Online Game: Starting with an SSS-Level Plundering Talent - Chapter 243

Chapter 243: Chapter 243: Enhancing the Soul, The Earth Passage
Buzz!

The sword intent reverberated as the Immortal Sword shot out from John’s body, unleashing a terrifying aura. Endless sword beams filled the air.

The ultimate skill, Return of Ten Thousand Swords, was activated, mercilessly slaughtering the surrounding Hunters, including the Hunter Queen.

Splurt!

Blood splattered everywhere.

The Hunter Queen let out a series of agonizing wails as countless sword beams tore through her, causing her life force to rapidly plummet.

Her screams enraged the nearby Hunters even more, driving them into a suicidal frenzy as they swarmed toward John in a relentless assault.

But John remained calm, his Sword of Divinity and Demons swung effortlessly as immense waves of light and dark power of laws surged around him, raining down a flurry of devastating skills.

His Beast Clan avatar was equally busy, flashing in and out of sight while unleashing Assassin skills. With a 15% true damage boost, it was more than capable of one-shotting seventh-tier Hunters.

Even when facing eighth- and ninth-tier Hunters, the Beast Clan avatar held its ground without fear.

Against demigod-level enemies, however, the avatar’s attacks fell short.

But John hadn’t expected the avatar to deal significant damage anyway. He was more than enough to handle the situation on his own.

The bodies of fallen Hunters rained down like a storm, quickly piling up in the canyon.

Meanwhile, the life force of the Hunter Queen was plummeting rapidly.

[You have killed the Hunter Queen. You gained 100 billion experience points.]

[Your level has increased to 2301…]

[Plunder talent activated. Soul Technique +1000, Shadow Power +1000, Skill Points +1000.]

[Hunter’s Hatred Mark deepened. You will face endless Hunter pursuit.]

…

The notifications flashed as the Hunter Queen, unable to withstand the onslaught, finally succumbed. Her massive belly exploded, scattering loot all over the ground.

John’s Hunter’s Hatred Mark intensified, and the furious roars of countless Hunters echoed around him as they charged from every direction.

There was no time to inspect the loot from the Hunter Queen. He quickly gathered everything

Then shielded his Beast Clan avatar, fighting their way out of the canyon as they pressed on to slaughter the next wave of Hunters.

…

For over half a month, John roamed the Ancient Battlefield Ruins, taking down all four remaining Hunter Queens. Through his relentless Plunder ability, he amassed a vast array of attributes, and his level soared to 4100.

Now, he was just 900 levels away from his ninth career advancement at level 5000.

“First, I’ll refine the Soul Essence and copy the talents,” John muttered to himself as he glanced at the spoils of his recent battles.

From the four Hunter Queens he had slain, he had acquired four more Soul Essences and eight Talent Copy Stone.

During this period of relentless slaughter, his Beast Clan avatar had also plundered a massive amount of attributes, significantly boosting its strength. Now, it could just barely hold its own against demigod-level Hunters.

But for John, this was no longer enough.

With a single thought, John summoned back his Beast Clan avatar, instantly boosting his four core attributes by over five hundred thousand points.

The attributes accumulated by the Beast Clan avatar were now fully integrated into his main body, further strengthening him.

Wasting no time, he launched into Sword Flight, slashing through the endless waves of charging Hunters as he headed toward the sealed core of the Ancient Battlefield Ruins. His objective was to absorb the Undying Flame and refine the Soul Essence he had collected.

With all five Hunters’ Mother Beasts slain, the Hunters’ ability to resurrect had ceased. Every Hunter he killed would not return.

Yet, despite this, the battlefield still swarmed with nearly a billion Hunters. It was a task too immense to complete quickly.

John estimated that if he managed to exterminate all of them, everyone in his group could likely ascend to demigod strength.

As he pressed forward, ruthlessly cutting through the endless horde, he soon arrived at the explosion zone of the Undying Flame.

Outside, countless Hunters roared and howled in fury, but none dared to enter the perilous flame zone. Their instincts warned them of the immense danger.

John ignored their snarls. Instead, he calmly took out the four Soul Essences he had obtained and began absorbing the Undying Flame, focusing on refining the essences.

…

Void Area

The strongest of all races had gathered here, upper-tier gods, brimming with unimaginable power.

“Heidern, are you really asking us to help you open a passage to Earth?” Beelzebub from the demon race sneered, glaring coldly at Heidern.

“Yes,” Heidern nodded, his tone measured. “You should all know by now that my original plan failed. The entire Azure Family was wiped out, and the Immortals’ Inheritance has been lost. If we want to open the passage to Earth, we need to work together.”

“Hmph, why should I help you?” Cand-Dragon shot him a cold glance, his voice laced with disdain.

At this moment, a trace of blood could be seen at the corner of his mouth, and his aura was unstable.

Moments ago, Cand-Dragon had fought Heidern—and lost miserably.

Only then did he realize that Heidern had been injured during their previous encounter, which had been his one chance to defeat him.

But that opportunity had slipped through his fingers.

Heidern wore a calm smile as he continued, “This isn’t about helping me. It’s about helping ourselves. Let me remind you, Shadow Clan may descend upon us. The only way to escape their control is for us to unite and open the Earth passage. Once the ultimate treasure of Skyline Continent emerges and a new Overseer arises, we’ll finally have a chance to be free of their grip.”

“Shadow Clan is making a move?” one of the human powerhouses from Skyline Continent gasped, causing the surrounding upper-tier gods to shift uneasily.

The mere mention of Shadow Clan struck fear deep into their bones.

“I’m in,” Beelzebub declared, breaking the tense silence.

He feared Shadow Clan as much as anyone, but more than that, the prospect of the Skyline Continent’s treasure was too enticing to resist.

