Chapter 315: Iridescent-Level Skill: Shadow Magic
Of course, during these past few days, Sterl had not been idle.
The experience gained from farming hell players and demons was incredibly rich, and he spent most of his free time in seclusion, refining his skills.
At this point, Sterl had reached level 124!
He had just advanced to third class not long ago and was already nearly halfway to the legendary stage. It's worth noting that due to Sterl's deep foundation, he could immediately advance as soon as he reached the required level!
In the legendary stage, the multiple bonuses provided would cause Sterl's strength to soar dramatically!
Moreover, he had casually opened all the loot dropped by hell players and various demons.
First, there were some ordinary drops, which included an abundance of equipment, skill books, and materials.
However, this time, Sterl had really "hit the jackpot," obtaining a total of seven pieces of legendary equipment and 23 pieces of legendary demigod equipment!
That's right—there was even more demigod-level equipment.
The drop rate from hell players was quite impressive, and those who participated in the [Counter-Exploration] activities included not just players from this layer of hell, but also demigods from other layers of hell.
These individuals often had some high-quality gear and resources saved up.
With the backlash from his Fortune, Sterl found himself in a fortunate state; even without using a Fate Token, he had acquired plenty of good items.
Especially the legendary demigod equipment—there were reportedly more than enough of those.
However, after a moment of excitement, Sterl gradually calmed down. "To advance to demigod, I need to reach level 250."
"At my current speed, it will take at least a few months, if not a year or two. By then, I might have even obtained epic-level equipment."
"These items are somewhat lackluster."
"Maybe I should sell off some of them first…"
He pondered.
Aside from the equipment, he had over 80 gold-quality skill books, many of which had already reached [Transcendence] quality beyond the gold skills Sterl currently possessed.
Unfortunately, he was gradually reaching a point where he no longer needed these skills, so he planned to sell them as well.
Ultimately, the various materials dropped allowed Sterl's Blood Sacrifice Array to be almost fully stocked; he only needed to farm some core resources in Heavenly Curtain Canyon and supplement them through purchasing. This way, he would be able to freely use the array in the future.
In addition to these ordinary drops, Sterl also had some special drops in his possession.
One of them was The Sacred Loot Sphere.
Sterl hesitated for a moment and decided not to use the Fate Token, as this was essentially a reward for rescuing a group of demigod players. How much higher could the rewards possibly be?
Yet, he still felt lucky, as he opened the sphere in The Blood Red Fortress and received double rewards.
He obtained two [Iridescent-Level Crystals], which provided a permanent enhancement to the strength of one Law Power, directing its development toward divine authority.
This was an enhancement independent of the Law Power realm, improving the quality of the Law itself.
Sterl hesitated for a moment. The Blade Law, being a rare Law, would definitely not be a loss if he invested the Iridescent-Level Crystal into it.
However, he also wanted to hold onto this item for a while longer. Who knew if he might acquire an even more powerful Law in the future, perhaps one that synergized with his profession, like the Stellar Law? The benefits from enhancing such a Law would be even greater.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Demon, favored by the will of the world, exploded with rewards when Sterl used a Fate Token!
He obtained a special skill:
[Shadow Magic (Incomplete Iridescent-Level)]
[Description: Originally meant to be fully categorized under hellish powers, this skill was catalyzed into existence prematurely due to some presence in the main world. This skill may never achieve its complete form.]
[Effect: When attacking, you can consume additional energy to create a shadow, which can unleash any skill you possess and enhance it (shifting to hell/main world attack mode, dealing an additional 20% damage to hostile factions). The shadow can fight alongside you, sharing the same beneficial effects. When stacking debuffs, both you and the shadow can accumulate them repeatedly.]
[Learning Requirement: Mastery of Blood Sacrifice Swallowing God Array / ???]
Upon seeing this skill, Sterl felt that using the Fate Token was definitely worth it.
This move essentially granted Sterl unlimited double attacks. The shadow could execute different techniques alongside him, allowing Sterl to defend while the "other person" attacked.
Furthermore, with the shadow, Sterl could even unleash certain skills that normally required two people to perform alone.
Compared to Bionic Tear, the shadow had no restrictions on realms. Sterl didn't need to invest anything extra and could ensure that this shadow would maintain all his strength.
Not to mention, this skill seemed to have the potential for enhancement…
Just obtaining this skill made all of Sterl's recent efforts worthwhile.
As for the learning requirements of [Shadow Magic], Sterl couldn't help but chuckle. He hadn't expected that this special skill was seemingly something he had created himself.
After a moment of reflection, he felt fortunate.
A Supreme-level demon was not terrifying; what was frightening was that it also possessed an Iridescent-Level skill. If Sterl hadn't catalyzed it early on, causing the demon favored by the will of the world to be unable to meet the learning requirements for Shadow Magic, he might have had to ascend to godhood to deal with a Supreme demon wielding Iridescent-Level power.
