Only two days remained until the return.
Bai Chen stayed at the outpost for an entire day first, confirming that the Valstrax had not redirected its hostility toward Astera.
Only after that did he finally feel at ease enough to prepare to leave the outpost.
He headed to the workshop and found Tinkatuff.
After days of tireless forging, she had finally completed Bai Chen's new armor.
It had been crafted from leftover materials taken from Zorah Magdaros.
[Name]:Zorah Magdaros Armor Set
[Rarity]:6
[Attributes]:Fire Resistance (50), Defense (290)
[Decoration Slots]:Defense Jewel[1]×4, Defense Jewel[1]×2
[Weight]:121 kg
[Skills]:
1. Attack Boost — Attack jewels embedded in both hands and feet; strength increased by 1.2×.
2. Blast Enhancement — Zorah Magdaros's power is stimulated; when using blast weapons or blast items, explosive power is increased.
[Evaluation]:Epic quality. Forged using Zorah Magdaros fire essence combined with Rathalos fire essence, greatly reinforcing the defensive potential of the ore and materials.
The weight was significantly reduced thanks to the Rathalos fire essence.
However, since only leftover materials were used, the set remains at rarity 6.
During the Zorah Magdaros capture operation, Tinkatuff had obtained a large quantity of Zorah materials.
Unfortunately, with her current level and craftsmanship, she was unable to process the main materials properly.
Even if she forced it, the resulting armor would only be trash-tier.
That was something Tinkatuff, who prided herself on forging epic-quality gear, simply could not accept.
Additionally, since Bai Chen needed to fly using psychic power, the armor had been reforged with Rathalos fire essence to reduce its weight.
Compared to Bai Chen's previous Lagiacrus set, this armor was a full 100 kilograms lighter.
As for weapons, there were no major changes.
The Zinogre Blade and the Basarios Blade were both retained and reinforced, pushing them to rarity 6—equivalent to high-rank weapons.
During reinforcement, Tinkatuff again used Rathalos fire essence to reduce their weight slightly.
The Hidden pair blade, however, was regretfully phased out and replaced with a Zorah Magdaros longsword.
[Name]:Zorah Magdaros Longsword
[Rarity]:6
[Attribute]:Blast (380)
[Decoration Slots]:Blast Jewel[2]
[Weight]:520 kg
[Evaluation]:Epic quality. Its blade is as imposing as Mount Tai itself, a weapon containing sacred thermal energy and immense destructive power.
Forged with Zorah Magdaros' fire essence, its blast attribute is greatly enhanced.
Thanks to its half-ton weight, the Zorah Magdaros longsword officially claimed the title of Bai Chen's heaviest handheld weapon.
From now on, when using telekinetic control, the Basarios Blade and Zinogre Blade would become his primary manipulated weapons.
That concluded the equipment updates.
│ "You've worked hard these past days," Bai Chen praised.
│ "We're getting ready to depart. Make your preparations as well."
│ "Ya-ma."
Tinkatuff responded and immediately began packing her belongings.
Leaving the workshop, Bai Chen walked back toward home.
Along the way, he tallied up the skill points gained during this period—two system "first-time" missions plus numerous hunts.
His total balance now stood at over 330,000 skill points.
He had not allocated these points yet, planning instead to wait until Velkhana and Valstrax hatched before making decisions.
As for enhancement stones, Bai Chen had acquired a large number of low-tier ones.
He currently possesses:
7 rarity-1 stones,
4 rarity-2 stones,
3 rarity-3 stones,
2 rarity-4 stones,
and 2 rarity-7 stones.
In terms of skills, Nergigante, Tinkatuff, and Little Nebula had not changed much.
Nergigante now possessed six master-level skills:
[Super · Avatar of Strength],
[Natural Force],
[Regenerating Spikes],
[Ultimate Aura],
[Ultra Regeneration],
and the world-upgrade skill [Elder Dragon Blood].
Bai Chen and Indeedee both acquired the move [Teleport] in this world.
Indeedee also gained a rarity-5 skill, [Meow-Meow Cooking].
Because of Teleport's immense value in combat, Bai Chen immediately raised it to the Proficient tier.
Bai Chen himself now held seven master-level skills, up from five when he first arrived.
They were:
[Super · Titan Body],
[Natural Force],
[Battle Qi],
[Ultimate Aura],
[Super Psychic],
[Elder Dragon Blood],
and [Wide-Area Quick Guard].
Overall, their growth had been steady rather than explosive.
The greatest growth belonged to Gravios and Zinogre.
One had evolved from Basarios into Gravios, gaining the rarity-9 [Volcanic Body] and rarity-8 [Molten Bloodline].
These two skills provided massive boosts, but Bai Chen had not yet invested skill points into them.
He intended to wait until Valstrax and Velkhana hatched before finalizing upgrades.
At present, Gravios possesses four master-level skills:
[Super · Magma Cannon],
[Super Devour],
[Ultimate Aura],
and [Elder Dragon Blood].
Zinogre experienced the most dramatic transformation.
Four of its skills changed, its skill set became the most extravagant of all, and it successfully evolved into Thunderlord Zinogre.
Rarity-8 [True · Super Charged State];
Rarity-7 [Elder Dragon Blood];
Rarity-8 [Super · Lightning Avatar];
Rarity-7 [Ultimate High Voltage];
Rarity-5 [Thunder Palm];
Rarity-7 [Ten-Thousand-Thunder Cataclysm];
Rarity-7 [Calamity Thunder];
Rarity-8 [Ultimate Volt];
Rarity-8 [Lightning Dominion];
Rarity-8 [Ultimate Aura];
Rarity-4 [Thunderbug Shot] (sealed).
With the loss of its Thunderbugs, the Thunderbug Shot skill was currently sealed.
Perhaps in the future, if it found a new symbiotic partner, the skill might unlock again.
The number of master-level skills remained unchanged.
Still only five:
[True · Super Charged State],
[Super · Lightning Avatar],
[Elder Dragon Blood],
[Ultimate High Voltage],
and [Ultimate Aura].
Looking closely, Zinogre now had only four true active skills remaining.
A palm strike—Thunder Palm;
a lightning-summoning move—Calamity Thunder;
a charge attack—Ultimate Volt;
And it's an all-out finisher—Ten-Thousand-Thunder Cataclysm.
The rest were passive or enhancement-type abilities.
As for levels:
Bai Chen Lv.46,
Nergigante Lv.45,
Zinogre Lv.48,
Gravios Lv.45,
Indeedee Lv.41,
Tinkatuff Lv.38,
Cosmog Lv.25.
And finally, the most important new companions.
Bai Chen had subdued a brand-new Elder Dragon—Kirin, Lv 50.
Kirin now belonged to Zinogre's pack and was being cared for and trained by Zinogre himself.
Beyond Kirin, Bai Chen had also obtained a Velkhana egg and a Valstrax egg.
It could be said that the greatest harvest of this expedition was these three new Elder Dragons.
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