Three-Star Emperor's Oath, Unlocking the Infusion Effect!

Jiang Chuan stood outside the inn for a moment. Only after confirming that no one was following him did he raise his hand and knock on the door.

The door opened a crack, and Xu Yinyin's face appeared through the gap. When she saw it was him, she immediately pulled the door open and stepped aside to let him in.

She was still wearing Stellar Crown Academy's blue-and-white uniform, with a short skirt that exposed her long, fair legs.

"Master..."

The moment he entered, Xu Yinyin wrapped herself around him with dreamy eyes.

Jiang Chuan was at an age full of vigor. How could he possibly endure that?

He got straight to it.

Half an hour later.

A powerful surge suddenly erupted from the room.

Xu Yinyin's face was flushed red, her eyes glittering as she said, "Master, my talent suddenly upgraded. It's become SS-rank!"

"Huh...?"

Jiang Chuan lay spread-eagled on the bed, panting heavily. His reactions were half a beat slower, and he only felt unusually exhausted today.

But he quickly found the reason.

[Emperor's Oath · A-rank]

[Level: Three Stars]

[Effect ①: Passive. Can establish a contract with any target, gaining all of the target's attribute bonuses and talent abilities. Can also share one's own attribute bonuses with the target. Current contract limit: 1/2]

[Effect ②: Active. Through magical infusion, can gradually raise a contracted target's talent rank, if lower than one's own, to the same level as one's own.]

The second effect had only unlocked after the A-rank talent reached three stars.

Jiang Chuan had originally thought this effect was nothing special.

After all.

Emperor's Oath itself was only A-rank.

But after hearing Xu Yinyin say that.

He realized.

The benchmark for this effect was actually the highest-ranked talent he possessed!

And what was his highest-ranked talent?

Universal Extraction!

A rule-level talent!

Could it be that it could even raise Xu Yinyin's [Telepathy] talent to rule level?

If that worked,

Wouldn't he become a wholesaler of rule-level talents!?

At that thought, Jiang Chuan immediately perked up and pulled Xu Yinyin over again. "One more time. Let's see if we can push it straight to SSS-rank!"

Jiang Chuan soon got his answer.

No.

Perhaps this effect had a cooldown, or perhaps other conditions needed to be met. Even after trying a few more times, he still couldn't raise Xu Yinyin's talent to SSS-rank.

Still, this was already absurd enough. S-rank and SS-rank talents were entirely different concepts.

The former was rare as well.

But the Federation still produced more than a dozen S-rank geniuses every year.

As for SS-rank geniuses, one only had a chance of appearing every ten years, and the benefits they received at Stellar Crown Academy were vastly different.

Besides, it wasn't as though the talent effect could no longer trigger. Sooner or later, he would raise Xu Yinyin to SSS-rank!

Every SSS-rank professional was a pillar-of-the-nation figure.

Only one appeared every hundred years.

Yet he could create one through such a simple method!

If word got out... he would probably be captured immediately, turned into the people's breeding stallion, and exploited without end!

Jiang Chuan shuddered.

He hurriedly warned Xu Yinyin, "You can't tell anyone about this!"

Xu Yinyin raised her head. "Mm... yes, Master."

After resting.

Jiang Chuan finally asked about the actual purpose of their meeting.

"Have you found out about the admission slots?"

"Mm!"

Xu Yinyin hurriedly took out a document. "Tianyuan City has five admission slots this year. Four have already been decided: Lu Zhou, the son of City Lord Lu Qingshan; Li Xuan, the personal disciple of Imperial Censor Zhou Yuan; the Yuan Family, the hidden backers of Artisan Pavilion; and Chen Ping of the Darkmoon Battle Group."

Jiang Chuan's gaze paused on the last name.

Chen Ping.

The son of Chen Duhu, commander of the Darkmoon Battle Group.

When Ling Aoshuang had asked him to extract the materials from the golden spear, he had met the man once.

If he remembered correctly, that guy only had an A-rank talent.

He had gotten a slot.

Yet Ling Aoshuang, with an S-rank talent, had been abandoned instead.

He asked, "What about the remaining slot?"

