Starting Unlimited Evolution from Grinding

Chapter 261: Wind Vortex Fist and Demonic Lightning Piercing Kill

"Crystal Cluster Guards are magical creatures that can only be born in high-density magic crystal environments after long-term mana saturation. The appearance of such creatures indicates that there are many areas densely distributed with magic crystals in the lower levels of the Boulder Mine."

Dirk looked at the magical creature before him and began to showcase his knowledge.

"What's a pity is that the magical creatures in the lower levels of the Boulder Mine are simply too powerful, and their numbers are also great. Even if a large number of powerful experts were dispatched for a large-scale cleanup, it would be difficult to achieve ideal results. Moreover, new powerful magical creatures would continuously be born afterward, so the cost of mining magic crystals here is truly too high."

Hahn, standing to the side, added.

As the Crystal Cluster Guard drew closer, Dirk got straight to the point, introducing the basic information about this type of creature.

"Crystal Cluster Guards possess great strength, and because of the crystal clusters covering their bodies, their defensive capabilities are also very strong. They are a type of magical creature with both formidable offense and defense... However, these creatures do have weaknesses. First, their movements are relatively slow, and their perception abilities aren't particularly strong. Second, although they have relatively strong physical defense, because the crystal clusters that form their main defense are essentially born from the influence of high-concentration, mixed mana, using magic can relatively easily disrupt their mana composition."

"So, you're saying these creatures are relatively afraid of magic?"

"You could understand it that way... Of course, it's only relatively afraid. In fact, due to their powerful defense, even when using magic, they can still withstand more than ordinary magical creatures."

While Dirk was explaining the creature's characteristics, Lin Mo listened and also took the opportunity to glance at the information floating before his eyes, selecting the evolution direction for the [Shadow Split] skill.

Please choose evolution direction—Evolution Route 1: Swap Position I: Swap positions with the shadow clone, limited to 2 times within the duration.

Evolution Route 2: Self-Destruct II: The shadow clone self-destructs when receiving fatal damage, about to disappear, or by self-selection, dealing greater damage.

Between the two evolution directions, the level 2 Self-Destruct should have increased its power compared to level 1. However, for Lin Mo, this minor power increase was negligible at the moment. Comparatively, having one more swap opportunity was naturally more useful.

So, he chose Evolution Route 1 without hesitation.

After doing this, those Crystal Cluster Guards were almost upon them, the distance between both sides now less than 100 meters.

"Get ready!"

Dirk reminded them, then immediately gripped his sword with both hands, taking the lead and actively charging forward.

At the same time, Finnie, standing further behind them, waved her staff, casting buffs on them all.

Lin Mo hadn't forgotten the [Strength Increase] skill he had previously learned. This was a perfect opportunity to test whether the buffs provided by a Priest could stack.

The facts proved they could. While Lin Mo received the [Light's Assistance] provided by Finnie, his [Strength Increase] skill also took effect.

This skill was currently at level 1, capable of temporarily increasing his Strength attribute by 5% of his total Mana attribute. The duration was also decent, lasting 10 minutes.

For some prolonged battles of attrition, it might be a bit short, but for a fight like the one before them, 10 minutes was more than enough.

Lin Mo's current total Strength attribute was 246 points. Five percent of his Mana attribute was roughly 12 points, which was quite good.

After all, this skill was only at level 1. If it could be raised to max level, it would become 10%, reaching 24 points, which would be quite substantial.

With those 12 points of Strength added, along with the buffs brought by Finnie, plus the Frost Dragon Scale Sword, Lin Mo was now frighteningly strong.

His Strength attribute was already approaching 300 points. If he used Sword Energy-type skills, it had already exceeded 300 points!

What kind of level was this roughly?

To put it simply, even a level 15 Warrior, without a good weapon, would not have an average total Strength attribute reaching 300 points.

Compared to thinking about how to win this battle, what Lin Mo should be pondering was what combination of skills to use to maximize benefits.

Anyway, let's test the waters first.

Lin Mo wasn't in a hurry to draw his sword. Instead, he clenched his fist, moved his body a bit, and then suddenly burst forward at an extremely fast speed, instantly arriving before a Crystal Cluster Guard. Before the creature could react, Lin Mo's fist was already pressed against its face.

And this was no ordinary fist. Not only was it wrapped in powerful Qi and Blood, but it was also entwined with a gust of violent wind.

[Mountain-Shaking Fist] combined with [Spiral Wind Vortex]—these two skills together formed the [Wind Vortex Fist].

Actually, it wasn't some official name;

Lin Mo just came up with it on a whim.

Besides Wind Element magic, Lin Mo could also combine this skill with spells of any other element, forming at least dozens of different skill variations.

One could say that from now on, as long as Lin Mo wished, his fighting style would no longer be bound by conventional patterns. He could freely unleash his imagination, combining different skills.

Although the name of the move was rather casual, its effect was extremely powerful.

Lin Mo's punch landed, the immense force instantly shattering the colorful crystal clusters on the creature's body, then without any suspense, blasting the magical creature's head off.

