Chapter 158: Two-Star Champion's Aria (Bonus Chapter for 8.1)

"Voice, ask the girls in your legion if anyone wants someone to carry them through runs, and contact me in your management chat after I log on next time!"

Sound of the Ocean nodded. "Any special requirements? Like how long the girls' legs should be, or what cup size? Do they need baby voices?"

"Go loot your drops, damn it."

Huang Yunshuo rolled his eyes.

This Sound of the Ocean was an amusingly quirky girl. Once they got familiar, she would out of nowhere make dirty jokes. Relying on her hot, sexy figure and contradictory baby voice, she always managed to leave him slightly overwhelmed.

"The carrying fee is two-thirds of the drops. Make sure you explain my drop rates to them clearly."

Huang Yunshuo added.

"Mhm mhm, got it."

Clatter. Enhancement successful.

A white enhancement stone vanished in his palm, and the faint white glow on the rocket launcher resting on the ground flickered slightly before vanishing rapidly.

An enhancement progress bar appeared on the rocket launcher's attribute bar.

Current progress: 1/300.

Pfft.

Huang Yunshuo coughed up a mouthful of old blood, feeling thoroughly miserable.

He had expected that because this bullshit weapon was of a higher tier and looked green on the surface, it wouldn't be unreasonable for it to actually be blue or even rare blue, so a thicker enhancement slot was normal. He just never imagined it would be absurdly thick to this extent.

What the hell? Does that mean the 300-plus enhancement stones in my hand are only enough to forge yours truly? And that's just to upgrade it to 1-star enhancement?

There really is a string of profanities I am debating whether to utter.

Pulling out the Champion's Chant as well, Huang Yunshuo attempted an enhancement.

Clatter. Enhancement successful.

The extra enhancement progress bar showed 1/150. While not low, it was only half the data of the rocket launcher's enhancement slot.

"Drifting Snow, enhance your Cerberus's Kiss," Huang Yunshuo asked.

"3/75," Ye Piaoxue said.

"Did you enhance it three times?"

"No, the first attempt directly triggered a 3x critical success."

"Is it that awesome? Could it be that the lower the equipment tier, the higher the enhancement critical rate?"

Huang Yunshuo could only temporarily push the infuriating rocket launcher out of his mind and began wildly enhancing the Champion's Chant.

Enhancement successful!
Enhancement successful!
Enhancement successful!
...

The progress bar began to jump forward continuously. Huang Yunshuo discovered that there was about a one-third chance of a double critical and a one-tenth chance of a triple critical. Averaged out in the end, 1 white enhancement stone yielded 1.5 points of progress. To completely fill the 150-point enhancement progress slot took about 100 stones.

Facts proved his calculations were entirely correct.

Just as the 98th enhancement stone was used, accompanied by a double critical prompt, the entire Champion's Chant spear radiated a dazzling brilliance, lingering for quite a while before slowly fading away.

The shape of the spear shaft also altered slightly, appearing increasingly fierce, and holding it in his hand imparted a strong sense of overflowing power.

[Event Equipment] Champion's Chant (Spear), Green Level 16 (Bound) ★
Attack: 30-35
Strength: +3
Physical Penetration: +1

"What the heck, why does it add Strength!"

Huang Yunshuo was practically speechless. He could understand the 3 attribute points added, as this was already one-tenth of the Champion's Chant's attributes.

Yet damn it, instead of giving Attack, Agility, or Constitution, it gave Strength. It felt somewhat like a tasteless chicken rib.

Looking at his Strength attribute rise from 169 to 172, Huang Yunshuo shook his head with a wry smile.

"Continue enhancing!"

Seeing the new enhancement slot appear, Huang Yunshuo's spirits perked up.

0/225

It was just 150 enhancement stones; he could afford it!

"Wait, failure rates are appearing."

Observing the failure rate prompt that occurred roughly once every 5 attempts, Huang Yunshuo made the somewhat tragic discovery that by the time he enhanced this spear to 2 stars, there probably wouldn't be many white enhancement stones left in his hands.

The 201st stone.

The Champion's Chant radiated dazzling light once more, successfully upgrading to 2 stars!

