38: Chapter 38 Talent Advancement

When Jiang Xun's fingertips touched the cold stone slab, everything around him instantly froze, and a massive surge of information rushed from his fingertips deep into his soul.

Jiang Xun's soul throbbed with pain, as if it were about to be burst apart by the information being forcibly crammed into it.

The rise of races, the fall of gods, and the birth and collapse of laws all transformed into a stream of data that exploded in his mind, assaulting his fragile consciousness; Jiang Xun's body trembled violently, his face turned pale instantly, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

"Hold on!"

For the first time, the wrinkled face of Old Baitou lost its composure; he clenched his fists tightly, staring fixedly at Jiang Xun, his voice dry and hoarse. He had seen too many geniuses attempt to analyze an ancient god fragment, and without exception, they had all suffered a soul collapse under this first wave of information impact, becoming idiots.

Could Jiang Xun endure it?

Just as Jiang Xun's consciousness was about to be drowned by the illusions of civilizations, the [Civilization Plunder] Talent imprint deep within his soul suddenly erupted with a greedy radiance; the Talent imprint seemed to awaken, perceiving a source of power suitable for itself, and it actively opened up, rushing wildly to meet that stream of information.

[Detected super-dimensional civilization information source... Parsing... Parsing progress 1%... 10%... 50%...]

[Information source level too high, underlying Talent logic is being passively reconstructed...]

[Warning! Uncontrollable Talent evolution occurring!]

[SSS-rank Talent [Civilization Plunder] advancement program initiated...]

A series of rapid, mechanical notification sounds echoed continuously in Jiang Xun's mind; he felt as if he were being decomposed and then reassembled under the influence of higher-level laws.

Old Baitou stared blankly at the scene before him; the light on the ancient god fragment was visibly dimming, while different glows of civilization emerged from Jiang Xun's body.

There was the deathly black aura of the Undead, the heavy earthy yellow of the Dwarves, the wild blood-red of the Orcs, and the elegant cyan-green of the Elves...

These powers, which had originally operated independently within his divine kingdom and even conflicted faintly, were now forcibly kneaded together by a force; they collided wildly and repelled each other, yet were held firmly in check by an even more domineering force, forcing them to infiltrate and merge with one another.

"This... he is not enduring it, he is... devouring it?" Old Baitou opened his mouth wide, his eyes bulging round.

This young man had actually treated the ancient god fragment as nutrients!

[Talent advancement successful!]

[Congratulations! Your SSS-rank Talent [Civilization Plunder] has successfully advanced to [Civilization Plunder and Fusion]!]

[Civilization Plunder and Fusion]:

[Rank: SSS-rank (Growable)]

[Ability 1: Plunder. You can still plunder other civilizations' cultivation techniques, Talents, laws, and troop types; the success rate and completeness of the plunder depend on the strength gap between the two parties and the relationship of civilization suppression.]

[Ability 2: Fusion. You can consume Faith Points to analyze and fuse the laws, troop types, and cultivation techniques of different plundered civilization systems, creating brand-new, conflict-free civilization traits that belong uniquely to you. The direction and results of the fusion are uncertain, but the potential is limitless.]

As the last character faded, Jiang Xun opened his eyes abruptly; his gaze seemed to hold a bit more depth, eventually returning to calm. He did not speak, simply sinking his consciousness into his divine kingdom.

Within the divine kingdom, it was already a complete upheaval!

The once clearly demarcated areas of different civilizations were now having their boundaries dissolve; those Undead warriors he had plundered now had Dwarf civilization forging runes automatically branded onto their stark white bones, making their skeletal frames as hard as refined steel.

The hooves of the Orc Wolf Riders were wreathed in the blessings of Wind-element Elves, their figures as fast as ghosts. As the carriers of all these civilizations, the souls of the human believers lit up with points of light, their physical bodies becoming a testing ground that could bear various fused powers without any rejection.

Jiang Xun moved his mind, attempting to fuse the Undead Civilization's Death Wither with the Dwarf civilization's Rune Armor.

[Law fusion initiated, estimated consumption of 100,000 Faith Points, continue?]

"Continue!"

[Fusing... Fusion successful! You have created a brand-new trait: Wither Battle Armor (Bronze-rank).]

Wither Battle Armor: While your believers are clad in Rune Armor, they will continuously deal weak wither damage to surrounding enemy forces!

Jiang Xun's soul vibrated in response.

This was creation, the result of recombining different powers.

With this ability, his motley army of various origins would become a powerful force capable of encompassing all kinds of powers.

The weakness of uncoordinated systems? From today on, it would cease to exist!

"Whew..."

Old Baitou let out a long breath of stale air, his tense muscles relaxing. He looked at Jiang Xun, whose aura was completely different now, his gaze softening significantly.

"The hope of the human race... does not lie in sticking to the old ways, but in embracing all paths and devouring the heavens... Child, you have done it..."

"The path that belongs to you only truly begins now."

...

Meanwhile, inside a high-end private club in Jiangcheng, the lights were ablaze.

Brother Feng sat in the main seat, surrounded by nearly ten geniuses from the Key Class, including Zhao Yu and Sun Miao.

Each of them represented a mature A-rank or B-rank civilization.

"Is everything arranged?" Brother Feng held his wine glass and smiled contemptuously.

"Rest assured, Brother Feng," Zhao Yu grinned hideously, "The ten of us have formed the most perfect 'Heavenly Net' battle formation! My Storm War Eagles are responsible for high-altitude reconnaissance and suppression, Sun Miao's Rock Giant Statue legion is responsible for the frontal assault, plus Brother Li's Illusion Demon Foxes for crowd control, and Zhang Qian's Poison Vine Banshees to set traps... That ragtag army Jiang Xun cobbled together won't even be able to withstand our first wave of offensive!"

"That's right, his army, which is piled together by plundering, has conflicting civilizations and absolutely no coordination to speak of; in a real team battle, it's just a joke!"

"This time, we will let the whole school see who the true prodigy is, and who is just a hillbilly who got lucky!"

Everyone chimed in, as if victory were already in their grasp. Brother Feng nodded, his mind already rehearsing the scene of Jiang Xun being crushed by the coalition army and begging for mercy on his knees. He looked out the window, as if seeing the miserable state of Jiang Xun after his defeat.

"Jiang Xun, your luck has run out."

Almost at the same moment, a cold notification sound rang out on the terminals of all the Key Class students.

[The monthly assessment will officially begin in five minutes; please have all students enter the virtual battlefield immediately.]

[Assessment mode: 5v5 Team Points Battle!]

[Battlefield: Death Valley.]

[Mission: Survive, and plunder the enemy's points!]

Inside the underground forbidden area, Jiang Xun stood up, brushed the dust off his body, and bowed slightly to Old Baitou. Then, Jiang Xun raised his head, his gaze seeming to pierce through layers of obstacles, landing on that group of prey currently grinning hideously.

He wore a smile.

"The assessment is finally about to begin."