301: Chapter 302 Xu Ruohan's Talent Enhancement

Xu Ruohan, the former number one genius beauty Summoner of Xia Country, was the object of admiration for countless young talents before Lin Muyang burst onto the scene. She was the benchmark and pride of the nation's Summoner profession. With her astonishing talent, calm mind, and exquisite beauty, she enjoyed a high reputation within the Class Transferee circles of Xia Country and even the world.

Now, her identity had undergone a subtle yet important shift. She had become the closest and most reliable bridge between Lin Muyang and the Xia Country official authorities. This allowed Lin Muyang to avoid dealing directly with complex official institutions; he only needed to communicate with Xu Ruohan, and his will would be clearly and efficiently conveyed to the highest levels of Xia Country through her, receiving the swiftest execution. This level of trust and responsibility was something the other young women could not replace for the time being.

Compared to girls like Shen Muyao, who had followed Lin Muyang earlier and shared a closer relationship, Xu Ruohan's importance was indeed more prominent. Therefore, given the limited resources, Lin Muyang decided to prioritize upgrading her strength. This was both an investment and a recognition and reward for her contributions.

Inside Lin Muyang's room, the lighting was soft. Xu Ruohan sat upright on the sofa, her posture straight and her temperament as cool and capable as ever. However, the slight pursing of her lips and the way her eyes watched Lin Muyang revealed a hint of the inner turmoil she felt.

Lin Muyang took out sixteen identical small crystal bottles from his storage space and arranged them neatly on the coffee table between them. Each bottle contained a single teardrop-shaped drop of tears of the angel emitting a soft milky-white halo. With sixteen drops gathered together, the fluctuations of life and pure energy they emitted made the air in the entire room feel much fresher, and the light seemed even warmer.

“Sister Ruohan,” Lin Muyang began, his voice steady and clear, “your original talent was SSS-Rank, which is already recognized as a top-tier talent on Blue Star. But above SSS-Rank, there are actually higher levels.”

He paused to ensure Xu Ruohan was listening intently. “They are sub-god level and the even higher Demigod Level. Each leap across levels brings not just a numerical increase, but a certain sublimation of the talent's essence, unlocking more powerful traits or rules.”

His gaze fell on the crystal bottles. “Here are sixteen tears of the angel. Based on previous experience, this amount should be enough to push your talent directly from SSS-Rank to Demigod Level.”

Xu Ruohan's breath hitched slightly. Although she had prepared herself mentally, hearing the words 'Demigod Level' with her own ears and seeing sixteen drops of the legendary divine item before her still caused a slight tremor. It wasn't fear, but a primal shock when facing a massive opportunity.

“And then,” Lin Muyang continued, looking at Gui Wanwan who was sitting quietly to the side eating snacks, “once your talent upgrade is complete and stabilized, I'll have Xiao Wan use her Yamas Fate Alteration ability to process and optimize your new talent. That will produce some unexpected positive changes in its effects. Although there might be a negligible cost attached, the overall benefits will be greater.”

“Okay... I understand. Thank you.” Xu Ruohan took a soft breath, suppressing the throbbing in her heart, and gave Lin Muyang a smile filled with gratitude and determination. She truly hadn't expected to receive such precious cultivation resources so soon. But since Lin Muyang had made the decision and explained his reasons so clearly, she knew her best response was trust and obedience.

Then again, the idea of being able to upgrade a talent's rank was something Xu Ruohan hadn't even dared to dream of before Lin Muyang appeared. This had never occurred in the recorded history of Blue Star; it was a miracle that overturned all common knowledge. Even now, this news was strictly controlled within the smallest core circle and had absolutely not leaked to the outside world.

Xu Ruohan was well aware that no matter how staggering her talent upgrade became, this secret had to be kept at all costs and never exposed. Lin Muyang possessed such heaven-defying abilities that if the outside world—especially powerful beings from other worlds—found out, it would undoubtedly attract unimaginable covetousness, suspicion, and even war. That would bring catastrophe to Lin Muyang and the entire Blue Star. Protecting this secret was her inescapable responsibility.

Shortly after, the absorption ceremony began.

Xu Ruohan sat cross-legged on the soft carpet in the center of the room. Lin Muyang stood by her side to protect her, and Gui Wanwan put away her snacks, floating to the side to watch with interest. Alice and Sagiri stayed outside the room to avoid unnecessary interference.

