CHAPTER 613: CHAPTER 612 A-LEVEL TALENT [LIFE PULSE]

For example, he felt like the Chief Shaman Goblin, Maka Bagga, who had been fully buffed with the Activated Muscles BUFF twice before, could no longer inflict any damage on him.

Moreover, some Second Tier Four-star Monsters without Burst Skills should also be unable to hurt him, so it was indeed accurate to call it invincibility among the same tier, although he had already achieved this minor goal long ago. However, that was in terms of overall strength, and this was just purely about invincibility in defensive power among the same tier.

"By the way, I just remembered something. The Demonized Dogtooth Giant Ape’s skill sometimes includes Armor Penetration Effect, and the Demon Ape Leg Armor happens to be Equipment that increases defensive power. Good grief, is this backstabbing me? It’s perfect for using Armor Penetration to counter the defense bonus..."

After looking at the issue from a different angle, Zhang Yanhang suddenly felt that the world was full of malice against him.

This time, Zhang Yanhang obtained a total of two hundred and sixty-four pieces of Demon Ape Leg Armor. Just now, in order to fuse the Dark Purple Quality Demon Ape Leg Armor +6, it cost him two hundred and fifty-six pieces of Demon Ape Leg Armor, leaving eight pieces. Just enough to fuse into a Demon Ape Leg Armor +3—but Zhang Yanhang chose to refuse.

"Originally, I had one Demon Ape Leg Armor +4 and seven ordinary Demon Ape Leg Armors totaling up to twenty-three pieces. Counting the eight pieces left this time, that makes thirty-one pieces of Demon Ape Leg Armor. I’m just one ordinary Demon Ape Leg Armor short of being able to exactly fuse a Demon Ape Leg Armor +5.

Unfortunately, I’ve almost killed all the Demonized Dogtooth Giant Apes in the Demonized Swamp, so if I want to continue acquiring Demon Ape Leg Armor, I can only hope for the third prize pool of the Lucky Slot Machine in the Demonized Swamp.

However, even if I could fuse a new Demon Ape Leg Armor +5, it wouldn’t really be of any use to me, so this Demon Ape Leg Armor +5 is just something to handle conveniently without needing too much attention."

After checking the Attribute list of the Dark Purple Quality Demon Ape Leg Armor +6, Zhang Yanhang immediately took off the Demon Ape Leg Armor +4 originally equipped on his knees and instantly replaced it with the higher Quality Demon Ape Leg Armor +6. Then, he packed the removed Demon Ape Leg Armor +4 and the eight ordinary Demon Ape Leg Armors left over into his Waist Bag.

After dealing with the last kind of Equipment, the Demon Ape Leg Armor, Zhang Yanhang had finally completed the inventory of gains from Equipment. Next was the most important inventory of Talents, which was also the last gain he obtained from the Treasure box. After inventorying the Talents, he would be able to sleep and rest.

First, it was the benefits from the Subordinate Talent "Slow Corrosion" from Raccoon City. This time, Zhang Yanhang obtained five "Slow Corrosion" Talents in total.

Previously, Zhang Yanhang had one hundred and twenty-five Slow Corrosion left. Counting the five new ones, he now had one hundred and thirty Slow Corrosion in total.

"One hundred thirty Slow Corrosion is quite a lot in some ways. It would allow me to promote my Talent from Grade E to Grade A directly. However, to upgrade the SS Grade Talent ’Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea’ to SSS Grade, it requires 2,187 Slow Corrosion. After deducting these 130 Slow Corrosion, I am still short of 2,057 Slow Corrosion to upgrade the Talent further.

Although the gap of 2,057 Slow Corrosion is indeed a lot, I’ve gradually started to see some hope lately."

To solve the shortage of Slow Corrosion, Zhang Yanhang specifically asked the group leader for Talisman paper that could repair the Transmission Channel, and now the Talisman paper had been operating for a day.

He had just scanned it, and the blue energy, which served as a progress bar at the bottom of the talisman paper, was no longer just a thin line, but had already covered about one-fifth of the entire talisman paper. Based on the current situation, it should take only four more days to successfully repair the abandoned Transmission Channel in the sewer.

