Talent Evolve

The secret passage was pitch-black, with only the fluorite embedded in the walls giving off a faint green glow, barely lighting the ground beneath his feet.

Lin Yi's expression didn't change. He walked forward at a steady pace, without the slightest hesitation in the darkness. After about the time it took an incense stick to burn, he finally reached the end of the passage.

However, there was no door at the end, only a smooth, cold, black stone wall.

Lin Yi stopped and stood motionless. After roughly three breaths, the faint sound of a mechanism turning came from within the black stone wall.

"Click, click, click!"

As the sound rang out, a gap silently slid open in the rock wall to Lin Yi's left, just wide enough for one person to slip through sideways.

Lin Yi strode inside and found a small room. There were no tables or chairs, only some brushes and ink, along with a meditation cushion in the middle.

A figure cloaked from head to toe in a black robe sat on the cushion.

"What would you like to sell, guest?"

The black-robed man spoke in a flat, hoarse voice.

"A third-grade precious medicine, a Thousand Spirit Blood Origin Grass seedling."

Lin Yi replied, then took out the jade box containing the Thousand Spirit Blood Origin Grass from his robe and handed it to the black-robed man.

"A Thousand Spirit Blood Origin Grass seedling?"

The black-robed man was startled. He took the jade box and opened it.

When he saw the plant inside, similar in appearance to Blood Origin Grass but with mysterious, noble golden patterns covering its roots, stem, and leaves, he immediately smiled.

"Excellent! It really is a Thousand Spirit Blood Origin Grass seedling. I never expected such a treasure to turn up in Guangling Prefecture City. What a pleasant surprise."

"Five thousand two hundred taels of silver!"

"Five thousand two hundred taels?"

Hearing the figure, Lin Yi felt a pang of regret.

Tonight, he'd taken the time to check the Library Tower at the Martial Arts Academy. A Thousand Spirit Blood Origin Grass seedling normally went for around seventeen thousand taels of silver.

Yet the black-robed man was offering only five thousand two hundred taels. He'd cut the price by seventy percent right off the bat. That was a brutal markdown!

However, the Clean Room at the Mangshan Black Market had its rules: no questions about the item's origins and no haggling. It was fair to all, and no one dared cheat.

So, no matter how much it pained him, Lin Yi could only grit his teeth and accept.

"Fine."

Lin Yi nodded, then added, "But I only need four thousand two hundred taels in silver notes. Exchange the remaining thousand for five Tiger Tendon Leopard Blood Pills. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

The Tiger Tendon Leopard Blood Pill was a type of pill in the Jiuzhou World specially used to improve one's qi and blood and strengthen one's cultivation. Its effects were similar to those of a Qi and Blood Pill, but its effects and medicinal potency were more than ten or twenty times stronger than an ordinary Qi and Blood Pill. Of the common pills used by Seventh Grade Martial Artists, it was one of the most effective.

With a thousand taels' worth of Tiger Tendon Leopard Blood Pills to help him, Lin Yi figured that even if he couldn't reach the Late Seventh Rank, he could still greatly improve his strength and advance a long way through the Seventh Grade Mid Stage.

Of course, a pill this effective was naturally expensive. Each one cost two hundred taels of silver.

At the Mangshan Black Market, the price was the same as it was outside!

After all, these pills were common medicines, not rare goods. People could buy them just as easily elsewhere. They came to the Mangshan Black Market for convenience, so the market wouldn't arbitrarily inflate the price.

"No problem. Please wait a moment, guest."

The black-robed man nodded. First, he took out a brush and ink and wrote a note. Then he lightly knocked three times on the wall behind the room.

"Click, click!"

The sound rang out. The next moment, a hole about four inches square suddenly appeared in the wall.

The black-robed man passed the note and the jade box containing the Thousand Spirit Blood Origin Grass seedling through it.

A mere dozen breaths later, a stack of silver notes and a black pill bottle appeared in his hand.

