Ashen God
Chapter 276 - 275 [Limitless Universe Skill LV.5]

Chapter 276: Chapter 275 [Limitless Universe Skill LV.5]

"Man, I wonder if Ashen World has any densely populated humanoid monster habitats. If there are, I could unleash the Death Wave Skill dozens of times. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Even if each monster was only worth one soul point, I could still harvest at least five digits worth of soul points in a short time..."

Unfortunately, although Zhang Yanhang’s idea was indeed enticing, implementing it proved difficult. So far, he had not encountered any regular humanoid monsters. The only ones that came close were zombies, while goblins or Crimson Iron ants were clearly not like humans at all.

"I’m not sure if I can use Multiple Choice to search for such monster regions. The odds seem slim, and even if I find them, that would only be after I’ve cleared out the Crimson Iron Ant Nest. The transmission channels are shut down now, so I can’t go anywhere except for staying here in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest."

Zhang Yanhang decided that once he finished upgrading his skills, he would immediately continue with his plan to clear the Crimson Iron Ant Nest. He was already twenty years old, a legitimate adult man, and also a computer major. Laziness in bed was simply out of the question for someone like him.

After reviewing the Skill Effect of Death Wave at LV.MAX, Zhang Yanhang reopened his soul point balance.

[Soul points: 10539 (-24000)]

"Grinding these thirty thousand-plus soul points took me over ten hours, but spending them only takes a few seconds. When will Multiple Choice finally get smart and eliminate the cost of autonomous selections too? Then I could prove my path and retire early."

Because of his fear of the Spiritual Qi Recovery, Zhang Yanhang felt he needed to reach the undying phase before he could officially retire.

Otherwise, even if his strength was raised to the Fifth Tier or even Sixth Tier, he was still at risk of becoming a collateral victim, a tragic casualty. He definitely did not want to end up in such a dismal situation.

In fact, a significant reason why Zhang Yanhang was so eager to enhance his strength was his worry about dying an unnatural death during the massive surge of Spiritual Qi Recovery.

To avoid becoming a mere statistic in the news, he had to raise his strength to a level where no one could threaten him, which would give him some semblance of security and allow him to live out the second half of his life peacefully, happily, and fulfilling.

Although the Empire was still quite safe, it was because the Spiritual Qi Recovery was still in its initial stages. Even if the current peace might last a while, who knows if a huge disaster that even the Empire couldn’t withstand might emerge with the advancing Spiritual Qi Recovery.

So, to keep any potential future disasters from affecting him, Zhang Yanhang chose to work hard on strengthening himself. As long as his strength was significant, no matter how turbulent the Spiritual Qi Recovery became, he could stay firm and watch the storm without being shaken.

"Select! Upgrade Skill Level!" With 10539 soul points left, Zhang Yanhang prepared to upgrade the level of his Limitless Universe Skill.

...

Upgrading Limitless Universe Skill to LV.5 required about ten thousand soul points, and the lack of soul points forced Zhang Yanhang to stop after just one level upgrade. Immediately after upgrading Limitless Universe Skill to LV.5, Zhang Yanhang checked the Skill Effect.

[Limitless Universe Skill [Second Tier] LV.5 (Passive/Active)]

[Passive Effect: Strength +1, Agility +1, Constitution +1, Intelligence +1, Charm +1.]

[Active Effect: Actively operates the cultivation technique using spiritual energy to enhance own defensive power, attack power, and movement speed. No cooldown period, consumes a certain amount of energy based on the specific bonus effects.]

[Additional Attributes: First Tier — Strength +6, Agility +6, Constitution +6, Intelligence +10, Charm +2.]

[Additional Attributes: Second Tier — Strength +3 (+1), Agility +3, Constitution +3, Intelligence +5 (+1), Charm +1 (+1).]

"It’s good to gain another point in strength and intelligence, and I even got a boost in charm. With this additional charm and intelligence, the fixed damage from my Death Wave Skill should increase by another ten points."

Previously, Zhang Yanhang thought that boosting his charm attribute past forty points was sufficient—that it was just a sub-attribute and didn’t need to forcibly reach the fifty-point second-tier limit. However, the situation was different now.

Considering how formidable the Death Wave Skill’s effect was, Zhang Yanhang felt he should max out the fixed damage limit of 750 points, aligning with his determined nature, especially since he had already upgraded his skills.

"Limitless Universe Skill is great, but upgrading it consumes way too many soul points, and upgrades beyond this point will start from five-figure numbers. It feels like the soul points needed for upgrading to the Third Tier could easily reach a six-figure amount."

The massive amount of soul points needed for the next upgrade made Zhang Yanhang a little uncomfortable. Fortunately, despite the significant increase in required soul points for the upgrades, his efficiency in hunting monsters had also increased accordingly.

Overall, if Zhang Yanhang wanted to upgrade Limitless Universe Skill to LV.MAX, he felt it would likely only take a few days, at most before the week after next.

Once he maxed out the Limitless Universe Skill, Zhang Yanhang’s attribute values should pretty much reach the Second Tier Limit. After that, he would start enhancing his profession level and officially work toward advancing to the Third Tier.

Feeling that he could reach the Second Tier Limit for attribute values in just one week with his current gear, Zhang Yanhang thought that setting aside two weeks to advance to the second tier should be perfectly manageable.

"Looking at it this way, the plan to advance to the Third Tier seems to be progressing steadily. I should be able to advance to the Third Tier within three weeks." Zhang Yanhang was quite confident about advancing to the Third Tier within three weeks.

After checking the Skill Effect of Limitless Universe Skill LV.5, Zhang Yanhang proceeded to open his attribute list.

