"Lin Feng, can you feel it?" Doehring Cowart's voice sounded softly in Lin Feng's mind.
"Grandpa Doehring, I can feel them. So many yellow-brown specks of light—far too many. They're packed together by the thousands. There are over a hundred floating right above the back of my hand. There are just so many." Lin Feng told him honestly.
Doehring Cowart was overjoyed to hear this.
"Excellent. Now, slowly, do as I say. Don't think about anything. Just be still." Doehring Cowart's voice was almost hypnotic. Before long, Lin Feng had come out of his meditative state. At the same time, Doehring Cowart released his hold on the earth elements, and their concentration around them quickly returned to normal.
Once he had come out of his meditation, Lin Feng felt refreshed from head to toe. He felt completely different from before. Even while fully awake, he could sense the fluctuations of some earth elements around him, though not as clearly as he had during meditation.
"Grandpa Doehring, I can still feel the yellow-brown specks of light moving around me. Really! It's not clear, but I can sense them vaguely." Lin Feng was thrilled.
For the first time, he had stepped into the world of magic, and excitement filled his heart.
"What did you say? You can feel them even now?" Doehring Cowart was astonished. The concentration of earth elements had already returned to normal, yet Lin Feng could still sense them while fully awake. That meant Lin Feng's elemental affinity—
"Grandpa Doehring, why aren't you saying anything? How good is my elemental affinity?" Lin Feng asked anxiously.
He had no idea whether what he'd done was good or bad.
"Good. Very good. Your elemental affinity is extraordinarily high." Doehring Cowart beamed. "As far as I know, it would be difficult to find even one magician in a thousand whose elemental affinity could match yours. Truly."
Lin Feng felt his heart leap. He was so excited that he didn't know what to say. He had expected this, but hearing Grandpa Doehring confirm it in no uncertain terms still put his mind at ease.
Then he remembered how the different elements had swirled around him earlier and asked, "Grandpa Doehring, besides all those yellow-brown specks of light, I also sensed a few specks of other colors..."
"What?" Doehring Cowart was deeply startled. He had used his spiritual force to bind the earth elements, greatly increasing their concentration around Lin Feng. By rights, the other elements should have been pushed away. Unless...
At the thought, even Doehring Cowart's formidable mind trembled. He had clearly heard Lin Feng say that he'd sensed specks of many other colors. Could Lin Feng have an aptitude for three or even four elements? He didn't dare consider the possibility that Lin Feng had an affinity for every element. In all his years, he had never heard of anyone with such an aptitude—not even someone with the lowest affinity for every element.
Seeing Doehring Cowart's shocked expression, Lin Feng felt a little proud. But he hadn't forgotten the identity he was supposed to be playing, so he widened his bright eyes and put on an innocent, bewildered look. "Grandpa Doehring, besides the yellow-brown specks, I also sensed red, blue, white, black, purple, and green ones. There weren't as many as the yellow-brown ones, though—just a few." After speaking, Lin Feng even pretended to pout in disappointment.
Doehring Cowart was stunned at first, but then a wave of wild joy swept over him. Red, blue, white, black, purple, and green? Though he was an earth-element magician, he knew the most basic facts about magic. Red represented the fire element, blue the water element, white the light element, black the darkness element, purple the lightning element, and green the wind element. Could Lin Feng have an aptitude for every element?
Seeing Lin Feng's disappointed expression while he himself was overwhelmed with joy, Doehring Cowart was at a loss. The boy had an unrivaled magical aptitude, yet there he was, pouting as if dissatisfied. What a little rascal.
Recovering from his excitement, Doehring chuckled. "Little one, if what you've told me is true, then I have to congratulate you. You may have an aptitude for every element."
Before Lin Feng could react, Doehring Cowart continued, "Of course, elemental affinity is only one part of it. Spiritual force is the most important! Given enough time, a magician can keep increasing his magical power. But the limits of his spiritual force are the greatest obstacle to his advancement."
Lin Feng took a deep breath and nodded.
```
Now for the second test: the strength of your spiritual force." Doehring Cowart looked at Lin Feng solemnly.
