novelraw Chapter 95: The Value Is Still Increasing
Chapter 95: The Value Is Still Increasing
With just three sentences, he had the Knightess willingly pledging her service, even at her own expense.
The man was a master of human nature!
In the morning, he learned about the Chaos Erosion. In the afternoon, he was busy revising the Oath and inviting allies. In the evening, he had a heart-to-heart with Mivana, shamelessly getting everything he could out of her for free.
Westheid’s packed day came to an end, and by the early hours of the next morning, he had arrived at his estate’s training ground.
Ever since his meteoric rise during the Secret Realm Trial, Westheid had been spending a great deal of time every day adapting to his new Tier.
Jumping two major stages at once was not an unprecedented feat; many geniuses could do it. After all, for a Transcendent below the Hero Tier, there were no truly insurmountable gulfs.
But even a genius needed to spend time stabilizing their Tier, let alone Westheid, who saw himself as mediocre.
He had a very clear understanding of himself. Without the Talent Authority of Heart and Soul’s Gift, he would never have become truly powerful in his entire life. Since he now had a cheat he felt unworthy of, he had to make the most of it.
CRACKLE—
On the training ground, Westheid held a training sword in a reverse grip. With a slight tremble of his fingertips, arcs of verdant lightning coiled around the hilt. When Westheid swung his arm, the lightning instantly shot forth, writhing chaotically as it lashed against a dummy forged from a sturdy alloy.
CRACK—
With a crisp crack, the solid steel body was sliced in half at the waist, annihilated by the electrical arcs as if it were a piece of paper consumed by flames.
Westheid quietly savored the sensation transmitted from the Dragon Thunder’s devouring power. Even though it was just an inorganic object, it still gave him a satisfying feeling of annihilation.
As expected of a pure authority of destruction. He couldn’t even imagine how satisfying it must have been for Reiya to slay her enemies with Dragon Thunder during the Secret Realm Trial.
Only after trying to wield it himself did he realize just how difficult Dragon Thunder was to control. It took all his effort just to wrap the lightning around his weapon, and even then, he could only fling it out crudely.
’I have no idea how Reiya manages to shape it, let alone perform ultimate techniques like the Sunlight Spear. Stolen... no, I mean, borrowed abilities are never as proficient as the original owner’s.’
Westheid let out a long sigh, deeply feeling his own shortcomings.
In stark contrast, Yolanda, who had been observing from the side, widened her beautiful eyes in astonishment as she glanced at the shattered alloy dummy.
"Cui Ting from the River of Qinghui? West, when did you practice such a difficult Combat Technique? Even I haven’t mastered Cui Ting!"
"But your Cui Ting seems different. Isn’t it supposed to be a crowd-control Combat Technique meant to paralyze enemies? Why is it so powerful?"
’What Cui Ting? You really need to stop obsessing over the River of Qinghui!’
Westheid wanted to scold Yolanda, but the words died on his lips. He simply nodded and admitted:
"I’ve just been training where you can’t see, that’s all. As for why it’s different from the original... I’ve already had a bloodline awakening. Some variations are to be expected, right?"
The Talents shared by Heart and Soul’s Gift weren’t perfect copies. The ability only guaranteed the effects would be identical; if the original was too outlandish, it would make reasonable modifications.
A manifestation like Withered Glory Sun could be replicated completely without issue, but Dragon Soul Furnace was a different story.
The authority of Dragon Thunder belonged exclusively to the descendants of the Dragon God. For Westheid, a pure-blooded human, to casually unleash Dragon Thunder... well, wasn’t that a bit... strange?
’It’d be hard not to question his bloodline at that point.’
Thus, Dragon Soul Furnace had adapted itself into the High Tier Combat Technique from the River of Qinghui, Cui Ting, when it manifested in Westheid. In essence, though, it was just a reskin.
Yolanda sighed. "I thought the potential of the River of Qinghui had already been fully realized. To think it could be taken even further... As expected of Qinghui!"
Westheid remained silent, unsure how to respond. However, he could predict that as he continued to share Talents and attribute them to his "bloodline awakening," in the eyes of the world...
The prestige of the Pure Holy Spirit would only continue to rise!
"Yolanda, you’re just standing there watching me train. What about your own promotion? Have you adapted to it yet?"
The platinum-blonde girl placed a hand over her chest and bowed. "Don’t worry, West. Although being directly promoted by the Divine Ancestor’s blessing has some side effects, I can stabilize my power as long as I take enough time to let it settle. It’s just that there are no longer any shortcuts on the path to the Hero Tier."
"Tsk. A true genius."
Westheid clicked his tongue as he watched how easily Yolanda was handling it.
Not everyone is built the same.
He felt like his growth had been rushed and forced, yet Yolanda felt hers was just right.
"Compared to you, West, I can hardly be called talented, can I?"
Yolanda tilted her head in confusion, not understanding why Westheid would say such a thing.
’I mean, never mind that you jumped two Tiers in an extremely short amount of time—that was a blessing from a Celestial God, after all. Even a dog could be promoted with that.’
’But a "second awakening of a bloodline Talent" is a true sign of heaven-sent aptitude. That truly made me ecstatic.’
"Actually, I still hope you’ll advance to the Hero Tier before planning the reconquest. With your aptitude, it shouldn’t take long... especially since we have to fight against the Chaos."
Hearing Yolanda’s suggestion, Westheid said calmly:
"True, one can only be considered a genuine Powerhouse starting from the Hero Tier. But I think the Exemplar Tier is more than enough."
In the Extraordinary Tiers, each Tier had completely different standards.
There wasn’t much to say about the Origin Tier. It was the very beginning of the Path of Transcendence, not much different from an ordinary person.
The Elite Tier, on the other hand, was a Tier one could definitely reach through sheer "effort." The required "merit" was merely on the level of "diligence and hard work," representing the domain reachable by ordinary mortals.
Further up, the Prominent Tier was where true power began. It required an internal breakthrough, and talent, perseverance, and opportunity were all indispensable.
And the Exemplar Tier, where Westheid currently stood, was, as its name suggested, a Tier worthy of being seen as a model and a benchmark.
When an Extraordinary legacy was established, the Exemplar was its most valuable point of reference. It represented the average standard of that legacy once fully developed. To go any higher, one could no longer stand on the shoulders of their predecessors; they had to forge their own path.
At the same Exemplar Tier, a generic class was simply inferior to a special one.
Both Westheid and Yolanda belonged to the Qinghui Sequence. While it was certainly inferior to a Celestial God’s legacy, it was still a Holy Spirit legacy, so its standing was not low.
The problem was that its focus wasn’t combat-oriented, and the sole River of Qinghui school was a Supreme Technique that Westheid couldn’t learn.
This meant that Westheid, an Exemplar, was no different from someone with a generic class.
Fortunately, Westheid could compensate for his weakness with the Tier T0 Talents he shared from Reiya. Combined with the fundamental boost from the Exemplar Tier, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he possessed the combat power of a Hero.