Theodore's gaze fell on the new line of text—and for a heartbeat, he felt as if he were staring at a towering silhouette standing alone in primordial chaos.
It felt like that figure had been there since before heaven and earth were split.
Then the characters came into focus:
[Reversing Five Elements Origin Sea]
[Before heaven and earth parted, before clear and turbid were divided, in the chaos of three thousand beings, those who possessed this ability were fewer than few. Only great beings whose power approached that of Saints could wield such a gift.]
[Among the disciples of the Chan Sect, only the Deputy Sect Master, Burning Lamp Daoist, possessed the cultivation of Reversing Five Elements Origin Sea.]
[With this talent, you may simultaneously absorb the spiritual qi of all Five Elements and their myriad derivatives and variants. Above, you may draw down the clear astral qi of the Ninth Heaven; below, you may swallow the turbid baleful qi of earth-veins. All spiritual qi born after the opening of chaos can be taken in by this talent.]
[All primordial energy drawn into your body will be run through the reversal of the Five Elements, ground down like grain beneath a millstone, refined into the purest single strand of primordial essence, and gathered into an Origin Sea.]
[The thicker the power of the Origin Sea, the more vast its expanse; the more vast it is, the faster it will draw in spiritual qi. In time, it may even form a world of its own, in which new living beings are born.]
Theodore stared at the description of Reversing Five Elements Origin Sea, his mind completely blank for the first time in a long while.
Σ(°ロ°) — Holy…!
A talent on the level of… Burning Lamp Daoist?
No wonder the tribulation was that over the top!
Burning Lamp Daoist was the Vice Sect Master of the Chan Sect, standing above even Nanji Xianweng—South Pole Immortal Elder. His divine abilities were beyond measure.
In later ages, when the Western religion prospered, Duo Bao Daoist would go west and become the future Tathagata Buddha.
But in terms of seniority, Burning Lamp was above Tathagata—he would become the Ancient Buddha of Lamp-Light.
Such a figure might not yet be a Saint, but he was already infinitely close.
What he lacked was not cultivation, but that which existed in only a handful of traces even in primordial chaos—Hongmeng Purple Qi, or a deed of boundless merit on the scale of Nuwa creating humanity, or Houtu turning herself into reincarnation. Only with such things could one attain true sainthood.
In the wizarding world as it was now, Theodore couldn't even find a being qualified to correspond to Burning Lamp Daoist, much less go and befriend him.
He certainly hadn't expected that by throwing a pile of talents into the fusion furnace, he'd… recreate such a thing.
Even though all the merit he'd painstakingly accumulated had been drained to nothing in one go, leaving only the "base layer" of his own personal merit—back to square one overnight—
He still had only one thought:
Worth it. Totally, utterly worth it.
Even with all that merit burned away, he'd still needed obscenely good luck to forge this talent at all.
If his fortune had been any lower, even by a fraction, it simply wouldn't have happened.
He held his breath and focused on sensing the power of Reversing Five Elements Origin Sea.
A heartbeat later, a surge of awe rolled through him.
Even standing inside the Room of Requirement, far from any obvious leyline, he could feel spiritual qi pouring into his body at a rate at least five times greater than everything his previous qi-gathering talents had done combined.
He could clearly feel that besides the familiar flavours of qi he'd encountered before, countless other strands—rough, mixed, and alien—were being dragged in.
High above, from the still-dissipating thunderclouds, traces of five-colored lightning–aspected qi were being siphoned down. From deep in the earth and waterways, a particularly cold, eerie water-aspected qi was being drawn as well.
Any one strand of these specialised energies was worth dozens of ordinary threads, and could be used to fuel certain powerful divine arts.
Ordinarily, to handle them properly, you'd need a matching cultivation method—or risk being injured by their very nature.
But now, with Reversing Five Elements Origin Sea, Theodore simply opened the floodgates.
All of it—all of it—was welcome.
And this was only the first effect of the talent. It wasn't even the main event.
Because as he began to absorb the flood of chaotic spiritual qi, Theodore felt a subtle law awaken within his body.
The energies he'd drawn in were yanked into motion, spinning along a mysterious pattern.
The Five Elements reversed and reconfigured, coalescing into something like a great grinding millstone, turning and turning.
No matter whether the qi was pure or impure, ordinary or strange, all of it was ground down inside that Five Elements mill. From that grinding, only the purest single strand of primordial essence was extracted.
Those wisps of essence slowly converged—
Forming, in Theodore's core, the beginnings of an Origin Sea.
Watching the process unfold—from spiritual qi, to primordial essence, to the forming of the sea—his eyes burned hot.
Right now my Origin Sea is just a tiny pool, a few strands of essence connected together. But once more and more gathers, and it really turns into something like a boundless ocean…
The amount of qi I can swallow will be on a completely different scale than now.
This is a growing qi talent. Just that alone is already enough for me.
Never mind that all the power stored in the Origin Sea will be the purest essence, far superior to any ordinary cultivation method. I'll be able to draw directly on the Sea's strength to cast divine arts and spells—my power will be overwhelming.
And with the Origin Sea constantly churning, I'm swallowing massive amounts of Five Elements spiritual qi every moment. Even without the talents Free Control of Fire, Free Control of Water, or Command Wind and Thunder, my control of elemental power will be far beyond what it used to be.
Even the residue ground off in the Five Elements mill isn't wasted—it can be fed to Proved Diamond Body Never Fails to strengthen my physique further.
No wonder this is a talent that only beings bordering on sainthood can possess. Just this one talent alone has completely transformed my power. All that waiting… was absolutely worth it.
Even with Theodore's composure, it was a long while before he calmed down.
He looked back to the talent fusion furnace icon, lost in thought.
My stored merit is gone, but my current fortune is even stronger than before. That alone makes my luck better than most people's.
And the last fusion didn't need to consume the luck-item to protect talents, so that "protection charge" is still unused.
With that, I can afford to try another fusion. If it succeeds, I win. If it fails, I don't really lose anything important.
His gaze swept once across the remaining talents on the panel.
Finally, his eyes settled on Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart.
This talent had done a huge amount of work for him—countless insights and conveniences traced back to it. Its contribution was enormous.
If he could push it up another tier, he'd benefit even more.
And conveniently, he had a few talents that matched it well.
"System, fuse Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart, Spirit-Rhino Insight Eye, Night Vision, and Keen Ears and Sharp Eyes."
Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart was a wisdom-type talent. So was Spirit-Rhino Insight Eye, which he'd gotten through the Weasley twins—also focused on perception and comprehension.
Night Vision and Keen Ears and Sharp Eyes were more basic, but still related to senses. Good enough to toss into the pot.
Even if the fusion failed, the highest-tier Seven-Apertures Exquisite Heart would be protected. Then he could spend the luck stored in his badge to save Spirit-Rhino Insight Eye as well.
Losing Night Vision and Keen Ears and Sharp Eyes wouldn't bother him at all.
As soon as the words left Theodore's lips, the fusion furnace flared again.
The talents blurred, their icons smearing into indistinct shapes.
Then, within the furnace, a beam of gold erupted once more.
[You have obtained the talent — Piercing Subtlety Heavenly Eye.]
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