Chapter 230 : Jia Xu's Fate Skills
Chapter 230: Jia Xu's Fate Skills! A Boon for Warlock Players!
Jia Xu had officially been resurrected!
The moment his physical body was reconstructed,
He clearly felt the return of his senses and perception.
Only at this moment did he truly feel that he had come back to life.
Relief!
Stability!
He had not experienced such a feeling for decades!
"Thank you, my Lord, for granting me a new life! From this day forth, I am willing to serve by your side and devote myself wholeheartedly to your service!"
Jia Xu immediately bowed in gratitude.
Had Hang Yu not severed and purified the corruption within him, he would most likely have been completely devoured by the Abyss, eventually becoming a twisted, deranged monster of chaos.
Had Hang Yu not reconstructed his physical body, then even in the best possible outcome, he would merely have wandered the world as an unconscious wandering soul, continuing to be corrupted and eroded by the Abyss until his soul gradually withered away over endless years.
Although Jia Xu possessed extraordinary talent and strategic brilliance, he had never harbored any grand ambitions.
He merely wanted to live.
It was a simple wish,
Yet also an extravagant one.
Whether amid the blades and endless wars of a chaotic age,
Or in this dark and chaotic era of the Abyss,
Living well was never easy.
Although Jia Xu lacked lofty aspirations and had little desire for power,
For the sake of survival, he was willing to pay any price and use any means necessary.
As the saying went, a wise bird chose the finest tree upon which to perch.
Jia Xu realized he had already found the perfect refuge.
This territory possessed unparalleled potential, as well as a great Lord with limitless potential.
Here, not only could he continue living peacefully,
He could also witness more fascinating things and an even broader world.
There would probably never be another human Starsea Lord as powerful as this one.
Thus, Jia Xu's submission to Hang Yu came from the bottom of his heart.
As long as he protected this territory, as long as he faithfully assisted the being before him,
He could peacefully lie flat and live the carefree life of a salted fish.
If he could simply live well, he had no wish to spend every day carrying out ruthless and underhanded schemes.
Hang Yu said,"I intend to bestow the Starsea Mark upon you. You will officially become a member of the Starsea Faction. Not only will you awaken Fate Skills, but you will also be accepted by the Land of the Stars."
"However, from this day onward, you will be completely bound to this territory. Any action that violates this Lord's will or harms the interests of the territory will result in severe punishment and a heavy price."
"Are you willing to accept?"
As was customary, Hang Yu always informed the recipient before bestowing the mark.
This was because the Starsea Mark had to be accepted voluntarily.
If the recipient harbored even the slightest resistance or hostility, the ceremony would fail.
Thus,
The process of bestowing the Starsea Mark was itself a test of loyalty.
Jia Xu naturally understood what it meant to receive the Starsea Lord's mark.
The number of Hero Units within any territory was limited.
This was both the highest honor and blessing, as well as a tremendous restriction.
"It is this servant's greatest honor!"
Jia Xu respectfully knelt and bowed.
"Thank you, my Lord, for bestowing the mark!"
Hang Yu nodded with satisfaction.
Jia Xu might have been a poisonous salted fish, but no matter how poisonous,
He was still a salted fish.
Someone who had no moral bottom line, yet also possessed no ambition, and was naturally lazy, was actually much easier to recruit and make use of.
There was no time to waste.
It was time to officially bring him into the fold.
Hang Yu immediately initiated the ceremony.
The bestowal proceeded just as smoothly as before, without the slightest obstacle or complication.
Jia Xu could clearly feel the formation of the mark.
During the process, the last remaining trace of Abyssal corruption within his mind and soul was completely erased.
At the same time, he felt an incomparably majestic Will envelop him.
Unlike the madness and chaos of the Abyssal Will, the Will of the Stars represented absolute order.
The instant the contract was completed, Jia Xu immediately received a notification from the Will of the Stars.
