CHAPTER 616: CHAPTER 615: TO KEEP ONESELF PURE

Fortunately, Zhang Yanhang was really just a little disappointed, after all, he had only just leveled up to S rank, and expecting it to undergo a transformation at this point might indeed be asking too much of it. However, the upcoming SS rank would be different. Based on his rich experience with leveling up talents, he was certain that the SS rank would bring about changes.

Therefore, in order to elevate his Rhythm Talent to SS rank, he had to work hard on the second phase of the Demonized Swamp clearing plan. But that was something to tackle after waking up. For the time being, he couldn’t go to sleep just yet.

Before going to bed, Zhang Yanhang first opened his status panel and took a look.

[Name: Zhang Yanhang (Second Tier)]

[Race: Human]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 20]

[Profession: Heavenly Destiny Master]

[Level: LV.20 (0/4)]

[Soul points: 79914 (+5)]

[Shield Value: 6808/6808 (Life Value Limit × 210%, recovery rate: 20% per second.)]

[Life Value: 3242/3242 (Constitution × 21, current body has officially been digitized, Life Value recovery rate, 15 points per hour.)]

[Energy Value: 2720/2720 (Intelligence × 21, current body has officially been digitized, Energy Value recovery rate, 48 points per hour.)]

[Strength: 50 (+6[-7])]

[Agility: 50 (+6[-6])]

[Constitution: 50 (+6[-6])]

[Intelligence: 50 (+6[-11])]

[Charm: 50 (+19)]

[Luck: ??? (This attribute is a hidden attribute.)]

[Talent: 1. Multiple Choice (???). 2. Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea (SS rank). 3. Bear Power (S rank). 4. Mature Scroll Dragon [Bloodline Purification] (SS rank). 5. Earth Rhythm (S rank).]

[Skill: 1. Limitless Universe Skill [Second Tier] LV.MAX (Passive/Active). 2. Alchemy (Active skill). 3. Gun Mastery LV.6 (Passive skill). 4. Fighting Master LV.5 (Passive skill). 5. Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil·Original LV.6 (Passive/Active). 6. Technique Immunity·Original LV.6 (Passive skill). 7. Death Wave LV.MAX (Passive/Active). 8. Supreme Will LV.MAX (Passive skill). 9. Indestructible Golden Body LV.MAX (Passive/Active).]

"The changes to the status panel this time were indeed significant, from the profession level to the soul points balance, to the limits of Life Value and Shield Value, all had changed; plus, the attribute values, the talent levels, and the skill levels had all seen changes. In short, everything from top to bottom had undergone change."

Although, in theory, Zhang Yanhang’s soul points should not have increased due to a lack of income, he happened to kill five zombies while testing earlier, which added five more soul points to his balance, growing from 79909 to 79914 soul points.

"The Rhythm Talent has finally been upgraded to S rank this time, making it blend in better with the other talents on my list. Now they’re all S and SS ranks, which is very nice."

But even though S rank may seem harmonious for the moment, what Zhang Yanhang truly wished to see were talents upgraded to SS rank or even SSS rank; that would be even more harmonious. Especially SSS rank—if he rounded up and gave an extra ’S’ to Bear Power, he could barely consider all his talents as SS rank. It’s just unfortunate that upgrading to SSS rank is indeed quite difficult.

"Right now, Fighting Master LV.MAX has already been promoted to Fighting Grandmaster LV.5, and the next step is to upgrade to Fighting Grandmaster LV.6. After reaching LV.6, as usual, the added additional attributes will definitely provide me a large bonus to melee attack power."

Zhang Yanhang estimated that after completing the second phase of the cleanup plan of the Demonized Swamp, he should definitely be able to gather enough soul points to raise Fighting Grandmaster to LV.6. Moreover, by then he might also manage to collect the soul points needed to level up Indestructible Golden Body LV.MAX to Original LV.6.

After all, the Eastern Forest, the area for phase two, had a vast expanse of 130 square kilometers—20 square kilometers larger than the Goblin Plain, equivalent to three Raccoon Cities, and was bound to be teeming with monsters, certainly more than what he had just cleared out in the Southern Forest.

