Meanwhile, in Shuangyang District of Lijiang City, Li He and Guo Yuqi anxiously awaited the arrival of the military doctor. They were at a loss as to how to handle this sudden bout of insanity.
Who could have anticipated that someone's psyche would crumble to such an extent, merely from encountering a few phantasms?
"What did General Shen say?" Li He asked.
"She's arranged for the best local psychiatrist, but it may take a while for them to arrive," Guo Yuqi replied.
As they spoke of the strange occurrences within the dimensional space, a helicopter descended swiftly nearby.
When the doctor approached the afflicted team member, Li He and Guo Yuqi followed closely.
"It appears to be due to excessive mental stress. I'll administer a sedative, but you'll need to assign two escorts to accompany him while he stays under observation at the hospital," the middle-aged doctor instructed.
Understanding the need for vigilance, Li He and Guo Yuqi quickly assigned two team members to accompany the doctor.
Watching them depart, Li He muttered, "This damn apocalypse is truly exhausting."
"At least there's treatment available. Imagine the real disaster if sedatives stopped working altogether," Guo Yuqi consoled him.
...
Inside the dimensional rift, with a surge of spiritual energy, Xu Que finally succeeded in forming thirty stars within himself.
Gazing at the thirty whirling stars, Xu Que sighed, knowing they would soon be consumed.
Opening his life skills interface, he finally saw a green plus sign beside the Forge Mastery: *A Hundredfold Refinement.*
He selected "upgrade." Instantly, a brilliant white light erupted from his body.
*Forging Technique: Hundredfold Refinement (Apprentice)*
*Required Experience: 0/100*
*Required Skill Mastery: 0/10 stars*
*Active Effect: Increases success rate by 30% with each forging.*
*Passive Effect: Each item forged increases base strength by 1%.*
As he noted the experience requirements, Xu Que's eyebrow twitched. "Goodness, I need to make a hundred items for this…"
Fortunately, the passive effects were compelling enough to make this training worthwhile.
With a silent command, he activated the skill ranking evaluation for his forging talent. In response, a beam of white light split the dimensional rift above him.
"Congratulations, Xu Que," came a mechanical female voice. "You have successfully ranked on the *Heavenly Forge Leaderboard*."
A slight smile appeared on Xu Que's lips as he heard the first notification.
"Would you like to remain anonymous or use an alias? Note: this selection is permanent."
Xu Que smirked and entered the name "Red Nose."
While few would understand the significance of this name, he knew the depth of vengeance it symbolized.
Not long after, the long-awaited reward announcement came.
"Congratulations, Xu Que! You have achieved the top ranking on the *Heavenly Forge Leaderboard*. Your reward: temporary talent *Heart of the Forge* (effects vary based on leaderboard position)."
Seeing the *Heart of the Forge* ability, Xu Que was thrilled.
*Temporary Talent: Heart of the Forge (Increases all magic resistances by 10%, reduces stamina consumption by 50%).*
Magic resistance was nearly impossible to acquire, even with potions that provided at most a 5% increase. Yet this single temporary talent offered 10%, which was staggering!
Just as he marveled at this power, the ultimate prize was announced.
"Congratulations, Xu Que! As the first person to claim the top rank on the *Heavenly Forge Leaderboard*, you are awarded a unique god-level talent: *Hundredfold Amplification.*"
Xu Que's eyes widened.
*Divine Talent: Hundredfold Amplification (Enhances a weapon or armor once by 100 times its base strength. Only one enhanced item may be equipped at a time).*
For a moment, Xu Que was speechless, before erupting in laughter that echoed across the dimensional space.
With the *Heavenly Forge Leaderboard*, strength equaled power, but he now wielded the title of the ultimate support!
What did a hundredfold increase imply? With a hundredfold-amplified weapon, even an average D-grade blade could surpass his current empire-tier sword and rival an S-tier weapon!
Opening his equipment interface, Xu Que selected his primary weapon: the Primal Sword.
As the amplification took effect, the sword transformed from red to a dark, majestic purple.
Gazing at its new attributes, he realized that if he were to face that hellhound again, a single strike would suffice!
*Name: Amplified Primal Sword (Unique)*
*Quality: Ultra God-tier (Dark Purple)*
*Active Skill: Release sword intent once, scaling with user power (30-minute cooldown).*
*Passive Skill: Ignore target defense, enhance abilities by 1000% during spellcasting, and increase all base stats by 2000%.*
Staring proudly at his ultra-empowered sword, Xu Que's laughter once more filled the vast space, but soon, an approaching army of goblins caught his attention.
"Perfect timing," Xu Que chuckled ominously.
In his current state, he was practically invincible, exuding strength beyond measure.
"If my power now is close to S-tier…"
Before he could finish, the Primal Sword unleashed a massive wave of energy, a hundred-meter-long sword beam slicing toward the goblins like a tidal wave.
*BOOM!*
A terrifying explosion erupted, creating a massive crater in the ground.
"Whoa…"