Chapter 819 - 814: The 3rd Colorful Talent!
Ang Xiao left quietly, just as he had come. With a flick of his sleeves, he vanished into thin air, leaving no trace behind. However, Lü Yang was highly skeptical of this.
"Did he really leave?" He blinked, thinking that given the typical behavior of a Saint Sect True Monarch, there was a good chance he had merely hidden himself again using the Veil of the Trees, and was actually still lurking nearby!
"It doesn’t matter. I can awaken the Centome as long as I have my consciousness anyway. If worse comes to worst, using my Incense and Candle Avatar to settle the reward will work just as well. I’m not leaving today!"
Lü Yang made a ruthless decision. Although he felt it was unlikely for Ang Xiao to follow his avatar into Emperor Ying, he decided to play it safe. He would directly use his Incense and Candle Avatar to settle the Old Dragon Monarch’s Gold Attribute first, and then detonate the avatar, absolutely refusing to leave any chance of letting the fox into the henhouse.
.........
[Settling the experiences of the "Old Dragon Monarch/Old Dragon Mother"...]
[You are the oldest True Dragon, the first gaze the Ancestral Dragon cast upon the world. Originally a noble of Heaven and Earth, you were miserably banished, dragging out your ignoble existence for countless years...]
Crisp text surfaced on the interface. Along with it came a Vast Ocean of profound memories—the memories and knowledge accumulated by the Old Dragon Monarch over countless eras. Yet, Lü Yang did not dare to accept it. Without a hint of hesitation, he completely rejected all the knowledge and memories, sealing them away within the Centome without digesting or absorbing them.
"Settling the Gold Attribute in the Centome actually has both pros and cons," he mused, his expression solemn as he carefully sorted through the artifact. "The pros are naturally the Talent Skills and the memories of the Gold Attribute’s owner. However, the cons lie in exactly the same thing. Such an overwhelmingly massive amount of knowledge and memories would cause a certain impact on my very being. Absorbing too much is actually not a good thing for me."
Before this, he had settled many Gold Attributes and received the knowledge and memories of those individuals, but he mostly viewed them as external materials to be perused. He didn’t accept them in their entirety. After all, those were the experiences and lives of others, harboring incredibly intense emotions. Accepting them fully would be detrimental to his Dao Heart.
"It’s better to save the Old Dragon Monarch’s memories for now," he decided. "Aside from his Cultivation, which is universal and can be extracted, there’s no rush for the rest. I will need to spend a very long time sorting and integrating them before they can be used."
Soon, Lü Yang finished processing the memories. Having done all this, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and turned his attention to the interface beside him.
[Because the Old Dragon Monarch lived in the world for so long and possessed exceedingly rich experiences and knowledge, you may choose one of the following Talent Skills as your settlement reward.]
[1. Celestial Royal: You are the darling of Heaven and Earth, the oldest Dragon Descendant. Your Mana, Dharma Body, and Magic are vastly enhanced.]
[2. Great Concealment in the City: You will no longer draw attention in the eyes of Cultivators in a higher Realm.]
[3. Supreme True Essence: Regardless of the race, you can easily breed offspring with them.]
[4. Mother of Reproduction: The more offspring you have and the more they prosper, the stronger your Fortune will be.]
[5. Heaven and Earth and I Are Born Together: You have an astonishing compatibility with Heaven and Earth. When performing a Magic Instrument, the difficulty of drawing the attention of a Fruit is drastically reduced.]
The dense cluster of text dazzled Lü Yang’s eyes. "There are actually five of them!"
It was indeed worthy of the Old Dragon Monarch. Even though he wasn’t a Great Perfected Lord, he forcefully relied on his vast experiences to achieve an effect surpassing that of a Great Perfected Lord’s Gold Attribute.
"Of course, it’s also possible that Gangzi was just too weak..." Lü Yang guessed inwardly. Thinking again of the departed Ang Xiao, he couldn’t help but drool over the Gold Attribute hidden beneath that hazy mist. "Forget it, I’m in no rush. In my next life, or the one after that... At worst, I’ll just wait until I break through to the Late Stage of Golden Core and become a Great Perfected Lord. I’ll definitely find an opportunity for Gold Absorption on Ang Xiao..."
Gathering his thoughts, Lü Yang looked at the interface again, only to fall into an unprecedented state of hesitation. "Five Talent Skills that start at the gold tier! Among them, 1, 3, and 4 are useless to me. I’m not a lustful person anyway. The key choices are 2 and 5. What should I do? I want both of these Talent Skills..."
