Explosion. This talent was pretty interesting.
It had the same ability as a mutant named Gambit in the Marvel universe.
He could infuse objects with explosive energy. The larger the object, the longer it took to charge, and the greater the resulting explosion.
Gambit used playing cards as his usual weapons. They charged quickly and were easy to use.
However, that kind of approach wasn't suited to the world Qin Tian lived in.
The reason was simple: no matter how brief the charging process, it still took time. In a battle against a Psionic User, even a momentary pause could become a fatal opening.
In a head-on fight, [Explosion] wasn't very useful. It might not even be as good as a Laser Gun.
But once [Explosion] was combined with [Space Bag], [Black Gate], or [Shadow Leap], the possibilities were vast.
"Have some water and take a break."
Xiao Yunlong handed Qin Tian a bottle of water. Rarely, he could see exhaustion in Qin Tian's eyes.
"Thanks."
Qin Tian took the bottle and gulped down a mouthful. The throbbing in his temples eased a little.
All night, he'd been on edge, constantly monitoring the scents, sounds, and heat sources around him. He hadn't dared let his guard down for a moment.
On top of that, using the Hidden Kill Rune Gun consumed Psionic Energy. Against those troublesome Snake-men, he also had to use [Ember Critical Strike], which sped up the consumption of his stamina, mental energy, and Psionic Energy.
By the latter half of the night, he no longer dared to fire recklessly. He left most of the Snake-men they encountered to Xiao Yunlong and the others, supporting them with the Dragon Falcon Rifle and using Hidden Kill for a fatal strike when necessary.
That worked out well, too. Everyone in the Earth Dragon Squad had a chance to contribute, so their Military Merit Points wouldn't be too unbalanced after the battle.
Whirrr—
The sound of helicopter blades churning through the air came from above.
An armed helicopter hovered over the Earth Dragon Squad, and a rope dropped down.
They grabbed the rope and climbed aboard. Once inside, they quickly took their seats, and the helicopter carried them back to base.
At the same time, a force of ten thousand troops entered the grand canyon to clear the battlefield.
After returning to base, Qin Tian took a hot shower, then stretched out comfortably on his bed and reviewed what he'd gained over the past couple of days.
First, there were his talents. He'd gained four new ones: [Ten Thousand Poisons Snake Body] (purple), [Black Gate] (blue), [Thermal Sense Control] (green), and [Explosion] (green).
[Ten Thousand Poisons Snake Body] was the highest-ranked, and it was also the first purple talent he'd obtained.
[Black Gate], [Thermal Sense Control], and [Explosion] could all prove extremely useful in specific situations, giving him more options in combat.
Next, after the battles in the cave and the grand canyon, he'd killed dozens of Snake-men, ranging from First Order to Fourth Order. His Evolution Points had shot past 20,000.
Finally, he'd spent more than 5,000 Evolution Points enhancing [Ember Critical Strike]. That had improved his stats and raised his combat ceiling to some extent.
Taking stock, he currently had a total of fifteen Talent Orbs.
Purple: Ten Thousand Poisons Snake Body
Blue: Steel Muscles and Bones, Shadow Muscle and Bone, Space Bag, Ember Critical Strike, Shadow Leap, Purple Lightning Bloodline, Lord of Snake Spirits, Black Gate
Green: Absolute Gun Sense, Rapid Recovery, Danger Sense, Clear Heart Saber, Heat Source Control, Explosion
More than a dozen orbs of different colors floated in his Soul Sea, some lighter and some darker. At a glance, they were dazzling enough to make his eyes swim.
"In a few years, there should be hundreds of Talent Orbs in here."
Qin Tian made a bold guess. But honestly, hundreds of Talent Orbs seemed like a bit much. By then, he might even forget what talents he had.
It'd be perfect if he could combine them.
Suddenly, an idea came to him.
Qin Tian rubbed his chin and tentatively muttered to himself:
"System Daddy, can talents be fused?"
A few seconds passed. No reply.
Qin Tian thought it over and decided to try another approach. He controlled the [Rapid Recovery] orb and moved it toward [Steel Muscles and Bones]. The instant the two orbs touched, a system notification appeared.
Can [Rapid Recovery] and [Steel Muscles and Bones] be fused? System notice: Talent fusion is uncertain. Host, proceed with caution. Once fused, the process cannot be reversed.
It really worked!
Qin Tian's eyes lit up, and he sat bolt upright.
Fusion was a delicate business. Choose the right talents, and one plus one could be greater than two. Choose poorly, and he could drop dead on the spot.
So if he decided to fuse talents, he had to choose ones with a strong connection and a high degree of compatibility.
Looking over his fifteen talents, Qin Tian decided there were three that seemed suitable for fusion.
[Steel Muscles and Bones], [Rapid Recovery], and [Danger Sense].
All three were body-related talents, and they were closely connected.
For example, [Steel Muscles and Bones] not only increased the host's strength and defense, but also improved the body's ability to recover to some extent. That overlapped with [Rapid Recovery].
With that in mind, Qin Tian didn't hesitate. He brought the three orbs together.
Can [Steel Muscles and Bones], [Rapid Recovery], and [Danger Sense] be fused? System notice: Talent fusion is uncertain. Host, proceed with caution. Once fused, the process cannot be reversed.
System text appeared on the panel once more.
"Confirm fusion!"
At Qin Tian's command, one blue orb and two green ones slowly drew together, converging toward the center as the color at their point of contact grew deeper and deeper.
The brief dozen or so seconds felt unbearably long to Qin Tian. Even he, usually so calm, couldn't stop fine beads of sweat from appearing on his forehead.
When the three orbs' boundaries fully merged and a brand-new, deep-blue orb appeared, he finally let out a long breath.
[Name] Savage Battle Body (Blue) [Type] Passive Talent [Description] The bloodline of the ancient Barbarian Tribe awakens. The body becomes like that of a wild beast, granting incredible strength, resilience, recovery, and danger sense. When injured, the user enters a berserk state: pain sensitivity decreases and physical strength increases.
A mysterious power flowed through him, tempering every part of his body. His bones, muscles, and meridians grew tougher, while his eyesight, hearing, sense of smell, and other senses all improved.
Qin Tian stood up and stretched. His bones gave off a series of crisp cracks.
Steel Muscles and Bones had evolved into Savage Battle Body, shifting from light blue to deep blue.
The new talent retained the strengths of all three, achieving an effect greater than one plus one plus one, and greatly improving his physical strength.
But after successfully fusing the three talents, Qin Tian wasn't satisfied. He decided to strike while the iron was hot and upgrade the talent another level.
The Savage Battle Body orb was deep blue. With enough Evolution Points invested, it could transform into the next stage: purple.
He currently had 22,456 Evolution Points in total.
With a wave of his hand, Qin Tian invested exactly 10,000 Evolution Points to enhance Savage Battle Body.
The Talent Orb trembled slightly, its color deepening at a visible pace. Unfortunately, it still didn't break through the threshold.
Qin Tian gritted his teeth and invested another 10,000 Evolution Points.
After 20,000 Evolution Points had been spent, the deep-blue [Savage Battle Body] finally completed its evolution.
[Name] Savage Hegemon Body (Purple) [Type] Passive Talent [Description] The bloodline of the ancient Barbarian Tribe awakens completely. The body rivals that of a savage beast, with astonishing vitality and incredible primal instincts. Resistance to all negative effects +50%. Activating the bloodline's power grants "Overlord Body" status, immediately clearing all negative effects and rapidly increasing combat power, up to a maximum of 150%.
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