Online Game: Starting with an SSS-Level Plundering Talent - Chapter 212

Chapter 202: Mastering Soul Skills, Returning to the Death Land

“All cultivation techniques?” John sighed in frustration, but at least he only cultivated three techniques.

The Beast Clan’s Overwhelming Battle Energy, the Divine Soul Art given to him by the Undead Lord, and the Divine Path Technique from the gods.

Bringing these three techniques to level 10,000 would require over 27 million skill points.

However, since he was currently only at the seventh tier, still far from the threshold of lower-tier gods, he could take his time to gradually increase his skill levels.

“Take me to the treasury,” John said, following Elsa as they made their way to the Giant Spirit City’s vault.

The treasury was well hidden and not very large. Inside, it was filled entirely with Skill Stones and nothing else.

He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

But the sheer number of Skill Stones here was still unimaginably valuable.

“These Skill Stones should be enough to raise my Soul Technique to level 5,000 or higher,” John murmured to himself, deciding to refine the Skill Stones and continue advancing his Soul Technique.

His battle against the Giant Spirit God had made him realize the critical importance of the Soul Technique.

Even for gods, without the support of soul power, death meant total annihilation.

“Elsa, stand guard outside. I’m going to refine these Skill Stones,” he instructed her.

“Understood.” She glanced at the towering pile of Skill Stones, then promptly stepped outside to stand watch at the entrance of the vault.

She had slaughtered all the Dark Humans in Giant Spirit City, so no one would disturb them.

John immediately began refining all the Skill Stones. Including the skill points he had accumulated over time, he gained a total of 3.378 million skill points.

He chose to continue leveling up his Soul Technique.

[You have consumed 1,000 skill points. Soul Technique has reached level 2,153. Soul Technique +1.]

…

The notification messages flashed rapidly as John’s skill points depleted at an alarming rate.

He couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain watching the points disappear.

[You have consumed 1,000 skill points. Soul Technique has reached level 5,000. Soul Technique +1.]

[You have mastered new soul skills: Intimidation and Memory Extraction.]

[Intimidation: A soul-based support skill. Immobilizes enemies and bypasses soul defense skills. Effective only against targets with a lower Soul Technique level than yours. Causes no backlash damage. Consumes 100 soul power points per second. No cooldown.]

[Memory Extraction: A soul-based support skill. A powerful soul force invades the target’s mind to search for soul memories. May cause irreversible damage to the target’s soul. Effective only against targets with a lower Soul Technique level than yours. Consumes 200 soul power points. No cooldown.]

The notification messages continued flashing, and John was thrilled.

“I actually mastered two soul skills!” he exclaimed, looking over the descriptions of the newly acquired abilities.

Although they were just support skills, they would be incredibly useful to him.

With Intimidation, he could immobilize his target—when combined with his Demon Slayer Slash, it would be an invincible combination.

As long as his Soul Technique level was higher than his opponent’s, he was confident he could easily kill even a god.

And Memory Extraction, which could search an opponent’s soul for memories, was undoubtedly a powerful support skill as well.

Of course, both skills were only effective against targets whose Soul Technique was lower than his.

“Let’s keep going!” John glanced at his remaining skill points—there were still over 580,000 left. He decided to continue leveling up his Soul Technique.

Each level of Overwhelming Battle Energy only increased his constitution by 1 point and his strength by 2 points—attributes he could easily plunder by killing a few enemies.

His Overwhelming Battle Energy had already reached level 1,000, and every additional level cost the same amount of skill points as his Soul Technique, without the guarantee of gaining any new skills.

There was no point in wasting skill points on it.

On the other hand, his Soul Technique significantly enhanced his survivability, making it the most worthwhile investment.

[You have consumed 1,000 skill points. Soul Technique has reached level 5,001. Soul Technique +1.]

…

[You have consumed 1,000 skill points. Soul Technique has reached level 5,588. Soul Technique +1.]

After using up all his skill points, his Soul Technique reached level 5,588, though he didn’t gain any new skills.

John wasn’t greedy—reaching level 5,000 and acquiring two soul skills was already more than enough.

With the boost from the Jade Heart Lotus, his Soul Technique power now exceeded 15,000 points, making it nearly impossible for ordinary demigod-level beings to pose any threat to him.

“There are still two Basic Talent Upgrade Stones.” John took out the two stones, which were also dropped after slaying the Giant Spirit God.

A Basic Talent Upgrade Stone could elevate an A-grade or lower talent by one level.

He possessed over a dozen talents, but only two of them were eligible for an upgrade.

One was his A-grade Physical Damage Talent, and the other was his C-grade Magical Damage Talent.

After plundering the Power of the Giant Spirit, his strength attribute had been amplified by 100%, reaching an astounding 450,000 points—an enormous boost in power.

Upgrading the Physical Damage Talent would yield the greatest benefit.

[You have used a Basic Talent Upgrade Stone. Physical Damage Talent has been upgraded to S-grade.]

[Physical Damage Talent: S-grade, increases base physical damage by 70%.]

Upgrading his Physical Damage Talent to S-grade increased his base damage multiplier by 10%, which was a significant boost for him.

Unfortunately, talents that reached S-grade required a higher-tier Talent Stone for further upgrades.

He took out the second Talent Upgrade Stone and decided to elevate his Magical Damage Talent.

[You have used a Basic Talent Upgrade Stone. Magical Damage Talent has been upgraded to B-grade.]

[Magical Damage Talent: B-grade, increases base magical damage by 50%.]