【You have unlocked the Fate Skills: Eternal Night Veil (Purple), Light of Chaotic Warfare (Blue), Light of Brilliant Strategy (Blue)!】
Three Fate Skills!
Hang Yu immediately checked the details.
【Eternal Night Veil】
Fate Skill
Passive Effects:
Can sense every aura appearing within territory under direct control.
Can conceal every aura emitted by nearby units.
Can hide the Starsea Aura of all territorial units.
Active Effect:
Consumes 1,000 Mana.
For the next 60 seconds, all non-territorial targets within a 1,000-meter radius whose Spirit is lower than the user's are unable to cast any spell-type skills.
Cooldown: 10 minutes.
……
Hang Yu's eyes immediately lit up.
This Eternal Night Veil had clearly evolved from Jia Xu's Purple Fate Talent, Eternal Poison Strategist.
As expected of a Purple Fate Skill.
Its effects were truly astonishing.
The skill possessed both passive and active effects.
The passive portion itself consisted of two separate abilities.
The first was perception.
Jia Xu could sense every unusual aura appearing anywhere within the territory.
Moreover, the closer the target, the stronger his perception became.
What did this mean?
When combined with the Lord's Vision, it was practically equivalent to giving Hang Yu a complete map hack!
Hang Yu's Lord's Vision could descend upon any location at any time, provided that location possessed a Vision Anchor.
Such an anchor could be any territorial unit, a territorial summon, or another reconnaissance spell.
If no territorial unit existed to provide a Vision Anchor, Hang Yu had no means of observing that area's real-time situation.
Through the Eternal Night Veil, Jia Xu could sense every unit entering territory under direct control.
For example, the instant an invader crossed into the territory,
Jia Xu could detect and lock onto their aura from afar.
As a result, not only would Jia Xu discover the intruder, Hang Yu would also gain a Vision Anchor through Jia Xu's perception.
Thus, every foreign invasion could be detected immediately.
Jia Xu's perception covered every area under direct territorial control.
Within the territory map where he personally resided, its effectiveness increased dramatically.
Not only could he detect ordinary intruders, he could even perceive units hidden through stealth or other concealment methods.
For example, if Jia Xu remained stationed in the main city,
Then Skeleton Gan Ning's Shadow March could only operate on other maps.
The instant he entered the Luoshui Region guarded by Jia Xu, his presence would immediately be detected and exposed.
Every conspiracy, ambush, and surprise attack would become impossible to conceal.
This ability was simply invaluable!
Hang Yu had recently been troubled by the lack of sufficiently powerful Scout Towers.
If another surprise-attack specialist like Gan Ning appeared, it would have been extremely difficult to detect him before he reached the Lord's Fortress.
Now, that hidden danger had been eliminated.
With Jia Xu present, any attack or conspiracy targeting the main city would become exceedingly difficult to carry out successfully.
This greatly enhanced the territory's security.
With Jia Xu guarding the territory, Hang Yu could finally spend more time exploring instead of remaining inside the Core Hall all day to guard against sneak attacks.
The second passive effect of Eternal Night Veil was aura concealment.
It could even hide the Starsea Aura emitted by territorial units.
At first glance, this ability appeared somewhat underwhelming.
In reality, it was extremely useful.
The natives of the Abyss Three Kingdoms Plane were humans.
Hang Yu and all of his subordinates were also humans.
If their Starsea Aura could be concealed, the territory's citizens could integrate far more naturally into local society.
This would be immensely valuable for infiltration, espionage, and intelligence operations.
Furthermore, once the Starsea Aura was hidden,
It could reduce the hostility of certain Abyssal Fallen and Abyss Walkers.
Under specific circumstances, this might produce unexpectedly useful effects.
As a Purple Fate Skill, eternal Night Veil not only possessed extremely practical passive effects, it also possessed an exceptionally powerful active effect—
A massive Silence.
Once Jia Xu activated Eternal Night Veil, every enemy spellcaster across the battlefield would be suppressed.
