I Can Copy the Talents of All Creatures

Without Ye Shuping’s help, he never would have achieved his current strength.

Besides, the old man had a tacit understanding of his abilities. To this day, there had been no deception, only constant nurturing and guidance.

After Ye Shuping helped him so unreservedly, Yu Fei decided to reveal some of his abilities to his teacher. With his teacher’s help, he was sure he could accelerate his own growth. The once-a-month chance to copy a talent was too rare; he had to make every opportunity count.

The red talent he had just copied was too weak; it could only be dismantled.

A new idea suddenly struck him. ’Could I obtain some gold-rank talents with my teacher’s help? Whether for dismantling or for my own use, the results would be excellent.’

’I have a whole bunch of talents waiting to be upgraded. If I can snag a gold-rank talent every time, I’m sure my power and potential will skyrocket.’

[Pyrokinesis]

Quality: Red

Description: Master of fire manipulation.

Effect: Allows control over nearby flames.

This talent was far too situational, only useful in an environment like the Red Sun Realm. Furthermore, since Yu Fei had cultivated the Great Sun Glaze Body, his own fire resistance was absurdly high, and this pyrokinesis ability would be ineffective against mid- to high-level Martial Artists.

’In a world with superpowers or Magic, [Pyrokinesis] could have been quite useful. A shame...’

Ye Shuping fell silent for a moment, then asked curiously, "Do you have to be the one to land the killing blow?"

The question was blunt, all but asking Yu Fei outright, ’So, kid, is *this* your special ability?’

Ye Shuping had always had his suspicions about Yu Fei’s special ability. He had a general idea of what it did, but he hadn’t pressed the matter.

"Teacher, every so often, when I defeat or kill a designated target, there’s a high probability I’ll randomly copy one of their innate talents. The talents of these fire spirits are useful to me. In theory, the stronger the individual, the better their talent."

Ye Shuping nodded. It was more or less what he’d guessed, but he had a few more questions and decided to ask them now.

"I see. I had my theories about your unique ability, but what I don’t understand is, how can you judge whether someone’s talent is good or bad?"

"And what exactly are these ’talents,’ anyway? As far as I know, most people aren’t even aware of their own innate aptitudes. How can you be so certain?"

This was what puzzled Ye Shuping the most.

Talent wasn’t as obvious as a pregnancy. Most people only had a vague, often inaccurate, assessment of their own abilities. It was an inborn trait, so the person in question might not even be aware of it.

Only through comparison and interaction with others can one discover what makes them different.

"Teacher, I can roughly perceive the level of a person’s talent, but I can’t see its category or know what the ability does."

"If we compare talent to wealth, I can tell if someone has money, but I don’t know if that money is in savings, gold, or fixed assets. I have no way of knowing those details."

"Only after a successful copy can I identify what that specific part of their talent is and whether I can use it for myself."

Yu Fei did his best to explain the effects of the Fate-Defying Pearl in other terms.

Ye Shuping’s eyes lit up with understanding. The old man’s interest was piqued, and he asked Yu Fei with curiosity, "In that case, what level would you say my talent is?"

Yu Fei looked at the golden gem above the old man’s head and stated with certainty:

"If talents are ranked from one to nine, with nine being the highest, then Teacher, you’re at the very top—level nine!"

This was consistent with the Fate-Defying Pearl’s own nine-tier ranking system, from gray to gold.

Ye Shuping nodded, satisfied.

"That makes sense. I always felt that reaching the Martial Saint level involved many requirements and even the possibility of failure. But how could a Martial Artist possibly be so inept that they couldn’t even reach the Grandmaster Realm?"

"Only after teaching for the Shenhan Sect for many years did I realize that the differences between people in this world are simply enormous. It’s almost as if we’re not the same species."

Yu Fei listened but couldn’t bring himself to agree. Having clawed his way up from being an ordinary person with no talent, he simply couldn’t relate to a world-class genius like the old man.

"Then what about your senior sister Xiaoming? What’s her talent level?"

"Level nine!"

"And Mr. Tang?"

"Level eight!"

"Just as I thought! Xiaoming always seemed a bit sharper than Xiaohui. My eye for talent is as good as ever!"

Seeing his teacher’s sudden playfulness, Yu Fei felt a pang of regret for telling him. But on second thought, his unique ability had been exposed to the old man long ago. It didn’t really matter.

"Teacher, so, are we going to go catch a level-nine fire spirit or not?"

Ye Shuping smiled breezily. "Why bother with a fire spirit? You’re looking at a level-nine talent right here—a bona fide owner of the highest-grade talent. Come on, let’s have a little mock spar. I’ll concede, and you see if you can copy my talent. Frankly, I’m quite curious about my own abilities myself."

"Huh? Is that okay?"

Yu Fei almost couldn’t keep a straight face, but his interest was piqued. The only gold-rank talent he had ever legitimately copied was Lu Bufan’s [Invincible Will]. This meant Ye Shuping would be his second chance to possibly obtain another.

He suddenly felt a pang of regret. ’I shouldn’t have gone after that fire spirit just now. I’ve wasted a chance.’

Back in the Eternal Night Forest, he had copied the silver-grade [Sound of Godslaying] nine times in a row, which had left him with three chances. Since returning, he’d been spending time with Li Mengyao, and another month had passed, granting him one new opportunity.

After copying [Pyrokinesis] just now, he was back down to three chances.

"Come on, attack me!"

"Alright!"

He placed the mark on Ye Shuping and, raising his hand, sent a blast of Sword Qi hurtling toward his teacher’s chest. The old man didn’t even dodge, pretending to take the hit. He then fell to the ground, refusing to get up and shouting,