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*****
The fees at the Skill Snatching Palace were exorbitant.
According to Su Wen's understanding, the Palace was divided into three primary zones based on the rank of the Heavenly Beasts: Master-rank, Zun-rank, and Zong-rank. Each zone had a flat entry fee. Entering the Master-rank zone cost 500 gold coins, the Zun-rank zone required 2,000, and the Zong-rank zone demanded a staggering 10,000 gold coins per entry.
Furthermore, the success rate of Skill Snatching decreased significantly as the beast's level increased.
Unlike the Soul Rings of the Douluo Continent, where a 100-year soul skill becomes nearly useless once a Master reaches the Title Douluo level, a skill snatched on the Boundless Mainland remains relevant. Every snatched skill starts at its basic level but grows in power as the Heavenly Jewel Master cultivates more jewels. A High-Level Heavenly Zong can use a skill from their first jewel with the same potency as one from their ninth, depending on how they develop and master it.
Generally, Heavenly Jewel Masters attempted to snatch skills from beasts of their own rank, which carried a success rate of roughly one percent. Snatching from a beast one rank higher dropped that rate to one percent of the base (0.01%), and two ranks higher dropped it to a one-in-ten-thousand chance.
Mathematically, a Master-rank Jewel Master would need an average of 100 attempts to successfully snatch a skill from a peer-level beast. At 500 gold per try, a single skill cost roughly 50,000 gold coins. Attempting to snatch from a Zun-rank beast would cost an average of 20 million, while a Zong-rank skill theoretically demanded a consumption of 10 billion gold!
This didn't even account for the time cost; a failed attempt required recovery, meaning most masters could only try once per day. It was clear that the cost of cultivation was astronomically high. For a small nation like the Heavenly Bow Empire, supporting even a single high-level master was a strain.
Take Zhou Shuiniu, for example. As a seven-jeweled master with seven skills, even assuming he only snatched at his own rank, he would have spent roughly 700 days and at least 1.7 million gold coins. And he was just one high-level master. The real drain was the bottom-tier masters. While those with three jewels or fewer were manageable, the cost rose exponentially at the fourth jewel. A small empire like Heavenly Bow, which needed to fund national operations, only had a few hundred thousand gold coins in annual disposable revenue.
Of course, this was largely because Heavenly Bow lacked its own Skill Snatching Palace. If they raised their own beasts, the cost for their homegrown masters would be negated. For masters from small empires, the only "safe" way to snatch skills was to travel to a Great Empire's Palace—or take the cheaper, more dangerous route: hunting wild Heavenly Beasts. However, wild beasts were rare due to the systematic hunting by the Great Empires.
"Master Wen, we only brought 100,000 gold coins, right?" Zhou Weiqing asked with a hint of worry.
Before they left, Su Wen had requested funds from Zhou Shuiniu. The Marshal had given him two maxed-out "Red Cards," each loaded with 50,000 gold coins.
"I'm going in to snatch skills. You wait outside," Su Wen said calmly.
Snatch skills? No, I'm going to copy every Heavenly Beast in the building. For Su Wen, a trip to the Skill Snatching Palace was a guaranteed profit.
Zhou Weiqing's lip twitched. Wait, wasn't this trip for me? 100,000 gold could buy about 200 tries in the Master-rank zone, likely yielding two skills for him. He had already done the math, but this "Master Wen" wasn't playing by the rules. He was taking the money and going in himself.
The boy wanted to cry but had no grounds for protest. He dutifully waited outside for news.
Inside, Su Wen handed over 10,000 gold coins.
"Go in," the attendant said. "You have two hours. Remember, do not break the beast seals. The Skill Snatching Palace takes no responsibility for any danger you encounter if you do, and you will be held liable for any damages."
The cost of sealing a Zong-rank beast was far more than 10,000 gold. Su Wen didn't care. Seals? Between his various sealing abilities and the golden light chains from his Martial Soul Fusion, he could suppress any beast in the room with ease.
In the Zong-rank zone, Su Wen started with the Fire-attribute area. For two hours, he darted in and out of rooms, copying every Zong-rank Fire beast. Now, within his mental Visualization World, a single page of his "book" was filling with the spectral shadows of these beasts.
"Let's go. I'll be back a few more times over the next few days. First, we need to find a Consolidation Master."
The Skill Snatching Palace had ten zones: one for registration, eight for the primary attributes (Water, Fire, Earth, Wind, Light, Darkness, Space, Life), and one for special or mutated attributes.
Among the eight, Light, Darkness, Space, and Life were considered High-Level Attributes, each possessing unique utility.
"Light and Darkness both have sealing capabilities, while the Life attribute can grant skills related to resurrection," Su Wen explained to the boy. Even he was somewhat impressed. His spiritual sense was constantly absorbing information, filling in the gaps of his hazy memory of this world's lore.
"Master Wen, what about the Space attribute?"
Zhou Weiqing possessed six attributes. Wind was common, Lightning was a mutation, and Darkness was a High-Level attribute with sealing potential. He was naturally curious about Space.
"The Space attribute allows one to become a Consolidation Master."
Jewel Masters with the Space attribute could craft Consolidated Equipment Scrolls for themselves or others.
"Oh?" Zhou Weiqing's eyes lit up. This meant that of his six attributes, two were high-level powerhouses!
(End of Chapter)