The talent upgrade increased his magic damage multiplier by another 10%.

This trip to Giant Spirit City had been extremely fruitful: two sets of supreme treasures and over three million skill points.

The most important gain was his increased strength. With the Plunder Power of the Giant Spirit and the mastery of two new soul skills, his power had at least doubled compared to before.

After confirming that nothing was left behind, he finally stepped out of the vault.

Elsa was still standing guard outside. Seeing him emerge, she hurried over. “Master… Oh! Your soul injuries have already healed so quickly?”

Her expression was filled with surprise. Thanks to the Soul Contract and their life-sharing bond, she could clearly sense John’s soul power.

Not only had his injuries healed, but his Soul Technique had also improved significantly.

“I have a soul-related cultivation technique. As I increased its level, my injuries naturally healed,” John explained calmly.

“I see,” Elsa responded with delight.

“Let’s head back to the Saint Martial Sect,” John said. Instead of entering the Death Land directly, he decided to return to the Saint Martial Sect first.

The two flew at full speed and arrived back at the Saint Martial Sect within half a day.

Everything was as tranquil as ever—nothing unusual had happened.

It had taken him two days to slay the Giant Spirit God and return. The secret treasure would open the day after tomorrow, so he still had time.

With that thought, he took Elsa with him and entered the Death Land.

“Old man!” Tracy greeted him happily as she rushed over, pouting slightly. “You promised to help me level up, but I haven’t seen you for the past two days!”

“I had something to take care of. Isn’t Jean here to keep you company?” He glanced at Jean, who stood quietly to the side.

“But I want to increase my strength!” Tracy complained. Watching the other women around John growing stronger made her anxious, but John wouldn’t allow her to leave the Death Land for fear of the dangers outside.

“Alright, alright. Once I’m done with everything, I’ll take you to level up.” John sighed helplessly. Tracy had already reached the seventh tier and refined a god-tier treasure, making her nearly invincible compared to ordinary players.

However, now that the Divine Path had opened and numerous ninth-tier powerhouses had descended upon the Skyline Continent, Tracy wasn’t absolutely safe. At the very least, she needed to completely integrate her god-tier treasure before she could face ninth-tier opponents with some level of self-preservation.

“Why is it so quiet here? Where’s everyone else?” John asked curiously, noticing that no one else was around.

“They’re all out leveling up.” Tracy pouted. For the past few days, only Jean had been with her—everyone else had been busy.

“Gather them all. I have something I need to discuss with them,” John instructed.

“Okay.” She nodded and quickly contacted Sini through private chat.

Before long, the women and their beasts returned to the Death Land.

With the Divine Path now open and the Hidden Secret Area accessible, anyone who knew the coordinates could enter freely.

“Master, is there a reason you called us here so urgently?” Behemoth asked, glancing curiously at John.

After signing the Soul Contract, Behemoth’s attitude had become much more respectful.

John nodded and took out two sets of supreme treasures, placing them in front of Sara. “Choose one that suits you,” he said calmly.

“Thank you, my husband,” she replied, her face lighting up with joy.

Over the past few days, both Bonnie and Behemoth had refined their treasures and ascended to the ninth tier, their strength increasing tremendously. As a result, Sara had become the weakest among the ninth-tier powerhouses.

Without hesitation, she chose the demon race treasure.

Having spent nearly a thousand years in the Abyss, she hadn’t yet comprehended the power of Dark Laws, but her Dark Element Affinity had already reached over 70 points, making the demon race treasure the perfect fit for her.

Boom!

Suddenly, a loud roar erupted from the Dark Sea, sending waves splashing in all directions. Kamal emerged, her eyes wide with shock as she sensed the aura of the demon race treasure.

“A demon race treasure… and a god-tier treasure?” she muttered incredulously, swallowing hard. She looked at John with suspicion. “Kid, did you really kill the Giant Spirit God?”

John nodded nonchalantly, his expression calm. “Is there a problem with that?”

Kamal furrowed her brows, clearly doubtful.

She knew all too well how powerful the Giant Spirit God was—a peak demigod-level being. Even for her, killing the Giant Spirit God would have required some serious effort.

Could it be that this angel has some kind of secret?

Although still puzzled, she decided not to dwell on it any further. Eyeing the demon race treasure in Sara’s hands, she said, “Kid, give me that treasure, and I’ll owe you a favor. How about it?”

“No way!” John refused without hesitation. A favor from a lower-tier god meant nothing to him at this point.

Kamal’s brows furrowed deeply, her gaze turning hostile as she stared at him coldly. “Kid, if I decided to take it by force, none of you could stop me.”

Sini immediately stepped forward, positioning herself in front of Sara, her expression filled with displeasure. “You can try.”

“Hmph!” Kamal snorted coldly, reluctantly giving up. However, her resentment toward John deepened.

Sini’s attitude towards them had grown colder, even hostile, and Kamal was certain it was due to the influence of this human.

The secret treasure will be the place where this guy meets his end!

“Kid, the secret treasure opens tomorrow. Be prepared.” She issued the warning coldly before diving back into the Dark Sea.

“Secret treasure?” Behemoth’s eyes flashed with curiosity. He looked at John and asked, “Master, is it the same secret treasure that can help one merge with a god-tier treasure?”

“Oh? You know about it?” John raised an eyebrow, surprised.

Behemoth nodded, his expression filled with envy as he asked eagerly, “Master, does this mean you have the ability to enter the secret treasure land?”