80: Trick Zhou An again

【Skill Advancement Scroll】 (Gold)

Type: Consumable Item

Effect: Upon use, can advance one skill of Gold quality or lower by one quality level, up to a maximum of Gold quality.

Description: A rare item, an absolute treasure one in ten thousand.

"...Damn."

Li Si's eyes suddenly lit up. Since entering the All Heavens Game, this was the first time he had seen such an item. He checked his skills; he currently had eleven.

Four professional skills were Mythical quality, and the remaining seven in the skill bar included five Gold skills, one Purple skill, and one special skill without a specific quality level.

【Great Teleportation Technique max】 (Special)

【Ghostly Swift Steps max】 (Purple)

Between these two skills, Li Si prioritized the Great Teleportation Technique. However, the Great Teleportation Technique had a special quality, so it might not succeed.

【Ding!】

【Your skill — Great Teleportation Technique (Special) advancement failed.】

【Reason for failure — Quality does not meet requirements.】

"As expected, it didn't work."

Then he could only advance Ghostly Swift Steps.

Li Si could only settle for the next best thing.

Actually, he didn't like active skills like Ghostly Swift Steps; he preferred passive skills.

【Ding!】

【Congratulations on using the item — Skill Advancement Scroll.】

【Congratulations! Your skill — Ghostly Swift Steps (Purple) has been upgraded to Gold quality, and its level has been adjusted based on experience consumption.】

Li Si looked at his skill bar and found that Ghostly Swift Steps had changed from max level to Lv5. However, this was a minor issue; he had ample resources and could upgrade it back to max level at any time.

【Ghostly Swift Steps Lv5】

Quality: Gold

Active: Command a ghost to possess you, increasing movement speed by 30% for 10 seconds. During the duration of Ghostly Swift Steps, slow resistance is increased by 25%.

Conditions: 200 Mana cost, 20-second cooldown.

"...What kind of garbage improvement is this?"

Li Si complained wildly, feeling utterly let down.

After Ghostly Swift Steps was upgraded, the movement speed bonus did not increase; instead, slow resistance was added. Based on data growth, it is estimated that at max level, Ghostly Swift Steps would provide a 50% increase in slow resistance during its duration.

Slow resistance might be an excellent stat for other players, but for Li Si, slow resistance was trash. Because he had a Limiter, he could easily obtain slow resistance just by grinding, and with higher values.

"Let's leave it at this for now."

Li Si decided to maintain the status quo and not upgrade Ghostly Swift Steps for the time being. When he found a suitable skill, he would directly replace it, preferably with a passive skill.

"Alisa, Tianzi Number One is yours."

"Yes!"

Then the divine smith token glowed, and Li Si returned to the Divine Smith Valley.

"Forging Technique — Level Adjustment!"

In an instant, mysterious energy fluctuations arose, mixing with crimson flames, melting 29 greedy hearts into liquid that slowly flowed into the greed bracelet.

【Ding!】

【The wear level of the accessory equipment — greed bracelet (Gold) has been adjusted to Level 1.】

"...Beautiful."

Although he had anticipated it, Li Si was still overjoyed when he saw the greed bracelet's level being adjusted with his own eyes. He quickly opened the greed bracelet's attribute interface —

【greed bracelet】 (Gold)

Level: 1

Attack +30 → +10

Armor +5 → +2

Magic Resist +5 → +2

Special Effect 【Greed】: Guaranteed to drop 1 gold coin upon killing a target.

Description: A bracelet imbued with the will of greed.

"Perfect!!"

Blazing Sky Craftsman truly lived up to his name as a Mythical-level support profession. And unlike the Great Wilderness Archer and Calamity Knight, Blazing Sky Craftsman could level up, continuously unlocking more powerful professional skills.

Unfortunately, the Great Wilderness Archer and Calamity Knight did not advance by proficiency but by level.

Li Si felt that he had no chance with second, third, or fourth advancements.

At this moment, an unexpected system prompt popped up.

【Ding!】

【Having absorbed enough forging rule power, the attributes of the special equipment — divine smith token have increased.】

Hard work pays off!

After hundreds of consecutive forges, the divine smith token finally upgraded.

Li Si was overjoyed and quickly checked the upgraded attributes of the divine smith token.

【divine smith token】 (Special)

Level: None

Special Effect 【Path of Forging】: Comprehend the true meaning of fire, comprehend the true meaning of power. Attack Cap +5% → +10%, Critical Damage +5% → +10%.

Special Effect 【Forging Smelting】: Continuously forging equipment can increase the attribute bonus of the divine smith token.

