Ashen God

That is why Zhang Yanhang doesn't usually just level up once or twice; he either doesn't at all or goes all the way to the top to gain new additional attributes, making the upgrade more meaningful.

"Previously, it only took 6.3 million soul points to upgrade the Limitless Universe Skill from LV.7 to LV.8. However, to upgrade from LV.8 to LV.9, it has increased to 7.9 million soul points, which is a 1.6 million increase in upgrade requirements. Compared to the direct doubling of professional skills, it is indeed much more friendly.

So, I choose option five, upgrading the Limitless Universe Skill from LV.8 to LV.9."

Since he had already planned the specific upgrade path beforehand, Zhang Yanhang did not hesitate and immediately began upgrading the Limitless Universe Skill.

......

November 1st, Sunday, Halloween, which is also Zhang Yanhang's first day entering the Ashen World, 10:15 PM, Umbrella Biochemical Test Field, Gelijia City.

After upgrading the Limitless Universe Skill directly from Fourth Tier LV.8 to Fourth Tier LV.MAX, Zhang Yanhang didn't rush to immediately check his soul point balance. After all, the upgrade consumption for the Limitless Universe Skill was not very high, and with his remaining balance of over 40 million soul points, there was no need to worry about not meeting the upgrade requirement for the Indestructible Golden Body.

So, Zhang Yanhang first opened the skill effect of the Fourth Tier Limitless Universe Skill to start examining it.

[Limitless Universe Skill [Fourth Tier] LV.MAX (Passive/Active)]

[Passive Effect: Strength +2, Agility +2, Constitution +2, Intelligence +2, Charm +2.]

[Active Effect: Actively operate the cultivation technique to enhance one's defensive power, attack power, and movement speed using spiritual energy. No cooldown time, consuming a certain amount of energy value according to the specific bonus effect.]

[Additional Attributes: First Tier — Strength +6, Agility +6, Constitution +6, Intelligence +10, Charm +2.]

[Additional Attributes: Second Tier — Strength +6, Agility +6, Constitution +6, Intelligence +10, Charm +2.]

[Additional Attributes: Third Tier — Strength +6, Agility +6, Constitution +6, Intelligence +10, Charm +2.]

[Additional Attributes: Fourth Tier — Strength +6 (+1), Agility +6 (+1), Constitution +6 (+1), Intelligence +10 (+2), Charm +2 (+1).]

"This time, due to the two-level upgrade of the Limitless Universe Skill, a total of six attribute value bonuses were provided. Among them, the three main attributes, Strength, Agility, and Constitution, each increased by one point, making the total bonus increase from the previous five points to six.

Intelligence increased by two points, changing from the original bonus of eight points to ten points, and the Charm attribute, which I've always been aiming for, finally increased by one attribute value bonus, going from the previous one point to two points.

This way, I've finally upgraded the Limitless Universe Skill to LV.MAX. Really nice."

This time, Zhang Yanhang felt that his speed in upgrading the Limitless Universe Skill was actually much slower compared to before. When he was at the Third Tier, he had upgraded the Limitless Universe Skill to Third Tier LV.MAX not long after his promotion, while clearing the Volcano Permanent Teleportation Channel.

But now, three days have passed since he ascended the rank, and he's only just upgraded the Limitless Universe Skill to LV.MAX after clearing almost a quarter of the Umbrella Biochemical Test Field, which seems a bit undue.

Therefore, Zhang Yanhang believes that for the next rank promotion, he must try to upgrade the Limitless Universe Skill to LV.MAX as early as possible.

"Nonetheless, since the Limitless Universe Skill has successfully upgraded to LV.MAX, I can now confidently ascend to Fifth Tier."

Even though he didn't know whether the cultivation technique affects rank ascension, he thought it best not to test it out. After all, the opportunities for rank ascension are limited, hence the chances for trial and error are few and the cost is high.

Mostly, it is because normal awakeners generally rely on breaking the rank of cultivation techniques to drive their own rank ascension, but he is the opposite, where his own rank ascension subsequently drives the rank increase of the cultivation technique. Given the significant differences created, it certainly seems more reassuring to upgrade the Limitless Universe Skill to LV.MAX before ascending rank.

