Ashen God
Chapter 592 - 591 [Grey Maned Arm Guard]

Chapter 592: Chapter 591 [Grey Maned Arm Guard]

Since it was a Talent he had never encountered before, Zhang Yanhang was naturally very curious about the specific abilities of Survival of the Fittest, so he immediately checked out the effects of the Survival of the Fittest Talent.

However, after checking, he felt somewhat disappointed, because he found that although Survival of the Fittest sounded like a nice name, it was actually just an optimized version of the "Demonization Infection" effect. In terms of the specific Talent Ability, it was simply that it could cause the owner to undergo physical mutations.

The only difference was that compared to the 100% malignant mutations of the Demonization Infection, this Talent would occasionally result in benign mutations as well. However, although benign mutations did occur, the specific location of the mutations could not be controlled. They were completely random throughout the process, which was somewhat problematic.

Because the probability of malignant mutations was many times higher than that of benign mutations, Zhang Yanhang couldn’t help but imagine scenarios where, after using this Talent, he grew an extra head on his chest or a mouth on his belly—just thinking about it felt somewhat unacceptable.

And actually, such degrees of physical mutation should already be considered relatively benign. The real malignant mutations would be those that purely resulted in the growth of useless, waste organs that negatively impacted the body.

For example, growing a hard lump covered in stiff black hair that continuously emitted a foul stench and that spread all over the back near the spine, which would force the host to become hunchbacked.

Or perhaps having pus-filled bumps that would ooze large amounts of yellowish pus with a slight squeeze taking over the positions of the facial features on the host’s face, until they completely obscured them, turning the host into a faceless pus-filled monster.

Besides these, Zhang Yanhang could imagine a plethora of bizarre and malignant mutations. He concluded one thing after his mental exercise—that Survival of the Fittest probably wasn’t suitable for him.

Even if later on, by upgrading the Talent Level, he could potentially increase the chances of benign mutations occurring, he still didn’t want it. After all, even benign mutations were quite disgusting to him, and he thought it would be better to maintain a normal human form.

[Item Three]

[Option One: Canine tooth of a Demonized Maned Beast (one piece), Green quality, Material]

[Option Two: 45 Soul points]

[Option Three: 90 Soul points]

"The first option I just opened was a Green quality Maned Tooth Dagger made from the canine tooth of a Demonized Maned Beast, and now the third option immediately offers another canine tooth from the Demonized Maned Beast. Could it be because the other parts of the Demonized Maned Beast are not valuable?" Zhang Yanhang thought about it and felt it was quite possible. After all, just by looking at the proportion of the one-meter long head on its body, one could tell that the head was definitely the most potent part that the Demonized Maned Beast had evolved—more so than the brain, it was the mouth.

And since the mouth was the most powerful part, compared to the Demonized Maned Beast’s mouth filled with sharp, brown-black barbed tongue, it was without a doubt that its mouthful of sharp teeth was the real reason for its effective combat ability. Among those teeth, the most sharp and durable were naturally the four canine teeth in the upper and lower jaws.

So, from this perspective, the fact that Zhang Yanhang opened items related to the canine teeth one after another could only be seen as quite normal, as this indeed was the most valuable part of the Demonized Maned Beast, and his Multiple Choice Talent always took out the most valuable options for him to choose from.

"It seems that the fangs of the Demonized Maned Beast are indeed green quality materials, so even with my rubbish skills, I should be able to easily craft a Maned Tooth Dagger. After all, shaping the material is all that’s required, and that’s exactly what I do best."

But even though I’m quite good at shaping, the teeth of the Demonized Maned Beast really do not hold any value for recycling. I plan to check out the other Second-tier Monsters in the Demonized Swamp later to see if there are any parts worth salvaging.

After all, unless there are surprises, the other monsters in the Demonized Swamp area should also be various kinds of Prehistoric Giant Beasts, and the material value of such beast-shaped monsters is naturally much higher than that of the human-shaped Dragon Vein Goblin on the Goblin Plain.

