TL: Etude
In the strength-testing chamber, Ye Tian unleashed a punch at the machine, channeling both his raw physical power and his yuan force.
"Two Elephants of Force!"
Then, Ye Tian activated his pseudo-mystic-level strength talent.
Boom!
The machine quivered, and the whole room shook with it. A startling number appeared on the display.
"Sixty Elephants!"
"It's actually sixty Elephants of Force—a thirtyfold increase. Oh my God!" Ye Tian exclaimed.
However, he still had one crucial test to perform—to see if he could break the one-hundredfold limit. Previously, his increase in attack power had plateaued at a hundredfold, and if he couldn't break that barrier, then achieving a pseudo-mystic-level talent in strength would be meaningless. After all, the limit would still be a hundredfold increase, which wasn't much different.
Ye Tian drew his yuan force blade and swung it ferociously at the testing machine.
"One-Ten," "Green Wind Slash!"
"Pseudo-Mystic-Level Strength Boost!"
One boosted by sixfold, the other by thirtyfold.
Combined, they would result in an 180-fold increase in attack power. If he truly could break the limit and achieve an 180-fold increase, then Ye Tian's attack power could reach 360 Elephants of Force.
The outcome would tell it all!
Boom!
The air burst open, the room quivered violently, and the machine was sent flying, crashing into the wall.
Ye Tian saw a blade mark on the machine, about an inch deep.
Fortunately, the material of this machine was quite special and featured memory metal. Even if damaged, it would slowly heal itself; otherwise, Ye Tian suspected he'd owe someone money.
The machine wasn't fully broken, and a number appeared on it—
"360 Elephants!"
Gazing at the number, Ye Tian remained silent for a long while, too exhilarated to speak.
"I've finally broken the hundredfold limit. It must be because I've built a perfect foundation and shattered some kind of universal law, allowing me to achieve an 180-fold increase," Ye Tian speculated.
An 180-fold increase—that was a terrifying boost!
With just two Elephants of Force, he could generate an attack power of 360 Elephants, surpassing even the 200-Elephant limit of a normal Grandmaster.
One could only imagine how formidable Ye Tian would be once he advanced to the Grandmaster realm.
"Green Wind Slash is just a common bronze-level blade technique. My sword intent could soon reach a 20% mastery, allowing me to practice even stronger silver-level blade techniques, thereby amplifying my attack power even more. And what if my talent in strength reaches a true mystic level? Then wouldn't it be…"
The thought quickened Ye Tian's breath.
But acquiring a mystic-level special talent was easier said than done. Unless he encountered a beast or a warrior possessing mystic-level talents that he could copy.
Unfortunately, such beasts or warriors were exceedingly rare and beyond his current reach.
If he couldn't copy someone else's mystic-level talent, then he would have to find a way to elevate his own talent to the mystic level—a method he had no clue about.
As for the Demon Sea Base, he shouldn't count on it. It was likely that no one here knew about mystic-level talents; perhaps only a select few had even heard of them.
"Never mind the mystic-level talent, I can now aim for the Grandmaster Realm!"
Ye Tian had lingered at the peak of the Great Martial Warrior realm for quite some time. By now, he had established a perfect foundation and saw no reason to stay stagnant any longer.
So, Ye Tian rented a cultivation room in the Cultivation Tower and began cultivating the Grandmaster Realm.
Qi Cultivation Room.
Seated cross-legged, Ye Tian started to reflect on the details of the Purple Blood Body Refining Technique. Unlike the Great Martial Warrior Realm, the cultivating the Grandmaster Realm focused on refining one's meridians.
The human body contained eight extraordinary meridians. In the Grandmaster Realm, refining these eight meridians could each add about 10 units of strength. Once all eight meridians were refined, one could reach the peak of the Grandmaster Realm, and then further refine the body to reach the Grandmaster limit of 100 units of strength.
Without high-level Yuan Force Body Refining techniques, one could only rely on mid-level methods to absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth, and the power of fierce beasts to slowly refine a single meridian; the speed would be inevitably slow.
High-level Yuan Force Body Refining techniques had a strict sequence for meridian refining. For example, the first meridian to refine in the Purple Blood Body Refining Technique was the Yin Wei Meridian.
To successfully break through to the Grandmaster level, one had to open up the Yin Wei Meridian. Only when the meridian was unblocked could one proceed with refining it. This was an essential step.
For those with top-level cultivation talent, opening up the meridian and advancing to the Grandmaster Realm was relatively easy. But for those with high-level talents, it was much more challenging. A slight mistake could lead to meridian confusion or obstruction, resulting in failure.
Ye Tian possessed Morning Star-level cultivation talent, a rank above the extraordinary level, so he had no worries about failing the breakthrough.
"Let's begin."
Ye Tian consumed a drop of top-grade fierce beast blood and began practicing the Purple Blood Body Refining Technique to open up the Yin Wei Meridian.
Boom!
A surge of power instantly coursed through the Yin Wei Meridian, making it unobstructed. Simultaneously, the constraints between the Great Martial Warrior and Grandmaster realms disappeared, and an influx of Yuan Force from heaven and earth surged into Ye Tian's body, boosting his strength, speed, and defenses, among other things.
Ye Tian was undergoing a rapid transformation.
This process lasted for three days, and at the end of it, Ye Tian had become a Grandmaster-level warrior.
Subsequently, Ye Tian tested his physical strength—
"1.3 elephants of strength!"
This was the strength level immediately after breaking into the Grandmaster Realm, and Ye Tian also calculated the speed of his Morning Star-level cultivation.
In normal circumstances, a day's cultivation could add about 100,000 pounds of force. In a month, that would be an increase of approximately 3 million pounds or 3 units of strength, accumulating to 36 units in a year.
The Grandmaster limit was 100 units of strength. According to his calculations, he could reach that limit in at most three years.
Based on Ye Tian's research, most warriors with extraordinary-level cultivation talent took at least ten years to reach the Grandmaster limit, while top-level talents needed at least 30 years.
"My Morning Star-level talent should be about five times faster than extraordinary-level talents. After all, I only need three years to reach the Grandmaster limit under normal conditions. If I occasionally train in the Yuan Force cultivation room, I might even shorten that time to two years. That's just a fraction of the time needed by those with extraordinary-level talents; the speed is equivalent to five times theirs," Ye Tian calculated.
If this data were made public, it would certainly create a massive uproar.
Reaching the Grandmaster limit in two years, and with Ye Tian's Morning Star-level cultivation talent, progressing to the King-level would be a breeze.
This meant that in two or three years, Ye Tian would become a King-level existence, the pinnacle within the Demon Sea Base!
After becoming a Grandmaster, what Ye Tian was most concerned about was his lifespan.
A typical Grandmaster had a lifespan of 200 years. Yet, Ye Tian sensed through his Blood Devouring talent that his vitality was 50% stronger than other Grandmasters. Instead of a 200-year lifespan, he estimated his to be around 300 years.
Why did he have a 300-year lifespan? Ye Tian speculated it was due to his perfect foundation, which provided more benefits upon becoming a Grandmaster.
Having wasted two months of duplication opportunities, Ye Tian, now a Grandmaster, prepared to use his two duplication chances.
And this time, his target was a rather special talent…