The violent wind entwined around his fist then exerted its force, leaving a massive vortex on the spot that tore the creature's body into shreds.

Fun!

Lin Mo's eyes immediately lit up. Not having had enough fun yet, he used this combined skill again, attacking the next creature.

One punch, one kill. These powerful Crystal Cluster Guards were like paper tigers before Lin Mo, completely failing to showcase their famously strong defense.

Milun, watching from behind, was stunned speechless, momentarily forgetting to cast her magic.

Eve and Dirk were more focused on their own battles. After all, given their strength, dealing with Crystal Cluster Guards, while manageable, was difficult to finish quickly.

Just as Lin Mo had killed four or five creatures in a row with the same move, that huge magical creature that had been blasted by Lin Mo's shadow clone earlier finally appeared.

It swung a fist the size of a millstone, smashing toward Lin Mo.

Earlier, it was just a shadow clone, no match for this guy in terms of strength. But now, Lin Mo's main body wouldn't go easy on it. He unceremoniously returned a punch in kind.

[Wind Vortex Fist]!

The two sides collided head-on, the immense force immediately producing a tremendous bang.

Accompanying this huge sound, the entire mine seemed to tremble. The ground beneath their feet instantly cracked, and so did the body of that big fellow.

With just one punch, Lin Mo directly caused its arm to crack apart.

The huge arm wrapped in colorful crystals was now covered in dense cracks. In the next moment, accompanied by crisp cracking sounds, it shattered into fragments scattered all over the ground.

Just so-so.

Lin Mo smiled. Remember, he wasn't using the Frost Dragon Scale Sword right now. That meant compared to using this sword and employing Sword Energy-type skills, he was 45 points of Strength short. Even so, he could still easily overpower the other side in terms of strength.

But it must be said, the reason this strike could cause such massive damage, inflicting such great harm on the opponent, was truly due to the skill combination.

If he had only used a normal [Mountain-Shaking Fist], although Lin Mo could still easily overpower the opponent, he would have at most caused some cracks on the opponent's arm, not shattered the entire thing.

Well, having used this combination several times, it was time to try other combinations.

Lin Mo watched as the exceptionally large Crystal Cluster Guard charged at him again. Not intending to drag things out any longer, he directly drew the Frost Dragon Scale Sword, gathering Qi and Blood upon the blade.

However, what gathered was clearly not just Qi and Blood, but also an extremely violent and wild Mana.

Just as the opponent closed to within less than 5 meters, Lin Mo finally thrust the sword forward. A blinding light instantly erupted within the dark underground mine, with lightning resembling coiling thunder snakes swirling around the pillar of light.

[Demonic Light Piercing Kill] + [Lightning Strike] = [Demonic Lightning Piercing Kill].

The light pillar instantly pierced through the body of the magical creature before him, shooting toward the depths of the mine ahead.

The terrifying white light effortlessly annihilated everything in its path—whether it was the mountain walls, Crystal Cluster Guards that happened to be in the way, or that unlucky Mage who had lured these creatures here, sustained some injuries himself, and was hiding in a distant corner secretly observing...

When he realized the white light was coming toward him, he immediately used all his strength, casting the protective magic [Mountain Rock Protection].

However, the white light soon made contact with the yellowish mana barrier. Without much struggle, that violent and wild impact shattered the mana barrier to pieces.

The [Demonic Lightning Piercing Kill], with its power greatly diminished, still easily pierced through his body under his disbelieving gaze.

The sword energy, resembling white light, finally came to a stop, followed by a massive explosion that almost shattered eardrums.

Everyone looked into the distance. The dazzling flames produced by the explosion almost illuminated the dark mine into daylight.

Such terrifying power!

You have to know, what was combined with [Demonic Light Piercing Kill] was just an excellent-grade Lightning Element magic skill!

Although he had indeed used his full strength for this move, not only employing the Frost Dragon Scale Sword but also using a Sword Energy-type skill, pushing his Strength attribute directly over 300 points, and [Demonic Light Piercing Kill] was also fully charged—he just wanted to see what the perfect effect of this skill roughly looked like.

The facts proved that, due to the different focus of the skills, although the power might be similar, in terms of destructive power and area of effect, [Demonic Lightning Piercing Kill] was clearly stronger than [Blazing Moon Sky Charge].

Lin Mo was now convinced that even when facing his former teacher Flora, he could completely compete on the same stage, even defeating her without too much effort!

Eve and Dirk beside him were now at a loss for words...

Throughout this journey, they had somewhat witnessed Lin Mo's growth.

In the beginning, although Eve felt Lin Mo was strong, believing his talent far surpassed even Teacher Flora's, at least his current strength at that time hadn't exceeded hers by too much.

But now, in just about a day's time, he had grown into what he was now at a speed she completely couldn't comprehend.

In Eve's heart now, there was no envy or jealousy, nor did she care about pressure anymore. There was only a more helpless sense of acceptance, a feeling of ease that came from having completely reconciled with herself.

Dirk took down two level 9 Crystal Cluster Guards, while Eve, with Milun's assistance, took down one level 9 and one level 10.

The rest died at Lin Mo's hands.

