Possessing the authority of a Savior of Destiny, he could borrow skills and abilities from any Apostle.
Borrowing skills had no impact on the original user.
The borrowed skills, when wielded by Fang You, could unleash their full potential. Sometimes, due to his higher realm, deeper understanding of laws, and stronger physique and spirit, the skills he displayed were even more potent than the originals.
Upon ascending to a higher rank, the number of skills he could borrow simultaneously increased from 3 to 6.
However, Mentor Fang rarely needed to do so.
He himself had mastered most legendary skills—the comprehension gained from borrowing and utilizing skills with high proficiency allowed him to cultivate skills far faster than others.
This was also why he could master dozens of law proficiencies.
"And now, it seems, this authority can even borrow 'Dominions'?"
"Is this reasonable?"
It was, of course, unreasonable!
Dominions possessed uniqueness; their total quantity was fixed and could not be replicated. If he were to wield even a fragment of a Dominion, it would mean that the remaining total quantity of that specific Dominion in the universe had decreased.
If he were to borrow a complete Dominion, wouldn't that mean two identical Dominions appeared in the universe?
This was highly unreasonable.
...But highly enjoyable.
"It's worth a try."
Fang You did not attempt it immediately.
That brat Liu Feng had only just condensed a Dominion fragment and was still happily playing with it... experimenting and consolidating. He felt it would be rude to disturb him.
The borrowing of the Savior's authority theoretically did not affect the Apostle.
He was merely playing it safe, just in case.
Half a day later, seeing Liu Feng still in the training ground, condensing sword intent, sometimes piecing it into an 'S' shape, and sometimes into a 'B' shape, looking exceptionally happy.
Fang You: "..."
Wasn't this kid usually quite steady?
No matter!
He lightly touched with his mind, and the 'Sharpness Dominion Fragment' on Liu Feng's panel was immediately enveloped in a gentle, radiant glow.
The next moment, many realizations flooded Fang You's mind.
He seemed to gradually understand everything.
Extending his hand, a dazzling fragment, no larger than a fingernail, appeared out of thin air.
As soon as it materialized, it altered the surrounding rules. Not just swords, but all objects with edges and corners became incredibly sharp.
Under the Dominion's influence, even a thin piece of paper could cleave mountains.
An ordinary white common soldier's blade could pierce precious epic-grade armor.
It could even imbue flames and water with sharpness, allowing them to easily cut through various armors.
"This is the Dominion of Sharpness, it pairs even better with divine weapons."
"And this Dominion fragment in my hand..."
He cast his gaze towards Liu Feng.
Liu Feng was still engrossed in his sword intent drawing game, as happy as a hundred-year-old child.
To be fair, Liu Feng had not had much of a childhood. From the moment he entered the orphanage, he had been cultivating day and night. Later, when the calamities struck, he stood at the forefront of resistance, shouldering many responsibilities for the academy.
Let him continue to play.
His borrowing of the Sharpness Dominion had clearly caused no impact on Liu Feng.
"However, this still doesn't negate the uniqueness of Dominions. It's also possible that during the borrowing process, I've temporarily seized a Dominion from the universe."
"To prove this, I would need to borrow a complete Dominion, or a damaged Dominion whose completeness exceeds 50%."
After the initial condensation of a Dominion fragment, its quantity was approximately 0.1% of the entire Dominion.
From 0.1% to 10% could be considered a fragment Dominion.
From 10.1% to 99.9% was a damaged Dominion.
However, among these, 50% seemed to be a significant threshold, not easily crossed.
...Thinking too far ahead.
They were currently only novices wielding 0.1% of a Dominion.
Borrowing Dominions could significantly boost Mentor Fang's combat power. However, for now, the only Dominion he could "freeload" was the trivial Dominion of Sharpness.
One could only say, the future is promising.
He hoped the powerhouses of his organization would strive harder.
"Chi Yan must have wielded a Dominion in the past."
He had once used the 'Crimson Pillar Descent Card' to summon Chi Yan in her normal peak state.
From his current perspective, Chi Yan summoned by the descent card did not wield a Dominion, but her combat power far surpassed that of Liu Feng at the present stage.
If Mentor Fang were to set aside all unconventional means, he would not be a match for that lass Chi Yan.
He boldly guessed that Chi Yan at her peak wielded a Dominion.
As for why the 'Crimson Pillar Descent' card did not contain a Dominion, it might be related to the uniqueness of Dominions.
That girl Chi Yan was very vague and couldn't explain clearly. Her combat relied not on wisdom or skill, but purely on instinct. It might also be related to the severe injuries she sustained, her memory being damaged and missing crucial information.
However, guided by fate, Chi Yan only needed to continue recovering herself.
She was recovering, and had not forgotten to cultivate and fight.
Once she completed her recovery and her strength fully returned, perhaps she could possess combat power far exceeding her 'peak in her previous life'.
...
Time flowed like water.
After the second wave of calamity tides descended, the survival environment of the entire Strange Realm became even more harsh.
The concentration of grey fog increased by 33.6 percentage points, and the frequency of encountering mid-to-high-level strange entities in the wild became greater.
The survival of small and medium-sized oases became increasingly difficult.
However, most small and medium-sized oases either perished or were absorbed into larger oases or super oases during the previous two calamity tides.
The current situation in various regions of the Strange Realm was still relatively stable.
The overall strength of human forces was rapidly growing, with news of new Mythics being born from time to time.
The Feast of Mythic Ascension was held more than ten times a year in the Shattered Sea.
The scale was naturally not as grand as before.
