It had been a long time since Ronan used mineral skeleton, which he realised was probably missing out on free stats, but he had been a little worried about doing something irreversible to himself. Now that he had the advantage of hard work bears fruit propping up his agility and other important stats, he could freely absorb a few more things without fear.

I should probably try to absorb more of that stuff from the tutorial walls, if it's possible. The stats were decent, but those bonuses were what really made it stand out. That would require him to return to the hard difficulty tutorial, but it would only be one iteration.

Holding the thousand-mile falcon bow in one hand, he placed it against his other arm and willed mineral skeleton to activate. There was a delay of about four seconds before he was greeted with a notification.

Material analysis complete!

Foreign material identified as [Thousand-Mile Wood] and [Millenia Falcon Sinews]!

[Thousand-Mile Wood]

Wood harvested from a Thousand-Mile Tree, a species that grows at least a thousand miles tall during their lifespan, with some ancient specimens reaching up to ten thousand miles in the right conditions. The wood is tougher than many metals and yet flexible, making it ideal for use in crafting weapons and even ships.

[Millenia Falcon Sinews]

The muscle sinews taken from the ligaments of a Millenia Falcon, these are nigh-unbreakable and can absorb a huge amount of strain before snapping.

Absorbing all of the [Thousand-Mile Wood] and [Millenia Falcon Sinews] present in [Thousand Mile Falcon Bow Lv.110 (Legendary)] will cause the following changes:

+9 Strength

+4 Vitality

+3 Resistance

+6 Endurance

+16 Dexterity

+11 Agility

+3 Tenacity

+40% Wind resistance

Absorbing all of the [Thousand-Mile Wood] and [Millenia Falcon Sinews] present in [Thousand Mile Falcon Bow Lv.110 (Legendary)] will destroy the item…

Absorb [Thousand-Mile Wood] and [Millenia Falcon Sinews] from [Thousand Mile Falcon Bow Lv.110 (Legendary)] using [Mineral Skeleton]?

Ronan was a little disappointed at the stat gain from the bow. Then he remembered that technically it was higher than the percentage he'd gained from the tutorial wall. A legendary item might be impressive, but it was only level 110 and still far from the limits of what the system had to offer.

He didn't hesitate to accept. There were no drawbacks to absorbing the bow. He suspected that was because the bonuses from the sinews and the wood had combined and cancelled out, creating a slightly lowered increase overall but with no decreases whatsoever.

Absorbing [Thousand-Mile Wood] and [Millenia Falcon Sinews] from [Thousand Mile Falcon Bow Lv.110 (Legendary)]...

The bow started to dissolve and sink into his skin. Ronan didn't question the odd physics that allowed wood and muscle fibers to dissolve into some kind of liquid, but he wouldn't look the gift horse in the mouth—or question its methods of delivery.

[Thousand-Mile Wood] and [Millenia Falcon Sinews] from [Thousand Mile Falcon Bow Lv.110 (Legendary)] have been absorbed at an 82% efficiency rate!

+7.38 Strength

+3.28 Vitality

+2.46 Resistance

+4.92 Endurance

+13.12 Dexterity

+9.02 Agility

+2.46 Tenacity

+32.8% Wind resistance

Bastard. Couldn't even give me this one. It's only legendary… Ronan complained inwardly about his trait's failure. He wasn't sure whether it had failed because of his own weakness, or the lacking rarity of mineral skeleton. I wonder if there are trait upgrade shards? He had yet to see them, but it would make sense if they existed, given that skill upgrade shards were a thing.

Looking around the room, he was still alone. He was expecting the same bovine announcer from before to pop up at any moment, but perhaps that wasn't how things worked.

Next, Ronan took out the myriad skills tome. He couldn't say he was disappointed in receiving yet another epic skill—far from it—but he had hoped for something a little more impressive after what he'd accomplished. Nonetheless, he opened it with anticipation.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

[Myriad Skills Tome (Epic)] has been consumed!

You have received the skill [Cultivation Art Analysis (Epic)]!

Cultivation Art Analysis (Epic): The user gains an increased ability to notice flaws in cultivation arts (up to and including epic rated arts), and correct them. Depending on the flaw and the user's existing knowledge, arts can be improved at the same rarity rating or even upgraded to a higher rarity. Can also be used to dissect and combine cultivation arts, creating more efficient and/or higher rated arts. Results will vary depending on desired outcomes and the existing knowledge of the user.

Ronan knew that dao child increased his chance of earning cultivation-related rewards, but this was another in a line of incredibly powerful skills he'd received that made him question just how much the system was rigged. Some people earned bullshit like quick forage as their one and only skill in the tutorial, while others might get an absurd utility skill such as the one he'd just received, or a powerful combat skill such as arcane piercing strike.

Still, he was operating on an even more unfair basis with his heritage. Every new skill he earned combined with the others and grew exponentially more powerful.

