"Or rather, the desire to survive prompted Zhang Yanhang to abandon the idea of idly getting by, even though that might really have been quite enjoyable."

"But if he could have been happy for a decade or two, he would have accepted that, yet giving up a lifespan measured in millennia for just a few months of happiness was truly not worth it. It was a simple mathematical problem."

Speaking of lifespan, Zhang Yanhang suddenly remembered that his own lifespan seemed to have increased substantially after his promotion to the Third Tier, by about forty years, not too much to note.

However, regarding this matter, Zhang Yanhang had already received reliable information from his fellow Awakeners in the group chat. While the lifespan gained from the first three tiers was not much, once one advanced to the Fourth Tier, the increase in lifespan would surge by a vast amount. Without exaggeration, living a thousand or eight hundred more years would be no problem at all.

To Zhang Yanhang, this seemed entirely reasonable. After all, considering the requirements for promotion, crossing the threshold to the Fourth Tier was indeed quite difficult, capable of hindering many an Awakener. If the benefits for overcoming such a hurdle were not enticing enough, that would hardly be fair to those who exerted countless efforts for it.

Upon thinking about this issue of lifespan, Zhang Yanhang opened up the Talent Effect of his SS-grade Talent, "Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea," because he remembered that the lifespan bonus from Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea was linked to the Constitution Attribute, and with his recent rank promotion, he should have gained a substantial increase in lifespan.

"Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea"

"Quality: SS (0/2187)"

"Ability One: Unwearied — Constitution +7."

"Ability Two: Energetic — Physical Strength +220%."

"Ability Three: Longevity — Life Span +140 years + 2 years × 75 (+25) [Constitution] = 290 years (+50 years)."

"Just as I thought, along with the rank promotion, besides the forty years of lifespan the rank itself provides, Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea's Ability Three, Longevity, has also granted me an extra fifty years of life. By now, Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea alone has extended my lifespan by an additional two hundred and ninety years.

Adding the ten years gained from promoting to the First Tier, the twenty years from the Second Tier, and the forty years from the Third Tier, amounting to seventy years in total, my additional lifespan has reached a grand total of three hundred and sixty years.

Even if I was originally doomed at forty due to death by overwork from coding, now I at least have a good four hundred years of life ahead, which is pretty great.

Considering my current lifespan of four hundred years, even if my descendants all marry late and have children at forty, I could achieve ten generations living together under one roof.

And if they chose to marry earlier, say having children at twenty, then I could even witness twenty generations together. By that time, I would effectively be the patriarch of eighteen generations."

Of course, such a scenario might not be all that pleasant, and besides, an Awakener like himself, who takes a path of self-replication, is unlikely to actually have that many descendants.

Therefore, most of the lifespan that Zhang Yanhang has accumulated will likely be spent in retirement, enjoying his freedom alone — the more, the merrier, of course. After all, given the opportunity, who wouldn't want to live a little longer?

"But it would be great if Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea could be upgraded to SSS-grade. By then, I should be able to add at least a hundred more years to my lifespan.

Yet to upgrade Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea requires Slow Corrosion, and for that, I would need to venture to the abandoned Transmission Channel on the other side of the Raccoon City sewers — a task beyond my capabilities at present.

For now, the new area beneath the small-sized Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dala Gu is what I am committed to clear next. Raccoon City's new district will have to wait until after I've cleared the new area of the Crimson Iron Ant Nest."

While Zhang Yanhang did initially have some hesitation upon his return to the Main World regarding whether to clean up the new district of the Crimson Iron Ore, by now, he had already made his decision and was determined to execute and follow through with it diligently.

After checking the lifespan bonus from Longevity Mountain and Fortune Sea, Zhang Yanhang didn't rush to improve his Skill Levels immediately. Instead, he first opened up his Death Wave·Original LV.MAX's Skill Effect to take a look. He had just substantially increased his Intelligence Attribute, so the Fixed Damage Limit of his Death Wave had surely risen significantly.

"Death Wave·Original LV.MAX (Passive/Active)"

"Passive effect: Reduces the enemy's defensive power by 20%."

