside him, then firmly grasped her hand, waved goodbye to the three elders, and took the young girls out onto Silverstream City's streets.

Just as Lady Behira had said, these next few days, they would relax properly...

Time flew by swiftly, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.

Lin Mo woke up in the manor's large bed, opening his eyes to find Ellie still fast asleep beside him.

That fluffy large tail was held in his hand, its texture different from what his other hand was currently holding.

These past few days were probably the most relaxed and comfortable time Lin Mo had experienced since coming to this world.

Every morning when he got up, Sherfilia would have breakfast ready for them. After eating, they'd go to the City Lord's Mansion to pick up Finnie—since they were about to leave, Finnie had been staying at the City Lord's Mansion these past few days to spend more time with Lady Behira.

Incidentally, Shachel had shamelessly tried to join in too, but was sternly refused by both Lady Behira and Finnie together.

Mornings were basically spent strolling around Silverstream City, eating delicious food. Sherfilia was also unusually lenient about controlling Finnie's diet, basically turning a blind eye.

In the afternoons, Finnie would go to the church as usual.

Lin Mo would then spar with Sherfilia, sometimes with special guest appearances.

That's right, precisely Flora and Shaya.

Compared to Sherfilia, these two were clearly more powerful, with unique insights into combat. What they taught Lin Mo couldn't be said to be superior or inferior to Sherfilia's teachings, but it definitely gave Lin Mo additional gains.

Especially Flora, that experienced mage—the little tricks she taught Lin Mo were very useful.

Of course, besides gaining experience, Lin Mo also made some progress in skill proficiency.

The skills that showed relatively clear improvement from such practice were still those few.

First were the Ranger profession's [Swiftness] and [Eagle Eye] skills.

[Swiftness] Lv4 (29/100)

Swiftness skill progress wasn't substantial, only gaining about over ten proficiency points—still quite far from leveling up.

Status-type skills were the hardest for Lin Mo to improve, since he'd lost the biggest advantage of gaining proficiency from killing monsters.

However, comparatively, the leveling speed of the [Eagle Eye] skill gave Lin Mo a pleasant surprise.

This skill could enhance Lin Mo's visual range and precision. Besides being useful during reconnaissance, it actually played a significant role in combat too.

The Eagle Eye skill improved visual accuracy, allowing more precise and rapid observation and analysis of opponents' movements. For rangers, this enabled better aiming or early retreats. For Lin Mo, he could also use this skill during close-quarters combat.

In previous battles, he'd discovered this, and during these past few days of practice, he'd been continuously trying and adapting.

Thus, the Eagle Eye skill's progress was unexpectedly gratifying.

"Skill [Eagle Eye] Lv1 (10/10) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Eagle Eye] Lv2 (0/20)"

"Skill [Eagle Eye] Lv2 (20/20) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Eagle Eye] Lv3 (11/40)"

"Gained attribute points Agility+2!"

Then there was the Knight profession's [Fortitude]. Having obtained this skill for so long, Lin Mo had basically developed the habit of immediately activating it whenever he entered combat with sufficient Qi and Blood, applying the status to himself.

So this skill had already gained considerable proficiency through so many previous battles.

Adding these past few days of practice, this Exceptional-Grade skill that Lin Mo obtained relatively early was finally not far from leveling up and evolving.

[Fortitude] Lv6 (189/300)

Unfortunately, the Warrior profession that Lin Mo most wanted to improve currently lacked similar status-type skills. Although practicing skills like [Jumping Slash] and [Whip Kick] had brought some proficiency gains, compared to monster killing, the speed was still much slower, and couldn't match continuously active status skills.

That's pretty much it...

Later, after reaching Fargard City, we'll take on missions and improve these skill levels during adventures.

Besides these skills, the most important progress was actually in special skills.

Previously, the Joint Cultivation skill was already not far from leveling up.

These past few days, Lin Mo spent days strolling and practicing, and nights not idle either, diligently working to improve this skill's proficiency.

The enthusiastic Ellie and Sherfilia were also very willing to help him, working overtime, even implementing a shift system.

Thus, Ellie's attributes saw significant improvement again, while Sherfilia also gained some Strength and Constitution attributes from Lin Mo, somewhat compensating for her weaknesses.

Of course, Lin Mo also gained benefits—through continuous practice, he obtained a full 3 points of Agility attribute from Sherfilia, roughly equivalent to one point per day!

With these 3 Agility points, plus the basic attribute points from leveling the [Eagle Eye] skill, Lin Mo's base Agility attribute had reached 70 points!

So, naturally, it was time for the beloved profession promotion again.

Unfortunately, the Ranger profession still didn't have enough skills, so only the Assassin profession was promoted.

But now Lin Mo had become more accepting of this and wasn't in a hurry.

Those temporarily unpromoted professions were like treasure chests waiting to be opened—their contents would continuously improve as his same-category profession levels increased.

The more accumulated, the more satisfying it would be when opening the chests someday.

