Chapter 530 - 20,000 Stats Points!

Lian did not feel anything special about this.

If someone only looked at the final result, they might think that they had hunted down a Level 50 Fallen with fairly good speed.

The reality was very different.

Lian himself, with the Fallen Monster talent, created clear pressure on monsters and managed to suppress their power to some degree.

He had the World-Devourer Bastion, an Ancient armor that had saved his life many times.

He had a Core containing Essence belonging to a Demon-ranked being inside his body.

Two was with them, a Level 40 Fallen who was not even considered normal among Fallens.

One had helped to some degree, and more importantly, there was Kain.

Kain was not only a powerful Awakened himself, but the Sphere of Witness, an artifact belonging to one of the Seven Divines, had turned his attacks into something much more dangerous.

Midday Judgment and Light Echo alone had broken through a large part of the Leviathan’s final defense.

If a normal group of Awakeneds had entered the same battle instead of them, their first attack would probably have been the end of them.

Therefore, having the reward cut in half was fair.

He went to his Stats.

[Strength: 4,200.]

[Spirit: 2,900.]

[Speed: 3,400.]

[Mana: 3,156.]

[Resistance: 2,700.]

[Total: 16,356.]

[Stat Points: 4,730.]

Lian thought for a few seconds and then started dividing them.

[Strength: 4,200 --> 5,000.]

[Spirit: 2,900--> 4,000.]

[Speed: 3,400 --> 4,200.]

[Mana: 3,156 --> 3,600.]

[Resistance: 2,700 --> 3,200.]

A familiar pressure formed inside his body.

This time, the change was not bigger than the increase before the battle, but reaching new levels in several Stats caused his body to become warm for a few seconds.

Power became denser in his muscles, his spiritual perception became clearer, and more Mana filled his pathways.

Then the final panel appeared.

[Total Stats: 20,000 / 20,000.]

[Remaining Stat Points: 1,086.]

He looked at the number twenty thousand for a few moments, he had expected his limit to be like this, so he was not too surprised.

"So I need to reach the second evolution sooner." Even so, this time he had reached his limit much earlier than he had expected.

The general rules about Stat limits were not a secret.

For someone with a five-star Class who had completed the first evolution, the limit at this stage was ten thousand.

After the second evolution, the capacity increased to fifty thousand, and the third evolution raised it to three hundred thousand.

Then there was a very large jump that many considered crazy.

The fourth evolution had a limit of five million.

That final number was so far beyond the reach of most Awakeneds that many did not even consider it a real "limit."

What did it matter how high the ceiling of a room was, when most people could not even climb halfway up its wall?

After passing the fifth evolution, common knowledge said that there was no longer a fixed limit for Stats.

But there was one small problem.

None of the Awakeneds who had actually passed all five evolutions had publicly confirmed this until now.

So maybe it was true.

Maybe it was not.

For now, Lian did not care, he had only just reached the twenty-thousand limit.

Five million was so far away that worrying about it would be stupid.

More importantly, the Stat limit did not mean the end of growth, not even close, even though he could no longer add Stats, he could at least raise his body and Soul to their peak through other methods.

Body Refinement.

And

Soul Refinement.

Both were very common among Awakeneds.

Warriors were more interested in Body Refinement.

Mages, healers, and those who had Soul or mental skills usually invested many resources into Soul Refinement.

The basic method was not complicated and the difficult part was the resources, both of these paths required absorbing very special resources in a very specific way.

In a sense, they had to bathe in the related resources.

And increasing the Strength Stat was not the same thing as Body Refinement.

Strength increased the output, the raw power of the muscles, striking power, lifting, pushing and pulling power, gripping and crushing power, the explosive acceleration of the body, and the force transferred from the legs to the waist and then to the arms, the power of jumping, and even the ability to maintain physical force when hitting something.

But if the body was not a suitable container for that power, a higher output did not always mean better performance.