Within the 'Kindling' organization, newly promoted Mythics did not hold any large-scale banquets. If even Half-God magnates and high-ranking powerful beings did not hold ostentatious banquets, why would they? At most, they would invite friends for a private gathering, celebrate briefly, and then plunge back into more intense cultivation.
Mythic was not the end.
Mentor Fang's cultivation was even more systematic.
In addition to cultivation, he roughly managed the organization's policies, carefully investigated intelligence on the Evil God faction, and delved into deeply buried secrets of the Strange Realm.
Unfortunately, the gains were minimal.
The Strange Realm was filled with numerous ruins, many of which could allow the discoverer to establish a vast force.
But no matter how precious, these were only for ordinary powerhouses.
For the explorers and Mythics of 'Kindling', some opportunities could bring them considerable personal benefits, but for the grand 'Kindling' organization, excavating these ruins yielded only minor profits.
The secrets Fang You desired were nowhere to be found.
Even the Kandela ruins failed to surprise him.
Intelligence on the Evil God faction was even scarcer.
Two years ago, he had instructed Thousand Faces to seek an opportunity to be deployed abroad and then secretly return to the organization for cultivation—Thousand Faces, operating outside, found it increasingly difficult to gather valuable information, and due to years of undercover work, Comrade Thousand Faces's rank and realm were the lowest.
His/her realm was even lower than that of the slacker queen, Silver Chime.
For a meritorious servant, Fang You naturally could not be stingy. He immediately had him/her enter the Time-Flow Secret Realm for intensive cultivation and provided the largest amount of divine crystal resources.
"The unspeakable Evil Gods have not yet awakened, but they still possess a certain degree of operational capability."
The slumber of Evil Gods was entirely different from ordinary human slumber.
The slumber of Evil Gods was more akin to being restricted, with unclear consciousness and difficulty in wielding their Dominions.
However, they would occasionally stir up waves of small-scale calamity tides.
Sometimes, they would also engage in conflicts over Dominions or higher-level confrontations with other Evil Gods. These were the battles of Evil Gods he had witnessed before.
It could simply be a battle of Dominions, a battle of consciousness, or something else.
The locations of sleeping Evil Gods were fixed.
However, it was difficult to describe them in terms of space or environment.
Evil Gods seemed to exist in different dimensions.
Thousand Faces had never personally seen an unspeakable Evil God, or rather, he/she dared not witness one, as it could lead to an irresistible accident.
"Chi Yan has no memory of the God-Slaying War, and her understanding of Evil Gods is not much greater than mine."
"To obtain more information about Evil Gods, perhaps I need to start with the ancient existences."
"Kandela only fought one battle against an Evil God, but the ancient existences seem to have been involved in more than that... Of course, the scale of the wars varied, but Kandela's battle at least achieved results."
He contacted the Sage Cang Tu.
However, Sage Cang Tu rarely interacted with ancient existences.
Before the arrival of the Mysterious Era, humanity was merely a vassal of the ancient gods, until Kandela emerged.
And in the 'Post-Mysterious Era' after the fall of the Kandela Empire, many super-oasis forces had connections with ancient existences.
Not all were vassals.
Firstly, humanity possessed some power.
Secondly, most ancient gods were severely injured and possessed weak power. Furthermore, in the current era, ancient gods no longer greatly required human faith.
Ancient gods used the power of faith to heal themselves and obtained resources through human means.
They held the dominant position in cooperation.
Behind the City of Falling Stars stood the ancient existence 'Lord of Stars', and the Seven Star Alliance also had numerous connections with the Lord of Stars.
However, there were also ancient gods who did not keep their promises.
In a time of crisis, the ancient existence 'Lord of Ten Thousand Tendrils', whom the Village of Hanging Night had worshipped for many years, did not even show its face, allowing the oasis to be destroyed by Evil God servants.
Some ancient existences even plundered, destroyed, and blood-sacrificed human oases.
Their methods were not much different from those of the Evil God faction.
These were also not uncommon.
Among the ancient gods, there were distinctions between good gods and evil gods, but nowadays, the title of 'Evil God' was entirely reserved for the unspeakable outer gods.
While Evil Gods were indeed great enemies of annihilation, this did not mean that ancient existences were absolute allies or friendly forces.
Madmen who sought to destroy the world and have everyone die could be found anywhere.
"Among the ancient gods, the lineage of the Great Sun Divine Venerable, Moon Lord, and Lord of Stars is relatively trustworthy and treats humans kindly."
With this thought, he entrusted Half-God Xi Guang to make contact.
Half-God Xi Guang once again arrived at the City of Blazing Flames. He was beaming with joy, progressing along the path of the high-ranking.
However, when it came to the mysterious and ancient Mentor Fang, he naturally adopted the etiquette of a junior.
Mentioning that his own Sage Yue was occupied with important matters, he then conveyed the message on his behalf.
"In previous years, it was very difficult for our Ancient Moon Dynasty to contact the Moon Lord; we usually had to wait for Lord Moon to contact us actively. However..."
"Several ancient and great existences, the Great Sun Divine Venerable, Moon Lord, and Lord of Stars, intend to invite various forces to discuss countermeasures together."
The time was not yet decided.
The location was not yet decided.
However, it should be in the near future.
Mentor Fang became interested.
"To meet the beings who are possibly the peak existences below the Evil Gods?"
"But before that, I still need to improve my strength. Regardless of what plans or goals the ancient existences have, only with strong power can one gain sufficient speaking rights."
If the calamities were not so imminent, he would have wished to cultivate for a hundred or a thousand years, and only emerge after he wielded a complete Dominion and the Dominion of Origin.
Alas, he had no time.
Thus, he could only diligently cultivate, nurture powerhouses, and investigate intelligence, pursuing multiple paths simultaneously.