The Third Skill

"Skills?"

"These changes are actually Jiu Chen's skills?"

"Skills can even work like this?"

A stormy sea of shock surged within the heart of Wind Snow Traveler.

In his understanding, no matter how powerful a skill was, it was still something used to strike with a weapon, and no matter how powerful a Doctor's skill was, it only meant a higher success rate for healing.

Xiao Fan's display directly shattered his perception.

Skills could be created like this—buffing speed, healing, and status effects.

It was a completely different path!

But... it was truly powerful!

Wind Snow Traveler suddenly had a feeling that the skills in Cloud Sea were always meant to be like Xiao Fan's.

He suddenly remembered that Xiao Fan had previously admitted his first skill was a Heaven-Tier Skill.

Is this what a Heaven-Tier Skill is? It is indeed powerful!

Wind Snow Traveler exchanged glances with the other veteran Players, and they all saw the shock in each other's eyes.

However, the battle continued, and after a brief moment of shock, Wind Snow Traveler and the others continued to fight the Fierce Beasts.

Those injured novice Players, who were originally lying on the ground shivering, suddenly discovered that their health bars were constantly increasing.

As their health bars recovered, the wounds on their bodies also slowly healed.

"What is this? Why is this happening?"

Although everyone was confused, healing was a good thing, so they didn't have time to overthink it and picked up their weapons to continue fighting.

Everyone was fighting with all their might, and no one noticed the Black-Clad Girl behind them, who was watching them with an expression of disbelief.

"A Heaven-Tier Skill, it really is a Heaven-Tier Skill! To think someone here could create a Heaven-Tier Skill while still in the novice stage!"

The girl's fingertips turned slightly white from the force of her grip; her expression was one of shock, excitement, and something else that was hard to define.

She wanted to stand up and help, but the moment she remembered she was currently just a level 0 trash with no skills, she gave a self-deprecating smile and sat back down, though the despair in her eyes had already faded.

After the thirty level 6 Fierce Beasts, the Forest Shadow Bear, were wiped out.

Mom Is Not Home said with a mournful face: "Village Chief, there won't be any more Fierce Beasts after this, right?"

To be honest, level 6 Fierce Beasts were already their limit, the limit of their survival...

Wind Snow Traveler hesitated for a moment: "You level 2 Players should not participate in the upcoming battle."

The implication was clear: the Beast Tide was not over yet.

Hearing him say this, all the novice Players showed expressions of despair.

What good would it do not to participate? If veteran Players like Wind Snow Traveler couldn't hold them back, they would die in the end anyway.

Ignoring these people, Wind Snow Traveler turned to look at Xiao Fan: "That just now... was that your skill?"

Xiao Fan nodded: "That's right."

"How many times a day can you use this skill?" Wind Snow Traveler asked.

"In a day, I can use it continuously, but the skill has a 90-second cooldown," Xiao Fan answered truthfully. His mana pool had already broken through the ten-thousand mark, and it kept increasing during the battle as he healed, so never mind a day, he could use his skill non-stop for a week.

"What?" Wind Snow Traveler's voice suddenly rose; he didn't know how many times he had been shocked today.

Such a powerful skill, with only a 90-second cooldown, and it could be used continuously all day.

Is this what a Heaven-Tier Skill is? No wonder those four Players who possessed Heaven-Tier Skills eventually became powerhouses in their own right.

It's too broken!

The Fierce Beasts came again, and unsurprisingly, this time there were thirty level 7 Fierce Beasts.

Fierce Beasts of this level were a challenge even for veteran Players like Wind Snow Traveler, and the members of Xiao Fan Team were nervous to the point of breaking.

Although their strength was a bit higher than other novice Players, they were only level 4 after all. Under the level suppression of level 7, they could lose their lives if they were even grazed by a Fierce Beast.

"Brother Chen, you must keep your skill active at all times," Garfield Without Fat said pitifully.

Xiao Fan nodded.

Even without them saying it, Xiao Fan knew the skill couldn't be interrupted.

The stat allocation of the Power of Balance really affected their strength; against level 7 Fierce Beasts, other than Wind Snow Traveler, the damage output of the other veterans was lacking.

Facing a Beast Tide, the slower you kill, the greater the pressure.

Fortunately, with Xiao Fan's skill this time, they finally managed to eliminate the level 7 Fierce Beasts while under the protection of shields, healing, and status restoration.

Xiao Fan had originally wanted to take the opportunity to ask Wind Snow Traveler how many waves of Fierce Beasts there would be in the Beast Tide.

But after the level 7 Fierce Beasts were wiped out this time, level 8 Fierce Beasts followed one after another, leaving no time for anyone to rest.

The intensity of the Fierce Beasts' attacks was increasing!

Fortunately, Xiao Fan's skill could clear negative status effects.

The pressure from the Level 8 Fierce Beasts was already immense for the Xiao Fan Team.

Han the Person had already been injured several times, and it was only because Xiao Fan acted as both healer and shield that he had survived.

Things were no better for Wind Snow Traveler and his group; they were currently relying entirely on Xiao Fan's skills to hold the line.