Unless their Spirit exceeded Jia Xu's, they would become completely unable to cast spells.
This ability could no longer simply be described as powerful.
It was practically a game-breaking cheat.
Hang Yu's primary enemies at present were the Calamity Corpse Demon race.
The reason they were also known as the Corpse Lich race was because these undead possessed not only powerful physical bodies, but also terrifying spellcasting talent.
Jia Xu's Eternal Night Veil was the absolute bane of Warlocks.
The moment the veil descended upon the battlefield, would also be the moment enemy spellcasters became utterly helpless before slaughter.
Besides Eternal Night Veil, Jia Xu also possessed two Blue-grade Fate Skills.
Even among Blue Fate Skills, these two were considered outstanding.
【Light of Chaotic Warfare】
Passive Skill.
Weapon Attack of ordinary territorial units +5%.
Weapon Attack of Hero Units and the Lord within territorial boundaries +30%.
All Skill Effects of Hero Units and the Lord +5%.
【Light of Brilliant Strategy】
Passive Skill.
Willpower of ordinary territorial units +10.
Skill Cooldown -5%.
Hero Units and the Lord receive:
Skill Cooldown -10%.
Fate Skill Effects +5%.
Gain an additional +100 Willpower every Tier.
Light of Chaotic Warfare had evolved from the Fate Talent Mastermind of Chaotic Warfare.
Light of Brilliant Strategy had evolved from the Fate Talent Unfailing Calculation.
Unlike Wen Pin and Zhou Cang, whose Fate Skills directly and dramatically increased military strength,
Jia Xu's Fate Skills did not significantly increase army combat power.
Instead, they directly strengthened every unit throughout the territory.
Willpower +10.
Weapon Attack +5%.
Skill Cooldown -5%.
These bonuses appeared rather modest.
Yet they affected every unit equally, and remained permanently active.
In a sense, they functioned as another form of innate talent.
As long as Jia Xu remained alive, every member of the territory would permanently benefit from these enhancements.
Although the improvement for each individual was relatively small, once multiplied across tens of thousands of soldiers
And hundreds of thousands of citizens, its value far surpassed the Fate Skills of ordinary military generals.
This was precisely the value of civil officials.
If military generals could dramatically increase an army's combat strength during wartime, then civil officials could improve the overall quality of the population, as well as the territory's administration and production, strengthening its very foundation.
Light of Chaotic Warfare and Light of Brilliant Strategy not only enhanced every citizen throughout the territory, but perhaps because Jia Xu belonged to the strategist category among civil officials,
His Fate Skills did not directly improve production or management.
Instead, they significantly strengthened the territory's other Hero Units.
+100 Willpower every Tier.
+30% Weapon Attack.
-10% Skill Cooldown.
+5% All Skill Effects.
+5% Fate Skill Effects.
These bonuses benefited Zhou Cang, Wen Pin, Zhang Zhongjing, and even Hang Yu himself.
Hang Yu's Huangtian Demonic Dragon Spear had already been enhanced to Level 9.
Receiving an additional 30% increase in Weapon Attack represented an enormous improvement.
Furthermore, Hang Yu possessed a tremendous number of skills.
Reducing all cooldowns by 10%
Was extraordinarily practical.
It could honestly be said that civil officials like Jia Xu, even if they truly spent every day lying around as salted fish, doing nothing but eating and waiting to die, serving merely as decorative mascots, would still provide immense value to the territory.
A powerful territory required not only mighty military generals, but also brilliant civil officials.
And the more outstanding civil officials it possessed, the better.
Hang Yu was extremely satisfied with his new subordinate.
Although Jia Xu was an unrivaled strategist, he could not truly be considered a king-assisting minister.
The Three Kingdoms era had produced countless brilliant civil officials and legendary generals.
Among them were supreme ministers capable of assisting kings, and peerless grand chancellors remembered throughout history.
