Chapter 337: Specialization Rank Up

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The next morning had arrived, and I sat down over my bed after having taken a bath and changed clothes; I glanced at my system status, clicking at the Specialization Menu. I had already reached the necessary Essence to finally Rank Up, so I wasn’t even wasting my time and decided to do it right away.

Ding!

[You have exchanged 1.000.000 Holy Nether Essence to Rank Up your {Main Specialization}: [Legendary Herculean Holy Necromancer (S)]!]

[Holy Nether Essence is rapidly being distributed into your Soul where the Specialization Marble has taken nest.]

[The process of Specialization Rank Up is not slow, but not too fast either. Please wait patiently until it is finished.]

All the accumulated Holy Nether Essence within me began to flow rapidly across my body and then moved to the deepest parts of my soul like endless rivers of black and gold light. My specialization has been my trump card on many occasions, so I definitely had to Rank it Up and see what I could get with it.

FLUOSH!

The energies continued flowing more and more. I felt at ease, calming down and meditating as the marble within my soul spun, absorbing the energies and growing slightly larger.

As it grew larger, suddenly, I felt trails of cosmic energy connecting to it, making it gain an azure, cosmic color, reflecting a sea of stars within its glass-like body.

However, that wasn’t all, as something dormant within me, mostly still sealed, began to move too; my Phantom Dao Roots began to connect to my Specialization Marble!

“What the hell?”

I couldn’t help but be surprised, but I kept my concentration using my Meditation Technique to keep calm and focus on this process.

Eventually, a new message appeared as the root only touched the marble with the tip.

FLAAASH!

Accompanied by a glistening explosion of pure cosmic light…

Ding!

[Your {Main Specialization}: [Legendary Herculean Holy Necromancer (S)] has been affected by your developing Cosmic Powers and your Phantom Dao Roots!]

[The {Specialization Marble} merged with your Soul can now further improve your Specialization Rank Up if you add specific materials.]

[Please choose one Privilege and one Skill to combine with your Specialization.]

“Wait, what?!”

Holy shit, so that’s a thing?

Maybe the Phantom Dao Root, because it is not “real” yet, has decided to use the Specialization Marble as a way to form branches?

Wow, I never expected this to happen.

Maybe my Spirit Body evolving also influenced this, as it allowed my Phantom Dao Roots to easily get to my Specialization, something usually impossible.

Perhaps because my Spirit Body unifies all things within it, such an impossible thing became possible.

Okay, can’t really miss this opportunity then!

What do I choose? There’s way too much to pick from, and only one of each…

Hmm, first of all, I have to think about what I want the Specialization to become.

Right now, it can give me a lot of sweet boosts and bonuses, and it is where I also get the ability to replace Mana-using Skills and even Spells with Ki.

Aside from all of that, it makes my body much tougher and also allows me to summon powerful undead differently than the usual undead.

They gain holy element powers, can heal and conjure barriers, and they’re super physically strong! The specialization itself was already a fusion between two, so it’s pretty strong, stronger than others should be.

Anyways, it offers amazing support and also passive effects, and of course the soul-bound Fang Shuan, who is directly connected to the specialization for his growth.

So once it Ranks Up, he’ll most likely get a boost in growth, gain skills or might even evolve.

But aside from that, the only completely active effect is the one where I can temporarily make my undead invincible.

Yeah, they simply never die and keep on reviving for a short period of time.

The other is being able to merge with my soul-bound undead.

So that’s all, yeah, I need to add more active effects that can enhance my power directly.

“Can’t I add Martial Arts?!”

I asked the System directly.

[…]

[It is impossible to replace either Skills or Privileges with Martial Arts.]

“Ah… okay then.”

Can’t do that; alright, next…

Let’s pick a strong skill to merge into it first.

Something offensive, hopefully…

Alright, let’s look at the Skills I could add; it’s a lot.