After a brief examination of the Limitless Universe Skill effects, Zhang Yanhang proceeded to check his attribute list.

And speaking of the attribute list, Zhang Yanhang suddenly remembered that when he upgraded his talent earlier, he also increased some attribute values. But at that time, he forgot to timely check the attribute list. Fortunately, the issue is not severe; checking it a bit later makes no difference.

[Strength: 100 (+5[-9])]

[Agility: 100 (+5[-6])]

[Constitution: 100 (+5[-14])]

[Intelligence: 100 (+5[-10])]

[Charm: 100 (+28[-1])]

"Previously, my Strength attribute overflowed by eight points, and now it has increased by one, becoming nine points over the threshold, just one attribute value away from achieving a two-digit overflow."

Yet, even though it seems only one point away, the fact that the Limitless Universe Skill is now upgraded to LV.MAX and he has no other means to further enhance the Strength attribute means that it is unlikely to advance further.

Unless he can acquire something else that can increase the Strength attribute in the Umbrella Biochemical Test Field, which seems unlikely or nearly impossible, as items here generally have little to do with attribute value bonuses.

"The Agility attribute originally overflowed by five points due to the equipment bonus, but after the Limitless Universe Skill added one more point to the Charm attribute value, it also overflowed by five points."

It's undeniable that the Agility attribute, in most cases, especially when approaching a rank ascent, tends to be the lowest attribute value he possesses. The reasons are many and varied, but the most crucial reason is likely that Zhang Yanhang lacks a relevant Agility-type talent.

Especially the SS-level Ocean Rhythm, which, although all related effects are agility-related bonuses, is actually a Charming talent in terms of attribute value growth. This naturally results in the sluggish growth of Zhang Yanhang's Agility attribute.

In addition, Zhang Yanhang often favors increasing his Strength attribute, probably also contributing to the relatively lower Agility attribute. But it's an unavoidable situation since items that can increase the Strength attribute are indeed more abundant.

"And the Constitution Attribute has increased quite a bit this time, directly changing from an overflow of only ten points to fourteen points, equivalent to an increase of four attribute value bonuses.

Among these four attribute value bonuses, only one point comes from the level upgrade of the Limitless Universe Skill, while the other three points are entirely provided by the XXX-level Talent from Sea House Addition Ability One's attribute value enhancement."

It can only be said that Zhang Yanhang's Constitution Attribute has indeed become increasingly exaggerated with the advancement of Talent Level. Previously, during the Third Tier, his Strength Attribute had only overflown thirteen points at most, but this time, the Constitution Attribute has already overflowed thirteen points even before maximizing the Talent.

"If this trend continues, once Sea House Addition upgrades to XXX level, the overflow of Constitution Attribute is sure to become even more exaggerated."

Although the current extensive overflow of the Constitution Attribute is partly related to the five points of All Attributes bonuses he currently possesses, it seems that even after finishing the Talent upgrade, even if these five attribute bonuses are removed, the remaining Constitution Attribute alone might exceed the overflow of Strength Attribute from the Third Tier.

In light of this, Zhang Yanhang's only thought is that the attribute value enhancement from the Talent upgrade is indeed excessive, and the most important thing is it continues to increase with every level.

If the current trend continues, Zhang Yanhang even wonders whether he will have an attribute value that overflows twenty points or more, or even directly overflows twenty-five points, automatically reaching the limit as soon as the tier level upper limit is unlocked.

Of course, even though such an idea is indeed very good, the probability of realization is actually very low and not very feasible, unless he can consistently acquire related artifacts that substantially increase attribute values, pairing them with Talent might make this absurd idea possible.

"And compared to the Constitution Attribute, the Intelligence Attribute has also finally grown to overflow into double-digit territory. With two points of Intelligence Attribute increment brought by the Limitless Universe Skill level upgrade, it increased from just overflowing eight points to ten points."

Zhang Yanhang had a premonition that he might have two attributes overflowing double digits this time; now it seems it has indeed come true effortlessly.

