"""The critical strike damage enhancement provided by an un-fused Crimson Marrow Ghost Claw is merely 25%, which, though high for equipment, isn't that high."""

Zhang Yanhang said this mainly because percentage enhancements like these seem high but, in reality, aren't that significant.

For example, without any enhancement, a 100% bonus is a solid 100% boost, but if you add another 100% afterward, that's effectively only a 50% increase from the original, making the damage only 1.5 times the original. Only a simultaneous increase of 200% would double the damage again.

Once you have a 300% bonus, another 100% bonus would only yield 1.25 times the original damage. Therefore, his threefold critical strike damage, although it seems substantial, is in fact just 1.5 times the initial twofold damage—it's not that impressive.

Thinking this way, Zhang Yanhang could understand why the critical strike damage enhancements provided by equipment were much higher than attack power bonuses. With such high initial multipliers, if you could only increase it by a mere ten percent or so, like attack power, the difference wouldn't be significant compared to the original.

After reviewing the attribute list of the Crimson Marrow Ghost Claw, Zhang Yanhang quickly equipped a box of ordinary Crimson Marrow Ghost Claws onto his newly grown ten fingers.

Looking at those ten clean fingers that were still bereft of rings, Zhang Yanhang felt that this was a great waste; indeed, he should hurry to find some rings to fill the emptiness.

Unfortunately, from the current situation, it's not certain he could obtain rings from the Large Crimson Iron Ant Nest Tarano. He felt that new rings would most likely be acquired when cleaning out a new area.

"Now, my critical strike damage multiplier was a total of 303%, and with the 24% critical strike damage bonus provided by the freshly equipped Crimson Marrow Ghost Claws, it has risen to 327%, which is just passable.

According to my previous calculation, this is a rise of less than one-tenth compared to before, not even nine percent, at most eight percent."

Zhang Yanhang actually felt that even eight percent might be a bit generous; after all, with such a large base number, a 24% critical strike damage bonus really isn't much.

"So, the question arises, now that I've donned all the equipment, what should I do next? Treasure boxes opened, talents upgraded, equipment fused, and even skills have been upgraded completely—it seems there's indeed nothing left to do."

Feeling a bit idle, Zhang Yanhang first tidied up the ground items into his waist bag and then opened his stat panel to begin reviewing.

[Name: Zhang Yanhang (Third Tier)]

[Race: Human]

[Gender: Male]

[Age: 20]

[Profession: Heavenly Destiny Master]

[Level: LV.30 (Legendary Essence [0/1], Ash Source [0/7])]

[Soul points: 2,668,254]

[Shield Value: 24,322/24,322 (Life Value Limit × 350%, recovery speed: 20% per second.)]

[Life Value: 6,952/6,952 (Constitution × 34, current body officially digitized, Life Value recovery speed, 30 points per hour.)]

[Energy Value: 5,760/5,760 (Intelligence × 34, current body officially digitized, Energy Value recovery speed, 93 points per hour.)]

[Strength: 75 (+3[-7])]

[Agility: 75 (+3[-3])]

[Constitution: 75 (+3[-3])]

[Intelligence: 75 (+3[-3])]

[Charm: 75 (+31[-17])]

[Luck: ??? (This attribute is hidden.)]

[Talent: 1. Multiple Choice (???). 2. Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea (SS Rank). 3. Kua'e Power (SSS Rank). 4. Mature Scroll Dragon [Bloodline Purification] (SS Rank). 5. Ocean Rhythm (SS Rank).]

[Skill: 1. Limitless Universe Skill [Third Tier] LV.MAX (Passive/Active). 2. Alchemy (Active skill). 3. Gun Mastery LV.6 (Passive skill). 4. Fighting Master LV.6 (Passive skill). 5. Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil·Original LV.MAX (Passive/Active). 6. Technique Immunity·Original LV.MAX (Passive skill). 7. Death Wave·Original LV.MAX (Passive/Active). 8. Supreme Will LV.MAX (Passive skill). 9. Indestructible Golden Body·Original LV.6 (Passive/Active). 10. Fatian Xiangdi LV.6 (Active skill). 11. Three-Headed Six-Armed LV. MAX (Active skill).]

