CHAPTER 614: CHAPTER 613 S-LEVEL TALENT [EARTH RHYTHM]

After examining the effects of the A-Level Talent Life Rhythm, Zhang Yanhang did not rush to continue upgrading his Talent Level; instead, he wanted to test something. Although it was not explicitly mentioned in the Talent Effect, after he had upgraded the Talent to A-Level, he seemed to have acquired some sort of new ability.

Zhang Yanhang stood up from the bed and then placed one foot on the glass of the window, followed by his other foot.

This type of ordinary glass from the nineties should have been completely unable to withstand Zhang Yanhang’s weight without shattering, but now, Zhang Yanhang was standing steadily on this old, somewhat scratched piece of glass, as if he had suddenly defied gravity.

At this moment, his body was at a ninety-degree angle, perpendicular to the dilapidated wooden bed, and that piece of nineties ordinary window glass seemed to have a magnetic force that firmly adhered Zhang Yanhang’s soles to it, and it remained completely unbroken.

Zhang Yanhang tried walking a few steps upward, but the glass still did not shatter, so he gradually increased his speed and walked from the window next to the bed all the way up to the wall above it, and then steadfastly along the wall, onto the somewhat unfamiliar gray-white ceiling of Room 301.

From a normal perspective, at this point, Zhang Yanhang’s entire body was practically upside down on the ceiling, clearly without any support, but his soles were firmly stuck to that old, dusty gray-white ceiling.

Moreover, while Zhang Yanhang was using Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil to carefully scan his landing spot on the ceiling, he found that there was not the slightest bit of energy fluctuation, as if the rules had simply changed, repairing the bug that had previously prevented him from walking vertically or upside down.

Because the room was somewhat restrictive for movement, Zhang Yanhang then ran outside the window to test further, and he discovered that no matter the angle of movement, as long as there was solid matter under his feet, he could maintain full-speed movement.

He could even use a moving zombie’s body as a roadway for full-speed movement, stepping into it from the front of the foot, then flipping over its head to step on its back, and then re-entering the ground from the heel.

During this time, however, the zombie’s actions were completely unaffected; it instinctively lunged forward with its teeth bared, clawing at the air because it saw Zhang Yanhang, maintaining its normal movement speed, completely ignoring the weight of Zhang Yanhang standing on its head.

After completing the test, Zhang Yanhang returned to the room and sat on the old wooden bed of Room 301, pondering the issue.

"This mysterious ability that suddenly appeared, which truly allows one to ’walk as on flat ground’ irrespective of the position, must be because the Talent upgraded to A-Level earlier and Ability Three Outdoor Sports completely became 100% immune to negative movement-related effects, and that’s why I can achieve this effect now."

Although there were other possibilities, such as his little wish suddenly being realized, and the Talent indeed mutating, the 100% immunity to negative movement-related effects seemed more plausible.

"I had always felt that 100% immunity to negative movement-related effects should bring about some special changes, but I never expected to gain this ability to freely move on any terrain, or rather, any solid material."

Zhang Yanhang felt as if he had suddenly lost mass while moving, as his soles were solidly stepping on either the glass or the body of a zombie, yet causing no destruction at all, the reactive forces, that scientific aspect of things seemed suddenly to be treated as a bug and directly eliminated.

Of course, this elimination was quite subjective. As long as Zhang Yanhang wished, he could still move normally, or he could suddenly kick the zombie head he was stepping on during his movement. Just now, two zombies had their heads crushed by Zhang Yanhang in this manner.

Therefore, overall, as a mysterious side Ability that completely disregards rules, "As Flat As A Pancake" was extremely subjective and thus very useful. Compared to the scientific side, it could be said to be utterly illogical, and there was also no energy consumption or energy fluctuations involved.

Regarding the absence of energy consumption, Zhang Yanhang felt it was rather normal, or rather, he was accustomed to it since his Talents never required energy consumption.

For instance, the classic Multiple Choice passive trigger option didn’t need any Energy Value, nor did the Double Strike triggered by Bear Power which was even stronger than his own attacks, which also never consumed any Energy Value.

Similarly, the Spell List related to Scroll Dragon Bloodline involved a fixed eight times of free spell casts daily, also illogically requiring no Energy Value at all. With so many spells relying on Zhang Yanhang to use his own Energy Value, his Energy Value would definitely be insufficient.

Thus, the fact that these small abilities attached to his Talents did not require any Energy Value consumption was not surprising at all to Zhang Yanhang; it was an old tradition.

Moreover, besides Talents, many of his Skills also belonged to the same type that didn’t consume any Energy Value, such as the classic defensive passive Skills like Technique Immunity and Supreme Will. Supreme Will might be excusable, since it was seldom used.

But for Technique Immunity, whether it was generating an Energy Shield, maintaining an Energy Shield, repairing an Energy Shield, or changing the Energy Shield—all did not require any energy consumption. Compared to regular Skills, it was almost as fixed as a Talent.

Although passive Skills naturally belonged to the type that didn’t require energy consumption, Zhang Yanhang still found it quite outrageous.

"This newly acquired Ability feels like it could significantly improve my monster-hunting efficiency, especially since I can directly walk over obstacles instead of going around them. This is indirectly an increase in Movement Speed and saves the time needed to move."

However, how much this Talent Effect, which wasn’t shown specifically, could enhance Zhang Yanhang’s monster-hunting efficiency would only be known during the actual hunting process.

After testing the new Ability, Zhang Yanhang glanced at his watch, "Previously, opening the treasure box and checking the gains took half an hour, fusing Equipment took another hour, and just now, going out for the test took another dozen minutes. It’s almost 2 o’clock now, so it’s best to upgrade my Talent and then go to sleep."

