Talent Finally Upgraded

Outside the tent, Old Fourth Gu, who had been waiting impatiently, casually kicked at the stones beneath his feet and could not help complaining, "Who knows what that old man is talking to that brat Qingshan about? He even insisted on keeping everyone else from hearing it."

Gu Chenghu, standing nearby, guessed, "Maybe it has something to do with the Heritage Cave in the Inner Valley."

"Even so, he shouldn't keep it from me. I'm the next Village Chief, after all."

Gu Chenghu looked at him. "Old Fourth, I think you should settle down and fix that temper of yours. Didn't the Village Chief just say it? You might not necessarily become Village Chief."

Old Fourth Gu said carelessly, "If I'm not Village Chief, who else could be? I'm the only one among the younger generation with the Divine Worship Talent. Could the Village Chief really choose someone else? Besides, my master's body won't hold on for many more years..."

Just then, the curtain of the tent was suddenly lifted, and Gu Tianci slowly walked out with Lin Yi.

"Xiao Hu, Xiao Si, come here. I have something to announce."

"What is it?"

"From now on, Qingshan will be the Deputy Village Chief of our village. Other than me, his status will be equal to that of the Three Village Elders."

What?

Deputy Village Chief?

Upon hearing that, Old Fourth Gu immediately cursed.

He was the Deputy Village Chief? Then what the hell was I?

Old Fourth Gu could not help saying, "Master, have you gone senile? Why have I never heard that our village even had a Deputy Village Chief position? And this kid is a Born One. Who knows what kind of nature Born Ones have? How can you casually appoint someone as Deputy Village Chief?"

Gu Tianci gave Old Fourth Gu a stern look. "Xiao Si, it seems your temper hasn't changed at all this year. You even dare curse your own master. How could I rest easy handing Ancient Pool Village over to you in the future?"

Lin Yi, standing to one side, smiled as well. "That's right, Xiao Si. You don't need to worry about me becoming Village Chief. I'll only ever be Deputy Village Chief. No one will take your position as the next Village Chief candidate."

Hearing Lin Yi's words, Old Fourth Gu nearly jumped up.

Was Xiao Si something he could call him?

The day before yesterday, he had still been calling him Captain Old Fourth this and Captain Old Fourth that. Today, he was calling him Xiao Si?

"You little brat, do you really think you're the Deputy Village Chief now? I don't recognize your status."

Old Fourth Gu turned to Gu Tianci again. "Master, I don't agree with this. He's a Born One who has been in our village for less than a month. What right does he have to become our Deputy Village Chief? This clearly violates the rules."

Gu Tianci could not be bothered to say more. "Once Qingshan accompanies me to retrieve the inheritance in the cave, he'll be qualified. Besides, I'm still the Village Chief right now. What I say is the rule. If you don't agree, leave the village. Go wherever you want. I won't stop you."

"I..."

Old Fourth Gu was left speechless. He looked up at his master's expression and realized that he seemed genuinely angry this time.

"Fine. I'll reluctantly acknowledge this brat's status."

Lin Yi picked at his ear and said teasingly, "This brat? Captain Xiao Si, please call me Deputy Village Chief from now on. If I hear you disrespecting me again, I'll deduct resources from your Fourth Squad."

"Damn it..."

This time, Old Fourth Gu truly did not know what to say.

"Then, Deputy Village Chief, you used half a jin of my Ghost Spirit Ashes a few days ago. When are you paying me back?"

"Captain Xiao Si, your memory really is terrible, and your skin is thick enough too. You said that once I agreed to enter the cave and retrieve the inheritance, the matter would be settled. Why are you bringing it up again? On the other hand, you rashly abandoned the Born Ones of the Fifth Squad and returned to the village the night before last. No organization, no discipline. I don't think you're fit to remain captain of the Militia Team. Once we return, I'll discuss this with the Village Chief and the Village Elders."

"I..."

