My Crazy Upgrade System

Yi Tianyun paid no mind to Elder Lei’s mood. He had no intention of holding a grudge against him. If he put himself in their shoes—if he were a member of the Phoenix Race—he knew he’d feel some hostility toward a human too.

Their positions were different, so their perspectives were bound to be as well. With their overwhelming numbers, humans constantly encroached upon the Divine Beast Race. Members of the Phoenix Race were often captured, their Essence Blood extracted and feathers plucked—it was all terribly cruel.

It was perfectly normal, then, for the Phoenix Race to be hostile toward all of humanity.

Yi Tianyun resumed his frenzied absorption. After devouring all the flames around the entrance to the Phoenix Cave, he pressed deeper, absorbing more and more until a pleasant sound finally rang in his ears.

"Ding! Congratulations, Player ’Yi Tianyun’! You have successfully upgraded the Immortal Fire to High-Grade Earth Level. The next level requires 5,000,000 Skill Level points!"

’I finally got it to High-Grade Earth Level.’ The process had been astonishingly fast. If he had tried to level it up slowly through alchemy, it would have taken an incredibly long time. Who knew how long it would’ve taken to reach this tier.

’This feels amazing! If only I could keep up this upgrade speed forever.’ Yi Tianyun felt invigorated, but he knew the Skill Level requirement was much higher now. Upgrades wouldn’t come so easily anymore.

In any case, he decided to absorb all the Immortal Fire here first. After continuing his frenzied absorption, he finally cleared out the spacious cave entrance. To continue, he would have to descend into the passage below. However, looking down, he saw not Immortal Fire, but a thick, sinister-looking Yin Qi.

"Don’t go any further. That’s the Celestial Yin Fire. Even with your Immortal Fire, you would struggle to suppress it. Worse, its source is inexhaustible!" The figures of the Great Elder and the others appeared behind him. They had entered after seeing that the Immortal Fire inside was gone.

’Celestial Yin Fire...’

Yi Tianyun looked at the Celestial Yin Fire. ’It’s basically an enhanced version of the Netherworld Fire,’ he thought. ’Or rather, it’s a higher tier of it, and it’s what counterbalances the Immortal Fire.’

’No wonder the Celestial Nether Divine Kingdom claimed they could solve the problem. They must be able to absorb this Celestial Yin Fire, just as the Immortal Fire can be absorbed in turn. As long as one possessed a powerful enough Celestial Yin Fire, they could devour all the Immortal Fire here!’

"Well done, kid! I never thought you’d be able to absorb the Immortal Fire. We really have you to thank for getting rid of it so quickly!" Elder Luo laughed, feeling that Yi Tianyun was full of surprises. If not for him, it definitely wouldn’t have been resolved this fast.

"Ahem... Thank you. I was quite rude earlier." After a moment’s hesitation, Elder Lei stepped forward to offer his thanks, swallowing his pride.

This wasn’t at the behest of the Great Elder or the others; Elder Lei had stepped forward on his own because he genuinely felt he had been out of line.

"It’s alright. People see things differently depending on their position. I understand Elder Lei’s perspective," Yi Tianyun said with a nod, not taking it to heart.

"Well, well, Elder Lei. I didn’t take you for the apologizing type," Elder Luo said, a little surprised.

"And why wouldn’t I apologize? Do you think I’m some unreasonable brute? If I realize I’ve made a mistake in judgment, why can’t I apologize for it?" Elder Lei snorted.

"Alright, alright, my mistake. I misjudged you," Elder Luo said, patting his shoulder. "You should come over for a drink sometime. Say, when was the last time you came over for a drink, anyway?"

"Elder Luo, you’re finally breaking out the good stuff?" Elder Lei’s eyes lit up. "Looks like I get to benefit this time. A granddaughter’s return is certainly cause for celebration."

"AHEM..." The Great Elder coughed, and the two of them immediately quieted down. This really wasn’t the time to be discussing such things. But then, to their surprise, the Great Elder added, "Going for fine wine and not inviting me?"

"..."

Standing off to the side, Yi Tianyun didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. ’They sure are optimistic,’ he thought. ’They solve one little problem and they’re already planning a celebration?’

"The Immortal Fire may be gone, but the Celestial Yin Fire continues to well up. If we don’t seal the Evil Soul below, the Celestial Yin Fire will never stop appearing." The Great Elder’s expression turned serious as he brought the conversation back on track. "On the matter of Divine Rune Masters, have we found a Divine Rune Grandmaster yet?"

"We’ve found plenty of entry-level Divine Rune Grandmasters, but their skills are too ordinary. We need a Divine Rune Grandmaster at the Soul Dotting level at least. Most of what we’ve found are only at the Eye Dotting level, and finding someone at the Soul Dotting level is incredibly difficult." They shook their heads in frustration. "All we can do is wait for word from our kin outside. Hopefully, they’ll find someone."

The Divine Rune Grandmaster level is divided into three tiers: Eye Dotting, Soul Dotting, and Life Pointing!

These different tiers represent different levels of skill. Eye Dotting is the entry-level tier, Soul Dotting is the intermediate tier, and Life Pointing is the advanced tier!

The likes of the Spirit Race Ancestor and the National Preceptor were, at best, at the Eye Dotting level. They might be approaching Soul Dotting, but they hadn’t actually reached that tier.

’I should be at the Eye Dotting level,’ Yi Tianyun figured. With the boost from his Celestial Eye, reaching that level was no problem at all. However, he was still a bit of experience short of upgrading to Divine Rune Grandmaster Mastery. All he needed to do was dump his Skill Level points into it. ’Once I do that, combining it with my Celestial Eye’s abilities, reaching the Soul Dotting level will be no problem at all.’

He immediately slammed over a hundred thousand Skill Level points into his Divine Rune Mastery. A moment later, a pleasant sound rang out.

"Ding! Congratulations, Player ’Yi Tianyun’! You have successfully upgraded Divine Rune Master Mastery to Divine Rune Grandmaster Mastery (Eye Dotting level)! The next level requires 10,000,000 Skill Level points!"

’This is insane,’ he thought. ’Ten million Skill Level points... Who knows how long I’ll have to spend inscribing runes to earn that much. The road to leveling up is a long one...’

"You’re looking for a Soul Dotting level Divine Rune Grandmaster? Actually, I happen to be one," Yi Tianyun announced. He had a quest to complete, after all, and he wouldn’t get the reward if he failed.

"You’re a Soul Dotting level Divine Rune Grandmaster?" They all stared at Yi Tianyun in utter shock. They had seen him before, of course, but now they were scrutinizing him from head to toe, their eyes fixed on him as if he were some kind of monster.

Ironically, they were the ones who were technically "monsters," yet they were looking at Yi Tianyun as if he were the freak.

"Yes. Is there a problem?" Yi Tianyun just smiled at their shocked expressions. He knew his claim would be a huge shock to anyone who heard it.

"So... you... you’re really a Divine Rune Grandmaster?" They had been searching for so long and found no one. Short of asking the Celestial Nether Divine Kingdom for help, finding a Soul Dotting-level Grandmaster was nearly impossible.

Eye Dotting-level masters were a dime a dozen, but Soul Dotting-level ones were far rarer. Even for a Divine Country Power, they weren’t someone you could just find lying around.