Chapter 960: Recent Growth and Epic Grade Treasures

Set items were not uncommon at the higher grades, though finding a complete set was another matter entirely.

Each piece carried its own individual effect, often already impressive on its own merits. But when multiple pieces from the same set were equipped or activated together, the combined effect was pronounced. The synergy between pieces unlocked bonuses, additional abilities, or amplified existing effects in ways that no single item in the set could replicate alone.

The rarer the set, the more dramatic the difference between partial and complete activation tended to be.

The fact that one of the set pieces was at epic grade made Michael particularly interested.

Michael looked at the Emperor’s Aegis Decree in his hand and cast Detect.

[Item Name]: Emperor’s Aegis Decree

[Grade]: Epic Grade ★★

• When activated, releases a concentrated burst of suppressive imperial authority outward from the user in a wide radius, momentarily disrupting the focus and mana circulation of all non-allied targets within range.

• Disruption duration scales with the rank difference between user and target. Against equal-rank opponents the effect lasts approximately three seconds. Against lower-rank opponents the effect is considerably more pronounced.

Michael stared at the panel for a long moment.

The suppressive imperial authority effect was not something he had expected. Given the previous treasure type he had something that complimented it.

What he was looking at instead was an offensive disruption tool that momentarily severed the mana circulation of every non-allied target in a wide radius simultaneously.

Three seconds against equal-rank opponents did not sound like much until one considered what three seconds of delay meant in a genuine exchange at that level.

In a fight between powerful beings where single exchanges could be decisive, three seconds was not a small window.

"This is genuinely impressive."

He turned the Decree over in his hand thoughtfully.

The more he considered it, the clearer it became that this particular item would work better in the hands of his undead demonic supernatural than anywhere else. It was at Rank 4 after all.

Michael, on the other hand, had no particular interest in relying on external items when dealing with opponents at his own current level.

He dared not claim he was invincible within Rank 3, given the vast universe and whatever exceptional individuals existed in corners of it he had never encountered. But it was not an exaggeration to say he was close to unrivalled within this rank.

After his Advancement there was probably no ordinary peak Rank 3 supernatural that could match him regardless of how close they were to the next threshold themselves. Half a step into Rank 4 was still Rank 3.

And that had been over a week ago.

He was more powerful now than he had been at the moment of Advancement, and the gap had only widened since.

These past few days had not been idle ones. At Rank 3, thanks to his class, he could engrave up to twenty of his undead directly into his body and receive meaningful attribute boosts from each engraving simultaneously.

Combined with the feedback he had received from both Beginning and Lily advancing to Rank 4, and the general accumulation of everything else that had happened across this absurd week, Michael was genuinely uncertain how powerful he currently was.

[Class]: Death’s Heir

[Attributes]

Strength: 2158.75 (1446.75 + 712)

Agility: 2400.71 (1598.71 + 802)

Constitution: 2574.92 (1885.92 + 689)

Intelligence: 2620.92 (2000.92 + 620)

Attribute Points: 517

Seeing this level of growth, all thanks to his decision to change his class, Michael did not regret it at all.

The only advantage Rank 4 beings had over him now was their domain. But in terms of attributes, Michael did not think he was lacking compared to a genuine Rank 4 supernatural.

If he fought Director Lin again, he would not be able to defeat her if she did not suppress herself, but she would be in for a genuine surprise if she was only at the early stages of Rank 4 and did not have significantly higher attributes than him.

Then there were his attribute points, which had increased from 400. With his race giving six attribute points and his class giving seven points per level, he had gained a total of 117 points from his recent level-ups.

Unfortunately, with all this growth, even if all his other undead advanced to Rank 4, it was hard to say whether his attributes would surpass the 3000 mark. The only realistic hope was if all his engravings were filled with Rank 4 undead.

"Thanks to my race, on the surface my attribute numbers appear lower than an ordinary human’s would at equivalent strength. I wonder how high they would need to be to match my actual strength. Probably above the 10,000 mark."

With this absurd amount of points required for ordinary beings, it was no wonder many strong beings took decades to centuries to advance.

Except for someone with an extreme advantage like Michael, reaching these numbers as an ordinary supernatural was close to impossible. Only with decades of careful accumulation would there even be a chance.

Michael looked at the Decree one more time before storing it carefully.

He turned his attention to the other epic grade items.

Including the treasure the Legendary Stage human from the Black Serpent Empire had used, the remaining epic grade items in Shojo’s collection numbered four.

One was a spear. Its length was dark green, and the pressure it radiated outward was oppressive.

Simply standing near it produced a faint but unmistakable sense of weight pressing against the chest.

Another was a small jade-coloured hair accessory shaped like a miniature crown. It looked unassuming despite its colour, carrying none of the immediate presence that the spear announced so plainly. If anything it seemed to occasionally blur slightly at the edges in a way that made sustained focus on it mildly difficult.

The third was a bamboo shaft. Where the spear radiated oppression and the crown preferred obscurity, the bamboo shaft gave off something closer to warmth. The vitality coming off it was strong and clean,

The fourth was a musical instrument.