As the surroundings shifted back into a familiar scene, Lynn knew he had achieved an initial bond with the Origin Bead. Their fortunes were now intertwined: if one prospered, so would the other, and if one suffered, so would the other.
As Lynn's life level rose, it would in turn nourish the Origin Bead, gradually speeding up its recovery. The number of clones it could create would also increase, and their talents would grow stronger.
Conversely, if Lynn died and his soul dispersed, the already damaged Origin Bead would suffer another severe blow—and might never recover...
After sorting through all the information, Lynn now understood the Origin Bead's origins and function, and had a pretty good idea of how to use his "cheat."
"From what I can tell, although the Origin Bead's defense is on par with a Supreme Artifact of Soul Defense, before I become a god, its most useful function is still creating Talent Clones."
"In that case..." Lynn's thoughts stirred as he reached out to the diamond-shaped crystal in his sea of consciousness.
Rows of golden text appeared.
[Host: Lynn] [Life Level: Transcendent Life] [Race: Ordinary Human (Coiling Dragon World)] [Innate Talent: Fire Element Affinity (White)] [Talent Clone: None] [Number of Clones Available: 1] [Current Talent Clone Limit: White Talent] (A clone and the original share one soul and share their insights, but they cannot share the extra enhancements granted by talents, such as combat talents and physical enhancement talents.)
"My superlative elemental affinity is only considered a white talent by the Origin Bead?"
A flash of astonishment crossed Lynn's eyes. He could hardly believe it, but his surprise quickly turned to excitement. "If a white talent is already this powerful, what will things be like when I reach the Saint Domain, my life level evolves again, and my talent limit rises?"
"By then, little Ao Fu and little Hong... Uh, I probably still won't be able to mess with the latter. But once my talent improves, dealing with the former will be a piece of cake!"
With that thought, Lynn's excitement rose, and he wasted no time. He immediately controlled the Origin Bead and chose to create a Talent Clone.
Golden text flickered in the air.
[Number of Talent Clones Available: 1 → 0] [Please choose a clone talent from the following options] [Wind Element Affinity: White Talent. Grants superlative Wind Element affinity. Talent Evaluation: A talent worthy of being called a genius in the Material Plane!] [You Have the Path to Death: White Talent. Slightly increases affinity for the Destruction Law. Side effect: murderous intent rises dramatically. Automatically grants the first-level Life Element spell, Mom... Blue Silver Entanglement, when equipped. Talent Evaluation: Impossible to evaluate!] [Fallen Genius: White Talent. Greatly increases the rate of cultivating Dou Qi and magic, rapidly raising one's power to the Saint Domain within ten years. Side effect: after reaching the Saint Domain, one's power rapidly drops to level three within a year. Talent Evaluation: If you just stop at level nine, doesn't that mean there's no side effect?] [Pseudo-Soul Mutator: White Talent. Equipping this talent immediately triggers Soul Mutation, but success is not guaranteed. Talent Evaluation: Heaven or hell—only a single thought apart!] [Thunder Dragon Bloodline: White Talent. Equipping this talent grants the bloodline of the Thunder Dragon race, slightly increases Thunder Element affinity, and greatly reduces the difficulty of reaching the Saint Domain. Talent Evaluation: A talent that only raises the lower limit; its effect on the upper limit is negligible.] ...
The golden text filled the air, packed so tightly that Lynn could see hundreds of lines at a glance. A hundred of them alone were white talents, though most had little effect. Fewer than ten were truly valuable.
A few of the white talents even made Lynn want to laugh.
"I have affinity for the Fire Element alone, and you're offering me a [Pseudo-Soul Mutator] talent?"
"Most importantly, success isn't even guaranteed!" Lynn grumbled inwardly. Without hesitation, he blacklisted [Pseudo-Soul Mutator]. He also blacklisted [You Have the Path to Death].
Don't ask why. The answer is that you have the path to death!
"Which one should I choose?" After ruling out a few talents with hidden pitfalls, Lynn stared at the remaining options, torn.
Among the talents left, whether it was a potential-focused talent like [Wind Element Affinity] or a bloodline talent like [Thunder Dragon Bloodline], either would be quite helpful to Lynn right now.
After weighing the pros and cons, Lynn made his decision.
"[Wind Element Affinity] is pretty good, but what matters most to me now is reaching the Saint Domain sooner and evolving my life level. Besides, if I really chose this talent and suddenly gained Wind Element affinity, I wouldn't be able to explain it if anything went wrong."
"Thinking about it that way, I can't choose [Thunder Dragon Bloodline], either."
"That leaves... [Fallen Genius]!" Lynn fixed his gaze on the talent with its obvious side effect.
"After reaching the Saint Domain, I'll drop to level three within a year... Heh. If I refresh this Talent Clone the moment my life level evolves after I reach the Saint Domain, what can you do about that?"
"Heh heh heh..." Lynn let out a cheerful laugh.
"Choose the white talent [Fallen Genius] to create a Talent Clone."
Lynn's thoughts stirred, and the black diamond-shaped crystal in his sea of consciousness began to turn.
Then, a strange fluctuation arose within Lynn. The elemental forces of the world within a hundred meters surged, rapidly gathering before him.
Countless multicolored specks of light gathered a meter in front of Lynn, coalescing into a hazy human figure.
[Talent Clone created. Beginning to create a soul fragment.]
Golden text appeared. Before Lynn could react, an unbearably terrifying sensation of being torn apart erupted deep within his soul.
"Ahh! Ahh!"
The dreadful pain robbed Lynn of all ability to move in an instant. His whole body became a contorted creature crawling across the ground, frantically demonstrating just how flexible the human body could be.
"...I... fucking... ＊＊＊..." Lynn's heartfelt curses kept coming. If the elemental forces of the world hadn't muffled the sound, he would probably have woken Leo and Irina, who were fast asleep next door.
After a long while, a hazy soul fragment flew out of Lynn's body, and only then did the pain in his soul begin to fade.
Under the Origin Bead's power, the soul fragment flew into the hazy figure.
As Lynn's soul fragment entered it, the hazy figure became solid. Lynn could finally see what his Talent Clone looked like: a young man who resembled him to an astonishing degree. They were very similar in both appearance and height.
A strange feeling welled up in Lynn's heart.
"We're one!"
Lynn could feel a close connection between them. It was as though he had two bodies, much like a Divine Clone.
After several attempts, Lynn figured out how to control the Talent Clone and made him open his eyes.
"Hello, original!"
Before you continue