"The most significant gain this time should be the promotion of Throwing Elephant Power to SSS Rank Kua'e Power. But even SSS Rank Kua'e Power is still not enough; I must continue to strive and push Kua'e Power to beyond SSS Rank."

Zhang Yanhang had already resolved to take this opportunity to elevate his talent to beyond SSS Rank before entering the Large Crimson Iron Ant Nest Tarano. Now, understanding the actual situation of the Ant Nest, he was even more confident.

"However, once the SS Rank Throwing Elephant Power really advanced to SSS Rank Kua'e Power, the other three SS Rank talents—Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea, Scroll Dragon Bloodline, and Ocean Rhythm—were immediately left behind. It used to be the S Rank Bear Power enjoying this distinction, and now it has finally come to the other talents."

Regarding this situation, Zhang Yanhang felt mixed emotions; after all, he thought it would be more aesthetically pleasing to keep talents at the same level. Unfortunately, those days are gone and probably won't come back, unless he can also elevate the other talents like Scroll Dragon Bloodline and Rhythm Talent.

But clearly, the likelihood of accomplishing that was not high; he felt that at best, he could continue to upgrade Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea. As for the others, he too wished to elevate them, but alas, he hadn't found a way yet.

"I remember the last time I checked the data panel, I had just over two million Soul Points left in my account, and this time I had over two million again, but thankfully, there was still a slight improvement. Last time, it had just barely exceeded two million, while this time it was two million six hundred sixty-six thousand."

Of course, if possible, Zhang Yanhang wished he could spend those Soul Points instead of having them left over, but unfortunately, he was still four hundred thousand Soul Points short of the three million seventy thousand needed.

"Now, although there are still five skills left to upgrade in the entire Skill list, Alchemy definitely needs to be temporarily excluded, which leaves only Gun Mastery, Fighting Master, Indestructible Golden Body, and Fatian Xiangdi—these four skills—to upgrade."

Due to the high Soul Point yield from the Crimson Iron Ant Nest Talanoli, Zhang Yanhang was confident he could easily gather the twelve million Soul Points needed to raise these four skills and also had a good chance of saving up another batch of Soul Points for his advancement to the Fourth Tier.

Although based on his experience advancing to the Third Tier, he knew that the Soul Points he had now would be insignificant after his actual advancement to the Fourth Tier, it would ultimately help shorten the time needed to advance to the Fifth Tier. At the very least, even if he couldn't upgrade his skills, he could still level up his Profession Level.

Free attribute points were still very useful, allowing him to try to increase his Attribute Value as much as possible right after advancing, or even reach a limit close to the maximum, as he had done this time.

"Ah, the Fifth Tier feels so distant. I haven't even advanced to the Fourth Tier yet, and I'm already thinking about the Fifth Tier, which is really something that Awakeners at the Immortal Land Realm like the group owner need to consider."

Although he felt that his advancement to the Fourth Tier would come quickly, or rather that he was bound to advance within two weeks, he thought advancing to the Fifth Tier would still be quite difficult, likely requiring him to wait until December.

"But a month doesn't seem too long. If we go by this timeline, advancing to the Sixth Tier by my birthday on February 10th should definitely be no problem."

Zhang Yanhang actually had a grand dream, which was to retire right on his birthday. However, realizing this great dream might truly be very difficult.

But fortunately, he just wanted to retire on his birthday, without specifying which year. Retiring on his birthday two years later was also acceptable. After all, in life, one should strive for a year or two to experience the brutal social beating before learning to retreat wisely and emerge unscathed.

In short, being stubborn was definitely not the way to go. You'd only get beaten into a concussion by society's ruthless cudgel.

"This time, the increase in the Charm attribute was indeed outrageous. Including the two points of equipment bonus, it amounted to an increase of 22 points, although due to Rank limitations, it overflowed."

