Chapter 426 - 86: New Talent, High-Efficiency Skill

"So that’s how it is."

With a flicker in his eyes, Lu Chao roughly understood.

Awakening a High-level Talent has two conditions.

First, one needs two mid-level talents of the same dimension to serve as the foundation for awakening, thus opening up a so-called high-level branch.

It’s like a tree growing a branch—the trunk must be thick enough to support a new direction of growth.

The second condition is that the high-level branch requires an immense amount of energy, similar to previous talent awakenings.

However, instead of Potential Progress fueling the high-level specialization, the awakening is now driven by the higher-tier Potential Fission.

’Based on the feedback from my mind, Potential Fission has an incredibly high requirement for energy quality.’

’Lesser resources are probably far from enough... To some extent, this puts it on a different level from Potential Progress. They’re related, but not entirely the same.’

Lu Chao thought to himself, unsurprised by this.

After all, it was a high-level specialization. The energy required for awakening was bound to be immense, not something ordinary resources could satisfy. Such a change was to be expected.

Thinking of this, he began to process the other information that had flooded his mind.

Potential Progress still existed, which meant he could continue to awaken a certain number of mid-level talents according to the previous rules.

BZZZT!

Just then, a wave of intense pain spread throughout his mind.

’As expected,’ Lu Chao thought, and his consciousness quickly returned to reality.

...

「Over ten minutes later.」

"Hah!"

Inside his apartment, a turbid breath left his lips, dissipating only after traveling half a meter from his body.

Lu Chao braced himself against a storage cabinet, standing by the wall.

His flushed face gradually returned to its normal color, the bulging veins on his skin smoothed out, and his slightly trembling body, drenched in sweat as if dehydrated, finally stilled.

The agonizing pain from the depths of his mind, which felt like his very brain was being reshaped, finally receded like a tide. Every inch of his flesh and every nerve fiber sighed in relief.

"That was really tough to get through."

Lu Chao caught his breath and shook his head to himself.

Even though this wasn’t his first time experiencing the pain of such a transformation, and despite already being a powerful Exploration-Level Superpower User, he still found the agony bone-deep and exceptionally hard to bear. He had nearly collapsed.

However, he took a breath and looked at his panel.

The excruciating pain had not been without its rewards.

[Life Energy: 170→175!]

Not only had he successfully reached the Exploration Level, but he had also gained another five points of Life Energy through the talent awakening!

His gaze then swept across the rest of the panel.

[Glutton: Lu Chao]

[Life: 175]

[Potential Progress: 0]

[Potential Fission: 0]

[Beginner Specializations: Plunder and Grow, Adrenaline, Flow State]

[Mid-level Specializations—Resilient Body, Titan’s Power, Hunter, High-Efficiency Skill]

With all his detailed information laid out before him, Lu Chao was absolutely certain he had stepped into the Exploration Level.

He carefully sensed the changes within him.

CRACK!

He clenched his fist, clearly feeling the abundant power surging within his body.

His endurance, stamina, speed, strength, neural reactions, environmental adaptability, Qi Flame characteristics... the upper limits of every aspect had at least doubled.

If he struck with all his might, even without using a Martial Skill, he could seriously injure someone who had just entered the Limit-Breaking Level. He could even easily suppress and kill a peak Limit-Breaking Level expert.

’No wonder they say the gap between the three levels is enormous.’

’Right now, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call me a walking humanoid tank. My physique is far tougher than most alloys, and my projected Qi Flame is like a high-explosive thermal shell...’

The more Lu Chao sensed his own power, the more satisfied he became.

The doubling of his fundamental strength would naturally allow his various talents to be expressed even more powerfully.

Whether it was duration, burst power, or talent effects, everything would be enhanced accordingly.

For a time, Lu Chao carefully absorbed all the mysteries of the Exploration Level, committing them to heart.

Until finally, he thought of his newly awakened talent.

"High-Efficiency Skill."

With a flash of thought, Lu Chao focused his mind and instantly entered a state of concentration.

