"Virtual Universe, find me some high-potential spear techniques, movement techniques, and defensive martial arts in the 2 God-King Coin price range. Also, get me a set of Ability Skills compatible with Destruction Power!"
Lance issued the command without a second thought.
The reason he needed a specific set for Destruction Power was simple: he didn't have any. While he could already manifest the terrifying strength of Destruction Power on his own—given that the energy itself was inherently devastating—finding dedicated Ability Skills would allow him to unleash even more explosive combat potential.
In a sense, this was the most direct way to bolster his overall strength.
Of course, for powers at such a staggering level, even specialized Ability Skills wouldn't provide a massive multiplier to his raw output. The giant axe Lance had manifested previously was a makeshift technique, yet its power already rivaled ordinary 11th or 12th-tier martial arts. Even if he eventually upgraded to a 15th-tier Immortal Class technique, it might only be several times stronger than that initial casual strike.
However, any buff was better than none. This was his peak combat capacity; every ten-percent increase in power represented a qualitative leap in lethality.
"Understood. Compiling a list of all required techniques and martial arts now."
A prompt chimed in his ear.
Momentarily, a page filled with spear techniques materialized before him. Every single one was at least 12th-tier Peak-Grade, with a few 12th-tier High-Grades mixed in. These specific techniques were priced higher because their final damage scaling outperformed others in the same rank.
Lance opened the detailed descriptions for each one. At the same time, he activated his system to inspect their Exploits.
Instantly, the Exploit values for every technique flooded his vision.
He remembered the system’s condition clearly: the first time he reached over a trillion Exploits in a weapon-based attack, a defensive technique, a movement technique, and an elemental Ability Skill, the system would grant him a direct breakthrough to the next major realm.
This was exactly why he had swapped his previous Holy Light Power techniques for Destruction Power. It wasn't that he had been foolish before; he simply hadn't possessed any compatible martial arts for his new energy. Such things were likely incredibly rare throughout the entire cosmos. If even the Virtual Universe couldn't provide them, Lance feared his only option would have been to seek out The Destroyer Supreme as a master.
"Three hundred billion? That’s too low! What the hell? This 12th-tier technique only has ninety billion Exploits? That means its rank won't even increase after a repair! Hmm... forty trillion? That’s decent, but it’s still inferior to my previous spear technique."
Lance muttered to himself, growing frustrated as he scanned the numbers. Low Exploit counts meant low potential. Low potential meant that even after leveling them up, they wouldn't provide a significant boost to his cultivation realm. If that was the case, what was the point of redeeming them?
Fortunately, the Virtual Universe’s inventory was staggering. Lance soon noticed a pattern: at the same price point, the lower the initial rank of the technique, the higher its potential!
"Interesting. If that's the case, I don't need to hunt blindly. Virtual Universe, list all spear techniques valued at two God-King Coins with the lowest possible initial rank."
Having cracked the logic, Lance gave the updated order.
"Acknowledged!"
The Virtual Universe processed the request instantly. The list before Lance refreshed, replaced by spear techniques that were only 12th-tier Low-Grade.
Lance stared at the results, momentarily stunned.
"Fck me. A 12th-tier Low-Grade sells for two God-King Coins?! No wonder that reward for taking first place—choosing a random 10th-tier Gold Tier - Low technique—was valued at a thousand God-King Coins!"
He couldn't help but complain, but he began his selection nonetheless. For him, a low starting rank wasn't a problem; low potential was the only dealbreaker.
"Wait, this one looks promising!"
Lance’s eyes lit up when he spotted a 12th-tier Low-Grade spear technique boasting sixty trillion Exploits.
Sixty trillion. That meant once it was upgraded, it would become a High-Grade Immortal Grade technique. And after the system boosted it by an additional major realm, it would reach High-Grade Immortal Class. That would be equivalent to a technique with 600 trillion Exploits!
"If I repair this, it will undoubtedly become my most powerful martial art. This is the one!"
Lance smiled and made his choice without hesitation: a technique called the Slaughter Demon Spear.
He quickly moved on to the other categories. It didn't take long for him to finalize his movement and defensive techniques.
"Now for the Destruction Power Ability Skills." Lance’s eyes narrowed slightly in anticipation.
"Sir, within the entire Virtual Universe inventory, there are only seven Destruction Power Ability Skills below the 12th-tier Peak-Grade."
The Virtual Universe delivered a report that left Lance speechless. Only seven? That was pathetic.
"Because the copyrights for the majority of Destruction Power Ability Skills are owned by The Destroyer Supreme, the Virtual Universe—while possessing the data—only has the authority to sell these seven."
The explanation followed immediately, clearing up Lance's confusion.
"I see. That makes sense." Lance nodded. It stood to reason; almost everyone in the universe who had mastered Destruction Power was a disciple of The Destroyer Supreme. Naturally, they had created their own techniques and kept them under tight control.
"List them anyway. Let me see what we're working with."
As soon as he spoke, seven Ability Skills appeared before him. The lowest among them was already 12th-tier. It made sense—even a crude application of Destruction Power could reach the 11th-tier; any refined Ability Skill created for it wouldn't possibly fall below that.
Lance glanced at the Exploit counts and was pleasantly surprised to find they were all in the trillions. The most impressive one, the Ray of Destruction, even reached ten trillion Exploits.
But what truly shocked Lance was the price. It was zero. Every single one of them was free.
"It makes sense. Without Destruction Power, these things are completely useless. Besides, someone like The Destroyer Supreme definitely isn't hurting for cash."
