Fourth Advancement: Soul Saber Grandmaster

Amidst the excitement of the crowd, the conferment ceremony concluded successfully.

The official system notification was released on the afternoon of the conferment ceremony.

System notification: Act 7 has ended. The game "Divine Revelation" will soon undergo maintenance. Act 8 will be available in three days! Please stay tuned...

"Notice: Players will be forcibly logged out soon! Countdown: 60, 59, 58..."

"Notice: Auction House service is now closed, player chat is disabled,..."

Notification: Congratulations on completing the Main Quest – the New Development of Merrick Civilization.

Rating: First Class.

"Gained 10 million experience points, 8 free attribute points, and 300,000 credit points."

"Knock knock~!"

I had barely finished reading the announcement when there was a knock on the door.

Tim pushed open the door in a panic, and spoke with a trembling voice.

"My lord... has disappeared..."

"According to Colonel Sannand's report, our military region's Undead Legion has suddenly vanished!"

The Undead Legion, which had just become famous throughout the Galactic Federation, suddenly vanished before his eyes.

The disappearance of one of the main fighting forces of the Merrick Civilization, and the main legion for earning military merits, represents a sharp decline in the strength of the Merrick Civilization Army.

Both Sannand and Tim were extremely alarmed by the news.

Fortunately, Lord Lister in front of him didn't seem to care and simply nodded silently. In an instant, Tim's tense mood eased.

"Um."

"I understand. It's Undead Legion has entered a period of slumber. There's no need to make a fuss."

"Then, sir... are there any other joint missions... going to continue?"

"Tell Sannand that I will not be assigning any more joint missions until the Undead Legion is revived."

"For the foreseeable future, we should maintain a low profile and focus primarily on the tasks of our own Merrick Civilization."

After giving instructions to the Civilization Army, Lister brought up his own affairs.

"I will be in seclusion within the castle for the next period of time."

"The work of the Federation Government will be handled entirely by Wang Yue and Quint; do not let anyone disturb me during this process."

"No one is allowed to enter the core area of the castle, and you don't need to come looking for me."

Upon hearing this, Tim was initially puzzled, but the next moment his face suddenly lit up with an unusual radiance.

He asked, somewhat incredulously.

"My lord... you... you're about to evolve again?"

Although he himself was only at the sixth level and looked increasingly old, he was not ignorant of the power structure and individual improvement and evolution of the Galactic Federation.

My family member, who never intentionally secludes himself for improvement, is suddenly going into seclusion this time.

This immediately sparked Tim's imagination.

Lister didn't hide his intentions from Tim, and nodded with a smile.

"You know this yourself, you can mention it to Wang Yue, but otherwise everything will proceed as usual, but don't let anyone bother me."

"Yes, sir!"

"My lord, how long will it take you to evolve?"

"I'm not sure about that either. It will probably take some time. You can arrange everything as you see fit."

Lister's job advancement and evolution time is different from that of previous players; it is longer each time.

The first turn takes only a few hours, the second turn takes two or three days, and the Third Advancement takes about a week.

This Fourth Advancement, as the highest known combat force in the Galactic Federation, will probably take at least a month. If adjustments and adaptation are included, it may take three months or even half a year.

In any case, the Merrick Civilization developed rapidly enough in the past two years, so this is a good opportunity for him to take a break and keep a low profile during his seclusion.

As Tim left, the senses of his Killing Intent Wave.

All personnel inside the castle were quickly evacuated from the core area, and all automatically activated defenses were put into action.

In fact, Merrick Castle's defense level is only 16, so it can be easily breached by a powerful opponent.

Of course, having something is better than having nothing; at least it can defend against some unexpected small fry.

In the designated meditation area, Lister took out a pile of reagents in front of him.

Most of them were exchanged from the Federation Military District, while some were top-tier recovery potions purchased from the black market.

Although the job change quests were not as painful as the Robust Soul, but rather surprisingly enjoyable, it's still better to be safe than sorry.

After injecting several focused reagents, Lister opened the panel again.

"Lister Merrick's exclusive fourth job advancement quest..."

Task specific requirements: Three stages in total.

First stage: Improve the basic strength of the Merrick Civilization Army, requiring large ships (1/1) (completed), medium ships (20/20) (completed), and small ships (103/100) (completed).

Second stage: Enhance the overall strength of the Melek Civilization Army. Colonel (3/3) (Completed), Lieutenant Colonel (61/60) (Completed), Major (543/500) (Completed).

Third stage: As the leader of the Civilization Army, you need to raise your military rank to at least (completed).

The warships were mainly repaired and refitted using the wreckage, and the other half was also quickly completed with the help of the Arcane Civilization.

The number of officers required for the most challenging rank, majors, was also completed at the conferment ceremony the day before yesterday.

Overall, the Fourth Advancement quest was easier than Lister had imagined.

With a tap of your finger, submit the task.

