"After being weakened by the Magic Goddess Mistra, this Miserla's Core is indeed a bit weaker. Whether it's the increase in Maximum Energy Value, the Maximum Energy Value Conversion Coefficient, or the Energy Value Recovery Speed, all are reduced by about one-fifth compared to before."
But even though it's reduced, overall it's still within Zhang Yanhang's acceptable range. Although as a legendary artifact, it might require spending one hundred points of Maximum Energy Value to make a dual-choice to obtain, it's clearly very worthwhile.
After all, even the Magic Goddess version of Miserla's Core can increase the basic Maximum Energy Value by 1360 points. Exchanging 100 points for 1360 points, anyone with a little common sense should make the right choice.
Moreover, because of the four points of Maximum Energy Value Conversion Coefficient, from the practical standpoint, this Miserla's Core — or rather Mistra's Core — can increase his Maximum Energy Value by 1760 points even in its basic state.
"It feels like things are gradually getting better..."
When Zhang Yanhang first saw the keyword 'energy' in the treasure box, he had a feeling that he might obtain something to increase his Maximum Energy Value. Now it seems he was right, and the Multiple Choice did not disappoint his expectations and 'indications.'
At the same time, after leaving the Ashen World where he could only get items that increase the Life Value Limit, Zhang Yanhang felt he might be starting to experience a stroke of good luck.
He needs to strive to obtain more items that can increase the Maximum Energy Value, as this is the only way to close the gap between Maximum Energy Value and Life Value Limit and even bring the two back to their original balanced state.
"So, I choose '9 points Ash Source,' '6 points Ash Source,' 'Buddha Relic (Treasure Wheel),' 'Buddha Relic (Vajra),' 'Divination Tarot Card·Death [Incomplete] (Gate of Truth),' 'Dawn (Bright Praise),' 'Divination Tarot Card·Demon [Incomplete] (Gate of Truth),' 'Miserla's Core·Arcane Empire (Ghost Energy Absorption),' 'Miserla's Core·Magic Goddess (Void Channel).'
As before, Zhang Yanhang prioritized higher-value items when making choices, placing lower-value items later to identify the extra selections, thus effectively reducing the consumption of Maximum Energy Value.
For example, with Dawn and Divination Tarot Card·Demon, if Zhang Yanhang chooses Divination Tarot Card·Demon first, he might have to spend 100 points of Maximum Energy Value for Dawn. But if he takes Divination Tarot Card·Demon as an extra choice, it only costs 1 point of Maximum Energy Value, a huge difference.
This time, Zhang Yanhang opened an Ashen Treasure Box, and even though what he got was one less item than the ten items opened last time, nine items are still quite a lot, almost like opening two boxes at once.
November 2nd, Monday, the first day after Halloween, and also the first day Zhang Yanhang left the Ashen World, at 6:14 AM, Xingfuli District, Qin Island City, apartment 505, bedroom.
After opening all the boxes, including the Drop Treasure Box and Ashen Treasure Box, Zhang Yanhang didn't rush to count his gains. Instead, he opened his Maximum Energy Value to check again.
[Energy Value: 17252/17252 (Intelligence×61, current body officially digitized, Energy Value recovery speed, 222 points per hour.)]
"Hm? This... is not right, is it? I originally had a Maximum Energy Value of 17345 points, and this time with dual-choice, I obtained two legendary items, plus 6 points of Ash Source and one Divination Tarot Card, yet my Maximum Energy Value has only dropped to 17252 points?
Isn't that only 93 points of Maximum Energy Value consumption? That's too little, isn't it?"
Zhang Yanhang distinctly remembers that when he opened a Lord's Treasure Chest before, a single legendary item alone cost him 100 points of Maximum Energy Value. Yet, this time with two legendary items, it only took less than 100 points of Maximum Energy Value. There must be something wrong.
"Where exactly did something go wrong?" Zhang Yanhang pondered deeply and suddenly remembered something. After taking a glance at his Life Value, Zhang Yanhang immediately understood what happened.
