Chapter 337 – Deadbone: Such Good Places Exist!

Soon, Guardian Gabu Yu announced the evaluation results.

The skill created by this Deadbone powerhouse was indeed classified as Advanced, with a similarity rating of 49.3%.

This meant that the powerhouse from Tianyuan Territory had genuinely just created an Advanced skill. There was no falsification, and no one could deceive the rules of Miracle.

The relatively high similarity rating did not surprise Tilly and the other elves.

In fact, it made sense for it to be high.

Advanced skills cannot be learned through written or oral transmission. They inherently possess uniqueness, either related to Bloodline or requiring certain power seeds as catalysts.

Under such circumstances, even a legendary powerhouse could not create an entirely new Advanced skill out of thin air.

An Advanced skill must inevitably evolve from another Advanced skill.

Even so, gaining recognition from the rules of heaven and earth, acknowledging it as a new skill, was still remarkably impressive.

Tilly admitted she couldn’t achieve such a feat.

She expressed her admiration.

“As expected of Tianyuan Territory!”

Mu Yuan, however, found it strange.

Bone Two’s skill was not derived from an Advanced skill; it was merely created based on the ordinary skill ‘Charge.’ While it did use ‘Charge’ as a catalyst, ‘Shadow Fearless Great Charge’ should have little resemblance to Charge, both internally and externally.

A similarity rating of 49.3%—that didn’t make sense.

He discussed it with Isloria.

Isloria then asked Tilly for more details.

“So that’s how it is…”

Mu Yuan understood. “The similarity rating doesn’t just compare the ‘template skill’; it also relates to the creator’s preliminary preparations.”

Take Bone Two, for example.

Bone Two wanted to upgrade the skill Charge using its talent ‘Dark Heart.’ It had pondered this for a long time and even sought guidance from Dead Bone Boss multiple times.

Although Bone Two couldn’t comprehend 99% of Deadbone’s advice and demonstrations, after such extensive preparation, it had naturally developed many ideas and thoughts.

It had made ample preparations, only refining its thoughts more thoroughly in this venue and taking the final step…

And so, it succeeded.

However, due to the overly thorough preliminary preparations, the score Bone Two could obtain was slightly lower.

The trial allowed three attempts.

But if a powerhouse used the experience and accumulation from the first attempt to pave the way for the second, the resulting score would be significantly reduced.

The Hall of Knowledge tested Comprehension Ability, creativity, and wisdom.

Under the rules of heaven and earth, shortcuts? Loopholes? They simply didn’t exist.

Although the skill Bone Two created had a relatively high similarity rating, it was still an Advanced skill. Its overall trial score naturally far surpassed that of some random elf extra.

「Prompt: Your unit ‘Bone Two’ has passed Guardian Gabu Yu’s trial with outstanding performance and learned the cultivation skill ‘Dark Tide Refinement’ through the baptism of heaven and earth.」

——

「Dark Tide Refinement: Uses an endless tide of dark elements to impact and temper the body, continuously improving one’s physique. When this skill is cultivated to a profound level, the practitioner will possess the ‘inexhaustible’ trait when using dark energy.」

A cultivation skill that enhances physique and even comes with a trait.

Truly, it’s more advanced than the common variety.Tilly felt a tinge of envy.

While there were indeed members from their Nature’s Garden who had obtained such advanced cultivation skills here, cultivation skills possessed unique characteristics. Even legendary beings couldn’t inscribe learning scrolls to pass these methods onto others.

She could only envy in silence.

In the following period, several elven challengers took their turns attempting the trial.

Their success rate was 100%.

After all, this visit to the Hall of Knowledge was made alongside allies, so Nature’s Garden had naturally selected only the best of the best for this delegation. They couldn’t afford to lose face in front of the humans.

Those strong individuals who had some probability of passing but weren’t guaranteed success were all scheduled for later batches, waiting for times when the hall would be empty for them to attempt the challenge discreetly.

The most outstanding performer among them was an elf hailed as a legendary seed of this generation in Nature’s Garden, possessing moon elf bloodline and the bearing of a legendary being.

He too created an advanced skill.

However, this skill was improved from another advanced skill, bearing even higher similarity than the previous bone fellow’s creation.

“Can’t compare, still can’t measure up!”

Tilly inwardly lamented.

This senior was already the potential representative among their elven delegation, yet he still couldn’t match the opposing number one powerhouse.

She could only comfort herself, “Actually, it’s understandable. Many of Nature’s Garden’s strongest have already visited this Miracle Building, leaving only the second-tier powerhouses remaining. Meanwhile, the human Tianyuan Territory is visiting the Hall of Knowledge for the first time, so of course they’d send their most outstanding talents.”

After the Nature’s Garden elves completed their challenges, Xiliu from Tianyuan Territory stepped up as the second participant.