BZZZT!

The world seemed to shudder and slow down.

He felt his mind become exceptionally agile; his neural reactions and thought speed had instantly doubled.

Everything slowed down in his vision, as if he had been given a new brain.

Details he had never noticed before were now magnified.

The air, the sound of the wind, the size of the room, the position of his own shadow... he subconsciously processed a vast amount of information and made judgments.

It was like having an intelligent co-processor, analyzing all environmental data with extremely fast information-processing capabilities.

It seemed very similar to the Flow State talent, but there were clear differences.

The state of concentration focused more on neural reaction and information processing—the so-called computational power—while the Flow State focused more on a temporary boost to learning ability and comprehension.

The two were complementary and could even be stacked, providing yet another doubling effect.

Beyond that,

BZZZT!

A brown Qi Flame flowed out, covering his entire body.

Lu Chao carefully felt the changes brought by [Energy Efficiency].

Looking closely, the solidified rock armor covering his body was even more realistic, appearing as if it were forged from alloy, uncannily lifelike.

This wasn’t just an enhancement from his Ten Thousand Spirits Martial Arts Skill breaking through to the 2nd Floor, [Thousand Refinements]. It was also due to the numerous benefits from his increased energy utilization efficiency.

He felt as if he had become a more precise humanoid machine. He had a much deeper awareness of his body’s blood and qi, Qi Flame, and cellular energy, as if he could quantify and precisely control it all.

How to make it flow faster through his meridians, how to better condense and fuse it, how to reduce consumption and increase power... everything was reflected in his mind, transforming into subconscious analytical thoughts, allowing for better mobilization.

And at this very moment, he was confident that even without activating [Titan’s Power], the armor of his Qi Flame and the dense properties of his Golden Stone Flame alone were enough to withstand the blast of a howitzer.

Furthermore, with the efficient use of his Qi Flame, the crushing pressure characteristic of his Ten Thousand Spirits Martial Arts Skill was also enhanced. The destructive power of his Qi Flame increased, making it easier to tear through alloys and break through an opponent’s physical defenses.

He could even use this to increase the pressure of his Qi Flame, extending its projection range. Compared to other Exploration-Level users, his range was greater, and a full-power ranged attack could cover a hundred meters.

BOOM!!

At this thought, Lu Chao’s eyes suddenly blazed.

As if in a fit of rage, a golden light burst into existence around him, flashing wildly.

In a single instant, he visibly grew several inches taller. His muscles swelled, veins bulged, and he transformed into a two-meter-tall lesser giant, stamping two shallow footprints into the metal floor.

He had instantly entered his Titan state.

And now, sensing it carefully, Lu Chao could clearly tell that the improvements from [Energy Efficiency] had indeed materialized.

Due to the highly efficient mobilization of his body’s energy, the power required to maintain his Titan state was reduced by more than half!

"Half an hour!"

His eyes burned with excitement. Relying on his mind’s computational power to estimate, Lu Chao had a clear sense of his new limit.

He estimated that, combined with the enhancements from the Exploration Level, he could now maintain his Titan state for half an hour.

This was undoubtedly a huge improvement from the combination of his talents, enough for him to use this ability boldly without worrying about exhaustion.

At this moment, he was fully capable of challenging someone at the Transcendence Level!

"Excellent."

Nodding in satisfaction, Lu Chao finally exited his Titan state.

His swollen physique shrank back to its normal size as he carefully sensed the other effect of High-Efficiency Skill.

[Creation Enhancement].

Just as the prompt had indicated, this effect had no extra energy cost. It was as if it had directly altered his creative abilities, forcibly granting him a superior talent for creation.

Minor problems he used to have with potion-making were now easily understood, and he was even more confident he could complete the biological serum.

Vaguely, Lu Chao even had a feeling.

That once he mastered the final piece of Superpower Potion knowledge for the Biological Alchemist path and truly became a Biological Alchemist...

...he might be able to use this as a foundation to create new beginner-level, or perhaps even higher-quality, potion formulas.