Chapter 6 : Chapter 6
Chapter 6: Limited-Time Talent
On the other side of the forest, Shangguan Ling stood with one foot on the corpse of a Demon Beast at the eighth level of the Qi Condensation Realm.
After glancing at the time, he could not help but smile faintly.
“Hahaha, not bad at all. In less than twenty minutes, I’ve already earned 20 points. At this rate, that’s 10 points every ten minutes. In an hour and a half, that would be 90 points.”
“If I get lucky, I might even end up with a perfect score.”
“You have to know, once you get ahead, every step after comes faster.”
“Maybe this result has already shocked the examiners outside. Hahahahaha.”
“I, Shangguan Ling, really am a genius.”
At that thought, the corners of Shangguan Ling’s mouth lifted, and he chuckled smugly.
Inside the Demon Extermination Bureau, a little more than ten minutes after Lu Zhan climbed onto the points leaderboard, two more names appeared on it.
Second place: Wang Botao
Third place: Shangguan Ling
Both of them had 20 points, but in terms of cultivation, the former was at the seventh level of the Qi Condensation Realm, while the latter was at the eighth level of the Qi Condensation Realm.
After hurrying as fast as they could, the two had finally put some points on the board.
That kind of demon-hunting efficiency was certainly not low, but compared with Lu Zhan’s efficiency, it still fell quite a bit short.
Because Lu Zhan’s score had changed again.
First place: Lu Zhan
Realm: Fourth level of the Qi Condensation Realm
Points: 50
In the Demon Extermination Bureau’s assessment, anyone who scored 100 points or more would receive a perfect evaluation.
That meant he needed to kill five Demon Beasts at the same level as himself within an hour and a half.
And more than half of that hour and a half would be spent searching for Demon Beasts.
Viewed that way, it really was difficult for the vast majority of people.
But Lu Zhan was different. The system would tell him the strength of every Demon Beast, allowing him to avoid a great deal of trouble and precisely find prey he could kill.
Forty minutes later, on a barren plain, Lu Zhan looked at the system in front of him with a cheerful grin.
【Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have killed 3 wolf demons at the fourth level of the Qi Condensation Realm and obtained 400 Slaughter Points * 3】
【The title First Showing of One’s Edge has been activated. You have additionally obtained 40 Slaughter Points * 3】
【The Host currently has 1490 Slaughter Points】
“Heh, I didn’t expect my luck to be this good. To think I’d be able to hunt this many Demon Beasts in one go.”
Lu Zhan had just come out of the forest.
Who would have thought that those three wolf demons would happen to come searching for food right to him?
Perhaps because Lu Zhan was at the same realm as they were, and because they outnumbered him, they had wanted to make him their prey.
However...
Those beasts, who had looked down on humans, were killed by Lu Zhan in three strokes before they even had time to react, much less flee.
His blade was very fast.
The Iron-Slaying Saber Art at Perfection was truly terrifying.
In the past, he had needed to think before swinging his saber, but after the Iron-Slaying Saber Art reached Perfection, drawing his blade had become pure instinct.
So however fast they had charged at him, they had died just as fast.
Perhaps even at the moment of death, they had failed to understand why a weak human could kill them so easily.
Humans were weaker than demons.
That was not merely common sense on the human side.
The Demon Beasts believed the same thing.
Just as Lu Zhan was about to close the system, he suddenly saw a notification.
【Ding! Congratulations, Host. You have obtained the Limited-Time Talent: Windshadow Step】
“What is this?” Lu Zhan was somewhat puzzled.
He had killed the wolf demons too quickly just now, and all the system messages had popped up at once, so he had not noticed this.
Unable to resist, he opened it and took a look.
Limited-Time Talent: Windshadow Step
Compatibility: 30% (can be made permanent)
Growth Potential: ★★☆☆☆
Duration: 1 minute
Status: Inactive (Note: once activated, it cannot be retained)
Effect 1: Windstride
After activation, the user’s speed increases by 100%. While moving, the user can leave behind three afterimages whose aura is completely identical to that of the real body.
Effect 2: Shadow Shift
While the afterimages exist, the real body can switch places with any one of them at any moment.
Looking at the effects of Windshadow Step, Lu Zhan’s eyes lit up.
This effect was excellent.
Although it had a time limit and only lasted for one minute, the talent was still extremely powerful.
It could be used as a lifesaving trump card. But what did “can be made permanent” mean?
Lu Zhan checked it.
【Talent Permanence: By spending Slaughter Points or Talent Fragments, a Limited-Time Talent can be converted into a permanent Talent】
【Would you like to spend 3000 Slaughter Points or 10 Blank Talent Fragments to make the talent Windshadow Step permanent?】
【The Host currently has 0 Blank Talent Fragments】
Lu Zhan was startled.
3000 Slaughter Points!!!
That was far too outrageous. Where was he supposed to get that many Slaughter Points right now?
“No, no, no!”
Lu Zhan refused without the slightest hesitation.
He was currently in a critical period of rapid growth. Spending 3000 Slaughter Points to make one talent permanent was far too wasteful.
Better to wait. He would think about it again after he had an abundance of Slaughter Points in the future.
Right now, improving his realm was what mattered most.
After that, he could not help but wonder why something like this had never dropped before.
“System, come out and explain.”
Lu Zhan stared suspiciously at the system.
Could it be that the system had been secretly withholding things for itself?
【...】
【The system can randomly drop all kinds of things】
【Including but not limited to talents (Limited-Time Talents, Innate Talents, Talent Fragments) and cultivation resources (cultivation methods, martial arts, pills...)】
“System, why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”
【The Host must explore the system’s functions on their own】
There was also a line of fine print below. ——Note: The system reserves the final right of interpretation.
Lu Zhan’s tone faltered, and he said helplessly, “System, is there any way to increase the drop rate?”
【Killing enemies above your level can not only bring generous rewards, but also increase the chance of item drops】
【Killing Demon Beasts of the same species can also increase the chance of item drops, but all of it is still random】
Lu Zhan raised a brow.
It seemed the system very much wanted him to kill enemies above his level.
Fortunately, he was still only in the Qi Condensation Realm, and the difference between each level was not yet that great.
Even so, one fact remained undeniable.
——The further one advanced, the greater the gap between realms.
That being the case, the higher he went, the harder it would be to fight above his level. It looked like he would need to get more talents and stack more enhancements. Only then could he erase the gulf created by realm differences.
As long as he stacked enough enhancements, and did so quickly enough, the gap in realm would never catch up to him.
That said, relying solely on the realm he had cultivated through the system already allowed him to easily crush ordinary Martial Artists at the same level.
And with the Iron-Slaying Saber Art at Perfection added on top of that, he could easily kill even a Demon Beast at the fifth level of the Qi Condensation Realm.
As for one at the sixth level of the Qi Condensation Realm, that would probably be difficult.
After all, that meant crossing two levels.
And as for crossing three levels—facing an enemy at the seventh level of the Qi Condensation Realm—Lu Zhan still did not have absolute confidence.
After all, the first to third levels of the Qi Condensation Realm were the early stage, the fourth to sixth levels were the middle stage, and the seventh to ninth levels were the late stage.
The gaps between the early, middle, and late stages were enormous.
After understanding his own strength more clearly, Lu Zhan felt a stronger sense of urgency.
“System, spend Slaughter Points to raise my realm.”
【Ding! The Slaughter System is at your service wholeheartedly】
【The Host spends 1400 Slaughter Points to raise your realm】
【No resources beneficial to the Host’s cultivation have been detected. Entering the Unceasing Cultivation State...】