Chapter 68: Chapter 68: [Three Yang True Blood] Fusing a Martial Body

To get the rooster’s Blue talent, Yu Fei had emptied his personal savings.

When he arrived at the farmers’ market entrance, Yu Wei hadn’t returned yet, so he sat on a stone bollard and sank his consciousness into his mental space to examine the newly copied Blue talent.

[Three Yang True Blood]

Quality: Blue

Description: The blood contains Yang Flame True Power, generating its own spiritual essence. It is profound and unfathomable.

Effect: Strengthens Qi Blood by 30% and imbues it with the Yang attribute, granting it scorching and evil-warding abilities.

’This talent seems quite extraordinary.’

As he was pondering, Yu Fei noticed a change in the talent gems within the Fate-Defying Pearl.

A golden light emerged from [Celestial Being], passed through [Steel-Reinforced Bones], and spread to [Tough Hide], [Enhanced Absorption], and [Three Yang True Blood].

They drew close to one another, revolving ceaselessly around [Celestial Being] like a galaxy. The faint golden light continued to extend, attaching itself below [Extraordinary Comprehension].

’What is this?’

Yu Fei was startled. Before he could react, the Fate-Defying Pearl transmitted a piece of information to him, and he instantly understood why.

When the Fate-Defying Pearl awakened, it granted him four ways to manipulate talent gems. The first was Loading: placing a talent gem into a talent slot would grant him the corresponding talent.

The second was Smelting, which he had used once to smelt the extra Blue talent copied from Jiang Yifan into eight stardust motes that were still floating around the Fate-Defying Pearl.

The third was Upgrading loaded talents, which required consuming stardust. The exact amount was unknown, or at least, the number of motes needed to upgrade a Blue talent was unclear.

Today, after he obtained [Three Yang True Blood], the final ability was triggered: Fusion. This merged existing talents to create a single, higher-quality, and more powerful one.

Yu Fei mulled it over. ’The talents I’ve acquired by chance—[Tough Hide], [Steel-Reinforced Bones], and [Three Yang True Blood]—cover skin, flesh, muscle, bone, and blood. They seem to touch on every physical aspect for a Martial Artist. This really rounds out my physical foundation.’

’The [Enhanced Absorption] ability is related to the stomach, falling into the category of internal organs. For now, it’s the only one I have of its kind.’

’[Extraordinary Comprehension] represents an enhancement of my cognitive abilities and martial intuition.’

’And [Celestial Being] is the core, granting a Martial Artist an extremely high affinity with the world.’

According to the information from the Fate-Defying Pearl, these talents met the minimum requirements for fusion. If he acquired other cultivation-aiding talents in the future, he could still spend stardust to perform additional fusions.

’This is a wonderful surprise!’

Yu Fei had originally planned to repeatedly drain Ye Feng’s abilities to farm a large amount of stardust, unlock new talent slots, and upgrade his existing talents. Now, his goal had been achieved by an unexpected shortcut.

’Sigh, man’s plans are no match for fate’s. If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have bothered targeting Ye Feng.’

The talent fusion could begin immediately. According to the Fate-Defying Pearl, the process would take about five hours.

’Fuse!’

After Yu Fei issued the command to the Fate-Defying Pearl in his mental space, the slowly rotating galaxy of gems suddenly accelerated. Strands of brilliant, mysterious, multicolored particles stretched into silky threads, trickling bit by bit into the talent slot that held [Extraordinary Comprehension].

During the fusion process, Yu Fei suddenly felt drowsy.

"Brother, I bought everything! Come help me carry it, it’s so heavy."

Hearing her, Yu Fei shook off his drowsiness and took the plastic bags from his sister’s hands.

"Let’s go!"

After returning home, Yu Fei forced himself to stay awake and chat with his parents for a while, but he soon couldn’t fight it any longer. He returned to his room and fell into a deep sleep.

He slept so deeply that when he woke, it felt as if a lifetime had passed.

’Who am I...?’

Yu Fei sat on the edge of his bed. His memory was a blank.

