Branches sprouted from decayed wood, turning into lush shrubs.
The collapsed walls had already crumbled into rubble, merging with the surroundings.
The survivor camp of the past now held only faint traces.
After more years passed, perhaps even these remnants would vanish within the flow of time.
On a slope blooming with flowers stood a massive stone, covered with moss and vines.
A hand fell upon it, gently wiping away the moss to reveal the words beneath.
[I abandon my past here.]
The middle-aged man caressed the inscription.
Long-erased fragments of memory, carried along with the marks of time, seeped into his heart.
"You've returned to the past."
A white-robed figure appeared at his side, beneath the hood lay the scene of countless stars.
He did not ask the Prophet when he had arrived.
The Prophet knew everything, foresaw everything.
It had always been so.
He spoke: "Exotic beasts perish, humanity survives, we obtain the final victory… Is this the future you foretold, the best future?"
The Prophet did not answer, seemingly acknowledging his words in silence.
He lowered his hand, turned around, and smiled.
"I've seen something better."
...
"Old Jiang is gone too…"
Jiang He gazed at the empty living room, feeling somewhat lost and forlorn.
Though each one only stayed for a week, if one included the Twisted Time Domain, Old Jiang's stay had been much longer than White Crane's.
The farewell had been even harder to bear.
Fortunately…
Jiang He sensed the golden card within his Sea of Consciousness.
The card representing White Crane, after being nourished by two S-rank resources, had already recovered four-fifths of its brightness.
It might not even take another week before its cooldown ended, allowing for a second summoning!
At this pace, it wouldn't take long before Old Jiang's cooldown ended as well.
"Should I do as Old Jiang suggested? Wait for his cooldown to end, then summon him and White Crane together?"
"Uh, forget it.
That sounds like asking for trouble.
Better not."
"Speaking of which, although S-rank resources for strengthening talents can't take effect twice… could they perhaps work as supplements instead? Specifically as fuel for the Ferryman of Time, to shorten heroic spirits' cooldowns?"
Using resources that permanently boosted talents as mere consumables.
It sounded extravagant and absurd.
But it was not without possibility—
After all, every time Jiang He summoned a heroic spirit, he could extract one of their abilities, permanently gaining it.
Thus, speeding up their cooldowns could be seen as increasing the number of extractions.
The benefits were equally immense.
However, strengthening resources were exceedingly rare, the highest rewards of the Council.
Jiang He had already used them twice, and had no reason to be granted them again.
"I'll think of something later…"
Jiang He temporarily set aside those thoughts.
First, he would extract a skill!
If each heroic spirit was viewed as a lottery pool—
Then Old Jiang's pool contained not one, but four top-tier prizes!
[Savior], [Observer], [Ultimate Fist Master], [Energy Dominator]…
Every single one an X-rank profession!
Even leaving aside their power, just the probability of drawing something good was far higher than White Crane's pool!
If he could pull the World Destroyer profession from White Crane's pool in a single try, wouldn't Old Jiang's be child's play?
「Luck」
Jiang He first placed a buff on himself.
Then, his consciousness sank into his Sea of Consciousness, reaching toward the golden orb deep within.
Come on!!
[Heroic Spirit Ability Extraction Successful.]
[You have obtained A-rank Specialty: Trait Erasure.]
[Trait Erasure—By paying a specific price, erase one of your existing professions, skills, or specialties.]
[Specialty Source: A-rank Profession Resetter]
"..."
That was a flop, brother.
The higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Jiang He had been hoping for an X-rank profession, but instead had drawn a mere A-rank specialty.
Naturally, he was quite disheartened.
But when he probed deeper into the specialty's effects, his heart stirred.
No—
Pay a price to erase professions, skills, specialties…
Wasn't this the very core ability Old Jiang had relied upon to construct profession builds and grow stronger?
One had to know, while a profession like [Savior] sounded unimaginably powerful just from imagination…
Its appearance had only come after Old Jiang became an X-rank Transcendent.
What truly allowed him to grow from the weakest of talents to one who could battle countless exotic beasts, were not those mighty X-rank professions.
On the contrary, it had been the A-rank, even B-rank professions.
The abilities within those professions were the real foundation of Old Jiang's growth!
For example, this [Trait Erasure] specialty.
Jiang He had already thought of a use—
If he erased the base profession [Student], it would mean gaining a new profession slot, allowing him to take on a fifth path!
Directly adding another profession choice, its potential far outstripped that of a difficult-to-upgrade X-rank profession!
In an instant, Jiang He's disappointment vanished.
He probed further and discovered that [Trait Erasure] contained even more information.
First, when erasing a 「Transcendent Profession」, one could choose to pay an additional price to perform [Precise Erasure].
That meant erasing only the profession, while keeping the already acquired skills and specialties!
Just this alone made Jiang He draw in a sharp breath.
Old Jiang had changed through countless professions, erasing countless along the way…
If he had chosen to keep even just a fraction of them…
The number of leftover skills and specialties would be utterly terrifying!
Second, when erasing a 「Skill」, one could choose to pay a price to refund the already spent skill points, converting them into [Free Skill Points].
Free Skill Points were not bound to a 「Profession Path」, only to a 「Profession Rank」.
For example, points refunded from the B-rank profession Word Keeper could be placed into skills of the B-rank profession Flame Envoy.
Now that was even more outrageous!
It wasn't just a reset—it allowed transferring points into another profession entirely?
Truly, not a single resource wasted!
Third, when erasing a 「Specialty」, one could choose to pay a price to gain [Specialty Points].
Specialty Points worked like Free Skill Points, but applied to specialties for enhancement and upgrading!
Low-rank Specialty Points couldn't be used on high-rank specialties—
But high-rank Specialty Points could upgrade low-rank specialties into high-rank ones!
On this point, Jiang He had only one evaluation.
Utterly heaven-defying.
Specialties were innate effects that came with professions.
Unlike skills, they could never be upgraded.
Yet here, that rule was broken!
"This specialty shouldn't be called [Trait Erasure]…"
"It should be called [Trait Transfer]."
"It allows professions, skills, specialties—every Transcendent trait—to be freely shifted and reset."
"And this is just A-rank?!"
After marveling, Jiang He examined the costs, and suddenly understood.
Using Trait Erasure required paying prices including but not limited to memory, emotions, senses, and thoughts…
And the higher the level of what was erased, the higher the price.
If Jiang He tried to erase an X-rank profession skill, he would probably lose all memory and consciousness instantly, becoming a complete "blank sheet."
Its effects were heaven-defying, but its costs were equally terrifying.
"By contrast, something like the Student profession at G-rank, erasing it would hardly require any cost at all…"
Jiang He felt eager to try, ready to erase the Student profession immediately to obtain a fifth profession slot.
But just as he was about to act, he stopped.
Forget it.
He hadn't even chosen his fourth profession yet, so there was no rush to erase the Student profession.
If he paid the price now to erase Student… only to discover later that Student still had value, and was forced to switch back, wouldn't that be ridiculous?
Last time, the Doomsday Declaration had directly triggered massive consequences, teaching Jiang He a lesson.
He didn't need to rush this.
Better to reveal the future first.