It could only be said that low-level, low-quality Toxic Sets got phased out quickly.
But these ten sets of level 50 Tier 3 full-gold Toxic Sets from the mission reward would still be top-tier gear even after reaching a level 2 main city.
When the time came, he could assign a set to each of Ling Xiao, Qin Feng, Skinny Monkey, Fat Dahai, and the others.
Wouldn't that instantly create ten top-tier right-hand men?
And when they used them until level sixty or seventy and replaced them, they could still be sold for a good amount of money. At most, they'd just take a bit of depreciation, nowhere near as valuable as selling them now.
So, Lin Mo had Ning Xi store the ten Toxic Sets in the warehouse first.
As for the thirty A-grade random pet skill books, Lin Mo said to Ning Xi, "Your luck is better than mine. You open them and see if we can get a few that Ah Li or Strong-Maned Pig can use."
Ning Xi was also full of anticipation.
[Ding~ You obtained A-grade Mage-type pet skill · Ice Storm!]
[Ding~ You obtained A-grade Warrior-type pet skill · Savage Charge!]
[Ding~ You obtained A-grade Tank-type pet skill · Tenacity!]
Although out of the thirty books, four tank-type skills were obtained, based on Strong-Maned Pig's compatibility, Lin Mo only picked one suitable skill—
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[Tenacity] (Tank-type · Passive Skill)
— Quality: A-grade
— Skill Effect: Reduces attack by 20%, increases defense by 30%
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Lin Mo's development plan for Strong-Maned Pig was to abandon all damage potential and stack HP and defense without thinking.
In other words, since Strong-Maned Pig could take 90% of the damage for his master, he was essentially Lin Mo's power source.
The higher his tankiness, the more room Lin Mo had to perform in battle.
An A-grade Tenacity wasn't enough for Lin Mo.
So without hesitation, he immediately activated his SSS-grade talent Soul Flame.
[Ding~ Consumed 16 skill evolution points. Congratulations, you evolved pet skill Tenacity from A-grade to S-grade!]
[Ding~ Consumed 32 skill evolution points. Congratulations, you evolved pet skill Tenacity from S-grade to SS-grade!]
[Ding~ Consumed 64 skill evolution points. Congratulations, you evolved pet skill Tenacity from SS-grade to SSS-grade (max level)!]
Looking at the skill effects again, the strength had undergone a complete transformation.
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[Iron Bones · Indestructible] (Tank-type · Passive Skill)
— Quality: SSS-grade
— Skill Effect 1: Defense +50%
— Skill Effect 2: Shield gain effect +100%
— Skill Effect 3: Automatically gains a shield equal to 5% of defense every second (total shield value cannot exceed 100% of max HP)
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'What the hell?'
Although from Strong-Maned Pig's first learned skill Bloodbath · Copper Wall Iron Fortress, Lin Mo already knew how absurd SSS-grade pet passive skills were, seeing the effects of this Indestructible skill still shocked him.
No need to even mention the first two effects.
Skill Effect 3: a shield up to 100% of max HP.
That was basically equivalent to giving Strong-Maned Pig an extra health bar.
His tankiness was doubled.
With only 20% of the normal EXP required to level up, Strong-Maned Pig had already caught up to his master, reaching level 49, unlocking a total of 16 skill slots.
Aside from the 8 slots occupied by Bloodbath · Copper Wall Iron Fortress, the remaining 8 empty slots were just enough to hold one SSS-grade skill.
So, filled with excitement, Lin Mo immediately had Strong-Maned Pig learn this SSS-grade Iron Bones · Indestructible.
With a 50% defense boost, combined with Strong-Maned Pig's Ancestral-level growth stats and a full set of level 45 Tier 3 gold-quality Toxic Set bonuses, his tankiness had risen to an unbelievable level.
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[Dark Gold · Strong-Maned Pig] (Lv49)
— Role: Tank
— Quality: Ancestral-tier
— Owner: Rulebound
— Physical Attack: 4855
— Physical Defense: 7650
— Magic Defense: 7380
— Mana: 6500
— HP: 326000
— Skills: Bloodbath · Copper Wall Iron Fortress (SSS-grade), Iron Bones · Indestructible (SSS-grade)...