After checking the status panel, Zhang Yanhang did not rush to sleep but first tidied up the various items on the bed, especially those he had just gotten from the treasure box, and then packed them all into his waist bag. Next, he took out a large chunk of Refined Crimson Iron from the waist bag.

And why did he suddenly take out the Refined Crimson Iron at this time? Naturally, because he hadn’t forgotten his earlier intention, before going to bed, to reinforce the rickety wooden bed.

In fact, the current state of the rickety wooden bed was already the result of Zhang Yanhang’s previous reinforcement. After all, because he had been uncomfortable sleeping, he had used alchemy to modify it, and of course, he also took the opportunity to strengthen it then.

Otherwise, this shabby bed could barely support Zhang Yanhang’s own weight, let alone the additional hundreds of kilograms from the Demon Ape Leg Armor; it would have definitely collapsed on the spot.

But now, feeling that the old wooden bed was still not sturdy enough, Zhang Yanhang activated his alchemy skill once more and wrapped another layer of Refined Crimson Iron around the exterior of the old wooden bed.

As a second-tier material of blue quality, Zhang Yanhang believed that with the support of Refined Crimson Iron, the old wooden bed would not collapse under the weight of several hundred pieces of equipment. He didn’t dare to claim it could support much more, but reaching his initial goal of one or two tons should definitely be no problem at all.

After all, it was simply about bearing weight, not defending against an attack of one or two tons of force. If it were defending against an attack, then it surely couldn’t withstand it, and he estimated that one punch would shatter the old wooden bed on the spot.

After completing the modifications, Zhang Yanhang also adjusted the mattress. After all, compared to the wooden bed itself, the mattress was actually the biggest factor in determining comfort. He made the mattress thicker and softer, which would also help absorb some of the weight.

Although Zhang Yanhang’s method was indeed crude, with so much Refined Crimson Iron on the old wooden bed, it was now truly a piece of blue quality equipment—in everything but name. It’s just that this "blue equipment" couldn’t be carried around like other regular equipment, and it wasn’t very convenient to move.

But ordinary people generally don’t carry their beds out the door anyway, so that need could be completely ignored. Although lying in bed and hunting monsters sounded unexpectedly nice, and with Zhang Yanhang’s ability, it was indeed possible, considering the energy consumption of the Flying Technique, he still gave up on this bold idea.

After dealing with the mattress, Zhang Yanhang lay down contentedly on the old wooden bed, or rather the Crimson Ironwood Bed, and closed his eyes in peace. Nearly two hours had passed since he cleared the Southern Forest, and it was almost two in the morning. It was indeed time to go to bed early.

Zhang Yanhang remembered that he had gone to bed after three in the morning the day before, and today he was over an hour earlier. His daily routine was indeed gradually becoming healthier, although for him, any routine was not really important since it was definitely impossible for him to die from staying up late.

Perhaps because he was very tired, and very accustomed to the old wooden bed, Zhang Yanhang fell into a deep sleep less than half a minute after closing his eyes.

...

October 26, Monday, the day after Double Ninth Festival, and also the second day Zhang Yanhang had been in the Ashen World. At 10:55 AM, Raccoon City, Dulda Apartment, Unit 301.

Lying in bed sound asleep, Zhang Yanhang suddenly opened his eyes, not because of an alarm clock nor because of any triggered option, but simply because he had slept until he naturally woke up. After waking up, he took out a bottle of mineral water from his Waist Bag and drank half of it straight away. Even as a Second Tier Awakened, he still needed to pay attention to staying hydrated.

After drinking half a bottle of mineral water, Zhang Yanhang lifted his hand to check the time on his watch and discovered that he probably woke up early because he was equipped with the Grey Maned Arm Guard, having not slept for long. "I remember I worked for almost eleven hours yesterday, and now I’ve only slept for nine hours before waking up. It’s not even eleven o’clock yet."