He grabbed the spear. When it reached 1-star previously, he had felt a surge of power enter his body, ultimately adding to Strength. He wondered what kind of change in hand-feel this upgrade would bring.

"It became lighter. Looks like it added 3 to 4 points of Agility."

A thought flickered in Huang Yunshuo's mind.

[Event Equipment] Champion's Chant (Spear), Green Level 17 (Bound) ★★
Attack: 30-35
Strength: +3
Agility: +4
Physical Penetration: +1

"Now this is nice!"

Huang Yunshuo was quite satisfied.

Strength was something where moderation was enough, since the expected returns were limited and raising it beyond a certain threshold yielded mediocre effects.

However, Agility was something one could never have enough of. Critical strikes, critical resistance, hit rate, evasion, movement speed, and all sorts of other things were tied to it. Gaining 4 points all at once certainly did justice to these 200 enhancement stones.

Looking at the enhancement slot, which had now become 0/350, he didn't dare use the remaining stones. He hoisted the spear and walked toward the third-floor staircase.

"If we change our equipment in the future, will the enhancement stones be refunded to us?"

Sound of the Ocean asked.

"They'll probably return a percentage. That's usually how these rules work; a 100% refund is definitely impossible, but it won't waste too much anyway," Huang Yunshuo said.

"What price do you think enhancement stones will reach on the market?"

Sound of the Ocean asked again. She knew this brilliant big boss was exceptionally skilled at making money and was quite sensitive to the market.

"What price it will reach..."

Huang Yunshuo chuckled slyly.

Farming enhancement stones himself was as easy as spanking his son, but other players weren't nearly as lucky. Not to mention regular players facing supply-demand shortages, even gaming studios and gold-farming guilds couldn't farm many that they could afford to sell.

This was much like the capital market, where industry leaders and monopolies often generated super-profits that could sway the entire sector. Right now, the price of enhancement stones didn't need to be dictated by the market; Huang Yunshuo could just decide it himself!

Enhancing to 1 star added 10% to attributes, and the crucial part was that it was random. Coupled with the rocket launcher's infuriating progress slot, Huang Yunshuo had no intention of continuing to enhance his two weapons for now. Any remaining stones he farmed would be completely stockpiled.

When the time came, he would release them all at once. Whatever price he named, the market would have to follow!

"Therefore, our clearance efficiency must continue to improve!" Huang Yunshuo thought solemnly.

"Make sure to bring plenty of the magic recovery sprays I asked for!" He added to Sound of the Ocean.

Floor 3.

Huang Yunshuo didn't dare get too close to Utor, afraid that infuriating helmet would drag him into assassinating the boss again.

He had originally wanted to temporarily stash the Taunting Helmet away, but its 10-point defense bonus was simply too substantial, and the 15-point Agility and 5% movement speed bonuses were equally impressive. Reluctant to put it away, he could only grit his teeth and keep using it.

Fortunately, while Utor's hostility toward the Taunting Helmet's taunt effect was indeed greater, there were many Crow Slaves close by. When Huang Yunshuo deliberately lured them away from Utor, the helmet's obnoxious attribute stopped affecting Utor, making Huang Yunshuo let out a sigh of relief.

"Kill them! Kill them!"

Utor stood in the distance, hopping up and down and shouting, flapping its wings to look majestic and excited. Yet who would have guessed that right now, it was merely an idiot creature with neither attributes nor courage.

Ye Piaoxue and Sound of the Ocean climbed onto the stairs again, positioned directly above Huang Yunshuo, while Sound of the Ocean continuously cast heavenly holy words from above.

Although Sound of the Ocean's healing output had reached over a hundred points, because Huang Yunshuo's attack frequency was higher and his damage numbers were larger, combined with the fact that the Crow Slaves had no idea how to attack her overhead, the two women remained completely safe and sound.

Ye Piaoxue was reduced purely to a spectator, watching Huang Yunshuo rely on his high movement speed and displacement skills to kite the 20 Crow Slaves around like dogs, while Sound of the Ocean occasionally cast a holy word spell to top off his health pool.

If things continued to develop at this rate, perhaps in less than 10 seconds, the first Crow Slave to be worn down to death would appear.

Right at this moment, Huang Yunshuo felt the Deceiving Pearl in his backpack emit a faint glow.