Chapter 126 : Enlightenment Tower! Blue Skill!
Chapter 126: Enlightenment Tower! Blue Skill!
“I finally have a teleportation station!”
Hang Yu stood before the Stars Teleportation Station and sighed with emotion.
This structure resembled a Western-style clock tower, with a pointed spire and a four-sided design. It was about ten zhang tall, embedded with a massive clock-like dial, but with only one movable hand.
Hang Yu knew that whenever the hand pointed toward the twelve o’clock direction, it meant the day of the Stars' Return had arrived.
On this day, all Lords of the Stars from the Abyss could return to their respective City of the Stars through the teleportation station.
At other times, the teleportation station remained closed to the Stars.
However, there existed some extremely rare and uncommon items that could temporarily activate teleportation, allowing Lords to return to the Land of the Stars in emergencies—typically used as a last resort when a territory was on the verge of destruction.
The current position of the dial’s hand was nearing the nine o’clock direction.
This indicated that although there were still some days left until the next Stars' Return, the wait wouldn’t be too long. He could finally return for a look.
The day of the Stars' Return was not entirely fixed.
Sometimes it occurred in less than a month, and at times it took two to three months. Generally, unless in extreme cases, the longest interval would not exceed a hundred days.
The function of such a building within a territory, aside from acting as an escape route in critical moments, allowed Lords of the Stars to periodically return to the Land of the Stars to acquire the latest intelligence or trade materials that couldn’t be bought or exchanged in the Hall Market.
Furthermore, when spatial or teleportation-type buildings or facilities were constructed within the territory in the future, this Stars Teleportation Station could serve as a hub for those facilities.
Aside from the teleportation station.
Between the two Skill Towers—
At this moment, an ancient-looking stone tower appeared.
This was the Enlightenment Tower, which Hang Yu had obtained in a trade from the Market—a Tier-Two blueprint. Compared to the currently not-so-useful teleportation station, the Enlightenment Tower had far greater utility.
The Enlightenment Tower had twenty levels.
Each level was an independent sealed chamber.
It could accommodate up to twenty people simultaneously for enlightenment.
Hang Yu entered one of the stone chambers. It was not only enclosed but also dimly lit, with only a few faint lights glowing in the corners. The room’s material resembled volcanic glass and was inscribed with extremely profound and intricate arrays and various runes.
At the very center stood a lotus-shaped stone platform.
When Hang Yu sat cross-legged in the center of the platform, he instantly felt the runes and arrays in the stone chamber activate. An invisible spiritual force enveloped his body from all directions.
An auxiliary notification from the Will of the Stars appeared on the panel:
[Ding, you are activating the Enlightenment Array. You may enter enlightenment state through meditation!]
Hang Yu emptied his mind, allowing his thoughts to become tranquil, and gradually synchronized with the frequency of the spiritual force in the chamber.
At this moment—
Hang Yu felt he was experiencing an illusion.
Flaming Arrow Spell, Iron Armor Technique, Windstep, Healing Spell, Qi-Slash, Shadowstep, Great Peace Lightning Talisman, Great Peace Rejuvenation Charm... Fiery Tiger Roar Slash!
Hang Yu discovered that all the skills he had mastered were now manifesting throughout the stone walls and even in the air, in the form of glowing text and diagrams.
This was the Enlightenment Tower’s core capability.
It allowed one to further integrate the skills they had mastered and could even enable the fusion of different skills into entirely new ones.
Of course, skill fusion came with conditions.
First, the skill must be trained to its maximum level.
Second, the more similar the nature of the skills, the higher the success rate of fusion.
If one tried fusing mutually opposing skills—for example, one ice-attribute and one fire-attribute skill, or one martial technique with a spell-type skill—the fusion success rate was typically very low.
Moreover, each skill could only be successfully fused once every hundred days.
Hang Yu decided to give it a try. Although he possessed a vast number of skills, not all of them were suitable for fusion.
He would begin by testing movement-type skills!
These types of skills had relatively lower fusion difficulty.
When Hang Yu selected "Windstep" and "Shadowstep", the auxiliary prompt from the Will of the Stars appeared once again.
[Ding, you are fusing "Shadowstep" and "Windstep". This enlightenment will consume 15,000 Essence!]
Only just over ten thousand?
Peanuts!
With a single thought from Hang Yu—
The entire stone chamber underwent a transformation.
Hang Yu sensed that the images and text representing Windstep and Shadowstep suddenly burst apart like fireworks before his eyes, instantly turning into countless swimming tadpole-like secret runes that began intertwining and colliding with one another.
During this process—
Countless streams of information and realizations surged wildly into his mind.
