After thoroughly looting the entire Barbarian Bull Race settlement, Xu Kun looked at his brand-new status panel.
ID: Kun Talent: Myriad Races Bestiary (F-tier), Minotaur Strength (F-tier) Level: 5 Class: None Strength: 53 Spiritual Power: 40 Constitution: 40 Agility: 40 Willpower: 40 Luck: Max Physical Attack: 190 Magic Attack: 140 HP: 875 Stamina: 700 Physical Defense: 140 Magic Defense: 140 HP Recovery: 8/S out of combat, doubled while meditating Stamina Recovery: 8/S out of combat, doubled while meditating Hit Rate: Based on target's evasion Evasion Rate: Based on target's hit rate Attack Speed: Normal Movement Speed: 5.2M/S Special Attributes: Fire Attribute Attack 160, Fire Attribute Resistance 60 (immunities from Dragon Body and equipment calculated separately) Equipment: A-grade (Zenith Flame Spirit Set), E-grade (Minotaur Gauntlets) Skills: SSS-tier (Unyielding Starfire), A-grade (Explosive Fireball, Wildfire Scorches the Plains), B-grade (Charge), F-grade (Quick Attack, Spirit of Grass, Bleeding, Paralysis Venom, Trample)
Having cleared out every monster in the level 1-5 zones, Xu Kun's status panel might not have undergone an earth-shattering improvement, but it had still risen significantly!
The Blessing of the Five Primordial Gods meant that after reaching level 5, Xu Kun possessed the base attribute bonuses of an ordinary level 10 trial-taker.
Although his starting attributes had been reset to zero after he allocated all his points into Luck, the formidable attributes of the Zenith Flame Spirit Set more than made up for it.
His 190 Physical Attack and 875 HP made it clear that ordinary people wearing the three-piece beginner set would find it difficult to obtain such impressive attributes before changing classes!
Yet Xu Kun felt no joy over these values that far exceeded ordinary people's base attributes!
All comparisons were based on the assumption that the others had no talent bonuses either!
He understood his own weakness very well. Although the Myriad Races Bestiary had limitless potential, at least for now, the only numerical bonus it gave was that all-attribute +1 he had immediately reset away!
It was even inferior to the bonus from the Minotaur Strength he had just acquired!
Their math teacher had long since explained the progressive hierarchy between normal talent grades!
Put simply, excluding certain special talents and modifiers, the gap between ordinary talent grades could be divided according to their growth ratios!
F-tier talents gave a 5% bonus, E-tier 10%, D-tier 20%, C-tier 40%, B-tier 80%, and A-tier 160%!
S-tier was 320%!
SS-tier was 640%!
The highest, SSS-tier, was 1280%!
These bonuses could apply to the five base attributes—Strength, Spiritual Power, Constitution, Willpower, and Agility—or to panel values such as Physical Attack, Magic Attack, physical and magical defense, and elemental attributes!
Take a normal level 5 human as an example. Assuming his initial awakening gave a single attribute its maximum value of 10, it would become 15 at level 5. For an SSS-tier Talented Individual, that value would be 15 * 12.8 = 192!
If the bonus applied to Strength, that person's Physical Attack would reach a staggering 384!
Far higher than Xu Kun's current Physical Attack!
And that was without counting the modifiers that began appearing on talents above A-grade!
Even an SSS-tier Talented Individual in a beginner set could easily kill that Barbarian Bull Chieftain at level 5 through their attributes alone!
While wearing the Zenith Flame Spirit Set, Xu Kun's Physical Attack and HP could barely compare to the 640% bonus of an SS-tier Talented Individual. The higher the level, the wider that gap would become!
The advantage of Talented Individuals above A-grade lay in the wide array of modifiers carried by their talents. Especially if those modifiers were combat-oriented, their monster-killing speed would definitely not be slow!
Xu Kun's advantage, meanwhile, lay in the special effects and set bonuses provided by his A-grade set!
Especially Wrath of the Fire Dragon. Its efficiency at clearing an entire field of monsters was truly unmatched. Even SSS-tier Talented Individuals, in Xu Kun's judgment, could not surpass the terrifying clearing speed of Wrath of the Fire Dragon during the beginner stage!
The price was the damaged materials that made Xu Kun's heart ache...
His other advantage was the sheer number of skills he possessed!
The SSS-tier skill Unyielding Starfire had certain limitations, so Xu Kun did not dare use it casually. Every activation consumed all Starfire Imprints. Unless he encountered a boss, he preferred to keep it as a trump card. If he used it on regular monsters and then encountered a boss afterward, he would just be wasting time!
Killing the boss first and then using the cooled-down Wrath of the Fire Dragon to clear the field had filled his 100 layers of Starfire Imprints once more, giving Xu Kun confidence again!
Instead, the two A-grade skills were the ones Xu Kun used most frequently to kill monsters. Single-target bursts and small-scale clearing had become second nature to him!
After fighting his way through five monster zones, Xu Kun had also gained quite a few other skills!
