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Chapter 188: Chapter 159: Exclusive Skill, Talent Enhancement
In the silent dark waters, a faint blue screen rippled slightly with the aftermath.
A prompt message kept flickering, scrolling into view.
[You have triggered the conditions for synthesizing the exclusive Skill "Qigong", please make a choice promptly.]
Exclusive Skill synthesis.
This was a reward for enhancing the Breathing Technique after its upgrade.
It had been mentioned in the prompt messages when the total number of Skills reached the limit for the first time.
Basically, only a few special Skills under certain accidental conditions could be promoted to exclusive Skills.
Fang Cheng felt a moment of enlightenment at this point.
The so-called "accidental conditions" should be akin to the perfect cultivation environment where time, place, and harmony align, or the ideal state of "Unity of Heaven and Man".
Only by achieving such a level could one activate the panel and give regular Skills a chance to synthesize into a new Skill.
And such more special Skills would obviously be more powerful than ordinary Skills.
Fang Cheng’s hesitation laid mainly in the assessment of the benefits before and after synthesis.
Because according to the fine print on the Breathing Technique Skill column, in order to promote it to the exclusive Skill "Qigong", one must also choose two other Skills of similar nature to satisfy the synthesis conditions.
That is to say, doing so would reduce the enhancement rewards brought about by subsequent upgrades of two Skills.
Whether the choice to exchange three for one was worth it was a question worth considering.
As if sensing Fang Cheng’s confusion, the panel then displayed several new prompt messages.
[The maximum level for ordinary Skills is lv5]
[Exclusive Skills have no level cap and possess unlimited growth potential]
[The enhancement rewards from upgrading ordinary Skills through practice are uncertain] 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
[Exclusive Skills can be upgraded by fusing other Skills, thereby obtaining more targeted Skill Effects]
[After synthesizing an exclusive Skill, the base Attributes bonus previously owned will be retained, Skill Effects are inherited to the new Skill, with a slight enhancement]
Upon reading this, Fang Cheng’s eyes shone, and most of his doubts vanished.
According to the panel’s description, upgrading an exclusive Skill was akin to a nurturing game where one decides the ultimate direction of the Skill’s development.
And like Talents, choosing to synthesize would not erase the previous hard work.
His mind found an answer.
Next, the question was which two Skills to choose for the synthesis of "Qigong".
At the end of three Skill columns on the panel, faintly glowing arrows appeared, belonging to Skills that met the conditions and were of a similar nature.
[Pile Skill lv1 (106/250)]
[Meditation lv1 (13/250)]
[Culinary Skill lv1 (47/250)]
Fang Cheng’s gaze swept over them once and quickly made a decision.
The "Spiritual Fire" brought on by Meditation had already shown extraordinary significance, and its subsequent upgrades would surely still have great potential; it definitely could not be casually used for synthesis.
Therefore, the only choice was to use "Pile Skill" and "Culinary Skill" as materials for synthesis.
[Are you sure about this choice? Once made, it will affect the most basic development direction of the exclusive Skill.]
Fang Cheng paused for a moment, then confirmed once again without error.
With a thought, the three Skills finally merged into one.
The panel instantly burst into light, more resplendent and brilliant than before.
[Congratulations, you have had a sudden enlightenment in some extreme environment, integrating various Skills and successfully mastering an exclusive Skill]
[Qigong lv1 (63/250)]
Looking at the displayed level of the Qigong Skill, Fang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and felt even more gratified.
After the synthesis of the exclusive Skill, it seemed that a portion of the experience points of the original Skills were retained, inherited to the new Skill.
Roughly estimated, it should be the result after dividing the total experience points of the Breathing Technique, Pile Skill, and Culinary Skill by three.
Fang Cheng didn’t think much at the time, but looked eagerly at what the enhancement reward for the exclusive skill "Qigong" was.
The first thing that caught his eye was "Poison Resistance".
[The body’s resistance to bad food and poisonous substances increases by 120% on top of the constitution’s base attribute]
Fang Cheng nodded to himself.
This was a skill effect inherited from "Gourmet", and it had been increased by an additional 20% on the original basis.
His gaze continued downward.
[Everlasting Stamina]
[While in stance, the True Qi throughout the body unifies, covering all parts and vital points, increasing overall defensive power by 300%, and the Dantian’s Qi recovery speed increases by 300%]
"Exactly as expected!"
Fang Cheng’s heart surged with excitement, quite satisfied with this new skill effect.
Breathing Technique, meditation, Pile Skill, and Gourmet were all part of the category of Qigong training methods.
Skill effects would naturally relate to these branch skills.
With this kind of defensive property effect, it would raise the muscle and bone strength of his 41 points in constitution by four times the effect, essentially a replica of "Golden Bell Shield", undeniably a type of Hard Qigong.
Perhaps, achieving the legendary "Vajra Body" was not a fantasy.
But he didn’t know.
How different would the future development be if he chose Gourmet, Stance compared to choosing meditation, Stance...
As these thoughts fluttered by, the sound of water being split open reached his ears.
Fang Cheng swept his gaze over the pitch-dark sea area around him.
He spotted a group of Merfolk quietly swimming over, lingering nearby, always reluctant to disperse.
Those pairs of glowing green eyes and scaly bodies emitted a cold, subdued luster in the water, appearing especially eerie.
But Fang Cheng had no hint of fear; instead, he swam towards them proactively.
Seeing this, the Merfolk became agitated, emitting a series of whinnying sounds, as if very excited.
One particularly burly Merfolk braved forward, swimming cautiously toward Fang Cheng.
The facial expression on its fish-like face was unreadable, but its eyes and behavior revealed a peculiar awe.
Fang Cheng’s lips parted slightly, and he attempted to speak using throat sounds difficult for ordinary people to produce.
As he opened his mouth, not a single drop of seawater entered; instead, it was naturally dispersed by a current of air.
His voice transmitted clearly into the ears of that Merfolk.
After a rather successful communication.
Fang Cheng finally learned about some of the night’s events, as well as the situation on the sea surface.
The divers he saw earlier attacking with guns seemed somewhat familiar.
Now his suspicions were confirmed – those people were members of the Noah Organization.
Fang Cheng’s brows furrowed slightly.
If he could choose, he would prefer not to continue conflicts with this powerful organization.
But...
While contemplating, a strange, murmuring chant faintly echoed in his ears.
The sound didn’t come from the surrounding Merfolk, but originated from the darkest depths of his subconscious.
Fang Cheng turned his gaze to the Talent interface.
A talent that was originally glowing blue was now flickering with a mysterious and seductive purple light.
[Water Breathing (Purple Epic)]
[Possess the ability to breathe underwater for long periods of time, greatly increasing your affinity with the marine environment and marine life.]
Apart from the change in the glow of the font, two new entries startlingly appeared below the talent.
[You have earned permanent revered reputation among the Merfolk tribes and can command any Merfolk to serve you at will]
[In the marine environment, all fighting capabilities are doubled]
