Four Giants' Prophecy, Claiming Rewards

Rhine took a deep breath, and the tension in his chest slowly eased.

It worked!

He looked toward the screen of light, where his current information came into view.

Current Connections: Uncle Bigan (Life-and-Death Friendship), Young Deng Chanyu (Life-and-Death Friendship), Spirit Crane (Close Friendship), Artifact Forging Sect Master (Close Friendship), Beast Taming Sect Master (Close Friendship), Young Nezha (Close Friendship), Young Lei Zhenzi (Close Friendship), Yuan Hong (Casual Acquaintance), Dingguang Immortal with Long Ears (Casual Acquaintance)

Current Enemies: Daoist Duobao (Never-ending feud); Xiao Sheng, Cao Bao (Bitter Enmity); Chong Heihu (Bitter Enmity)

Current Rewards: Five-Colored Stone Cultivation Method, Seven Orifices Exquisite Heart, Bronze Skin and Iron Bones, Control Fire at Will, Metallurgy and Silver Refining, Spirit Beast Affinity, Spirit Beast Cultivation, Skilled in Martial Arts, Night Vision, Wind Control...

(Innate Divine Strength, Lotus Body Protection, Soaring Wind Dance, Wing-Beating Wind and Thunder, Twin Axe Chain, Flying Tiger Military Strategy, Conceal Qi and Hide Mechanism have yet to be claimed.)

Looking at the densely packed list of connections and rewards, Rhine felt the satisfaction of a hamster with its hoard fully stocked.

But a problem came with it. He had only just started school, yet he already possessed so many talents.

After spending some more time at Hogwarts and making a few more connections, he would probably have at least a hundred talents. He might not even remember them all.

Many talents might end up sitting unused, or overlapping with one another. That would be such a waste.

Fortunately, the talent fusion function unlocked after the system upgrade was still available!

At the bottom of the screen of light, an icon of a furnace appeared.

The moment Rhine focused on it, a prompt appeared.

You may use the Talent Fusion function to refine unneeded talents into Dao Charm. Dao Charm may be used to upgrade other talents.

You may also fuse talents with similar functions into one. The strongest talent will definitely be retained, and a breakthrough may occur.

Rhine considered it for a moment.

It was easy enough to understand.

Completely useless talents could be dismantled and used to strengthen other talents.

Duplicate talents could be fused into one. That would tidy up the system screen and might even allow the strongest talent to break through.

"This looks kind of familiar."

"Isn't this material dismantling and limit-breaking or something? System, do you play MiHoYo games too?"

But no matter where the system had learned this function, it was extremely practical for Rhine.

His main strength currently came from only a handful of talents, especially Bronze Skin and Iron Bones. It combined offense and defense, making it the most useful talent Rhine had.

He could completely fuse away some useless talents to nurture Bronze Skin and Iron Bones.

That would let his strength soar once again.

Or he could upgrade talents like Feast on Wind and Drink Dew that allowed him to obtain spiritual energy. In the long run, that would also be an extremely worthwhile investment.

Just as Rhine was pondering the system's new function, the Sorting Ceremony finally came to an end.

Dumbledore stood up and looked at the students with a beaming smile, spreading his arms wide as though nothing pleased him more than seeing them gathered together.

"Welcome to Hogwarts for the start of a new school year. Before the feast begins, I would like to say a few words. And they are—"

"Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!"

As Dumbledore sat down, everyone applauded and cheered. Rhine also shifted his attention away from the system.

Because Harry beside him was looking at him hesitantly as he asked,

"Is Dumbledore a little—out of his mind?"

Rhine shook his head.

"Quite the opposite. He sees things far too clearly."

Regarding Dumbledore's final words—nitwit and oddment—there had been a classic rumor in Rhine's previous life that rearranging those words in Latin produced: Merlin bless you all.

But no matter how they were arranged, those words could not form that sentence.

Their true meaning was the prejudice each of the four Houses held toward the others.

Ravenclaw believed the other Houses were all nitwits. Gryffindor thought the other Houses were cowardly crybabies. Slytherin believed all half-blood wizards were oddments. And Hufflepuff thought every other House was too twisted.

If students could understand Dumbledore's meaning, perhaps each of them would reflect more deeply on their own personality.