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{Innate Skills}

[Passive]: [Little Sister (C): Lv7] [Mana Sense (C): Lv8] [Divine Eye of Truth (SS): Lv5] [Great Sorceress (S): Lv6] [Cosmic Transcendent: Lv4 (SSS)] [Celestial Body (A): Lv5] [Jack of All Trades (A): Lv5] [Thanatos’ Stigma (S): Lv2] [Demonic Body (A): Lv4] [Thunder Queen (S): Lv4] [Warrior Princess’ Physique (S): Lv6] [Spectral Body (S): Lv5] [Steel Body (S): Lv5] [Unborn Demonic Cocoon (SSS): Lv3] [Mana Core (A): Lv6] [Yin and Yang Rotation Breathing Technique (A): Lv6] [Myriad Egos (S): Lv4] [Hardened Warrior Instincts (B): Lv5]

[Active]: [Thousand Blades (A): Lv8] [Venom Secretion (D): Lv7] [Sunshine (B): Lv10] [Umbral Star (B): Lv4] [Anubis’ Judgement (S): Lv5] [Dagger Arts (C): Lv6] [Miracle Magic (A): Lv3] [Healing Touch (S): Lv6] [Curse Magic (A): Lv5] [Mjolnir’s Manifestation (S): Lv3] [Demonic Snake’s Gluttony (SSS): Lv3] [Archwizard’s Mana Absorption Technique (A): Lv6] [Emperor’s Ki Aura Boost (A): Lv6] [Body Shapeshifting (A): Lv5] [Venom Dragon Tongue (A): Lv3] [Mechanical Body Transformation (SS): Lv2] [Divine White Tiger’s Embodiment (SS): Lv2] [Divine Nine-Tailed Abyssal Fox Embodiment (SS): Lv2]

[Support]: [Gatherer (C): Lv9] [Crafting (C): Lv7] [Blacksmithing (D): Lv7] [Charlatan (C): Lv10] [Cooking (D): Lv6] [Alchemy (B): Lv10] [Ruler of the Dead (S): Lv5] [Samariel’s Ancient Forge of Sins and Virtues (SS): Lv3] [Singing and Dancing (C): Lv4] [Initiate Nanomachine Manipulation (B): Lv1]

{Fused Skills}

[Eye of Anubis (A): Lv5] [Sunlight Blade (A): Lv7] [Crafty Trickster (C): Lv7] [Arcane Hands (SS): Lv5] [Divine Demon-Sealing Purgatory Realm (SS): Lv3] [Nameless Axe-Sword: Heracles’ Twelve Labors Manifestation (SSS): Lv3] [Presence Suppression (S): Lv3] [Divine Thunder God Body: Raijin’s Embodiment (SSS): Lv2]

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I should probably scratch Fused Skills, right? They’re all kind of vital to me to waste away; a skill once given to a specialization disappears, and it seems the Library can’t do anything about it.

Passive Skills seem… too mid; nah, I’m good.

Then only Active Skills are left. I had thought about… Anubis’ Judgement. It is a vital skill too, I know… But what if it evolves and becomes better in the Specialization?

Hmm, it could perhaps even add to the “theme”? Could it?

But…. hmm, it could have too many variables I would rather not risk.

Then there’s Thousand Blades? Straightforward; I could add something amazing into it… Like maybe turn all Undead into swordsmen too? With swords already with them.

It’s more like wishful thinking right now, but it’s a possibility, perhaps…

Demonic Snake Gluttony is another insane possibility! Undead with the power to devour anything that turn into giant snakes…

Ok, that sounds interesting.

Then Shapeshifting… if I add that, would my undead be able to take any form? Hmm, but I would rather keep that one for myself.

Then there are the last three transformation skills; they could be interesting.

But I don’t want to lose them either.

At the end this becomes a “What are you willing to sacrifice?” game.

…Venom Dragon Tongue?

It will add the Venom Dragon words, so it could make for something insanely strong now that I think about it.

The Skill itself is fine, but I don’t like it honestly…

So yeah, let’s go for this one!

Wait, maybe I could…

[Fused Skills or Fused Privileges can’t be used on the Specialization’s Rank Up as Ingredients.]

“Dammit, okay then…”

Skill chosen, now to Privileges.

