In the vision of Mentor Fang, he followed the thread of destiny connecting him to An Jianyou, crossing layers of space to see clusters of brilliant skill lights.
There were only a dozen or so, but most were of blue grade.
As he delved deeper, he also saw two mysterious light clusters, one large and one small.
Five light clusters gradually merged into the river woven by destiny points, swirling, intertwining, and transforming, producing a kind of mysterious effect he could not yet comprehend.
Fang You clenched his fist.
The skill fusion seemed to take a very long time in his eyes. He only let out a sigh of relief when he heard the success notification.
"Nether Lord, a legendary gold-grade skill!"
"The first legendary skill possessed by Xin Huo!"
The description of the skill was brief.
The higher the grade of an item, the simpler the description on its panel. Fang You was accustomed to this.
"Indeed, this skill incorporates the characteristics of Gu Yu, as well as An Jianyou's talent and abilities. However, it merely collects the features of the source skills; merging the authority is not particularly surprising. The special aspect lies in the emergence of new, extremely powerful changes!"
"Nurturing and feedback!"
"This is a true system for a Ghost Tamer!"
Fang You pondered, but this was all he could deduce.
This skill fusion occurred with An Jianyou, with her body as the crucible to forge a legendary skill. The skill information and mastery were also with An Jieyou. Fang You could only speculate wildly based on the simple description.
Therefore,
"It's best to have An Jianyou write a paper on the learning and application of this skill. She has already written so many awakening experiences; writing a skill experience should be a piece of cake."
"It is happily decided."
Mentor Fang quickly sent the task.
Afterward, looking at An Jianyou in his vision, who was already thoughtfully preparing to write, Fang You suddenly thought of something, "Wait, I think I can get a skill for free."
He closed his eyes and used the 'Apostle's Heart' authority on An Jianyou. Sure enough, he found a golden skill light cluster.
As the authority was used, his skill bar immediately gained the skill 'Nether Apostle (Beginner)'.
Profound and vast information flooded his mind.
Looking at the gray-black mist that appeared on his hand, and then at An Jieyou in his vision, who was diligently writing, Fang You pondered for a moment.
"Let An Jianyou continue writing her experiences."
"She possesses the talent of the Nether Eye. This legendary skill, in her hands and in mine, would likely be somewhat different."
He closed An Jianyou's vision and began to experiment.
As expected, skill fusion was not about merging several skills into one, but rather creating a new skill based on them.
An Jianyou's talent included the ability to quickly learn Nether-type skills and amplify them. 'Nether Lord' possessed none of these, nor could it spread a Nether domain to incorporate rogue spirits.
In other words, An Jianyou's talent could still amplify this legendary skill.
...
Ghost Realm, Lantern Town, Lantern Inn.
An Jianyou's chin rested on the cap of her pen, her head tilted slightly. Her black hair lay scattered on the desk, and her eyes seemed somewhat vacant. She was still savoring the uniqueness of the 'Nether Lord' skill.
Unlike Fang You, who borrowed the skill, Fang You could only use it instinctively without a clear understanding of its essence.
An Jianyou, however, was receiving a massive influx of information, her mind feeling somewhat dizzy.
Contractual links,
Nurturing methods,
Boundary breakthroughs,
Feedback and improvement,
And so on. The skill description was only a hundred words or so, but experiencing it firsthand was enough to write several theses.
So, An Jianyou began to write.
"On the Selection of Rogue Spirits," "Advantages and Disadvantages of 108 Types of Contractual Imprints," "How to Nurture Rogue Spirits Using Life Energy," "Material Selection for Boundary Breakthroughs,"...
"With this skill, it seems I am not only limited to controlling rogue spirits, but can also form contracts with special Nether-type creatures. Furthermore, the contract slots have the possibility of improvement."
At present, the contract slots were "nine," inherited from the max-level Gu Yu. Increasing the level of 'Nether Lord' would not break through the limit of nine, but...
By nurturing rogue spirits to break through and feeding back to oneself, one could break through boundaries and contract with the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth rogue spirits.
An Jianyou did not think that far ahead. Nine slots were sufficient for her.
Feedback and improvement of her physique and spirit were also secondary. The specific amount of improvement would only be known after testing.
"The most incredible thing is the ability to allow fixed-level rogue spirits to improve and break through their boundaries... Truly worthy of being called Mentor's creation, such a miraculous skill!"
"Does this mean that once I ascend to Mythical, I won't have to search everywhere for world-ending rogue spirits to contract with?"
In this true ghost realm, rogue spirits of level seven and above were not difficult to find.
During this time, An Jianyou had used her 'Nether Eye' to briefly observe and discovered the traces of dozens of seven-star rogue spirits. However, these places were either deadly terrains with various natural killing opportunities besides the rogue spirits, or they were related to the claws and servants of evil gods.
