YM778.TV Chapter 260: C-Rank System
System, upgrade my Reflexes and Acceleration Talents to SSR-Rank.
William didn\'t want to leave behind his other Physical Talents while the others were already two ranks ahead. He planned to even out all of his Physical Talents other than the Wrestling Talent, which was still at D-Rank since it sounded useless.
The System took a total of twenty-five thousand Potential Points to upgrade both Talents two Ranks, greatly increasing William\'s ability to react to danger and reducing the time it took to reach maximum speed.
With the Reflexes Talent now at SSR-Rank, the time-slowing effect when being attacked was improved to sixteen times, meaning an attack that would reach William in one second would give him sixteen seconds to react!
Against Golden Core Cultivators, any attacks they launched would be completely ineffective, unable to even touch William\'s clothes. Even a weak firearm wouldn\'t reach him in time, and if it did it would just bounce of his incredibly tough skin.
Modern-day weapons were nothing compared to someone with strength in the Nascent Soul Realm, not to mention William, who could easily kill a Soul Formation Cultivator right now.
After the upgrades completed, William noticed that his Acceleration Talent still didn\'t have a bonus effect. It seemed that not all Talents had one, but William wasn\'t bothered.
———
-DETECTED SYSTEM UPGRADE--
--UPGRADING. PLEASE WAIT--
...
...
--UPGRADE SUCCESSFUL--
SYSTEM RANK: (D+ --> C-)
-2668 Extra Potential Points added to progression towards the next System Rankup.
Next rank up: 247332PP
*New Changes:
-System has reached version 2.0
-When upgrading Talents, their Rarity will now be shown in the upgrade panel.
-More Legendary Talents have appeared in the Talent Shop.
-Epic Talents are more likely to appear in the Talent Shop.
-Host can now absorb even more powerful natural treasures.
-Potential Farms can now be upgraded to C-Rank.
-All new Talents will be automatically raised to C-Rank.
-Ask Function improved. Quality of responses increased.
-Bestiary Improved. Host can now register a Magical Beast from up to five kilometers away.
*Note: The Host is now deemed of average worth as a reward for upgrading the System to C-Rank. Continue performing well and you will be rewarded.
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The C-Rank System upgrade was like night and day compared to some of the other past upgrades. Not only had the Talent Shop improve in two ways, but his other functions improved. Other than the Companion Beast Shop, everything had become better than before!
Seeing the System mention Legendary Talents, William was tempted to spin the shop for the first time in a while. It wasn\'t very expensive, so this would be easy, but it would also spread his Points thin when he wanted to upgrade said Talents.
Before he approached the peak of the World in strength, William felt his current skillset was enough. He already had trouble keeping track of what he could and couldn\'t use in certain situations.
William looked at the remaining Talents in his System Panel, choosing to upgrade the S-Rank Acrobatics and Attack Reflection Talents next. They were both Rare Talents, so the System charged him 7500 Potential Points for each.
He skipped through the System panel for the Acrobatics Talent, which mostly just referenced his increased speed, flexibility, and jumping power, among a few other things. What truly interested him, however, was the Attack Reflection Talent upgrade.
———
Attack Reflection (Rare): (S --> SS)
Effects: Reflect physical attacks launched at you for up to 60% >> 80% of the original strength. Activates even if the attack is blocked by the Host.
S-Rank Bonus Effect upgraded to SS-Rank.
SS-Rank Bonus Effect: Whenever a physical attack causes zero physical damage to the Host, reflected damage doubles.
Side Effect: Taking physical damage increases the Host\'s hunger. When this damage is healed naturally, the Host uses twice as many Calories to recover.
Next rank up: 15000PP
———
William noticed that the Attack Reflection Talent also had a Side Effect, which helped to explain why his Saturation Pills would expire so soon. He always thought it was a secondary hidden side effect of the Regeneration Talent, but it turned out to be a combination of both.