If Hang Yu could recruit such individuals, they would undoubtedly bring enormous improvements to the territory's administration and internal affairs.
"Excellent. Very excellent."
"As expected of Jia Wenhe."
"Your talents and abilities have exceeded even my expectations."
Hang Yu paused briefly.
"Only your cultivation is still somewhat lacking."
As he spoke, he casually waved his hand.
Drawing upon the territory's abundant Essence reserves, he allocated a portion of it.
On the spot, he raised Jia Xu's level
From Level 25 to the current maximum of Level 30.
So this was the power of a Starsea Lord?
To freely distribute refined Spiritual Energy at will!
This refined Spiritual Energy had been tempered by the Power of the Stars.
It was incomparably pure, nearly flawless.
It could be absorbed directly without resistance or loss, allowing one to effortlessly break through cultivation bottlenecks or even major realms.
"Thank you, my Lord, for your boundless grace!"
Jia Xu had already been extraordinarily powerful.
His base attribute growth template was exceptionally high.
Furthermore, his talents were terrifying.
Especially under the effects of Eternal Poison Strategist, his Necromancy, Shadow, Curse, Mental, and Soul spells received an astonishing 220% increase in effectiveness.
What did this signify?
A White-grade skill in Jia Xu's hands would outperform most Green-grade skills.
Not only did he possess terrifying talent bonuses, his skill template could only be described as luxurious.
Precisely because of this, he possessed Overlord-class combat power.
Moreover, he ranked close to the top among Overlords.
At Level 30, under fair conditions, Jia Xu still could not defeat Demon Codex Dian Wei or Hang Yu, both of whom stood among the strongest Overlords.
However, holding them off for a considerable period before retreating safely
Would not be particularly difficult.
One could easily imagine just how terrifying his combat strength truly was.
Now that Jia Xu had regained his physical body
And his cultivation had been elevated, his heart overflowed with gratitude.
He immediately volunteered.
"This servant has heard that the Wo Niu Mountain Region is currently suffering from invasions by foreign Starsea races."
"I am willing to travel there and eliminate these petty enemies for you, my Lord."
Already eager to earn merit?
It seemed Jia Xu was not quite as content to lie around as a salted fish after all.
Hang Yu smiled.
"I appreciate your enthusiasm."
"However, this is not yet the ideal time for you to act."
Jia Xu asked,
"Why?"
Hang Yu replied,
"The Corpse Lich Territory still possesses one or two days of Starsea Protection."
"Even if you personally entered the battlefield now, you would be unable to inflict truly devastating losses upon them."
"Instead, you would merely expose your existence ahead of time."
"I understand."
"In that case, I shall remain hidden and make my preparations."
"You may tour the territory for now."
"Continue strengthening yourself through equipment and skills."
Hang Yu suddenly remembered something.
He took a black staff from his storage space.
"This Lord happens to have an excellent staff."
"You may use it."
The staff was the Extreme Filth Staff dropped by the Filthy Offspring Zhang Xiu.
It was a Tier Three Blue High-grade weapon.
Not only were its attributes excellent, its two attached skills, utmost Filth and extreme Filth Parasitism, were both exceptionally powerful.
Originally, Hang Yu had intended to keep the weapon for himself.
He had already enhanced it to Level 8, investing considerable materials as well as a large amount of Blessing Sand.
However, as the Lord, Hang Yu rarely fought personally.
Even when he did, he seldom relied upon spellcasting.
Therefore, he simply entrusted this top-tier staff to Jia Xu, allowing it to realize even greater value.
On one hand, although Jia Xu had regained his physical body and returned to his peak condition, he still required equipment worthy of a first-rate Overlord to fully display his strength.
Among all equipment, the weapon was naturally the most important.
On the other hand, the attributes and attached skills of the Extreme Filth Staff perfectly complemented Jia Xu's talents.
In his hands, its power would undoubtedly become even greater.
Jia Xu once again thanked his Lord for his generosity.
