CHAPTER 630: CHAPTER 629: THE OLD CROOKED-NECK TREE

However, having said that, Zhang Yanhang still felt a twinge of regret due to the slight shortfall in the Charm attribute bonus. He had hoped to experience what an overflow of the Charm attribute might feel like, but now it seemed highly unlikely.

After all, the probability of him receiving more Charm-related equipment in the Demonized Swamp Zone wasn’t zero, but it was infinitely close to zero. As for achievements, there was even less hope. Therefore, if nothing unexpected happened, his Charm attribute was unlikely to increase any further before his promotion in rank.

Even though he could continue to receive a Charm attribute bonus by further enhancing the Talent Quality of Rhythm Talent, the problem was that the scanning results at the beginning of his exploration had already indicated a shortage of monsters.

During the subsequent clearing process, especially now that he had reached the Third Stage, it became increasingly apparent that his initial prediction was accurate—the number of Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents was indeed insufficient.

If he wanted to further improve the Quality of Ocean Rhythm Talent, he would need to consume 729 Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents. From the 527 Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents that Zhang Yanhang had initially accumulated, 243 had already been used, leaving only 284, roughly half spent.

Therefore, to continue advancing the Talent Quality of Ocean Rhythm Talent, he would need to acquire another 445 Prehistoric Giant Beast Talents.

Yet, even after clearing the Demonized Swamp’s most densely packed Eastern Forest of 7,000 Demonized Maned Beasts, Zhang Yanhang had only managed to gather a little over three hundred Talents in total. The number of monsters in the remaining three areas of the Demonized Swamp didn’t even collectively match the number in the Eastern Forest.

Consequently, calculating the situation conservatively, Zhang Yanhang estimated that he would ultimately be short of at least one or two hundred Talents, making it very difficult to gather all at once.

Although the Demonized Dogtooth Giant Apes in the Southern Forest Zone he cleared the day before had begun to spawn sporadically, the limited number of kills meant that managing even a hundred or two hundred refreshes was considered a lot.

Only when Zhang Yanhang had completely cleared the entire Demonized Swamp would the spawn rate reach its maximum. At that point, he estimated that at least several hundred Demonized Creatures would refresh each day. So, unless the Demonized Swamp could suddenly refresh a few thousand more Demonized Creatures, it was definitely impossible to collect them all this time.

Thus, with the only pathway towards improvement, i.e., the upgradation of Talent, being blocked, he felt that he genuinely wouldn’t be able to secure any further enhancements to his Charm attribute, and the pleasant little fantasy of Charm attribute overflow was even more out of the question.

After reviewing Ability One’s Bodybuilding, Zhang Yanhang quickly turned his attention to the changes in Ability Two Aerobic Exercise.

"Because it was an SS-tier enhancement, my little wish was indeed fulfilled without any surprises. This time, Aerobic Exercise doubled the Movement Speed bonus, directly providing an additional 30% Movement Speed bonus and bringing the total bonus provided by Aerobic Exercise from 75% to 105%."

"That is to say, at present, the Talent Effect of Ocean Rhythm Talent allows me to double my Movement Speed simply with the bonus from one Aerobic Exercise.

"Ah, recalling the difficulty of increasing Movement Speed in the past, it was really a struggle. After all the effort, the result would be only a slight increase in Movement Speed.

"Compared to equipment bonuses, achievements, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, or Artifacts, Talents undoubtedly offer the largest scope of enhancement. Just a single Talent can yield such an exaggerated effect."

But given the difficulty for a typical Awakener to acquire Talents, Zhang Yanhang reconciled himself to such exaggerated effects.

After all, even if a typical Awakener could clear an entire region on their own, the Treasure box drop rate alone would drastically reduce the number of Talents available.

Moreover, soul points, Equipment, Weapons, Artifacts, Pets, Materials, Skills... would also take up spots that could have been Talents. So by the end, managing to acquire even a few dozen Talents from an entire region would be considered a lot, and they may not even be the necessary ones.

