Chapter 13: Flesh and Blood Armor
Currently, only a basic description of each class is visible.Being presented with four class options was a pleasant surprise—these represent four distinct class archetypes, each with different attribute focuses:
Option A: Bloodrage Brawler – likely strength-focused, a berserker-type class.
Option B: Bloodcurse Stalker – most likely agility-focused, an assassin or marksman type.
Option C: Bloodforged Sentinel – focused on endurance, a tank class meant to absorb damage.
Option D: Blood Magus – focused on spirit, a spellcaster archetype.
Gu Ning didn't hesitate for long and chose Option C: Bloodforged Sentinel.
While the other three options were tempting, Gu Ning made a rational decision. He needed a class that synergized with his [Heart of Evolution] talent, maximizing its potential beyond a simple 1+1.
His unique talent, Heart of Evolution, includes two major abilities. The first, Adaptive Evolution, reduces incoming targeted damage—an incredible skill for tanks.The second, Dominion of Pureblood, allows him to command mutant thralls in battle, essentially functioning as a semi-summoner.
And everyone knows—summoners are extremely vulnerable to decapitation tactics.If the summoner is killed in an instant, no matter how many summons they have, they become useless.
By choosing a tank class, Gu Ning ensures that he himself becomes the strongest defense. His survivability increases significantly.
Another key reason: tank classes are rare. Trial-takers typically need to demonstrate the ability to absorb massive damage during trials to unlock tank-class evolution options.Most trial-takers only have a few dozen HP when they first enter the spirit realm. Who dares tank hits? They rely on native NPCs to tank while they stay in the back dealing damage.
This results in a severe shortage of suitable endurance-based tanks. In most teams, a strength-focused fighter with high HP temporarily fills the tank role.
It's no exaggeration to say that the Main Tank is the backbone of a squad—or even an entire raid group. A powerful, unshakable tank is often the core of a team's strategy against elite bosses.
After Gu Ning made his choice, the Spirit Realm's system prompt appeared:
[You have selected the Enhanced Elite Class: Bloodforged Sentinel.][Primary Attribute: Endurance. For every level-up, you gain +2 Strength, +2 Agility, +4 Endurance, +2 Spirit.][As a reward for selecting an enhanced elite class, you've received +10 bonus points to your primary attribute.][+10 Endurance granted.][You have received a total of (3) Priority Points: 1 from being an Awakened, 2 from choosing an elite class.][Due to your class's special feature, your HP-to-Endurance ratio has been raised to 20:1. (Each point of Endurance equals 20 HP.)][You've acquired Heavy Armor Mastery: Wearing heavy armor will not reduce your movement speed. While wearing heavy armor, you gain the Stability trait, making you harder to knock back or be displaced.][You've acquired a special energy gauge: Blood Qi.]
A warm light surged through Gu Ning's heart, spreading across his body.He could feel subtle changes in his physique—his bone and muscle density had increased. While his body size hadn't changed, his weight had definitely gone up significantly.
A newly awakened energy now flowed through his bloodstream—Blood Qi.However, Gu Ning couldn't control it freely yet. This unique energy is only consumed when casting class skills. Normal attacks cannot utilize Blood Qi for damage boosts.
[You have learned the class skill: Fleshbound Armor (★ ★).][Fleshbound Armor: You can inscribe a flesh-essence rune onto one piece of heavy armor. Upon activation, it absorbs the flesh energy from nearby enemies to enhance your defense. Only one piece of armor can bear this rune at a time.]
As the information flowed into his mind, Gu Ning automatically understood how to inscribe and activate the rune—a branch of Flesh Alchemy.Unfortunately, perhaps due to limitations imposed by the Spirit Realm's will, this rune cannot be enhanced through personal study or passed on to others.
Gu Ning checked the skill's detailed stats:
[Flesh-Essence Rune: Deals 1–3 points of dark magic damage per second to affected enemies (scaling with their injury level), and grants you an equal amount of shield value. Duration: 120 seconds. Shield Priority: 5. Max Shield Value: 30.]
"Priority" determines the outcome of skill clashes between Awakened individuals.
For example, if Gu Ning's HP drops to 1 and he activates Fleshbound Armor (priority 5), and the enemy uses a piercing attack that ignores shields but has priority 4 or less, the shield still blocks the damage.If the enemy attack has priority 5 or higher, Gu Ning can only hope for the best.
"You feel different now," Qin said as she studied Gu Ning closely.
"Yes," Gu Ning nodded calmly.
Thanks to the Bloodforged Sentinel's high HP ratio of 20:1, his 15 points in Endurance now granted him a whopping 300 HP! Compared to the mere 50 HP he had upon entering the Spirit Realm, his survivability had increased severalfold.
Trial-takers and true Awakened individuals are simply on different power tiers.
Thinking back on how Gu Ning's trial task involved taking on an entire Awakened squad, it was clear that the Spirit Realm's S-rank difficulty was no joke—pure hell difficulty.
"When will you leave?" Qin asked. From her perspective, Gu Ning had already achieved his goal and would be leaving this world soon.
"In about half a month," Gu Ning replied.
Now that his trial mission was complete, the remaining 8 days had been converted into free exploration time, meaning he could explore the "Origin Plane: Flesh Plague" for another 16–17 days.
This time was extremely valuable.Awakened individuals could use free exploration to uncover side quests, challenge powerful monsters, and earn rare rewards. Even if things turned dangerous, they could leave the Spirit Realm at any time, keeping all previously earned loot.
Gu Ning planned to use this period to eliminate the remaining outposts of the Blood Ring Vanguard.
These elite mutant enemies, due to their blood-ring branding, only obey commands from their superior—Bloodhand Gorun.
With Bloodhand Gorun now dead, these monsters had no more leadership.They simply lingered at their strongholds like guard dogs, no longer launching attacks.
This was good news—it meant Brandon Northlands wouldn't fall into chaos. The Brandon faction could clean up the remnants at their own pace.
Gu Ning intended to join the fight.Although he now had a powerful elite class with great stats and skills, he still lacked combat proficiency, and his combat skills were virtually nonexistent.
He was like Duan Yu from Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils—suddenly full of powerful internal energy, but with no martial arts techniques to properly wield it.
Fighting these leftover Blood Ring enemies posed low risk but offered excellent opportunities to hone his combat abilities.Gu Ning had decided to train in one-handed weapons and shield usage, aiming to raise both to Advanced Proficiency.
Basic proficiency was a trial-taker's level.Advanced proficiency marked the threshold of a true Awakened.
During breaks between battles, Gu Ning also planned to study Alchemy systematically under Qin's guidance.
The Flesh Plague: Origin world was a Source Plane.
Knowledge from Source Planes could often be learned and brought back into the real world because these planes were generated based on real-world historical eras, and thus shared high compatibility with Earth's systems.
With a native guide, a systematic study of a Source Plane's knowledge could even allow certain Awakened individuals to unlock secondary professions.In the real world, powerful organizations were always on the lookout for secondary-class experts.
Gu Ning had no intention of returning early. The Supower Group, having suffered a major loss, would surely retaliate against him in the real world.Even though he had a rough plan to deal with them, there were too many unknowns—too many ways the enemy could strike back.
In such a situation, every increase in power gave him a little more room to maneuver.