TL: Etude
Every time Ye Tian integrated a new talent, it was a transformative experience for him. Although painful, the benefits were more than enough to make the pain worthwhile. Having integrated many talents before, the process of integrating the top-tier speed talent wasn't as painful as he had imagined.
Soon, the integration was complete.
Ye Tian immediately checked his talent status, a habit of his and also the most exhilarating moment.
Human: Ye Tian
Cultivation Talent: High-level
Speed Talent: Top-tier
Blade Talent: Medium-level
Shadow Talent: Basic
Healing Talent: Top-tier
Strength Talent: High-level
Seeing the top-tier healing and speed talents, Ye Tian couldn't help but smile. He wondered how great it would be if all his other talents could also reach the top-tier level.
"Let's test this top-tier speed!"
Ye Tian stepped out of the giant tree, activated his speed talent, and gave it a try.
Whoosh!
In an instant, Ye Tian covered a distance of a hundred meters. He felt as if he had broken through some kind of barrier in the air.
"Speed of sound!"
The term popped into Ye Tian's mind. The speed of sound in air is about 340 meters per second. But Ye Tian's speed was far beyond that, many times faster than the speed of sound.
After several tests, Ye Tian finally had an understanding of his speed—ten times the speed of sound!
"My speed has reached 3,400 meters per second, while my previous speed was at most 170 meters per second. According to this ratio, the speed increase from the top-tier speed talent is twenty times!" Ye Tian thought to himself.
A twenty-fold increase was already quite exaggerated, especially since this increase ignored any cultivation levels. By Ye Tian's estimation, even among human grand warriors, the limit should only be five or six times the speed of sound. Yet, his speed had already surpassed the limit for grand warriors.
"If I reach the level of a grand warrior, my speed will be even more outrageous," he thought.
"With my current strength, dealing with peak grand warriors shouldn't be a problem!"
Ye Tian was extremely pleased. He had been far from reaching the peak grand warrior level, but now a single top-tier speed talent had made up for the gap in combat power. For him, copying powerful talents was a shortcut to rapidly increasing his strength. However, such opportunities were not easy to come by. This time, it was a combination of good luck and daring that allowed him to copy the Golden Silk Dragon Panther's speed talent, resulting in such a transformative boost in his abilities.
"It's time to deal with the Golden Silk Dragon Panther!"
Ye Tian was no longer afraid of the creature. In terms of speed, he was not much slower than the Golden Silk Dragon Panther. Perhaps because of its higher cultivation level, the creature's speed might reach twelve or thirteen times the speed of sound. However, the gap between ten times and twelve or thirteen times the speed of sound was not so large that he couldn't react.
Ye Tian's advantages were significant. His top-tier healing talent ensured rapid healing, and his attack power exceeded that of an average grand warrior, something the Golden Silk Dragon Panther couldn't match. In terms of overall strength, Ye Tian had completely surpassed the Golden Silk Dragon Panther and naturally had nothing to fear.
So, Ye Tian retraced his steps.
"Found them, they haven't left!"
Ye Tian saw a group of Black Panther Wolves surrounding the Golden Silk Dragon Panther.
At that moment, the Golden Silk Dragon Panther was asleep, lying beside the half-eaten corpse of the gorilla.
"The Golden Silk Dragon Panther must be digesting the gorilla's body. It seems that consuming the flesh of other beasts can increase its strength, much like how we humans refine beast blood to enhance our abilities," Ye Tian speculated.
With the Golden Silk Dragon Panther's talents, fully absorbing the gorilla's body would likely give it a slight boost in strength. While it wouldn't suddenly break through to a higher level, it would still gain a considerable amount of power. Ye Tian didn't want to give it that opportunity.
"Golden Silk Dragon Panther, let's have another round!"
Ye Tian jumped out and shouted loudly, waking up the Golden Silk Dragon Panther. Its ferocious face and murderous eyes seemed to say, "Human, you're as good as dead!"
Whoosh!
The Golden Silk Dragon Panther disappeared. Had Ye Tian not integrated the top-tier speed talent, he wouldn't have been able to perceive it. But now, he saw it clearly. Just as the Panther's claws were about to touch him, Ye Tian dodged in the nick of time.
At the same time, Ye Tian slashed with his blade.
With the boost from his top-tier speed talent and the speed of his Shadow Strike technique, Ye Tian's attack was faster than one could imagine.
A splattering sound!
Caught off guard, the Golden Silk Dragon Panther couldn't dodge Ye Tian's Shadow Strike, and a gash was cut into its back.
It was injured!
The Golden Silk Dragon Panther retreated, its large eyes incredulously staring at Ye Tian, as if asking, "How can you be so fast?"
It remembered that it could easily attack Ye Tian before. But now, Ye Tian had dodged its attack and was almost as fast as it was. This was the first time it had encountered a creature weaker than itself in terms of cultivation but nearly as fast.
The Golden Silk Dragon Panther didn't back down and charged at Ye Tian again.
"Shadow Strike!"
"Shadow Strike!"
"Shadow Strike!"
Ye Tian repeatedly executed Shadow Strikes, causing the Golden Silk Dragon Panther to sustain continuous injuries. After all, the Panther's attack power hadn't reached the level of a high-tier beast, so it was no match for Ye Tian. Each collision resulted in injuries, and only its sturdy body saved it from worse.
Had Ye Tian possessed a better weapon, he might have split the Golden Silk Dragon Panther in half with a single strike.
After about a dozen moves, the Golden Silk Dragon Panther was covered in blood and its condition had deteriorated significantly. Initially determined to fight to the death, it now considered fleeing.
It didn't want to die!
Whoosh!
The Golden Silk Dragon Panther turned to run, even abandoning its own pack.
"You're injured and slower than before. Where do you think you're going?"
Ye Tian chased after it. After only about ten miles, he caught up with the Golden Silk Dragon Panther and almost cut it in half with a fierce slash.
The Golden Silk Dragon Panther fell not far away, its breath extremely weak, clearly unable to escape any further.
Just as Ye Tian was about to deliver the killing blow, the Golden Silk Dragon Panther suddenly did something that shocked him.
It actually made a gesture of kneeling and kept kowtowing towards Ye Tian.
Its meaning was clear: it was submitting to Ye Tian.
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