[Life Value: 36633/37576 (Constitution×82, current body officially digitized, Life Value recovery speed, 71 points per hour.)]
"My Life Value has decreased, and it seems the Nuclear Fusion state was triggered just now. Come to think of it, I did swallow that microscopic star just past 6 AM, so a part of the Maximum Energy Value must have automatically increased right before it got fully offset, causing the now-decreased negative growth.
Zhang Yanhang remembers the Nuclear Fusion state lasts for six days, providing him with an increase of 60 points in Maximum Energy Value each day. Three days have passed before this, today being the fourth; it should only trigger twice more after this.
Of course, while the base state only provides a 60-point Maximum Energy Value increase, which can't be boosted by Heaven and Earth Devourer, it can still be enhanced by the Maximum Energy Value.
Therefore, based on Zhang Yanhang's current 90% Maximum Energy Value enhancement, the Nuclear Fusion state should have actually given him a 114-point increase in Maximum Energy Value just now.
"114 points of offset Maximum Energy Value plus the 93 points of negative growth just now means a total of 207 points of Maximum Energy Value consumption...
It's finally normal now. I knew it couldn't decrease the consumption of Maximum Energy Value out of thin air. It turns out this entire time, it's been the Nuclear Fusion state silently bearing the burden for me."
With a Maximum Energy Value consumption of 207 points, it all makes sense. From Zhang Yanhang's previous experience, the primary consumption of those 200 points of Maximum Energy Value is undoubtedly due to those two legendary items.
The remaining seven points of Maximum Energy Value are likely consumed by the six points of Ash Source and the Divination Tarot Card.
"I previously thought the Ash Source and Divination Tarot Card should each only consume one point of Maximum Energy Value. This time, it's genuinely confirmed, and I can be even more assured when using dual-choice to acquire Ash Source and Tarot Cards in the future."
For the Multiple Choice not to overcharge in terms of Maximum Energy Value for the Ash Source, Zhang Yanhang is genuinely touched. After all, the Ash Source is enormously beneficial to him, so even if Multiple Choice did a trick and increased the charge to something like 100 points of Maximum Energy Value per point, he might have just accepted it.
All I can say is, Multiple Choice is indeed his own Awakened Talent rather than some random, unknown Goldfinger, so it must prioritize his interests, always offering him the best.
After checking the energy value limit consumption, Zhang Yanhang immediately began to inventory the items obtained from the drop treasure box, with the primary focus on the talent-based rewards.
This time, Zhang Yanhang opened a total of several hundred talents, starting with the E-rank talent from Raccoon City, [Slow Corrrotion]. He opened 89 of these talents.
Previously, Zhang Yanhang had already used up all remaining 297 Slow Corrrotion talents in his waist bag during upgrades.
Given the subsequent upgrade requirements, which often demand five to six-digit numbers, the 297 Slow Corrrotion talents were utterly useless, equivalent to only eleven B-rank Muscle Regenerations, so he had already used them all initially.
Thus, the 89 Slow Corrrotion talents obtained this time are now all Zhang Yanhang has, but for him now, this type of E-rank talent is basically useless. With a conversion rate of 27 to 1, they are equivalent to only three B-rank Muscle Regenerations, making them of little use.
Next are the E-rank talents from Goblin Plain, [Thin Dragon Vein (Mixed)], totaling 215, which is quite a lot.
Zhang Yanhang has not received E-rank Thin Dragon Vein for a long time. He remembers the last time was during the Second Tier, as during the Third Tier, he was busy with the large Crimson Iron Ant Nest Tarano by the Crimson Iron Ore Vein and never came to Raccoon City.
As for the Fourth Tier, the lucky slot machine third-prize pool at Goblin Plain didn't drop a treasure box for him, and the pool refreshes at eleven AM, leaving him no chance to clear it a second time.
This led to the fact that whether talent or other types of equipment, all the things he acquired last time were still during the Second Tier, which felt like ages ago even though it was only a few days for him.
