Chapter 27异血强化

“Huh, this idiot’s luck isn’t bad. The success rate is so low for ordinary people, and he still managed to stumble upon it.”

Zhou Jing clicked his tongue.

He heard Barron say that out of fifty ordinary people who hadn’t been trained, maybe only two or three would succeed in the Exotic Blood Enhancement. Ross’s luck stat was truly off the charts.

Could it be that heaven was especially kind to fools, closing a door only to open a window?

Zhou Jing shook his head and ordered, “Take off your clothes and let me see.”

Ross expressionlessly took off his top.

His originally ordinary body now had streamlined muscle lines. He had muscles, but he was also lean.

“Not bad physique… Put it on.”

Zhou Jing nodded, noting the visible changes to Ross’s body.

The change wasn't too drastic. With clothes on, it wouldn’t be so easy to spot.

Having watched the whole process, he had a general understanding of the Exotic Blood Enhancement. After the potion began to metabolize, the body would begin to transform. There was some pain involved, but the person retained the ability to move. Strength would continue to increase in this state until the potion's effect was fully realized, which would take about three to four hours.

This time, letting Ross test the potion was a gamble that paid off. Zhou Jing was quite excited.

Ross had gained extraordinary power, and this follower was finally somewhat useful.

Although the enhancement was limited, and he was a blank slate with no other combat skills, he could at least be considered a fighting force. At least he could bully ordinary people…

“Night vision, light movement, night camouflage… Suitable for stealth, reconnaissance, and concealment. As expected, it’s this enhancement direction.”

Zhou Jing looked at the panel's introduction.

The Supernatural System of the Exotic Blood Warrior brought some characteristics with each enhancement, depending on the Exotic Blood Potion used and the effect of the enhancement.

Ross’s three traits were all suitable for stealth. Coupled with his common face, his presence was significantly reduced.

He had chosen this Exotic Blood Potion for Ross because he wanted him to take the stealth route. Ross would surely be eager to take over some situations where it wasn’t convenient for him to go personally.

He was kind and didn’t want Ross to lose the opportunity to contribute.

For example, surveillance and tracking, as well as the exciting monster-luring tasks… He knew Ross liked doing this kind of work the most, his face practically screaming willingness.

Such abilities weren’t suitable for direct combat, and could at most play a restraining role, which Zhou Jing had also guessed.

He didn’t expect his follower to be able to stand up against Exotic Beasts after one enhancement. After all, the follower’s initial stats were those of an ordinary person, without the foundation of a Star Realm Apostle. Even if the enhancement was successful, their direct combat power would still be limited.

Besides, given Ross’s dullness, Zhou Jing didn’t dare let him handle things on his own. It was better for him to be an assistant.

“Ross is suited for nighttime operations. Although he now has a foundation of extraordinary power, he doesn’t have any skills yet. He needs more training before he can be put into actual combat.”

“Next, it’s my turn to undergo enhancement… Hmm, let’s wait for Barron to come back first.”

Zhou Jing steadied himself, remembering Barron’s instructions.

He told Ross to keep a low profile and reflect on his actions, while he quietly adjusted his physical state.

…

It wasn’t until the guards rang the bell, starting the routine curfew, that Barron returned to the inn room.

Zhou Jing opened his eyes and shook his head, saying, “Why did you come back so late? I’ve been waiting for you for a long time.”

Barron scratched the back of his head and laughed heartily,

“Haha, sorry, sorry, I ran into some friends and chatted for a while… Are you ready on your end?”

“I’m fine, I can use the Exotic Blood Potion.”

“Then I’ll watch from the side. If something goes wrong, I’ll… Uh, if something goes wrong, there’s nothing I can do. I can only guard the door for you.”

Or collect the corpse… Barron didn’t say the second half of the sentence. It was too unlucky.

He moved a chair and sat upright by the door, his eyes wide like copper bells, like a door god.

Zhou Jing withdrew his gaze, took a deep breath, and picked up the Lightning Leopard Potion, drinking it all in one gulp.

Boom!

It was as if he had swallowed a mouthful of lightning, and his body shook violently as if electrocuted.

After a while, the potion slowly took effect, and the veins on his face bulged. He felt his flesh and bones being twisted like a wet towel, and waves of pain poured out like a flood.

“Hiss…”

Zhou Jing inhaled and gritted his teeth to endure it.

Strands of power were born simultaneously with the pain. He could feel his body slowly becoming stronger in the pain, and his physical fitness seemed to break through some kind of limit, rising steadily.

But even though it felt very painful, it didn’t seem that unbearable… Could it be that the [Tenacity] talent of this body was taking effect?

Barron watched intently from the side, looking worried.

Although he felt that with Zhou Jing’s exaggerated physique, it was impossible to fail the enhancement, he still couldn’t help but feel uneasy and worried before it became a reality.