Since the gods already had an Overseer, Beelzebub knew his only true rival was Cand-Dragon. If he could get his hands on the treasure, he had a real chance of becoming the next Overseer.

One by one, representatives from the various races voiced their agreement, leaving only the Beast Clan undecided.

“Cand-Dragon, what about you?” Heidern asked, turning to face Cand-Dragon.

Heidern valued Cand-Dragon’s strength highly and wanted to bring him under his command.

Cand-Dragon frowned, deep in thought, before nodding in agreement.

He understood that even without his help, the others could still break the seal left by The Immortals and open the passage to Earth. It would just take them a little more time.

“Good. Let’s begin immediately,” Heidern said with a slight smile, preparing to act.

Suddenly, his expression darkened, his brow furrowing as he said, “I have something to take care of.”

Without another word, Heidern vanished, reappearing moments later in a dimly lit chamber.

The stone platform before him activated, casting a flickering shadow of a figure.

“Master!” Heidern swallowed hard, immediately dropping to his knees in a deep bow.

The shadowy figure’s gaze was cold and piercing as it looked at Heidern. “Are you hiding something from me?” it asked icily.

Heidern’s heart skipped a beat. He swallowed again, quickly replying, “No, master! Why would I? Has something gone wrong?”

He knew that while his plan to unite the races and open the passage to Earth had its own hidden agenda, it was not something that should anger the figure. He could explain everything.

“Hmph,” the shadow let out a sharp scoff. “I sent five Hunter Queens to descend into the Ancient Battlefield Ruins, and all of them have been slain. Are The Immortals still alive?”

“What?” Heidern exclaimed in shock. He had assumed that the Hunters he had encountered were remnants from the original batch. But the fact that five new Hunter Queens had descended—and been killed—stunned him.

Even more unbelievable was the thought that these powerful Hunter Queens had all been wiped out.

Who else could possess such power besides The Immortals?

John’s name flickered in Heidern’s mind, but he quickly dismissed the thought. John’s strength was far too weak—he couldn’t even handle regular Hunters, let alone kill Hunter Queens. Still, a sense of doubt lingered.

After a moment of hesitation, Heidern spoke up. “Master, as far as I know, only a single human has received The Immortals’ inheritance. But that individual is only at the seventh tier of power—there’s no way he could kill a Hunter Queen. I’ve been searching for him, but I haven’t been able to locate his whereabouts.”

The shadowy figure narrowed its eyes, remaining silent for a long time before speaking again, its voice cold. “Open the passage to Earth as quickly as possible. I will descend myself to investigate these matters.”

“Yes, master, I’ve already made the preparations,” Heidern quickly replied, bowing his head in submission.

The shadow cast one final, chilling glance at him before disappearing.

Heidern exhaled in relief, collapsing onto the floor, his brow still furrowed in thought.

His goal was indeed to open the passage—but not for Shadow Clan. Once the passage to Earth was open, he planned to seal off the Ancient Battlefield Ruins with the help of the other races.

By then, even if Shadow Clan tried to wreak havoc in the ruins, he would already have claimed the Skyline Continent’s treasure, gaining the strength to oppose them. At the very least, he would be able to free himself from their control.

But one thing still puzzled him: who had killed the Hunter Queens?

Could there really be a surviving Immortal stronghold in Skyline Continent?

“It couldn’t be that Godslayer has made his way to the Ancient Battlefield Ruins, could it?” Heidern muttered to himself, before shaking his head, dismissing the absurd notion.

With a slight movement of thought, he left the secret chamber and reappeared in the Void Area. Together with the assembled powerful figures, they began working in unison to refine the seal leading to Earth.

…

In the Ancient Battlefield Ruins, seven days had passed unnoticed as John finally finished absorbing and refining the four Soul Essences.

The Undying Flame had also significantly diminished, as much of it had been absorbed and refined by the Crimson Karma Lotus.

At this point, his main body’s Soul Technique had reached over 57,000 points, greatly enhancing the potency of his soul-based attacks.

John then examined the other items dropped by the four Hunter Queens—eight Talent Copy Stones, over 50,000 sets of divine artifacts, and more than 20 million skill stones.

There were also various Spirit Stones, bloodline awakening stones, and other valuable items.

Summoning his Beast Clan doppelganger, John handed it 9 million skill stones to refine, boosting its Overwhelming Battle Energy technique.

He, too, began refining the remaining skill stones, focusing on increasing his Divine Path Technique.

[You have consumed 1,000 skill points. Divine Path Technique has been increased to level 1,032. Divinity stat +1.]

…

[You have consumed 1,000 skill points. Divine Path Technique has been increased to level 9,999. Divinity stat +1.]

[The Divine Path Technique has reached its current level cap and cannot be upgraded further.]

The system notifications flashed.

Just as he had suspected, Divine Path Technique maxed out at level 9,999 and could not be advanced any further.

It seemed clear that only after reaching level 5,000 and achieving ninth-tier strength could he attempt to upgrade again.

Turning to his Beast Clan doppelganger, John noticed the same outcome.

The Beast Clan doppelganger shook its head with a resigned expression. “Even after upgrading Overwhelming Battle Energy to level 9,999, I can’t push it any further,” it said.

“Let’s proceed with duplicating talents then,” John decided. Strengthening the other two doppelgangers by copying more of his talents would greatly enhance his overall power.

Their growth would directly benefit him.

Now, with over 57,000 Soul Technique points, he no longer feared the damage caused by talent duplication.

John retrieved a Talent Copy Stone and used it to copy the Undying and Immortal talent for his Beast Clan doppelganger.

He then summoned the gods and Skyline Continent human avatars.

John proceeded to transfer the Plunder, Wrath of the Gods, and Undying and Immortal talents, copying them onto the two avatars respectively.