"Promotion conditions met, profession Assassin (lv6) promoted—current profession Assassin (lv7)"

"Gained profession attribute bonuses: Strength+1, Agility+4, Constitution+1!"

The first level-up after the Assassin profession reached Veteran Level granted a total of 6 profession attribute bonuses.

Honestly, after experiencing the massive attribute bonuses from the high-level Mage profession, these 6 attribute points seemed somewhat pitiful.

But still better than nothing...

Compared to this, what surprised Lin Mo more was the message that appeared before his eyes just last night.

[Joint Cultivation] proficiency +2

"Skill [Joint Cultivation] Lv4 (100/100) leveled up!"

"Current skill [Joint Cultivation] Lv5 (Max)"

"Gained attribute points Constitution+2!"

"Automatically evolved into new skill—Shared Cultivation!"

"Comprehended skill [Shared Cultivation]! Gained attribute points Constitution+1, Spirit+1!"

[Shared Cultivation]: Lv1 (0/10): Through deep exchange, creates resonance between Qi and Blood or Mana, increasing mutual compatibility and providing random corresponding attribute corrections (i.e.: Qi and Blood exchange randomly increases Strength, Constitution, Agility;

Mana exchange randomly increases Mana, Spirit). Additionally, during Shared Cultivation, there's a small probability of simultaneously acquiring corresponding profession skills from the other party (direct acquisition, limited to Excellent-Grade and below). If both parties share the same skill, there's a small probability of simultaneously increasing proficiency during Shared Cultivation!

Note: Requires "depth" and "exchange." Correction proceeds from high to low, with magnitude slightly positively correlated to the difference between both parties.

As literally described, the first effect of the [Shared Cultivation] skill was basically an upgraded version of the original [Joint Cultivation].

Just some differences in specific descriptions, like the removal of the "slight" modifier from "provides slight random corresponding attribute corrections," indicating that [Shared Cultivation] would provide attributes faster than before.

But more importantly was the second effect added after skill evolution.

Not just attribute points, but even skills could be acquired?

In this world where skills are incredibly important, this ability was practically heaven-defying!

One thing that had been troubling Lin Mo was that Ellie actually didn't have enough skills.

He himself had many skills and wanted to teach her, but his ability was insufficient—he couldn't create scrolls, and teaching alone made learning very difficult.

Now, this problem was directly solved.

Just through diligent practice, Ellie had a small probability of acquiring Lin Mo's Warrior profession skills during exchange!

Although limited to Excellent-Grade skills at most, this was already sufficient.

Conversely, Lin Mo also had a probability of acquiring Ellie and Sherfilia's skills... Even if all Excellent-Grade and below skills for corresponding professions were already shared between them, subsequent Shared Cultivation could still rapidly increase these skills' proficiency, continuing to provide significant benefits.

This [Shared Cultivation] skill—Lin Mo was extremely satisfied with it!

If today weren't their departure day, Lin Mo would have wanted to wake Ellie up right now to try it out.

"Creak—"

The door opening sound came as Sherfilia entered from outside. Seeing Lin Mo's expression, she immediately lowered her gaze and said: "As expected of Master, able to show such imaginative expression first thing in the morning."

Lin Mo didn't mind this little maid's occasionally sharp remarks—if anything, this was her most distinctive characteristic.

Though if possible, he'd prefer she used such words in more appropriate situations.

Like during "skill practice" together.

Sitting up from bed, without any movement needed, Sherfilia would naturally handle everything for him.

Well, occasionally including excess morning restlessness too.

But today obviously wasn't suitable. They needed to prepare early, and still had to visit the City Lord's Mansion before departure.

The journey to Fargard City was long, unlike previous trips that could be completed in one or two days.

Even with Lady Behira arranging the city's fastest carriages pulled by Level 5 or higher magical beasts, reaching Fargard City would still take nearly a week.

For this, Lin Mo had made thorough preparations.

During the past few days of shopping, he'd purchased large quantities of ingredients—both ordinary and expensive ones—and also acquired some rare seasonings from the City Lord's Mansion.

These expensive luxuries weren't easily available in ordinary markets.

He also bought some clothes, including some of Finnie's that were stored with him.

All these were placed in his Spatial Ring. Fortunately, his Spatial Ring's internal space was sufficiently large to accommodate everything.

Regarding ingredient freshness—although unlike some novels from Blue Star where items in Spatial Rings were completely time-stagnant and wouldn't spoil, the space inside such storage artifacts did have special properties, being almost bacteria-free, so food indeed didn't easily deteriorate.

Ellie also woke up groggily. She wasn't so particular, quickly taking off her pajamas and getting dressed in moments.

Lin Mo used to be similar, only becoming more refined after moving into Sherfilia's manor and receiving the little maid's services.

The three arrived at the City Lord's Mansion, going straight to Finnie's room where she had just woken up and was preparing for breakfast.

In the mansion's small dining room, this time Lady Behira sat with them.

But she clearly had little appetite, continuously murmuring about various matters and reminding them.

Such behavior slightly eased the unease in Lady Behira's heart.