Old Fourth Gu did not dare say anything else. He realized that as long as he did not curse, he truly could not outargue Lin Yi.

"Deputy Village Chief, you're awesome."

After throwing out those words, Old Fourth Gu stormed off to vent his anger on the Militia Fifth Team training nearby.

Gu Tianci also gave Lin Yi a few instructions before returning to the tent to prepare Divine Talismans.

They had decided to head to the Heritage Cave in the Inner Valley tonight. Even for Gu Tianci, entering such a place required extensive preparation beforehand.

Lin Yi turned and looked at Gu Chenghu, who was staring at him. He smiled. "Captain, are you all right?"

"Qingshan, you're already the Deputy Village Chief now. Don't call me Captain anymore..."

"It's fine. Although I have the title of Deputy Village Chief now, I'm still a member of the Second Squad. Aren't you still my captain?"

"All right..."

Gu Chenghu could not help smiling. He had not misjudged Lin Yi after all. Even after suddenly becoming one of the village's higher-ups, Lin Yi remained neither arrogant nor servile, with no trace of conceit. He was still the same as before.

Then Lin Yi and Gu Chenghu talked about the details of the rescue. Only then did Lin Yi learn that yesterday afternoon, when Gu Ale and the others noticed Gu Chenghu had not returned on time, they had gone back to the village to report it. That same night, Old Fourth Gu had brought the Village Chief over and rescued Gu Chenghu.

"Captain, your Rotten Wood Fruit is in my backpack for now. I'll give it to you when we return to the village."

Gu Chenghu asked worriedly, "All right. By the way, Qingshan, are you really going to the cave in the Inner Valley with the Village Chief?"

Lin Yi nodded. "Yes, I promised the Village Chief. Don't worry, he promised to make me a life-saving Divine Talisman. Even if I really encounter danger, I'll be fine."

"How are you getting to the Heritage Cave, then?"

"Tonight, when Yin Qi is at its strongest. That's also when the Cave Ghost Spirit awakens..."

"All right. Just be extremely careful when the time comes..."

What Gu Chenghu had really wanted to ask was why Lin Yi had suddenly become the Deputy Village Chief of Ancient Pool Village, but after thinking about it, he did not ask.

After all, the Village Chief and Lin Yi had discussed matters in the tent for so long. They had clearly been talking about secrets unknown to others.

As for Lin Yi, he had not wanted to become the Deputy Village Chief of Ancient Pool Village at first. But after Gu Tianci took out that Talent Stone, he immediately changed his mind.

Talent Stone: A rare heavenly treasure produced during the world fusion. Descenders with Talents can use it to increase their Talent Level. Descenders without Talents can use it to randomly obtain a medium- or low-quality Talent, with a small chance of obtaining a high-quality Talent.

This stone had no quality grade, but for Lin Yi, it should be able to upgrade his Omnipotent Talent and grant him a second Talent solidification slot.

Having one more Talent solidification slot would definitely not be as simple as one plus one equaling two for Lin Yi.

Thus, tempted by the Talent Stone, Lin Yi decisively agreed to Gu Tianci's request.

However, Lin Yi had only agreed to become Deputy Village Chief. He also promised to protect Ancient Pool Village and improve the strength of its people within the limits of his abilities.

For this reason, Gu Tianci, the Old Village Chief, even used a Professional level contract and had Lin Yi sign it.

Lin Yi did not know why the Old Village Chief had such confidence in him, but he readily agreed. Even without the reward of the Talent Stone, becoming the Deputy Village Chief of Ancient Pool Village was still far more beneficial than harmful to him.

According to the Old Village Chief, the Deputy Village Chief received the same treatment as the Three Village Elders. Not only would he receive monthly resource subsidies such as Blood Food and spirit fruits, but he could also mobilize the Militia Team for his own use, provided it did not harm Ancient Pool Village's interests.

It could be said that the authority Gu Tianci had granted him was not some empty honorary position. It was a genuine Deputy Village Chief post.