She stepped into the formation platform’s range.

What appeared small from the outside revealed itself as a vast, miniature universe within.

Without overthinking, she quickly immersed herself in contemplation, deduction, and epiphany.

Around her, a blazing domain spread out, with brilliant orange-red flames dancing and swirling.

Draconic, ferocious wings grew from her shoulder blades through her armor. Her body likewise became taller and more imposing, erupting with more violent, surging flames.

Dragonkin Mode, Red Dragon Bloodline, Dragon Scales, Ring of Fire…

Numerous skills flashed through Xiliu’s mind.

At this moment, her thoughts were exceptionally clear, with sparks of inspiration bursting forth, intertwining, and generating new marvelous insights.

While waiting below earlier, she had been thinking about not wasting such an opportunity. She wanted to create a skill that could be practically applied in combat, one that would significantly enhance her combat power.

Not merely to achieve a high assessment score.

After some time,

「Ding~!」

A pleasant notification sound rang out.

The armor on Xiliu’s body slowly transformed, turning into what appeared to be cast from molten rock, flowing with dazzling, blinding radiant flames.

It was armor, it was scales, and it was also a skill.

「Prompt: You have integrated your accumulated knowledge to create the special skill ‘Sunfire Armor’. Sunfire Armor possesses the ability to burn and incinerate all surrounding matter, while being capable of size adjustment according to your form (human, dragonkin, dragon). It also possesses self-repair capabilities and can stack with the defensive abilities of dragon scales themselves.」

Just from appearance alone, Sunfire Armor qualified as an advanced skill.

Moreover, it belonged to the particularly special and powerful category among advanced skills.After all, ordinary skills vary in strength, much like the difference between one-star rare and three-star rare skills. The disparity between advanced skills is even greater, akin to the difference between a Bone Dragon and a Vampire Viscount.

Even the well-informed Guardian Gabu Yu was somewhat surprised.

He appraised that Xiliu’s skill similarity was very low, only 18.6%.

Tilly and the others slightly opened their mouths in astonishment.

“Even our Nature’s Garden’s Sixth Princess didn’t perform this well two years ago.”

That Sixth Princess was the unparalleled prodigy of their generation.

The gentleman earlier possessed the makings of a legend, but whether he would ultimately step into the Legendary Realm remained uncertain. As for the Sixth Princess, she had long since created her own Domain, and it seemed only a matter of time before she reached the Legendary Realm.

She was invincible among the Fourth Order.

She dealt with ordinary Fourth Order BOSSes as easily as slaughtering chickens and cattle.

Uh, but…

Tilly suddenly remembered that this human powerhouse before them seemed to possess an extremely rich Red Dragon bloodline. She had witnessed Xiliu transforming into a dragon, wreaking havoc on the battlefield.

Perhaps this was a Dragon Maiden whose bloodline had nearly… or possibly already… stepped into the Epic rank.

Losing to such a person didn’t seem… entirely unacceptable for their Sixth Princess.

「Prompt: Your Hero ‘Xiliu’ has passed the trial with outstanding performance and learned the cultivation skill ‘Flame Breathing’ through the baptism of heaven and earth.」

This cultivation method also focuses on physical training. When practiced to an advanced level, it grants two characteristics.

One is an enhancement of fire-based damage, and the other is the ability to rapidly restore one’s own energy through high-frequency breathing.

The characteristics aren’t particularly strong.

But what Mu Yuan valued most was the cultivation method itself. Such relatively advanced cultivation skills often allow users to achieve higher efficiency during practice. This is the key point.

Now, only two people remained who hadn’t attempted the trial.

Lu Liu and Isloria.

But at the same time, Mu Yuan and the Undead General were already racing through the dense forest, swiftly heading towards the Hall of Knowledge.

He had found Deadbone two hours ago and set off together with him.

The reason was simple.

The Guardian offered many types of trials, but only this ‘self-created skill’ type of trial was a true benefit.

Not only could one receive rewards, but also have an opportunity to create a skill—wasn’t this double the happiness?

Mu Yuan worried that if the next group went to the Hall of Knowledge, they might not encounter this particular assessment. He had to catch the tail end of this batch.

Deadbone had been fully focused on cultivation, striving to step into the Legendary Realm as quickly as possible.

Apart from cultivation and sparring with Jackal Fang, Deadbone had no intention of doing anything else—until just now.

“A temporary boost to Comprehension Ability and gaining inspiration? How can such a Treasure Land exist in this world?!”

Marvelous!

Marvelous!

He had been troubled by his inability to create a skill that could shorten the time needed to temper his body.

It wasn’t that he had no ideas at all, but creating an advanced skill from scratch, with no foundation or references, would take considerable time.

His purpose in creating a skill was to save time; if he spent a great deal of time pondering and refining it, wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?

