"The grapple hand in Option One doesn't really suit me, after all, I don't have any need to grapple enemies. Basically, all I need to do is kill them and gain soul points, so this grapple hand is definitely not an option.

As for the Sword Master in Option Two, it's normal to have greatswords and longswords among the types of weapons you can use, but what the heck is that lightsaber? Are we going all Jedi Knight here?

Moreover, aside from the lightsaber, you can also use a single-edged sword. So here's the question: if a single-edged sword can be used, can't a Japanese samurai sword also be used? The thing is, although it's called a sword, those who use it are called swordsmen, which is just ridiculous!"

Of course, Zhang Yanhang thinks it's even more absurd that while some people claim to be great sword masters, once on the battlefield, they're all wielding spears, each longer than the last, with some Japanese warriors wielding three-meter-long spears...

"So, compared to the first two options, the third option is clearly more suitable for me, so I choose Option Three, Melee Attack Power +80%."

After reviewing the contents of the three options, Zhang Yanhang quickly made his choice, and the Time Pause ended immediately thereafter.

After successfully upgrading and choosing the additional attributes for the Fighting Master·Original LV.6, Zhang Yanhang immediately opened the Fighting Master·Original LV.6 skill effects to start examining them.

[Fighting Master·Original LV.6 (Passive skill)]

[Skill Effect: Increases melee attack power by 240% (+40%), enhances proficiency in fighting and related melee combat skills.]

[Additional Attributes: Melee Attack Power +230% (+80%).]

"After upgrading from Fighting Master LV.MAX to Fighting Master·Original LV.6, the base melee attack power bonus of the skill effect increased by 40%, going from 200% to 240%, while the additional attributes melee attack power bonus increased by 80%, raising it from 150% to 230%.

This means that, combined, I've gained a total of 120% melee attack power bonus, increasing my melee attack power from 350% to 470%.

Frankly, the additional attributes' melee attack power bonus is just 10% away from catching up with the skill's base melee attack power bonus..."

To this, Zhang Yanhang can only say that additional attributes are indeed extremely important. Without them, his skill strengths would likely be halved at the very least or even more, especially with skills like Indestructible Golden Body where, without the focus and compression provided by additional attributes, its strength would be reduced by over three-quarters, essentially turning it into a plain frame.

Moreover, the additional attributes gained through continuous promotions are the greatest support for ensuring these early profession skills don't fall behind new high-level profession skills. After all, new profession skills often cannot accumulate additional attributes due to not yet being upgraded.

Sometimes Zhang Yanhang thinks it would be nice if newly obtained profession skills could come with additional attributes from the start, but unfortunately, that's not realistic.

"Previously, my normal attack base amplification multiplier was only 3.5 times, but now it has increased to 4.7 times, meaning any punch I throw is 1+4.7 times, roughly rounded to a sixfold normal attack base amplification multiplier, and on this basis, critical hits can also stack, immediately turning normal attacks into dozens of times the strength."

Zhang Yanhang's previous critical strike damage was about 490%, but with the additional critical strike rate bonus and the critical strike damage bonus provided by the Green Ten-piece Set, it can reach around 590%.

In other words, six times multiplied by six times results in at least 36 times damage with a punch, and this only accounts for the bonuses from Fighting Master and critical hits, without calculating many other things like attack power bonuses.

But anyway, considering melee attack power bonus as a relatively fundamental bonus, it can generally benefit from most bonus increments, so this upgrade essentially means Zhang Yanhang's already absurd attack strength is increased overall by more than a third.

After viewing the attribute list of the Fighting Master·Original LV.6, Zhang Yanhang immediately checked his soul points balance to see how many soul points were left. Since he currently has no other expenses, he plans to save them all until upgrading to the Fifth Tier before spending them.

[Soul points: 37,885,607 (-19,660,800)]

"Originally, I had 57,540,000 soul points, but just now, due to upgrading the Fighting Master skill, I consumed 19,660,800 soul points, leaving me with only 37,885,607 soul points."

Although this many soul points can be used to upgrade a certain skill from LV.6 to LV.7, upgrading is really too troublesome right now. Zhang Yanhang still plans to hold onto them and upgrade after advancing to the Fifth Tier.

Furthermore, the soul points he's accumulating now certainly aren't intended to upgrade the previous skills. The main purpose is to enhance early-stage profession levels and cultivation method levels when just advancing ranks, and then slightly upgrade newly acquired profession skills.

As for those previous profession skills, they can only be upgraded through massive monster hunting with the greatly enhanced soul point acquisition efficiency gained after advancing to the Fifth Tier.

If possible, Zhang Yanhang also plans to clear out another permanent teleportation channel this time, because in the Main World, he's idle anyway, so if there's a suitable permanent teleportation channel, he could clear it as well.

However, after advancing to the Fifth Tier, the minimum will be to clear a Sixth Tier permanent teleportation channel, and whether such a high-level permanent teleportation channel exists in the Main World is uncertain.

"Even though my soul point balance is now less than 40 million, based on the current rate of soul point acquisition, the suburban area with abundant high-level monsters should net me at least 40 million more soul points, potentially raising my balance to an unprecedented 80 million soul points or more.

And even if it's lower, even if it doesn't reach 80 million, it should at least reach over 75 million, which would still be a record-setting soul point balance."

The highest Zhang Yanhang's soul point balance reached before was only 71 million, and that was when he'd cleared the entire Christmas Permanent Teleportation Channel.

But now, even just the remaining small portion of monsters in the Umbrella Biochemical Test Field might easily help him break that record.

I can only say, whether or not there's a drop treasure box, it really makes a huge difference. The soul points revenue that can be gained from a drop treasure box can at least increase the soul points balance by more than 1.5 times.