After all, this was the first time he had seen an ordinary person whose basic physical enhancement was not weaker than an Exotic Blood Warrior undergo enhancement. He didn’t know what would happen.

Time passed by, and Zhou Jing trembled slightly, sweating profusely, wetting the floor.

About three hours later, the pain gradually subsided, turning into a tingling sensation like ironing.

Zhou Jing only felt a sense of rebirth, and his whole body was filled with a powerful sense of strength.

He couldn’t help but clench his fists, feeling like he could smash anything he saw.

“No uncomfortable symptoms… The enhancement should be successful.”

He gasped for breath and glanced at the panel, only to see that the messages were already flooding the screen.

[Gained the supernatural power system: Exotic Blood Warrior]

[[Exotic Blood Warrior]: First Enhancement (Lightning Leopard)]

[Effects: Stamina +12, Resistance +9, Perception +6]

[Current Attributes: Stamina 26 (Tier 1), Resistance 20 (Tier 1), Perception 11 (Tier 1), Spirit 6 (Tier 1), Energy 0]

[Attached Traits: [Swift Stance], [Quick Reaction], [Low-Level Electrical Resistance], [Lightning Assault] (Special)]

——

[[Swift Stance]]

[Effects: Your movements are more agile, and your attack, parry, and movement speeds are all increased.]

——

[[Quick Reaction]]

[Effects: Your nerve conduction speed is faster, and your reaction force is enhanced.]

——

[[Low-Level Electrical Resistance]]

[Effects: You have a slight resistance to electric shock.]

——

[[Lightning Assault] (Special)]

[Effects: Your instantaneous burst power is greatly increased. While holding your breath, you can enter the "Lightning Assault" state, consuming a large amount of stamina, and gaining further enhanced explosive power in a short period of time.]

“Four traits, the enhancement effect should be outstanding.”

Zhou Jing was overjoyed.

The traits granted by Exotic Blood Enhancement depended on the Exotic Beast from which the potion originated. The more abilities an Exotic Beast had, the more traits it would have.

However, two people using the same Exotic Blood Potion might not necessarily obtain the exact same traits, depending on the quality of the potion, the enhancer’s basic physical fitness, and other factors. The stronger the person was, the more likely they were to inherit more powerful traits.

And his basic physical fitness far exceeded ordinary people, so the result of this enhancement was quite impressive, far better than Ross’s.

“26 points of stamina, 20 points of resistance. My current level has far surpassed Barron, and I should be crushing a first-time enhanced Exotic Blood Warrior… I wonder if I’ve reached the standard for a second enhancement.”

Zhou Jing’s thoughts flickered.

After the enhancement, his attributes increased significantly, but the suffix was still Tier 1. He didn’t know what the dividing line was.

He carefully felt the changes brought about by the enhancement. His reaction speed was extremely fast, and he always had a feeling of being jolted by electricity.

His body was very light and his strength was quite abundant, especially his instantaneous movements could generate a huge burst of power.

He casually threw a punch into the air, creating a residual image. With a snap, the sound of his sleeves rubbing against each other sounded like an explosion.

Seeing this, Barron was finally relieved and smiled happily, his thick beard shaking.

“I knew you would be able to successfully enhance. How do you feel now?”

“I feel like I can take on ten of them now.” Zhou Jing moved his shoulders.

“Haha, that’s normal. I felt the same way when I was first enhanced. A suddenly enhanced body becomes difficult to control. Only by getting used to it for a period of time, understanding what you can do after the enhancement, and figuring out the new limits of your body, can you regain control.”

Barron shared his experience.

Zhou Jing blinked.

Difficult to control? How come he didn’t feel that way… He had to find some time to test it out.

However, he didn’t refute it and nodded, listening to Barron’s teachings.

“With your physique, you’re probably chasing the level of a second enhancement now. You still need to practice controlling it.” Barron was a little envious and congratulated, “From now on, you’re an Exotic Blood Warrior, no longer an ordinary person. Tomorrow, I’ll take you to get a set of equipment and buy some potions… I’ll lend you the money first, and you can pay me back later.”

“Okay.” Zhou Jing didn’t refuse Barron’s kindness. He did need some help.

“You should rest well tonight and take it easy.”

Barron nodded and didn’t say much.

He had also experienced enhancement and knew that Zhou Jing would definitely want to excitedly study his own changes at this time. So he didn’t continue to stay in the room and returned to the house next door, leaving Zhou Jing with personal space.

Although he was curious about Zhou Jing’s level after the enhancement, he thought about it and restrained his curiosity.

People who had just been enhanced were clumsy. He felt that it was getting late and didn’t want to disturb the neighbors.

——It was impossible to be a coward. He just felt that there was no need in the middle of the night, no need…

After sending Barron away and closing the door, Zhou Jing didn’t continue to hold back his expression. His eyes sparkled with excitement.