However, Zhang Yanhang could only stay in the Ashen World for three more days, so the specific results of the talisman paper repair would only be experienced when he returned to the Ashen World next time. Fortunately, he had not planned to clear the area opposite the Transmission Channel this time, so it was not a major issue.

Speaking of clearing, he was still under some pressure to clear the entire Demonized Swamp within the remaining three days. So even if he could repair it earlier, he wouldn’t have the time to go in and clean up.

Although he couldn’t verify it this time, the area opposite the Transmission Channel was likely the region related to the Slow Corrosion Talent that Zhang Yanhang had long anticipated, or perhaps another new area related to zombies, where he would continue to elevate his SS-grade Talent "Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea" in that new region.

So, although the gap in Slow Corrosion was indeed quite substantial, it didn’t seem so in the face of a new area; it could definitely be filled easily, perhaps even elevating it to an SSS grade or higher shouldn’t be too much of a problem.

In addition to the five Slow Corrosion talents, Zhang Yanhang also opened up nine E-grade Talents "Thin Dragon Vein (Mixed)" from the Goblin Plain this time.

Previously, Zhang Yanhang had a total of 281 Thin Dragon Veins, and with the nine Thin Dragon Veins obtained this time, he now had a total of 290.

"Currently, my SS-grade Talent ’Mature Scroll Dragon (Bloodline Purification)’ also needs 2187 talents to upgrade, and I currently have only just about one-eighth more than the upgrade requirement with the Thin Dragon Veins in my possession; I’m still short of 1897 Thin Dragon Veins to elevate the Scroll Dragon Bloodline to SSS grade."

Although the gap in Slow Corrosion didn’t really need to be worried about, the Thin Dragon Veins genuinely needed some concern. After all, he had found a relevant new area for Slow Corrosion, but the situation for Thin Dragon Veins was unclear, and no relevant new area had been found yet. However, Zhang Yanhang was not particularly worried about this matter.

Mainly because worrying was useless, as such matters could only be resolved when reaching the Third Tier. Even if he could find a new area now, he wouldn’t have the time to address it, so it indeed could only be resolved once he reached the Third Tier.

Anyway, relying solely on the Goblin Plain was definitely not enough to elevate the Scroll Dragon Bloodline to SSS grade, as even with the current drop rate, Zhang Yanhang would need to kill forty thousand Big Saber Goblins to gather the Thin Dragon Veins required for the upgrade, which is twice the designated amount of the Goblin Plain.

And by the time he reached the Third Tier, he might need to kill eighty thousand to gather enough, which is four times the designated amount of the Goblin Plain. Therefore, it seemed utterly unrealistic to rely solely on the Goblin Plain to elevate the Scroll Dragon Bloodline to SS grade.

After noting down the quantities of Slow Corrosion and Thin Dragon Veins, Zhang Yanhang counted the last type of talent, that is, the number of D-grade Talents "Prehistoric Giant Beast" from the Demonized Swamp. This time, he ultimately obtained 264 Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents.

After Zhang Yanhang had upgraded the B-grade Talent "Life Pulse" last time, he still had twenty-four Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents left. If he counted the 264 Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents he had just opened, then he now had a total of 288 Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents.

"To upgrade the B-grade Talent ’Life Pulse’ to S-grade, it only requires twenty-seven Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents; it seems that I should be able to directly upgrade the Talent to S-grade this time. However, for SS-grade, I might still need to wait a bit, probably until after completing the second-tier clearing plan to gather enough numbers."

"Now that there are enough Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents, let’s hasten to upgrade the Talent Level," Zhang Yanhang said as he counted twenty-seven dark green small light balls from the small pile of Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents beside him and squeezed them all.

[Detected the existence of a Subordinate Talent ’Life Pulse,’ which is a B-level Talent in your Talent list, do you want to merge them?]

"Yes, merge."

Zhang Yanhang remembered that when the Scroll Dragon Bloodline upgraded from C-level to B-level previously, it had mutated from [Scroll Dragon Bloodline (Young Dragon)] into [Young Scroll Dragon (Bloodline Purification)], resulting in an increase in the strength of the Scroll Dragon Bloodline.

