The terrifying ability displayed by the Craftsman God shocked Jiang He, who couldn't help but ask one more question—
Would the transcendent traits he extracted affect the original host?
The answer was no.
The 「Ever-Changing」 ability that the Craftsman God extracted through his own talent came from the traces of heaven and earth, and had nothing to do with the Ever-Changing Beast itself.
Naturally, there would be no effect.
Moreover, because his energy level was too low and the materials he used were too poor, the temporary items he created could not perfectly restore the traits, and even had a time limit—after a period of time, they would wear out and vanish…
This point, Jiang He could understand.
After all, when others crafted transcendent items, they used the finest materials.
What had the Craftsman God just used?
A napkin he had grabbed at random!
Let alone perfectly restoring an ultimate ability, just turning it instantly into a transcendent item was already a fantasy beyond belief!
Enough to scare other craftsmen to death.
This was the craftsman talent of the highest quality: [Masterpiece]!
And now, Jiang He also possessed this talent!
However, Jiang He was still caught up in pondering the Craftsman God's past, and hadn't focused his attention on the talent.
He even ignored the large amount of demon materials in his pouch, not letting the Craftsman God start creating, but instead sent a message to Teacher Zhong.
Then he took the Craftsman God and left home, paying a visit.
When he saw Zhong Honglian, he didn't waste words and directly stated his intention—
"Old Bai wants a share of [True Spirit of Phoenix Egg]?" Zhong Honglian asked.
"That's right." Jiang He nodded firmly.
This was the plan he had come up with.
A vest cash-out!
Although talent-type resources could only be used once per person, and Jiang He had no reason to acquire them again…
Old Bai could!
Others didn't know his identity. As long as he pretended not to have used such a resource, he had every reason to request this kind of supply!
If Jiang He were ruthless enough, he could even conjure up a few more "uncles" to appear together and rake in multiple sets of S-rank resources, and it seemed there wouldn't be a problem.
Just like now, Zhong Honglian had little doubt and gladly accepted the matter.
In fact, she instead felt that Old Bai had asked too late.
The importance of resources that strengthened talents was beyond question; they were treasures rare even for A-rank transcendents.
Previously, Old Bai hadn't made any requests, and she had even suspected that he might have already used one…
Now it seemed, he was just exceptionally patient.
With this thought in mind, Zhong Honglian flipped her hand and produced a jade vial, handing it over: "Here."
"..." Jiang He took the vial, feeling a bit dazed.
He had originally prepared how to persuade Zhong Honglian, how to use words and conversation to obtain a share of the True Spirit of Phoenix Egg from the Council…
He had even had the Craftsman God transform into Old Bai's appearance, rehearsing lines with him along the way.
In the end, none of the preparation was needed.
He had merely stated his need, and an S-rank resource was already in his hand.
Wasn't this way too easy?!
Seeing his surprise, Zhong Honglian smiled and explained: "A few days ago Old Bai exposed the Exotic Beast's true form and dealt with it on the spot… the Council should have rewarded him."
"It's just that there were too many matters lately, and the councilors were busy, so this matter was set aside."
"Now that Old Bai has made a request, then it will be granted accordingly."
"I'll report it afterward, and that will be that."
So that was it, he had forgotten about this matter!
Jiang He suddenly understood.
However, even though the S-rank resource was in hand, he didn't change his plan. Instead, he pulled out a notebook from his bag and handed it to Zhong Honglian.
"Teacher, this was given to me by Old Bai. It records detailed intelligence on the remaining ultimate Exotic Beasts."
"He said this information came from an Ancient Book, and had already been verified by the Ever-Changing Beast, so the credibility is very high…"
Previously, Old Jiang had relied on the Prophet as a safety net, so he hadn't said much.
Now that the Prophet was offline, he naturally couldn't pretend to be clueless anymore.
Sharing intelligence with the Council was the most basic thing.
Zhong Honglian's eyes lit up. She took the notebook, quickly flipped through it, and nodded seriously.
"I'll submit this to the Council."
...
With the True Spirit of Phoenix Egg in hand, Jiang He bade farewell and headed straight home.
As soon as he entered, the Craftsman God revealed himself and impatiently asked.
"Through this resource, you can see my past?"
The Craftsman God had already shaken off his repetition and confusion, and through Jiang He's words had learned about his experiences before the age of eighteen, gradually returning to normal.
But aside from that, his mind was still a blank void, unable to recall anything at all.
This feeling was enough to drive someone mad.
Therefore, his curiosity about his past, his yearning for it, was no less than Jiang He's.
He too longed to know what he had gone through.
"It's only possible."
Jiang He was somewhat uneasy.
Normally, the True Spirit of Phoenix Egg could only take effect once.
He didn't know if he could rely on it again to enter the domain of time.
If it didn't work…
"It must work!"
"This is an S-rank resource, not some common low-level material!"
"Even if it cannot strengthen the talent, the power it contains won't just vanish!"
"I only need this power to fuel my talent!"
Jiang He pulled out the stopper and poured it into his palm.
A trace of golden light slid out of the bottle and melted into his palm.
In the next instant, the power spread out, Jiang He's consciousness suddenly surged, crossing an invisible boundary, arriving in an unknowable place.
Countless beams of light converged into a giant tree, standing tall before him.
It really worked!
Jiang He's heart was filled with joy as he looked forward.
He saw the slender branches of the Tree of Time hanging before him. From the original two branches, it had become three.
Obviously, the newly appeared third branch represented the Craftsman God!
Jiang He, worried about expending energy, didn't touch the branches of White Crane or Old Jiang.
Instead, he directly reached out and grasped the third branch.
In that moment.
His consciousness transcended space and time, and he saw a series of scenes.
Perhaps it was due to his raised energy level, combined with abundant power.
This time, the images Jiang He saw were clearer, richer, and more complete.
He saw, before the 「Moment of Awakening」, a boy standing at the edge of the playground, watching the fiery red-haired girl training in the distance, his eyes full of envy.
He saw the boy in the Cold Noodle Shop, filling his stomach with a large bowl of "birthday special" cold noodles.
He saw the boy praying at home, hoping to awaken an excellent talent.
As the 「Moment of Awakening」 arrived, the boy's wish was fulfilled—he awakened the top-level craftsman talent and was ecstatic with joy.
The next day, he reported his talent at school, successfully attracting attention, and became a new student in the honors class.
However…
The following scenes diverged.
Arc Light's assault, the school's collapse, the boy surviving under the protection of a teacher.
After receiving treatment, still shaken, he returned home to rest…
But on the way home, Human Tooth appeared.
The boy became one of the missing children of Central State.
This time, there was no "Jiang He" overflowing with compassion to save him.
He was secretly taken out of the city, brought into the wilderness.
Brainwashing, punishment, conditioning.
Scene after scene flashed by.
This newly awakened genius was turned into a…
「Evil Wolf」.