Return to Origin (Seeking Recommendations)

The car cruised along at a steady speed, leaving the street scenery behind.

Bai Mo sat in the back seat, thinking about his Summoning Element Star Dust. He glanced at Bai Hanxing, who was driving up front, and called out, "Brother."

"What is it?"

Bai Mo looked puzzled. "How did you know I needed something?"

"You called me brother."

"..."

Bai Mo decided to change the subject. "Do you know what talents the Summoning Element has?"

"I know some, but not many. For example, Dual Summoning or Dual Contract lets you have one more Dimensional Summoned Beast or Contracted Beast than others. Then there's King of Beasts, which can sacrifice Demon Beast Essence Souls to increase the number of summoned beasts called forth by Advanced-Level Summoned Beast Tide."

Bai Hanxing looked at the red light ahead, picked up his thermos, and took a sip of water before continuing.

"There aren't many Summoning Element mages to begin with, and Innate Talents are even rarer. What, do you have one?"

"I do. There's something strange about my Summoning Element Star Dust."

"Oh..." Bai Hanxing nodded, forcibly maintaining a blank expression as he told himself not to care, not to be jealous. In an even tone, he advised, "The Complete Book of Summoning Element Talents. That book records every Summoning Element talent that has appeared from ancient times to the present, along with ways to identify them. Go find it yourself."

"Alright." Bai Mo nodded, then asked curiously, "How do you know about that book? You're not someone who likes reading."

At that, Bai Hanxing clenched the steering wheel. Seeing the light turn green, he slammed his foot on the gas. His voice squeezed out through gritted teeth.

"My fucking third element is the Summoning Element! You think I wouldn't know?!"

"Damn!" Bracing himself against the seatback in front of him, Bai Mo realized the driver had bad intentions. He decided to stop talking. He had learned what he needed to know anyway.

After a while—

"By the way, what are your summoned beasts?"

"Azure Thunder Tiger and Wind Cloud Roc."

"Oh..." Bai Mo scratched his head. He did not know either of them, but judging from their attributes, they matched his brother's first two elements.

Pearl Library

Using Patriarch Bai's connections, he entered the fifth floor, which was open only to Mingzhu Inner Court students, and found the The Complete Book of Summoning Element Talents Bai Hanxing had mentioned.

The book was not very thick. It was more like a booklet, which made it easy to find.

When he opened the first page, he immediately saw an introduction to a Summoning Element Innate Talent.

Beastmaster: Naturally possesses affinity with Dimensional Summoned Beasts, making it easier to form contracts with powerful summoned beasts.

What followed was a method for identifying the talent, detailing the changes a Summoning Element mage with this talent would experience and how their Summoning Element Stardust differed from ordinary ones.

Its purpose was to help later generations better assess their own circumstances and develop their potential.

After that came more detailed explanations, roughly describing how many times this talent had appeared throughout history, the probability of its appearance, and examples of those who had developed it well.

The next page described the Dual Summoning Bai Hanxing had mentioned earlier, and its explanation also took up an entire page.

Bai Mo skimmed through it and continued flipping. He discovered that the talents at the beginning, those that occupied a full page, had appeared relatively often and were fairly common.

The middle section contained comparatively uncommon talents, such as Gate of Myriad Beasts. When contracting a Dimensional Beast or casting Summoned Beast Tide, it allowed one to mentally bring forth any summoned beast from the Dimensional Plane and choose freely.

And the contract would often succeed, of course, as long as the difference between the two sides was not too great. It was impossible for an Elementary-Level mage to contract a Monarch.

Even so, it was incredibly powerful. The book even recorded the great summoner Su Wu, who used a single Advanced-Level Beast Tide Summoning to call forth a hundred galloping Commander-in-Chief-Level Crimson Cloud Horses.

Each Crimson Cloud Horse stood fifty meters tall—practically towering buildings one after another.

Su Wu had flattened an entire Demon Beast tribe with his own strength, leaving Bai Mo full of longing.

Yet the farther he flipped, the less space the book devoted to Summoning Element talents. None of them were his, either.