Lin Feng knew how important spiritual force was. Though he knew from the original story that Doehring Cowart would later teach him Flat Blade carving, which would increase his spiritual force far faster than an ordinary person's, he also knew that a person's starting spiritual force was the main factor determining his future achievements as a magician. If his starting spiritual force was too weak to meet the requirements for becoming a magician, then even if Grandpa Doehring later taught him Flat Blade carving, it would be difficult for him to reach the heights Lin Feng had in the original story.
"Grandpa Doehring, what do I need to do?" Lin Feng looked at Doehring Cowart, ready for the test.
"Nothing at all." Doehring Cowart smiled.
"Huh?" Lin Feng was taken aback, though he was only pretending.
"I'm the Coiling Dragon Ring's spirit, and you're its master. I can sense the strength of your spiritual force, so there's no need for a test. I can tell you right now!" Doehring Cowart said with a smile.
"H-how strong is my spiritual force?" Lin Feng held his breath.
The strength of his spiritual force would determine his Fate.
"Your spiritual force is about a hundred times stronger than that of an ordinary person your age," Doehring Cowart said with a smile.
"A hundred times?" Lin Feng's eyes widened. Even though he'd expected it, the answer still shocked him. He remembered that the original Lin Feng's starting spiritual force was only about ten times that of his peers. His own was ten times stronger than the original Lin Feng's, a hundred times that of an ordinary person his age. How could he not be overjoyed?
Maybe it's because my mind was already twenty years old. Even though my body is still about eight, my spiritual force never changed. With that thought, Lin Feng felt reassured.
Seeing how delighted Lin Feng was, Doehring Cowart smiled warmly. "I'm surprised too. A person whose spiritual force is fifty times that of others his age would already be considered an unparalleled genius. But yours is an unbelievable hundred times stronger. I can only describe you as a freak."
Lin Feng was speechless. A freak? Perhaps. Wasn't being a transmigrator a kind of freakishness in itself?
"Your elemental affinity and spiritual force are both far beyond those of ordinary magicians. If I teach you, becoming a Saint-level Magus like me will only be a matter of time. Of course, that depends on whether you're willing to work hard." Doehring Cowart was clearly delighted by Lin Feng's extraordinary talent, but his expression turned stern as he spoke the last sentence.
"Grandpa Doehring, don't worry. I won't let you down, and I won't let my father or the Baruch Clan down either." Lin Feng's mind filled with the many memorial tablets in the ancestral hall and the great deeds of those honored by them.
Restoring the Baruch Clan's glory was only one of his goals. What Lin Feng didn't say was that his ultimate aim was to go home—to return to Earth, where he'd spent twenty years of his life.
"Good. Starting tomorrow, I'll officially begin teaching you." Doehring Cowart gazed at Lin Feng, his eyes gleaming. Once again, Doehring Cowart had the confidence of a Saint-level Magus!
Lying in bed with his eyes closed, Lin Feng thought about everything he had seen and heard on his first day in the world of Coiling Dragon. He smiled wryly. Coming to the world of Coiling Dragon, his favorite story, had always been his dream. But now that the dream had come true, he found that he couldn't let go of the family he had left behind on Earth—his three closest relatives. He also couldn't help wondering how he had wound up in this world. Could it have been that meteorite?
Lin Feng only vaguely remembered being struck by a stone that had flown at him. Then he lost consciousness. When he came to again, he had become Wharton's older brother, Lin Feng Baruch.
Lin Feng held up his right hand and, by the moonlight, examined the two red welts on his palm. They still hurt a little, but he didn't resent Hogg, his father in this life. From the original story, Lin Feng knew that Hogg was a good father. He might have been a little strict, but he was certainly a devoted one.
Touching his tender cheek, Lin Feng murmured, "Lin Feng, oh, Lin Feng. I don't know why I took your place and occupied your body, but now that things have come to this, all I can do is apologize. I'll treat your father and younger brother as my own family. I'll also rescue your mother from the Sovereign of Light. I'll help you destroy the Radiant Church, too, and I'll take back your treasured War-Knife while I'm at it."
Before you continue