"Active effect: Upon Skill Activation, deals 500 + 10 × 75 (+8) [Intelligence] + 10 × 67 (+2) [Charm] = 1920 points (+100 points) of Fixed Damage to all people within the coverage area.

Coverage radius is 1000 × 120% = 1200 meters; can only cause harm to the same target once within 12 hours. No cooldown time, consumes a small amount of Physical Strength."

"Additional Attributes: Skillful — You are now able to skillfully control the Death Wave Skill, gaining the ability to mark friendly targets. Marked targets will be immune to the fixed damage from the Death Wave Skill."

"Additional Attributes: Mastery — You have now become more proficient in controlling the Death Wave Skill, acquiring the ability to freely manipulate the coverage radius of the Death Wave Skill (may only be decreased), thereby reducing the Physical Strength consumption when the coverage radius is reduced."

"Additional Attributes: Specialization — After a prolonged period of effort, you have specialized in controlling the Death Wave Skill, gaining the ability to force a direct kill on enemies whose life values fall below 10% after being attacked by the Death Wave Skill, without any extra Physical Strength consumption."

"Additional Attributes: Expert — After a period of lengthy endeavor, you have become an expert in controlling the Death Wave Skill. Prolonged research has slightly increased the intensity of your Death Wave, raising the Life Value Limit for forcibly killing enemies by 10% and the coverage radius by 20%."

"Just now, I improved my Intelligence by eight points and Charm by two points, totalling ten Attribute points. Therefore, my Death Wave's Fixed Damage Limit has increased from the original 1820 points to 1920 points, gaining another hundred points on the Fixed Damage Limit."

Zhang Yanhang's fixed damage cap for Death Wave used to be able to instantly kill Third Tier monsters with a Constitution Attribute of sixty-one points, but now it was capable of instantly killing those with sixty-four points, namely Third Tier three-star level monsters. It still, however, required a slaying blow to take down a Third Tier four-star level monster.

However, slaying could only be used against monsters with a Life Value Limit lower than the range of the slay, if fighting against Fourth Tier monsters, only the most basic fixed damage of 1920 points would be effective.

According to Zhang Yanhang's estimate, the Life Value Limit of Fourth Tier monsters should be at least above three thousand points at their weakest. Although his current slaying cap had once again increased by 125 points over the previous 2275, reaching a slaying range of 2400 points Life Value Limit, there was still a considerable gap from slaying Fourth Tier monsters.

About this, Zhang Yanhang felt he might need to find some skills or equipment that could specifically increase fixed damage to further enhance the fixed damage of Death Wave. However, this matter could only be left to fate, as such things that could amplify fixed damage were definitely scarce.

Of course, overall, Zhang Yanhang was actually quite satisfied with the fixed damage of Death Wave. After all, he could already instantly kill all Third Tier monsters. What more could he be dissatisfied with?

As for instantly killing Fourth Tier monsters, that was merely a beautiful vision. In the Third Tier, it was probably still unlikely to be accomplished and would most likely require a further advancement of his skills upon reaching the Fourth Tier.

After checking the Skill Effect of Death Wave, Zhang Yanhang then began to check his Life Value Limit. Logically, with the recent improvement of his Constitution Attribute, his Life Value Limit should have also gained further enhancement.

[Life Value: 6952/6952 (Constitution × 34. Current body has been officially digitalized, Life Value Recovery Speed, 30 (+1) points per hour.)]

"The five points of Constitution Attribute I just increased raised my Life Value Limit from the original 6680 points to 6952 points, an overall increase of 272 points to my Life Value Limit.

Out of these, 170 points were the most basic, converted by the Maximum Life Value Conversion Coefficient, and the additional 102 Life Value Limit points all came from the Indestructible Golden Body's 60% Life Value Limit bonus."

Because of the outstanding performance of Indestructible Golden Body, Zhang Yanhang even began to consider whether to upgrade Indestructible Golden Body after raising Technique Immunity later on.

Now, aside from Technique Immunity which was definitely going to be upgraded, another slot had been vacant all this while, and Seeking Fortune and Avoiding Evil, Indestructible Golden Body, and Three-Headed Six-Armed were all strong contenders for it.