The time it took for skills to finish their CD was the most agonizing period for them.

Just as they saw only four Level 8 Fierce Beasts remaining, before anyone could even catch their breath, Level 9 Fierce Beasts appeared in the distance.

The frequency of the Fierce Beasts' attacks increased once again.

At this, the expression on Wind Snow Traveler's face turned ugly in an instant.

"If you can't hold on, head to the back," Wind Snow Traveler said, looking at the four members of the Xiao Fan Team.

To be honest, Wind Snow Traveler was already shocked that the four of them had managed to make it to the Level 8 Fierce Beasts; this was something that had never happened before.

In the past, the new Players who came to Zone 18 rarely survived the Beast Tide, even after developing for a year.

Yet, the Xiao Fan Team had been here for less than a month, and not only had they survived until now, they had even fought alongside them against the Level 8 Fierce Beasts.

This was already a miracle!

Garfield Without Fat had no choice but to retreat; fighting until now was already their limit.

Against Level 9 Fierce Beasts, it would be difficult for them to put up a fight even without making mistakes, and under the suppression of a five-level gap, they could no longer deal much damage.

"This is the final wave, hold on."

Wind Snow Traveler said to the veteran Players beside him.

"Boss, with Jiu Chen's skills, killing these Level 9 Fierce Beasts is only a matter of time."

Blade Shadow smiled at Xiao Fan. Having gone through such a long battle, his face was now covered in blood, making his original features unrecognizable; only his white teeth were particularly visible under the lights.

Xiao Fan was moved for a moment.

"Jiu Chen, thank you."

Wind Snow Traveler's voice was not loud, but it reached Xiao Fan's ears clearly.

"Don't mention it, after all, I am also a part of Zone 18."

When the last Level 8 Fierce Beast was killed, the Level 9 Fierce Beasts had already reached the entrance of the village, and Wind Snow Traveler and his group continued the fight.

Level 9 Fierce Beasts took a long time to kill.

Moreover, the Novice Village was right behind them; Wind Snow Traveler and his group could not retreat, not even if they were injured.

Because once they retreated, the Novice Village behind them would be gone.

They had no choice but to endure the damage from the Fierce Beasts while fighting.

The battle was brutal.

But there was no other way!

Xiao Fan kept a close eye on his skill CD, releasing his skills the moment they were ready, terrified that being a second too slow would result in someone dying.

I must create a large-scale area-of-effect skill for my next skill, Xiao Fan resolved at that moment.

With over thirty Level 9 Fierce Beasts, it had taken Wind Snow Traveler and his group half an hour to kill less than half of them.

Fortunately, no one had been injured.

According to what Wind Snow Traveler had said earlier, this should be the final wave of the Beast Tide.

If nothing went wrong, they had held them off!

The new Players behind them stood together, watching the people fighting in front with tension, their eyes red as they prayed silently.

This was the only thing they could do right now.

If nothing went wrong, then something went wrong.

Just as the group of veteran Players led by Wind Snow Traveler cleared out most of the Fierce Beasts, a dull vibration came from the ground beneath their feet without warning. The tremor spread up through their soles, and the very air seemed to grow tense.

"Thump, thump, thump~"

As the vibrations approached from the distance, everyone's expression changed.

"How can this be? In the past, the Beast Tide would end once the Level 9 Fierce Beasts were killed."

Xiao Fan could no longer see Blade Shadow's face, only hear the extreme terror in his voice.

Why were there still Fierce Beasts after the Level 9 ones?

As the sound grew closer, the information for the beasts behind appeared.

Name: Heaven-Devouring Tiger Level: 10 HP: 2000/2000

Level 10 Fierce Beasts! More than thirty Level 10 Fierce Beasts!

"It's over!"

At this moment, the color drained from everyone's faces.

They hadn't even finished off the Level 9 Fierce Beasts, and now, Level 10 Fierce Beasts had arrived.

"Why would a Level 10 Fierce Beast appear? The previous Beast Tides only ever went up to Level 9."

"It's over! We're truly finished now; we're all going to die, everyone is going to die!"

At this moment, even the veteran Players who had survived several Beast Tides were breaking down, let alone the new Players.

"Waaah, I'm going to die."

"I want my mom. I'm sorry, Mom, I won't be able to make it back alive."

"Damn this Cloud Sea, I never should have entered this game in the first place."

The scene was filled with sounds of regret, despair, and weeping.

"Everyone calm the hell down! We aren't dead yet, keep fighting!" Wind Snow Traveler roared while hacking away at the Magic Beasts.

"Even if we manage to kill these Level 9 Fierce Beasts, what about the Level 10s behind them? There are over thirty Level 10 Fierce Beasts, and there are only 20 of us. We can't win."

"Boss, it's useless." Blade Shadow's voice was laced with despair.

Xiao Fan looked at the Level 9 Fierce Beasts in front of him and the Level 10s drawing ever closer, his fists clenched tight.

With the strength of Wind Snow Traveler and the others, even dealing with the Level 9 Fierce Beasts was a struggle; there was simply no possibility of winning against the Level 10s.