Special Effect 【Special Artifact】: Possesses peculiar great power, can be integrated into the player's body, and attributes automatically take effect.

Trait 【Divine Smith Valley】: Activating this effect can initiate spatial teleportation, instantly returning to the Divine Smith Valley.

Description: The sole token of the Divine Smith Valley. Please re-cultivate to increase the attribute bonus of the divine smith token.

"Not bad."

The attribute bonus directly doubled, which was a significant improvement.

Li Si was satisfied. He checked the time; it was 8:23 AM. More than four hours had passed since he last saw Zhou An, so it was almost time to talk to Zhou An.

"Buzz!"

The Great Teleportation Technique was successfully cast, and Li Si's mana bar was emptied. The scene shifted, and he appeared at the main entrance of Moonfall Town.

"Boy, you're finally back, I've been waiting!" Zhou An's worried expression suddenly turned to joy.

"I'm back, I'm back, it's really killing me." Li Si's tone contained a hint of annoyance.

"What? Did you encounter difficulties?"

The joy on Zhou An's face instantly froze.

"The Icy Cold Pond is too vast; I spent several hours and still couldn't find the ice jade marrow." Li Si changed his mind, planning to trick Zhou An a few more times, deciding to mention the Great Ice Dragon King last, giving Zhou An a decisive blow.

"I guess... the ice jade marrow is at the deepest part of the Icy Cold Pond."

"Then hurry to the deepest part!" Zhou An was a bit agitated. Severely wounded for over a thousand years, he finally had a chance to recover, so how could he not be anxious?

"It's not that I don't want to go, but I can't. The pressure deeper in the Icy Cold Pond is too terrifying. I can only dive 1000 meters; any deeper and I can't withstand it. My physique isn't strong enough; I'll be crushed into a pancake." Li Si initiated the guidance again.

"I have something that can help you strengthen your physique."

【Ding!】

【Congratulations! You have obtained the item — Physique Strengthening Potion (Epic).】

Physique Strengthening Potion: After use, physique is strengthened, permanently increasing base health by 5000 points, and permanently increasing all damage reduction by 2%. Each player can only use it once.

"...Damn."

At this moment, Li Si was ecstatic.

He immediately used the Physique Strengthening Potion, and his total damage reduction rose to 8%, while his maximum health soared to 70174, breaking the seventy thousand mark in one go.

Zhou An, you truly are my lucky star.

"Boy, hurry up and come back soon."

"Alright!"

Li Si activated a skill and left the town gate.

Of course, he didn't go to the Icy Cold Pond but explored the area around Moonfall Town. After all, there was still Zhou Guang's task, which he needed to do.

He had already been to Ten Thousand Willow Woods and the Icy Cold Pond.

Moonfall Town still had three areas: Black Lizard Basin (Level 32-36), Venomous Plains (Level 34-38), and Wind-Sand Stone Forest (Level 37-40).

Li Si prepared to explore one area at a time.

If there were signs of the Fallen God Disturbance in Moonfall Town, it would definitely not escape the scope of these three areas.

"First, to the Black Lizard Basin."

"Clang —"

The sword qi of Sky-Piercing Blade Draw roared, reducing the health of the black lizards in his sight by more than half. As his level increased, the monsters' health rapidly grew thicker, and Li Si did not have the Great Wilderness Sun-Shooting Bow equipped.

Due to these combined conditions, Sky-Piercing Blade Draw failed to instantly kill the black lizards.

However, he still had Calamity Arrival, and six types of abnormal damage appeared together, eliminating the low-health black lizards.

【Ding!】

【Killed 35 Brutal Black Lizards, experience increased by 12250 points. Killing across 34 levels, experience additionally increased by 36750 points.】

Li Si's experience bar surged.

Two hours later, he had finished exploring the Black Lizard Basin and found no signs of the Fallen God Disturbance.

"The time is just about right. I'll go see Zhou An first, then head to the Venomous Plains."

"Buzz!"

Li Si's figure returned to the main entrance of Moonfall Town.

"Young man!" Zhou An immediately greeted him, then said, "Young man, did you finally bring back the ice jade marrow this time?"

Oh? His address had changed.

Li Si noticed that Zhou An no longer called him "boy" but addressed him as "young man." It seemed that Zhou An had already sensed something amiss during the past two hours.

After all, as a Legendary Monarch, Zhou An certainly wasn't a fool.

Hehe —

Li Si almost laughed out loud, quickly composed himself, and then said, "Just a little bit more! I was only thirty meters away from reaching the bottom of the Icy Cold Pond! If I were a bit faster, I could definitely do it."