Everyone in the cavern came out and began cleaning up the battlefield.

Lin Mo also prepared to check his gains from this battle.

However, right at this moment—

"BOOM—!"

A rumbling sound suddenly came from above.

Lin Mo sensed an extremely powerful and incredibly violent fire-element Mana rapidly approaching.

His first reaction was naturally nervousness, but he soon relaxed.

Because the fluctuations of this fire-element energy seemed somewhat familiar.

"It's Teacher Flora!"

The usually quiet Milun jumped for joy. Well, she was still half a child after all. Suddenly encountering such an accident, she must have been anxious and uneasy in her heart.

Not long after they heard the rumbling sound, one... well, two figures arrived from the cliff above.

One was indeed Flora, the other was her good friend Shaya.

The steep cliff was like flat ground before Shaya, who easily landed steadily with Flora on her back.

The anxious look on Flora's face finally relaxed upon seeing Milun, Eve, and the others.

She immediately ran over and directly hugged Milun.

"Teacher Flora..."

Milun's eyes immediately welled up with tears, and she cried loudly.

"You've had a hard time. Don't be afraid, it's all over now."

Flora comforted her well, then nodded to the other students one by one. When she saw Lin Mo, she was momentarily stunned.

"So it's you."

She then smiled, seemingly not surprised that the students were safe and sound.

"It seems I've been worrying for nothing lately..."

After all, the last time they met, this guy's strength had already surpassed Eve's. Now some time had passed... well, it actually hadn't been that long. But logically speaking, not much time had passed between the last meeting and the one before that.

"Was that commotion just now your doing?"

Flora looked toward the depths of the mine, which still carried a faint burnt smell.

Lin Mo nodded.

"It looks like you've already been promoted to Elite Level."

This kind of progress, which would be utterly shocking for anyone else but not strange when placed on Lin Mo, clearly couldn't shock Flora anymore.

After all, she had known this kid for a while now. The anger she should have felt, the discomfort, she had already gone through it.

"Actually... there's also this."

Lin Mo thought for a moment, then, like a child showing off a toy, suddenly ignited flames in his left hand and gathered Qi and Blood in his right.

Then, right in front of Flora, he combined the two.

Flora's originally relaxed expression instantly froze.

The combination of Mana and Qi and Blood—back then, she had mentioned this "impractical" idea to Lin Mo, painting him a hopeful but seemingly impossible picture at the time.

In this world, there should be something that can stump you, kid, right?

And now, the facts laid out before them proved that it seemed there really wasn't.

Looking at Flora's twitching mouth, Lin Mo smiled with satisfaction.

Flora took several deep breaths before barely managing to calm her mood. Too lazy to complain about anything, she directly changed the subject: "The academy's rescue team will be here soon. Anyway, let's hurry and leave this place first."

Several Hippogriffs flew down from above. The students boarded the Hippogriffs in twos and threes, which carried them to the middle layer.

This crisis thus came to an end.

Finally, only Lin Mo and Flora remained. The call of Hippogriffs came from above again. The spoils from the previous battle had all been collected and sent up. It was time to leave.

However, right at this moment, Lin Mo suddenly froze, then walked forward.

"Lin Mo?"

Flora called out to him somewhat puzzled. Lin Mo waved at her, gesturing for her to come over as well.

Flora inquired, somewhat confused.

Lin Mo led her, walking forward along the path taken by the [Demonic Lightning Piercing Kill] earlier, quickly discovering something amiss.

An incomplete corpse lay quietly in the dark mine.

Flora was momentarily stunned, then her eyes lit up: "Take this corpse up too!"

Clearly, this was the culprit who caused the cave-in earlier. Who would have thought he'd been muddle-headedly killed by Lin Mo.

Originally, Flora had been thinking that this matter could not be simply let go, but she couldn't find any evidence, making it difficult to make the mastermind behind it pay the price.

Although the main torso of this corpse had been directly turned to ash by Lin Mo's move, the head portion was surprisingly preserved relatively intact. Flora looked carefully and immediately recognized his identity: "Sure enough, it's him!"

Although the main torso of this corpse had been directly turned to ash by Lin Mo's move, the head portion was surprisingly preserved relatively intact. Flora looked carefully and immediately recognized his identity: "It really is him!"

"He was a former instructor at the Magic Academy... He was expelled from the academy after being discovered having improper dealings with Duke Sted Morin. After that, he rarely appeared in public, probably becoming a guest retainer for the Morin family."

"He was a former instructor at the Magic Academy... He was expelled from the academy after being discovered having improper dealings with Duke Sted Morin. After that, he rarely appeared in public, probably having gone to serve as a guest retainer for the Morin family."

As Flora spoke, she took a deep look at Lin Mo.

Although that guy was indeed considered quite weak among the Magic Academy's instructors, with strength at the very bottom, even inferior to you when you first became a mentor, he was after all an academy instructor, having reached level 15.

And this level of Professional had been killed by Lin Mo...

Moreover, judging from everyone's reaction, they seemed unaware of this matter. That meant this guy was incidentally killed by Lin Mo's earlier strike.