Finally, on the second-to-last page, he saw a talent whose description matched the changes in his Star Dust—Return to Origin Contract.

Its description occupied only one-third of the page.

Bai Mo read it carefully, word by word:

Return to Origin Contract: Contract any summoned beast possessing a single elemental attribute to convert all of its power, generating Stardust of the same elemental magic within the Mental World. This Stardust may grow alongside the summoned beast through cultivation.

The growth limit of this Stardust is determined by the bloodline limit of the contracted summoned beast. Only when the summoned beast grows can the magic cultivation grow.

The Star System Magic Energy generated by the summoned beast may be converted into the Magic Energy of the mage's original Star System.

Note: If the summoned beast dies, the magic element will vanish, cultivation will regress, and another contract cannot be formed.

After reading the brief introduction and the detailed explanation that followed, Bai Mo completely disregarded the fact that he was in a public place. A broad grin spread across his handsome face.

This talent was very powerful. By contracting a pet beast with only one elemental attribute, it allowed him to gain another element of magic with that same attribute.

But it was also very weak, burdened by numerous restrictions. For example, the contracted pet beast's bloodline limit had to be high enough, and only creatures with a single elemental attribute could trigger the talent's ability, Return to Origin.

However, if the Contracted Beast also possessed another non-elemental attribute, it would not affect the talent. Still, the purer it was, the better. In short, it could not possess two elemental abilities at the same time.

Elements were the most common. Many Demon Beasts were proficient in multiple elemental abilities, so if he chose poorly, it would just be an ordinary Summoning Element contract.

If he casually contracted a Servant-Level elemental beast, he would only gain a magic element that could never break through to the Intermediate Level in his lifetime, because its upper limit was Servant Level.

Likewise, if he contracted a Monarch-Level Summoned Beast, or even one with an Emperor's bloodline, the magic element created from it could reach the Super Level or even the Forbidden Curse level.

He wondered whether nurturing a Summoned Beast to break through its bloodline limits and advance could raise the cultivation cap of its corresponding magic element. The book did not mention it.

It did state that the cultivation of a magic element was bound to the Summoned Beast. Whatever cultivation the corresponding Summoned Beast possessed, the magic element possessed the same. He could not cultivate to raise its level himself, but he could cultivate to restore Magic Energy.

Also, whether it was a Summoned Beast from Dimensional Summoning or one he contracted afterward, it could not die. If it died, the Star System born from his talent would be ruined. He would also be unable to activate Return to Origin again.

More importantly, it could convert Magic Energy, which meant he had installed several backup hidden energy reserves for himself.

He could worry a little less about exhausting Magic Energy. There were far too few things in the Magic World that could replenish it.

Overall, this talent was quite formidable.

"Was that book really so funny?"

A clear and elegant voice, as limpid as a mountain stream, sounded beside him.

Bai Mo looked up toward the voice and saw a pair of clean, beautiful eyes like fresh rain over empty mountains.

He paused slightly. Those eyes looked somewhat familiar.

Only then did he notice the girl's delicate, lovely face.

Hmm, this face also looked very familiar.

It was Ding Yumian, the girl who had knocked out two classes during the first-year awakening ceremony a year and a half ago.

Bai Mo smiled faintly. "It's you. This book isn't funny."

"You know me?" the girl asked softly. A flicker of surprise passed through her clear eyes.

"I remember you. Your eyes are beautiful—they left a deep impression on me." Bai Mo shook his head, then asked in confusion, "Besides, didn't you come over to greet me because you recognized me?"

Ding Yumian placed the book in her hands on the table, pulled out a chair, and sat across from Bai Mo. She smiled lightly.

"Yes. I didn't expect to run into a former schoolmate here. I only came over to say hello out of curiosity."

"Is that so? I thought it was because I'm handsome." Bai Mo looked disappointed.

"..." Ding Yumian said nothing. She did not get his humor and rolled her eyes at him.

"Fine, no more jokes. Did you need something from me?"

