Golden Chariot, a New Talent

The sun set, and dusk fell.

Zhang Yuan sat cross-legged inside the room, clutching the strip of red cloth, his eyes flickering.

Once he refined [Golden Carriage Baleful Intent] and then [Red Phoenix Baleful Intent] within his body, he could condense his first life-bound divine ability. He just did not know what wondrous uses it would have.

There was no time to lose.

Zhang Yuan tightened his grip on the red cloth and circulated the "Congenital True Law of Self-Transcendence," refining the imago of [Golden Carriage Baleful Intent] within it.

Before long, he successfully refined [Golden Carriage Baleful Intent]. There were no mishaps along the way, and he smoothly broke through to the second Qi Refinement layer.

Zhang Yuan exhaled.

The drawback of [Stolen-Life Baleful Intent] was a life-and-death tribulation every three years, while the imago of receiving aid from someone of high standing embodied by [Golden Carriage Baleful Intent] could counter that drawback perfectly. The two worked together without any problems.

"With that, my lifespan problem is solved. With these two heavenly dipper and earthly baleful forces, if I hole up deep in some remote mountain forest, I can steal life until the heavens grow barren and the earth grows old, provided nothing unexpected happens."

Zhang Yuan felt a little dazed.

Immortality was actually this simple in the Azure Sky Dust-Stained Realm. He had attained it at merely the second Qi Refinement layer, without even deliberately pursuing it.

After savoring his joy for a moment, Zhang Yuan gathered his thoughts and reminded himself not to grow arrogant.

With these two heavenly dipper and earthly baleful forces, his lifespan was already endless, but he could still be beaten to death.

Lifespan mattered greatly to cultivators, but something else mattered just as much: combat strength to match.

Without combat strength, no amount of lifespan would help against a powerful enemy.

He did not even need to look far ahead. His current situation alone carried a substantial risk of death.

His immediate priority was not to bask in self-satisfaction, but to condense his first life-bound divine ability as quickly as possible, then find a way out of this predicament.

Zhang Yuan stilled his mind and began refining [Red Phoenix Baleful Intent].

Unlike [Stolen-Life Baleful Intent] and [Golden Carriage Baleful Intent], [Red Phoenix Baleful Intent] had neither form nor substance. It lay hidden inside his body, with no physical manifestation.

Yet its lack of form and substance did not mean [Red Phoenix Baleful Intent] could not be refined. On the contrary, refining it was exceedingly easy. He needed only to sense it briefly, and the imago it contained flowed into his body of its own accord, becoming his imago for the third Qi Refinement layer.

Third-turn Qi Refinement!

Most Qi Refining cultivators of the Gang Sha Path described their cultivation in turns, for no other reason than to distinguish it from Outer Dao Qi Refining.

Whether it was called so many layers of Qi Refinement or so many turns of Qi Refinement, Zhang Yuan had never cared before. Now, however, he felt that Qi Refining on the Gang Sha Path ought to be measured in turns.

Having refined three heavenly dipper and earthly baleful forces, he now felt as though his bones had been remade and his old flesh shed. Standing between heaven and earth, he could faintly sense their blessing, as though his standing within them had risen.

"This is the Dao status of third-turn Qi Refinement."

Understanding dawned on Zhang Yuan. Gang and baleful intent were themselves creations of heaven and earth. Once Gang Sha Path cultivators refined them, their Dao status would naturally rise beyond the realm of mortals.

And the higher their Dao status, the greater their influence between heaven and earth.

"Then going from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment on the Gang Sha Path is actually a process of raising your Dao status to that of a heavenly being?"

But becoming a Foundation-Building Heavenly Being was still far beyond him. What mattered most now was his first life-bound divine ability!

Moved by a sudden flash of inspiration, Zhang Yuan extended his hand. An exquisite Golden Carriage appeared in his palm, lavish beyond compare, its body engraved with phoenix inscriptions so lifelike they seemed ready to burst forth.

[Golden Chariot]!

This was his first life-bound divine ability, and it had two wondrous uses.

The first came from the imagos of [Stolen-Life Baleful Intent] and [Golden Carriage Baleful Intent]: when he unleashed the divine ability in a battle against another cultivator, his injuries would heal themselves.