Now, he saw an opportunity.

…

Inside the Hall of Knowledge, Lu Liu stepped forward.

Guardian Gabu Yu’s gaze fixed on him, scrutinizing him for a few extra moments.”This force called Tianyuan Territory seems to possess far more potential than Nature’s Garden. Let’s see if it can continue earning my praise.”

Bone Two and Xiliu had performed excellently, particularly the latter.

Yet he didn’t hold high expectations for the remaining two examinees simply because of their outstanding performances.

He wasn’t that shallow.

He purely relied on his extraordinary discernment to keenly judge that the human before him was extraordinary.

Even if this human was merely a commander-level figure who hadn’t even reached the Peak of the Fourth Order.

The other human female was the same.

However, since the human female had arrived in the form of an Incarnation, Gabuyu couldn’t perceive further information.

Lu Liu stepped onto the platform.

He had long decided which skill category he would develop.

It was Guardian.

He originally came from the Imperial Guard system, and Imperial Guards had always been responsible for protecting important figures.

But now, while his strength was sufficient, his protective capabilities fell far short.

Especially group protection.

He was a corps commander, after all, with countless lives in his territory relying on him.

Protection was his duty.

Lu Liu sat down directly and closed his eyes.

Time ticked away until the moment Lu Liu opened his eyes, golden wings spreading in the air, scattering specks of golden radiance like a sacred barrier.

「Prompt: Hero ‘Lu Liu’ has created the Advanced Skill ‘Glory Guard’.」

「As long as glory exists and will remains, protection shall never fade.」

This was a large-scale protective skill. Not only did it cover an extensive area, it could even coordinate the Guardian Skills of Imperial Guards, merging them into one to form a protective barrier with broader coverage and stronger defense.

Similarity: 33.6%.

The performance seemed inferior to Xiliu’s.

Though amazed, elves like Tilly had grown accustomed to such displays.

But while these foolish elves might not recognize it, how could he, the Omniscient Divine Venerable Gabuyu, miss it? Even if this skill originated from protection, even if it shared some similarities with guarding…

It faintly carried the essence… the flavor of a strategic skill!

And strategic skills had always been Awakened only by heroes who had undergone the baptism of heaven and earth.

Yet this human before him had created one through human strength and human knowledge.

This youngster was truly remarkable!

Of course, being the widely experienced great figure he was, the Omniscient Divine Venerable Gabuyu had heard of, even witnessed such prodigies before.

But this time, he personally witnessed the birth of a special skill.

Given time, this ‘Glory Guard’ might very well advance to become a genuine strategic skill.

Don’t disappoint me, younger generation.

「Prompt: Hero Lu Liu has learned the cultivation skill ‘Bedrock Breathing’.」

Next was Isloria.

In terms of foundation and accumulation, Isloria far surpassed Lu Liu, Xiliu, and others.

Her rank reached as high as Epic Three Stars.

Even the same Starlight Body talent manifested vastly differently in the hands of an Outstanding Three-Star lifeform versus an Epic Three-Star lifeform.

Creating an Advanced Skill naturally wouldn’t be difficult for her.

However, Isloria didn’t particularly need any Advanced Skills, so she used this opportunity to organize and refine her existing knowledge. Leveraging the inspiration boost from Miracle Buildings, she pondered some challenging problems she encountered in ‘Human Body Modification Studies’ and ‘Astrology’.

Finally, she spent a little time creating a ‘concealment-type’ skill.

Which earned an extremely high evaluation.”Notification: The Hero ‘Isloria’ has acquired the cultivation-type skill ‘Clarity Breathing’ through the baptism of heaven and earth.”

With this, the trial concluded.

Though Isloria wished to linger and benefit further from the enhancement, Gabu Yu would not permit it, stating that those who passed the trial could not attempt it again.

This was the purpose of the Guardian’s existence.

To leave no room for exploitation, to uphold absolute fairness and justice, and to ensure the Miracle Buildings operated enduringly.

He was about to retract the trial platform.

Two figures rushed in from outside.

“Wait!”

Mu Yuan steadied the turbulent energy within him, his eyes gleaming as he gazed at the distant array platform.

If only he could dismantle and take the array platform back—that would be even more splendid.

Gabu Yu frowned slightly. For some reason, he sensed provocation in this human’s gaze, but upon closer inspection, the human’s expression was earnest, filled with anticipation and eagerness to overcome the trial.

This was normal.

It must have been his own misconception.

Still, it was rare to see someone so eager to attempt the Hall’s trial.

These two were likely prodigies as well. One bore some resemblance to the earlier undead, while the other human appeared majestic and transcendent, clearly a talent beyond the ordinary.

Gabu Yu focused his attention on the human.

Meanwhile, Deadbone had already stepped forward.

(End of Chapter)