Chapter 104
Chapter 104
Setting aside several half-formed ideas for the moment, Zhou Ming said, “I plan to remain behind closed doors and focus on training for a while. I’ll have to trouble you to find me some fire-element skill books.”
“All right!”
Naturally, none of the three refused.
“Thank you.”
Zhou Ming nodded to them.
He understood the weight on his shoulders perfectly well.
If he died one month from now, the Sword Saint, Renee, and Qianying, all of whom had followed him without hesitation, would meet their end as well.
So…
No matter how impossible his wager with Ning Wushen might be, he could not lose!
Zhou Ming entered the deserted City Lord’s Estate. Standing in the courtyard, he opened his skill list.
[Return to Ruin] (Exclusive SS Rank)
Description: All things will eventually be erased within the river of time. Only those who row against its current may attain enduring power.
Skill Effect: Enter the Return to Ruin state and contemplate the essence of your techniques. Upon achieving true mastery, skills of the same type may be fused together and strengthened.
Restriction: May only be used once per month.
…
There was no question that Return to Ruin had an extraordinarily high ceiling. Its only flaw was its painfully long cooldown.
In other words, he had only one chance to create an SSS-Rank skill.
Ding!
[System: You have used [Return to Ruin] and entered the Return to Ruin state. While in this state, all other skill cooldowns and resource costs are reduced to zero, and all activation prices are waived. Duration: Unlimited! (Note: The state will end upon entering combat.)]
“…”
For some reason, Zhou Ming felt as though he had entered one of those so-called game training grounds.
In the Return to Ruin state, he could use his skills at will, greatly increasing his chances of gaining new insights.
He took a deep breath, cast aside every distracting thought, and willed the Blazing Sun Greatsword to descend.
Whoosh…
The greatsword, wreathed in flowing flame, crashed down at astonishing speed. It struck the ground a short distance in front of Zhou Ming and sank several meters deep, sending waves of fire rolling outward with tyrannical force.
When Zhou Ming activated the skill again a moment later, the Blazing Sun Greatsword did not appear. Instead, flames surged across the sword in his hand, empowering it beyond imagination and causing his next strike’s power to soar.
At present, he could freely use both Dawnbringer’s ranged and melee forms. He had already moved beyond the skill’s original shape and considered himself reasonably proficient.
If he wanted to take Dawnbringer one step further, how should he strengthen it?
Increase its area?
Or increase its damage?
After brief consideration, Zhou Ming rejected both paths.
It was not that he did not want Dawnbringer to become more powerful. But raising its maximum damage from 2,000% to 2,500%, or even 3,000%, would not fundamentally change the skill. At best, it would count as an improvement, not an original creation.
For the system to recognize the skill as his own creation, he could not simply change its power. He had to change its mechanics!
Numbers always risked becoming obsolete within the same dimension. Only powerful mechanics could remain powerful forever.
The simplest example was an ultimate move that could instantly kill an enemy. If that enemy suddenly became untargetable, the supposedly deadly move would strike nothing but air.
Several days ago, Long Kun had been capable of killing Zhou Ming with one slash. He had probably never imagined Zhou Ming could reflect the damage and stall until the Sword Saint defeated Gu Yuchen and Lei Qianjue.
“What is Dawnbringer still missing?” Zhou Ming sank into thought.
It was guaranteed to hit and guaranteed to crit. It inflicted Suppression and Slow, had a short cooldown, and dealt area damage!
As an Exclusive SS+ Rank skill, Dawnbringer already possessed incredibly powerful mechanics. Trying to squeeze even more out of it under those circumstances sounded almost unreasonable.
Several hours later, Qianying and the others returned with a large collection of fire-element skills for Zhou Ming.
“What kind of effect do you think could make Dawnbringer stronger, something that would make an opponent truly fear it?” Zhou Ming asked, hoping to draw on their collective wisdom.
“…”
No one could think of an answer right away.
“That skill of yours is already disgusting enough!” Renee stuck out her tongue and spoke without the slightest filter.
Zhou Ming shook his head. “I still think it’s missing something.”
Renee: “…”
Still missing something?
Did he want a single Dawnbringer to drive his opponent straight into a dead end?
