The moment Shi Feng clicked "Confirm," the Frost Origin Bloodline in his inventory space surged directly into his body, beginning to merge with the Dark Iron Bloodline already within him.
Shi Feng had always been quite satisfied with the Dark Iron Bloodline.
Although it was only an ordinary bloodline, it was the most suitable ordinary bloodline for melee Classes, and its exchange price had been noticeably higher than other ordinary bloodlines.
Even if a high-grade bloodline were placed right in front of him, he might not necessarily want to swap — after all, the best bloodline was the one that fit you best. The Dark Iron Bloodline, in particular, could enhance the compatibility of melee skills, an attribute effect that was exceedingly rare.
Divine Realm might not provide explicit data on this, but according to Shi Feng's own testing, the Dark Iron Bloodline had increased his skill completion rate by roughly 2%. It might not sound like much — some Epic-grade equipment could achieve the same — but that was because his skill completion rate was already extremely high. Even his Tier Two skills were being used at close to 100%. Going from 95% to 100% was an incredibly difficult leap.
For other players using melee skills, the boost to skill completion would likely be far greater.
In Divine Realm, as the system continued to refine magic skill learning, the higher a magic skill's tier, the harder it became to use. It wasn't as though a Tier One skill could be used at 100% and then Tier Two through Tier Six skills would all automatically be at 100% as well.
Take Fire Dance and the others — they had already achieved over 95% completion on their Tier One skills back in the day, but now, even at the Flowing Water realm, their Tier Two skill completion was barely sitting at 90%. Pushing it higher required continuous practice and comprehension.
And even experts who had grasped the Domain didn't perform that much better on Tier Two skills than those at the Extreme Refinement level. After all, a magic skill's completion rate depended on body control and understanding of the skill itself, and an expert at Extreme Refinement could already control their body with exquisite precision. Experts who had grasped the Domain weren't dramatically superior in body control — what set them apart was reaching a new realm of perception.
It was like awakening a sixth sense, enabling a kind of premonition for certain actions, allowing them to make the optimal choice. But in terms of using magic skills specifically, the advantage was quite limited.
The reason Shi Feng's completion rate was so high was largely because he was already thoroughly familiar with Tier Two skills — no one else could match him in that area of experience.
Moreover, the Dark Iron Bloodline would grow with his tier and level, bringing even greater boosts over time. Tier advancement, in particular, had the greatest impact on a bloodline's power.
Because while players did absorb bloodlines, they couldn't fully unleash the bloodline's power. It was simply too potent — far beyond what a low-tier player could endure. Only as a player's tier steadily increased would the bloodline's power be gradually released.
That was why bloodlines were even stronger than Legendary-grade fragment items and full Legendary items alike, making them the number one artifact for helping players become powerhouses.
As the Frost Origin Bloodline continued merging with the Dark Iron Bloodline, Shi Feng felt an indescribable force circulating throughout his body — violent yet freezing, two utterly opposite sensations intertwining. If not for the Dark Walker's Cloak and his excellent concealment of his aura, Fire Dance and the others nearby would have certainly noticed the change.
After a full ten-plus seconds, Shi Feng finally felt the power settle down completely, and a crisp system notification chimed in his ear.
System: Congratulations! You have successfully merged bloodlines. The Frost Origin Bloodline has been permanently bound to the Dark Iron Bloodline.
"It's done at last." Shi Feng couldn't help inspecting the newly merged bloodline.
Frost Iron Bloodline (Merged Bloodline): Enhances the player's compatibility with melee skills while also increasing reaction speed. Primary attribute boost is Strength, followed by Agility, Stamina, Spirit, and Intelligence. (Can undergo one advancement by absorbing Bloodline Essence — the more Bloodline Essence absorbed, the better the advancement's effect. Maximum absorption: 100 points of Bloodline Essence. Current: 0 points.)
"So this is a merged bloodline?"
Staring at the Frost Iron Bloodline's attributes, Shi Feng could hardly believe his eyes. He had assumed a merged bloodline would merely create a binding between the two, but instead, it had introduced entirely new stat changes — giving a single ordinary bloodline two types of power. This put it on par with high-grade bloodlines.
The only difference was likely in the degree of basic stat enhancement.
But that didn't matter to Shi Feng. Bloodline power was far more important than basic stats, and the new Frost Iron Bloodline's ability to boost reaction speed was an enormous boon for a melee player.
It was especially valuable against monsters. Players were not monsters — as monster levels climbed higher, their reaction speeds grew faster too, which was a major reason they became increasingly difficult to deal with. For ordinary players, boosting reaction speed meant improving basic stats and physical constitution. Improvements in either area would gradually increase reaction speed, but the gains were minimal.
Equipment specifically designed to enhance reaction speed was incredibly hard to come by. Now the Frost Iron Bloodline provided a direct boost to reaction speed — it was arguably even more impressive than the high-grade bloodlines Shi Feng had seen in the God-Demon Temple.
"Incredible! Truly incredible! Based on reaction speed alone, I'm probably already on par with genuine Tier Three Class experts." Shi Feng tested the Frost Iron Bloodline's effects and was overjoyed.
Tier Three advancement was the most critical milestone in Divine Realm. Its difficulty was incomparable to Tier Two, and it largely determined a player's future development. He had originally planned to acquire a high-grade bloodline before his Tier Three advancement to improve his chances — after all, as one of the Holy Ten Legacies, his advancement difficulty would be even greater.
Now, with the Frost Iron Bloodline, he finally had some confidence about the upcoming Tier Three advancement.
After all, he was already not far off from a genuine Tier Three expert in terms of reaction speed alone. With reaction speed on par with Tier Three, he could absolutely hold his own in a fight against one.
And this was without the Frost Iron Bloodline's true evolution.
"If the initial merge is this powerful, I wonder how strong it'll become after I gather a hundred points of Bloodline Essence." Shi Feng looked at the Frost Iron Bloodline in his status panel, a spark of anticipation igniting within him.
Bloodline Essence was hard to obtain, but not impossible.
Extracting Bloodline Essence required harvesting it from Bloodline Creatures or Primordial Species. In Divine Realm, Bloodline Creatures were extremely rare, let alone Primordial Species.
"It looks like I need to find some time to properly clear the Thunder Mystery Realm." Shi Feng considered for a moment, concluding that the Thunder Mystery Realm was the most viable option.
He did know the locations of some lower-level Bloodline Creatures, but according to Divine Realm's rules, trying to exploit loopholes was unlikely to work. Lower-level monsters would undoubtedly have lower extraction rates, while higher-level, more powerful monsters would yield higher rates.
By that calculation, the Thunder Mystery Realm was the best fit — though getting in was no simple matter. He needed a pass, and going in alone wasn't enough. He needed a whole stack of them.
To that end, Shi Feng felt it was essential for Zero Wing to establish a stronger presence in the Sea of Death. Setting aside the Thunder Mystery Realm for the moment, once players surpassed level 100, major powers would begin migrating one after another to the resource-richer seas. Zero Wing would need a foothold in the Sea of Death regardless.
With that thought, Shi Feng turned his gaze to the Bronze Rank Shop Promotion Order sitting in his inventory. He felt he needed to get the Wanderer's Shop up and running as quickly as possible. Otherwise, relying solely on the resources obtained through cooperation with Feng Qianyu on Heavenly Thunder Island would be nowhere near enough for Zero Wing to establish itself in the Sea of Death — let alone stand up to Star Ring, which spanned two continents.
After that, Shi Feng led everyone directly back to White River City.