"If I could obtain eighty million soul points, it should theoretically be enough to upgrade the first few levels of Profession Level and Cultivation Method Level, but it would only be enough for the first few levels..."

According to Zhang Yanhang's estimation, after advancing to the Fifth Tier, it would likely require millions or even tens of millions of soul points to casually upgrade even one level. Therefore, although eighty million soul points seem like a lot at present, they will surely be depleted quickly by then.

After all, just upgrading from Professional skills requires over a hundred million soul points, which basically allows one to predict absurd demands for upgrading to the Fifth Tier.

"Speaking of rank promotion, advancing to a new rank requires consuming four points of Legendary Essence and ten points of Ash Source. However, because I just upgraded the Fighting Master Skill, my stock is almost clear now."

Originally, Zhang Yanhang still had one-point Legendary Essence and two points Ash Source left, but he spent another point of Legendary Essence and another point of Ash Source when promoting the Fighting Master to the Original Stage, leaving him with no Legendary Essence and only one point of Ash Source.

"Fortunately, after executing the Fifth Stage clearing plan, I can defeat the Lord Monster and acquire enough Legendary Essence and Ash Source from it and the Ashen Treasure Box for the promotion."

Last time, from the Crimson Iron Queen Ant's drop treasure box, he obtained nine points of Legendary Essence. He believes that this time he can at least obtain nine points of Legendary Essence again since these are monsters related to 'gods.' Thus, the four points of Legendary Essence needed for rank promotion are not something to worry about.

As for the Ash Source, it's even less concerning since he now possesses the dual-choice ability, gathering the remaining nine points of Ash Source effortlessly.

After checking out the soul points balance, Zhang Yanhang wasted no time and immediately began sorting out the various related earnings from the drop treasure box he just acquired. Naturally, the most important earnings are those regarding Talent.

This time, Zhang Yanhang obtained a total of 984 B-ranked 'Muscle Regeneration' Talents from the drop treasure box. Additionally, he had accumulated a total of 1867 Muscle Regenerations before, meaning he now possesses a total of 2851 Muscle Regenerations.

"The Talent 'Sea House Addition' at XX Level requires a total of 59049 E-ranked Slow Corrosion for an upgrade to XXX Level. When converted into B-ranked Talent Muscle Regeneration, only 2187 Muscle Regenerations are required."

After consecutively clearing two stages, Zhang Yanhang finally accumulated enough Muscle Regeneration to upgrade the XX Level Talent Sea House Addition to XXX Level, which requires 2187 Muscle Regenerations.

Simultaneously, XXX Level, as expected, will also be his last upgrade in the Umbrella Biochemical Test Field. After all, based on prior experience, the demand for subsequent upgrades will triple again, and the Umbrella Biochemical Test Field currently only has a fifth of monsters left, which naturally is insufficient for future upgrade demands.

"Alas, it's a pity because I was quite curious about what level comes after XXX Level..."

Since after the SSS Level comes the X Level, Zhang Yanhang determines that something like a XXXX Level or XXXXX Level will not appear after the XXX Level; rather, it should be yet another brand-new level.

He feels that the current XXX Level should not be the ultimate limit for Talent upgrades, considering that he hasn't seen the EX Level Talent yet, which serves as a strong hint.

Thus, he believes there should be at least one more upgrade possible to reach the EX Level. Whether a level exists beyond EX is indeed uncertain, although Zhang Yanhang is hopeful since his need for upgrades is quite vigorous. Just reaching the EX Level is far from satisfying for him.

After counting the number of Muscle Regenerations he just acquired, Zhang Yanhang promptly takes out the Muscle Regenerations previously accumulated from his Waist Bag, counts 2187 small light balls, and crushes them all in one go.

Then, as expected, a familiar upgrade prompt sounded in his ears. He is truly eager for this new XXX Level Talent upgrade since it's a whole new level of Talent he has never reached before.

[Detected the presence of a Subordinate Talent 'Sea House Addition' in your Attribute list, would you like to merge Talents?]

"Yes, merge them."

Based on Zhang Yanhang's past experiences, every two levels above the SS Level are prone to a significant transformation or qualitative change, spawning new abilities. When he upgraded to X Level previously, he gained Ability Four Source and Flow, which boosted his Attack Power and defensive power based on Life Span.

Thus, he speculates that after skipping over XX Level and XXX Level, the XXX Level will likely also see a significant transformation. It's even possible that it will produce a new Ability Five.

For changes, Zhang Yanhang wasn't fond of Life Span before, mainly because it wasn't very useful to him. However, with its new ability to boost Attack Power and defensive power, Zhang Yanhang is now eager to extend his Life Span even more.

Therefore, he anticipates that after upgrading to XXX Level this time, his Life Span can further increase, preferably by adding a thousand years at once.

He also holds some expectation for the Stamina limit. He hopes the Stamina limit could grow sufficient enough that he could clear the entire Umbrella Biochemical Test Field with just the Death Wave alone, instead of needing Life Drain's assistance along with Death Wave to clear it.

Of course, the most crucial aspect of this Talent upgrade must still be the new ability. As the new ability for an XXX Level Talent, Zhang Yanhang believes this potential Ability Five, while perhaps not as powerful as Ability Four, won't be weak either.

If Zang Yanhang could extend from Ability Four, he wishes for an ability that could amplify Physical Recovery Speed based on Life Span. Then, if Sea House Addition keeps upgrading in the future, there's no fear of lacking Physical Recovery Speed. All it requires is upgrading Talents to adjust accordingly.

However, based on the current situation, the likelihood isn't very high, considering the current Sea House Addition doesn't closely relate to the field of Physical Recovery Speed.

[Merging complete.]

[You have acquired the XXX Level Talent 'Infinite Life'.]

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