In-game and out, countless people discussed the possibilities of heavenly-tier talents. Major media outlets immediately seized on this topic, inviting various experts onto their programs for rampant speculation.
Meanwhile, the protagonist, Ye Yun, found himself being berated by a group of level seven or eight players at the entrance of a dungeon.
"Hey, big brother, if you're going to space out, don't do it right in front of the entrance. If it weren't for the level 10 PvP restriction, I'd teach you how to behave in a heartbeat."
"Yeah, you're a grown person and you lack basic manners."
...
Ye Yun paid them no mind. He was currently stunned by a system message.
"System Notification: Congratulations to player Ye Yun for elevating his talent to heavenly-tier, breaking the highest record for human talents, shattering the limits of human restricted zones, and activating the protection mechanism for geniuses across all races. Reward: 10,000 attribute points, a ticket to the Human Hunting Ground, and an Experience Storage Orb (Large) *1."
This message was not a server-wide announcement, but a private system notification! However, the rewards were so immense that Ye Yun felt a wave of dizziness.
Genius Protection Mechanism - Henceforth, the advancement of Earth players' talents will not be publicly announced. This mechanism is effective for 100 days, after which it will automatically disappear.
Hidden, was it?
100 days should be enough! Ye Yun's gaze burned with excitement as he looked at the ticket labeled "Human Hunting Ground Ticket." The Human Hunting Ground - To achieve humanity's rise and become a race comparable to the myriad races of the universe, countless human sages dedicated millennia of effort to establish a hunting ground solely for humanity. This hunting ground can only be entered with a ticket; those with insufficient strength or lacking exceptional talent are forbidden entry.
Hunting Ground Ticket - Upon use, you may enter the special dungeon map - Human Hunting Ground, for a duration of one hour!
Compared to this, Ye Yun would choose this ticket without hesitation, even if it meant foregoing 100,000 attribute points instead of 10,000. Not for any other reason than the monsters within were level 40 and above, with higher drop rates and experience than outside, and the standard configuration of simple, kind-hearted mobs.
Experience Storage Orb (Large) - Bound and equipped, this orb can store all experience gained by the player. The experience stored within the orb is for the player's sole use! Current storage capacity - 0/10,000,000,000.
What could he say? It was practically designed for him! It would be even better if he got a few more of these orbs. While 10 billion experience points seemed like a lot, it was actually only a few levels' worth of experience. At Ye Yun's current level, advancing from 12 to 13 required a staggering 32 million experience!
This ticket might be worth a few hundred million in the hands of others, but in Ye Yun's hands, its value was far beyond that.
This was because his most relied-upon innate divine skill, "Golden Touch," had a special remark: killing monsters 10 levels above his own reduced its cooldown. Currently, its cooldown was 64 hours!
Although he didn't know how the reduction was calculated, it was still an opportunity to test it.
Two more times! His talent would reach the highest point set by 'Heaven's Dao.' He wondered if there was anything above that. If there was, then...
No, he had to check the forums first to see how his skill acquisition was going.
The more he thought about it, the more excited Ye Yun became. He wished he could rush in immediately. Although the hunting ground ticket only lasted an hour, with Ye Yun's current strength, he could definitely achieve instant kills.
Combined with Xiao Hei's output and reflection, killing ten thousand monsters in an hour would be effortless. If he acquired an area-of-effect skill, the efficiency would skyrocket, more than doubling.
Furthermore, he recalled another possibility to accelerate the cooldown of "Golden Touch": cooldown reduction equipment!
Once equipment reached blue rarity, it would typically have stats. These stats could increase attack, health, defense, and naturally, skill cooldown reduction. However, compared to other stats, this property was niche and rarely sought after, and its appearance rate was extremely low.
Acquisition was a must!
"Massive acquisition of Priest equipment with skill cooldown reduction properties, regardless of level. Valid for one hour! Auto-submit!"
1% cooldown for one million, 2% for five million, 3% for twenty million, 5% for one hundred million! Each equipment slot will be purchased at its highest offering. After posting, Ye Yun impatiently opened his skill book acquisition post.
The post had garnered over 70 million views, but only three books had been submitted. Still, this was enough to make Ye Yun happy! After examining these three skill books, he paid 250 million gold coins.
Arc Lightning - Deals 70% of your lightning damage to ten enemies within 100 yards, with a 20% chance to paralyze targets for 1 second. Consumes 60 True Qi. Cooldown: 10s.
Demon Flame Earth Fire - Upon casting, unleashes a surge of earth fire within 60 yards of yourself. Enemies within this radius suffer 2% of your attack as damage per second for 10 seconds. Consumes 90 True Qi. Cooldown: 25s.
These two area-of-effect skills almost made Ye Yun laugh out loud. Especially the second skill, it was practically designed for high-spending players.
While 2% of attack seemed low, the range was terrifying, a 60-yard radius! That's nearly 3000 square meters! And with a duration of 10 seconds, it amounted to 20% of his attack!
For true wealthy players, would they worry about attribute points? Isn't it just about money? If one hundred million isn't enough, then two hundred million. Let alone Ye Yun, with his heavenly-tier talent, his current attack, combined with the 1280% talent bonus, made even this 2% attack terrifying.
The third skill was a single-target attack skill.
Full Moon - Deals 90% charge damage to enemies within 10 yards, simultaneously stunning the target for 1 second. Consumes 15 True Qi. Cooldown: 10s.
This was similar to a warrior's skill, thankfully it didn't require specific weapons.
These non-class-specific skills, compared to class skills, dealt 10% to 30% less damage. However, for skilled players, these types of skills could often yield unexpected results.
Ye Yun was already very satisfied with the three skill books. He knew that he himself had killed no less than ten thousand blue-tier or higher monsters, yet he hadn't obtained a single skill book, nor had he encountered any cooldown reduction equipment. It seemed he would have to rely on the vast global player base. As for the comments below his posts calling him an idiot or a sucker, Ye Yun, in his usual fashion, paid them no mind.
The value of his time was beyond their comprehension. Over twenty million pure profit daily, both in-game and out. Could several domestic and international corporations achieve that?
He would continue to purchase skill books. While not necessarily more is always better, he needed to ensure his skill output had no vacuum periods, thereby maximizing his damage.