New Talent

The sudden information left Bai Yi stunned for two seconds.

Without showing it, he opened his personal panel:

[Bai Yi: Healthy]

[Age: 30]

[Strength: 12]

[Mental: 10.1] (Exceeded Limit)

[Constitution: 12]

[Psychological State: Normal]

[Sanity: 200/200]

[Abnormal Status: The Displaced (02:23:47), Wail of the Dead, Insulation Ward, Dark Erosion, Blessing of the Stars]

[Talents: Steel Spine Will, Rhythm of All Things]

[Knowledge Mastered: Basic Flesh Alchemy (Boiling Blood, Flesh-Bone Conversion)]

[Equipment: Faint Candlelight, White Bone Tang Dao, Shepherd's Mercy (Modified), Windproof Lighter]

[Description: An unknown species wearing human skin]

[Rhythm of All Things (Passive): You can sense the rhythms of all things within a certain range. Disrupting their rhythms will inflict tremendous damage upon them. At the same time, you can respond to their rhythms.

Description: The experience of overclocking your brain has made your perception of all things clearer.]

[Blessing of the Stars: The indescribable color will keep your mind clear at all times, greatly increasing your mental resistance.]

A new talent!

A new abnormal status!

Bai Yi's spirits lifted, and he realized that what he had heard was the rhythm of Star-Color.

Following his body's instincts, he began searching for a way to respond to the rhythm. Before long, a unique cadence emanated from Bai Yi's body:

[It's alright. Why are you here?]

Bai Yi did not complain about Star-Color nearly killing him. From the looks of it, it bore him no ill will, and Bai Yi certainly would not deliberately provoke it.

He had no desire to die here after angering it.

[I don't know... I saw you... then... pulled you over... I needed... to be born.]

[Thank you... I wanted to give you... a reward... but... you could not... withstand it.]

Letting me live is the best reward! Bai Yi thought.

[No need to thank me. I have already received my reward.]

[There are... traces of a great existence... within you... I cannot... sorry.]

A great existence? Is it referring to the system? Or something else?

Bai Yi's mind raced. Just as he was about to ask, Star-Color's rhythm came again.

[I cannot... I must go... a small gift... for you.]

As the rhythm faded, the colors began to flow.

The dead Phase Stomach Sac on the ground nearby floated into the air out of nowhere. Its flesh membrane rapidly dehydrated and crystallized. Yet compared to the crystals on the ground, it was more translucent and brilliant.

As the colors continued processing it, a crystalline ring gradually took shape. Once the final transformation was complete, the ring slowly floated before Bai Yi, guided by the colors.

[A symbol... of friendship.]

The ring automatically slipped onto the middle finger of Bai Yi's left hand, fitting perfectly.

Through the log, Bai Yi saw the ring's information:

[Phase Ring

Quality: ??? (Locked)

Durability: ∞

Description: A spatial ring made from a "Phase Stomach Sac." It contains an internal space measuring 20×20×5 and cannot store living creatures. Witness friendship from the stars!]

There was no doubt about it—an indisputable divine artifact!

Bai Yi could not even inspect its quality, and its durability displayed infinity. He was so shocked that he could barely speak.

[This gift is far too precious for me!]

When everyone encounters ads asking "Are you a real person?", there is no need to pay attention to them. Just close them. Do not scan any codes or send text messages!

[No need... the color... in your mind... can protect you... I must return... to the stars... farewell...]

Before Bai Yi could respond, the colors slowly dissipated. Through Rhythm of All Things, Bai Yi could sense spatial cracks everywhere around him.

[Goodbye!]

Bai Yi stood frozen in place. He had no wish to have a chunk of flesh sliced off by the surrounding space.

As Star-Color departed, the black mist began to spread back in.

Bai Yi dared not delay and hurriedly lit the candle. The familiar candlelight flared up, and the basement, which had originally been bright, sank back into darkness.

No longer beguiled, Bai Yi did not dare linger and immediately headed toward his shelter.

He did not want to encounter an existence like that again. He had been lucky this time, but what about next time?

If you often walk by the river, how can you keep your shoes dry?

Bai Yi understood that principle well.

By the time he returned to the shelter, it was already 19:23.

As soon as he got back, Bai Yi wolfed down two steaks with lettuce to calm his nerves.

This exploration had simply been too thrilling. Even Bai Yi needed some time to recover from it.

After replenishing his food, Bai Yi began taking stock of what he had gained from this trip.

A spatial ring of unknown quality, an abnormal status effect (buff), and a new talent!

There were not many gains, but every single one was excellent.

Bai Yi started with the Phase Ring. He first tried the basics: equipment and supplies could be stored and retrieved conveniently with just a thought.

Moreover, equipment stored in the ring would still appear in the equipment slot. It was remarkably user-friendly.

After that, Bai Yi's experiments gradually took a rather bizarre turn. Rotting Corpse bodies, organs, and the flesh-and-bone products inside the shelter could all be stored.

He tried storing living creatures during the process, but just as the equipment description had stated, they could not be stored.

Organs generated within the shelter, such as tentacles and eyes, could also be stored. However, once placed in the ring, Bai Yi could no longer give them any commands.

Lastly, Bai Yi tested something he had been curious about for a long time: if he stored only half of an object, would it be cut apart by space?

The answer was no—at least, not with the ring in his hand. It could not be controlled with that level of precision and could only store and retrieve whole objects.

Items larger than its storage space could not be stored either. Bai Yi had even planned to see whether he could pack up the shelter itself.

After finishing his experiments with the ring, Bai Yi turned his attention to the abnormal status effect. But since there was no good way to test it, he could only set it aside for now and wait to try it in practice later.

Lastly, there was the new talent!

Because it was a passive talent, Bai Yi could constantly sense the unique rhythm of everything around him.

It was a very strange sensation. When Bai Yi closed his eyes, the rhythms became even more distinct, even forming strands of unique pulsations around him.

Every object possessed its own unique pulse. At first, they were somewhat chaotic, but Bai Yi soon managed to match each object to its corresponding rhythm.

During this time, he tried sensing the rhythm of the black mist.

The result was nothing!

Empty!

There was nothing at all!

To Bai Yi's senses, the black mist did not exist, yet it was undeniably exerting an influence.

Unable to figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it and began making new attempts.

Afterward, Bai Yi tried disrupting the rhythm of a cup. The rhythm dispersed, and the cup shattered immediately. Then, the shattered cup began emitting a new rhythm.

He then tried disrupting the rhythm of the Bone Pickaxe. The pickaxe did not shatter, but its durability plummeted by 30 points.

Bai Yi also propped up a taut tentacle on the ground. As its unique rhythm was thrown into disorder, the tentacle went limp and collapsed onto the floor, unable to move again for quite some time.

Bai Yi was very satisfied with the offensive effect of his new talent. This bizarre method of attack made his combat options far more flexible.

He had already tried it: weapons could also disrupt rhythms, but only if they remained in contact with his body. Bai Yi was still not very proficient at this and would need further training.

As for the final effect, responding to rhythms, Bai Yi discovered after trying it that it did not work on nonliving objects.

Even if he responded to a cup's rhythm, nothing would happen to the cup.

But when used on living beings, this effect was extremely powerful!

Bai Yi turned his gaze toward Little White, who was lying beside the fireplace, warming itself.