“What about ignoring Defense?” Ye Zhibei suggested. “That would amplify its damage even further!”
“I considered that too.”
Zhou Ming nodded, then added, “But I gave up on it.”
“Why?”
“Unless both sides are evenly matched and all you need is a little extra damage, an opponent you couldn’t beat before will still be an opponent you can’t beat,” Zhou Ming said bluntly.
Ignoring Defense was certainly powerful.
But if the enemy was so strong that you could not break through their Defense at all, then ignoring Defense alone would be unlikely to change the course of the entire battle.
People like Renee, whose Defense was absurd for her rank, were exceedingly rare.
“That’s true,” Qianying agreed. “Besides, ignoring Defense isn’t a particularly rare effect. It’s fairly common in battle.”
“You have a point.”
Ye Zhibei could not argue with that.
Afterward, Zhou Ming purchased the skills they had brought with gold and examined them one by one, searching for his answer.
He became so immersed in the Return to Ruin state that he lost all sense of time. Each day, Xuanniao would raise the grade of one of the skill books in his possession, and Zhou Ming would learn it afterward.
Ding!
[System: You have successfully learned [Blazing Sword Art] (A Rank)!]
Ding!
[System: You have successfully learned [Arson] (B Rank)!]
Ding!
[System: You have successfully learned [Flame Heavy Strike] (A Rank)!]
…
These skills were not strong enough to make much difference to Zhou Ming’s overall combat power, but Return to Ruin’s description clearly stated that it could fuse skills of the same type.
Fusing the right techniques into Dawnbringer would certainly improve it to some degree.
Ding!
[System: Attention! [Pinnacle Showdown] has begun. An opponent has been matched for you. Would you like to proceed to the match now? (Note: Refusal to compete will be treated as a forfeit.)]
“Yes!”
Zhou Ming pulled himself out of his all-consuming study.
Whoosh!
The moment he accepted the system’s request, an invisible force tugged at his body and transported him to a special zone.
Players were locked in fierce combat atop dozens of nearby arenas.
Below them, an enormous crowd watched the battles and enjoyed the event.
“Damn it!”
A male assassin named Little Bowl Wide Noodles was transported onto the same arena. When he saw his opponent, his expression turned ugly. “How the hell is my luck this bad?”
“Zhouyou Shijie is here!”
“Calm down. The first round is just a formality for him. There’s no way he’ll meet an evenly matched opponent this early. That assassin will probably get one-shot.”
“Please, God, don’t let me get eliminated in my first match!”
…
Zhou Ming’s appearance immediately stirred up a considerable commotion.
Ding!
[System: The battle will begin in ten seconds. Both contestants, please prepare yourselves!]
“Let’s have a good match!” Zhou Ming intended to finish this quickly.
He had already read the rules of Pinnacle Showdown. In the first round, players had to win three out of five matches to advance.
“Even if you’re Zhouyou Shijie, dreaming of one-shotting me is pure delusion!” Before the match had even begun, Little Bowl Wide Noodles entered Stealth. His figure rapidly faded into the surroundings and vanished without a trace.
“Assassins are pulling this trick again!”
“The arena’s too big. If he really wants to play hide-and-seek, finding him will be a pain!”
Many players began complaining.
As long as an assassin in Stealth did not approach, it was extremely difficult to spot anything unusual.
Some players deliberately exploited this to stall out matches, making the tactic thoroughly obnoxious.
Zhou Ming paid it no mind.
Ten seconds later, Dawnbringer crashed down and engulfed a 100-by-100-meter area. Yet Little Bowl Wide Noodles remained in Stealth without revealing a trace.
“Interesting…”
Zhou Ming frowned slightly.
After using Stealth, an assassin could follow with Forced Stealth to leave combat and disappear again. Alternating the two was indeed enough to disgust any opponent.
Wait!
A sharp light suddenly flashed through Zhou Ming’s eyes.
Stealth… followed by Forced Stealth… disgusting the opponent…
“I understand! I finally understand!”
Zhou Ming’s breathing quickened, and wild delight surged through him. It was as though he had wandered through a maze for ages and finally found the right path. “The mechanic Dawnbringer is missing is…”
…