After breakfast, Lady Behira took them to the treasure vault within the City Lord's Mansion.

In that small room still rested the two pieces of equipment Lin Mo had seen before.

[Radiant Mage Hat] and [Blood Tiger Hide Boots].

"Take these two pieces of equipment with you."

Lady Behira said, gently placing the [Radiant Mage Hat] in Finnie's hands, then handing the [Blood Tiger Hide Boots] to Ellie.

Finnie's eyes glistened with tears, while Ellie was startled. However carefree she usually was, she immediately waved her hands: "Such precious things, I can't accept them..."

"It's fine, I specially prepared these for you. Finnie's personality is relatively soft and she's easily taken advantage of. Please take good care of her in the future."

"I..."

Ellie looked to Lin Mo for help, and after seeing him nod, clenched her fists: "Alright! From now on, whoever dares bully Finnie, I'll fight them to the death!"

Such straightforward children were easiest to win over.

Lin Mo secretly glanced at Lady Behira. Though a kind person, she was also very intelligent and resourceful. When it came to matters concerning her daughter, this mother hadn't hesitated to use such "schemes."

This was completely understandable—what mother in the world wouldn't want her daughter to live well?

"Sure enough, you're here..."

A familiar voice came as Shachel also entered the vault, holding a cloth bag.

It appeared to be a Magic Storage Bag.

"Here, little Finnie, hold this properly."

She handed this magic storage bag to Finnie: "Inside are all the potions I've brewed recently. There are intermediate life and mana potions, and some functional potions too."

"Thank you, Aunt Shachel."

Finnie, red-eyed, suddenly hugged her.

Shachel widened her eyes in surprise, her body momentarily stiff, but soon came to her senses, her expression becoming even softer.

She gently patted Finnie's back, whispering: "Remember, no matter where you go, we'll always stand behind you. Come back to visit whenever you miss home. I believe you'll definitely achieve your wish and become a great priest."

"Thank you, thank you..."

Finnie was already crying uncontrollably, and Lin Mo felt quite moved too.

Ellie stood to the side, pursing her lips, lost in thought.

"And this."

Shachel took out a piece of shimmering mithril: "The smelting and basic enchantments are complete. Later, when you find other suitable materials, you can use this Spirit Vein Mithril to craft an Epic-level equipment piece."

Lin Mo received this Spirit Vein Mithril, expressing sincere thanks.

"Oh, and that cat-eared girl who came with you originally... Is she staying in Silverstream City?"

Lady Behira inquired.

"If she stays in the city, I can help take care of her."

Lin Mo smiled and shook his head: "Thank you for your concern, Aunt Behira, but how could we leave her alone? She's currently at the Adventurers' Guild saying goodbye to colleagues and acquainted adventurers. She'll come over soon."

Including the crops Lena had been cultivating—most had been sold for cash these past few days, while the relatively precious ones or those not yet mature were placed in Lin Mo's Spatial Ring, so these plants wouldn't die.

Lady Behira wasn't surprised by Lin Mo's response. It was precisely because of his character that she could confidently entrust her daughter to him.

"Time's almost up, so prepare to depart."

After saying this, Lady Behira let out a long, slow sigh.

"Mom..."

Finnie turned and hugged her, softly sobbing.

Lady Behira's face wore a loving smile: "Go, pursue your dreams, with the person you love. Don't worry about matters here in Silverstream City, don't worry about me. Shachel and Melissa will both keep me company."

"In the future, perhaps ten years... perhaps twenty years... when you return here, tell me all about your experiences along the way. I think it will surely be a long, wonderful story."

"Mm!"

Finnie nodded heavily, wiping tears from her face.

Lady Behira then turned her gaze to Lin Mo, her gentle eyes carrying both instruction and plea.

Lin Mo nodded very solemnly.

"Let's go, time to depart."

Flora's voice came from outside the door, accompanied by Shaya. They were returning to the royal capital and happened to be going the same way as Lin Mo's group, so they'd travel together by carriage.

As for those two hippogriffs... they were borrowed from a neighboring city, couldn't seat that many people anyway, and had been returned.

The group left the City Lord's Mansion, with Lena hurriedly arriving to join them. They all boarded the huge luxurious carriage, which slowly headed towards the city gates.

Lady Behira and Shachel stood together, watching the carriage gradually disappear into the distance.

Melissa also stood behind them. The silence lasted a very, very long time...

"Let's go."

Finally, Shachel let out a long sigh: "The children have all left. We should continue with our own lives too."

Lady Behira chuckled lightly: "Your life? Just sitting in a recliner dozing off every day, occasionally working on alchemy, making potions..."

"What's wrong with that? It's perfectly fine. Troublesome matters are resolved. You won't have so many worries in the future. When we're free, we can gather more often, drink tea."

"That's true too..."

Lady Behira nodded, her mood seeming to relax all at once.

All those past years, she'd always lived exhaustingly. From now on, it was time to rest properly and focus on health maintenance.

In the future, she still wanted to help Finnie raise children...