Xu Yinyin said, "The last slot hasn't been decided yet. According to the rules of previous years, Lu Qingshan will hold a martial arts tournament and select the winner through open qualifiers."

Jiang Chuan was a little surprised. "That sounds pretty fair. They're actually willing to give up such a precious slot?"

Xu Yinyin shook her head. "The fairness is only for show. From what I've heard, the slot was decided long ago."

"Who was it reserved for?"

"Su Yao, daughter of Su Lie, commander of the Blazing Fire Battle Group. An A-rank professional."

"Hm?"

Jiang Chuan raised his brows when he heard the familiar name. "It was reserved for her?"

"I heard her father paid a great price for it."

Xu Yinyin said, "Besides, she was already sixth among Tianyuan City's Awakened this year. With an A-rank talent, she has limitless potential. So many people who could have competed for it were willing to give Su Lie some face."

Jiang Chuan thought for a moment. "Ling Aoshuang can participate in this martial arts tournament too, right? Did the Darkmoon Battle Group make some kind of deal with Su Lie as well?"

"Master, your guess is exactly right."

Xu Yinyin said, "I heard Ling Aoshuang will not only participate, but will deliberately lose to Su Yao during the match. That way, Su Yao's championship will carry more weight, and she'll get the admission slot fair and square!"

Jiang Chuan's brows furrowed deeply.

Ling Aoshuang would lose to Su Yao?

What kind of joke was that?

An S-rank professional losing to an A-rank professional was practically using her entire future to pave the way for someone else. What benefit had she received to willingly make such a huge sacrifice?

Or was she

being forced to sacrifice?

Jiang Chuan had not wanted to meddle, but Xu Yinyin suddenly asked, "Master, why are you so concerned about Ling Aoshuang? Is she your friend?"

Friend...

What Ling Aoshuang had said that day immediately surfaced in his mind.

Jiang Chuan nodded. "That's right. She's a friend. I don't think she's the sort of person who would compromise so easily. As her friend, I have the right to find out what exactly happened to her."

Jiang Chuan had already added Ling Aoshuang as a friend when he was at Artisan Pavilion that day.

Just as he was about to send her a message, Xu Yinyin stopped him.

She smiled. "Master, if you directly ask whether she's in trouble, anyone with a little pride would deny it. Why not be more tactful? Ask her out for a meal first?"

"Hm?"

Jiang Chuan froze, then thought about it. "You have a point!"

He deleted what he had typed and changed it to: "Do you have time recently? Let's have a meal together... I happen to have some cultivation matters I don't understand and want to ask you about."

Xu Yinyin had added the latter sentence on the spot. Jiang Chuan felt it was a little superfluous, but Ling Aoshuang quickly replied:

"Fine. Time."

Jiang Chuan asked Xu Yinyin, "When is the martial arts tournament?"

Xu Yinyin said, "Tomorrow morning. If you want to ask her out, you need to do it quickly. It'll be too late if you wait."

Jiang Chuan immediately sent another message. "If you have time, then now. There's something especially urgent I need to discuss with you."

After a moment of silence, Ling Aoshuang sent back:

"Location."

"Then the usual place!"

Jiang Chuan began getting dressed, then suddenly asked, "Do you want to come with me?"

He felt that Xu Yinyin was rather useful in this regard.

Hearing that.

Xu Yinyin smiled helplessly. "Master, you're going on a date with one girl. What does it mean to bring another girl along? That isn't a date. That's a provocation!"

After a pause, she added, "Besides, it isn't convenient for me to move about freely right now. I've already reported Lin Yueming's death to the academy. They'll soon send someone to investigate, so I need to keep a low profile as well."

She had thought everything through. These were indeed things Jiang Chuan had not considered.

For now, it was best not to expose their relationship.

Especially after Xu Yinyin's talent had advanced.

Otherwise.

It would be easy for someone with ulterior motives to trace the clues back to him.

If they then discovered how extraordinary he was, it would bring him plenty of unnecessary trouble.

Jiang Chuan said, "Then we won't meet for the time being. We'll talk again after this matter is over."

Xu Yinyin agreed with great reluctance.

"Yes, Master."