Although the main purpose of the Charm attribute wasn't to add to one's looks but to provide bonuses for some Awakeners with related abilities, Zhang Yanhang still believed that with his current Charm attribute of seventy-five points, it wouldn't be difficult to land a wealthy wife like Li Zerui did before.

And with his sturdy physique, he should be much more in demand in the market for wealthy women than Li Zerui's sickly pretty-boy look—after all, he had at least a seventy percent bonus in reproductive ability.

With just this point alone, he felt he would certainly be far superior to someone like Li Zerui, who could only battle with words, even if his tongue could provide free dental services.

"Now that everything has been resolved, I should hurry on to continue hunting monsters."

Zhang Yanhang checked the time on his watch and found it was already six o' eight. He had less than six hours left to clear out the Crimson Iron Ant Nest Tarano, so he really needed to hurry.

So, he immediately teleported from the Lucky Slot Machine directly to the passage that served as a connection between the outer zone and the central region, which he had previously reached, and immediately began to rush toward the depths of the passage.

...

October 29th, Thursday, the fourth day after the Double Ninth Festival and also Zhang Yanhang's first day in the Ashen World, at 6:21 PM, in the Ashen World, Crimson Iron Ore Vein, Large Crimson Iron Ant Nest Talano, Central Region.

Because there were no large crimson iron ants in the passage, Zhang Yanhang went straight from the passage into the central region.

The moment he entered the central region, Zhang Yanhang saw swarms of Crimson Iron Flame Ants guarding the exit of the passage, and they reacted very quickly, starting to spit flames at him when he was only halfway there.

Moreover, some of the Crimson Iron Destruction Ants in front tried to spray thick ant acid on the ground to stop or at least slow down his progress.

Unfortunately for them, with his current speed and strength, unless they filled the entire passage with ant acid and completely sealed off the road, it might have been effective, but this sort of temporary ant acid spraying was at best psychologically comforting.

Before the group of large crimson iron ants could react further, Zhang Yanhang, moving at a speed of two Mach, charged into the ant swarm like a runaway chariot and instantly smashed into pulp a dozen or so Crimson Iron Flame Ants that were in his way.

Shattered exoskeleton fragments and severed limbs were further dispersed by the impact, and in the blink of an eye, at high speeds, they violently penetrated the crimson exoskeleton armor of the surrounding Crimson Iron Flame Ants and deeply stabbed into their bodies, wreaking havoc on various muscle tissues and gland structures.

[Successfully killed a Second Tier Four-star Monster 'Crimson Iron Flame Ant (Ordinary)'×1, gained 160 soul points.]

[Successfully killed a Second Tier Four-star Monster 'Crimson Iron Flame Ant (Ordinary)'×1, gained 160 soul points.]

[Successfully killed a Second Tier Four-star Monster 'Crimson Iron Flame Ant (Ordinary)'×1, gained 160 soul points.]

...

Zhang Yanhang displayed no reaction to the bloody path he had forcibly plowed behind him, just slightly correcting his path forward based on the Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil scan results, and then continued his relentless charge without any hesitation.

After reaching an appropriate distance, Zhang Yanhang swiftly countered the inertia, plowing two deep furrows in the hard crimson iron ore with his feet, and the instant his body came to a stop, he began releasing the Death Wave Skill. This position was ideal to cover both the batch of Crimson Iron Flame Ants he had just bulldozed through and a batch of large crimson iron ants further ahead.

Indeed, if Zhang Yanhang didn't encounter new monsters, he would generally plow straight through like this, with no thought of dodging—dodging was too troublesome. It was simply more convenient to charge straight in, and it hardly slowed down his movement speed.

And after charging through, he would decide whether to release the Death Wave based on the density and distribution of the surrounding monsters, just like this time. Since there were more monsters ahead, he would charge forward a bit more before releasing the Death Wave.

But if the density of the surrounding monsters wasn't very high, he would start firing with the Six Roots Soul Crossing Gun right away, because using the Death Wave in that case would indeed be a waste.

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