Now, however, he had acquired a powerful skill without shedding any blood.
Additionally, he had gathered various miscellaneous materials and equipment that were worth a significant amount of money.
Sterl couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement, wishing he could take on another mission to hunt such demons favored by the will of the world. Unfortunately, the purple-skinned brute from earlier likely had connections with some high-ranking members of the Hall of Valor, which was how he managed to secure that mission.
In reality, if it hadn't been for the sudden appearance of a divine-level demon, the first team that Sterl joined would have been capable of completing the mission and making a significant profit.
However, after a series of unexpected events, Sterl emerged as the big winner.
The Supreme Demon, which was suspected to be a pioneer of divine-level demons, had relatively disappointing drops.
Its voluntary sacrifice into the River of Blood resulted in only a few pieces of ordinary demigod-level equipment…
Such equipment couldn't even be sold, as very few people who had advanced to demigod status would stoop to using subpar gear. However, these items often contained some Law Power, and disassembling them for materials could still yield a good profit.
Aside from claiming the loot, Sterl had also been continuously allocating points during this time.
Over the course of a week, Sterl had allocated points seven times.
First up was—Shattered Void. After its final sublimation, the original icon, which was platinum in color, now shimmered with a clear platinum hue interwoven with a hint of rainbow.
The information for the other skills remained unchanged, but when Sterl used Bionic Tear to stealthily eliminate enemies, he found that the power of Shattered Void had increased by approximately 40%!
It's important to note that this skill already stood at the pinnacle of Platinum Skills, and after multiple allocations, this final 40% output had nearly tripled its effectiveness!
Sterl felt that the strength of Shattered Void could no longer be measured by the standards of a Platinum Skill.
Next, he allocated points to the new talisman, [Profane], but the final result was not very good—it only removed negative effects.
Following that, he allocated points to the incomplete Iridescent-Level skill.
What disappointed Sterl was that this wave of enhancements didn't yield strong results. He spent three days allocating points: two days on regular allocations and one forced allocation.
It seemed that he had only managed to reduce the incompleteness of [Shadow Magic] to some extent, adding a new effect.
[Dual Resonance: Hitting an enemy with the shadow accumulates special energy. Once the energy is fully charged, you can unleash a Dual Resonance, allowing the shadow and the main body to simultaneously release the same skill for a resonance enhancement.]
Sterl secretly tested the effect on the battlefield and found that it could enhance the skill by about double, including the influence range of the skill's damage and additional effects.
However, after three rounds of point allocation, [Shadow Magic] still indicated that it could continue to receive points, but Sterl would need to wait for his cheat to evolve once more. At that time, he could leap forward and restore it to a complete Iridescent-Level skill.
In the final two rounds of point allocation, Sterl once again converted some Fate Tokens to replenish his stock.
…
At this moment, as Sterl was preparing to report to the sixth team, he noticed that his blood-colored document was only seven copies short of unlocking the Swallowing Heaven account.
But the Supreme responsible for assigning teams suddenly raised an eyebrow.
"Leo?"
"I remember you've had quite the luck; you're already in the sixth team, and you've survived every time."
Sterl maintained a calm expression. Among the lucky ones in the Blood Red Fortress, there were at least a dozen like him, so it was nothing special.
"It's just good luck. I just want to quickly gather enough contribution points and leave; it's too dangerous here."
"Would you be willing to help me with something?" The Supreme said kindly.
A sense of caution immediately rose in Sterl's heart, but he still shyly nodded, "Please, my lord, go ahead."
He was overthinking it.
What the Supreme needed help with was quite simple. He took out an exquisitely crafted box, engraved with mysterious symbols all around. Inside the box, three transparent orbs were glowing and shifting.
"All you need to do is pull this ring," the Supreme pointed to a button on the left side of the box.
"What is this…?" Sterl asked, somewhat puzzled.
The Supreme casually explained, "The people from the Golden Kingdom and the Ashen factions are basically all gathered. Our three forces need to divide the battlefield we control."
"I'm borrowing your luck, hoping that the battlefield we draw has plenty of enemies."
"This way, our overall merit will have a chance to surpass these two factions."
"Oh, I see."
Sterl cautiously used Star Insight to investigate the box, confirming that there were no issues before accepting it and pulling the ring.
Recently, Sterl had indeed seen players from the Ashen and Golden Kingdom factions. These players were quite strong, but for some reason, their relations with the Hall of Valor were not very good. He often witnessed players from the Hall of Valor arguing and even publicly dueling with players from those two factions.
Ding, ding, ding…
As Sterl performed the action, the three glowing orbs inside the box began to spin rapidly. Eventually, they came to a stop on a semi-transparent map…