He took off his top in a few strokes and looked down at the changes in his body.

His original physique was strong, with large muscles, but now his whole body’s muscles were streamlined, with clear lines, distinct eight-pack abs, and deep mermaid lines. The overall look was more harmonious.

He could clearly feel that his strong body was more explosive.

On the panel, an achievement was also displayed.

[Triggered achievement [Entering the Extraordinary (Unique)]]

[Obtain 1000 Star Points! [Aptitude Improvement – Comprehensive (Small)] x1!]

——Gaining the first extraordinary system would trigger this achievement, and there was also an achievement reward for a small improvement in all aptitudes.

The ability of the fleshly body enhancement was also an extraordinary power. The first time he experienced it, the feeling was indeed completely different, and his energy was extremely strong.

Although more than three months had passed in the Exotic Beast World, most of the time was spent in placement according to his own plans. In reality, only about four days had passed in the main world.

The difficulty of obtaining this power was not as difficult as he had imagined.

Zhou Jing was excited and dragged Ross to test his current physical limits.

Ross was the best tool man. He had the level of a one-time enhancement and was simply a perfect test subject. He wouldn’t complain no matter how he was treated.

Zhou Jing tested several times and had a clearer understanding of his physical limits and the level of a one-time enhancement represented by Ross. He made an accurate comparison.

His foundation was good, and his strength was higher after the enhancement. His physical fitness crushed Ross in all aspects, and it was almost as simple as a father beating his son. If he were replaced by other once-enhanced Exotic Blood Warriors, he would probably be able to deal with multiple enemies.

As for how many he could fight specifically, it was hard to say, because he hadn’t tried it.

He also tested the destructive power. Zhou Jing asked the inn for some materials. He held the solid wood in his hand and could break it casually. With a little force, he could crush it into pieces. The stone bricks were equally fragile in front of his fist.

“It should be easy to flatten the buildings of this era with such physical fitness.”

Zhou Jing had a vague concept. When fighting Exotic Beasts, hunters might fight hard, but if they were to cause trouble in the city, it would probably be like a bulldozer.

However, the Exotic Beast World didn’t have the various instruments of the main world, so he couldn’t test the specific physical parameters, and he could only try his best to estimate.

Zhou Jing dragged Ross back and forth to study all night, discovering the changes in his current body, and was never tired of it.

…

Early the next morning, Zhou Jing and Barron simply wandered around White Plains City once and bought some things.

The most important items for Exotic Beast Hunters were three things: armor, weapons, and potions.

Generally speaking, weapons and armor made of Exotic Beast materials were of better quality, but they were quite expensive.

Exotic Beast equipment couldn’t be exchanged for free like Exotic Blood Potions. They all cost money, and even hunters who brought back prey had to pay processing fees.

Zhou Jing was short on money and didn’t plan to buy Exotic Beast equipment for the time being. Instead, he borrowed some money from Barron and bought a set of standard Exotic Beast Hunter leather armor.

Black and green interspersed, with shoulder pads, it had good cut and stab resistance, as well as good portability.

Then he went to the blacksmith shop, picked and chose, and bought a hundred-forged long knife with a slight curve.

Because he practiced swordsmanship and took the high-agility, high-burst enhancement route, Zhou Jing felt that to take advantage of his strengths, a weapon with a high attack speed would be a good choice.

However, although the Lightning Leopard Potion mainly enhanced agility, the strength brought by 26 points of stamina was still far higher than that of a once-enhanced Exotic Blood Warrior. Zhou Jing didn’t plan to give up heavy weapons, which would be useful when hunting some huge Exotic Beasts.

Walking out of the blacksmith shop, Zhou Jing’s outfit was already quite decent.

Brand new black and green hunter leather armor, with two knives on his body. The long knife was hung on his waist, and the original heavy knife was still carried on his back.

The Exotic Beast World didn’t have assembly line craftsmanship, and handmade equipment was really not cheap. A set of equipment cost Barron nearly twenty Terra Silver Coins—this was the common currency of the Terra Empire.

This amount of money was a huge sum for ordinary farmers, and hunters usually sold ordinary Exotic Beasts to workshops for about eighty Terra Silver Coins. Exotic Beast Hunters were a high-income group.

Barron looked him up and down, nodding in satisfaction. “You look the part. Next, we have to go to the potion shop to buy some hunting potions.”

“Aren’t we going to the Hunter Workshop?” Zhou Jing asked curiously.

“The workshop only processes Exotic Beast materials. The hunter potions we use when hunting are made from herbs. You can’t buy them at the workshop. You have to go to a proper potion shop.”

Barron explained.

Exotic Beast Hunters used some potions to temporarily enhance themselves during hunting, which were called Hunter Potions. They had different characteristics. Some reduced pain and increased excitement, while others treated injuries and restored physical strength.