Therefore, although this time it was upgrading from B-level to A-level, Zhang Yanhang still hoped that a mutation would occur during this upgrade process, making the Talent Ability of Life Pulse even stronger. Although the probability was small, there was indeed a certain chance for it to happen, so Zhang Yanhang still silently prayed for it.

Besides hoping for a mutation in talents, Zhang Yanhang also wished that the Movement Speed increase granted by Life Pulse could somehow be enhanced as well, though the probability might even be smaller than that of a mutation occurring.

[Merge complete.]

[You have obtained an A-level Talent ’Life Rhythm’.]

"Life Rhythm? It feels like the naming format is still similar to before; just from this name alone, it seems there definitely wasn’t any mutation this time."

Although there indeed hadn’t been a mutation in the Talent, Zhang Yanhang wasn’t too confident about it in the first place; therefore, even though it failed, it was still okay.

"However, this new Life Rhythm, in terms of the range of the Rhythm coverage, has indeed expanded a lot compared to the previous B-level Life Pulse; after all, ’all living things have a spirit,’ hence the name ’Life Rhythm.’

Considering the massive coverage of ’all things,’ it’s indeed much bigger than just the coverage of life, or rather, much much bigger."

Compared to the previous B-level Talent Life Pulse, which only covered carbon-based life, digital life, and virtual life, Zhang Yanhang’s newly upgraded A-level Talent Life Rhythm had spread its Rhythm range to inanimate objects like tables, stools, and water bottles. Naturally, the range was now incredibly wide.

"Although the first small wish for a mutation indeed failed, the second small wish, the one with even smaller odds of enhancing the Movement Speed boost, could still possibly be achieved, although the chance is really small."

After silently praying again, Zhang Yanhang opened the Talent Effect of A-level [Life Rhythm] and started checking it.

[Life Rhythm]

[Quality: A (0/81)]

[Ability One: Bodybuilding—Charm +3 (+1).]

[Ability Two: Aerobic Exercise—In an environment with oxygen (no limit on oxygen molecule concentration), Movement Speed +60% (+15%).]

[Ability Three: Outdoor Sports—In outdoor solid environments (including but not limited to deserts, tundras, swamps...) the negative impact (mobile) is reduced by 100% (+10%).]

"After upgrading the B-level Biological Rhythm to A-level Life Rhythm, it cost me twenty-seven D-level Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents, and if I want to continue upgrading the A-level Life Rhythm to S-level, I’ll need to use eighty-one Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents."

Although Zhang Yanhang had just consumed twenty-seven Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents to upgrade the Talent level, he still had two hundred and sixty-one left. Perhaps it wouldn’t be possible to upgrade directly to SS-level, but simply upgrading to S-level was indeed still very easy.

"This time after upgrading Biological Rhythm to A-level Life Rhythm, the Charm Attribute has increased once again, changing from the original Charm Attribute +2 to Charm Attribute +3. I was initially just short of two points to reach the fifty-point Second Tier limit, but now it seems this little goal should be achieved directly this time."

Compared to Ability One’s Bodybuilding, Zhang Yanhang cared more about the increased Movement Speed from Ability Two’s Aerobic Exercise.

"Previously, Ability Two Aerobic Exercise could only provide a 45% enhancement in Movement Speed, but now it has increased to 60%, an increase of 15% in Movement Speed enhancement, the same as before. Sigh, the second small wish also failed."

Both small wishes having failed, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but sigh.

"The previous Ability Three Outdoor Sports could reduce 90% of the negative impacts related to Movement, but this time it has gone a step further, increasing by another 10% to directly reduce 100% of Movement-related negative impacts, allowing me to be completely immune to the negative impacts of Movement."

Zhang Yanhang initially thought that something like a hundred percent immunity might only be achievable when upgraded to SS-level, but he didn’t expect that it would be achieved at just A-level.

"Just A-level and already a hundred percent immune to movement-related negative effects; what then could the subsequent S-level and SS-level possibly enhance? Could it provide additional effect bonuses? Or just continuously reduce the Movement-related negative effects?"

Previously, with ninety percent weakening of negative effects, Zhang Yanhang could almost completely ignore the negative impacts caused by the soft ground in the Demonized Swamp, and this time, he could completely ignore the negative impacts brought by the humus layer in the forest environments, allowing him to fully perform his normal Movement Speed wherever he goes next.