At this thought, Lü Yang couldn’t help but furrow his brow. The usefulness of the second option, Great Concealment in the City, was beyond doubt. This Talent Skill would become increasingly useful to him as his Cultivation grew higher. However, the fifth option was also extremely important. Heaven and Earth and I Are Born Together—if he could obtain this Talent Skill, the success rate of him performing a second Magic Instrument to elevate his Fruit Position Profound Mysterious would definitely skyrocket.
Both Talent Skills pertained to his path of the Dao. How should he choose?
Lü Yang remained silent for a long time, weighing the pros and cons, before finally sighing. "I’ll go with Heaven and Earth and I Are Born Together. There are actually risks associated with Great Concealment in the City."
Compared to Heaven and Earth and I Are Born Together, the effects of Great Concealment in the City had a few flaws. The primary issue lay with the effect of "becoming inconspicuous in the eyes of a Master of Dao." "Inconspicuous" was ultimately not the same as "invisible." If he really went overboard, a Master of Dao would still notice him.
Take the Dao of Arcane Body, for example. Once inherited, it would be broadcast live across the Full Void Sea of Light. Being inconspicuous would be useless; in fact, this very trait might make him more prone to drawing the attention of a Master of Dao.
"Besides, I already have Celestial Human Residual Consciousness," he reasoned. "Great Concealment in the City and Celestial Human Residual Consciousness clearly overlap in certain effects. In comparison, the effects of Celestial Human Residual Consciousness are even better."
With this in mind, Lü Yang finally made his decision.
[You have obtained the Colorful Talent: Heaven and Earth and I Are Born Together!]
RUMBLE!
In an instant, Lü Yang stretched his limbs, feeling every piece of flesh, every organ, and every cell in his body undergoing a qualitative transformation. His breathing gradually became drawn out and inaudible, as if overlapping with the fluctuation frequency of the surrounding Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth. Every inhalation and exhalation matched the pulse of Heaven and Earth. Just by standing there, surging Mana exploded outward in all directions with him at the center.
Meanwhile, in a corner of Nourishing Life Master.
Mu Changsheng—who had been cowering in the shadows, afraid to speak from the moment Lü Yang and the Old Dragon Monarch began their great battle up until Ang Xiao’s appearance—finally couldn’t hold back anymore.
"What is this!?" Mu Changsheng’s eyes widened. "Is he still a Perfected Lord? Why do I sense a completely different tier of life from him? It’s as if there is a fundamental, qualitative gap in our Realms!"
Compared to when Lü Yang had activated Supreme Dao Transformation earlier, the current Lü Yang gave him a sense of heavy, oppressive might that left him practically breathless. If the Lü Yang in the state of Supreme Dao Transformation was lofty and transcendent, then the Lü Yang in the state of Heaven and Earth and I Are Born Together was an unfathomable shadow. Just by observing him, Mu Changsheng was suddenly struck by the bizarre sensation of being "a drop in the ocean."
After a long time, the numerous brilliant manifestations all dissipated together. Lü Yang’s figure distorted for a fraction of a second before restabilizing. His already flawless body now astonishingly flowed with a lustrous golden radiance.
"Awesome!"
Lü Yang was overjoyed because, unlike Supreme Dao Transformation, Heaven and Earth and I Are Born Together was a passive Talent Skill. There was no time limit for its activation!
The intense sense of fulfillment even gave Lü Yang an illusion: "I’m already invincible in this world!"
However, he quickly snapped out of this delusion. He hurriedly recalled the experiences of being screwed over to death in his past lives, suppressing his impetuous mood. He had to stay steady; he couldn’t act recklessly just yet.
Lü Yang managed to keep his expression composed, but he felt the Fruit of Divine-Empyrean Thunder pulsating violently within the Spiritual Space between his brows. Their already tight connection became even closer. In the unseen realm, an epiphany arose within him: "If I were still in control of the Fruit of Celestial Fire right now, I might be able to hold the Ascension Ceremony and fully unlock the potential of the Emperor Fruit!"
For a moment, Lü Yang grew increasingly expectant of his next life. His gains in this life were beyond his wildest imagination. All of his accumulations would bear fruit in his next life, to the point where he even wanted to immediately restart.
"No, I have to hold it back," he reminded himself. "There is still one final great act left in this life."
Lü Yang took a deep breath, suppressing all his stray thoughts. Essence Light gleamed in his eyes. "Ang Xiao is seeking the Nascent Soul... I’d really like to see exactly how he plans to do that!"
If Ang Xiao actually succeeded, he wouldn’t mind copying him.