The mission description had changed.
But the meaning wasn't hard to understand—regardless of the opponent, as long as he successfully eliminated a total of 10,000 entities, the main mission would be completed.
If, among these 10,000 targets, the majority killed were Honkai Beasts, then he would obtain the "Temple-class" evolution branch and its skill [Ice Dash].
The difficulty was reduced.
However, the difficulty of exploiting loopholes had slightly increased.
For Lu Xing, this counted as a weakening of possibilities—according to game logic, such a nerf should at least come with some significant compensation!
Yes.
His focus immediately shifted to the compensation.
After all, for a gamer, the red dot on the mail icon was always the first thing to be opened.
"..."
When Lu Xing focused his consciousness on the so-called "compensation," a deep blue crystal, emitting a faint halo, appeared in his hand.
Name: Sixty Water
Type: Consumable
Grade: Hardware (Blue, Elite)
Effect: Nothing Happens
"Damn!"
Just as Lu Xing was about to viciously slam the thing in his hand onto the ground.
The incredibly mocking "Nothing Happens" was suddenly crossed out by a horizontal line, and the effect that replaced it became:
Increases the grade of one item by +1; the upper limit cannot exceed the grade of "Sixty Water."
"..."
"Damn!!"
Lu Xing forcefully suppressed the urge to continue his previous action and smash the crystal to the ground.
This was a limited upgrade item, and its effect was described very clearly—Lu Xing currently possessed only three items in total. Both [Frost's Lament] and [Ravenwing] were Blue-grade, so this consumable couldn't be used to enhance them.
In other words—
"Hum."
Lu Xing retrieved his Knight Lance from the [Space-Time Rend].
It seemed the only item that could be enhanced was this whiteboard-grade weapon, which he hadn't used even once since obtaining it.
"This thing..."
Lu Xing remembered very clearly.
The Knight Lance itself was an upgradable item. Even without using "Sixty Water," it could probably be enhanced through subsequent random missions.
"Forget it."
Lu Xing didn't dwell on it.
"Crack!"
The system had already provided a lot of help. Without its existence, an "ordinary person" like Lu Xing would have had no chance of survival.
Self-reliance was fundamental; there was no need to ask for too much.
The blue crystal shattered under his gradually increasing grip.
A green light burst forth from within, instantly enveloping the unremarkable Knight Lance.
"Ding!"
As the brilliance faded.
The originally pure white lance had transformed into a strange shape lacking a spear tip—a two-handed weapon possessing features of both a lance and a greatsword, constructed from an intertwining black and white. A fluorescent green stream of light flowed through the center of the weapon's body, surging with constantly flickering particle fluctuations.
Name: Prototype Erosion-type Plasma Lance
Type: Weapon
Grade: Otto (Green, Rare)
Effect: [Dissociation] - Increases [Thrust] damage by 20%; when the target's constitution is lower than the user's attack, a throwing technique can be executed.
————
"Plasma Lance..."
Lu Xing picked up the enhanced Knight Lance.
Although he had never equipped it for his character, Lu Xing was certain that this was a weapon that existed in the game.
The most interesting part of this enhancement process.
Wasn't the weapon itself, but the description "Otto"; combined with the system update to version 5.8... The Sanbengzi Lu Xing played before transmigrating was already at the end of version 5.7.
In other words.
The two unfamiliar Honkai Beasts he had just encountered.
Were very likely new enemies introduced in version 5.8 of the game.
After all, the prerequisite for the system update was the detection of Honkai Beasts "exceeding the holder's cognitive scope."
"Well..."
Whatever the truth was.
It didn't matter until he became stronger.
Lu Xing casually tossed the newly enhanced weapon back into the [Space-Time Rend].
In the extremely short time he held it, he had already tested the effects of the [Plasma Lance].
The original, as a creation of civilization, had surprisingly gained extremely high Honkai energy adaptability after acquiring an affix like "Erosion-type."
This meant the lance could be driven by Lu Xing using Honkai energy.
Not very strong, but at least sufficient.
"Next—"
The system update was purely accidental.
As an irresistible force, Lu Xing didn't intend to delve deeply into its reasons or pros and cons.
After carefully observing the two new Honkai Beast species—although they were powerful, they weren't Variants themselves and didn't react aggressively to Lu Xing, a "kinsman," approaching—Lu Xing began to study this vast palace.
And...
The new affix that had changed from "[Leader]" to "[Legion Leader]" ever since the Ice Emperor brought him into this domain.
At this moment, Lu Xing still didn't know.
What exaggerated changes this Knight Lance would undergo in the future, due to receiving an extra upgrade for an "upgradable weapon" obtained before a bug fix.
————
Lu Xing observed the points of light in his mental world.
Those were "Honkai-side lifeforms" that obeyed (probably) Lu Xing—Servants and Subordinates.
The former originated from Lu Xing's original "[Leader]" affix.
Among all the points of light, one, though not large in volume, shone with particular brightness—a greenish-blue presence.
Besides perception.
Lu Xing currently couldn't manipulate the points of light to do anything, but this didn't prevent him from understanding the individual represented by the light point—it was the young girl he had eroded with Honkai energy, who now bore the special designation "Pseudo-Deadman": Ange.
The latter originated from Lu Xing's "[Legion Leader]" affix.
Apart from this greenish-blue point of light.
The other points, large and small, numbering in the thousands by rough estimation, and pale green in color, were the reward Lu Xing received for "pledging allegiance" to the Ice Emperor:
A vast number of Knight-class Honkai Beasts, along with a very small number of variant individuals.
"Legion."
"So that's it, this is how the 'Honkai' is structured..."
The Knight-class "encampment" wasn't far from the palace. Lu Xing wasn't in a hurry to go see these dogs... subordinates. Instead, he continued to observe other things—
"Thwack!"
He stomped hard on the ground.
Even using the force of [Power Strike], he only managed to create a depression less than 15 centimeters deep beneath his foot, along with barely visible surrounding cracks.
"This place..."
According to Lu Xing's understanding.
Most Honkai Beasts were born from the Imaginary Space.
This place was clearly not the Imaginary Space—he didn't quite understand the concept, but since everything visible was tangible, it was highly probable that it had little to do with the word "Imaginary"—nor was it a crevice within the world's barriers.
Lu Xing had opened a [Space-Time Rend] here.
If it were truly a place like a crevice, even if he weren't unable to retrieve his weapon, the amount of Honkai energy consumed should have changed somewhat.
In other words—
"This place is still within Earth's sphere... or perhaps, it's directly inside Earth!"
————