"Ye Ningze, I've come to challenge you. Come out quickly and fight me!"
Arrogant voices continued outside the villa gate.
Ye Ningze had to temporarily halt his cultivation and walked out of his room.
At this moment, a young man in opulent attire stood blocking Ye Ningze's doorway, hands on his hips, with a precious saber hanging from his waist.
"Who are you?" Ye Ningze asked, though he had a rough idea of the visitor's identity.
"I am Lei Ming, one of the five great geniuses of the Wolf Lord Base. I know you possess high-level cultivation talent, and I've specifically come to challenge you today!" Lei Ming announced his identity and invited Ye Ningze to battle.
Seeing Lei Ming's posture, Ye Ningze knew a fight was inevitable today.
People like him, who were fond of fighting, would surely cause more trouble and pester him if he refused now.
Considering this, Ye Ningze readily agreed.
"Alright, I accept your challenge. But this kind of challenge is a bit dull. How about we add a stake?" Ye Ningze proposed.
"A stake?" Lei Ming blinked in surprise, then grew excited and asked, "Sure! What stake do you propose?"
In Lei Ming's view, Ye Ningze was no match for him. Whatever stake Ye Ningze proposed would ultimately fall into his hands.
Seeing Lei Ming agree, Ye Ningze's lips curved into a slight arc. "Let's bet a bronze-level saber skill."
The reason Ye Ningze proposed a bronze-level saber skill was because he had just observed Lei Ming's talent situation.
Besides high-level cultivation talent, Lei Ming also possessed a B-grade saber skill talent.
Since Lei Ming had a mid-level saber skill talent, he was bound to have many saber skills and techniques. This was why Ye Ningze proposed using a bronze-level saber skill as the wager.
"A bronze-level saber skill? Fine, it's settled then!" Lei Ming agreed immediately, fearing Ye Ningze might go back on his word.
"Let me tell you about my bronze-level saber skill. It's called Tiger Leopard Thunder Roar. It's a thunder-attribute saber technique. When cultivated to perfection, it can increase strength sixfold, and even at great accomplishment, it can increase strength threefold."
Upon hearing this, Ye Ningze nodded in satisfaction.
Lei Ming's thunder-attribute saber skill, Tiger Leopard Thunder Roar, was a talent that amplified offense, which was precisely what he lacked.
Ye Ningze also briefly introduced his Shadow Saber skill. "My bronze saber skill is called Shadow. It's a saber technique evolved from a mid-level fire talent. Although it's a fire-attribute talent, it emphasizes a killing blow. When cultivated to perfection, it can also increase strength five to sixfold."
"Alright, your bronze-level saber skill is exactly what I need," Lei Ming said happily.
"It's just that I don't have my bronze-level saber skill with me right now. How about we set a time? Let's fight at the Thousand Night Plaza arena tomorrow noon."
"Deal!"
Ye Ningze agreed with pleasure.
Watching Lei Ming's retreating back, Ye Ningze couldn't help but feel that Lei Ming was a bringer of wealth.
Not only did he bring a bronze-level saber skill, but he also brought high-level cultivation talent.
While conversing with Lei Ming earlier, Ye Ningze had secretly copied this high-level cultivation talent.
The reason he copied the high-level cultivation talent instead of Lei Ming's mid-level saber skill was that Ye Ningze's own high-level cultivation talent had already reached its peak.
By merging another high-level cultivation talent, there was a high probability of upgrading to an S-level cultivation talent.
Ye Ningze's B-grade cultivation talent was not yet at its zenith. Even if he merged Lei Ming's B-grade cultivation talent, it might not necessarily upgrade him to an A-grade cultivation talent. Considering these factors, Ye Ningze decisively chose the high-level cultivation talent.
"It's truly a case of someone sending a pillow when you're feeling sleepy!" Ye Ningze was thrilled.
Turning back into his room, Ye Ningze eagerly began to merge the high-level cultivation talent.
This time, the merging process was not too painful. He only broke out in a light sweat and merged it with ease.
Race: Human.
Cultivation Talent: S-grade.
Saber Skill Talent: B-grade.
Speed Talent: S-grade.
Healing Talent: S-grade.
Flame Shadow Talent: C-grade.
Strength Talent: A-grade.
Looking at his cultivation talent upgraded to S-grade, Ye Ningze couldn't help but feel excited, beaming with joy.
This was a top-tier cultivation talent! As long as he continued to cultivate, he would definitely be able to advance to the Transcendent Warrior realm without encountering any bottlenecks.
As for Ye Ningze's previous A-grade cultivation talent, although it was also within the scope of high-level cultivation talent, it was still very difficult to advance to the Transcendent Warrior realm. Even if he managed to advance by chance, he would essentially be capped, and any further breakthroughs would be wishful thinking.
With an S-grade cultivation talent, not only would he not encounter bottlenecks when advancing to the Transcendent Warrior realm, but he would also have a significant advantage in further cultivation.
This didn't mean he wouldn't encounter bottlenecks, but the difficulty of breaking through them would be much lower.
"With an S-grade cultivation talent, I won't have to worry about my aptitude when cultivating to the Transcendent Warrior realm!"
Ye Ningze had just tested the effect of the top-tier cultivation talent and found that the S-grade cultivation talent was twice as effective as the A-grade cultivation talent. If combined with the mid-level Yuan Force Body Tempering Method and high-grade fierce beast blood, it should reach three times the effect.
After all, top-tier cultivation talent had a much higher utilization rate for fierce beast blood compared to high-level cultivation talent.
Based on his current cultivation talent, Ye Ningze was confident that he could break through the hundred thousand jin mark in strength within a month.
The night passed uneventfully.
The next morning, Ye Ningze arrived at Thousand Night Plaza as scheduled.
Thousand Night Plaza was a shopping mall within the Qingcheng Base, which also housed an entrance to the black market.
Upon arriving at Thousand Night Plaza, Ye Ningze found it swarming with martial artists, who had completely surrounded the arena, creating a very lively scene.
"Ye Ningze, you're finally here!"
Seeing Ye Ningze arrive, Lei Ming walked over from a distance.
"Why are there so many people?" Ye Ningze asked.
"Nothing much, I publicized the matter of our fight beforehand. These people are all here to watch the excitement," Lei Ming replied.
Lei Ming challenged martial artists from Qingcheng Base everywhere precisely to showcase his martial prowess.
If more martial artists could witness it, it would greatly satisfy his vanity.
Furthermore.
In this battle, Lei Ming represented the Wolf Lord Base, while Ye Ningze was a native martial artist of Qingcheng Base.
The more native martial artists Lei Ming defeated, the greater the influence of the Wolf Lord Base would be. Before Ye Ningze returned to his base, Lei Ming had already defeated all the genius martial artists in the base, leaving only Ye Ningze unchallenged.
Therefore, Lei Ming naturally wanted to make this fight with Ye Ningze more grand.
After this battle, Lei Ming would be considered undefeated among the genius martial artists of Qingcheng Base!
Of course, in Lei Ming's opinion, the so-called genius martial artists in Qingcheng Base were nowhere near the geniuses of the Wolf Lord Base; they didn't even meet the threshold to become geniuses.
"Bring out the stake."
Before the formal duel, Lei Ming, fearing Ye Ningze might not have a bronze saber skill, quickly said.