Skill Advancement and the Faceless One

To be fair, Lister may not have much else, but he certainly had a lot of gold coins.

I brought nearly 10,000 gold coins from the Kingdom of Lucian, not to mention the gold coins I collect from players every day for teaching skills.

Each player receives five gold coins; with over 800,000 players, there are a total of over 4 million gold coins.

It's no exaggeration to say that he's incredibly wealthy; if it weren't for Lister plundering the players' gold coins, the inflation rate of the players' gold coins would be even faster!

Looking at the fluctuating number of 301 gold coins, Lister paused for a moment.

On the other side of the screen, a man dressed in D-grade equipment was glaring at the Auction House with gritted teeth.

"You damn idiot, why the hell aren't you raising the price?"

Are you trying to mess with me?

If Lister could see the other person, he would definitely recognize him at a glance—the "Love of a Lifetime" from the Green Nourishment Group, whom he had killed once.

Among the initial bidders, there was another old acquaintance of his, Chen Shanqiang.

At this moment, "Love of a Lifetime" was furious, feeling that she had been ripped off by this idiot who didn't know the rules and kept raising prices.

Although the passive skill did look good, in his eyes it wasn't worth 300 gold.

I just tried to rip him off after he raised the price, but he didn't take the bait.

Time ticked by, and "My Love of a Lifetime" grew increasingly grim. Money was a trivial matter to him, the young master of the "Green Nourishment Group," who could easily collect it again using credits on the public screen.

But the feeling of being taken advantage of was extremely unpleasant for him.

Fortunately, in the last few seconds, the price of this passive skill jumped again.

500 gold!

"My Love of a Lifetime" immediately breathed a sigh of relief and started cursing at the Auction House interface with a smug look on his face.

"Idiot, you dared to try and drive up the price with me."

"500 gold for a crappy passive healing ability, haha! This is what happens when you try to show off to me."

The thought that he hadn't been a sucker, but instead had swindled his rival out of several hundred gold coins, instantly transformed "My Love of a Lifetime's " feelings of regret into excitement.

The thrill of screwing over someone is even better than leveling up or killing people in a game!

At the same time, Lister also acquired the passive skill book in a good mood.

Gold coins were irrelevant to him; of course, it would be better to acquire them with less money.

There was no rush to learn this new passive skill; there was still an item on the Auction House for Lister to continue bidding on.

[Radiance of Extreme Transcendence: Upgrades existing active skills by one tier. (Note: Maximum tier B)]

Compared to the "Crystal of Extreme Transcendence" in the imperial palace treasury, this "Radiance of Extreme Transcendence" is a notch below, but it is quite suitable for upgrading Merrick Saber Technique.

However, this price is almost double that of the passive method.

Currently, C-grade active skills are in high demand but short supply on the Auction House, with the average transaction price having already risen to over 300 gold coins.

One B-level active skill appeared, but it was eventually taken down by someone in the public chat for 400 gold coins.

But that was in the early stages of the game, and that price, calculated in credits, already exceeded the current value of a thousand gold.

The price of "Radiance of Extreme Transcendence" is no less than that of a B-grade skill. After all, it is a designated skill upgrade, and the competition is much fiercer than that for the passive skill "Robust Physique".

Ultimately, however, it was Lister who won the bid for 1600 gold.

This made the sons of several major corporations grit their teeth in hatred. Although they were unhappy, none of them wanted to be taken advantage of, and collecting gold coins was not easy at this stage.

A large number of players need gold coins to learn skills from Lister, which keeps gold coins scarce.

The thought of even more powerful skills appearing as the game progresses is truly inspiring.

The skill "Radiance of Extreme Transcendence," which is only at rank B, is ultimately not very meaningful considering its price, so we gave up on competing for it.

Lister was in a great mood after acquiring two useful items in one night.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill "Robust Physique".

"Should we use 'Radiance of Extreme Transcendence' in Merrick Saber Technique?"

"Yes!"

As Lister confirmed it, the white, spherical "Radiance of Extreme Transcendence" in his hand emitted a burst of intense, dazzling light that surged toward his brain.

The memory of Merrick Saber Technique was suddenly overshadowed by another feeling. The swordsmanship felt roughly the same, but the speed, power, and some of the variations in the strikes were much more refined.

The feeling of these sword techniques was as if it were re-imprinted into his mind, and he suddenly felt that his understanding of Merrick Saber Techniques had deepened considerably.

