Chapter 14-Void Predator, Devourer Of Leaders, Infinite Evolution！

The clerk quickly returned, carrying a black box.

Li Yao reached out to open it, but the clerk stopped him.

"Mr. Li, it's best to open it when you're alone."

"Alright."

Li Yao had a rough idea of what was inside and stored the box in his storage ring.

Seeing this, the clerk finally relaxed and smiled.

"Mr. Li, have you decided on a suitable summoned beast?"

"This one—why is it so much more expensive than the others?"

Li Yao pointed at Devourer Worm.

The clerk hesitated for a moment before explaining.

"Because Devourer Worm's HP stat has the potential to grow to an A-rank summon level—at least in theory."

"Oh?" Li Yao was intrigued.

"However, I wouldn't recommend it."

The clerk tapped a few times on the tablet and handed it to him.

[Devourer Worm (B-Rank Summon): Innate Skill: Devour – Bite the target, sacrificing 10% of current HP to deal true damage equal to 30% of maximum HP. If the attack kills the target, permanently increases maximum HP by 1. Cooldown: 1 hour.]

After reading the description, Li Yao felt a little disappointed.

While it was an extremely rare "infinite growth type", the growth rate was way too low.

Even under perfect conditions, it could only gain 24 HP per day.

That was probably why the clerk advised against it.

…Wait!

Li Yao suddenly had a realization.

For a normal summoner, the Devourer Worm was just a B-rank summon with mediocre skill effects.

But what if he used Star Ascension?

Would it increase the HP gain? Or reduce the cooldown?

B-rank meant it had huge potential for improvement…

The more he thought about it, the brighter his eyes became.

"I'll take it!"

"…Huh?"

Now it was the clerk's turn to be surprised.

She thought she hadn't explained it well enough.

"Mr. Li, please reconsider."

"Many summoners have tried raising Devourer Worms before. Even with dedicated round-the-clock feeding, they only gain about 8,000 HP per year."

"And besides HP, the rest of its stats are just average B-rank."

"In the end, it's just an oversized punching bag."

"At 2 million Dragon Coins, it's really overpriced."

If it were any other customer, the clerk would've encouraged the purchase for a commission.

But this was the Young Master of the Silver Wolf Guild—a genius with awakened talents.

If he bought the Devourer Worm and regretted it, she couldn't afford the consequences.

She could already imagine how badly this could go for her.

"Don't worry," Li Yao reassured her.

"Even if it's exactly as you say, I won't blame you."

"You're sure you still want it?"

"Yes." Li Yao nodded.

The clerk sighed but quickly processed the purchase.

Within moments, an employee delivered the skill book [Devourer Worm - Summon] to Li Yao.

"Swipe the card."

[StarNet Exchange – Seventh Floor]

The first three floors were the exchange market.

The top three floors were high-end hotels.

The walls were made of special materials, ensuring complete privacy—even explosions wouldn't be heard next door.

Of course, the price wasn't cheap.

Inside his private room,

Li Yao placed his hand on the skill book.

A stream of light emerged, merging into his body.

The Devourer Worm's stats appeared on his system panel.

[Chess Piece – Devourer Worm]

• Level: 10 (scales with summoner level)

• Rank: B

• Synergy: Brawler

• Star Level: ★☆☆☆☆ (Requires 5 Gold to rank up to 2-star B-rank)

• HP: 3300/3300

• Strength: 56

• Spirit: 49

• Agility: 51

• Endurance: 66 (Main Stat)

• Skill 1: Devour – Bite the target, sacrificing 10% HP to deal 30% max HP true damage. If the attack kills the target, permanently increases max HP by 1. Cooldown: 1 hour.

"Completely unimpressive."

No skills except Devour.

But…

"System, Rank Up!"

He still had 5 Gold left, and Hedge Fund had given him 10 more upon reaching level 10.

That was more than enough for an upgrade.

The moment the ascension finished, Li Yao checked the new status panel.

His worries vanished instantly.

The name had changed from Devourer Worm to Void Predator.

It also gained a new synergy: "Void".

Unfortunately, the Void synergy required at least three Void-type Chess Pieces to activate.

[Chess Piece – Void Predator]

• Level: 10 (scales with summoner level)

• Rank: A

• Synergy: Brawler • Void

• Star Level: ★★☆☆☆ (Requires 15 Gold to rank up to 3-star A-rank)

• HP: 4450/4450

• Strength: 61

• Spirit: 55

• Agility: 51

• Endurance: 89 (Main Stat)

• Skill 1: Evolution Devour – Bite the target, sacrificing 10% HP to deal 35% max HP true damage.

• If the target is a Leader-class enemy, permanently increases HP by 10% of the target's max HP.

• Cooldown: 45 minutes.

• Skill 2: Rupture – Deals 5% max HP magic damage to enemies in an area.

• Knock-up effect.

• Reduces Agility by 60 for 5 seconds.

• Cooldown: 15 seconds.

"Perfect!"

Li Yao was ecstatic.

The upgrade had removed the ability to gain HP from regular monsters—instead, it required Leader-class enemies.

At first glance, this seemed like a nerf.

But Leader-class monsters typically had insanely high HP.

If he could kill one, the HP gain would be hundreds or even thousands of times greater than before!

Not only that, but the new second skill gave it a crowd control ability.

This meant the Void Predator wasn't just a tank—it had real combat utility.

Li Yao summoned the Void Predator.

"Huh… are all Void creatures this deep purple?"

He muttered as he observed it.

It wasn't very large—only about a meter tall.

It had four pincers, two legs, and a tall, upright insectoid body.

On either side of its jaws, two massive fangs jutted out, exuding a terrifying presence.

Li Yao reached out and touched it.

Its hardened exoskeleton gave him a strong sense of security.

[Now… The Black Box]

Li Yao placed the black box on the table.

He already had a good idea of what was inside.

A resource supplement for professionals.

This was also why he had only purchased one skill book before heading back.

The resource package contained an A-rank Skill Exchange Token—so there was no need to waste money on another skill book.

He placed his finger on the box's fingerprint scanner.

"Pshhh!"

A burst of steam erupted as the black box slowly opened.

The next second—

"…Huh?"

Li Yao froze in shock.

"This… is an S-Rank Resource Supplement?!"