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{Privileges}

[Maiden of Life (S Rank Privilege)] [Jester’s Reverse Fortune (S Rank Privilege)] [Jester’s Lucky Seven (S Rank Privilege)] [A Being Between Heaven And Earth (A Rank Privilege)] [A Being Between Hell And Earth (A Rank Privilege)]

[Death’s Little Sister (B Rank Privilege)] [Aura of Protection (C Rank Privilege)] [Summon Friend (C+ Rank Privilege)] [Spirit’s Little Sister (C++ Rank Privilege)]

[Super Beam of Love (D Rank Privilege)] [Angelic Eyes (D Rank Privilege)] [Sun’s Beloved Maiden (E Rank Privilege)] [Let’s be Friends! (F Rank Privilege)] [Heartwarming Bear Hug (F Rank Privilege)]

{Fusion Privileges}

[Little Princess of Rock’s Heart Throbbing Concert (A Rank Privilege)]

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Death’s Little Sister will definitely make the Undead aspect stronger, so that’s a big contender.

Then there’s my other summoning Privileges, the “A Being Between Heaven/Hell and Earth”.

They’re very good and useful; I used them last time. I just have to remember I have them and that I don’t have to rely just on the Undead all the time, ugh.

At least I remembered using them for the last battle, so it’s fine.

So yeah, I’m planning to combine them, I think, but for now they shouldn’t be included for the Specialization.

Aura of Protection… It is a very important Skill for me, or, well, it was before I became so tough now, but it still adds upon all my passive abilities and cultivation.

It protects me and even makes my attacks much stronger… But if I added this to the specialization, wouldn’t they gain such a boost too?

Hmm, but for now, pass, I think.

Summon Friend? Nah.

Spirit’s Little Sister? It’s an important one… making me friends with spirits, and I can even channel their power. Let’s keep that.

Then there are the other, weaker ones I got at the beginning.

Super Beam of Love? I actually am always using this Privilege although I don’t call it like that because it sounds so dumb.

But I usually merge its beam power with my other elements; adding up my Charm Stat to my damage dealt is really good and what has made me be able to deal damage to strong monsters early on much more easily.

Angelic Eyes… I use it all the time too; it helps me discern people with bad intentions from people with good intentions, easily tell if they’re lying, and so on.

This is how, despite the bad reputation and personality of the Heavenly Demon, I quickly trusted him. I knew from the moment I saw him that deep down, there was goodness in his heart.

His time with the Heavenly Empress and his son changed him forever; after all, as much as he tried to hide it, he couldn’t hide it from these eyes, heh.

Anyways, too good of a privilege to waste…

Sun’s Beloved Maiden gives me a small boost… to my stats, I think? Yeah, I could give this one up; it’s not that important anymore, and I’m not going to praise the sun every morning anymore, sorry.

Let’s be Friends and Heartwarming Bear Hug is strong and very useful, so nope.

I’m planning on fusing some of these later, though, but for now, that’s it.

Either Death’s Little Sister or Sun Maiden and… the Sun’s Beloved Maiden sounds more appealing to me.

We’re done.

Ding!

[You have selected the [Venom Dragon’s Tongue (A): Lv3] Skill and the [Sun’s Beloved Maiden (E Rank Privilege)] for your Main Specialization Rank Up!]

FLUOSH!

I felt these two quickly disappear from my Status and my very soul, and then fly inside the marble, which shone with their powers.

[The added ingredients keywords had been added to your Main Specialization, further transforming it and giving you new effects!]

“Ooh?”

And then I felt it, something fierce and draconic awakening within me!

And also gentle, I felt the gentle warmth of the sunlight as if a maiden embraced me.

What in the world did my Specialization become?

Ding!

[Congratulations! Your {Main Specialization}: [Legendary Herculean Holy Necromancer (S)] has Ranked Up to [Legendary Herculean Holy Sun Dragon Necromancer Maiden (SS)]!]

[Previous Effects have been strengthened greatly! New Effects have been added!]

Holy shit, it just added the words right into it?! Just how long will its name become in the future?

I hope an evolution can be done later so it doesn’t keep a bunch of words stuck together, barely making any coherent sense!

Nonetheless, it still sounds amazing; let’s see what the heck this is all about now.

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