Am I really going to die just after transmigrating? I still have so many overpowered skills I haven't created yet...

Skills! That's it, I can create skills!

I currently have 9,540 Core Power; I only need 460 more to reach Level 5. Once I hit Level 5, I can create a skill.

I remember Wind Snow Traveler saying that novice Players can trade 1,000 Core Power per month.

Thinking of this, Xiao Fan ignored the danger and ran up to Wind Snow Traveler.

"Lend me 500 Core Power, right now."

"With our current strength, we can't beat the final wave of the Beast Tide. Give me 500 Core Power, and I can reach Level 5 to create a new skill. I'm confident I can create a skill to deal with these Fierce Beasts."

As soon as Xiao Fan finished speaking, the system notified him that he had received a transfer of 1,000 Core Power from Wind Snow Traveler.

"I'm counting on you," Wind Snow Traveler said solemnly.

At this point, he had no choice but to trust Xiao Fan.

He was able to create such a powerful Heaven-Tier Skill; he should be able to create an even more powerful one, right?

Wind Snow Traveler thought to himself.

After receiving the Core Power, Xiao Fan immediately bought 10,000 experience points to reach Level 5.

Name: Jiu Chen

Level: 5 (0/20000)

HP: 560/560

MP: 10374/10374 (+9809)

Strength: 10

Intelligence: 14

Spirit: 19

Agility: 22

Physique: 20

Traits: Saint, Gardener

Skills: Halo of the Saint, Gift of the Holy Mother 4

Equipment: None

Core Power: 540

"Congratulations to the Player for reaching Level 5. The second self-created skill slot is now unlocked."

"Would you like to create a skill now?"

Seeing the Gardener trait, Xiao Fan felt like crying but had no tears.

Gardener—what kind of ridiculous trait is this!

"Stupid game, giving me a Gardener trait at a critical moment like this? Are you trying to force me to my death?"

"Could it be because I've been planting the Seven-Colored Flower lately?"

"It's very likely. In my past life, I died saving someone, and didn't the system give me the Saint trait then?"

So, traits were defined by the Player's recent actions.

"Damn it, if I had known it was like this, I would have been playing around with Thunder Fire lately."

Xiao Fan couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret.

Thunder and Fire were the most domineering elements; if he had updated traits related to them, he could have created many large-area damage skills to resolve his current predicament.

But as it happened, he had been busy planting Seven-Colored Flower to farm mana recently.

With Gift of the Saint and Gardener, he could only create skills based on these two traits, or else he risked failure.

"Jiu Chen! Have you finished creating it? Activate a skill first!" Wind Snow Traveler's voice rang out, sounding slightly urgent.

"Right away." Seeing that the CD for Gift of the Saint was up, Xiao Fan activated the skill first.

"Gardener, Gardener, how on earth am I supposed to create a skill?" Watching the level 10 Fierce Beast draw closer, Xiao Fan broke out in a cold sweat.

This creation opportunity was different from the previous ones; if he failed, the entire Novice Village, himself included, would die here.

This was the last chance for him and everyone in Zone 18.

"Damn it, I'll risk it."

Xiao Fan spent 30 points of Core Power to boost his base 14 Intelligence to 20, and bought one additional point of Spirit.

Now, both his Intelligence and Spirit had reached 20 points.

Xiao Fan clicked on Create Skill.

Please create a skill for your character.

Xiao Fan finished writing it up rapidly.

This skill creation will cost 10 points of Core Power. Confirm creation?

Confirm.

"Skill creation complete. Upon inspection, this skill has not appeared in the game before and requires system verification. There is a chance of failure. Do you wish to proceed?"

Yes.

System verifying, please wait.

It has to succeed. Xiao Fan stared fixedly at the panel in front of him, his fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Jiu Chen, hurry up! We can't hold on much longer!" Wind Snow Traveler roared.

The appearance of the level 10 Fierce Beast had dealt a psychological blow to many veteran Players.

The teams that had been fighting desperately were now showing signs of collapse.

"Right away! It'll be ready in a second."

Xiao Fan's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

Hurry! Come on, system, hurry up!

Ding.

Congratulations Player, skill creation successful. Would you like to view it now?

"It succeeded!" Xiao Fan took a deep breath.

View immediately.

Skill Name: Flower Grafting

Skill Rank: God Rank

Skill Description: Consumes 200 mana points to mark two points, [Flower] and [Wood], in a designated area. After 5 seconds, all units within the range of the two marks will swap their HP and all attribute resistances. This state lasts for 3 minutes.

When the skill effect ends, all friendly units will be restored to their full state; enemy units will take a large-area magic damage hit and be afflicted with a "Weakened" status for 5 seconds (reducing their attack and defense).

Additionally, if an enemy unit dies while the skill is active, they cannot be resurrected after the effect ends.

[Note: This skill only takes effect on targets no more than 5 levels higher than the user.]

Cooldown: 24 hours

Creation Attributes: Intelligence 20(+) Spirit 20(+) Constitution 20(+) Agility 20(+)

Creation Trait: Gardener (Unique)