“So this is enlightenment? What a wondrous feeling!”
Hang Yu remained in this state for about twenty minutes. Although he experienced many insights during that time, no sparks of creative inspiration truly erupted.
【Essence -15,000!】
【Ding, enlightenment failed!】
Hang Yu wasn’t discouraged, not even surprised. Enlightenment was never guaranteed to succeed; it simply allowed one to grow progressively closer to success through comprehension.
These two skills were similar in nature—
So the difficulty of fusion wasn’t high.
If at the beginning the success rate was only 20%, after this failed but insightful enlightenment session, the success rate had now risen to at least 60%.
“Again!”
Hang Yu once more activated the enlightenment state.
This time, the fusion process went noticeably smoother.
Countless runes continued to collide and rearrange endlessly.
All sorts of new insights and information continuously emerged.
【Essence -15,000!】
【Ding, enlightenment succeeded. You have comprehended ‘Swiftshadow Step’!】
“Success!”
“My luck isn’t too bad!”
When Hang Yu opened his personal panel, he saw that “Windstep” and “Shadowstep” had disappeared. In their place was a brand new skill — “Swiftshadow Step”!
【Swiftshadow Step】: Green-Quality Skill, Current Skill Level 10. Permanently +25 Agility... Consumes 20 Mana to enter stealth state and gain +42 Movement Speed; maintaining the state consumes 5 Mana per second. Increases cooldown time of lower-tier skills by 30 seconds. This skill has a cooldown of 100 seconds.
Although the fusion was successful—
It didn’t result in a breakthrough.
Swiftshadow Step was still just a green-quality skill.
It was essentially a combination skill of “Windstep” and “Shadowstep”.
Swiftshadow Step carried both the speed boost effect from Windstep and the stealth ability of Shadowstep, with slight enhancements to both.
Windstep at max level granted +10 Agility, while Shadowstep gave +15 Agility at max level. After fusing into Swiftshadow Step, it now granted +25 Agility.
In other words—
It was simply a new combination usage method.
Hang Yu’s base attributes didn’t change. If he used Swiftshadow Step, both “Windstep” and “Shadowstep” as subordinate skills would enter cooldown together.
Overall—
There was some improvement.
But it wasn’t satisfactory.
Hang Yu decided to continue fusing skills.
Even though “Windstep” and “Shadowstep” disappeared from the info panel, that didn’t mean the two skills were gone. Hang Yu could still use them separately—they just could no longer serve as enlightenment materials.
【Ding, you are fusing “Swiftshadow Step” and “Flashstep”. This fusion will consume 30,000 Essence!】
Hang Yu decided to try combining the newly created Swiftshadow Step with Flashstep. After all, both were high-quality green skills—there might be a breakthrough.
【Essence -30,000!】
【Ding, enlightenment failed!】
As expected, the first fusion attempt failed.
Hang Yu felt this fusion was clearly harder. However, the amount of Essence spent meant little to him, so he immediately started another enlightenment attempt.
【Essence -30,000!】
【Enlightenment failed!】
【Essence -30,000!】
【Enlightenment failed!】
Another two failures!
This time, even Hang Yu furrowed his brows.
No matter how easily Essence could be obtained, it couldn’t just be wasted.
Though he had long heard the Enlightenment Tower consumed Essence at an alarming rate, this pace of depletion was a bit much even for him!
“One more time!”
【Essence -30,000!】
【Enlightenment succeeded. You have comprehended ‘Swiftflash Assault’!】
Success!
Hang Yu could clearly feel—
The skill created this time was something entirely different.
Opening his personal panel once more, he saw that both Swiftshadow Step and Flashstep had vanished, replaced by a new skill called Swiftflash Assault.
【Swiftflash Assault】: Blue-Quality Skill, Current Skill Level 1. Permanently +25 Agility. Can launch up to three instant strikes at targets within a 100-meter radius. Each strike consumes 30 Mana. Movement Speed +204, Attack Power +35, Critical Damage +50%. Increases lower-tier skill cooldowns by 30 seconds. This skill has a cooldown of 300 seconds.
Success!
A blue-quality skill!
Hang Yu was overjoyed at the sight.
Not only had the skill fusion succeeded this time—it had smoothly resulted in a breakthrough. Two high-quality green skills had been successfully fused into a blue-quality skill.
You have to understand.
Blue-Quality Skills were extremely valuable.
Skill Stones of this quality usually started at prices of tens of thousands of Abyssal Magic Crystals. The more outstanding ones could even sell for over a hundred thousand Abyssal Magic Crystals. They were highly sought after even among mid-to-high-tier Lords, often impossible to purchase even with money.
