Chapter 389 - 385: Divisions Of Talent

Chapter 389 - 385: Divisions Of Talent

Wei Wuyin’s emotions stirred, giving this seemingly ordinarily sized door another look. This was a gateway to another starfield? Which? Could it be...

His thoughts rapidly started to circulate as he contemplated the implications of this, including the bits of knowledge he’d obtained thus far. Wei Wuyin regained his calm extremely quickly. "This must’ve been left behind by the Envoy of the King of Everlore. It’s a Void Gate, right? To where?"

Qingye Ying was incredibly shocked by how calm Wei Wuyin was, feeling utter disbelief at the moment. When she first learned of the existence of this Gate of the Myriad Excellence, she had a stupefied expression for at least an hour. Was this a difference of mental stability? She pouted beneath her veil, revealing a cute appearance that no one but Wei Wuyin could see.

Qingye Yun felt impressed by Wei Wuyin’s composure, nodding inwardly in approval. He answered, "Yes. Shortly after the Alchemist Association stabilized its foundation, an Envoy of the King of Everlore descended. While I only have journals and records left by my ancestors to extrapolate from, what I can gather is that it was left for a future successor."

"Future successor?" Wei Wuyin turned his head to see Qingye Ying’s cute pout, and when she noticed his gaze, she stuck out her pink tongue, believing no one was capable of witnessing her actions.

Qingye Yun confirmed his thoughts, "It was stated that all those who can manifest an Alchemic Astral Soul can enter the Gate of the Myriad Excellence Tower. What was recorded had been somewhat contradicting and vague, but what was consistently clear was that it led to another starfield and it was linked to a force with deep connections to the King of Everlore.

"Those who enter will be...much like your sect’s discipleship, accepted by that force to continue their cultivation and obtain the legacy of the King of Everlore. If it wasn’t for such a long time having passed, I believe it might’ve been a trial for a special type of disciple for the King of Everlore himself!" Qingye Yun was excited by the theory but also depressed. There had been more than eight thousand years since the end of the King of Everlore’s Era, he was likely long dead.

"This is why you wanted me to help you? To enter this gateway and obtain discipleship from whatever lay on the other side?" Wei Wuyin was confused. Did Qingye Yun realize that he had an Alchemic Astral Soul? But he could’ve sworn it was very, very difficult to perceive. He didn’t think Qingye Yun, an expert at the Sixth Stage of the Astral Core Realm, could sense it when others at his level with stronger senses and closer proximity couldn’t.

"Yes, but not for you. All those without an Alchemic Astral Soul are unable to breach the gateway, repelled by a powerful force. Some have even been directly crippled." Those words verified that Qingye Yun was in the dark of his Alchemic Astral Soul, but this only served to further Wei Wuyin’s confusion.

Wei Wuyin glanced at Qingye Ying, "She’s the one you’ve chosen?"

As if offended somehow, Qingye Ying snorted softly to reveal her displeasure. She was a genuine Alchemic Astral Soul Alchemist with a boundless future; Unlike a particular someone, it was obvious that she was one who would venture into the world beyond and experience grander things.

"If that’s the case, and you believe I can’t travel through the gateway, then why do you need my help? After all, Saintess Ying has all the requirements to enter," Wei Wuyin said skeptically.

Qingye Yun’s expression twisted slightly and even Qingye Ying’s eyes flashed with a solemn light. A gust of depressed air suffused the atmosphere. The medallion within Qingye Yun’s hands released a soft sound at this moment, prompting the door to close with a heavy thud.

The trio turned their eyes to the now-closed door. Wei Wuyin had never seen such an exquisite Void Gate, finding it quite interesting that something of this level had been constructed thousands of years ago. He couldn’t help but draw a link to the Ancient Void Gate found on the Bloodforge Continent. While they might not have a direct link, he felt as if they might’ve been constructed for the same purpose.

When he recalled losing a potential Ascendant candidate, someone who prematurely wielded exceptional spatial force before the Realmlord level, he frowned with contemplation, reaching for the crescent moon necklace that always hung around his neck. This was likely the key to the Ancient Void Gate, similar to Qingye Yun’s medallion.

He had obtained this from the first Blessed he’d killed, an unnamed Commander, and it contained the Spatial Jade Crystal. This crystal was refined with boundless lifeforce and transformed, allowing Kratos to become a Void Soul. There was also a book that required a unique spiritual spell to peeceive. If he recalled correctly, it had three pages and only three words: Will, Void, and Weapon.

