The First Talent Clone

As the surroundings returned to the familiar scene Lynn knew, he understood that he had completed the initial binding of the Origin Bead—now, the two shared a bond of mutual prosperity and mutual ruin.

Any elevation in Lynn's life level would nourish the Origin Bead in return, gradually accelerating its recovery. The number of clones he could create would increase over time, and his talents would grow stronger.

Conversely, if Lynn perished and his path was cut short, the already fractured Origin Bead would suffer another devastating blow, perhaps even falling into irredeemable ruin...

After sorting through all the information and grasping the Origin Bead's origin and function, Lynn had a fair understanding of how his "golden finger" worked.

"For now, compared to the Origin Bead's defensive power—which rivals a Supreme Soul-Protecting Artifact—its greatest help to me before becoming a god is still the ability to create talent clones."

"That being the case..." Lynn focused his mind, reaching out to the diamond-shaped crystal within his sea of consciousness.

Lines of golden text materialized.

[Host: Lynn]

[Life Level: Transcendent Lifeform]

[Race: Ordinary Human (Coiling Dragon World)]

[Innate Talent: Fire Element Affinity (White)]

[Talent Clones: None]

[Clones Available for Creation: 1]

[Current Clone Talent Cap: White Talent]

(The clone shares a single soul with the host, and insights are shared. However, additional enhancements derived from the talent—such as combat-type talents or physical reinforcement talents—cannot be shared.)

"My innate super-tier elemental affinity is only considered a white talent in the Origin Bead's definition?"

A flicker of shock passed through Lynn's eyes, disbelief coloring his expression before it quickly turned into blazing excitement. "If white talents are this strong, then once I reach the Saint Domain, evolve my life level again, and raise my talent cap—what kind of spectacle will that be?"

"By then, that mere Ao Fu, that little Hong... well, the latter is probably still someone I can't provoke. But once my talent improves, handling the former will be as easy as grabbing something from my pocket!"

With that thought burning in his heart, Lynn hesitated no longer. He immediately commanded the Origin Bead to create a talent clone.

Golden text flickered in the air.

[Number of Talent Clones Available for Creation Reduced by One]

[Please Select a Talent for the Clone from the Following Options]

[Wind Element Affinity: White Talent. Grants super-tier affinity for the Wind Element. Talent Evaluation: Worthy of being called a genius on a Material Plane!]

[You Have the Path to Death: White Talent. Slightly increases affinity for the Destruction Law. Side effect: a sharp rise in killing intent. Upon equipping, automatically learns the Life Element first-level magic, "Mom's... Blue Silver Entanglement." Talent Evaluation: Impossible to evaluate!]

[Fallen Genius: White Talent. Greatly accelerates the cultivation speed of battle qi and magic, allowing rapid advancement to the Saint Domain (within ten years). Side effect: upon reaching the Saint Domain, strength will rapidly decline to the third rank within one year. Talent Evaluation: As long as you stay stuck at the ninth rank, doesn't that mean there's no side effect?]

[Pseudo-Soul Mutator: White Talent. Upon equipping this talent, immediately enters a state of soul mutation, but success is not guaranteed. Talent Evaluation: Heaven and Hell lie in a single thought!]

[Thunder Dragon Bloodline: White Talent. Upon equipping, gains the bloodline of the Thunder Dragon clan. Slightly increases Thunder Element affinity. Greatly reduces the difficulty of reaching the Saint Domain. Talent Evaluation: A talent that only raises the floor; its effect on the ceiling is negligible.]

The golden text filled the air, dense and countless. Lynn swept his gaze across it—there were at least several hundred lines. Among them, the white talents alone numbered over a hundred, though most were of little use. Fewer than ten held real value.

A few white talents, in particular, made Lynn want to laugh out loud.

"I'm someone with only Fire Element affinity, and you give me a [Pseudo-Soul Mutator] talent?"

"And the kicker is, success isn't even guaranteed!" Lynn grumbled inwardly, decisively blacklisting the [Pseudo-Soul Mutator] talent. At the same time, [You Have the Path to Death] joined the blacklist.

Don't ask why. Ask, and you have the path to death!

"Which one should I pick?" After ruling out a few trap talents, Lynn stared at the remaining options, caught in a dilemma.

Among the remaining talents, whether it was potential-type talents like [Wind Element Affinity] or bloodline-type talents like [Thunder Dragon Bloodline], all of them offered considerable help to Lynn at his current stage.

After a brief weighing of pros and cons, Lynn made his decision.

"[Wind Element Affinity] is good, but for me right now, reaching the Saint Domain sooner and completing the evolution of my life level is the most important thing. Besides, if I actually chose this talent and suddenly gained a Wind Element affinity, if something unexpected happened, I wouldn't be able to explain it."

"Thinking about it that way, [Thunder Dragon Bloodline] is also out."

"That leaves... only [Fallen Genius]!" Lynn fixed his gaze on the talent with its obvious side effect.

"Reaching the Saint Domain and dropping to the third rank a year later... Ha. If I refresh this talent clone the moment my life level evolves upon reaching the Saint Domain, how will you deal with that, sir?"

"Hehehe..." A cheerful laugh escaped Lynn's lips.

"Select the white talent [Fallen Genius] to create a talent clone."

With a thought, the black diamond-shaped crystal in Lynn's sea of consciousness began to rotate.

Then, a peculiar ripple emerged from within Lynn's body. The elemental energy of heaven and earth within a hundred-meter radius erupted into chaos, gathering before Lynn at breakneck speed.

Dense clusters of multicolored light gathered a meter in front of Lynn, coalescing into a hazy human silhouette.

[Talent Clone creation complete. Beginning soul division.]

Golden text suddenly appeared. Before Lynn could react, the next second, an indescribably terrifying sensation of being torn apart erupted deep within his soul.

"Ahh—ahh—"

The excruciating pain shattered all of Lynn's ability to move in an instant. His entire body twisted into a crawling creature on the ground, frantically demonstrating human flexibility against the floor.

"...I... f*ck... ***..." Lynn's warm greetings rang out continuously. If the elemental barrier hadn't blocked the sound, it would surely have woken Leo and Irina sleeping next door.

After a long moment, as a hazy soul fragment flew out from Lynn's body, he finally felt the agony in his soul recede.

The ejected soul fragment, under the power of the Origin Bead, sank into the hazy human silhouette.

With Lynn's soul fragment infused, the originally indistinct figure fully solidified. Lynn could now clearly see the appearance of his Talent Clone—a youth who was ninety percent similar to him. Both their features and height were extremely close.

A peculiar sensation arose in Lynn's heart.

"We are one!"

Lynn could feel a tight connection, as if he possessed two bodies, like a divine avatar.

After several attempts, Lynn found the feeling of controlling the Talent Clone and guided it to open its eyes.

"Greetings, original body."