He glanced at the description of his talent and found no mention of a toxin damage cap. If there were a limit, it should have been clearly stated somewhere. Moreover, the value of 240 didn't seem like a cap; it appeared more closely tied to his level. At level 12, the multiplier of twenty perfectly matched 240.
But why was it a multiplier of 20 instead of 10? Suddenly, Wu Shaochen remembered the introduction to the Hall of War Gods, which mentioned that improving one's rank could increase their talent potential.
This must be what's referred to as talent potential. In other words, not only is my talent limited, but every player's talent potential also has an upper limit, and players can raise this limit by advancing their rank.
If that's the case, then my talent cap should be ten times my level. Since I've improved my rank, the cap has increased to ten times my level, which explains it perfectly.
Verifying this should be simple enough. If I level up by one more, I'll see if the damage increases to 260. If so, then tomorrow, when I advance to the Bronze rank, I'll know for sure.
Without wasting time, Wu Shaochen continued swiftly killing black bears. Soon, after killing 76 more, he reached level 13 and continued deeper into the game, finding a new set of enemies: a group of giant red lizards at level 18. As per usual, he used his Insight skill.
[Flame Lizard]
Level: 18
Health: 28,000
Physical Attack: 150
Magical Attack: 380
Physical Defense: 150
Magical Defense: 160
Speed: 50
Skills: Flame Breath: Spits fire in a five-meter range, burning for five seconds. Targets in the fire's range take 100% magical damage per second. Cooldown: 20 seconds.
A magic-attacking monster? Wu Shaochen paused for a moment. This was his first encounter with a magic-based monster, and as expected, they were much more troublesome than physical attackers. The skill was quite powerful; if he didn't quickly escape its range, even with over 2,000 health, he wouldn't survive the damage.
However, magic-based monsters rely entirely on skills for damage, much like mages. Without skills, mages are harmless, but their basic fireball has a three-second cooldown, low cost, and instant cast, making it more like a regular attack. As long as a mage has skills, they're a constant threat, but if they run out of mana, they become sitting ducks.
This magic monster doesn't even have fireball. Is it relying on 150 physical attack for regular hits? Wu Shaochen chuckled. It's still breakable.
The pressure wasn't much. As long as he avoided the skills, he was fine. But these monsters couldn't be mass-farmed; otherwise, he'd end up in a sea of fire, with nowhere to run.
He decided to take them one by one. It only took about a minute and a half for each. He drew one lizard, gave it two strikes, and though it ran fast, he still took a second of damage from the skill. It didn't matter too much, though.
A minute and a half later, the lizard collapsed...
"Ding! Killed a [Flame Lizard], earned 220 experience. Killing a monster five levels higher grants an extra 110 experience. Your pet, [Silver Taiwolf], gains 66 experience."
"Ding! Talent trait triggered, toxin damage increased by 1. Current toxin damage: 241."
"Ding! Immortal Body activated, maximum health increased by 1. Current Immortal Body increases maximum health by 297."
Indeed, the toxin damage from his talent increased again. Wu Shaochen continued killing 20 more lizards, and once the toxin damage reached 260, it stopped increasing.
With this pattern confirmed, Wu Shaochen sighed with relief. As long as there wasn't a hard limit, it was fine. After all, he hadn't even added any points to his strength; he was entirely relying on his talent to carry him. If his talent couldn't grow any further, he would lose his edge.
"At least it can still improve. Right now, with the twenty times multiplier at my level, I'm already quite strong. No one in the current player base can withstand a single strike from me," Wu Shaochen mused.
Looking at the time, he saw it was already past 9 PM. He decided to log off for dinner. After eating and resting, he would return to the game. Since his talent had reached its current limit, he didn't need to rush leveling up. Others would likely struggle to catch up for a while.
Taking off his helmet, Wu Shaochen rubbed his head. He really needed to buy a game capsule. But he still needed more money for that. Since he hadn't earned any in the main city yet, he'd have to hunt down some bosses.
He went out for a late-night snack and returned around 10 PM. Setting an alarm for six hours, he lay down and soon fell asleep, exhausted from a full day of grinding.
Meanwhile, players across major cities entered a rapid growth phase. In Jinling City, players had become ubiquitous. Su Muxue had just left the Hall of War Gods, where she had tried to challenge the War God's secret realm but had failed miserably. As a mage, soloing wasn't her strong suit. Although the monsters' magical defense wasn't high at this stage, the equipment from the novice village didn't add any magical attack, and mages were too fragile to withstand the virtual shadows' heavy damage. She couldn't even get past the initial stages.
Thinking it over, she decided to ask that person if they had any magical gear. She opened her friend list but saw that the person had logged off. Then, she was immediately blinded by their impressively high level of 13.
"How is this person so far ahead, managing to stay ahead despite living a normal life? Truly an anomaly," Su Muxue thought, realizing she needed to level up and farm gear herself.
Not long after Su Muxue left, Aoshi Tianxia and his team arrived at the Hall of War Gods. With their newly obtained bronze and black iron equipment from defeating the Wild Boar King and Silver Wolf King, and the remaining potions, they successfully cleared the challenge and experienced a significant boost in power. When they exited, smiles finally graced their faces.
Wu Shaochen slept soundly until his alarm went off at 4 AM. The world outside was still dark, and his sleep schedule was thoroughly upside down.
After washing up, he finished the leftover stir-fried noodles from the night before and quickly put on his helmet to log in.
Once online, he found himself back in the Flame Lizard area. He decided it would be best to first complete the War God's Secret Realm challenge to verify his theories.
Just as he was about to use his return scroll, an unusual roar echoed from Black Bear Ridge.
Wu Shaochen's eyes lit up. From experience, he knew that sound could only belong to a boss. He quickly pocketed his return scroll and sprinted toward the source of the sound.
When he arrived, he saw a massive black bear chasing a soldier. The soldier, nearly out of strength, was about to be swatted to death by the bear. Wu Shaochen rushed forward and had Silver Taiwolf block the attack, saving the soldier.
At that moment, Silver Taiwolf had reached level 10, with 10,200 health and 220 physical defense, enough to withstand the blow.
After rescuing the soldier from the bear's claws, Wu Shaochen quickly cast Insight.
[Black Bear King]Bronze-tier Boss
Level: 17
Health: 300,000
Physical Attack: 750
Physical Defense: 420
Magical Defense: 240
Movement Speed: 85
Skill 1: Slam: Slams the ground, dealing 140% physical damage to all targets within a two-meter radius and reducing their movement speed by 30% for 5 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds.
Skill 2: Earth Split: The bear slams its paw into the ground, creating a fissure that extends forward, dealing 160% physical damage to targets in its path and knocking them back. Cooldown: 1 minute.
Skill 3: Petrified Skin: The bear's skin turns to stone, increasing defense by 100% and reducing physical damage from nearby targets by 50% for 30 seconds. Cooldown: 5 minutes.