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"In the Scorpion Empire dungeon, level 48 Shadow Demon Scorpions only have about 5000 attack."
"Based on Strong-Maned Pig's current stats, monsters below level 55 probably can't even scratch him!"
"Unless they have armor break or penetration effects—"
At the same time, another passive effect of Iron Bones · Indestructible activated.
Whoosh!
A semi-transparent shield appeared around Strong-Maned Pig.
The skill originally generated a shield equal to 5% of defense per second, but combined with the +100% shield gain effect, the rate increased to 10% of defense per second.
Between physical and magic defense, the higher one, physical defense, was used.
So the shield was steadily increasing at a rate of 765 points per second.
Calculating it out, it would take about 7 minutes to fully charge the shield.
But the advantage was that the shield could also generate while out of combat.
So before entering battle, the shield could be fully stacked.
Which meant the moment combat began, Strong-Maned Pig effectively had two lives.
Every SSS-grade passive brought a complete qualitative transformation to Strong-Maned Pig.
"SSS-grade skills are really strong."
Just as he finished speaking, Ning Xi beside him seemed to finally realize something.
She asked Lin Mo in surprise, "Brother Lin Mo, can you… evolve gold-quality equipment, Ancestral-tier pets, and SSS-grade skills?"
Lin Mo answered directly, "Yes."
Ning Xi was astonished, "How do you do it?"
Lin Mo smiled, "Because my talent is the same as yours."
"It's also SSS-grade?"
Ning Xi had always been completely open with Lin Mo.
So Lin Mo naturally chose to be honest with her as well.
That way, both of them could give each other enough sense of security.
Ning Xi tilted her head and quickly reacted, "When Divine Oracle first launched, the news said someone at a lottery shop in Tianyi Plaza in Ning City scratched out the only SSS-grade talent code in the Great Xia. That person was you, Brother Lin Mo?"
"Cough!", Lin Mo felt a bit awkward. After all, it sounded like something gained without effort, like a sudden rich upstart.
But Ning Xi's face was full of admiration, "Wow, Brother Lin Mo, you're amazing! You actually scratched such a huge prize?"
'Hm?'
So in Ning Xi's eyes, Lin Mo's "luck" was also a kind of strength, not something unearned?
Lin Mo said, "Everything evolved by my talent is bound. Otherwise, I would've evolved SSS-grade skills for you too."
"It's okay," Ning Xi didn't mind at all, "Such a powerful talent definitely can't be shared."
"Besides, Brother Lin Mo, you've already given me so much. If it weren't for you, I might still be working at Tingyuxuan right now."
"I don't even know how to repay you."
Looking at the innocent and slightly silly empress in front of him, Lin Mo smirked, "Then how about repaying me with yourself?"
Ning Xi still couldn't handle even the slightest teasing.
Her fair little face instantly flushed red.
"Brother Lin Mo… I'll treat you to dinner."
"Sure," It was around seven in the evening anyway, and Lin Mo was hungry.
The two logged off.
———
Patience was the greatest test for a man.
Lin Mo waited in the living room for ten minutes before finally seeing Ning Xi come out of her room.
She was wearing a light blue plaid spaghetti-strap dress.
Paired with white thigh-high socks.
Pure yet alluring at the same time, making Lin Mo suddenly feel his throat go dry.
Walking up to Lin Mo, Ning Xi spun around and said, "Brother Lin Mo, do I look good?"
'This...'
'What man wouldn't be captivated?'
Looking at Ning Xi, Lin Mo couldn't help but swallow hard, "You look good."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Mo suddenly stood up from the sofa and, in one motion, scooped Ning Xi into a princess carry.
Seeing that Ning Xi showed no resistance at all, and even wrapped her arms around his neck, her gaze filled with affection,
Lin Mo carried Ning Xi toward the bedroom…
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