Previously, Zhang Yanhang accumulated 582 Thin Dragon Veins in his waist bag, and now, along with the 215 gained this time, he has a total of 797 Thin Dragon Veins.
Though this seems like a lot, Zhang Yanhang's SS-rank Scroll Dragon Bloodline requires 2,187 E-rank talents to upgrade to SSS-rank. Thus, he has only fulfilled slightly more than a third of the upgrade requirement and still needs 1,390 more Thin Dragon Veins to upgrade.
Fortunately, the issue isn't severe. Zhang Yanhang didn't expect to solely rely on Thin Dragon Veins to upgrade the Scroll Dragon Bloodline to SSS-rank. He had already planned to find new relevant areas to upgrade.
Besides Raccoon City's E-rank Slow Corrrotion and Goblin Plain's E-rank Thin Dragon Vein, Zhang Yanhang also obtained 147 D-rank [Prehistoric Giant Beast] talents at Demonized Swamp.
Compared to Scroll Dragon Bloodline, using D-rank talents directly as initial talents for upgrading the SS-rank talent Ocean Rhythm is undoubtedly much better.
Previously, Zhang Yanhang had accumulated 648 D-rank Prehistoric Giant Beast talents, and adding this time's 147, he has a total of 795 Prehistoric Giant Beast talents.
Although both are SS-rank talents, Ocean Rhythm holds a significant advantage over Scroll Dragon Bloodline, starting initially as D-rank and directly using D-rank talents for upgrades.
Thus, upgrading the SS-rank Ocean Rhythm talent to SSS-rank requires only 729 D-rank Prehistoric Giant Beast talents.
Yes, Zhang Yanhang has met the upgrade requirement for Ocean Rhythm and can start upgrading the talent immediately.
"Previously, with only 648 Prehistoric Giant Beast talents, I was 81 short of upgrading Ocean Rhythm talent. At the time, I thought I would soon return to Demonized Swamp and gather this small remainder of talents."
Who would have thought it would drag from Second Tier to Fourth Tier before I returned to Demonized Swamp."
Even Zhang Yanhang finds this situation somewhat regrettable, as he spent only a day advancing from Third Tier to Fourth Tier, leaving no time return to the Demonized Swamp. Last time, he exited the Demonized Swamp and directly advanced to the Third Tier without any gaps, leaving no time to return.
After advancing to Fourth Tier this time, Zhang Yanhang finally had time to clear the freshly spawned monsters within the Demonized Swamp, ultimately gathering the remaining small portion of Prehistoric Giant Beast talents he thought would be easily collected.
Even though from a time perspective, Zhang Yanhang acted quickly, spending only a few days before returning to the Demonized Swamp, or entering immediately post-cooldown of the transmission channel, there was no way to be faster.
But from the tier level perspective, dragging from the Second Tier to Fourth Tier, or nearly Fifth Tier before gathering the talents, seems a bit...
"Regardless, I'm happy to finally be able to upgrade the Ocean Rhythm talent."
Zhang Yanhang promptly retrieved the accumulated Prehistoric Giant Beast talents from his waist bag, combined them with the ones obtained this time, and counted out 729 small light balls, breaking them all at once.
While crushing these talent light balls, Zhang Yanhang's ear finally rang with the long-awaited talent upgrade prompt sound.
[SS-rank talent'Ocean Rhythm'identify as a subordinate talent in your talent list, would you like to merge the talents?]
Even though based on Zhang Yanhang's past experience, upgrading from SS-rank to SSS-rank typically doesn't create significant qualitative changes, he still felt a strong sense of anticipation, having not upgraded the Ocean Rhythm talent in a long time. The most update n0vels are published on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹✦𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖✦𝓷𝓮𝓽
Zhang Yanhang hopes that upgrading to SSS-rank Ocean Rhythm talent will provide a substantial increase in movement speed bonuses and related resistance enhancements.