Wu Tian cultivated in peace on Skull Mountain, causing no trouble.
More than a month later, his Spirit of Wind talent reached perfection.
Ding, system notification: Your Spirit of Wind talent has reached perfection.
Ding, system notification: Your Spirit of Wind talent has advanced. You may choose one of the following two options.
Option One: Random Wind Spirit Bloodline (Low Grade)
Option Two: Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity (Intermediate)
Wu Tian's eyes lit up at once, especially at the first option. It was actually a bloodline—the first option of its kind he had ever seen.
Although this bloodline was only low grade, it represented the possibility of uncovering new potential.
After more than a month of cultivation, during which he occasionally sneaked outside the Law Transmission Hall to listen to lectures, he was no longer the ignorant novice he had once been.
Cultivators prized Immortal roots, while the Demon Race revered bloodlines.
Immortal roots were divided into low grade, middle grade, high grade, and supreme grade.
Above them were immortal-grade roots, also known as Dao Bodies.
Even a high-grade root was one in ten thousand. Supreme-grade Immortal roots were exceedingly rare, and their owners were often direct disciples of great sects.
As for Dao Body Immortal roots, one might not appear even once in several hundred years. The moment one appeared, all sides would scramble for it. They were in no way inferior to a young Demon King.
The Demon Race, meanwhile, revered bloodlines. Bloodlines determined nearly everything: the upper limit of a demon's cultivation, cultivation speed, lifespan, physique, talents, and more.
Fierce birds and savage beasts, spirits, minor demons, great demons, Demon Kings, Great Demon Kings, and even the legendary Demon Saints...
The stronger the bloodline, the greater the potential.
Wu Tian originally possessed only the bloodline of a white dog from Miao Territory. That bloodline had granted him one talent and two skills. It was an ordinary savage-beast bloodline, not even a spirit bloodline.
The so-called low-grade bloodline should refer to a spirit bloodline.
Once he obtained a new bloodline, he would inevitably gain the corresponding talents and skills, thereby broadening his path of cultivation.
"I want both the bloodline and the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity!"
Wu Tian's gaze fell on the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity, and he let out a sigh.
Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity, intermediate talent: You can sense the benevolence and malice of others, as well as perceive opportunities and calamities within a hundred li.
This was unquestionably the talent of an auspicious beast. With this talent, one could seek auspiciousness and avoid calamity, thereby surviving more safely.
It was also the talent he had always yearned to obtain. If he missed this chance, he had no idea whether he would ever get another opportunity.
After hesitating again and again, Wu Tian finally chose the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity. As for the bloodline, he felt he could obtain one through other skills and talents, but this talent was truly precious.
Especially on Skull Mountain. As his cultivation grew stronger, he would likely draw the attention of interested parties very soon.
The Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity would become the foundation of his survival.
"Forget it. Who told it to be a random bloodline? I can only grit my teeth and give up the bloodline for the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity!"
Wu Tian felt as though his heart were bleeding as he selected the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity on the System Panel.
As the talent advanced, his originally pitch-black pupils began to change. Spiritual light flowed within them and resonated with the space between his brows. Even the fur covering his body grew increasingly lustrous and snow-white.
From afar, the white dog looked ever more wondrous, like a white fox in the mountains. Its fur was translucently white, spiritual light flowed through its eyes, and anyone could tell at a glance that it understood human nature.
Although Wu Tian could not see the changes to his appearance, he could sense the aura between heaven and earth.
Before, he could only use information carried by the wind to detect danger in advance. Now, everything within a hundred li seemed to lie within his mind.
Yet Wu Tian's expression suddenly changed, turning extremely grim. In his eyes, heaven and earth had taken on an entirely different appearance.
He could see that all of Skull Mountain seemed shrouded in black qi, blood qi, and Fire Fiend qi. The sight was fraught with danger, as if he were sitting atop a volcano, liable to be burned to ashes at any moment.
"All of Skull Mountain is about to suffer a catastrophe."
He sensed an immense crisis. The feeling made his entire body turn cold, while the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity buzzed and trembled violently, warning him to leave this dead land.
The joy Wu Tian had felt at advancing his talent vanished without a trace. The danger sensed through the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity left him feeling as if thorns were pricking his back, making it impossible to settle down.
After a long while, Wu Tian finally managed to calm himself somewhat and carefully examined Skull Mountain through the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity.
Spiritual light flickered in his eyes. The area within a hundred li seemed to fall into his sight, but in truth, those scenes were not things he saw. They were perceptions conveyed by the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity.
"The Fire Fiend is coming from beneath the mountain. This means there's a danger of Earth Fire erupting."
"Black clouds press down from the White Bone Hall of the sect master. This means it will trigger a catastrophe that brings ruin to all of Skull Mountain."
"The blood light is coming from beyond the mountain. This means outsiders are invading, heralding the calamity of war."
He had sensed all of this through the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity. Ever since gaining it, he seemed to have instinctively understood what each of these different signs represented.
"Although the Fire Fiend looks dangerous, there's the sound of swords and a Dragon Roar within it. It seems to be suppressing something."
"Black clouds press down, yet they do not break forth. It seems to be gathering strength."
"Blood light obscures the sky, but it seems somewhat illusory. This should mean it hasn't drawn near yet..."
Wu Tian felt somewhat vexed. His Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity was only intermediate and could not predict the precise time danger would arrive, much less pinpoint it to a particular person.
"That's roughly the situation, but I have no idea when the danger will erupt."
"What should I do now?"
"Should I hide down the mountain?"
His heart was filled with unease, and he wished he could flee down the mountain at once to avoid this catastrophe. The danger conveyed by the Fire Fiend, black clouds, and blood light could each casually annihilate him.
In other words, none of these dangers were something he could withstand.
"No. My original purpose in coming up the mountain was to cultivate."
"I haven't even obtained the Cloud Water Spell or the Gather Wind Spell. Am I really going to flee down the mountain in disgrace like this?"
"Fleeing would be easy, but climbing the mountain again would be difficult."
"Wait. The mountain gate of Skull Mountain is a grand formation laid out with a dragon's corpse. Can I really escape?"
Wu Tian's spirit sank, and his unease grew stronger. In the end, he could only take a deep breath in silence. "Stop thinking so much. I'll focus on cultivating for now. At worst, I'll flee toward the mountainside before disaster arrives."
Spiritual light flowed through his eyes as he looked toward the mountainside. There, golden light suffused the air and transformed into Sword Qi shooting into the heavens, mixed with the furious roar of a dragon. The sight was breathtaking.
Yet through the Talent for Seeking Auspiciousness and Avoiding Calamity, Wu Tian could tell that if he fled there, he might well turn danger into safety and disaster into fortune.
"The mountainside may very well be my only path to survival."
"I have to find a way to explore it..."
Once he had made his decision, his mind instead settled. He chanted the Tongyou Spell, forcibly entering meditation.
In truth, nothing around him had changed from before.
Only his perspective had changed.
Because he could now see dangers farther away, he was unable to sit or stand at ease.
Ants knew nothing of Heaven's will, and so they could live in peace.
Sometimes, the farther one saw, the more one trembled with unease.
In ancient times, there was the man of Qi who worried that the sky would fall. Yet the great terror of seeing danger—how could anyone ignorant of Heaven's will possibly understand it?
With each inhalation and exhalation, azure light spread through the air.
Wu Tian sank deeper and deeper into meditation. He dared not waste even a moment, wanting only to raise his strength as quickly as possible.
"I must cultivate the Tongyou Spell to perfection as soon as possible and obtain the next cultivation method."
"Then I'll find a way to make a trip to the mountainside and see what opportunities await there."
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