"Congratulations, you have completed your fourth exclusive job change quest."

"Notification: Due to the difficulty of your job change quest exceeding the standard, the strength of the available job options will be appropriately increased. (Note: This determination has been submitted by the mastermind and notarized to take effect!)"

"The job options have been matched and selected based on the characteristics of the Class Holder."

Please select your job change from the following three options.

"Job Advancement 1: Soul Weaving Grandmaster (Rare Class): Gains exclusive skill -- Soul Weaving (SSS Rank): Ignores defense and hit detection, relies on perception to lock onto the enemy's soul, weaves and controls the enemy's soul, can weave enemy soul memories to enslave the opponent or cause a certain percentage of soul confusion as true damage (1%). (Note: Enslaving the enemy is not permanent, and is determined based on the rank of both parties, soul strength, and overall strength)"

"Job Change 2: Saber Art Grandmaster: Gain the passive skill -- Saber Technique Secret Art (Passive, No Rank): Increases the damage tier determination of sword-type skills by +1, additionally increases the attached true damage bonus by 1%, and increases the mastery and improvement speed of sword-type attacks by 1%."

"Job Advancement Level 3: Soul Saber Grandmaster (Rare Class): Gains the passive skill -- Saber Soul Mastery (Passive, No Rank): The user's soul is transformed into Saber Soul, which can be slightly increased in strength and characteristics through killing. Based on soul strength, all passive skills are increased, currently by 0.3%. During Battle Intent Eruption Burst, a Saber Soul is summoned to increase the strength of blade-based attacks, currently by 3%. (Note: The increase in soul characteristics through killing depends on the enemy's strength; enemies three ranks lower than the user will not receive an increase. The strength of the Saber Soul in combined combat depends on the user's and soul's strength.)"

Three job advancement options, and surprisingly, two of them are passive jobs this time.

A Saber Art Grandmaster, belonging to the late-stage ordinary profession specializing in swordsmanship.

It may seem ordinary, but it's not really ordinary either.

At least in my previous life, those who could truly extract the Saber Art Grandmaster from the Fourth Advancement were all top players specializing in swordsmanship.

Furthermore, the truly powerful classes, including those specializing in swordsmanship and even techniques, are precisely those like the Saber Art Grandmaster and the Sword Art Grandmaster, etc. For the first time, top players possess a passive buff that increases true damage.

Furthermore, the damage tier determination for sword-fighting skills may sound ordinary, but its effect is quite significant in actual combat.

For some direct attacks and damage effects such as burning and stun, the player's sword damage will be prioritized, along with the damage reduction from certain attacks.

If the opponent dies, the damage will be significantly reduced.

However... the job advancement effects are slightly redundant for Lister.

Based on his rank assessment, he already possesses Robust Soul, and the increase in true damage is also enhanced by the Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method.

The true damage added by the Saber Technique Secret Art's ultimate skill will ultimately only be multiplicative in his current passive system, and the benefit will not be that high.

If there were no other passive professions available, Lister would definitely choose Saber Art Grandmaster without hesitation.

While the Soul Braiding Grandmaster's class-specific skills are powerful, they are more suited to the characteristics of other classes and don't quite align with his swordsmanship specialization.

Of course, there is now a third profession, which is a continuation of the Third Advancement Soul Saber Battle Master profession.

Lister had never seen Saber Soul emerge before. Although the boost from the Saber Soul was strong, it didn't particularly surprise him.

However, the fact that killing increases soul strength and enhances all passive skills is quite remarkable.

Seeing this, Lister didn't hesitate any longer and immediately made his decision!

"Notification: You have selected to change your class to Soul Saber Grandmaster. You are currently undergoing the class change process..."

Suddenly, Lister's vision went black; Heavy Strike from his soul immediately dragged him into the depths of his being.

The originally chaotic space of consciousness was suddenly torn apart by countless blades of light, each blade carrying fragments of memories of past killings, striking his soul body composed of gray mist.

The intense pain spread throughout his body; the trauma and sense of being torn apart his soul were unbearable for Lister.

The extreme pain throughout the body was even more ferocious than the breakthrough enhancement of the Robust Soul.

Fortunately, a recovery potion had been injected into his body beforehand, and its effects were currently transforming into different colored nutrients that were being infused into his soul.

The pain was temporarily relieved, but the countless attacks of blades did not stop.

The next moment, a huge crimson blade of light cleaved his body in two.

Countless memories mingled together, and all understanding of swordsmanship was stripped away at this moment.

The soul entity then transformed back into Lister's original form, only now it was half the size.

As for the other half of the soul, it was continuously compressed, gradually forming a semi-transparent longsword that hovered above the soul Phantom's head.

A sudden surge of crimson energy entered the consciousness space, and a solidified killing intent was also embedded at that moment.

The longsword trembled violently, and at the same time, the blade gradually solidified into a dark red, the color of blood.

This process continued indefinitely; Lister had become numb to the pain and oblivious to the passage of time.