Because beast-shaped monsters can only rely on their bodies to attack, the organs they use to attack tend to be more valuable, whereas it’s different for human-shaped monsters. Human-shaped monsters use weapons, so they can’t develop sharp claws and fangs like beasts—they rely mainly on their weapons to attack.

So, in this respect, the materials on their bodies really don’t hold much value for recycling, except for weapons which might be slightly useful.

"Three options in, and still no sign of equipment or artifact-related choices. Although it’s very normal, I can’t help but look forward to it even more.

Now there are only two choices left. Logically, there should be an equipment-related option coming up. I hope the new equipment will have some useful additional attributes, such as the Attack Speed Bonus that I’m currently lacking."

While reaching an Attack Speed of six mach is a long-term goal, due to prior rapid progress, Zhang Yanhang now unexpectedly wants to achieve this short-term goal as quickly as possible.

Of course, the Prehistoric Giant Beast Talent, which can enhance Movement Speed, has also catalyzed some of this belief. After all, developing Movement Speed without improving Attack Speed is somewhat deformed. He feels it’s better to maintain a balanced relationship between the two—at least they should not be too imbalanced.

If the disparity is not significant, Zhang Yanhang can actually accept that. After all, his punching speed is naturally twice his Movement Speed. A long time ago, he was able to deliver Sonic Punches with the blessing of Spiritual Qi.

Now, even with the Spiritual Qi Blessing, his Movement Speed is only 0.58 mach. The difference is indeed substantial. For this reason, as long as his punching speed is not slower than his Movement Speed, Zhang Yanhang can begrudgingly accept it.

But in the long term, that certainly won’t do. His Attack Speed must be faster than his Movement Speed. Only then, when fighting at close quarters, will he avoid the embarrassing situation of moving to strike an opponent before they can react, only to find his punches too slow and the enemy ready to counter the blow.

[Item Four]

[Option One: 9 Soul Points]

[Option Two: Demonized Spotted Hyena, White quality, Pet]

[Option Three: 90 Soul Points]

"Still no equipment-related options turned up, just another Soul Point choice. Speaking of which, my total earnings from the Treasure Boxes only amount to 1080 Soul Points, and although I can also gain some Soul Points from killing, I estimate that at most I’ll get just a few hundred more.

By the looks of it, I probably won’t be able to upgrade my Profession Level this time. After all, to raise Heavenly Destiny Master from LV.18 to LV.19, I need to spend 16,000 Soul Points, and the points I’ve earned this time don’t even add up to an eighth of that."

Although Zhang Yanhang was certain he couldn’t level up his profession this time, he firmly believed that before he went to sleep, he could definitely gather the soul points needed for leveling up—after all, he could still work continuously for several more hours before needing sleep.

"Speaking of which, this time in the Demonized Maned Beast’s treasure box, there really is an option related to pets again. However, just by looking at this name, it should not be my type," he mused.

Zhang Yanhang had always wanted to catch a pet in the forest and raise it, but after specifically learning about the situation there, he started to have second thoughts. What he wanted was a relatively normal animal, but all that was available were demonically altered prehistoric giant beasts, which were completely different from his ideal pet.

Even though he didn’t really like the Demonized Spotted Hyena, Zhang Yanhang still checked its attribute list and discovered that the creature was a demonic version of the most common spotted hyena in Africa. Counting its tail, it was over a meter long and was a social animal that usually lived in groups of several dozen or even hundreds.

Of course, these Demonized Spotted Hyenas definitely had no kinship with Demonized Maned Beasts. The only similarities were their names and the shape of their teeth, perhaps because the Maned Beast family had already gone extinct in modern times, which is why these Demonized Spotted Hyenas were produced.

Every time Zhang Yanhang thought about the Demonized Maned Beast and its head that made up a third of its body size, he couldn’t help but ponder a question: did such a proportion count as a benign deformity? If it did, the Survival of the Fittest talent seemed even more terrifying.