"Here are four thousand two hundred taels in silver notes and five Tiger Tendon Leopard Blood Pills. Please check them, guest."

"Good!"

Lin Yi nodded and took them. After carefully checking that the silver notes and pills were in order, he cupped his fist to the black-robed man and left.

A dozen or so breaths after Lin Yi left the room, a voice suddenly sounded inside it again.

"Master Bone, since this man came to trade at the Clean Room of our Mangshan Black Market, he's most likely an ordinary martial artist below the Sixth Rank. Yet he was able to produce a treasure like a Thousand Spirit Blood Origin Grass seedling. Should we send someone to look into his background?"

"No need!"

The black-robed man shook his head calmly.

"When he handed me the jade box, he deliberately let some of his qi and blood show. Its strength was only at the Seventh Grade Mid Stage, but it was brimming with vitality. I'd say he's at most fourteen or fifteen years old."

"Also, though the way he handed me the jade box seemed ordinary, it actually contained an extremely profound level of martial skill. His mastery was so high that it was nearly as good as yours."

"Someone like him would be an absolute top-tier prodigy even among the great clans of Guangling Prefecture City. He must have obtained the Thousand Spirit Blood Origin Grass seedling through some fortuitous chance, but for some reason, he couldn't sell it openly, so he had to come trade with us at the Mangshan Black Market."

"Since he doesn't want to reveal his identity, our black market had better not try to expose him. If we truly offend him, the loss wouldn't be worth it."

"Yes! Master Bone is wise!"

The voice replied respectfully, then quickly vanished, as if it had never appeared.

Meanwhile, after obtaining the four thousand two hundred taels in silver notes and the five Tiger Tendon Leopard Blood Pills, Lin Yi first made sure no one was following him before carefully returning to Guangling Martial Academy.

A short while later, in a martial cultivation room at Guangling Martial Academy.

Lin Yi sat cross-legged on the floor, eyes closed in thought. In his mind, he gave the Attribute Panel an order.

"Attribute Panel, charge four thousand taels in silver notes!"

"Whoosh!"

At Lin Yi's command, the four thousand taels in silver notes in his robe vanished into thin air in an instant, without leaving behind even a wisp of ash.

The Attribute Panel didn't absorb the silver itself, but rather some kind of quality it possessed. So whether it was solid silver ingots or paper silver notes, the Attribute Panel could absorb them, and the effect was the same.

The moment the silver notes vanished, the charge percentage on Lin Yi's Attribute Panel began to rise rapidly.

10%

20%

50%

80%

The numbers on the Attribute Panel raced upward, reaching 100% in the blink of an eye.

Then a line of text appeared before Lin Yi.

"Congratulations, Dao Master. Charge progress has reached 100%. You may use Immortal Skill to evolve a talent. Would you like to proceed?"

"Evolve!"

Lin Yi didn't hesitate in the slightest.

At once...

"Rumble!"

The previously transparent Attribute Panel changed, transforming into a vast starry sky.

White, red, yellow, green, purple, and gold stars glittered across the starry sky.

White stars were still the most numerous, filling a large swath of the sky. Red stars came next, with the numbers dwindling in order of rarity.

Compared to last time, however, there were fewer white stars.

By contrast, there were more red stars, yellow stars... all the way up to gold stars.

"It seems that the more silver I use, the greater the chance that the Attribute Panel will evolve a powerful talent!"

"That's good news for me! I just don't know whether I can evolve a Crimson Grade Talent this time."

Lin Yi's eyes shone.

A Crimson Grade Talent was a one-in-a-hundred-thousand talent. Even at Guangling Martial Academy, it would make him an undisputed genius.

He'd only spent four thousand taels of silver. If he could evolve a talent of that level, it would be well worth it.

His heart full of anticipation, he watched as a star suddenly fell from the vast starry sky.

Its color was none other than bright yellow!