The second came from the imagos of [Golden Carriage Baleful Intent] and [Red Phoenix Baleful Intent]: by driving the Golden Chariot through the sky, he could flee a thousand miles with a single thought. Of course, besides escaping, he could also use it against enemies. Any cultivator struck by it would have their fate thrown into disorder and be rejected by the Three Powers of heaven, earth, and humanity.

Besides those two uses, [Golden Chariot] actually had another function. If a cultivator faced an overwhelming crisis they could not handle, they could surrender their freedom and survive by living off a lover.

Zhang Yuan had no interest whatsoever in that last function.

Live off a lover? Not in this lifetime.

"With [Golden Chariot], my chances of surviving and escaping have improved again."

Zhang Yuan was in an excellent mood. Leaving everything else aside, the ability of [Golden Chariot] to carry him a thousand miles away with a single thought pleased him immensely.

Moreover, while fleeing, he would remain concealed from heavenly divination, achieving much the same result as [Severing Past and Present, Leaving No Trace]. The only pity was that he could not maintain this blessing at all times; it applied only while using the divine ability.

My cultivation has soared, and I have my first life-bound divine ability. With such an enormous change, I wonder whether my future has changed...

Zhang Yuan pondered.

Before, he had been a mortal practicing Outer Dao Qi Refining, too weak to rewrite his future. But now he was at third-turn Qi Refinement on the Gang Sha Path, and his Dao status had risen. Perhaps he really had a chance.

With that thought, Zhang Yuan eagerly checked the [Heavenly Vision] panel.

None of the three futures had changed.

His hopes came crashing down.

"No change... is my cultivation still insufficient? Is my Dao status still too low?"

Zhang Yuan sighed, speculating to himself.

Just then, however, his gaze shifted. He noticed a few small words beside [Heavenly Vision].

A new talent is available for selection.

Zhang Yuan froze for a second, then was overwhelmed with delight.

A new talent?!

He had assumed the [Heavenly Vision] talent was the entirety of his cheat. He had never expected that he could gain more talents!

The [Heavenly Vision] he had arrived with after transmigrating could already peer into the future. This new talent should be no worse, right?

Zhang Yuan tried clicking, and three options appeared before his eyes.

[Heavenly Nobility: Though you are a being from the Outer Heavens, the outer-heaven fortune you carry has earned you the great favor of the Azure Sky Dust-Stained Realm. Within the Azure Sky Dust-Stained Realm, your fortune predestination increases by thirty percent, and heavenly dipper and earthly baleful forces will approach you of their own accord.]

[Fallen Prodigy: You originally possessed an immortal spiritual root for the Outer Qi Refinement Path, but persecution by the Eastern Bian Li Clan left you helplessly lost among the masses. Yet even a fallen prodigy retains a sliver of hope. For every turn of Qi Refinement cultivation you expend, you can regenerate one immortal spiritual root.]

[Read People: In your eyes, labels will refresh above everyone's heads. Their contents include, but are not limited to, the person's identity, cultivation, personality, and talents.]

Three entirely new talents.

Zhang Yuan gave them a quick scan, and his eyes brightened slightly.

Heavenly Nobility needed no explanation. A thirty-percent increase in fortune predestination out of nowhere, with heavenly dipper and earthly baleful forces approaching of their own accord—it was unquestionably the first choice for a Qi Refining cultivator.

As for Fallen Prodigy, although cultivators of the Outer Qi Refinement Path were not as formidable as Gang Sha Path cultivators, Zhang Yuan knew that they, too, could wield immense power upon reaching a certain realm.

And unlike the Gang Sha Path, which required seeking out heavenly dipper and earthly baleful forces, the Outer Qi Refinement Path required only refining the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. The higher the quality of one's spiritual root, the faster one's cultivation progressed.

An immortal spiritual root could allow him to reach the Outer Dao Golden Core Realm within three months, greatly improving his abilities and combat strength.

Both talents were excellent and would help him immensely. At any other time, he might have chosen one of them.

But now...

"I choose the talent [Read People]!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Zhang Yuan selected the third talent.