After all, three-head proportions might be cute and adorable on two-dimensional chibi characters, but if it were to appear in the three-dimensional reality, Zhang Yanhang believed the only outcome would be a full-on mental pollution.

Normal adults, no matter how short, were mostly capable of reaching a seven-head body proportion, and taller individuals, like Zhang Yanhang, could even achieve eight head lengths. So if someone like him suddenly enlarged his head to take up a third of his body, it would certainly look strange and demonic no matter how one regarded it.

"Now for the last option," he said, "this time, there should definitely be new equipment, and although the chances of obtaining a new piece of equipment that boosts attack speed aren’t great, everyone must have dreams, even if most of the time those dreams will never come true."

While speaking, Zhang Yanhang clicked on the last option.

Item Five

Option One: Hyena Arm Guard, Quality White, Equipment

Option Two: Grey Maned Arm Guard, Quality Blue, Equipment

Option Three: Mane Tooth Arm Guard, Quality Green, Equipment

"Grey Maned Arm Guard? Could it be a metal armor? I was originally thinking that creatures like the Demonized Maned Beast would be more suited to yield leather armors... And even though they’re not kin, why do hyenas appear so frequently?

Looking at the Hyena Arm Guard, it seems to be only white quality. It can’t be that this thing was made using materials skinned from the Demonized Spotted Hyena from the previous option. And the Mane Tooth Arm Guard is probably made from materials of the Demonized Maned Beast. As for the Grey Maned Arm Guard, it’s harder to tell.

However, since ’arm guard’ is in its name, it should definitely be for the arm, and since it’s for the arm, I suddenly feel like the chances of it having an attack speed bonus increased. Anyway, let’s just start by checking the attribute list."

Without any delay, Zhang Yanhang opened up the attribute list of the Grey Maned Arm Guard to inspect it.

Grey Maned Arm Guard

Quality: Blue

Type: Equipment

Origin: Ashen World, High Elf Empire, Supreme Forest, Elf Court Avando.

Durability: 45/45

Defensive power: 30

Additional Attributes: Physical Recovery Speed +10%.

Usage requirements: Constitution 28 points.

Score: 50 (Blue item scores range from 31 to 70.)

Introduction: My name is Azikasa Baofeng Saint Silvado, a war hero who is quite ordinary. Ever since I made significant achievements in the war against the dwarves a thousand years ago, I have been collecting my pension without any guilt, probably because I retired shortly after reaching adulthood. My life was somewhat tedious and dull.

To get through this dull retirement, I took up various skills, with my proudest being my forging skills. Recently (ten years ago), I took in a forging apprentice, but this fellow, perhaps admiring my superior forging skills and war hero status, took the opportunity to confess to me during a learning break.

I decisively and righteously declined, for a simple reason: I don’t like to date underage two-hundred-year-old girls, and moreover, since I had officially taken her on as an apprentice, if I entered into a relationship, it might be reported as workplace harassment. I always refuse to engage in illegal activities.

As expected, after my refusal, she immediately covered her face and ran out crying. In my view, she was afraid that I would report her attempt at an Immortal Jump as a malicious scam. Hmph, as if it were so easy to deceive me. A neighboring forging master was swindled of a large part of his savings by such tactics just a while ago (thirty years earlier), and I have no intention of making the same mistake.

Besides, it was good that she left since I never liked her anyway. I always felt that she was an unqualified forging apprentice. Compared to other slender female high elves, her excessively plump chest that rivaled a cow’s would cause intense jiggling while swinging the forging hammer, affecting her balance and consequently the forging results, leading to her slow progress in learning.

Inexplicably, when I discussed this with other familiar high elves, they always looked at me with strange eyes, which seemed to contain a lot of complex information.

I believe they’re secretly admiring how I handled the Immortal Jump so cleanly, but they’re too shy to praise me openly. That’s typical of these bashful creatures. But it’s also normal, after all, I am the renowned war hero of the empire, Azikasa Baofeng Saint Silvado. Hahaha!