It was finally here, prompting Qingye Yun’s expression to become serious. "For you to reach your current level without an Alchemic Astral Soul, you must have the lowest-grade of Overlord-level talent, at least. There’s an ancient method left behind by one of my ancestors, it’s called the Meridian Grafting Method. We would remove Qingye Ying’s tainted portions of her meridians and graft yours to her body, allowing her to regain her talent to cultivate."

Wei Wuyin frowned, shockingly adding: "So I see. But the Meridian Grafting Method only allows someone to acquire a portion of the other’s talent as a result, and if you used with someone with low talent, she still wouldn’t be able to enter the gateway, defeating the purpose. But what’s Overlord-level Alchemic Talent?" He had an Alchemic Astral Soul, so he knew he had the bare minimum of talent at least, but he wasn’t sure about this ’Overlord-level’.

Qingye Yun didn’t think Wei Wuyin was familiar with such an obscure method, finding it quite shocking.

Qingye Ying chimed in, "When the Envoy of the King of Everlore arrived, he brought along a tome of exceptional information. One of the things detailed was the division of innate talent, not factoring in unique qualities like a Physique or Meridians. There’s five levels outlined: Null, Standard, Excellence, Overlord, and Chosen, and each level, besides Null, was further divided by Earthly, Worldly, and Heavenly grades."

Wei Wuyin was intrigued by this division. When she started to explain, he felt his horizons broadened. To cultivate any type of specific Spirit, one needed to reach the ’Heavenly Standard-level’ of talent. As for anything beneath it, they simply couldn’t absorb and refine the pure essence required for conversion. Of course, there were alchemical products that could bypass this issue.

The Null-level of talent meant either a cripple or a complete incompatibility with various energies. He recalled Zuhei’s horrid response to Spatial Energy, likely revealing his Null-level talent, and realizing that there were numerous alchemical products that serve to enhance talent.

He hadn’t understood what it truly meant to ’improve’ talent until this moment when the differences were clearly outlined. Enlightened, he realized an issue. There were no Alchemical Products that enhanced Alchemic Talent in his memory.

As if reading his thoughts once more, Qingye Yun added: "There’s many different purification products, and with a few centuries of effort, we can entirely remove the tainted portions of Qingye Ying’s meridians and physique, but her innate talent would forever be damaged. And unfortunately, there’s no known way to increase one’s alchemic talent. While a formation is a stopgap measure, it can not replace personally refined essence and energies, making it impossible to improve one’s cultivation base."

Wei Wuyin nodded in agreement. There were many ways to detoxify the body from any level of impurities with time, but even if he used a ninth-grade product to do so, removing it in a few months or a year, her talent was already decimated by her actions. There was nothing he could do except provide pills to elevate her talent.

But as a wielder of an Alchemic Astral Soul, she needed to refine or convert essence into alchemical energies to promote her strength. It was similar to how Ori had to absorb the materials of the nine elemental essences to regain its strength or amplify the ’essence’ portion of its power. The other way was conversion via intent, transforming ordinary essence into a specific attribute.

Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue due to Alchemical Products, but there was no alchemical energy product that existed. In fact, he was shocked to discover that nothing within the Alchemic Dao supported the Alchemic Dao, at least to his knowledge.

Her path of cultivation was truly over unless she used a drastic method like the Meridian Grafting Method. But even that had issues, and she might not even exceed Null with someone else with Heavenly Standard-level talent. As for Excellence-level talent, he wasn’t certain if they knew someone of that level or how rare it was.

What he didn’t know was that even Heavenly Excellence-level grafting might produce a Null-level talent or a Worldly Standard-level talent at best, meaning it still fell short.

It was why even Lin Ming’s Senior Sister, Senior Sister Lin, someone with vast more experience and knowledge, had completely dismissed Qingye Ying. She was practically an invalid to the Alchemic Dao.

He furrowed his brows tightly, "You want me to sacrifice a portion of my talent and give Saintess Ying another shot at cultivating?"

Thud!

Qingye Yun uncharacteristically kneeled before Wei Wuyin with both knees on the ground, nearly kowtowing to him. "Yes! I understand the sacrifice we’re asking of you, and we’re willing to devote the entire Alchemist Association to you for as long as our lineage exists!"

Wei Wuyin, "..."