With the power of all twelve talismans now merged into himself and his strength restored to its peak, Shendu couldn’t care less about Uchiha Madara’s challenge.
As far as he was concerned, there were only two people in the current chat group worthy of his attention.
One was the Holy Guardian Left-Wing Angel Yan, who had the backing of an entire civilization – no one knew just how far she had advanced.
The other was the Child of Nature, Bai Xuan. That time when he had faced almost the entire world’s hostility still left Shendu with a lingering sense of caution.
Anyone else?
Hah.
Just as Shendu was about to boast, he suddenly thought of that dog named Thor.
Hiss… Alright, fine. There were three people in the chat group worthy of his attention.
“Ding, group member Shendu has entered the virtual battle space.”
“Ding, group member Uchiha Dance King has entered the virtual battle space.”
Lighthouse Tycoon: “Feels like Shendu’s been pretty cocky lately.”
Railgun: “Has he? Isn’t that just how demons are supposed to act?”
Lighthouse Tycoon: “…”
Lighthouse Tycoon: “Unexpectedly hard to argue with that.”
After all, Shendu was a demon.
Just an Ordinary Group Owner: “I really want to use that Enhancement function. Has anyone here actually succeeded with it?”
The Enhancement function could strengthen not just abilities, but also bloodlines, talents, physiques, and even one’s level of existence – though no one knew what the actual probability of success was.
But the most important thing was that the cost wasn’t even that high – only a thousand points. If you could pull off a successful enhancement, it would be an absolute steal!
While the Group Mall function allowed you to purchase items from other worlds, every world’s power system had its limits – or rather, it would eventually hit a bottleneck.
Whether it was technology or mysticism, it was all the same.
But the Enhancement function could help you directly break through that bottleneck and reach a whole new level.
A thousand points was definitely not expensive, but since no one had succeeded so far, it made her hesitant to try.
Lighthouse Tycoon: “That Enhancement function definitely has a tiny success rate.”
Lighthouse Tycoon: “I enhanced my Iron Armor three times, and all three attempts failed!”
Lighthouse Tycoon: “Three thousand points! That’s three thousand freaking points!”
Tony Stark said, on the verge of tears.
If he could turn back time, he would absolutely not have spent three thousand points on that feature.
It wasn’t like the other group members, who had plenty of things to exchange. Three thousand points was no small amount for him!
And to have it all go down the drain just like that – who could handle that?
The Worst Evil Spirit: “I haven’t used it yet, but seeing Mr. Stark’s experience, I don’t think I’ll be trying it anytime soon.”
Kurumi Tokisaki didn’t have a small number of points, but when it came to testing out this kind of probability-based feature, she still felt it wasn’t very reliable.
In comparison, she’d rather spend her points on things she could clearly see the value of.
Like the Group Mall.
Be My Son: “This old man tried to enhance his Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and also failed.”
Boil Daigo into Soup: “I tried enhancing my Light Stick, but…”
Compared to what others had spent, he had probably used the most points – a full ten thousand.
Ten enhancements, and every single one failed.
His feelings were equally complicated.
It felt like, until someone actually succeeded, he probably wouldn’t be touching that ability again.
Golden Flash: “I tried once – enhanced the Flying Thunder God Technique. Also ended in failure.”
Himouto Umaru: “I’m so jealous of you guys who actually have points to enhance stuff. I don’t have any.”
Himouto Umaru: Crying emoji.jpg
Of course, even if she had a thousand points, she wouldn’t use them for enhancement – she’d definitely buy some mystical power from the Group Mall instead.
Things like chakra seeds, spiritual energy, martial arts manuals – those cheap kinds of items.
Even these simple mystical things could already strengthen her physical abilities.
Of course, what she wanted most of all was a Pokémon.
Wuwuwu – why did such adorable little creatures exist in this world? But she couldn’t afford one!
Invincible East: “The lower the level of the item, the higher the chance of enhancement success.”
Invincible East: “I failed last time when I tried enhancing the Glint-Glint Fruit, but this time I succeeded.”
Just an Ordinary Group Owner: “Sister Dongfang succeeded?”
Just an Ordinary Group Owner: “What did you enhance? Curious.jpg”
Invincible East: “Ren Woxing’s Star-Absorbing Great Law.”
Lighthouse Tycoon: “Star-Absorbing Great Law?”
Lighthouse Tycoon: “Why didn’t you enhance your own Sunflower Manual?”
Tony Stark was a bit confused. Shouldn’t you enhance your own abilities? Why enhance a martial arts manual you haven’t even practiced?
Invincible East: “I’d also like to know why I didn’t enhance the Sunflower Manual…”
Dongfang Bai looked at the upgraded Star-Absorbing Great Law in her hands, her emotions equally complicated.
What could she say?
That she had a sudden impulse to try it out?
But the fact was, for someone from a martial arts world like hers, earning points was much harder than for most other group members – how could she possibly have the luxury to just casually experiment?
Yet that was exactly what happened.
In that one fleeting moment, she suddenly felt the urge to try enhancing the Star-Absorbing Great Law – and then it succeeded.
And the enhanced version of the technique made her feel a bit regretful.
If only it had been the Sunflower Manual that succeeded instead.
[Star-Absorbing Great Law · Enhancement +1]
[Effect: Can plunder the enemy’s essence, energy, and spirit – the three souls – to nourish oneself, and can also seize all martial arts under heaven to incorporate them into one’s own use.]
[Note: No negative side effects whatsoever.]
What was originally a technique that could only absorb internal energy, and even came with limitations and side effects, had now been strengthened by more than just twofold.
The plundering of essence, energy, and spirit to nourish oneself didn’t just include internal energy – it also covered mental power and physical constitution. Even in Daoist cultivation, essence, energy, and spirit were considered extremely important aspects, and powerful individuals could even use their formidable mental strength to achieve out-of-body experiences.
As for seizing all martial arts under heaven for one’s own use – that went without saying. While plundering the opponent’s essence, energy, and spirit, you also absorbed all of their martial arts mastery. No matter what kind of martial arts the opponent practiced, they would all be perfectly converted into your own abilities.
For example, if she were to kill Feng Qingyang of Mount Hua right now, several decades’ worth of sword cultivation mastery would all become hers.
Whether it was the Nine Swords of Dugu or Mount Hua Sword Techniques, she would be able to use all of them, and with the exact same effect as Feng Qingyang himself.
Given enough time, she could walk the path of martial arts to a level unprecedented in history.
She had originally worried that such a terrifying ability might have some fatal flaw or negative impact on herself – but the chat group’s final note perfectly resolved all her concerns.
No negative side effects whatsoever.
There was nothing more reassuring than that statement.
But precisely because of that, she could feel even more keenly just how terrifying the enhanced Star-Absorbing Great Law truly was.
An unenhanced Star-Absorbing Great Law was already enough to attract the covetous eyes of countless martial artists in the jianghu. If this enhanced version were to be revealed, it would probably be impossible for anyone in the entire world to resist its temptation.