Body Refinement changed the quality of the container itself, denser bones, stronger tendons and ligaments, muscles that could withstand more pressure without tearing.

Internal organs that were more resistant to impact and acceleration, better tissue recovery, more durable Mana channels inside the body, and most importantly, a body that could transfer its existing power better without damaging itself.

If the Strength Stat showed how much power the engine could produce, Body Refinement showed how much that power the frame, axles, and body could withstand.

Lian already had a big advantage in this area.

The Fallen Monster talent had greatly strengthened the structure of his body, bones, and tissues after the first evolution.

But this did not mean the end of the path.

Suitable Refinement resources could push even that monster-like body one step further.

Spirit also had a similar difference from Soul Refinement, increasing Spirit raised Soul defense, made perception more accurate, and increased the speed of processing information and concentration.

It improved mental clarity, reasoning ability, resistance against mental pressure, and control over skills.

The higher Spirit became, the easier it also became to control complex Mana structures.

Soul Refinement?

It changed the quality of the Soul itself, its stability, density, resistance against Soul damage, resistance against erosion, corruption, and direct attacks on one’s existence, faster recovery after Soul exhaustion.

It increased the ability to endure long-term use of skills whose pressure was transferred to the mind and Soul, and even created a better connection between the mind, Soul, and the individual’s skills.

In a way, they worked as complements to each other instead of being separate.

He took his eyes away from the panel.

So the twenty-thousand limit was only one of the walls.

He still had 1,086 Stat Points that he could use after his next evolution, and until then, there were still many other ways to become stronger.

[Fragments: 170.]

For some time, Lian had almost ignored two skills, not because they were useless, but because compared to his new abilities, they had fallen too far behind.

Grave Fang — Normal.

And

False Presence — Normal.

Grave Fang had been used many times to briefly capture a target or restrict a limb, but its Normal rank now had too many limitations against stronger enemies.

False Presence could only create a fake presence, which was enough against weaker enemies, but now that his enemies were this strong, it was ridiculous.

He focused on Grave Fang first.

[Direct upgrade to Divine rank detected with the use of 93 Fragments.]

[Do you wish to continue?]

Yes.

[Eternal Grave Maw.]

[Rank: Divine.]

[The user can create a maximum of ten Maws at the same time in visible locations.]

[The Maws can restrain physical targets and Mana and Soul structures.]

[The closing and restraining power increases based on the Spirit and Mana consumed.]

[After fully closing, the flow of Mana in the trapped area will be put under pressure.]

[Targets with a large difference in power can break the Maws.]

Lian read the explanation for a few seconds, he was satisfied with the upgrade, now he could use it more often and on a wider scale.

[Remaining Fragments: 77.]

[False Presence.]

[Direct upgrade with the use of all remaining Fragments detected.]

He continued anyway.

[Myriad Presence Mirage.]

[Rank: Divine.]

[The user can create several moving fake presences.]

[Each presence can perfectly imitate the user’s Mana signature, presence pressure, voice, and movement pattern.]

[The presences can move independently within the control range of the skill.]

[Current simultaneous control limit: 10 presences.]

[The combined intensity of the fake presences cannot exceed the capacity of the user’s real presence.]

[The presences are fake and cannot cause physical damage.]

[Five presences can transfer their perception to the original owner.]

[The user can also create up to one thousand fake presences, but they will only be mirages and illusions and have no abilities, and they will not even have the signatures related to the user.]

[Fragments: 0.]

Lian remained silent for a few seconds.

Five moving presences could work extremely well, especially since they were now completely identical to him and there was no difference between them.

As long as the enemy did not touch them, identifying them would be impossible, and they could be used as a surprise element or to deceive enemies.

Creating one thousand fake presences could also work very well for confusing enemies.

Then he wanted to look at One’s status, but the notification appeared first.

[The first evolution process of the special member One has been completed.]

[Do you want to see the result?]