[Strength: 48 (+3)]

[Agility: 47 (+3)]

[Constitution: 50 (+3)]

[Intelligence: 47 (+3)]

[Charm: 25 (+15)]

"I have four main attributes, and besides the Constitution attribute, the Strength attribute is just two points away from reaching the Second Tier Limit, while Agility and Intelligence are each three points short. Not bad at all.

As for the sub-attribute Charm, after enduring countless hardships, I have finally raised it to the First Tier Limit. If I can find related gains in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, elevating the Charm attribute quickly to over thirty points should be an easy task."

The other benefits Zhang Yanhang mentioned include those that could enhance the Charm attribute value, as well as the Lucky Slot Machine and the Achievement Vending Machine.

Although he has not yet checked what achievements can be obtained from the Crimson Iron Ant Nest’s Achievement Vending Machine, he had previously gained Charm-enhancing achievements in Raccoon City. He thinks it is quite likely that the Achievement Vending Machine in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest could yield achievements that increase the Charm attribute as well.

"Originally, equipment bonuses comprised 62.5% of the attributes in my Charm attribute, but now the Limitless Universe Skill LV.5 has increased the Charm attribute by one point, causing the proportion of equipment bonuses to barely reduce by 2.5%. It’s now just 60%.

Though 60% is still a lot, it has finally somewhat halted the rapid, distorted development in my Charm attribute."

Regarding the decrease in the proportion of equipment bonuses, Zhang Yanhang feels it is a good trend. He believes his Charm attribute should become healthier over time since relying solely on equipment bonuses is definitely not enough to raise the Charm attribute past forty or fifty points.

After removing the part of the attribute value derived from equipment bonuses, his own Charm attribute amounts to just ten points, meaning that if he wants to raise the Charm attribute value past forty points through equipment alone, he would need to obtain equipment that provides at least thirty points of Charm bonuses.

According to Zhang Yanhang’s current experience, a piece of Blue quality equipment increases the Charm attribute by one point, while a piece of Purple quality equipment adds two points.

This means he would need to wear thirty pieces of Blue quality equipment or fifteen pieces of Purple quality equipment that must also enhance the Charm attribute to gather these thirty bonus points, clearly an impossible task.

If Zhang Yanhang opts for Blue quality equipment, he might barely manage to gather enough, but even then, it’s futile as the number of available equipment slots on his body probably wouldn’t total up to thirty, meaning he couldn’t wear them even if he managed to gather them.

And if he chooses Purple quality equipment, it’s even less feasible. He couldn’t possibly gather fifteen pieces that can be equipped in different parts and also specifically enhance the Charm attribute.

Thus, while there might be a slim theoretical chance of success, practically speaking, there is no possibility of success whether gathering thirty pieces of Blue quality equipment or fifteen pieces of Purple quality equipment.

It is precisely for this reason that Zhang Yanhang always feels that his gains from equipment are soon to reach their limit, as he has already obtained fifteen points of attribute value enhancements from equipment, and the slots remaining for additional equipment are few.

Currently, Zhang Yanhang’s Charm attribute with equipment bonuses is at twenty-five points, still fifteen points short of forty. He would need at least seven more pieces of Purple quality ornaments that can be fitted into different parts to bridge this gap.

Honestly, Zhang Yanhang can hardly imagine how he could gather so many ornaments from different parts, considering typical ornaments are just necklaces, rings, earrings, and bracelets.

But now, both the necklace and ring slots on Zhang Yanhang are filled. Could he possibly wear four pairs of earrings and three bracelets?

If Zhang Yanhang were willing to spend more time by the seaside in Fukushima and mutate himself a few more heads or pairs of arms, there might be some possibility, but unfortunately, nuclear radiation mutation is not the right way, and thus, he indeed cannot wear four pairs of earrings and three bracelets.

Therefore, since the attribute enhancements from equipment are bound to become scarce in the future, Zhang Yanhang’s main method for increasing his Charm attribute value will be through various channels that can directly boost his own Charm attribute.

This is also why Zhang Yanhang believes that as his Charm attribute increases, the proportion of enhancements from equipment in his Charm attribute should gradually decrease, leading to a healthier overall Charm attribute.

Zhang Yanhang is pleased to see his attribute values becoming more normal, as anyone would feel somewhat uneasy about the current situation where equipment bonuses comprise 60% of his overall Charm attribute value.

After reviewing the attribute list, Zhang Yanhang once again opened his Soul points balance to see if the little remaining after upgrading the Limitless Universe Skill is enough to upgrade the Indestructible Golden Body Skill.

If it is sufficient, he plans to enhance the Indestructible Golden Body a bit; if not, he could also boost the Supreme Will a bit.

Since the Supreme Will’s Skill Level is still quite low and only requires two hundred Soul points to upgrade to LV.4, although there currently seem to be no monsters in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest that specialize in that type of attack, upgrading it wouldn’t hurt since it will definitely be useful later.

Besides, whether he upgrades sooner or later, he must upgrade, so Zhang Yanhang always likes to spend all his Soul points unless it conflicts with his planned upgrade schedule.

But for now, his skill upgrade plan enacted after recently advancing to the Second Tier is proceeding quite smoothly; he has indeed prioritized upgrading the Death Wave Skill and has already elevated Death Wave directly to LV.MAX.

Thus, Zhang Yanhang feels his focal point for upgrades should shift from the Death Wave Skill to the Indestructible Golden Body Skill. Given the abundance of the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, he should be able to raise the Indestructible Golden Body to the LV.MAX stage soon.

Although the current Indestructible Golden Body Skill is still only at LV.5, upgrading to LV.10 only requires a total of 24,800 Soul points. Since Zhang Yanhang was able to gather enough Soul points to enhance the Death Wave Skill in the Crimson Iron Ant Nest, upgrading the Indestructible Golden Body shouldn’t be a problem.