Xu Ruohan first picked up the first crystal bottle and pulled out the stopper. The familiar fragrance that soothed the soul wafted out once more. Without hesitation, she tilted her head back and consumed it.

A gentle warm current instantly spread through her. Unlike the feeling of taking a single drop before, this time, the transformative power contained within the warm current was clearer and more powerful. She could feel a slight heat starting deep within her soul, as if a dormant seed had been injected with a majestic life force and was beginning to awaken and expand.

Bottle after bottle.

Xu Ruohan maintained an even breathing rhythm. Every time she completely absorbed the energy of one drop of tears of the angel, she would pick up the next bottle. As the number of absorbed drops increased, the energy fluctuations around her became more obvious. At first, it was just a faint milky-white halo enveloping her body, but later the halo gradually became solid, and tiny, star-like silver light points began to flow within it. Her long hair moved without wind, and the crisp uniform she wore seemed unable to fully restrain the surging power about to undergo a metamorphosis within her.

Through the Eye of Creation, Lin Muyang clearly observed this process. On Xu Ruohan's attribute panel, the text in the talent column continuously blurred and reorganized. It went from clear to chaotic, and then new, more complex and brilliant runes began to condense and outline themselves bit by bit.

The moment the energy of the sixteenth drop of tears of the angel was completely absorbed—

Xu Ruohan's delicate body shuddered violently, and her eyes suddenly snapped open! It was as if galaxies were being born and dying in her eyes, a brilliant light flashing and vanishing in an instant. The layer of milky-white halo and silver light points around her body suddenly imploded, retracting entirely into her body. An Aura many times more powerful, profound, and overbearing than before slowly radiated from her. Although she quickly brought it under control, that fleeting glimpse was enough to strike fear into anyone's heart.

The Demigod Level talent was complete!

Xu Ruohan quickly pulled up her attribute panel and looked at the talent column.

[Demigod's Wrath (Demigod Level)]

[Effect]:

Buff Stacking: When you and your summons are not in a combat state, automatically stack one layer of Demigod's Wrath buff every second, up to a maximum of 10 layers.

Power Amplification: Each layer of Demigod's Wrath buff will increase the final damage of the next attack launched by you and your summons by 330%.

Consumption Mechanism: When launching an attack, regardless of how many layers of buff a single attack consumes, that attack enjoys the full damage bonus of the corresponding layers. The buff layers will clear after the attack hits and must be restacked.

“One layer per second... ten layers is a 3300% damage bonus? Thirty-three times?!” Xu Ruohan was shocked by the number herself. Compared to her original SSS-Rank Talent, this was simply the difference between heaven and earth!

Her original talent required ten minutes to stack one layer, and nearly two hours to reach ten layers. Moreover, the amplification was 100% per layer, meaning a full ten layers only resulted in ten times the damage. While strong, the prerequisites were harsh, basically only usable for a decisive ambush or at the start of a boss fight.

But what about the current Demigod's Wrath? It only took ten seconds to stack ten layers and gain a terrifying thirty-three-fold burst! Furthermore, the 'not in combat state' judgment was more lenient than the original 'not launching an attack,' making it easier to manage the rhythm in complex battles. Most crucially, the frequency of this thirty-three-fold damage burst had changed from once every two hours to theoretically once every ten seconds! The gap between the two was more than a hundredfold.

“This... it's too strong!” Xu Ruohan couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice, her cool face filled with unbelievable shock. Her original SSS-Rank Talent was like a baby learning to crawl compared to an adult's hundred-meter sprint in the face of this brand-new Demigod Level talent; they were completely on different dimensions!

“Don't be in a hurry, it's not over yet.” Lin Muyang's voice pulled her back from her shock.

At that moment, Gui Wanwan floated over elegantly, a faint smile on her face. “Sister Ruohan, relax. Don't resist my power. It might feel a bit chilly, but it'll be over soon.”

Xu Ruohan nodded and closed her eyes again, relaxing completely.

Gui Wanwan extended her fair right hand and lightly tapped her index finger on Xu Ruohan's forehead. A deep, icy-cold underworld energy, seemingly originating from the deepest depths of the Nine Serene Yellow Springs, seeped gently yet firmly into Xu Ruohan's sea of consciousness through her fingertip.

