Teleportation complete, Li Ang opened his eyes. He saw the desk with a photo pressed under green glass, the Haier refrigerator adorned with two "underwear boy" stickers, the cuckoo clock hanging on the wall, and the large black and white television draped with a silk dust cover. It was the familiar living room of his own home.
I'm finally back; it wasn't easy. Li Ang casually flicked off the dried clumps of blood from his face, feeling quite emotional.
This script task lasted a total of seven days, but in the real world, only one second had passed. If the task had not been completed, then all that would have appeared here in that second would probably have been a puddle of a rotting, sour-smelling corpse, oozing green liquid.
The landlady would have been very angry about that...
Li Ang shook his head to clear his thoughts, starting to tally the rewards from this "Lonely Mountain Cold Temple" task.
[Task Reward 1: An extra 200 Experience Points]
[Player overall performance: S+, increased Game Coins and Experience Points to 160%]
Cooperating with the team to kill the Mountain Demon provided Li Ang with 150 Experience Points, and working together with Chai Cuiqiao to kill a bunch of minor monsters in the courtyard provided him with another 75 points.
The game's System would intelligently analyze the player's overall contribution in killing monsters and evenly provide Experience Points, avoiding situations like "kill-stealing" or "monster-hoarding."
All in all, the 225 points from killing monsters, plus the extra 200 points from the task reward, multiplied by the 160% coefficient for an S+ rating, totaled 680 points.
Just this one task netted more Experience Points than all of the previous tasks Li Ang had completed combined.
Before the task, Li Ang was Lv3 with an Experience Bar at 12/300. After leveling up to Lv4, his Experience Bar reached the major milestone of 392/400, just a step away from Lv5.
Did I actually get an S+ rating this time?
Li Ang pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose; the result was in line with his expectations.
The player's overall performance rating is mainly based on the quantity and quality of the monsters killed by the player, as well as unraveling the world's mysteries.
Solving the secret of the decline of Solitary Cold Temple, analyzing the identity of Chai Cuiqiao, and facing the Mountain Demon head-on to defeat it.
Only by completing all three at once could one achieve an S+ rating.
Following the conventional strategy of the average person, they would not solve the secret, and Chai Cuiqiao would continue to chase them Within the Lonely Cold Temple. If they managed to survive by luck until the banquet, they would then watch Hong Niang die coldly and beg the Mountain Demon to eliminate Chai Cuiqiao.
Such a method of clearing the level would, at most, achieve a C rating and forfeit the Experience Points from killing the Mountain Demon and various other monsters.
If Li Ang had only achieved a C- rating, he would probably still be stuck at Lv3, let alone looking forward to Lv5.
According to Xing Hechou and Wanli Fengdao, after reaching Lv5, players can unlock the [Title] System and [Trait] System.
[Title] is, as the name implies, a special evaluation given by the System based on the specific in-task performance of players who exceed Lv5.
Different players exhibit different performances and thus receive different titles. Players can obtain multiple titles but can choose to equip only one every 48 hours.
Each title will grant the player a unique ability, which can be actively activated or passively triggered, and does not occupy any of the player's total of 10 skill slots.
For example, Xing Hechou's [Towering Cliff] title passively enhances his body's resistance to impact when he adopts a defensive posture.
Wanli Fengdao's [Passionate Swordsman] title can enhance his attributes when protecting female creatures (including but not limited to human females), with a cooldown of half an hour and a cost of 10% of total Energy.
The [Trait] System, however, can influence the player's attribute values.
Players below Lv5 only have a simple row of numerical attributes. However, after unlocking the Title System, their current attributes are continuously updated and affected by a series of traits. For example:
[Dysentery: -1 Physical Attributes]
[Fracture: -1 Strength]
[Rabies: -1 Intelligence, -1 Physical Attributes]
[Contentment: -1 Charm]
[Gluttony: -1 Physical Attributes]
[Cannibal: +1 Strength, -2 Charm]
Bad traits temporarily reduce the player's attributes, while good traits can also increase them. For example:
[Genius: +2 Intelligence]
[Playboy: +2 Charm]
[Reckless Warrior: +2 Strength, -1 Intelligence]
[Zealous Faith: +1 Strength, +1 Physical Attributes]
[Ascetic Monk: -1 Strength, +2 Intelligence, +2 Physical Attributes]
[Oath of Valhalla: +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity]
[Demonic Possession: +3 Strength, +3 Physical Attributes, +3 Charisma]
[Augustus: +1 Strength, +1 Agility, +4 Charisma]
Players can analyze their current physical condition more specifically based on real-time updates of traits and consciously add better traits to themselves, stacking their attribute values as high as possible.
