CHAPTER 35: CHAPTER 35: PLEASE, BE HUMAN

EDITOR: ENDLESSFANTASY TRANSLATION

The most direct benefit of leveling up was that Wang Lan’s frozen skill points reappeared.

Indeed, the previous guess was correct: the skill level is limited by the character level. As soon as the character level breaks through, the cap on the skill level is unlocked.

Looking at the seven or eight skills on the skill panel, all were pure bronze 9.9! With just one more point, they would all be uniform silver skills. A smile like that of a Shiba Inu split across Wang Lan’s face.

"COUGH... COUGH..." Xiao Gang suddenly coughed under his breath, with silk-like froth of blood spewing from his mouth with each cough.

"How are you?" Wang Lan asked with concern.

"Did you... just break through?"

"Ah!"

"From the Starlight Stage to the Star Shine Stage? How did you do that? Don’t you need to break through? Don’t you need to build up force to break through the bottleneck? You... you..."

"Calm down, don’t get too excited, you’re seriously injured. Your lungs are damaged, putting a lot of pressure on your breathing. Don’t get excited," Wang Lan urged.

Not get excited? Can I freaking not get excited? I’ve seen your file. You awakened at the end of June and got your Star Martial Badge at the beginning of July. It was only a three-day difference, and you were already at mid Starlight Stage when you got the badge. Although what Wang Lan did during those two days was classified by the Tianjian Bureau and not known to the public, going from just awakened to mid Starlight Stage in three days was already scary, right? But as scary as that is, the growth after awakening to the Starlight Stage is very rapid. Plus, at sixteen, Wang Lan was at the prime age for an explosion in strength. Going from early to mid Starlight Stage is just a transitional phase, nothing special. But, come on, it’s been only ten days, just ten days since you got your Star Martial Badge, and only six since you entered the trial grounds. You completed the transition from the Starlight Stage to the Star Shine Stage in six days. That’s outrageous. Those who awakened their Star Martial Warrior talent at the age of seven or eight would be at most at the peak of the Star Shine Stage at your age! And those are the geniuses among geniuses. You awoke so late yet spent only half a month to reach what those geniuses achieved in five or six years! Have some decency, will you? Genius? No, demon! A demon among demons!

"I’m about to go meet the martyrs, and you tell me to calm down? A genius like you shouldn’t be dying here with us... we really shouldn’t have let you lead the way..."

"I’m not that much of a genius, really. Just now was an accident. Seeing you guys fighting the enemy so fearlessly, my blood boiled as well, and that led to the breakthrough. Hang in there, you must hold on..."

Xiao Gang didn’t say anything more, merely raising a middle finger at Wang Lan!

My blood boils and, excited, I break through? Do you think I’ve never experienced a breakthrough? Can you really break through a major realm just with excitement and passion? If it were that easy, would anyone be stuck at a bottleneck for years? Do you think breakthroughs depend on luck?

Xiao Gang’s bodily functions had declined significantly; it wasn’t that he didn’t want to speak, he simply couldn’t. He was waiting for that moment of a last rally before charging at the Biochemical Demon Soldiers.

At this moment, Wang Lan was quickly finishing his allocation of points to the Self-Healing skill.

*Self-Healing skill evolved to silver level, Healing Silver LV1 (0/100)*

Indeed, after advancing to the silver level, even a minor stage improvement required 100 skill points. And to raise a skill from Silver 1 to Gold 1, 1,000 skill points were needed.

Glancing at his accumulated 1,000 skill points, he once thought he was rich, but with the change in skill, he instantly became poor, having just enough to improve a single silver-level skill.

Suddenly, Wang Lan shuddered; he finally noticed that Self-Healing had transformed into Healing. Although it was a difference of just one word, the implications were worlds apart.

*"Healing skill: Consumes Star Power to quickly heal one’s own injuries and can be used on other targets. The area covered by the palm can also accomplish healing."*

Healing was an upgrade from Self-Healing, so it first healed one’s own injuries, but the addition of healing others was revolutionary.

Only capable of self-healing, you’re just a punching bag, but being able to heal others, you’re an ancestor. In the future, a whole bunch of people will be calling me ’Healer’... no, they should be calling me ’Father’.

Wang Lan’s spirits lifted, his green eyes gleamed, fixed on the dying Xiao Gang beside him. Without any hesitation, he pressed his hand onto Xiao Gang’s chest.

"Kid, move aside, my time has come, I’m gonna light the fireworks... ah... what’s going on... why is your hand so hot... it feels so good... what is that..."

Wang Lan’s Star Power was draining rapidly, but the speed of healing was almost the same as when he was at Black Iron 1. This healing speed was unacceptable to Wang Lan.

Need to add points!

Since I have 1,000 skill points, just add them!

One hundred skill points were swiftly added, turning Healing to Silver LV2.

The consumption of Star Power decreased slightly, and the healing speed was noticeably faster. But it still wasn’t enough.

Continue adding points!

In just a few seconds, Wang Lan poured 900 points into the Healing skill. The Healing skill will be my bedrock for securing a position in the future. It will help me act cool when I need to show off, and allow me to survive when in danger.

As Huang Feilong said, "If you awaken the Medical Attribute Star Martial Warrior talent, you’re the ’Father’ wherever you go. A whole bunch of people will be fighting to have you, and a crowd will be fighting to protect you. Your presence means the team’s sustainability; it signifies not fearing injuries, and possibly even death."

If it weren’t for the fact that, for a skill at Silver Level 9, having anywhere from 0 to 99 (out of 100) skill points towards the next level made no practical difference to its current effectiveness, Wang Lan would have wished he could raise the skill to Silver LV9 (99/100).