"It’s five minutes to eleven, and although the Eastern Forest to be cleared in the second stage covers an area of one hundred thirty square kilometers, which is forty kilometers more than the Southern Forest yesterday – equivalent to the area of an additional Raccoon City.

"But I had just upgraded my Talent Level before going to sleep, and thanks to the speed increase from my Rhythm Talent and the ability of ’As Flat As A Pancake,’ I might be able to clear the entire Eastern Forest within the remaining thirteen hours of the day."

Thinking this, Zhang Yanhang immediately sat up from the bed. Having fully rested, he now had to continue his effort to cleanse the Demonized Swamp. During the process, he could conveniently test his current hunting efficiency, which he was sure had improved significantly from before.

After briefly sitting on the bed to clear his mind, Zhang Yanhang immediately switched all his equipment back to normal and rushed out the window again. Though he always kept the keys to Dulda Apartment’s main gate in his waist bag, recently Zhang Yanhang had grown lazy about going through the proper entrance, finding it bothersome.

Moreover, he had previously locked the doors and windows before leaving out of concern that Lickers might crawl in, but now, he couldn’t be bothered with that either. It didn’t matter if the windows were left open; ordinary zombies didn’t even spawn around Dulda Apartment, let alone the much rarer Lickers.

And if a Licker did appear, the main door and glass windows would hardly stop their attacks—they could only delay unconscious zombies at best. So, under such circumstances, locking the doors and windows seemed rather meaningless, which is why Zhang Yanhang had recently given up on that practice.

Furthermore, Zhang Yanhang had also noticed lately that monsters didn’t seem very interested in the location of Teleportation Gates, or rather, they instinctively avoided the area around them. After clearing the initial monsters around the Transmission Channel, only a few scattered monsters would occasionally wander nearby.

And it really was just wandering—they didn’t attempt to approach the Transmission Channel actively. Zhang Yanhang didn’t know why this was the case. He could only speculate that perhaps the rules of the Ashen World placed some restriction on these monsters, inciting fervent interest in the Teleportation Channel only after it had been permanently opened, causing them to swarm through and flood into the Main World in mass.

As for the specifics, Zhang Yanhang was clueless. He thought he might ask the group owner or Zhou Muxi about it once he returned to the Main World. Zhang Yanhang was quite interested in the Permanent Teleportation Channel, or rather, he paid it a lot of attention.

After all, the issue of the Permanent Teleportation Channel was tied to the survival of the Empire and the future of humanity. Once aware, it was difficult for anyone to remain indifferent. Although Zhang Yanhang’s dream was to retire as a powerhouse with a laid-back mentality, if the Empire and humanity ceased to exist, his retirement life would certainly be far less enjoyable.

Therefore, even someone as reclusive as Zhang Yanhang, who preferred to improve his strength through arduous cultivation, couldn’t help but pay attention to such matters. Despite being merely a Third Tier Awakened after returning to the Main World, he still felt obliged to contribute to its peace.

Or rather, he was prepared to have Zhou Muxi assist in eliminating some monsters at a Permanent Teleportation Channel after he got back. This plan had already been formed in his mind. His main objective was to gather more Soul points through the Teleportation Gate to upgrade his Profession Level and Skill Level, especially since he was sure to lack Soul points after promoting to the Third Tier.

Zhang Yanhang believed that whether it was before or after the recovery of Spiritual Qi, or even in any other world, strength always determined everything. So, regardless of whether the Empire was on the brink of destruction or humanity was facing extinction, striving to enhance one’s power was undoubtedly the right decision.

As long as one was strong enough, even if it was impossible to save the Empire or humanity, at least saving oneself was doable. After all, benefiting the world might be difficult, but being self-sufficient was certainly not hard for a devoted cultivator like Zhang Yanhang.

Of course, the downfall of the Empire and the extinction of humanity were still very distant futures, utterly unpredictable. Zhang Yanhang was just contemplating the possibilities.

Moreover, to be honest, he thought that at his current rate of progression, by the time the Empire couldn’t contain the Permanent Teleportation Channel, he might already be at the Fifth or even Sixth Tier. Hence, there really wasn’t much need to worry about his own safety.