He was also extremely fond of the Extreme Filth Staff.
There was nothing further requiring Jia Xu's attention here.
His current position remained Acting City Lord of New Wan City,
So he did not yet need to participate in the affairs of the main city.
Meanwhile, most of the work in the New Wan City Region had already been completed.
Thus, Jia Xu decided to take a tour around the territory.
Although he had previously entered the territory through a puppet body.
At that time, he had not belonged to the Lord's faction.
Most of his stay had been spent imprisoned.
He had never truly explored the territory.
"Mr. Jia, welcome officially to the territory."
"From today onward, we are colleagues."
After learning that Jia Xu had officially been resurrected and had successfully received the Starsea Mark, Zhang Zhongjing was genuinely delighted.
Although he could not fully approve of Jia Xu's conduct or character, there was no denying that Jia Xu possessed extraordinarily rare talent, as well as exceptional wisdom and brilliance.
With him in the territory, he would undoubtedly become an enormous asset to the Lord.
The Lord's lofty ideals and great ambitions required talents like Jia Xu to help realize them.
Zhang Zhongjing continued, "I have lived in Luoshui City for some time now and am quite familiar with it."
"If you do not mind, shall we tour the main city together?"
Jia Xu smiled.
"Divine Physician Zhang, you are too courteous."
"That would be wonderful."
Zhang Zhongjing said, "Although Luoshui City's current scale still falls short of New Wan City, it is vibrant everywhere."
"The Skill Tower, Enlightenment Tower, Training Tower, and the various workshops are all worth seeing."
"Oh, yes."
"The Territory Canteen employs chefs hired from the Land of the Stars."
"Their fine wines and exquisite cuisine absolutely must not be missed."
Jia Xu immediately became interested.
He was someone who truly loved life.
Yet after sealing himself away for decades, he had not tasted the flavors of the mortal world.
Now that he had completely regained his health, how could he possibly miss the opportunity to properly enjoy fine food and wine?
As they chatted, the two men left the Lord's Fortress,
Escorted by several Azure Dragon Guards.
Zhang Zhongjing was already a famous figure throughout the territory.
Many players had also met Jia Xu before.
Thus, they were quickly recognized.
"It's Divine Physician Zhang!"
"Divine Physician Zhang is out!"
"Come on!"
"Let's go greet him!"
"We might trigger a quest!"
"Who's that beside Divine Physician Zhang?"
"Why does he look so feminine?"
"Damn it, watch your mouth!"
"Are you blind?"
"That's Jia Xu! Jia Wenhe!"
"What?! Jia Xu?!"
"Why is he in the main city?!"
"Holy crap!"
"Jia Xu's body has been restored!"
"Doesn't that mean he's been fully resurrected?!"
"Huge news!"
"This is absolutely wonderful!"
"Our territory has successfully recruited another top-tier talent!"
"......"
Countless players immediately surrounded the two of them.
Everyone knew that whether it was Jia Xu or Zhang Zhongjing, they would become top-tier NPCs within the territory.
Simply becoming familiar faces before them could lead to more quest opportunities.
They might even learn a skill or two from these great figures.
Inside the Core Hall, Hang Yu noticed that news of Jia Xu's resurrection had already spread throughout the territory.
This had never been confidential information.
Even the Corpse Lich Territory already knew of Jia Xu's existence.
As long as his true abilities and combat strength remained hidden, this secret weapon would produce unexpected results in the future.
Although Jia Xu carried the title of Eternal Poison Strategist, he appeared remarkably gentle in everyday life.
He also got along surprisingly well with the players.
That evening, when the game forum was opened,
It was flooded with discussions about Jia Xu.
Many players shared conversations they had with him, photographs, even autographs.
This instantly aroused envy among countless Cloud Players, especially Jia Xu's fans.
Of course, besides those, there were also many high-quality analysis posts.
One player wrote:
"Everyone probably hasn't realized how important Jia Xu joining the territory really is!"
