After finishing the styling, he continued to examine the attributes on his weapon.
Attribute 7: Upon equipping, all skill attack ranges are extended by 1.5 meters.
He had already noticed this.
Originally, in his Leopard and Bear forms, he was a melee attacker with a maximum attack range of 1 meter.
Now, he could attack from medium to long range, reaching enemies 2.5 meters away.
This gave him more maneuverability.
As the saying goes, an inch longer, an inch stronger.
He could use his high-speed movement in Leopard form to cast skills from 2.5 meters away.
Melee kiting was incredibly comfortable!
Even when fighting ranged monsters, he could attack them first.
He could also avoid getting too close during the opening phase and prevent his stealth from being discovered.
Next, he looked at: Dynamic Attribute 1.
Upon equipping, gain the skill "All Spirits Embodiment." When used, within 3 seconds, summon 16 Druidic spirits to possess him. They will cast spells and skills separately. Cooldown: 10 minutes.
Chu Tian slapped his head fiercely. A skill with a 10-minute cooldown, he realized he had never used it before.
It felt strange to have this extra skill.
The following five skills all had a 30-day cooldown. He would avoid using them if possible.
They were valuable tools for killing people, robbing goods, and escaping death in critical moments.
He had offended too many people; it was likely that every guild within the Black Earth City territory wanted him dead.
In the Northern War Zone, Huang Xueyi was heavily investing in guilds, and they would eventually clash.
In such a situation, it was crucial to have some trump cards!
The current level 59 commander-class monster, [Death Essence], was impossible to defeat with melee attacks.
The level difference was too great; all melee attacks would likely result in misses.
[Ding... Global Announcement: 'I Am Little Horn', holder of [Talent Scroll: Lethal (God-Tier)], current coordinates: 19875.56897.25985. Holding time: 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds. Upon holding for twelve hours, ownership of the scroll will be obtained.]
He briefly scanned the sudden system notification.
He hadn't paid much attention initially because there had been too many notifications about the competition for God-Tier talents in the past two days.
However, upon seeing the name 'I Am Little Horn' this time, he knew.
This competition was about to end. In his previous life, it was this person who had obtained the God-Tier Lethal talent.
The timeline in the Northern War Zone had been altered by him, but other war zones remained unaffected.
If nothing went wrong, 'I Am Little Horn', this God-Tier figure, was about to be born.
He had met this person twice in his previous life, and he was quite a decent individual.
He refocused his attention on the [Death Essence] before him.
Transforming into an owl, he applied two debuffs to it, then alternated casting Sunbeam and Moonbeam.
-495!
-589!
The level difference was too significant; the Bird of Prey form did not have the bonus that ignored enemy defense.
Even with Attribute 4 on the artifact: "Upon equipping, after casting Sun or Moon spells in Owlkin form, the next cast of a different elemental spell will increase damage by 50%."
However, each of his spells still dealt only three-digit damage.
Upon entering combat, he discovered that Death Essence was a ranged monster.
Moreover, its ranged skill was only a basic attack, throwing a soul with each strike.
Floating and drifting, its projectile speed was extremely slow.
Its actual skill attacks were all area-of-effect skills released from its own body as the center.
The visual effects looked extremely impressive, with countless soul whirlwinds swirling around it, emitting howling sounds.
Endless liquid also gushed from its green body, splashing outwards.
However, the range was too small, posing no threat to Chu Tian.
He was fortunate; if he had engaged this monster in melee combat, it would have been a terrible experience.
Those 360-degree, no-dead-angle whirlwinds surrounding it looked like they dealt significant damage.
Chu Tian doubted if his Bear form could withstand even one touch of the hurricane.
Now, all he had to do was dodge the soul orbs it threw.
Seeing no immediate danger, Chu Tian used the artifact's skill, [All Spirits Embodiment], for the first time.
The 3-second channeling cast unleashed sixteen skills instantly.
Sunbeam, Moonbeam, Starfall, Moonfall, and other skills poured out.
Chu Tian felt as if he had transformed into a Gatling gun spitting blue fire.
Madly spewing fiery projectiles.
-5942!
-7895!
-3564!
-2564!
-15897!
Starfall, a skill that served as the Bird of Prey's ultimate, he had not yet learned.
Even advanced skills like Moonfall had appeared.
Although it only appeared once, the damage exceeding fifteen thousand made Chu Tian ecstatic.
The sixteen skills, directly hitting [Death Essence], reduced its health by 20%.
Initially, his damage was not that high, but during [All Spirits Embodiment], the skills hit for at least over two thousand.
This skill was incredibly satisfying, a 3-second, 16-hit burst.
It even seemed to ignore the level suppression!
Finally, after unleashing his third [All Spirits Embodiment], Death Essence silently dissipated.
No corpse remained, and the dropped items were left on the ground.
[Ding... Kill: Death Essence. Cross-level monster kill experience bonus 4500%. Gained experience 1,085,600 (Base experience + 11,800, Cross-level kill reward + 531,000 experience, God-Tier Talent growth + 542,800 experience).]
[Ding... System Notification: Congratulations on leveling up to level 43!]
[Ding... System Notification: The nurturing of the Five-Colored Stone, third stage progress five: Kill Death Essence: 1/1]
[Ding... System Notification: Congratulations on completing: Serendipity - The Nurturing of the Five-Colored Stone. Reward: Level + 2.]
[Ding... System Notification: Congratulations on leveling up to level 45!]
The barrage of system notifications stunned Chu Tian. This...
It was over?
He was now level 45! The hardships of the past few days had not been in vain!
He hadn't expected this serendipity quest to reward him with +2 levels!
If he had known, he could have waited until his level was higher to complete it, wouldn't that have been more satisfying!
This was how serendipity quests in the Heavenly Dao worked. Some explicitly stated their rewards,
while others revealed nothing. It was rumored that the ultimate rewards for these quests were random.
It was even possible to receive nothing at all, but with extreme luck, one could obtain divine artifacts, god-tier equipment, or God-Tier talents.
A +2 level reward was, at this moment, considered quite mediocre.
Rewards that directly increased levels were more beneficial when completed at higher levels.
He had expected this quest to grant him something like the Monkey King!
Despite a slight sense of disappointment, reaching level 45 was still good.
Dao Tian had mentioned that after reaching level 45, his strength in reality would increase significantly.
He had initially thought he wouldn't reach level 45 before going to find Luo Luo.
It was time to prepare for a trip to Mount Taihang.
As he walked towards the items dropped by Death Essence, he opened his backpack to inventory his haul for this trip.
When he opened his backpack, he froze!