His mind felt groggy and confused. After a long moment, his heart gave a single, heavy beat. In the quiet room, he could hear it pounding like a war drum. Then, the rhythm quickened, faster and faster!

THUMP! ...THUMP... THUMP! THUMP!

Like a dormant machine roaring to life, Yu Fei’s thoughts gradually focused, and he regained control over his limbs and meridians.

The first thing he did was sink his consciousness into his mental space.

[Void Martial Body]

Quality: Red

Description: A martial body of natural creation, a wonder in and of itself.

Effect 1, Martial Body: A three-fold, all-around enhancement to Qi Blood and physical foundation.

Effect 2, Insight: Supreme martial comprehension. From clarity, wisdom is born; all techniques can be mastered intuitively.

Effect 3, Yang Fire: Qi Blood becomes Pure Yang, rendering one impervious to all evil.

’A Red talent? This...?’

Yu Fei was stunned for a moment, then overjoyed. He could feel the fundamental change in his foundation. Potent Qi Blood coursed through his body, and his various internal energies intermingled, seeming to merge into one. Countless martial insights bubbled up in his mind like a fresh spring.

Inside his mental space, the area around the Fate-Defying Pearl was empty, save for the eight stardust motes. In his talent slots, two Red, one Purple, and one Blue talent now shone in brilliant harmony.

’This is too powerful!’

Yu Fei clearly understood the impact talents had on a person. Starting from a blank slate, he had loaded a Blue talent and, for the first time, truly grasped the difference between an ordinary person and a small-town prodigy. It could be summed up in one phrase: a cut above.

But now, with a Red-grade talent, Yu Fei finally had the standard starting point of the top prodigies of his generation.

The gap between an ordinary prodigy and a true chosen one was even greater.

Yu Fei suppressed the urge to start cultivating immediately. ’One must remain calm in the face of great events.’

He pushed open his door and saw Yu Wei at the dining table, setting out glasses and preparing to pour drinks.

"Brother, you’re a heavy sleeper! If you hadn’t woken up soon, I was going to start knocking."

Just then, Mr. Yu emerged from the kitchen with a large platter of chicken.

"Here comes the main course! Feifei, clear a spot."

"It smells amazing!" Yu Wei leaned in close and took a deep whiff.

"Your brother works so hard at his training; he gets exhausted. Today was a good chance for him to rest up. If you were even half as diligent as him, your mother and I could finally relax."

Mr. Yu said with a chuckle.

"Hmph! You’re picking on me again. What’s so wrong with this young lady?!"

Yu Fei laughed. "Everything!"

"How dare you! For that, you don’t get any cake today!"

Amid their playful banter, Mrs. Yu came out with two bowls of noodles.

"Dinner’s ready! Here you go, longevity noodles for the two birthday stars!"

"Thank you, Mom!" they said in unison.

It was rare for the family to have such a happy gathering. Since Yu Zhiguo’s promotion, their financial situation had improved a bit, and a smile was now a more common sight on their mother’s face.

"Make a wish!"

Yu Fei and Yu Wei made their wishes and blew out the candles together.

After today, Yu Fei was seventeen, and Yu Wei was fourteen.

One cannot possess youth and the wisdom to appreciate it at the same time. Yu Fei was the luckiest of all, for he had been given a second chance. There was no greater wonder in the world.

"My wish is for Mom to stay healthy and beautiful forever, for Dad to get a promotion and a raise, for my brother to become a great Martial Artist... and for him to buy me lots and lots of presents!"

"You dummy, if you say your wish out loud, it won’t come true."

"It only works if you say it! You have to say your wish out loud, too!"

Yu Fei flicked his sister on the forehead. "Alright, listen up. My wish... is for all of your wishes to come true!"

"Brother, you’re the best! That means you have to buy me even more presents in the future."

Yu Zhiguo smiled as he watched the siblings banter, casually removing the candles from the cake.

"Alright, alright, you two birthday stars, come cut the cake!"

"You cut it, Brother! I want that strawberry!"

"No problem!"

...