"But unfortunately, my Strength Attribute cannot increase further; otherwise, if it could just increase by one point, I could turn into having three main attributes overflow by double-digit attribute values directly. Thinking about it feels pretty good."

However, having two main attributes overflowing double-digit numbers this time is mainly thanks to the five All Attributes bonus provided by the equipment, which he surely won't enjoy after ascending to the Fifth Tier. After all, by then, the Green Ten-piece Set will indeed be completely obsolete and permanently unusable.

Therefore, even though it looks as if reaching a state where three main attributes overflow double digits is only a step away, realistically, after ascending to the Fifth Tier, it might be difficult even to replicate the current state where two main attributes overflow double-digit numbers, not to mention three.

"In addition to the four main attributes, my sub-attribute, Charm, has finally gained another point in attribute value growth this time, changing from not overflowing a single point to overflowing one point.

As far as bare attributes go, my Charm Attribute has increased from seventy-two points to seventy-three points."

Regarding this one point overflow in Charm Attribute, it surely has no utility for Zhang Yanhang now, so he plans to repeat the previous operation and remove another Crimson Iron Ring again, to make this overflow in Charm Attribute value disappear once more.

Zhang Yanhang currently has ten fingers wearing Crimson Iron Rings, and removing another would leave nine fingers still wearing Crimson Iron Rings.

At the same time, he can change from having thirty open fingers for wearing Life Rings to thirty-one open fingers for Life Rings.

However, forget thirty-one Life Rings; he can't even gather thirty Life Rings right now, only having twenty-nine available to wear, but fortunately, the problem isn't too big.

Zhang Yanhang believes that next time he can easily gather the Life Rings needed for the two missing fingers.

Incidentally, Zhang Yanhang's ultimate goal is to wear Life Rings on all forty fingers and completely discard the Crimson Iron Rings, but judging from the current situation, there's still a little distance to go.

Still, it is indeed best to complete this before reaching the Sixth Tier, because even if he has the Hundred Taboos Skill, equipment like the Crimson Iron Ring of Blue Quality will be completely obsolete after ascending to the Sixth Tier.

His forthcoming Fifth Tier represents the last service time for both Blue Quality Crimson Iron Rings and Purple Quality Crimson Iron Heart Necklaces.

Thinking about this, Zhang Yanhang quickly removed a Crimson Iron Ring from his finger and then checked the attribute list again.

[Strength: 100 (+5[-9])]

[Agility: 100 (+5[-6])]

[Constitution: 100 (+5[-14])]

[Intelligence: 100 (+5[-10])]

[Charm: 100 (+27)]

"Due to removing another Crimson Iron Ring, the Charm attribute bonus provided by my equipment decreased from twenty-eight points to twenty-seven points, but fortunately, my overall attributes still maintain at one hundred."

Regarding Charm Attribute as a sub-attribute, Zhang Yanhang has always maintained the attitude of ensuring it does not interfere with the Fixed Damage bonus from Death Wave.

"Originally the equipment bonus accounted for twenty-eight points, equivalent to occupying 28% of it, but now, after the equipment bonus decreases to twenty-seven points, its share within it has turned to 27%, making the health level of my Charm attribute rise slightly again."

Zhang Yanhang believes the only advantage of having one hundred attribute value points might be here, as it can be calculated in percentages without any thought: how many points equals how many percent.

"Moreover, if nothing unexpected happens, my subsequent health level will keep on rising continually, possibly even reducing the equipment's contribution to Charm Attribute share to an unprecedented below twenty percent."

After all, Zhang Yanhang will surely remove the remaining nine Crimson Iron Rings if nothing unexpected happens, and just these nine Crimson Iron Rings are enough to drop his equipment bonus from twenty-seven points to below twenty.

Moreover, Zhang Yanhang also faces obsolescence with the already gradually obsolete Crimson Iron Heart Necklace and Crimson Iron Shark Teeth. It's safe to say, all these Crimson Iron Equipment from the small Crimson Iron Ant Nest Dala Gu are currently sustained by the Hundred Taboos Skill.

However, the Hundred Taboos can only sustain it for one more rank up to the Fifth Tier, and it's crucial to find replacements in time to be more advantageous.