She only glanced twice and dared not look further.
Searching in this manner, she feared that one day she might encounter a terrifying enemy... One who walks by the river will surely get his clothes wet. Every time she used the Nether Eye to observe, she was extremely cautious.
"Now, it's better. I finally don't have to risk finding those world-ending rogue spirits."
"And..."
Seven-star and eight-star rogue spirits could still be found, but what about nine-star and ten-star? The organization's encyclopedia did not even record any information about nine-star and ten-star rogue spirits; they were all question marks. She did not even know if rogue spirits of this rank existed.
But based on the information provided by the Nether Lord skill, it seemed they did. As long as they were continuously nurtured and the rogue spirit itself possessed sufficient 'potential,' it could break through to nine stars!
"In other words, in the future, when I search for rogue spirits, I should focus on their potential, and... I must also consider team composition."
"But what constitutes a rogue spirit with potential? Rare types of rogue spirits?"
Her own seven-star rogue spirit 'Red Dress' could advance on its own, so it was definitely a high-potential one.
An Jianyou thought for a moment, then diffused her Nether domain and summoned Little Red.
A figure in red stood somewhat stiffly before her.
Following the invisible contract link, An Jianyou channeled her life energy. In this process, she used the 'Nether Lord' skill. Her life energy seemed to transform into a more advanced and wondrous energy... Well, this must be noted down and included in the experience paper later.
After channeling for a while, until one-third of her life energy was consumed, An Jianyou stopped.
Then, through the contract link and skill feedback, she observed Red Dress's condition.
She mused,
"It has improved, but it seems like it hasn't improved much."
"The quantity is too small. My life energy is like water flowing from a faucet. To fill a swimming pool, a lake, is extremely difficult."
It was not that Red Dress lacked potential.
Rather, it was too ambitious for her, a Sixth Awakening, to nurture a seven-star rogue spirit.
"Hmm, then let's try another one."
An Jianyou summoned her second rogue spirit, Little White, 'White Sash.' This rogue spirit was similar to Red Dress, a rare type of rogue spirit, also made of cloth.
She began to try, using the skill to channel life energy.
After a while,
She was surprised to find that Little White, White Sash, had slightly improved.
"If expressed in experience points, it would be about 50/100 -> 50.1/100."
"Is that a lot or a little?"
An Jianyou was distressed.
She made further attempts, trying to nurture other rogue spirits with the same amount of life energy output.
The result...
For the Forge Golem, one of the怪笑木偶 (giggle wooden puppets) showed significant improvement, while all other rogue spirits performed poorly.
The "significant improvement" here was 0.1.
An Jianyou was even more distressed.
"This kind is probably considered to have potential, but even so, it would take dozens of days to nurture one rogue spirit to perfection. And this is assuming I continuously provide life energy."
She had never worried about money or life energy before.
When others tried to stretch every drop of life energy, hers was full; when others walked off the battlefield exhausted, hers was still full; even when she was a bit tired from a three-day-and-three-night mission, her life energy was often still full.
But now, life energy had to be carefully managed.
As soon as it recovered to its full value, some had to be consumed, otherwise, it would be a waste.
She was happy and distressed at the same time.
"Not only that, after the experience bar reaches perfection, special materials and rituals are needed to help the rogue spirit transform and break through... Hmm, that's relatively easier."
"Breakthroughs made this way also have additional benefits, making the rogue spirit more agile and allowing its abilities to be nurtured to their limit. In short, it becomes stronger."
"Hmm, let's focus on nurturing one first... the Forge Golem."
An Jianyou thought so and began to write her experiences late into the night.
...
Blue Star, Xin Huo Base, bright as day.
Looking at the skill usage experience An Jianyou had written overnight and comparing it with her own borrowed usage, Fang You nodded with satisfaction.
"This legendary skill is indeed powerful. Its main strength lies in its infinite possibilities. If the super oases knew about it, they would spare no expense to obtain it... Of course, Xin Huo is worth sparing no expense for many things."
"It will still take some time for An Jianyou to ascend to Mythical. Before then, she can probably nurture one or two seven-star rogue spirits."
"Hmm, her description of rogue spirit breakthroughs also mentioned some difficulties. I'll observe then."
"If it were the previous version of An Jianyou, after ascending to Mythical, she would probably only be able to contract three or four, or four or five seven-star rogue spirits. But nurturing them to breakthrough herself would put much less burden on her. Having all nine slots filled with seven-star rogue spirits would be fine... She can nurture a few, contract a few... It's even possible that during her Seven Awakening Mythical stage, she could nurture an eight-star rogue spirit."
Nurturing rogue spirits takes a lot of time and effort.
However, Mythical cultivation takes even more time. The thousand-year lifespan of a Mythical being seemed to be prepared for this long cultivation. In comparison, nurturing an eight-star rogue spirit might be easier.