Besides Slow Corrosion, Thin Dragon Vein, Prehistoric Giant Beast, and other basic Talents, Monsters also have one Racial Talent, which occupies half the slot for Talent drops.

Thus, given the difficulty of acquiring Talents for the average Awakener, an SS-tier Talent, which requires several hundred Talents to upgrade, being significantly stronger is quite expected; in fact, it would be strange if it weren’t.

"Compared to Ability Two Aerobic Exercise, the most important for me this time is still Ability Three Outdoor Sports. This time, the negative impact of Outdoor Sports on movement across solid surfaces increased from a weakening of 110% to 130%, a further 20% increase in Weakening effect."

"Based on my previous experiences, this 20% Weakening effect can almost be directly converted 1:1 into a Movement Speed bonus, meaning this increase is equivalent to another 20% Movement Speed bonus on solid surfaces.

"Adding the previous 30% Movement Speed bonus provided by Ability Two Aerobic Exercise, I’ve effectively increased my total Movement Speed bonus by 50%—an outrageous percentage indeed.

"But it’s precisely for this reason that swapping out the initial Level’s amplification for a faster Talent Quality improvement is truly worthwhile. After all, during the D tier, each Talent Quality improvement provided only a 15% Movement Speed bonus.

"The enhancements gained from the SS tier upgrade are equivalent to all the bonuses received from the D tier, C tier, and B tier combined—and an additional 5% to boot."

Even more so, if nothing unexpected happens, Zhang Yanhang feels that the Aerobic Exercise and Outdoor Sports of the SSS-tier Rhythm Talent will maintain the same rate of increase.

"But receiving a 50% Movement Speed bonus just by upgrading the Talent Quality once—thinking about it makes me even more eager to elevate the Rhythm Talent to SSS-tier. It’s just a pity that the number of Monsters in the Demonized Swamp is indeed insufficient."

"Moreover, SS-tier Outdoor Sports, aside from the negative impact on mobility across solid environments, now also includes a negative impact on mobility within liquid environments. What’s more, even though I’ve just obtained it, it’s already reached a 100% negative impact."

"With that being the case, won’t I immediately be able to move as freely in liquid environments as I do in solid environments?"

However, while the ocean is a relatively normal example of a liquid environment, given that the Talent is Ocean Rhythm and it would be logical to move freely in the ocean, oil is somewhat reasonable. But what the heck is magma? Isn’t magma a solid-liquid mixture, if I remember correctly?"

But even though he initially questioned it a little, Zhang Yanhang quickly realized again that it did make sense. After all, now that he could move freely both on solid matter and in liquid matter, it was quite logical for him to be able to move on a solid-liquid mixture as well.

Even though Zhang Yanhang wasn’t too afraid of moving on magma thanks to his Energy Shield, without a point of leverage or using the Flying Technique, he would probably sink to the bottom of the magma like quicksand after just a few steps.

But now this wasn’t a concern. Although he hadn’t seen any magma-related areas yet, being well-equipped is never a disadvantage. Considering the current situation, there might be a possibility of encountering magma regions in the future, like if he kept digging deeper in a Crimson Iron Ore Vein environment, who knows, he might actually encounter magma.

"However, although it’s sort of normal to move in a solid-liquid mixture like magma, oil, or rather crude oil that hasn’t been refined, isn’t it a mixture of solid, liquid, and gas states? Could it be that oil is mostly a solid-liquid mix with not much gas, which is why it also allows for free movement?"

Zhang Yanhang thought about it for a bit and felt it was quite likely. Speaking of which, if he could possibly encounter something like magma in a fire-related region in the future, he highly doubted he would ever find himself moving on oil in his lifetime.

Therefore, he didn’t want to fret over the oil too much. After all, he wasn’t the US military; he had no interest in oil whatsoever.

