TL: Etude
As Ye Tian watched Sun Feng walk away, he couldn't help but think of Sun Feng as a bringer of wealth. Not only had Sun Feng gifted him an attack-type bronze-level knife skill, but he had also provided him with a high-level cultivation talent. While conversing with Sun Feng, Ye Tian had secretly copied Sun Feng's high-level cultivation talent.
Ye Tian had also been interested in copying the medium-level knife skill talent, but when choosing between the two, he naturally preferred the high-level cultivation talent. His high-level cultivation talent was already at its peak, very close to the top-level cultivation talent. If he copied the medium-level knife skill talent, there was no guarantee that it would evolve and upgrade. However, once he copied the high-level cultivation talent, it would definitely evolve to a top-level cultivation talent. Ye Tian knew where his priorities lay.
Back in his room, Ye Tian began to integrate the newly copied high-level cultivation talent. The process was painless this time, easily completed with just a bit of sweat.
Human: Ye Tian
Cultivation Talent: Top-Level
Speed Talent: Top-Level
Knife Talent: Medium-Level
Shadow Talent: Basic-Level
Healing Talent: Top-Level
Strength Talent: High-Level
Seeing his cultivation talent upgraded to top-level, Ye Tian couldn't contain his excitement. This was a top-level cultivation talent! With continuous cultivation, he was 100% certain he could reach the Grandmaster realm. High-level cultivation talent only offered a slim chance of advancing to Grandmaster, and even if one did, further progress would be difficult.
However, with top-level cultivation talent, reaching the early, middle, or even late stages of the Grandmaster realm would be easy. Only when attempting to break through to the next realm would he encounter a bottleneck, but even then, there was a small chance of breaking through to higher levels.
"With this top-level cultivation talent, I don't have to worry about my aptitude before reaching the Grandmaster realm!" Ye Tian thought.
After testing the effects of the top-level cultivation talent, Ye Tian found it to be twice as effective as the high-level one. Combined with intermediate elemental body training and high-level beast blood, the overall effect could be tripled. The higher the talent, the more effective the use of beast blood.
According to the effects of the top-level cultivation talent, Ye Tian was confident that he could reach the limit of elite martial warriors, which was a body strength of 100,000 jin, within two months.
The next day, before 10 a.m., Ye Tian arrived at Hui Ming Square. Hui Ming Square was a shopping plaza at Linhai Base, quite large in size and also hosting an entrance to the black market. When Ye Tian arrived, he saw many people, most of whom were martial warriors.
"Ye Tian, you're finally here!" Sun Feng walked up to Ye Tian, smiling.
"Why are there so many people?" Ye Tian looked around curiously.
Normally, there shouldn't be this many people here, and the gathering of so many martial warriors must be related to Sun Feng.
"It's nothing. I just promoted our duel a bit," Sun Feng said casually.
What he wanted was fame. Otherwise, he wouldn't go around challenging people, as it fed his vanity. Although it was somewhat unfair to the martial warriors of Linhai Base, he didn't care. In his eyes, the talents of Linhai Base were just namesake, not even meeting the threshold of talent at the Tieya base.
Defeating the talents of Linhai Base and demoralizing its martial warriors would be beneficial for the people of the Tieya base in controlling Linhai Base. He had already swept through most of the other talents at Linhai Base; only Ye Tian remained.
Therefore, this battle had to be grand!
"Bring out the stakes!" Sun Feng hastily spoke before the duel began, fearing that Ye Tian might not have a bronze-level knife skill.
"Here it is!" Ye Tian took out the secret manual for the bronze-level knife skill, Shadow Kill.
Sun Feng also produced the secret manual for his bronze-level knife skill, Qing Feng Slash.
Both men briefly examined each other's manuals. A quick glance wouldn't allow one to steal the knife skill, as the techniques were complex and accompanied by many illustrations. Each illustration contained the essence of the bronze-level knife skill, and one couldn't simply memorize it; constant comprehension of the manual was required. This is why creating each knife skill manual was difficult and why such skills were not widespread.
"The manuals are genuine. Let's begin!" Ye Tian and Sun Feng stood in the center of Hui Ming Square, and the crowd dispersed.
At this moment, many martial warriors began to discuss among themselves.
"Who is Ye Tian? Is he also an elite martial warrior?"
"I heard that Ye Tian has a high-level cultivation talent and is already an elite martial warrior. He's just been very low-key, so we didn't know."
"Both Ye Tian and Sun Feng have high-level cultivation talents, but Sun Feng is obviously much older and should be stronger. This duel should be a foregone conclusion, right?"
"I also think Sun Feng will win. After all, he has a knife skill talent and has cultivated his bronze-level knife skill, Qing Feng Slash, to a high level. He can unleash triple the attack power! Do you know what triple attack power means? A strength of 50,000 jin can burst out with an attack power of 150,000 jin. None of the elite martial warriors at our Linhai base can match Sun Feng, and the grand martial warriors are too embarrassed to make a move. I guess no one can defeat Sun Feng!"
"Yeah, Ye Tian's chances of winning are too low!"
Almost everyone was not optimistic about Ye Tian, except for a few who held some hope. These people were members of the Wind Wolf Hunting Squad.
"Captain, do you think Mr. Ye Tian has a chance of winning?" a member of the Wind Wolf Hunting Squad whispered.
"He might, but even if he wins, it will be a hard-fought victory. Sun Feng has an attack power comparable to a grand martial warrior. Although Ye Tian has speed talent and strong knife skills, the advantage is not significant. It will be a narrow win," the captain of the Wind Wolf Hunting Squad estimated.
He made this estimate based on his understanding of Ye Tian, but he had no idea that Ye Tian's true strength had already exceeded the limits of a grand martial warrior.
Soon, the duel began!
Whoosh!
Sun Feng turned into an afterimage and charged at Ye Tian, raising his knife for a fierce slash. A wind blade aimed at Ye Tian, its attack power reaching 300,000 jin with the aid of elemental force. Although the blade wasn't fast, it was almost impossible for martial warriors below the grand martial warrior realm to dodge it.
However, something incredible happened.
Ye Tian's figure disappeared. The sure-hit wind blade struck the ground, creating a huge crack more than ten meters long, and shattered a large number of green stone slabs.
"Not good!" Sun Feng realized something was wrong.
But when he prepared to dodge, a knife was already at his throat.
"When did this happen?" Sun Feng broke into a cold sweat. He hadn't noticed Ye Tian's movements at all and had no idea when Ye Tian had gotten so close to him.
It was terrifying!
Sun Feng clearly understood what had just happened. If Ye Tian had wanted to, he could have killed him with a single stroke.
"He must have a very high-speed talent!" Sun Feng realized.
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