Nurturing rogue spirits and Mythical cultivation do not conflict; one is life energy, and the other is divine particles.
It's just that An Jianyou will have to work a lot harder.
Well, it's not a big problem.
...
The next day, Lantern Inn.
An Jianyou woke up from the self-provided bedsheet. Beside her was the seven-star rogue spirit Red Dress, diligently fulfilling its guardian duty.
She glanced at her watch. It was already quite late.
She had stayed up late writing experiences and experimenting with 'Nether Lord' last night, and her consumption was significant. She was a bit tired, which was why she slept until now.
Seven thirty.
Seven thirty AM, Lantern Town time.
Since joining the organization and training with Instructor Black Blade for a while, she hadn't slept this late, especially when she was out.
She pushed the door open.
Her teammates were already awake and had prepared breakfast.
Xu Yun, with her hair in a bun, Liu Ying, with a neat ponytail, and Xiong Tianshuang, who looked somewhat sturdy, were the members of An'an's exploration team.
Xu Yun was one of the first batch of trainees and one of the first six secondary apostles to join the organization.
Her ability was the "Restoration Droplet," a support-type awakened. Her natural talent was not high, and her combat proficiency was ordinary, but her seniority was sufficient. She had been quietly improving and contributing to the organization, and now she was a Fourth Awakening.
Liu Ying and Xiong Tianshuang were similar. One was a second-batch trainee, and the other a third-batch. They were not outstanding among their peers but were not bad either... In fact, they were quite good, just not the first or the most eye-catching, making them seem rather inconspicuous, but they were absolutely not to be underestimated.
Both were Fourth Awakening non-humans.
Liu Ying was a scout-type awakened, and Xiong Tianshuang was a tank-type awakened. As early members of the organization, they were very familiar with An Jianyou. Back then, An Jianyou was still a girl who easily trembled, far from the "Miss An" who could venture alone into the wilderness and single-handedly annihilate a tide of rogue spirits.
"Youyou, I've gathered a lot of information~"
"There's a rumor that someone saw the Shadow of an Oasis in the area of Empty Valley Desert, and it's very likely an ownerless oasis~!"
Liu Ying's ponytail swung as she chattered about the intelligence she had gathered that morning.
"You went out early this morning?"
Seeing An Jianyou's surprise, Liu Ying immediately guessed what she was about to say and reached out to cover her mouth, "Stop, stop, stop. I know, you must go out in pairs, never go alone, Mom An has said this more than a hundred times."
"Here, I went out with Xiao Shuang. Ask Xiao Shuang if you don't believe me."
Xiong Tianshuang nodded weakly.
In the past month, they had discovered no less than four oases, all of them ordinary oases similar to Lantern Town. However, most of these oases did not welcome outsiders. Lantern Town was the first oasis they had truly set foot in.
Here, they felt a long-lost human touch.
However, they definitely couldn't stay long. They had to set off today. The sooner they found an oasis, the sooner they could return to Blue Star.
They quickly packed their belongings and left.
Lantern Town was just a small oasis with a population of several thousand, but perhaps because merchant caravans often passed through, and awakened individuals rested here, a small marketplace had gradually formed in front of the inn.
There were daily necessities for sale, but more were stalls catering to passing awakened individuals – selling all sorts of strange items.
These items were either collected during exploration of the ghost realm or left behind by passing caravans. In a word,
"They all look like junk."
"Alright Liu Ying, don't say that in front of other people's stalls."
"Okay, okay..."
Lantern Town Oasis was limited in strength, so these items were more like trash picked up near the oasis rather than treasures. Some looked extraordinary, but in reality... they were just ordinary items, at most low-level materials.
The awakened in Lantern Town did not have the strength to venture far from the oasis.
Even so, An Jianyou and the others browsed many stalls, mainly to gather information. Being unable to leave the oasis was one thing, but the people here could still get some information from passing merchants.
She collected it and made judgments.
She also left some ghost crystals as payment.
Soon, An Jianyou arrived at a stall run by a one-eyed middle-aged man. The items displayed here seemed to be of much higher quality, with some emitting a soft glow.
"They look like treasures!"
Liu Ying's eyes widened.
The one-eyed man glanced at them dismissively, but in reality... his heart was already secretly excited.
These young ladies were truly fat sheep.
Just inquiring about information that was like a story, with no real value, had cost them hundreds of ghost crystals in total.
Such a large sum of ghost crystals made even him, a triple-strength expert, excited, and clearly, it was insignificant in the eyes of these young ladies.
"Guests, please take a look, take a look! All of these are treasures, and some were even found from merchants from the Starfall City."
He didn't lie about half of that.
Indeed, many items came from Starfall City merchants, but most were picked up by merchants midway, discarded imperfect products with little value, which were then sold to Lantern Town like junk. He had sifted through them again, keeping anything of slight value, and the rest would only be superficially shiny junk. He was confident he wouldn't misjudge.
