Chapter 580 – Tier 6 Advanced Concentration
“Brother Black Flame, while the description of Soul Blood states that it can be used to permanently improve a player’s Concentration, its actual effects are minimal,” Splashing Fire sincerely explained when he saw Shi Feng using his privilege to acquire the Soul Blood. “Quite a few parties in town have obtained the Soul Blood before, and they were all deceived by its described effects initially. They all thought they had gotten their hands on some great treasure, and one of the top-ranking teams had even paid a significant amount of money to purchase the Soul Blood from others. However, out of everyone who has used Soul Blood, not a single person managed to raise their Concentration standards.”[1]
“It was quite a well-known incident back then,” Budding Leaf added. “The team originally intended to use Soul Blood to raise three of its newcomers’ Concentration standards from Tier 6 Basic to Tier 6 Intermediate since, after factoring in the help of a Mana Purification Technique, the team would promptly gain three more capable combatants. However, even though all three of those newcomers were originally already stuck at the limits of the Tier 6 Basic standard, none of them managed to raise their Concentration to the Tier 6 Intermediate standard. The outcome nearly drove everyone on that team to madness.”
Moon Bamboo also nodded, expressing her agreement with Splashing Fire and Budding Leaf.
By now, they had already regarded Shi Feng as one of their own. Not to mention, as a Half-step Tier 6 expert, Shi Feng might become even stronger than Sky Pivot once he learned a Mana Purification Technique. So, it was in their best interests to dissuade him from a bad decision and form a good relationship with him.
“Even at the limits of the Tier 6 Basic standard, they didn’t achieve a breakthrough?”
Billowing Water was taken aback when she heard Budding Leaf’s explanation.
Previously, she, too, had contemplated whether she should go for the Soul Blood. After all, if she could push her Concentration to the Tier 6 Intermediate standard, paired with the Bronze Mana Purification Technique, she could reach the Half-step Tier 6 standard, or possibly even higher.
“It’s fine. I’ll choose it,” Shi Feng stated firmly as he continued holding onto the Soul Blood.
Soul Blood was a material unique to the Eternal Realm, and it was available in scarce quantities. During his previous life, any Soul Blood that appeared on the market would be immediately snatched up by the various pseudo-apex and apex powers. Other powers wouldn’t even have a chance to obtain one.
Honestly, Shi Feng had still been skeptical when he first saw the vial of Soul Blood previously. After all, how could he come across one so easily? However, after Moon Bamboo appraised it, he promptly resolved to make a trade with Billowing Water.
Soul Blood’s introduction was true in that it could be used to improve a player’s Concentration standard. However, what the introduction didn’t mention was how players should go about using Soul Blood.
Because of this, during the initial phase of Soul Blood’s discovery, players would ingest Soul Blood directly and receive negligible improvements to their Concentration. This, in turn, led to Soul Blood being treated as garbage by players and left in a corner to collect dust for a considerable amount of time after its initial discovery.
During his previous life, it wasn’t until players discovered a library that had survived in the Eternal Realm since the Mythical Era did the various powers become aware of the correct way to utilize Soul Blood. When that discovery was made, it caused a sensation throughout the entire Greater God’s Domain.
According to records found in the ancient library, there were three ways to utilize Soul Blood.
The first method was to ingest it directly. This method yielded the worst results, and it could only let players with Concentration below the Tier 6 standard achieve a one-rank improvement. Moreover, this method would only be effective once, with subsequent consumptions of Soul Blood not yielding any improvements. And if players with Tier 6 Concentration tried to ingest Soul Blood directly, they would only receive negligible improvements.
The second method was to refine Soul Blood into a Soul Amplification Potion. When players consumed the Soul Amplification Potion, they would see a permanent increase of one or two ranks to their Concentration standard. While players of all Concentration standards could use this second method, each player could only consume one Soul Amplification Potion in their lifetime.
The third method was to merge with the Soul Blood by dripping it onto one’s eye. This method would cause players to experience scorching pain like no other in their souls. So long as players could endure the pain and avoid losing consciousness throughout the merging process, the Soul Blood would thoroughly merge with their souls and permanently improve their Concentration by one rank. Likewise, each player could only use this method once in their lifetime.
Of the three methods, the second method was both the safest and most effective. Coming in second in effectiveness was the third method, but it was also the riskiest of the three methods. However, regardless of the method, players could only try one. Once they successfully applied one of the three methods, they would become immune to the effects of Soul Blood.
Currently, producing the Soul Amplification Potion was out of the question for Shi Feng. Firstly, he didn’t have the recipe. Secondly, even if he did have the recipe, he would need a Great Grandmaster Alchemist to produce the potion for him, and it would be done at a low success rate of thirty to forty percent.
Hence, he could only go with the third method of utilizing the Soul Blood. It was also the most common method used by players who had obtained Soul Blood in his previous life.
Although the Soul Amplification Potion could improve Concentration by up to two ranks, the opportunity for players with Tier 6 Concentration to permanently increase their Concentration by one rank was enough to make countless experts lose their minds. It was especially so for players operating on the Western Continent. Such an improvement would allow players to achieve a qualitative improvement.
When Sky Pivot and the others saw Shi Feng’s determination, they no longer tried to dissuade him. Instead, they proceeded with allocating the remaining loot based on party contribution.
Unsurprisingly, the four Combat Secret Treasures were distributed to Sky Pivot, Moon Bamboo, Billowing Water, and Shi Feng. As for the four Common Secret Treasures, they were evenly distributed between Splashing Fire and Budding Leaf.
Once the party finished distributing the loot, Sky Pivot promptly summoned a dozen rat-sized stealth summons and scattered them outside the cave. When it came to scouting, these stealth summons were as capable as Rangers and Assassins.
With one eye closed, Sky Pivot observed the situation outside the cave through the eyes of his summons. Then, he solemnly said, “There are still a couple of Holy Race teams outside. I’m afraid we’ll have to wait until they move some distance away before we can leave.”
“Sure enough, those people won’t give up so easily. I guess we just have to have a competition of patience with them like always,” Splashing Fire said, unperturbed by this outcome. Then, he went to sit in a corner of the cave and started researching the Common Secret Treasures he just obtained.
As for everyone else, they, too, began researching their respective harvests while awaiting further orders from the party leader.
I guess I can also use this opportunity to raise my Concentration, Shi Feng thought when he saw that everyone was busy with their respective affairs. Then, he stepped into a dark corner of the cave and cautiously dripped the Soul Blood onto his right eye.
Immediately after the scarlet liquid made contact with his eyeball, Shi Feng immediately felt rampant energy invading his soul and trying to corrode his entire being.
In just an instant, Shi Feng felt like flames were scorching his body, inside and outside.
It really hurts! Shi Feng mentally exclaimed as he stared at the scarlet veins that appeared all over his body. He didn’t think merging with the Soul Blood would be so excruciatingly painful. If not for the countless hardships he experienced in his previous life, he would have probably screamed in agony right about now.
However, amidst the pain, Shi Feng could also feel strands of Eternal Energy flowing into the depths of his Immortal Soul and improving its resilience.
The painful experience lasted for a full twenty minutes before disappearing, leaving Shi Feng with a sense of liberation. Immediately afterward, the sound of a system notification entered his ears.
System: Congratulations! You have achieved Tier 6 Advanced Concentration while still being at Tier 5. Rewarding Mental Dominator title.
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