"Check your status panel."
"Do you now have two hidden special buffs?"
"One is called Light of Chaotic Warfare."
"The other is Light of Brilliant Strategy."
"The first increases Weapon Attack."
"The second reduces Skill Cooldowns and increases attributes."
"I've already confirmed it."
"Not only do we players receive these buffs."
"Every NPC in the territory—even the farming aunties in Hexi Village—has them."
"I believe this is the effect brought about by Jia Xu officially joining the territory!"
"This is an incredible benefit!"
"And it also reveals one of this game's hidden mechanics!"
"The more famous ministers and famous generals we recruit, the more benefits our territory receives."
"And civil officials and military generals provide completely different advantages."
"Military generals are obvious."
"They directly strengthen the army and the territory's military forces."
"As for civil officials—including Zhang Zhongjing—they directly strengthen the territory's foundation!"
"In a sense,"
"This is actually a collection game!"
"The more famous figures we recruit,"
"The greater the Fate we gather,"
"And the stronger we ourselves become!"
"Jia Xu alone isn't enough."
"We still need Zhuge Wolong."
"We still need Xun Yu, Guo Jia, Zhou Yu..."
"I believe that once all of these figures join our territory,"
"We humans will no longer be inferior to those powerful superior races blessed with overwhelming innate talents!"
"Only then will we possess enough strength to survive"
"And confront the mightiest superior races head-on!"
"......"
This player had discovered the distinction between the Fate Skills of civil officials and military generals.
Using Fate Skills as the starting point, he analyzed the game's hidden mechanics and systems.
Besides that, other players analyzed Jia Xu's value from the perspective of his skills.
For example, one post titled Analysis and Major Reveal of Jia Xu's Skills stated:
"Warlocks are blessed!"
"Warlocks are about to rise!"
"Jia Xu's entire skill panel has been revealed!"
"It contains twenty-eight different abilities!"
"That doesn't mean Jia Xu only possesses twenty-eight skills."
"In reality, he probably knows more than three times that number."
"It's simply that certain cultivation techniques and advanced fusion skills have combined many lower-level skills, so they no longer appear separately on the panel."
"Among these skills,"
"Eleven are Blue Grade."
"The remaining seventeen are Green Grade."
"Among Jia Xu's many abilities,"
"The two most important and fundamental are the Extreme Yin Demonic Codex and the Extreme Yin Puppet Grand Art."
"Unlike ordinary secret arts or skills,"
"These two are genuine cultivation techniques."
"The Extreme Yin Demonic Codex is a spell cultivation technique containing thirty-two Extreme Yin Spell Formulae."
"The recorded spells mainly focus on Necromancy, Shadow, and Curses."
"Not only is the collection extremely comprehensive,"
"It also forms a complete cultivation system."
"According to available intelligence,"
"This technique is also the supreme inheritance of the Extreme Yin Sect!"
"Nearly every cultivator of the Extreme Yin Sect practices spells from the Extreme Yin Demonic Codex..."
"Yet only a handful have ever truly mastered it!"
"As for the Extreme Yin Puppet Grand Art,"
"According to members of the Extreme Yin Sect,"
"It was personally created by Jia Xu after completing the Extreme Yin Demonic Codex."
"It is an even more sinister and devious cultivation technique."
"Although it contains relatively few spell formulae,"
"Every single one is extraordinarily profound."
"Its cultivation difficulty even surpasses that of the Extreme Yin Demonic Codex."
"It can truly be considered Jia Xu's unique signature art."
"Jia Xu joining the territory not only gives us one of the territory's strongest combatants!"
"He also brings an enormous number of powerful spell skills,"
"And even complete cultivation systems."
"This is absolutely a blessing for every Warlock player!"
"......"
After reading these revelations and analyses, the Cloud Players were utterly stunned.
The game's content and mechanics were simply too rich.
Jia Xu alone was like an enormous treasure trove, from which countless new discoveries could be unearthed.