This kind of treasure hunting was indeed very popular with naive young girls.
Liu Ying's eyes sparkled with the glint of money, Xu Yun looked a bit shy but her gaze was still fixed on them, only An Jianyou was indifferent.
Perhaps she could find a treasure.
But even if she stumbled upon one or several epic-grade ghost artifacts, so what? The rich An could not be bothered.
She casually inquired for information from this "slightly stronger" one-eyed burly man, paying hundreds of ghost crystals as a reward.
It might have been a significant overpayment, but she felt it was worth it if it saved some time.
After all, it was only a few hundred ghost crystals.
"Boss, how much for this one?"
"This one? That's an ancient artifact that originated from Starfall City, it's worth at least this much..."
"And this one?"
"Boss, your things are too expensive!"
Liu Ying gradually lost interest in buying.
She was just looking for fun, dreaming of a lucky find, but... she wasn't going to be ripped off. This boss was a one-eyed man, clearly not a good person, humph!
She wouldn't be fooled.
When she didn't fall for it, the one-eyed boss became a little anxious.
"How about this: if you buy more than ten items from my stall, you get a 70% discount. Honestly, if our Lantern Town wasn't so backward and didn't have the ability to study and decipher many treasures, we wouldn't be selling them all. We're selling them to lucky people like you young ladies."
"Like this map, it contains information about an oasis."
It was a yellowed and incomplete map.
But it did indeed have a mysterious energy flowing, making it seem extraordinary.
An Jianyou was also a little tempted. She knew that the map was unlikely to be genuine, but as long as it involved an oasis, she would not miss it, even if it cost more.
After all, it wasn't expensive.
"However, we don't have much ghost crystal on us..."
Hearing only half of her words, the one-eyed boss was a little disappointed.
So the fat sheep wasn't that fat, just generous with their spending.
"Can I use mysterious materials as a substitute?"
One, two, three, six treasures emitting a faint blue glow appeared before the boss. His only remaining eye couldn't move away.
Treasures, they were treasures!
And so many of them! What kind of rich young lady from a great oasis was this?
After several rounds of 'price negotiation,' the boss finally sold ten 'junk' items, including the map, for the price of 8 blue-grade treasures.
He inwardly exclaimed that he had made a killing!
His expression was almost uncontrollable.
Liu Ying glanced at it, "Youyou, we seem to have been scammed! Damn it..."
She was a little angry, and small points of light flickered around her, emitting a chilling non-human aura.
The one-eyed boss's heart suddenly pounded.
This was...
His expression changed slightly, and he managed to narrowly escape this ordeal after a round of complaining.
After the group disappeared beyond the oasis, the one-eyed man let out a heavy sigh of relief.
"Non-human!"
"And it seems the black-haired girl is the leader, meaning at least two of these noble young ladies are non-humans! How old are they... Could they be from Starfall City?"
"Fortunately, fortunately, the town mayor stopped me."
"I escaped a disaster and made a profit! A huge profit!"
...
"Youyou, it seems we lost money, a huge loss!"
In the gray mist, a lantern cast an orange glow.
Hearing Liu Ying's words, An Jianyou shook her head, "As long as the map is real, we won't lose. Besides, even if we lose, we'll earn it back in two days with a few blue-grade materials."
In her mind, treasure markings occasionally appeared.
They picked things up as they walked, and their storage rings were almost full, even after consuming food. She was wondering if she should exchange for another one.
"And..."
"This item seems to be special."
It was a stone block shaped like an eyeball. At first glance, it seemed extraordinary, but upon closer inspection, it was as ordinary as trash. At the time, An Jianyou only picked it up because she liked its appearance and wanted to make up the numbers. Now, the more she looked at it, the more it seemed like a treasure.
She pondered for a moment and handed the eyeball-shaped stone to Little Red.
She took a few steps back.
Little Red reached out, and ghost energy surged. After a while, the stone outer layer of the eyeball actually began to peel off, and strands of golden light emanated from within.
An Jianyou's eyes widened.
...
Fang You did not pay attention to what was happening with An Jianyou.
He couldn't watch her twenty-four hours a day. He was relatively confident in An Jianyou. An Jieyou was a Mythical-level combatant and had a directional teleportation bead, so she could escape if she encountered danger.
Worrying was useless.
He might as well continue to try skill fusion.
"Wait a minute, I've spent hundreds of thousands of destiny points on skill fusion these past few days. I need to take a break and can't keep spending wildly."
Looking at the remaining 500,000 destiny points on the panel, Fang You resisted the urge to fuse skills and turned his gaze to...
Targeted draw.
"Description: Sacrifice one ten-pull chance to obtain a single draw for a specified major category."
--Author's Note--
Two chapters combined, 6k words~