As for why Fatian Xiangdi was not considered? That's because Fatian Xiangdi was already large enough now; even his current height would probably not unfold properly in the new lower levels of the Crimson Iron Ore Vein, let alone becoming even bigger. For now, there was indeed no need to enhance it.

On the other hand, if Zhang Yanhang were to upgrade Indestructible Golden Body, he would be able to immediately obtain a significant amount of Life Value Limit bonus. Not to say too much, but at the very least, completing two more minor goals wouldn't be difficult for Zhang Yanhang.

As for Three-Headed Six-Armed, that was because Zhang Yanhang had always been contemplating transforming into the complete form of Four-Headed Eight-Armed as soon as possible. And when it came to adding Four-Headed Eight-Armed to the Fatian Xiangdi's Hundred Feet Dharma Body, that would be the Ultimate Form. He had no idea which enemy he would eventually meet who would be so fortunate to face the Ultimate Form.

When Zhang Yanhang was a child, he always wanted to be part of the Holy Plan and become a chosen child. Little did he expect that fate would play such a trick. He never got involved in the Holy Plan, but instead, he came up with an Ultimate Form transformation himself.

With his current appearance, he would have easily fit the role of a major villainous boss in "Digital Monster"—not exactly like his childhood dream, but it was a roundabout way of achieving it.

After some hesitation, Zhang Yanhang, who suffered from a mild case of decision paralysis, still couldn't make up his mind. Therefore, he temporarily gave up thinking and refocused his attention on the Life Value Limit.

"The next minor goal I set for myself was a seven thousand point Life Value Limit, and now I am very close, only missing the last forty-eight points to achieve this minor goal. Sadly, my Constitution Attribute has already been increased to the Tier limit of seventy-five points, and I cannot continue to raise the Life Value Limit by simply increasing my Constitution Attribute. I must find other means to continue raising it, such as Medicinal Herbs like the Yellow Medicine Grass or improving the Skill Level of Indestructible Golden Body."

Zhang Yanhang was more inclined towards the former, finding a stable source of Artifacts that could increase the Life Value Limit. However, this method was much more difficult than raising the Skill Level of Indestructible Golden Body.

After all, Artifacts that could increase the Life Value Limit weren't that common, and of the four areas he had cleared, only Raccoon City dropped relevant Artifacts.

"As my Constitution Attribute grew, in addition to my Life Value Limit, my Life Value Recovery Speed also increased by a point, from the original 29 points to 30 points. However, compared to my Energy Value Recovery Speed and Physical Recovery Speed, Life Value Recovery Speed isn't very important to me."

Zhang Yanhang had forgotten how long it had been since he last got hurt, or rather, when his Energy Shield was last broken. With the Energy Shield intact, he naturally wouldn't get hurt, making the Life Value Recovery Speed essentially useless.

Nonetheless, while it might be redundant, any improvement was a good thing. He might not need certain things, but he absolutely couldn't be without them—possession itself was valuable.

After checking his Life Value Limit, Zhang Yanhang quickly moved on to inspect his Shield Value Limit.

[Shield Value: 14600/14600 (Life Value Limit × 210%, recovery rate: 20% per second.)]

"Compared to the Life Value Limit, my Shield Value Limit has indeed increased substantially. Thanks to the five points of Constitution I just raised, my Shield Value Limit has gone up from its original 14029 to 14600, increasing by 571 points. And the Shield Value Limit has hit a round number, which is even rarer than auspicious numbers."

Zhang Yanhang's previous minor goal was to bring the Shield Value Limit up to fifteen thousand points, and he now lacked only four hundred points to achieve this minor goal.

"Previously, my Shield Value Limit was just over six times the Life Value Limit of a Same Tier Awakened, but now it has nearly reached 6.5 times. Although that is 6.5 times, it's still far from my minor goal of ten times. Besides, my Life Value Limit is still only three times that of a Same Tier Awakened, and even combined, they are only 9.5 times. They could barely be considered ten times after rounding up, and even an incomplete version of my ten times minor goal remains unfulfilled."

But the good news is, although the Shield Value Limit is still somewhat lacking, Zhang Yanhang was about to increase the Skill Level of Technique Immunity, and once he upgrades Technique Immunity to Original LV.MAX, he would definitely gain a tremendous increase in Shield Value Limit.

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