But System, why do you keep using different messages when the Bonus Effect goes up in Rank? Can\'t you just say improved, or just say nothing and note the effect?
-I was bored. I didn\'t expect you to actually read the panel.
I can read, okay?!? William lamented in his mind. Didn\'t you see me read the rules in the Hillvire Empire\'s Capital City?
-No.
You\'re lying!
The System didn\'t respond, though William sensed a slight tone of happiness from the System. It seemed to be having fun at his expense.
Since it was technically inside his mind, or body, or whatever, he sometimes could feel the emotions of the System if they were strong enough. Usually, he could only feel anger or frustration, but the C-Rank upgrade also seemed to improve their connection.
He smiled, then scrolled through the Panel for the next Talent to upgrade.
My Physical Talents are definitely enough to take on a Soul Formation Cultivator now, so maybe I should put some Potential Points into my most useful Talent, even if I can\'t use it right now.
System, upgrade my Mind Talent, then upgrade my Arrays Talent when it is done.
The next two upgrades would be very expensive, but it was more than worth it. He made sure not to try upgrading them at the same time, since he didn\'t know what would happen. Maybe the System would protect him, but William didn\'t hope to suffer any unnecessary headaches or pain.
-15000 PP
The upgrade commenced as usual, the space in his mind becoming incredibly clear. Along with the upgrade, William felt some information on how to defend himself from Mental Invasions, as well as how to conduct Mental Attacks of his own.
He had learned this in the simplest terms while in the Night Market at the Five Elements Sect, but the information this time was much more profound and explained in depth many tactics he could use to fend off his enemies.
-15000 PP
The Arrays Talent followed suit, sending waves of information on how to better improve his Complete Arrays.
His simulation became a thousand years, but thankfully it was still similar to a dream. He didn\'t actually have to spend so much time inside, or he\'d go crazy for sure. William hadn\'t even lived more than twenty-five years, how could he tolerate a thousand years doing one thing?
As the simulation commenced, William\'s speed and skill with Arrays improved dramatically. Advanced Runes became mere thoughts, while Perfect Runes were just a few seconds of his time.
There weren\'t any hints towards a better version of Arrays, but William\'s ability improved to a point where he could create Complete Runes almost as fast as he could Perfect ones. Just a little bit faster, and he might be able to use Complete Arrays in real-time during a battle.
This was one of the downsides to Arrays that William noticed over time. Against low-level Cultivators, one was often given plenty of time to prepare Arrays, since neither side could cross long distances very quickly.
This changed at higher Cultivations, but the speed of crafting Arrays didn\'t change from one level to the next. The only way to use Arrays faster was to be more efficient in creating the Runes, or take shortcuts to create the Arrays faster.
Many of these methods had been taught to William during the upgrades, but it seemed that this Talent had its limits. The Arrays Talent was slowly transitioning from an in-combat role to a supporting one, in the form of improving his equipment.
Without the Array Wheel, William wouldn\'t even be able to use Arrays in combat without being interrupted or exploited.
But now I can make even better Puppets. I didn\'t improve them last time, so I\'m going to need to do that when I get back to the Ruins.
As William grew stronger, he wondered if it was even necessary to return to the Gravitas Ruins, but then he remembered his experience with the dozen or so Tribulation Transcendence Cultivators. Who knew if stronger beings existed in the World, just waiting for someone like William to appear?
Not to mention, the Heavens were still against him since he dispersed their precious Tribulation and would probably do everything they could to make his life difficult. While helping others during a Tribulation usually led to being targeted as well, it was different if one had dispersed the clouds before.
According to Riyald, anyone who attacked these people would not be targeted, since they were considered as allies of the Heavens. Some would even be rewarded if the Cultivator died.
I\'m strong, but a million ants can kill an elephant. I\'m no different, I can\'t get cocky.
William looked at the walls of the cave around him, which still held many Greater Fire Shards despite how many he had extracted. He needed to take advantage of this moment and grow as strong as possible!