Charge was a favorite among high-level melee classes and stood out among B-grade skills, so it naturally had its own merits. The remaining five F-grade skills each had their own unique traits as well. Used properly together, they could not be underestimated!
"Right now, my greatest reliance is this set of equipment. Whether its attribute bonuses or special effects, they are my greatest assets for killing monsters!"
"But those high-grade Talented Individuals all have their own special tricks. Their monster-killing speed definitely won't be slow. Entering the SSS-tier completion leaderboard is still a long road ahead!"
The value provided by low-level equipment would gradually decline as levels increased. During the beginner trial stage, the Zenith Flame Spirit Set would shine at its brightest. Once the beginner trial ended and all Myriad Race newcomers changed classes, the help this level 10 set offered would be greatly reduced!
"Why think that far ahead? At least for now, I'm confident that my trial speed won't be slower than an SS-tier Talented Individual's. Even against SSS-tier Talented Individuals, unless they have powerful skill combinations like I do, with the Myriad Races Bestiary, I refuse to believe anyone has more tricks than me!"
Xu Kun said confidently.
After clearing five monster zones, Xu Kun had spent only a few hours!
According to the records in the metal bracelet, even the three SS-tier clearers of Mist Island had taken at least a full day to reach Xu Kun's current position!
There was no need to mention those with lower evaluations. Imagine an F-tier Talented Individual whose status panel was weaker than a monster of the same level. After painstakingly killing one monster, they would still have to disengage and wait for their HP to recover fully before moving again, lest their lives be put at risk!
Many trial-takers with low-grade talents might have failed to complete the beginner trial not because they died to monsters, but because seven days simply was not enough for them to reach over 61% completion!
Some people pursued completion by killing only a hundred monsters of each level. After gaining 6% completion, they quickly entered the next monster zone, causing their levels to fall further and further behind. How could they clear every zone like Xu Kun?
Even Xu Kun had been fortunate enough to encounter a boss, which added quite a bit to his experience pool. Otherwise, the experience from the level 6 monster zone alone might not have been enough to raise him to level 6!
"The time of Mist Island's SSS-tier clearer is unknown, but compared horizontally with SSS-tier clearers from other maps in previous years, even the fastest needed more than a day. As long as I clear it at the fastest speed while ensuring my safety, I refuse to believe I can't make it onto the leaderboard!"
By constantly using the metal bracelet on his wrist to learn data about clearing trials, Xu Kun had filled in the gaps in his knowledge. The old Xu Kun would never have considered any leaderboard. Only now that he had confidence did he begin studying this information!
"For high-grade Talented Individuals, killing monsters from levels 1 to 10 and obtaining 60% completion is merely a matter of time. There is no real danger involved. What truly delays completion and clear times is the final boss!"
Seeing this, Xu Kun pursed his lips.
"But for me, that isn't a problem at all!"
Thinking of the final boss waiting for him, Xu Kun was filled with excitement!
By the time he finished checking the information, Xu Kun had already crossed the small river whose flow had resumed and made his way toward the level 6 monster zone.
"Where are the monsters?" Xu Kun looked in surprise at the vast plain before him. Aside from the "grass" taller than a person swaying in the wind, there was not a single monster in sight!
"Could they be hiding in this grassland ahead?"
As thoughts raced through his mind, the weeds crawling along the ground began to undergo Rampant Growth without him noticing. Once they reached the tops of Xu Kun's feet, they suddenly shot into the air and wrapped around the arm holding his sword!
"What is this?!" Xu Kun was horrified.
But it did not end there. From all directions, weeds like the one just now took advantage of Xu Kun's panic. His hands, feet, and waist were consecutively bound by grass!
Xu Kun was unable to move for the moment!
The weeds wrapped around Xu Kun began multiplying wildly. Before long, they had bundled him into a giant dumpling!
"Trample!"
Just as the weeds were about to completely entangle Xu Kun, he used his newly acquired skill. The ground around him cracked, and the wildly growing weeds paused, giving Xu Kun a chance to catch his breath!
"Wildfire Scorches the Plains!"
Centered on himself, Xu Kun unleashed the area attack skill. Soon, a rain of fire descended, instantly reducing the weeds wrapped around him to ash.
Xu Kun collapsed onto the ground and gasped for breath. In that brief instant, wrapped in weeds, he had felt suffocation closing in. If he remained restrained too long and could not breathe, he would suffocate to death!
The datafied world of the Haotian Pagoda did not completely defy reality!
Yet what surprised Xu Kun far more than the sudden attack was that although Wildfire Scorches the Plains had burned away all the weeds binding him, he had not received any monster kill notification!
With one swing, he cut apart the weeds before him that were preparing to strike again. Xu Kun stepped back, frowning deeply.
The ones attacking him had to be the level 6 monsters in this area, but why had he not received a kill notification?
"Or was this merely the attack method of the level 6 monsters?"
Looking at the tall weeds swaying in the wind in the distance, Xu Kun suddenly had an idea.
"Plant-type monsters?"
