Xiao Yan's confidence wasn't arrogance.
Although time had kept Xiao Yan's comprehension of the laws from improving much over the past few months,
Silver Talent [Do Not Bully the Young and Poor] wasn't merely a cultivation talent. It was also half a combat talent.
When using Fire Laws, it increased his combat power by an additional 100%.
Although Xiao Yan had only comprehended a trace of the Fire Element Profound Mystery, his talent gave him enough of a boost to bring his combat power close to the second level of the Saint Domain.
Even if the Church of Light sent someone, as long as it wasn't Pope of Light Abraham, none of the Church of Light's other Saint Domains would be a match for Xiao Yan.
And even if Abraham came in person, Xiao Yan might not be able to defeat him, but escaping unharmed wouldn't be difficult. Naturally, he had nothing to fear!
"Since you've made up your mind, I won't try to persuade you anymore." Seeing Xiao Yan's confidence, Yao Lao shook his head and said no more.
Xiao Yan's cultivation level had now surpassed Yao Lao's, and there were fewer and fewer ways Yao Lao could help him.
When facing the Church of Light, Xiao Yan was the only one who could truly bear the pressure head-on. Yao Lao couldn't 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 in the old man's eyes, Xiao Yan's gaze turned thoughtful.
Earlier, when stopping Yao Lao from intervening, Xiao Yan had used his spiritual power to forcibly suppress the violent Dou Qi inside him. At the time, he had sensed a trace of Saint Domain energy lingering in Yao Lao's dantian.
"His dantian is damaged. In theory, any seventh-level or higher Light or Life Element mage should be able to heal it completely..."
"But because a Saint Domain expert injured his dantian, a trace of Saint Domain energy remains there. Ordinary ninth-level magic can't heal him completely; only a Saint Domain expert can restore him."
"Among Saint Domain experts skilled in healing, most Light Element experts are close to the Church of Light. They'd never offend the Church by helping Teacher. Water Element Saint Domains are concentrated at sea, and Teacher can't even leave Starfire City, so that path is blocked too. Life Element Saint Domains are far too rare, making one difficult to find..."
"For all these reasons, Teacher hasn't been able to heal his dantian completely all these years."
"But that was when Teacher was a ninth-level warrior. Now that I've reached the Saint Domain, finding a Saint Domain expert who can heal him shouldn't be too difficult, whether through threats or inducements!"
Looking at Yao Lao, whose face had grown much more weathered than it had been ten years ago, Xiao Yan silently vowed to heal him.
"Alas... I should have focused on cultivation, but I just couldn't bring myself to be heartless." Back in Blackstone Town, Lynn murmured to himself.
Watching the snow swirl outside the window, Lynn's feelings were in turmoil.
When he had first created a clone, Lynn had worried that if he let it venture out on its own, the feelings it developed might affect his original self.
Now, it seemed that what he had feared had come to pass.
Xiao Yan should have focused on cultivation, yet his time with Yao Lao had stirred Lynn's compassion.
This was a frightening beginning.
They shared a soul, and the line between them had always been blurred.
"...The Origin Bead... the clone..."
"Wasn't it another kind of life?" Lynn's expression grew distant.
"...Life... experiences... emotions..."
"They're all different, yet they're still one."
"I'm not myself. The transmigrator, my past self and present self, even my current self in the Saint Domain—my body, bloodline... even my soul—none of them are what they were at the beginning."
"And yet I'm still myself. What I lived through in my previous life and what I've experienced in this one are all part of me..."
"Fate... connects me. My experiences give me meaning. I am Lynn, and I am Xiao Yan."
"Whether Xiao Yan or Lynn, in the end, we're just me on different threads of Fate."
"We're all me, and yet none of us are."
"My goal was set from the beginning: grow stronger and transcend. Along the way, I must not let any version of 'me' down. Just like... Xiao Yan was first sent out only to cultivate."
"But 'I' am not a machine. If Xiao Yan truly chose cultivation over healing Yao Lao, would I still be myself? If I could abandon Yao Lao today, would Kasa and Taylor be next? And after that, could 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 incredible speed, reaching the seventh, eighth, and ninth levels...
"Buzz~~"
In just a short while, Lynn broke through his limits.
His body rose from the floor, legs crossed as he hovered in midair.
Time passed, and the heavy snow outside gradually stopped.
In the room, Lynn's aura grew increasingly elusive.
His spiritual power had already reached the limits of the Saint Domain. With his eyes tightly shut, countless insights into the Fate Law surfaced in his mind.
"Whoosh~~"
In the blink of an eye, the night passed, and the morning sun rose.
A ray of golden sunlight streamed through the window and fell across Lynn's face.
Feeling its warmth, Lynn slowly opened his eyes. A spark of insight flashed through his lively gaze.
"I never expected that in the end, what truly helped me reach the Saint Domain would be my sudden insight into the Fate Law!"
Lynn sensed the immense spiritual power within him. It had even surpassed that of his clone, Xiao Yan.
This also meant that the strength of Lynn's soul had reached the level of a Saint Magus, in both quality and quantity. The only thing he lacked was magical power.
With his superior Fire Element affinity, Lynn could accumulate magical power quickly. At the latest, he would become a true Saint Magus within half a year.
"It's a pity that on the Azeron Continent, the Church of Light is the only one with a cultivation method for the Fate Law." Feeling the changes within him, Lynn thought regretfully.
Lynn had reached the required level, but he lacked a cultivation method for the Fate Law. He could forcibly absorb the Fate Law from the world and convert it into Fate magic power,
but that method was too crude. If Lynn chose to do it, it would delay his breakthrough to the Saint Domain considerably, making it a poor trade.
After all, at the Saint Domain level, the main contest was law comprehension. Dou Qi and magical power had little impact. Rather than spend time forcibly converting magical power, he might as well focus on comprehending the Fate Law and strive to become a god sooner.
In fact, many Saint Domains who comprehended the Four Laws had first broken through as Element mages.
After all, compared with the Four Laws, cultivation methods for the Seven Elements were more widespread, and the requirements for testing talent were lower.
Most crystal balls used to test talent could detect the Seven Elements, but each of the Four Laws had its own unique method of detection, so there was no way to standardize the process.
For example, the Destruction Law required observing the shape of a person's soul, while the Death Law required examining its purity. Methods of testing talent this distinctive simply couldn't be used for continent-wide testing the way tests for the Seven Elements could.
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