Because Exotic Beast Hunters had a different physique from ordinary people, the effects of Hunter Potions were generally quite strong, and ordinary people could hardly use them. Therefore, making Hunter Potions was a major category in this world’s pharmacy. How to configure herbs to ensure that Hunter Potions took effect without causing too many side effects was a science.

Therefore, the pharmacists in this world were roughly divided into three research directions. One was studying the Exotic Blood Potion process, the second was studying the Hunter Potion recipe, and the third was making ordinary potions for ordinary people.

The two chatted as they walked and soon arrived at the potion shop located in the central area of the town.

The potion shop covered a large area, with many people coming and going, and business was quite prosperous. There were also two teams of eight guards patrolling and guarding the entrance.

“There are really a lot of people.” Zhou Jing looked around and clicked his tongue.

Barron shrugged. “There’s only this one potion shop in the city. You can only buy potions here, so of course there are more people.”

Zhou Jing raised his eyebrows. “Why not open a few more shops? There should always be pharmacists who want to open their own shops, right?”

“Lord Luther has ordered that pharmacists are not allowed to open shops privately. If they want to sell potions, they can only cooperate with this potion shop, either sell the potions to them, or become their cooperative pharmacist. It is said that this law is to ensure the quality of potions bought by residents in the city and prevent some unqualified pharmacists from selling unqualified potions at will, and then running away after selling them.”

Hearing this, Zhou Jing’s eyes flickered slightly.

The reason was pretty good… But this was still monopolizing, wasn’t it?

“Let me guess, this potion shop is the Lord’s property?”

“Who knows, but it definitely provides tax revenue to the Lord.” Barron stroked his beard.

In this era of the Exotic Beast World, there was probably no anti-monopoly law. The Lord was the largest monopolist in the local area, and he had a series of taxation rights.

Zhou Jing didn’t have any ideas, When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Seeing that the two were carrying weapons, the potion shop guards immediately came up to question them. This time, it was much stricter than the city gate guards.

After finally dealing with the interrogation, the two walked into the potion shop.

But as soon as they entered, they happened to meet a person walking out in a hurry with his head down. He didn’t seem to be looking at the road and was about to bump into Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing reacted quickly, sidestepping to dodge.

Only then did the man realize that he had almost bumped into someone. He was startled, suddenly lost his footing, and fell down the steps with a cry.

Watching this scene, Zhou Jing couldn’t help but nudge Ross next to him, his tone filled with surprise,

“Look, I found someone even dumber than you.”

Ross: …

The man stood up grimacing. Only then did Zhou Jing see his appearance clearly. He was withered and thin, with a goatee, and wore the potion shop’s coarse cloth uniform, seemingly an employee of the shop.

“Why aren’t you looking at the road?” The goatee man rubbed his knee and subconsciously complained.

However, when he looked up and saw Zhou Jing’s appearance, his face changed suddenly.

The goatee man immediately shut his mouth and didn’t say anything else. He turned around and left in a hurry.

“Is he afraid of me?”

Zhou Jing touched his chin, wondering if he was that scary.

Barron wasn’t surprised. “It’s normal. We Exotic Beast Hunters are respected and have great power. You look like this, so of course he wouldn’t dare to clash with you.”

“I understand that.” Zhou Jing nodded.

Supernatural beings in the main world occasionally received similar treatment in life, so he wasn’t surprised.

Zhou Jing didn’t take this matter to heart and followed Barron into the potion shop, arriving at the Hunter Potion shelves.

The price of Hunter Potions was generally three Terra Silver Coins, and some potions labeled "Strong" could even go up to ten Terra Silver Coins or more.

“Isn’t it a bit ridiculously expensive…”

Zhou Jing grimaced secretly.

Ordinary people definitely wouldn’t buy Hunter Potions, and hunters weren’t short of money, so the pricing was relatively high. This was precise customer positioning.

He wasn’t too sure about the cost of Hunter Potions, but he always felt that it was a profitable industry.

No wonder the Lord wanted to keep it in his hands…

While he was thinking about this, Barron had already bought four bottles of Hunter Potions with ease, and gave half of them to Zhou Jing.

“One bottle is for sustained excitement, and the other is for temporarily suppressing injuries. These are the two most common ones we use when hunting. Take them.”

“Thanks, I’ll pay you back when I earn money from hunting.”

Zhou Jing put away the potions and silently calculated the debt he owed Barron, which was about twenty-five Terra Silver Coins.

The money wasn’t much. He could pay it back after one hunt, so there was no pressure.

Zhou Jing steadied himself and nodded, “We’ve bought everything we need. Where do we go next? Find a place to test our physical fitness?”

“No, we’re going to a good place.”

With that, Barron put his arm around Zhou Jing’s shoulder and said with a grin,

“That is the most important thing for us hunters… the Hunter Tavern!”