At some point, the blade was finally completed.

The scarlet blade returned to the soul body, and a mysterious and profound sense suddenly came over.

It was as if I had gained an extra sense, allowing me to connect with this blade.

Although the spirit body is now small in size, it is extremely solid, holding a scarlet blade, with black, gleaming eyes, and exuding a sharp intent.

The pain receded like the tide at this moment.

Consciousness gradually returned.

Notification: The Soul Saber Grandmaster has completed the class change.

Upon hearing the announcement, Lister felt completely devoid of energy.

It wasn't until several days later that he finally recovered most of his strength and received all the remaining medication at once.

It took two more days of rest to fully recover.

"Upgrade level?"

Notification: Saber Soul Mastery has been upgraded to LV20 and cannot be upgraded further at this time.

Notification: Merrick Saber Technique have improved.

Lister finally exhausted all the massive amount of experience points he had accumulated over the past three years today.

[Name: Lister Merrick (Major General, Federation Military District, Merrick Civilization)]

[Class: Soul Saber Grandmaster (Martial Arts, Fourth Advancement)]

[Level: 200 (1/2000000000)]

[Health Points: 11,009,560/11,009,560 (Note: Health points after passive bonus)]

[Stamina: 4305431/4305431 (Note: Stamina after passive bonus)]

[Attributes: Strength: 383 (Base 200 + Bonus 183), Stamina: 383, Intelligence: 383, Agility: 383]

[Skill: Merrick Saber Technique (SS-level) LV200: Uses knife techniques to precisely attack the target, dealing 21571~22298 damage (affected by Strength and Soul attributes) (77.7% of which is true damage). Enters Super Armor state when striking, immune to control effects and gains a certain degree of damage immunity. At the same time, it can directly execute opponents with less than 7.4% health (Note: Cooldown period for this judgment: 7 days).]

Flash (S-rank) LV200:...

Saber Soul Mastery (Passive, No Rank) LV20 (Note: Can no longer be upgraded; requires killing or Soul Crystals to upgrade): Your soul will be converted into Saber Soul. Killing can slightly increase the soul's strength and characteristics. Based on the soul's strength, all passive skills are increased, currently by 6%. During Battle Intent Eruption Burst, a Saber Soul can be summoned to increase the strength of blade-based attacks, currently by 60%.

Robust Soul (Passive, No Grade) LV180 (Note: Cannot be upgraded now, requires Soul Crystals to upgrade): Increases Soul Strength by 180 points, increases Soul-type Skill effects by 180%, all Skill attacks will have varying degrees of true damage ratio, and special judgment rank upgrades.

Battle Intent Potential (Passive, No Rank) LV200: For every 1% of HP lost, the user gains a 1% increase in combat power (both attack skills). If HP falls below 30%, the user enters Battle Intent Eruption phase, further increasing combat power by 1780.8%, gaining some damage reduction and lifesteal. (Note: Battle Intent increases slightly with level.)

Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method (Passive, No Rank) LV200: See through illusion and reach the truth! Increases true damage of sword techniques by 593.6%. (Note: Already has Soul Strength buff!)

Killing Intent Wave Visualization Method (Passive, No Rank) LV200: Increases additional Perception by 593.6% and Killing Intent Perception by 1780.8%. Can actively unleash killing intent against enemies far weaker than oneself, dealing 1780.8% of the user's base damage in an area-of-effect attack. (Note: Killing Intent Release requires the target's level to be at least 30 levels lower than the user's. The user's base damage can be affected by other passive buffs. Soul Strength buff already granted!)

Saber Mastery (Passive) LV200: Increases swordsmanship attack damage by 636%.

Resolute Heart Visualization Method (Passive) LV200: Reduces immunity to all negative effects by 212%, and grants partial immunity to negative effects. (Note: If the negative effect is above SS rank, the immunity effect is reduced).

Sharp Blade Visualization Method (Passive) LV200: Limited to sword-type attack buffs, increases sharpness by 212% and deals 212% damage that ignores defense.

Robust Physique (Passive) LV200: Grants an additional 2120% health.

Resolute Qi Visualization Method (Passive) LV200: Increases own defense by an additional 2120%.

Heart of Learning (passive) LV200: When gaining experience in a secondary profession, an additional 212% experience bonus is granted.

Qi and Blood Conversion (Passive) LV200: Each point of Stamina increases Stamina by an additional 636 points and Health by 2120 points.

Merrick Breathing Technique (Passive) LV135: Grants an additional 135 points of Strength.

Will Breathing Technique (Passive): LV135: Grants an additional 135 points of Stamina.

Concentration Method Visualization Method (Passive) LV135: Grants an additional 135 Intelligence.

Mystic Movement Art Visualization Method (Passive) LV135: Grants an additional 135 points of Agility.

[Overall Rating: SS-Rank (World-Ending Level)]

[Remaining experience points: 444323031]