Still, Lin Yi felt that he did not yet deserve the position. After all, his combat strength could currently only be considered Ninth Rank. Even Old Fourth Gu refused to accept him, so the ordinary militia members would likely see him as nothing more than a lucky fellow and might not obey his orders.

Lin Yi's next goal was to stack attributes through Talents, then break through to Level 7 and gain true combat power comparable to Level 10.

After finishing his conversation with Gu Chenghu, Lin Yi eagerly returned to his tent and took out the Talent Stone the Old Village Chief had just given him.

The Talent Stone was a fist-sized crystal stone radiating Seven-Colored Light. When held in his hand, he could even feel the faint warmth flowing from it.

What a treasure!

Though it had no grade, it was more valuable than anything else on him.

Lin Yi directly used the Talent Stone. The stone instantly merged into his body.

"Ding! You have used a Talent Stone..."

"Detected that you possess the Red Grade Omnipotent Talent. Unable to activate a new Talent. Upgrading Omnipotent Talent... Omnipotent Talent has been raised to LV2. Talent solidification slots +1."

Seeing an additional solidification slot appear on the Talent page glowing with Seven-Colored Light, the weight in Lin Yi's heart was finally lifted.

He had been afraid that upgrading Talents would be like upgrading external martial arts and require Experience Points. That would have meant that a single Talent Stone might not necessarily upgrade his Omnipotent Talent.

But now, it seemed that upgrading Talents did not require Experience Points. One Talent Stone could raise the Omnipotent Talent by one level.

As it happened, he had arrived in a hurry today and had not yet drawn from the Omnipotent Talent, so Lin Yi directly tapped Draw.

Perhaps because his Talent had been upgraded, the chance of drawing a high-quality Talent had increased. This time, blue light directly flashed before Lin Yi's eyes.

It was clearly a decent Blue Talent.

Vitality and Life Conversion: A rare Blue Talent. You possess the ability to convert Life Value and Qi-Blood into each other at a conversion ratio of 10:1. Converted attributes cannot be converted a second time.

(Note: Raising the Talent Level can slightly adjust the conversion ratio and allow multiple conversions.)

After seeing this Talent, Lin Yi read through it carefully before understanding its ability.

In other words, after solidifying the Vitality and Life Conversion Talent, Lin Yi could convert all 1700+ of his Life Value into the Qi-Blood he desperately lacked. At a ratio of 10:1, 1700+ Life Value could be converted into 170 Qi-Blood.

Likewise, his current 36 Qi-Blood could only be converted into 360 Life Value.

Moreover, no matter which attribute was converted into the other, the converted attribute would become fixed and could not be changed again through the Talent unless he could raise the Talent Level.

Lin Yi pondered.

It had to be said that this Talent suited him extremely well, because his Life Value and Qi-Blood were currently very unbalanced.

Judging from his recent farming of Corpse Fiends in the Inner Valley, his saber combat was extremely sharp. He could attack and defend, and rarely lost health. More than 1700 Life Value was wasted on him.

Yet having only 36 Qi-Blood severely limited his damage output.

After all, using the Blazing Sun Saber Technique required infusing at least 10 Qi-Blood.

If he had enough Qi-Blood, Lin Yi would no longer be limited when using the Blazing Sun Saber Technique. At that point, he likely would not fear even Level 10 Corpse Fiends. If one Blazing Sun Saber Technique strike could not cut them down, then he would use ten strikes, twenty strikes.

He would definitely use this Vitality and Life Conversion Talent. The only question was how much Life Value he should convert.

After all, the higher his Life Value, the greater the sense of security it gave him.

After some thought, Lin Yi first solidified Vitality and Life Conversion. As for converting Life Value, there was no need to rush. He still had a dangerous operation tonight, and having more Life Value would make him safer.

Lin Yi did not plan to farm Corpse Fiends again for the rest of the day. Tonight, he would be heading to the Heritage Cave with the Village Chief, so he needed to leave enough time for the journey.