[Merrick Saber Technique (C-rank → B-rank Excellent) LV10: Uses swordsmanship to precisely attack the target, dealing 1071~1298 damage (affected by Strength attribute), slightly reduces control effects when drawing the sword. (Note: The speed and range of the Iai Slash are slightly increased.)]

"Whew!"

Feeling the new sword technique in his mind, Lister couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

After upgrading from Rare to Excellent, the average skill damage increased by about 200 points, but this is only because the level is not high.

Moreover, damage is not what Lister values most; the damage of B-level skills is generally within a certain range.

What surprised him most was the effect of reducing control; he hadn't expected that advancing Merrick Saber Technique would improve in this direction.

It's not just an increase in simple damage, which means the potential is much stronger than Lister expected.

I reviewed the skill transfer panel again.

"Skill Instructor Merrick: Can teach the skill Merrick Saber Technique (Rank C)..."

As expected, the instruction is currently only at the C level, but there's no rush.

After all, the second act hasn't started yet. There should be new teaching options after the opening ceremony.

"Thump~ thump~!"

Late at night, Lister was still practicing Merrick Saber Technique.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, which surprised him.

Logically, after learning the Killing Intent Wave, one's perception should have been significantly enhanced.

He didn't even react when someone came outside.

I focused my mind again and tried to sense the outside world, but I still couldn't perceive anything.

However, the truth is that a soft, feminine voice came from outside the house.

Is anyone there?

Lister frowned; it was happening again.

Could it be Wu Yan outside the door?

Impossible!

Wu Yan is clearly in the Imperial City, and the two have no contact for the time being. Moreover, Yellow Court Saber Art Visualization Method are not in the martial arts world, so how could he possibly come looking for him at this time?

More importantly, Wu Yan never knocks on his door; she always appears directly in front of him.

After a moment's hesitation, Lister got up from inside the room.

My heart is to put the priority of the murderous intention wave forward again. After cutting this wave of leeks, I must first maximize this skill.

When I opened the door, there was no one outside.

However, Lister finally sensed the faint fluctuations of aura behind him by relying on the Killing Intent Wave.

"Close the door first, I'm not your enemy."

Sure enough, the voice came from behind him.

Lister instinctively closed the door, then turned to look at the other person.

The red robe covered in spirit patterns was no ordinary item; it was a cloth armor of at least fourth-tier rare quality.

Her hair was piled up at the back of her head, and although her face was delicate, it was difficult to tell whether she was male or female.

My gaze involuntarily drifted downwards; she had no Adam's apple, a flat chest, but smooth, fair skin, and was about 1.7 meters tall.

It's still impossible to tell if it's male or female; it seems to be androgynous.

What frustrated Lister even more was that the other person gave him the same feeling as Wu Yan before.

Even if you're standing right in front of him, you'll subconsciously ignore his presence if you're not focused.

But now that he has learned the Killing Intent Wave, he shouldn't be acting like this.

Lister quickly scanned the other party with the system, and his expression froze.

[Target discovered: Unknown]

[Reconnaissance of enemy and friendly forces in progress... Reconnaissance results available...]

[Level: Lv40]

[Occupation: Faceless Person (Other)]

[Health Points: 3501/3501]

[Strength:1904/1904]

[Attributes: Strength 40, Stamina 40, Intelligence 40, Agility 40]

[Skill: Faceless (S-rank) LV40: Can change into a known face every 24 hours for 72 hours, and then master one of the changed person's skills. The skill strength is related to the user's level. (Note: Current skill - Five Senses Deprivation (A-rank) LV40: Deprives the other person of 40% of their five senses.)

Extreme Concealment (Rank A) LV40: Enters shadow form for 180 seconds, while releasing an aura that reduces the opponent's perception by 80% (subject to changes in intelligence and the opponent's attributes).

Devious Theft (Rank A) LV40: Can steal limbs, organs, and skills from the enemy. If a limb or organ is stolen, it will cause damage to the opponent. If a skill is stolen, the opponent can use that skill for 40 hours. (Note: The success rate of stealing depends on the opponent's overall strength. If they are of the same rank, the success rate of stealing is greatly reduced. If the strength difference is too great, there is a chance that the opponent's fatal organ will be directly removed, causing the opponent's death.)

...(41 skills in total)...

Bone-Shrinking Technique (Level C) LV40: Changes one's own body posture within a certain period of time...

Concentration Method Visualization Method (Passive, No Grade) LV30: Grants an additional 30 points to Intelligence.

Mystic Movement Art Visualization Method (Passive, No Rank) LV30: Grants an additional 30 points to Agility.

[Overall Rating: Grade A]