"The first small wish of improving Movement Speed with Aerobic Exercise has been fulfilled, the second small wish of outdoor sports Movement Speed enhancement is also completed, and even the third wish for a new Ability in outdoor sports has been granted. SS rank is truly worthy of its name, ’three wishes, all satisfied at once.’"

After reviewing the Talent Effect of the newly upgraded SS rank [Ocean Rhythm], Zhang Yanhang didn’t rush to test his Movement Speed increase but first opened his Attribute list to take a look.

[Strength: 50 (+4[-5])]

[Agility: 50 (+4[-4])]

[Constitution: 50 (+4[-4])]

[Intelligence: 50 (+4[-9])]

[Charm: 50 (+17)]

"After gaining another two points of Attribute bonus to my Charm attribute through the Ability One Bodybuilding of the Ocean Rhythm Talent, my Charm attribute value has once again returned to the Second Tier Limit of fifty points.

As a result, my Death Wave Skill, which was just reduced to a Fixed Damage Limit of seven hundred forty points, can now climb back up to a Fixed Damage Limit of seven hundred and fifty points."

In addition to the Fixed Damage Limit of the Death Wave Skill, Zhang Yanhang indeed found that keeping the Attribute list neat and tidy was more appealing.

But it could only stay this neat and uniform at fifty points for now. Once promoted to Third Tier and the Attribute restriction is unlocked, it would definitely not stay the same. Or rather, the Charm Sub-attribute would undoubtedly lag behind the other four Main Attributes.

After all, even though Zhang Yanhang would likely use some Free attribute points to increase his Charm attribute value after promotion, the idea of bringing it on par with the other four Main Attributes seemed a bit unrealistic.

Compared to the Charm attribute, which has a singular function, the other four Main Attributes are indeed more important to Zhang Yanhang.

Each Main Attribute is tied to several branch attributes that are highly important to him. For example, with an increase in the Constitution Attribute, related Physical Defense, Stamina limit, Physical Recovery Speed, Life Value Limit, Life Value Recovery Speed, Abnormal State Resistance, Weight Limit, Critical Resistance, and other related branch attributes will also improve.

Take the Intelligence Attribute as another example, an increase in Intelligence Attribute will improve related attributes such as Energy attack, Energy value limit, Energy Value Recovery Speed, Energy manipulation, Energy Attack Defense, Energy Critical Strike, Spiritual Attack Defense, Spirit, Perception, Memory, Thinking ability, and a host of other branch attributes related to energy, spirit, mind, and brain are all included in the Intelligence Attribute.

Compared to the Main Attributes that could bring numerous enhancements, the Charm attribute, which only serves to raise the Fixed Damage Limit of the Death Wave Skill and cannot improve strength, indeed has a much lower priority compared to the other Main Attributes.

"Speaking of which, I suddenly thought of a question. Aside from enhancing external charm, i.e., looks, and internal charm, i.e., personal charisma, could Charm attribute also uplift one’s Emotional Intelligence?"

Zhang Yanhang reflected on his usual behaviors and silently crossed his heart.

"It seems that aside from professions like Warlock, Druid, Priest, Summoner, the Charm attribute is indeed not very useful for a melee brute like me."

Though admittedly not particularly useful, the increase must still be done. After all, Death Wave is really important, and while the Charm attribute might not be useful now, who knows about the future? So, increasing it is definitely right.

At the very least, it’s like leaving himself an exit strategy; say, if he went bankrupt after retirement, he could rely on being a pretty boy to cling to a wealthy woman and rise again.

In fact, Zhang Yanhang has always had a dream, which is to marry the Empress and become the Prince Consort, leading an easy life of idle comfort.

However, unfortunately, the Main World’s environment has not been very stable lately. The Imperial Royal Family, which should have lasted at least a few centuries, is no longer as steady as before. If he were to become a Prince Consort now, he might have to go along with the fall of the Empire within a year or two.

He doesn’t want to hang himself from an old crooked tree. Thus, rather than dreaming of marrying the Empress, he is more interested in clinging to a wealthy woman after retirement to experience a more pure form of happiness.