With the shards he'd obtained and this skill, Ronan had a busy two weeks ahead of himself. He hoped to get all his four cultivation paths to the limits of the second threshold, if not beyond. Provided he had the shards for it.

He would also attempt to improve his two lower-rated cultivation arts and see what flaws he could notice and rectify. The Nine Mouths Delta Mystic Energy Art and the Diamondback Gorilla Tempered Body Art had served him well thus far, but if he could make them even better that would be incredible. All he needed now was a suitable soul cultivation art, but he suspected they would be much rarer.

Before getting started on meeting his sponsor and possibly getting more gifts, and then cultivating, Ronan had some skill upgrade shards to use. It wasn't a cut-and-dry choice, either.

Completing the first step of the path had rewarded him with ten rare upgrade shards, which was an annoying number. He could only get one skill from rare to epic with that quantity, but there would be a decent chunk left over. He could dismantle those and use them, but depending on how many were left he might still have some uncommon left over, and so on and so forth.

He also had to think about what he was going to do with his skills. Not that he was in a rush to end this iteration, but he couldn't deny that he was excited to see what would happen when he combined all of the stat-boosting skills into one. The only question on his mind right now was one about how alloying worked.

Would it be better to have one or two skills at epic with the rest around common to rare, or to try and push as many of them as possible up to rare or even epic, having none that were uncommon or common? He suspected the latter would give him a better foundation for the alloyed skill.

That was why he decided to dismantle all of the rare upgrade shards, giving him 30 uncommon skill upgrade shards to work with. Not wanting to give himself a moment to regret his decision, Ronan immediately used them, pulling up the skill upgrade menu.

Skills available for evolution:

Critical Tempo [Cost: 9 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Potent Wisdom [Cost: 6 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Dust Bomb [Cost: 7 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Treasure Hunter [Cost: 7 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Relentless Training [Cost: 5 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Weapons Expert - Melee [Cost: 8 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Gust [Cost: 7 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Counter-Parry [Cost: 9 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Suture Wound [Cost: 7 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Stone Grip [Cost: 5 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Flash Fear [Cost: 10 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Calculation [Cost: 6 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Quintessential Charisma [Cost: 6 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Repair [Cost: 7 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Critical Experience [Cost: 6 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Conversion Cultivation [Cost: 11 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Dispel [Cost: 8 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Exceptional Palate [Cost: 5 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Magic Strike [Cost: 7 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Lightning Strike [Cost: 9 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Conjure Weapon [Cost: 8 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Accumulating Agility [Cost: 6 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Rampant Resistance [Cost: 6 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Fertility Sight [Cost: 5 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Summon Insect [Cost: 7 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Blueprint Manual [Cost: 8 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Intuitive Intelligence [Cost: 6 Skill Upgrade Shards (Uncommon)]

Holy shit that's a long list. That was the first time Ronan had seen the entire list of his uncommon skills in one place, other than when he looked at his status. His status usually condensed things for easier reading.

No wonder some of the skills never showed up, a few of these are expensive as hell! In particular he noted the cost for conversion cultivation and the magic skills, such as lightning strike. He understood the cost, given that they were very useful and potent skills, but he wasn't sure he could justify them right now. In any case, they weren't where his focus lay.

Coincidentally, having 30 uncommon upgrade shards was the perfect number. It was the exact quantity he needed to take all five of his uncommon stat-boosting skills to rare, which would mean he had just two common stat-boosting skills left as his only below rare. Hopefully he would find some more shards before this iteration ended so he could fix that.

There was no need to wait or make a show of the upgrades, so Ronan went right ahead and spent all 30 shards. Seeing and hearing the successive notifications as his skills were upgraded was extremely satisfying.

[Skill Upgrade Shard (Uncommon)] x6 has been consumed!

[Potent Wisdom (Uncommon)] is evolving…

[Potent Wisdom (Uncommon)] has evolved into [Potent Wisdom (Rare)]!

Potent Wisdom (Rare): Gain +1 to wisdom for every 7 points of wisdom you possess. Does not include stat bonuses.

[Skill Upgrade Shard (Uncommon)] x6 has been consumed!

[Quintessential Charisma (Uncommon)] is evolving…

…

[Skill Upgrade Shard (Uncommon)] x6 has been consumed!

[Intuitive Intelligence (Uncommon)] is evolving…

[Intuitive Intelligence (Uncommon)] has evolved into [Intuitive Intelligence (Rare)]!

Intuitive Intelligence (Rare): Gain +1 to intelligence for every 7 points of intelligence you possess. Does not include stat bonuses.

Ronan exhaled as he finished reading the notifications. He'd briefly glanced at his stats to see all the bonuses shoot upwards. It was beautiful. He dismissed the system screens and reclined in his chair, only to yelp and nearly leap out of it when he noticed he was no longer alone.

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