In those few short seconds, Xiao Gang finally realized what Wang Lan was doing and what changes were happening to his body.

His body was warm, pain-free, and he felt relaxed all over.

Breathing lightly, the air was slightly cool, and that suffocating, panting feeling had completely disappeared.

In an instant, Xiao Gang stared with eyes like a bull’s, fixated on Wang Lan. At this moment, Wang Lan had already moved his palm away, and Xiao Gang’s body had completely recovered from the injuries.

"All done!"

"Are you a Star Martial Warrior of the Medical Attribute?" Xiao Gang said with a dumbfounded look, a question that made even Wang Lan want to grimace.

Wasn’t my Medical Attribute Star Martial Skill clearly apparent?

"Shouldn’t you be heading back to the battlefield? Captain Ren and the others can hardly hold on!"

"Dammit! Demon Bastards, your grandpa Xiao is coming—" Xiao Gang roared like a panther, turning into a streak of light as he dashed towards the battlefield.

"Damn it, Xiao, don’t you dare compete with me for glory. If anyone’s going first, it’s gonna be me! Outta the way, I’m pulling down ten to cushion my fall."

"Cushion your fall, my ass! Get the hell back, I’m here to kill the enemy, not for glory," Xiao Gang kicked his blood-soaked comrade back. With Dual Battle Knives in hand, he charged like a mad demon at the Biochemical Demon Soldiers ahead.

"Xiao? Weren’t you almost dead?" Ren Star Martial trembled all over. Xiao Gang looked lively and vigorous, not at all near death.

"Dead my ass, the guy back there is a high-level Star Martial Warrior of the Medical Attribute. Those with grave injuries, retreat for treatment immediately; those with light injuries, hold your ground. Heaven has eyes, we aren’t meant to die yet..."

The soldier whom Xiao Gang had kicked towards Wang Lan had dozens of knife wounds all over his body, each deep enough to see bone. Wang Lan couldn’t even imagine how, with such serious injuries, he didn’t even frown and kept on fighting.

Although he had always heard that soldiers were the most respectable people on earth, he had never really felt it. At this moment, Wang Lan was convinced.

If such people were not respectable, the word ’admiration’ wouldn’t exist in this world.

"Don’t move, it’ll be quick!" Wang Lan pressed down on the man, his palms rapidly stroking over the wounds to stop the bleeding first. Feeling his body rapidly recovering, the soldier, whose name Wang Lan couldn’t even recall, was moved to tears.

"Don’t cry, trust me, I will heal you soon."

"I believe you, but... can you be gentler when you touch my wounds? It hurts like hell..."

The pain continued through the healing process and would only stop once the wounds were completely healed. Hence, as Wang Lan roughly stroked over his dozen wounds, it was like the soldier reliving the pain of all his injuries at once.

Even a will of steel couldn’t hold back his tears of pain.

Shit, I’m out of power... Just as he was about to heal the man, his Star Power was nearly depleted.

"There are Soul Beads in my backpack."

"You should have said that earlier." Wang Lan snatched the man’s backpack, one hand absorbing Star Power from inside while the other swiftly healed each wound.

*Skill Point +1... Skill Point +1... Skill Point +1...*

"Done, next! Soldiers, anyone who has Soul Beads, throw them over here. Healing uses up a lot of Star Power."

As he finished speaking, more than a dozen backpacks fell from the sky like meteors, nearly burying Wang Lan.

"I’m back to full health... Demon Bastards, come at me again! Old Wolf, are you fighting with your guts spilling out? Get back and heal up before you return!"

"Old Wolf, go back first."

"Or let An Huo."

"Stop bullshitting, you’re wasting a second, this is an order!" Ren Star Martial roared in fury.

Before Wang Lan could catch his breath, a middle-aged soldier covered in blood lay before him, "Young man, be gentle, I fear pain."

"Your guts are almost spilling onto the ground, and you’re still fighting, and now you tell me you fear pain?" Wang Lan quickly stuffed Old Wolf’s intestines back into the wound, not bothering to arrange them properly. He hoped the Star Martial Skill would reposition the intestines.

The Star Martial Skill activated, and his warm palms, like a mini-sun, revived Old Wolf’s nearly exhausted body. Within seconds, not only were the intestines back in place, but there was not even a scar where the wound had been. Afterward, having healed Old Wolf’s multiple knife wounds, a man of steel and iron once again charged onto the battlefield.

"Next!"

Wang Lan didn’t have time to count how many people he had treated or how many times he had healed. Anyway, Xiao Gang had been taken care of by Wang Lan three times. But more and more fifth-generation Demon Soldiers were appearing outside.

Initially, it was one against two or three, but it soon became one against four or five.

This situation led to fully revived warriors being injured by Demon Soldiers working together before they could kill even one Biochemical Demon Soldier. Even if they succeeded in killing one, it was a close call with death.

Soon, there was a scenario, like in games, where loss of health outpaced the speed of healing.

And soon, even with a strong Medical Attribute Star Martial Warrior like Wang Lan, deaths still occurred.

The first casualty was An Huo, a Star Cloud Stage Star Martial Warrior with a fire attribute. After successfully killing one Biochemical Demon Soldier, he was slain by three others working together. His comrades were too late to save him, and he was literally sliced into pieces.

Where one death occurred, a second soon followed.

And this scene filled Wang Lan with desperate urgency.

It’s only thirty seconds away, just thirty more seconds until the cooldown time for the Phoenix form is over...

"Soldiers, hold on for thirty seconds! Don’t die within these thirty seconds. As long as you don’t die in thirty seconds, I can deal with them! You must keep your lives, hold on!"