Epiphany (Seeking Follows)

Xiao Yan's confidence was not arrogance.

Although his progress in comprehending laws had been minimal over the past few months due to time constraints, Xiao Yan's silver-tier talent, Do Not Bully the Young and Poor, was not merely a cultivation talent—it was also a semi-combat talent.

When using fire-style laws, his combat power was boosted by an additional hundred percent.

Even though Xiao Yan had only grasped a sliver of the fire element mysteries, the enhancement from his talent pushed his combat power to the verge of the second level of the Saint Domain.

Even if the Church of Light sent people, as long as the Pope of Light, Abraham, did not come in person, the other Saint Domain experts of the Church of Light were no match for Xiao Yan.

And even if Abraham were to come himself, while Xiao Yan might not be able to defeat him, escaping unscathed would not be difficult; naturally, he had nothing to fear!

"Since you have already made your decision, I will not try to persuade you further." Seeing the confidence on Xiao Yan's face, Yao Lao shook his head and said no more.

Now that Xiao Yan's realm had surpassed his own, there were fewer and fewer ways for Yao Lao to assist him.

Facing the Church of Light, Xiao Yan was the only one truly capable of confronting the pressure; Yao Lao could not even share the burden. The only thing he could do was use the intelligence network he had built over the years to gather as much information about the continent as possible for Xiao Yan.

Noticing the helplessness hidden deep within the old man's eyes, a look of contemplation flashed across Xiao Yan's gaze.

When he had stopped Yao Lao from intervening earlier, Xiao Yan had used his spiritual power to forcibly suppress the violent battle qi within Yao Lao's body. At that moment, he had sensed a lingering trace of Saint Domain energy near Yao Lao's dantian.

"Dantian damage should, in theory, be completely curable as long as a seventh-rank or higher light or life-style mage intervenes..."

"But because the teacher's dantian was injured by a Saint Domain expert, there is a lingering trace of Saint Domain energy there. Ordinary ninth-rank magic cannot fully heal it; it requires a Saint Domain expert to restore it to its original state."

"Among the Saint Domain experts skilled in restoration, most light-style Saint Domain experts are close to the Church of Light and would never offend them to help the teacher. Water-style Saint Domain experts are primarily concentrated on the seas, and the teacher cannot even leave Starfire City, so that path is also blocked. Life-style Saint Domain experts are far too rare and difficult to find..."

"Because of all these reasons, the teacher has been unable to fully heal his dantian all these years."

"However, that was based on the assumption that the teacher is a ninth-rank warrior. Now that I have reached the Saint Domain, whether through coercion or inducement, finding a Saint Domain expert capable of healing the teacher is not too difficult!"

Looking at Yao Lao, whose face appeared much more weathered than it had ten years ago, Xiao Yan made a silent resolution to heal him.

"Sigh... I should have focused solely on cultivation, yet I cannot bring myself to be so cold-hearted." Lynn, who had returned to Blackstone Town, whispered in his heart.

Watching the heavy snow swirling outside the window, Lynn felt incredibly conflicted.

Back when he first created his avatar, Lynn had worried whether the emotions born from letting the avatar venture out on its own would affect his true self.

Now, it seemed that what he feared had come to pass.

Xiao Yan, who should have been focused entirely on cultivation, had stirred a sense of compassion in Lynn due to his time spent with Yao Lao.

This was a terrifying beginning.

Sharing a single soul, the boundaries between the two were already blurred and uncertain.

"...Origin Bead... avatar..."

"Is this not just another kind of life?" Lynn's expression was dazed.

"...Life... experiences... emotions..."

"Each is different, yet they are one and the same."

"I am not me; the transmigrator, the predecessor, the present life, and even the current Saint Domain—none of it, whether body, bloodline... or even the soul, is the original."

"Yet I am still me; what passed in the previous life and what is experienced in this one are all me..."

"Fate... connects me, experiences give me meaning. I am Lynn, and I am also Xiao Yan."

"Whether it is Xiao Yan or Lynn, in the end, they are just me under different threads of fate."

"They are all me, yet none of them are me."

"My goal was set from the very beginning: to become stronger, to transcend. On this path, I must not fail any 'me'. Just like... the purpose for which Xiao Yan was split off in the first place was merely for cultivation."

"But 'I' am not a machine. If Xiao Yan truly chose to give up on healing Yao Lao for the sake of cultivation, would I still be me? If I can abandon Yao Lao today, will it be Kasa and Taylor tomorrow? And after that, would I even abandon my father, Leo, and my mother, Irina?"

For a moment, Lynn fell into a strange state.

His spiritual power surged at an astonishing speed: seventh rank, eighth rank, ninth rank...

"Hum~~"

In just a few moments, Lynn broke through his limits.

His entire body drifted up from the ground, legs crossed, hovering in mid-air.

Time passed, and the heavy snow outside the window gradually ceased.

Inside the room, Lynn's aura became increasingly ethereal and unpredictable.

His spiritual power had long since reached the limit of the Saint Domain. Lynn kept his eyes tightly shut as countless insights into the Fate Law emerged within his heart.

"Hoo~~"

In the blink of an eye, the night passed, and the morning sun rose in the sky.

A ray of golden sunlight shone through the window onto Lynn's face.

Feeling the warmth, Lynn slowly opened his eyes, a flash of spiritual clarity flickering within his bright pupils.

"I never expected... that in the end, what truly helped me achieve the Saint Domain was a sudden insight into the Fate Law!"

Lynn felt the immense spiritual power within his body, which had even surpassed that of his avatar, Xiao Yan.

This indicated that the quality and quantity of Lynn's soul strength had reached the level of a Saint Magus; the only thing lacking was magic power.

Relying on his super-grade affinity for the fire element, Lynn accumulated magic power rapidly, and he would become a true Saint Magus in no more than half a year at the latest.

It is a pity that on the Azeron Continent, the only organization possessing cultivation methods for the Fate Law is the Church of Light, Lynn thought with a hint of regret as he sensed the changes within him.

Although Lynn had reached the required realm, he lacked a cultivation method for the Fate Law. While he could forcibly absorb the Fate Law from the world and convert it into fate magic power, he chose not to.

This method was too crude; if Lynn were to choose this path, the time it would take to reach the Saint Domain would be delayed significantly, making it not worth the effort.

After all, at the Saint Domain level, the competition primarily relied on the comprehension of laws, while battle qi and magic power had minimal impact. Instead of wasting time forcibly converting magic power, it was better to spend that time comprehending the Fate Law in pursuit of becoming a god sooner.

In fact, many Saint Domain experts who comprehended the Four Laws had initially broken through to the Saint Domain via the elemental path.

After all, compared to the Four Laws, the cultivation methods for the Seven Elements were more widespread, and the threshold for testing talent was much lower.

Most crystal balls used to test talent could detect the Seven Elements, whereas each of the Four Laws required its own unique testing method, making a unified approach impossible.

For instance, the Destruction Law required observing the shape of a person's soul, while the Death Law required observing the purity of a person's soul. Such unique methods for testing talent could never be used for continent-wide screening like the Seven Elements.