Zhang Yanhang counted eighty-one dark green Small Light Balls from the small pile on the bed, then crushed them in batches. As he crushed the last dark green Small Light Ball, the deeply familiar notification sound finally rang in Zhang Yanhang’s ear.

[Detected an A-tier Talent "Life Pulse" in your Talent list, which is a Subordinate Talent of "Rhythm Talent". Would you like to merge Talents?]

"Yes, merge."

Just like the last time he upgraded his talent, Zhang Yanhang still had two small wishes this time as well; however, he had given up on the wish from last time hoping for a mutation in the Rhythm Talent. After all, relying on mutations indeed wasn’t reliable; he had upgraded four talents already, and only the Scroll Dragon Bloodline had mutated.

Therefore, rather than hoping for such exceptional cases, it was better to hope that after upgrading the Rhythm Talent to S-level, Ability Three Outdoor Sports might once again derive some more useful abilities during the upgrade process. Since he had been successful once after just upgrading to A-level, the probability of this occurring must be far more reliable than hoping for a mutation.

Besides hoping for Ability Three Outdoor Sports to continue deriving new abilities, Zhang Yanhang’s second wish was the same as before; he still hoped that the increase in the Movement Speed bonus from Ability Two Aerobic Exercise could become even greater. Even though it was already very substantial, human desires are boundless, and certainly when it comes to Movement Speed bonuses, the more, the better.

[Merge complete.]

[You have obtained S-level talent "Earth Rhythm".]

"Hmm? Earth Rhythm? How is it different from the previous life, living, and creature-related Rhythm Talents that started with biota-related characters? Could it have mutated? No way, no way, right? Could that previous small wish have been realized here? But it’s also not certain; maybe it’s just a change in name.

After all, the scope of Earth Rhythm would definitely be broader than the previous Rhythm Talent; previously, life, living, and creature each time seemed to increase geometrically, and this time, the coverage expanded perhaps to an even higher degree.

After all, just the mass of a small mountain would require the equivalent of millions, if not tens of millions of humans, and even more if converted to other life forms, life forms in front of the earth are just a speck of dust on the planet."

Although he did not know if this was a mutation this time, from the name change of this talent alone, he felt that this talent change would probably be much stronger than before; although it was only S-level and would not continue to grow new abilities like SS-level, there should be some other changes.

"Speaking of this Earth Rhythm, the ability from the previous A-level Rhythm Talent which allowed spontaneous traversal on solid materials after the upgrade fits very well with the name of the upgraded Earth Rhythm. Maybe that ability will continue to strengthen after the upgrade?"

Zhang Yanhang thought for a moment and felt that it was quite possible.

"Now that the upgrade is completed, I might as well check the effects of the S-level talent Earth Rhythm soon." As he spoke, Zhang Yanhang opened the Talent Effect of Earth Rhythm, looking forward to its effects quite eagerly.

[Earth Rhythm]

[Quality: S (0/243)]

[Ability One: Bodybuilding—Charm +4 (+1).]

[Ability Two: Aerobic Exercise—Movement Speed +75% (+15%) within an environment containing oxygen (unlimited oxygen molecule concentration).]

[Ability Three: Outdoor Sports—Negative impacts (Movement) reduced by 110% (+10%) in outdoor solid environments (including but not limited to deserts, tundras, swamps...).]

"A-level Talent Rhythm Talent after being upgraded to S-level Talent Earth Rhythm saw another increase in charm attribute in Ability One Bodybuilding, taking the charm attribute bonus from the original +3 to +4.

Originally I was just two attribute points away from reaching the fifty points that make up the Second Tier Limit of charm attribute. After two consecutive talent level promotions, I have finally managed to complete this goal which I thought I would only achieve after being promoted to Third Tier."

While the charm attribute is indeed useful to him, Zhang Yanhang still had not figured out why this series of rhythm talents derived from prehistoric giant beasts would turn out to be a charming series talent that increases charm attributes; it really baffled him deeply.

However, during his recent contemplations, he realized that maybe this rhythm series talent could also lightly explain why there would be a charm series talent associated with movement speed.

Because he suddenly realized that although it seemed unusual for such prehistoric creatures, it might seem very normal for elves.

After all, his inherent impression of elves, or what most people might stubbornly stereotype, is that elves are definitely those beautiful and agile rangers skilled in archery. If this talent actually pertains to a talent related to elves, then it appears extremely normal.

And, if you wonder why Zhang Yanhang suddenly thought about elves, it’s because the item descriptions around the Demonized Swamp have continuously mentioned elves.

Especially the High Elves, as the ultimate form of their weaker descendants and rulers of the First Epoch, they are said to be capable in ten areas, excelling in magic, melee, and countless other aspects to their limits.

After all, the lifespan measured in millennia and genetic advantages allow them to master anything extraordinarily well and reach an ultimate form of mastery.

But, although he had realized that the Earth Rhythm talent should be related to elves, Zhang Yanhang still absolutely couldn’t figure out why the Demonized Swamp would be related to elves.

The Demonized Swamp was just a selection of ordinary demonized prehistoric creatures, and beyond both being biological entities, it’s quite hard to find any other commonality.

One was an evolutionary incomplete beast, whereas the other evolved to quite a high level, even completely surpassing various humanoid creatures. No matter how he thought about it, there was no comparability and there should not be any connection.

After carefully pondering for a while longer, Zhang Yanhang finally gave up thinking again; after all, some things really cannot be figured out just by thinking, and obtaining more information might be the only way to discern the true answer.