Rhine quietly explained the meaning of those words to Harry, Hermione, and the others, leaving them all dumbfounded.

Even Percy, the prefect beside them, froze for a moment before asking uncertainly,

"Is that really what it means?"

"Then why didn't Dumbledore just say so?"

Rhine shrugged.

"Maybe after teaching so many students, he realized that some things wouldn't be taken to heart even if they were said directly. People have to understand them for themselves."

But at that moment, a startled cry suddenly rang out.

Everyone turned toward the staff table, their eyes filled with shock and surprise.

Even Dumbledore looked astonished.

"Sybill?"

Sybill Trelawney, Hogwarts's Divination professor, stood up as though possessed, her expression blank.

Her empty gaze swept over every Hogwarts student. Then, her hoarse voice echoed through the Great Hall.

"I saw it..."

"The era of the Four Giants is passing. New Four Giants are rising."

"The secrets of antiquity shall once again see the light of day. They shall return."

The next second, the blankness vanished from Sybill Trelawney's face, replaced by utter bewilderment.

"Why are you all looking at me?"

"I just drifted off. Did I say something?"

A burst of laughter immediately spread through the Great Hall.

Percy explained to the Gryffindor first-years,

"That's the Divination professor. How should I put it? She's a bit of a fraud. Every year, she predicts that a student will die, but so far, not one has."

"Maybe she just wants to leave an impression on the new students, so you'll choose her Divination class in your third year."

At those words, Harry, Hermione, and the others suddenly understood.

Hermione's eyes even showed a trace of disgust.

She hated this sort of mystifying nonsense the most.

But at the staff table, several people's expressions became uncertain.

Dumbledore and Snape knew about Trelawney's prophecies.

Trelawney was usually unreliable, but whenever she entered this blank state, an astonishing prophecy might emerge.

Even Voldemort, attached to Quirrell, let out a hissing voice inside Quirrell's mind.

He, too, had suffered because of a prophecy. Having personally experienced their power, he naturally would not underestimate one.

"Find out what this prophecy means."

"The new Four Giants—who does she mean? Find them!"

Voldemort gave Quirrell his command.

At that moment, Rhine's eyes also took on a thoughtful look.

Sybill Trelawney, a descendant of the Trelawney family, was the great-granddaughter of the famed seer Cassandra Trelawney.

Her family history stretched back as far as Ancient Greece.

From that time onward, the family had possessed extraordinary prophetic talent. But they had also been cursed—their prophecies would never be believed by the world. In everyone's eyes, they were merely charlatans and swindlers.

Looking back over the original Harry Potter novels, Trelawney's prophecies had all come true one by one. Their accuracy was remarkably high.

But the original story had never mentioned Trelawney making such a prophecy on this occasion.

"Could it be because of my influence?"

"In the original story, Harry, Hermione, and Ron formed a trio. With me joining them, there are now four of us. Could the new Four Giants be related to me?"

"And what are these ancient secrets?"

Questions filled Rhine's mind, but he quickly pushed them down.

Since he was here, he would deal with it as it came. Who knew when Trelawney's prophecy would come true? It might not happen for many years.

By then, perhaps he would have already set up the Immortal-Slaying Formation Diagram.

The ancients returning?

If they came with goodwill, then fine. But if they bore him ill will, he would use the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation to scatter even their ashes!

After that unexpected incident, no further disruptions occurred.

Just like in the original story, after the feast, Dumbledore gave another set of warnings that practically amounted to entrapment.

Then, after the school song, the first-years were finally able to head to their dormitories.

Rhine, Harry, Ron, Neville, and Seamus shared the same dormitory. The others were already exhausted. They changed into their pajamas and immediately fell asleep.

Before long, aside from Harry, who seemed to be having a nightmare and occasionally frowned and whimpered, the entire dormitory fell silent.

But Rhine's eyes were still bright.

"Then next comes—harvest time!"

"Innate Divine Strength, Lotus Body Protection, Soaring Wind Dance, Wing-Beating Wind and Thunder, Twin Axe Chain, Flying Tiger Military Strategy, Conceal Qi and Hide Mechanism..."

"System, claim them all for me!"