Xu Ruohan shuddered. She did feel a chill spreading from her forehead, but it wasn't unpleasant; instead, it brought a refreshing coolness to her soul, which had been somewhat feverish from the recent talent advancement.

This was Yamas Fate Alteration. It didn't overwrite or replace the talent but performed optimal rule fine-tuning based on the original talent's framework and foundation. It made the talent more suited to the holder or stimulated certain hidden potentials. Of course, it sometimes came with small costs consistent with the law of equivalent exchange.

The process lasted about three minutes.

When Gui Wanwan withdrew her finger, Xu Ruohan felt a coolness at her brow, and then the sensation of being guided vanished. She immediately looked at her talent column again.

[Demigod's Wrath (Demigod Level) (Yamas Fate Alteration)]

[Effect]:

Buff Stacking: When you and your summons are not in a combat state, automatically stack one layer of Demigod's Wrath buff every second, up to a maximum of 10 layers.

Power Amplification: Each layer of Demigod's Wrath buff will increase the final damage of the next attack launched by you and your summons by 330%.

Improved Consumption: When launching an attack, only 3 layers of Demigod's Wrath buff are consumed to allow the attack to enjoy the damage bonus of the current total buff layers. After the attack hits, the remaining buff layers are not cleared but enter a brief 1-second stagnation period, during which new layers cannot be stacked. Normal stacking resumes after 1 second.

Cost: While the Demigod's Wrath buff exists on you, each layer of the buff increases the damage taken by you and your summons by 1% (up to a maximum of 10%).

After reading the new description, Xu Ruohan fell into even deeper shock, followed by wild joy!

The effect of Yamas Fate Alteration had practically pushed this talent onto a brand-new altar of divinity!

The original consumption mechanism cleared all buffs after an attack; now, it only consumed 3 layers to deal full-layer damage, and the remaining 7 layers stayed! What did this mean? It meant that after one thirty-three-fold burst attack, she didn't start from zero; she still had seven layers left! She only needed to wait three seconds for it to stack back to full to deal the next thirty-three-fold damage burst! As long as she controlled her attack rhythm, she could almost achieve continuous high-burst output!

Although a new cost was added—a 1% increase in damage taken per layer—in Xu Ruohan's view, this was completely acceptable, even negligible. A full ten layers only increased damage taken by 10%. Meanwhile, she was almost constantly under the shroud of Lin Muyang's various God-Tier Auras.

Setting everything else aside, the 4000% defense increase provided by the Defense Aura alone was enough to make this 10% negative effect utterly insignificant. Trading a 10% increase in damage taken for nearly infinite thirty-three-fold burst capability was an incredible bargain!

Xu Ruohan stood up, feeling the surging sense of power within her that was completely different from before. For a moment, she couldn't find the right words to describe her current mood. Shock, joy, and anticipation for infinite future possibilities were all intertwined.

Her original strength was already considered top-tier on Blue Star, but compared to Lin Muyang's core girls like Lilia, Alice, and Gui Wanwan, she was still a notch below. She had relied more on experience and her intellect to hold her place. But now she had absolute confidence that even without relying on Lin Muyang's Auras, with just this evolved Demigod's Wrath, she alone could easily defeat a combined force of the current top ten experts on Blue Star! This wasn't arrogance, but absolute confidence in that thirty-three-fold burst and nearly infinite sustain.

If she were then placed under Lin Muyang's layers of heaven-defying God-Tier Auras... Xu Ruohan simply couldn't imagine what kind of terrifying war machine she would become. Being a one-woman army, sweeping across an entire world—perhaps it was no longer a fantasy.

It was only at this moment that Xu Ruohan truly and deeply realized just how massive and profound the power Lin Muyang held was. This was just an upgrade he had casually performed for her.

By his side, there were several other girls like Alice and Gui Wanwan, and the talent and strength of each one were likely no worse than hers now, perhaps even stronger. And Lin Muyang himself was like an abyss shrouded in endless mist; you never knew what kind of world-shaking ability he would reveal in the next moment.

When such a group of people gathered together, what kind of extreme energy would they be able to unleash? How terrifying would it be?