5: Chapter 5 Nine Heavens

A pet's talent also follows a twelve-level classification system similar to its rank.

Black Iron → Bronze → Silver → Gold → Starlight → Bright Moon → Scorching Sun → Transcendent → Epic → Legend → Myth → Immortal.

A pet with Gold Rank potential is already enough to become the main combat force of a medium-sized city and is the ultimate goal dreamed of by most Beast Tamers.

And those from Starlight to Scorching Sun above it are all figures at the city's highest levels!

As for those from Transcendent to Legend, they are famous throughout the Federation. Legend Rank individuals, in particular, don't even number more than ten in the entire Federation.

Mythical creatures are occasionally recorded, while Immortal Rank is something some top-tier pets learn about from their bloodline inheritance when breaking through to Starlight and awakening their Innate Method; humans have never even seen one to this day.

And now, Qin Ce was about to obtain a Myth-grade talent!

A series of information gradually straightened out in Qin Ce's mind,

the full picture of the Myth-grade talent emerged before his eyes.

[Myth-grade Talent: Nine-fold Azure Sky]

This is a supreme talent that governs the origin rules of the astral winds above the nine heavens, and it is one of the three supreme origin wind-attribute talents. The talent is divided into nine layers; with each layer awakened, its power undergoes a qualitative leap.

Currently, the first layer can be awakened—Breath Condensation.

Breath Condensation Special Effects:

1. Energy Condensation: All wind-attribute energy of the pet (and the Beast Tamer) will automatically undergo a tenfold condensation during circulation. Whether absorbing energy during cultivation or circulating it, the energy's purity, intensity, and recovery speed will receive a fundamental boost.

2. Doubled Cultivation Efficiency: The efficiency of wind-attribute energy absorption, transformation, and the modification of one's body and genes is increased threefold.

3. Skill Amplification: All wind-attribute skills receive a threefold condensation boost to their power, speed, and control effects.

4. Beast Tamer Feedback: When a Beast Tamer cultivates using the energy of their contracted pet, they receive an additional 100% bonus to their overall cultivation effect due to the improved nature of the energy.

Note: With every layer of Nine-fold Azure Sky awakened, the mastery over the rules of wind deepens by one level, unlocking more powerful origin abilities and enhancing previously awakened powers.

However, subsequent awakenings require specific conditions and requirements to be met.

"Hiss—"

Even with Qin Ce's firm resolve, he couldn't help but gasp at this moment.

Tenfold condensation! Tenfold cultivation speed! Tenfold skill power! And extra feedback for the Beast Tamer!

And this is only the first layer!

A Myth-grade talent, truly terrifying!

Moreover, when identifying the Cloud Emerald Egg earlier, the evolution opportunities explicitly stated that high-tier wind-attribute items and energy could cause the Cloud Emerald Bird to evolve.

"High-tier" here meant anything higher than the Cloud Emerald Bird's current rank.

And Nine-fold Azure Sky was a Myth-grade talent that far surpassed the Starlight rank!

Would the degree of evolution be even higher then?

Without the slightest hesitation, Qin Ce made a thought.

He guided the newly obtained "Nine-fold Azure Sky: Breath Condensation" talent into the recently established contract channel, pouring it without reservation into the cute, dazed little fellow before him who was still a bit unsteady on its feet.

Uh~

The little fellow only felt a primal power that could cause its entire soul to tremble coming from its very kind master. Then, it felt its body and soul separating as its soul began a rapid transformation.

In reality, the little fellow's already unsteady legs kicked out, and it went completely stiff on Qin Ce's lap.

Only an imperceptible breeze remained, circling around them.

Seeing his pet like this, Qin Ce hurriedly activated Nine-Star Insight on it.

To see what exactly was happening.

[Pet]: Cloud Emerald Bird

[Level]: Larval Stage (Unranked) (EXP: 0/100)

[Potential]: Starlight mid-grade

[Attribute]: Wind

[Talent]: Nine-fold Azure Sky (Myth-grade) (Awakening)...

Wandering Cloud (Gold Rank) - Extreme sensitivity to air currents; rides the wind, high speed, wind-attribute attacks are doubled.

[Skills]: Wind Blade, Sky Soarer, Wing Flash, Beak Strike, Wind-Tearing Claw (Requires activation)

[Status]: Loyalty 100, Weak, Unconscious.

[Weakness]: High evolution difficulty due to bloodline constraints, difficult to awaken Innate Method at Star-Glow Rank, proud.

[Evolution Opportunities]: 1. Inject Phoenix bloodline to evolve into a Phoenix-type beast. 2. Inject Bifang bloodline to evolve into a Bifang-type beast. 3. High-tier items of wind, fire, auspicious, cloud, wood, or bird attributes can all promote its evolution.

(Due to the influence of both Phoenix and Bifang bloodlines, it is easy to trigger any attribute from either side to complete the evolution.)

(Currently undergoing evolution stimulated by high-tier wind-attribute energy; evolution outcome unknown...)

Perhaps because he used Nine-Star Insight to identify it,

the system's prompt rang out in Qin Ce's mind once again:

[Ding! Newbie mission rewards have been distributed. Detected that the Myth-grade talent 'Nine-fold Azure Sky: Breath Condensation' is undergoing a deep fusion with the contracted pet, triggering an origin evolution!]

[Real-time monitoring of the evolution is now in progress. Estimated evolution time: 10 minutes. Everything is normal.]

Phew~

Hearing this, Qin Ce felt relieved. System, it has to be you—so thorough!

Knowing the little fellow's stiffness was only due to the evolution, he relaxed and looked around, only to see Lin Hai walking toward him with a joyful expression.

Lin Hai was holding a shoe-box-sized little Battle Tiger and shouted from afar.

"Brother Ce, you're truly amazing!"

"Old Man Zhou just passed by and saw my little Battle Tiger; he said it has Silver Rank potential."

"Wow, the identification tag clearly said bronze low-grade, and it only cost two hundred credits."

"It really takes your keen eyes, Brother Ce."

Hearing this, countless gazes turned toward them.

At the same time, many people recognized Qin Ce as the youth who had stayed in the unidentified area until the selection time ended, wasting a lot of their time.

Their gazes then naturally fell upon Qin Ce's pet, wanting to see what someone who could pick out a Silver Rank potential pet for others would choose for himself.

The result was what they saw.

A little bird lying stiffly on Qin Ce's lap, with barely any feathers on its body, looking like it had an extremely poor constitution.

"Pfft—"

Someone couldn't help but burst out laughing first.

"What's going on? After picking for so long, he contracted... this little fellow?"

"And it seems like it's not doing so well? Is it already gone? It couldn't have kicked the bucket, could it?"

"Looking at how serious he was before, I thought he'd really found a treasure, but it's just this? Hahaha..."

"He picked a Silver Rank potential pet for someone else; I thought he was some big shot, but it turns out it was just dumb luck."

The discussions grew louder, filled with blatant mockery, sarcasm, and schadenfreude.

Especially those students who were dissatisfied with Qin Ce because of the wait; they now seemed to have found an outlet, insulting him as much as they could.

...