The Title and Trait Systems both need to be upgraded to Lv5 to unlock. Li Ang shifted his attention to the second task reward.
[Task Reward 2: 400 Game Coins]
400 Game Coins, multiplied by 160%, equals 640.
With the 480 coins he had saved up before, Li Ang already had 1,120 Game Coins. If he added the 900 coins Xing Hechou had agreed to trade with him, Li Ang's Game Currency had already broken the 2,000-point mark.
[Task Reward 3: Rare Quality Random Item*1]
The random item was actually the Soul Summoning Banner, an piece of equipment capable of absorbing negative energy and storing Spiritual Bodies. In a real world where mystical urban legends kept emerging, the applicability of the Soul Summoning Banner might be even higher than that of Cat's Eye.
[Task Reward 4: Rare Quality Random Scroll*1]
He opened the pale blue scroll located in his inventory.
[Skill Scroll Name: Ripple Breathing Method]
[Property: Learning Type]
[Type: Universal]
[Usage Mode: Passive]
[Level: Rare]
[Special Effect: Through a special breathing technique, cell vitality is slowly and steadily boosted, strengthening the body and slightly resisting aging. It can also cause shock damage to living entities, including Spiritual Bodies, by releasing Ripple energy.]
[Consumption: None]
[Learning Requirements: Physical Attributes must be 7 points or higher, Intelligence Attribute must be 7 points or higher]
[Note: JOJO, this is my last Ripple!]
Hmm...
Li Ang scratched his head. This Ripple Breathing Method from the manga "JOJO's Bizarre Adventure" required the user to constantly adjust breathing frequency to slowly and persistently enhance cellular activity, generating a special "energy sensation" within the body similar to ripples on the surface of water.
If judged by its portrayal in the first and second parts of the manga, Ripple, or "Inner Strength," could greatly increase the user's power in a short time. With precise control, the user could even release Ripple energy, achieving various special effects, including killing Spiritual Bodies and heating objects using "Ripple Sprint."
In theory, the Ripple Breathing Method, with its considerable development potential, should be more powerful than the Adrenaline Activation Method, another Rare Level Skill Scroll. However, the Ripple Breathing Method only provides the relevant information. The actual practice is up to the player, who must exert effort to slowly accumulate Ripple Energy from scratch. Furthermore, the speed of training and level of achievement depend entirely on the player's comprehension. Someone with poor comprehension might not even grasp the basics after half a year.
Therefore, the quality of the Ripple Breathing Method was only "Rare."
As a born genius, Li Ang did not hesitate to learn the skill. After briefly adjusting to a very slow breathing rate, he quickly got the hang of it.
Under normal circumstances, my resting heart rate is 70-80 beats/min, but while practicing Ripple breathing, it dropped to 40 beats/min, and there's still room for it to go lower.
Li Ang carefully felt the changes within his body. Since there was no immediate sensation of warmth or anything similar, he thought, "I'll just keep breathing this way for now; it won't be a bother."
After allocating one free attribute point to Strength, Li Ang's player panel displayed:
[Li Rising]
[Lv4. Experience Bar at 392/400]
[Strength: 7] (Professional weightlifter level)
[Agility: 6] (Experienced parkour enthusiast level)
[Intelligence: 7] (Genius)
[Physical Attributes: 7] (Professional marathon runner level)
[Perception: 7] (Professional hunter's level of perception)
[Charisma: 4] (Plain in appearance, slightly odd in speech and conduct)
[Equipment: Strange Eye, Face-Changing Mask, Soul Summoning Banner]
[Inventory: AK-47, CQB Bulletproof Vest, Camping Hatchet, Dagger, Flashlight, Hand Grenade, Molotov cocktail, Black Zombie Hair, Black Zombie Nails, Fire Rat Fur, Plague Ghost Skin, White Bone Spine]
[Skill Bar: Adrenaline Activation Method, Ripple Breathing Method]
[Game Currency: 1,120]