Chapter Fifty-Nine: Spatial Refraction LV2

"Right, I still haven't upgraded my talent." Chu Cheng summoned his attribute panel again, his gaze settling on the talent section. Instantly, he understood that he could either add a new talent or upgrade an existing one. Without hesitation, he softly uttered, "Show new talents!"

In the next moment, a luminous screen appeared before him, displaying three new talents.

"Option One: Fury Strike LV1. Each attack inflicts a Fury Mark on the target, causing them to take more damage than the previous strike, lasting for 15 seconds."
"Tip: Damage increases by 20 points with each hit, each successful attack refreshes the mark's duration, only applicable to physical attacks."
"Tip: Fury Mark can be dispelled, priority is domain-level."

"Option Two: Mercy's Liberation LV1. Your attacks have a chance to place a Destruction Mark on enemy units; this attack deals a devastating critical blow."
"Tip: 15% chance to apply Destruction Mark, critical hit deals 300% damage, only applies to physical attacks and related skills."
"Tip: Destruction Mark can be dispelled, priority is domain-level."

"Option Three: Void Mark LV1. Places a Void Mark on the target, reducing their physical defense by 20 points and magic resistance by 20%, preventing invisibility, teleportation, blinking, and self-healing, lasting for 30 seconds."
"Tip: Void Mark can be dispelled, priority is domain-level."

Two familiar old talents and one new one. Judging by the new talent's name, Chu Cheng suspected it was influenced by the previous infusion of Void Source Power. After being branded by those void fiends, he now had a talent reflecting their mark.

"Not quite satisfactory!" Chu Cheng shook his head, his gaze shifting to his current talents. He focused his thoughts and said, "Upgrade Space Refraction!"

In the next instant, the Space Refraction talent shimmered, advancing from LV1 to LV2, its properties changing dramatically.

"Space Refraction LV2: Forms a spatial crystal wall around you, absorbing 100 points of all damage and reflecting it to up to ten enemies within a 100-meter radius. Gain the skill—Space Mark."
"Space Mark: Places a space mark on a target, preventing invisibility. Each physical attack deals an extra 100 points of damage to the marked target; allies deal an extra 50 points."
"Tip: Only one space mark can exist at a time; it disappears if the target moves more than ten kilometers away."
"Tip: Reflected and bonus damage are pure, ignoring physical defense and magic resistance, delivering full damage."
"Tip: Talent can be freely toggled; you can control reflection targets."
"Tip: This talent cannot be dispelled or sealed, priority is domain-level."

"???" Chu Cheng was genuinely surprised. "It actually generated a new skill?" "It’s much like the newly derived Void Mark talent." "The books were right—upgraded talents gain immense power."

The two talents were indeed much stronger, but not fundamentally different. Yet, upgrading a talent transformed its power. Previously, it absorbed only thirty points of damage; now, it absorbed a hundred, and the reflection radius had expanded many times over, making its overall power a true leap.

To upgrade his talent at such a critical moment in the college entrance exam filled Chu Cheng with anticipation for the upcoming dungeon scenarios. "This top spot in the exams is mine."

He closed the panel, smiled lightly, and let his thoughts wander.

"First step: earn some money while continuing to boost reputation."

His purchases of revered reputation items had emptied his purse, leaving him with less than a gold coin—he needed funds. With ample time remaining, he could continue earning reputation to buy more items.

His reputation had reached the level of Revered. Spending reputation didn’t lower his level, so as long as he had enough reputation and gold, he could keep exchanging for Revered items.

"But at this stage, there aren’t many places nearby suitable for large-scale reputation farming."

A month had passed since entering the dungeon. The easy targets around the Golden Wasteland had mostly been eliminated. What remained were either too remote or too tough to tackle.

For example, in the northern and western reaches of the wasteland, several large alien tribes remained. These were larger than the previous centaur tribe, with chiefs who were terrifying bosses at level forty and above. Even with his upgraded talent, Chu Cheng doubted he could handle them alone.

Each large tribe could yield thousands of reputation points, five to ten contribution points, and possibly one authority point. Boss chests from these level-forty monsters would surely contain rare red-grade equipment or items of similar caliber.

"Hmm..." "Perhaps it's worth a try."

If he could take one down, the rewards would be at least ten gold coins.

Chu Cheng was decisive. Without delay, he contacted the supply convoy at the outpost early the next morning, preparing to travel north with them.

He spent ten silver coins for a seat and climbed onto a freight-filled ox cart. As the convoy rolled out of the northern gate of the Cruciform Fortress, he saw another group waiting outside, who joined the convoy. Two of them came directly to Chu Cheng’s cart and sat beside him.

"Sun Yu?"

The newcomers were from Class One—a team of twelve, led by Sun Yu and Pan Yue.

After boarding, Sun Yu sat opposite Chu Cheng, smiling as he asked, "I heard the school invested heavily in this exam, adding many good items to the revered reputation rewards. Chu Cheng, you quietly reached Revered—everyone’s curious. Would you share what treasures are available?"

"You came specifically to find me?" Chu Cheng smiled and replied, "There are indeed many good items: three rare-grade weapons, all for combat, one mage profession token, three advanced profession tokens, some gems, scrolls, mounts, and most valuable—a chance to infuse with Void Source Power, which boosts attributes."

Their expressions froze for a moment. Sun Yu immediately asked, "Is that Void Array still available?"

Chu Cheng shook his head. "Only one slot—I used it."

"I see... well," Sun Yu’s regret was visible, but it quickly faded. He smiled again and said, "Chu Cheng, are you heading back to the northern outpost to continue farming reputation?"

"Yes."

"As far as I know, most of the small and medium tribes on the Golden Wasteland have already been wiped out, leaving only the large ones. I doubt you can handle those alone."

Chu Cheng glanced at him, replying blandly, "And what are you getting at?"

Sun Yu grinned, "Our team is also returning to accomplish something big. Our previous failed assault on Blackstone Fortress made us realize our strength is lacking. Attacking a military stronghold head-on is too difficult. We plan to target something a bit easier."