Bai Mo put away his feigned disappointment and looked into the girl's eyes, his gaze filled with undisguised appreciation and admiration.

Facing Bai Mo's gaze, Ding Yumian's expression did not change. She extended her hand, her tone gentle and unhurried.

"Let's get acquainted. My name is Ding Yumian."

"Oh... that's a nice name." Bai Mo extended his hand and shook hers as well. Her hand was delicate, smooth, cool, and soft. He quickly withdrew his hand and said, "Hello, I'm Bai Mo."

Ding Yumian nodded, glanced at his book, and then asked, "Did you come here to look up some information?"

"Yes, and I've already found it." Bai Mo paused. Thinking of how he had just been grinning and laughing silently, he suddenly felt incredibly stupid and wanted to slap his past self.

Still, he felt he could salvage the situation, so he explained, "I was just so happy to find it that I ended up laughing for a while."

"Oh..."

Ding Yumian nodded to indicate that she understood. She looked at the book in front of Bai Mo again, somewhat puzzled.

"If I remember correctly... you're a Space Element mage?"

"You remember that too?!"

"I do." Ding Yumian nodded and studied his face. A trace of recollection flashed through her eyes as well. "You were the only Space Element mage in the entire school, and you didn't faint."

"I see."

"So?"

"I've reached the Intermediate Level."

Bai Mo did not hide it and said so directly. It was not anything shameful, and based on his understanding of Patriarch Bai—

Most of the family probably already knew.

"I see..." Surprise first appeared in Ding Yumian's eyes, followed by a hint of understanding. "Then your second element is Summoning?"

"Yes." Ding Yumian nodded slightly and did not ask any further questions.

She fell silent, but Bai Mo asked curiously, "Are you a student at Pearl Institute now?"

"Not yet. I'm currently at Pearl Affiliated Middle School."

"Oh~" Bai Mo nodded in understanding. It was probably Dean Xiao's arrangement. With her Calamity User talent, it would be easier to keep an eye on her that way.

"Then when you have time, I'll come see you. We can discuss Mental Power cultivation?"

"Sure."

"Then shall we add each other on Feixin?" Bai Mo took out his phone.

Ding Yumian glanced at him, her eyes flickering. She was rather interested in this boy too, and he was quite amusing. He should be able to help her improve her control over keeping her state of mind calm, so she took out her phone as well.

"Bzzz, bzzz."

Her phone vibrated.

System message: Fei Bai Ji Mo has requested to add you on Feixin.

Tap. Accept.

Seeing the confirmation notification, Bai Mo smiled. Another pretty girl added on Feixin.

He glanced at the still-unopened A Brief Overview of Ancient Mind Demons in front of her and innocently asked:

"You're a Mind Element mage?"

"Yes."

"By the way, what level is your Mental Power at?"

"Level Three. What about you?"

"Same as you," Bai Mo answered. Seeing her open the book, he stood up. "I've already accomplished what I came here for, so I'll be leaving first."

Ding Yumian nodded. "Goodbye."

"Bye-bye!"

After returning the book, Bai Mo opened the Feixin contact whose nickname was simply Yumian as he walked out.

He checked her Moments.

There was nothing there. She seemed like a boring person—though that judgment wasn't exactly reliable.

But at the very least, her Moments were boring.

Unlike his, which often featured interesting things he came across while eating, drinking, and having fun.

Meanwhile, Ding Yumian faced the open book, its glow falling across her face.

Her finger swiped downward, scrolling through Bai Mo's Moments.

This person seemed absurdly talented. He spent so much time having fun, yet he had still reached the Intermediate Level so quickly.

His life seemed quite colorful, and his Moments were full of content—beautiful scenery, delicious food, and strange candid shots of cats and dogs.

A small portion was cute. Most of it... was ridiculous.

Looking at the final picture—a tuxedo cat with its mouth open, wearing a dazed, stunned expression as though it were shocked—Ding Yumian recalled how Bai Mo had come up to the fifth floor earlier, grinning foolishly with his mouth open. The corners of her lips curled into a smile.

He was quite interesting.