I summon the heroic spirits of China in the infinite world.

"I've decided on you."

Li Ming pulled out the Steadfast-type upgrade card for Ma Chao.

[Would you like to consume 500 cubic coins and an upgrade card to upgrade this Servant?]

"Yes."

hum!

Shattered light surged from the card, transforming into golden ribbons that enveloped Ma Chao's entire body.

A chilling, battlefield atmosphere is subtly rising.

"Drink!"

With a deep shout, Ma Chao slammed his tiger-headed golden spear to the ground.

The golden light band enveloping his entire body exploded in response, turning into countless fragments of light that scattered across the sky.

Ma Chao has advanced to the second tier.

The Heroic Spirit's attributes have been improved.

"Panel, here you go."

【Ma Chao】: Tier 2 LV4, Steadfast

[Toughness - Trait]: Attack power +20% when energy is at 100%.

[Iron Guard - 100% Steadfast Energy]: Ma Chao can summon one [Iron Guard] Heroic Spirit, which possesses 20% of his own attributes. A maximum of two can exist simultaneously.

[Li Feisha - 100% Steadfast Energy]: Ma Chao summons his mount and enters riding mode, during which the [Iron Guard]'s attributes are doubled.

"Another active skill, impressive!"

Dawn's eyes lit up.

This skill is absolutely invincible.

The fact that the Iron Guard attribute is doubled alone is enough to make the ticket price worthwhile.

It's important to know that Iron Guard's attributes are 20% of Ma Chao's, and after doubling, they become 40%.

So if you add those two together, it's equivalent to 40% of Ma Chao's.

This might be too much.

Of course, it's not as simple as using the concept of 1+1=2 to calculate it.

But just the fact that his health increased from 20% to 40% is already very strong, since Iron Guard's weakness before was that he was too fragile.

With the addition of the two Iron Guards and Ma Chao himself, the fighting strength of this small group was immediately increased.

However, he was more concerned about the so-called riding status.

"Let's give it a try."

The specific effects can only be determined through actual testing.

He instructed Zhuge Liang to gently strike Ma Chao with wind blades, accumulating energy bit by bit.

There's no way around it; Zhuge Liang has the lowest attack power, so he's the one who has to do all the work of helping to recharge.

What followed was quite strange: Zhuge Liang was using his Phoenix Blade to slash at Ma Chao while simultaneously healing him from time to time.

When Ma Chao's energy bar was full, Li Ming immediately issued the command.

"Malaysia!"

Ma Chao raised his arm and shouted, and a ball of white light suddenly appeared in the void beside him.

The light quickly stretched and widened, coalescing into a magnificent warhorse.

The horse was entirely white except for its four hooves, which were as black as ink.

He was tall, with his shoulders almost level with Ma Chao's chest.

It was Ma Chao's exclusive mount, Li Feisha!

With practiced ease, Ma Chao flipped over and was already mounted on his horse.

"Although riding a horse doesn't directly increase Ma Chao's attributes on the panel, the actual effect is still quite different."

He observed for a while and quickly came to a conclusion.

First, Ma Chao's movement speed increased by 20% after riding a horse.

Although this speed seems counterintuitive, it is true; the speed of moving on horseback is not much faster than Ma Chao running at full speed.

This is likely related to the horse's inherent characteristics.

Dawn gave it a try—and he was even able to ride it himself.

In this way, the mount function he had always wanted was finally realized.

From now on, when traveling, we won't need to ride that bumpy straw sedan chair anymore; we can just ride horses.

"Furthermore, this horse itself is a minor Heroic Spirit."

Li Ming opened the panel and found that the horse also had a health bar.

They also attack by stomping or kicking with their hooves. The damage output isn't very high, but it's better than nothing.

As for the specific mechanism of "riding state", he observed and studied it carefully.

The mechanism is a bit complicated.

First, the horse's attributes are also taken as 20% of Ma Chao's attributes.

However, speed and health can be considered as being combined with Ma Chao's.

In other words, after Ma Chao rides Li Feisha, his actual health is equivalent to 120% of his own health, which is 100% of his own health plus 20% of the horse's health.

Whether attacking Ma Chao himself or attacking Ma, it all comes down to this 120%.

However, Li Feisha will only die and Ma Chao will only fall from his horse when his health is reduced to 70%.

Ma Chao himself landed with 70% of his strength intact.

He then tested the practical effectiveness of horseback riding in combat.

First, there is the advantage in attack.

Once mounted on horseback, Ma Chao's attack starting point was naturally much higher.

The attack angles of spear fighting have changed from the horizontal thrusts and upward slashes used in foot combat to thrusts and downward slashes from a high position, giving it a natural advantage against monsters of moderate height.

When the spear tip is thrust downwards, the force is greater and it is easier to hit the vital parts.

Then there's the advantage of charging forward.

Don't be fooled by the mere 20% increase in speed; once you start charging, the momentum is significantly stronger than a normal attack.

Of course, every advantage has its disadvantages.

The first disadvantage is the limitation of the venue.

During the day, you need to hunt in the wild. Most of the monster strongholds in the wasteland are located in narrow places such as caves, valleys, and grottoes.

In this terrain, fighting on horseback would actually become a constraint.

At night, they had to guard their territory, but this was also hindered by the city walls.

His territory was so small, and it was hard to brake on horseback; a single charge could send him crashing straight into the wall.

The second disadvantage is flexibility.

In close-quarters combat, foot combat is indeed more agile than horseback combat.

Moreover, some small and agile monsters are not easy to deal with while riding a horse.

For example, goblins and gnomes should be able to crawl under a horse's belly.

Overall, however, the advantages definitely outweigh the disadvantages.

If all else fails, even just having Ma Chao ride a horse and stand on a stake would be fine.

Anyway, you can enjoy extra health bars and stronger minions.

No matter how you calculate it, you won't lose money.

"Speaking of which... Li Feisha was Ma Chao's exclusive mount in the legend."

"Judging from the consistency of these heroic spirits, they will most likely all have their own mount attributes."

"Liu Bei's Dilu, Zhang Fei's Black Cloud Treading Snow, Zhao Yun's Jade Lion Shining at Night, Huang Zhong's Wildfire..."

"But both Guan Yu and Lü Bu rode Red Hare. I wonder if we'll see both Red Hare racing at the same time."

Dawn couldn't help but look forward to that scene with a strange sense of anticipation.

However, this is just speculation; it remains to be seen when Guan Yu and Lü Bu will be able to awaken their mount attributes.

After completing Ma Chao's upgrade, Li Ming took out the last upgrade card.

This is a choice of one of seven upgrade cards from the Summoner's level-up rewards.

He had already decided on his choice of this upgrade card.

Zhao Yun, a character from the Wind Chaser faction.

The reasons are similar to those for choosing Ma Chao: both the Stone Monkey and Zhuge Liang are LV3, while Zhao Yun is LV4.

The difference in skill level is obvious, and Zhao Yun has already proven his worth in previous battles.

They can do everything: flank and cut off the backline, fill gaps in defense, harass and pursue.

Upgrading Zhao Yun should provide a greater boost to his immediate combat power than upgrading Stone Monkey or Zhuge Liang.

……

……