Yet Hang Yu had successfully fused a blue-quality skill.
This skill's effects were immensely powerful. Not only could it instantly launch a series of surprise attacks within a 100-meter radius, but it also significantly increased attack power and damage output during the assault.
It could be said—
This was a god-tier assassination skill!
In an instant, it could take out three enemies!
【Essence -120,000!】
【Your "Swiftflash Assault" has been trained to max level. Permanent Agility +50!】
Hang Yu upgraded the skill to its maximum level.
The permanent Agility boost increased from 25 to 50!
That was the terrifying stat boost a blue-quality skill could bring!
The attack radius of Swiftflash Assault had increased to 150 meters, with the number of assaults rising to five. Movement speed bonus reached 415, attack power bonus 62, and critical damage bonus reached 100%.
Skill values weren’t fixed—
They would increase as attribute levels rose.
With such a skill, Hang Yu’s combat capability, mobility, and group fighting ability were all greatly enhanced.
"The Enlightenment Tower really is an incredible place!"
Hang Yu couldn’t help but sigh. Without the Enlightenment Tower, it would still be a long while before he could obtain a blue-quality skill—at the very least, he would have had to come into contact with Overlord-tier units!
But now—
As long as one was willing to spend Essence—
They could gain high-quality skills ahead of schedule!
Hang Yu went to the woods near the territory to test his new skill.
Swiftflash Assault!
The moment Hang Yu activated the skill, he entered a stealth state.
His entire body seemed to vanish instantly, then reappeared just as suddenly.
Five sharp flashes of blade light bloomed in all directions simultaneously. Five towering trees were silently and cleanly cut in half at once, each one standing in a different direction.
Without a trace.
Unfathomably fast.
And unbelievably powerful.
This move wasn’t just suitable for ambushing multiple targets—it was especially ideal for assassination and sneak attacks!
The function of the Enlightenment Tower—
Was not only for Lords.
Hang Yu would open the Enlightenment Tower to Players.
The more skills that existed within the territory, the more combinations could be created. Players' techniques would no longer remain static and rigid.
As the territory developed—
Each Player’s skillset and combat style would become increasingly personalized and diverse. Hang Yu believed no top expert would be exactly the same, and this would undoubtedly make the game even more engaging.
Of course—
The Enlightenment Tower was very expensive.
Even though most Players had recently made a fortune, very few could afford to use the Enlightenment Tower in the short term.
Hang Yu glanced at the color of the crack in the Firmament and immediately knew he had spent at least six hours inside the Enlightenment Tower.
Enlightenment was quite time-consuming.
The higher the skill quality, the more time and effort required.
Half a day had passed—surely the battle had ended by now.
Hang Yu opened the Lord's Log to take a look. As expected, with Players pressing forward wave after wave, the remnants of the Dragon-Lizard People who had entered the Luoshui Base Camp had been wiped out.
With that—
The main forces of the Dragon-Lizard People were essentially annihilated.
The outcome of this territorial war had, in truth, already been decided.
The next steps for humanity were simply to liberate the enslaved humans at Wo Niu Mountain, then push forward to seize the Dragon-Lizard Base Camp.
Hang Yu took note—
Fifteen Players had already reached Level 12.
Among them, Lone Boat, Ye Li Meng, Black-Eyed Rui Ge, and Mad Blade Old Wang had all jumped to Level 13.
This was still after Players had deliberately slowed their leveling pace—most had poured vast amounts of Essence into learning new skills.
There were now as many as 38 Level-11 Players.
There were virtually no Level-1 Players left in the entire Calamity Legion, because aside from a few who failed to log in on time due to special circumstances, anyone who participated in this mission had at least gained two to three levels.
This was an unprecedented harvest.
And an unprecedented victory!
In addition to a massive fiscal supplement, the territory’s soldiers had greatly strengthened, and both territory size and population were about to see major expansion.
According to current intelligence—
The Wo Niu Mountain area still had approximately fifteen thousand native survivors, and about fourteen Blessing Points that could be captured.
Though the Fate Stones at these Blessing Points had already been taken, meaning Hang Yu couldn’t acquire Fate Treasure Chests through occupation, he could still gain a large influx of population through the process.
Even with a dwindling population—
There were still 24,000 people in the Wo Niu Mountain area.
This population could not only increase Hang Yu’s recruitment cap, but also provide ample labor for the Luoshui Base Camp.
After all, humans who had survived these waves of calamities were almost all strong adults in their prime. While they might not be great fighters, they had no problem farming and constructing buildings.
Hang Yu’s territory was about to become livelier than ever.