Keeping the weeds from approaching with his sword, Xu Kun raised the Myriad Races Bestiary in one hand and shone it toward the tall weeds in the distance.
Soon, a blank page appeared before Xu Kun. Stroke by stroke, it depicted the appearance of the tall weeds in the distance!
Blue Silver Grass
Talent: F-tier Fission Growth (Can split off one offshoot for every 5% HP)
Level: 6
Physical Attack: 0
HP: 880-900
Physical Defense: 50-55
Magic Defense: 30-33
Evasion: Unable to evade Kun's attacks
Movement Speed: 0
Skill: Blue Silver Entanglement: Blue Silver offshoots can tightly bind a target, causing the target to lose the ability to move or attack. After 10 seconds, the target enters a "Suffocation" state!
Blue Silver Devour: Offshoots steal life from targets in the "Suffocation" state. The target loses 5% HP every second, restoring the main body's HP!
Offshoot Attributes:
HP: 44-45
Physical Defense: 20
Magic Defense: 20
Movement Speed: 2M/S
Introduction: A worthless plant-type alien species. No one knew which idiot had introduced it. It madly plunders the habitats of other living creatures and uses an extremely disgusting method to steal the lives of any creatures that enter its territory. Be wary of its offshoot entanglement. Once bound, unless your Physical Attack exceeds the number of offshoots * Physical Defense, you cannot break free and will become blood feast for the main body!
So it was the Blue Silver Grass, a plant-type race infamous throughout the Myriad Races!
There had been at least a dozen offshoots wrapped around him just now. Their combined Physical Defense exceeded 200. With his 184 Physical Attack, it really would have been difficult for him to break free!
This low-grade plant-type race, Blue Silver Grass, was familiar not only to Xu Kun, but to the entire Myriad Races!
Because this thing could be found everywhere in the world. It was a race that could not be killed cleanly or burned away completely!
Its reproduction speed was astonishing!
The key was that this race had no value whatsoever. Xu Kun clearly knew that the only material one could obtain from them was their son Tang... no, spores!
Blue Silver Spores. They needed no water, no soil, and no sunlight. Toss one anywhere, and it could grow into a Blue Silver Grass!
Though it was a low-grade race, it was extremely notorious and was called the "Shameless Plunderer" by the Myriad Races!
Its appearance was deceptive. Without close inspection, it looked like nothing more than harmless weeds. But the way it obtained nutrients was different. It liked allowing weaker plants to take root and sprout beside it. Once they matured, it would devour their lives and accelerate its own growth!
As for flesh-and-blood creatures, it would lie quietly in wait. Once prey entered, it would bind them with offshoots before devouring them completely!
Its rampant growth made it impossible for any other lifeform to survive nearby. Over the centuries, the Myriad Races had launched countless "weed-clearing campaigns," and even fire-element powerhouses hundreds of levels high had personally entered the fray to burn down tens of thousands of hectares of Blue Silver Grass habitat!
Yet even so, after a spring breeze passed, the Blue Silver Grass that scattered their son Tang... no, spores across the world would multiply wildly again, endlessly irritating everyone!
Kill them? No matter how many were killed, they could never be finished!
Ignore them? These disgusting things would expand without restraint. Within just a few years, they could turn territory spanning tens of thousands of kilometers into their slaughterhouse!
Xu Kun was fortunate he had not ventured deeper just now. If two hundred Blue Silver Grasses split simultaneously and bound him, no matter how capable he was, he would not be able to escape!
That was the terrifying part of Blue Silver Grass. It possessed no attack power, and the main body only had its thick HP worth mentioning. But once a creature approached, even an SSS-tier Talented Individual could only die in resentment!
Back then, the fire-element powerhouse hundreds of levels high had personally taken part in a "weed-clearing campaign." Rumor had it that an SSS-tier descendant he had carefully nurtured was devoured by a Blue Silver Grass army before they could even grow up!
Though it was an F-tier race, Blue Silver Grass could leave peak races like the Three Saint Races and Seven Royal Races at their wits' end. It was probably one of a kind!
Fortunately, Blue Silver Grass was only an F-tier race. If it rose a few more grades, even S-Tier Races would probably have to avoid it!
All because this race expanded too quickly and reproduced at an astonishing rate. With such an enormous population base, the odds of an ultimate boss being born would increase greatly as well!
The higher its level, the more it produced, and the faster it reproduced. This was what their biology teacher had emphasized when explaining Blue Silver Grass!
"Heh, mere Blue Silver Grass, and you dare show off before an expert? I've already seen through all your tricks. Did you think I would fear your Blue Silver Entanglement?"
Now that he understood the characteristics of the monsters in the level 6 zone, Xu Kun no longer had the slightest concern.
Let it be as strong as it wanted; the breeze would still sweep over the hill. Being trapped within Blue Silver Grass territory was indeed terrifying, but as long as he did not enter it, relying on a few offshoots to deal with anyone was nothing but a fool's dream!
"Can't move? Doesn't that make you a living target?"
"Watch me burn all your Blue Silver Grass!"
Before you continue