Lance nodded slightly, but then his pupils suddenly constricted.
"Free of charge?"
Holy sht. Did that mean even techniques above the twelfth rank might not cost a thing?
"Virtual Universe, list every Destruction Power Ability Skill I can afford!"
Lance didn't hesitate to give the command.
"Understood. There are 24 Ability Skills within the search parameters. Please review them."
As expected, there were indeed techniques above the twelfth rank that Lance could afford.
Even better, the selection included twenty-four different techniques. While it was still a relatively small number, it was more than enough for his needs.
He opened the descriptions for the twenty-four Ability Skills and immediately discovered that the highest-ranked among them actually reached the fifteenth rank.
And it was free.
However, the Exploits for this particular martial technique were over ten trillion. This meant that even if he repaired it, its rank wouldn't increase.
He scanned through the list and found that the Exploits for these Ability Skills ranged from a few trillion to nearly twenty trillion.
Finally, Lance’s eyes landed on an Ability Skill with Exploits reaching fifty trillion.
Most importantly, this Ability Skill was only at the thirteenth rank.
This meant that once his Primordial Sovereign Physique broke its limits, reaching the perfect level with this technique would be a simple task.
"Heh, since it's free, I'm not going to hold back!"
Lance grinned and immediately exchanged for the martial technique without a second thought.
"Purchase successful. Would you like to continue purchasing martial techniques?"
The Virtual Universe prompted him once the selection was finalized.
"Yeah, keep going. This time, find me a technique similar to Sky Demon's Blood Escape."
Lance pondered for a moment before speaking to the system again.
A technique like Sky Demon's Blood Escape was easily replaceable. That was why he chose to find a new one rather than breaking the current one's limits.
However, something like Berserk Absorption was different. Its primary draw wasn't just the increased absorption speed, but the fact that it damaged his body in the process. For anyone else, such a technique would be garbage.
After all, no one would willingly damage their own body just for a bit of extra speed unless they were desperate for revenge and possessed a death wish.
But for Lance, it was a completely different story. With his powerful Undying God-Body, he could repair himself instantly while simultaneously increasing his strength.
This technique was arguably superior to almost any of his Immortal Class manuals.
Therefore, as long as he had Reconstruction Quotas in the future, Lance was determined to keep pushing the limits of Berserk Absorption.
"Command accepted. Commencing search."
The Virtual Universe responded immediately to his request.
Vroom!
In the next instant, a mountain of manuals appeared before Lance. Like Sky Demon Dissolution, these were all techniques that sacrificed one's physical body, flesh, or Soul to boost combat power.
Lance scanned the options and quickly locked onto the one with the highest Exploits: Demon King's Sacrifice.
"Another Celestial Fiends technique? That race really has a thing for self-mutilation."
Reading the description, Lance couldn't help but feel exasperated. This technique was essentially an enhanced version of Sky Demon Dissolution.
However, the buffs it provided were significantly more terrifying.
The higher the sacrifice ratio, the more monstrous the effect became.
Most techniques of this type followed a pattern; the rank only determined the efficiency of the energy conversion from the sacrifice. In many cases, sacrificing your entire body might only grant a few-fold increase in power because most of the energy was wasted.
Techniques that provided multipliers of dozens or even hundreds of times pushed every drop of energy to its absolute limit. However, this also meant the duration was much shorter. After all, the total energy in a person's flesh was finite.
Since the total energy couldn't be increased, the only way to boost the output was to compress the time.
Yet, for Lance, a short duration simply wasn't a problem. He could recover tens of thousands of times in a single second.
Even at its briefest, this technique would still last over ten seconds.
Lance could repair himself and sacrifice his body over and over again, allowing his power to remain at its peak indefinitely.
"Exchange complete. Commencing data transfer of all techniques."
A notification chimed in his mind, and Lance immediately felt a flood of memories rushing in like a tidal wave.
These memories were stored into his Consciousness Hub at a staggering speed.
"The Virtual Universe’s transfer function is impressive. I didn't feel a thing."
He smiled as he realized his Soul hadn't suffered the slightest strain. Back when he used the Human Race's transfer functions, he always ended up with a massive headache.
And that was only because of his massive Soul; an ordinary person would likely have had their mind scrambled by such a massive data dump.
The Virtual Universe clearly didn't have that issue.
"Now that the techniques are ready, it's time to train!"
With that thought, Lance prepared to head back to the Infinite Resurrection Arena to begin his cultivation.
Dong—!
Suddenly, something changed. A melodious bell tolling, one that seemed to shake the very foundations of heaven and earth, echoed throughout the entire Virtual Universe.
In that instant, everyone—whether they were in the Duel Arena or listed on the Powerhouse Ranking—froze in place.
From the lowliest commoner to the mightiest Immortal Realm powerhouse, every single entity within the Virtual Universe was paralyzed, unable to move a muscle.
But the phenomenon wasn't restricted to the Virtual Universe. A second later, the same bell toll resonated through the physical universe as well.
The appearance of this sound struck terror into the hearts of countless trillions, leaving them wondering what on earth was happening.
Civilizations that had never contacted high-level societies and knew nothing of the Virtual Universe were completely panicked.
Some Primitive Civilizations even fell to their knees, bowing and praying to the heavens in terror.
"The Eternal Bell... this is the legendary Eternal Bell!"
"The Eternal Bell has tolled? What is going on?"
"Something big is happening. Something massive! What the hell is going on?"
System Notification: A massive stockpile has been detected!
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