The deep voice interrupted his thoughts and brought Samuel back to reality.
“Great Rio, are you saying this goofball kid has emperor-level talent?"
Merling was unsure if he heard the turtle properly. ‘How can this fool possibly have such great talent? He even wanted to trick me into thinking more of him. He’s clearly a moron.'
Thinking about it, it’s not weird for Merling to have thoughts like these about Samuel. Falling from the sky, belly splashing into the ocean, and calling the ship a ‘water vessel’ were more than enough grounds to establish Samuel as a fool.
“He does indeed. Only talents of emperor grade or above can cause a phenomenon the first time cultivating in the Superior Mortal stage. Although I cannot tell what the talent is, it’s far superior to mine. When probing him, I feel suppressed.”
“How can that be? Great Rio, you’re at the fourth level of the Enlightenment stage. How can you feel suppressed by a kid at the Superior Mortal stage? Are you saying he is stronger than you?”
“No, he is not stronger than me. Others might not be able to sense this, but my talent of ‘Sagely Wisdom’ allows me to see the origin of things, among others. And this talent is of a higher level of existence than mine.”
Although his words were shocking to everyone, including Samuel, his voice was calm without the slightest ripple. As if he couldn’t care less about not being a superior being. It’s quite inspirational, really. We should all learn from his way of acting, especially Samuel. However, this seems a little unlikely.
While Merling, Quinn, and Lukas were stunned at his incredible talent, Samuel was fuming. ‘Enlightenment stage talent? Such nonsense? How could my awesome, time-related talent that required more than 100,000 years to germinate only be at such a level? Is there really nothing above the Enlightenment stage? Nothing like a higher realm or transcendence? Am I really that mediocre?’
“Um, mister turtle? Are there no realms above the Enlightenment stage?”
Silence once again reigned in the region. Rio was speechless. ‘Was this kid unsatisfied with having the best talent in the entire world?’
Merling could no longer stand it and erupted, “Kid, stop being so greedy and ignorant. You have the highest level of talent in the entire world. Yet you still want more? Do you believe I will throw you off this ship right now?”
“Calm down, Merling. The kid asked a question that is going to be relevant to him sooner or later. Indeed, there is something above the Enlightenment stage; it’s called the Transcendence stage. My bloodline memories contain knowledge about this realm, as well as why the highest talent ever recorded in the Shattered Realm is at the Enlightenment stage. I don’t know how to reach the realm or what a powerhouse at the Transcendence stage would be capable of. But I do know that in the process of transcending, a person's talent will be extracted from the physiques they have formed, to be covered in Heaven's blessing. What that is, I do not know; however, I do know that the talent will transcend with the person, becoming something else. Something extraordinary. As the breakthrough nears completion, the talent and person will fuse once again before being pulled into a portal that leads to a higher world.”
The lengthy answer finally eased Samuel's worries. He was still extraordinary! Of course, his talent is the best in the world, and it should be powerful in the higher realm as well.
“Kid, since I answered your question, it’s your time to answer mine. Why would you assume there was something beyond the limits of the world? I have never seen such a thought process before.”
Samuel. Started. Sweating!
‘Attentive bastard. Shouldn’t he be so awed by my talent that he can't think rationally? Damn’. Samuel was perturbed. He couldn’t very well say he read web novels in his previous life, in another world, and therefore was acquainted with the concept of extending plot, right? But wait. He’s a genius! He doesn't need to explain.
“Hehe, well, I guess I'm just such a genius that my thoughts are always accurate.”
Merling, Quinn, and Lukas were all speechless at this response. ‘How could he be so conceited?’ they all thought. However, Rio seemed to be expecting this answer and said, "Perhaps. Thank you for your answer.”
Samuel wiped the sweat off his forehead. Exhaling a silent, heavy breath His clenched ‘cheeks’ unclenching. ‘All is good when people recognize you for your greatness’.
“Alright. You probably have places to be, so I'll let you get to them. Just remember that you have deviated from your original path, and the journey might be longer or shorter depending on where you are going.”
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Thank you again. Great Rio. It is our great honor to get to meet you and receive your help this time!"
Merlin bowed at the giant turtle, who just nodded before ascending into the depths once again. This left just the four humans on that grandiose ship in the huge expanse of water. The sharks scurried away the second they saw Merling had a relationship with Great Rio. Not daring to stay for a single second longer, lest they be squashed to paste.
"Wow, mister, you are so amazing. There are so few people with emperor-level talent in the entire realm, and you are one of them.”
Lukas exclaimed in admiration. His own talent was at the level of True Cultivation, which is already considered to be one of the greatest in the entire Brua Empire. It was the reason they were going to Stargate Port. There was an entrance exam for the Blue-Roc Enlightened Sect, the most prestigious sect on the entire Cyan continent. Stretching across 14 empires. Yet this man in front of him was even more superior.
“You are probably qualified to join the Overlord Sect.”
Samuel was basking in the compliments he was receiving when something piqued his interest. “Is the Overlord Sect powerful?”
Before Lukas could respond, however, Merling answered.
“The Overlord Sect is the most powerful sect in the entire Shattered Realm. Its origin is unknown, but they have been there for longer than any other empire or sect. Legend has it, not long after the formation of the realm, the Overlord Sect started recruiting the most talented people and established a world order. They are no longer as active as the legends describe them to be. Now they focus purely on grooming the brightest and most talented individuals. It can be said that you are only recognized by the world as a talent after joining the sect.”
“To join, you either have to be noticed by a teacher of the sect or participate in the examinations of the Enlightened sects from the different continents. They all have one recommendation for the Overlord Sect. The best of the best of the different examination venues will therefore be put together into a giant competition, where the winner gets to join the Overlord Sect, while the other competitors will be enlisted as true disciples in the Enlightened sects. With your talent, granted you have some combat power or other useful aspects such as formation or talisman skills, you will be able to join, and if you do the…”
Just as Merling was going to explain the benefits of being a disciple of the Overlord Sect, he was rudely interrupted.
“So, you are saying to join, I need to participate in a tournament? Fuck that! Those types of tournaments are so boring to be part of and even worse to spectate. I would rather just be an itinerant cultivator than lower my head to be a part of such an event. Honestly, if you can’t become powerful by yourself, if you can’t figure out a path towards power on your own, then you are a failed cultivator. Cultivation is about defying the standards, defying your limits, and rising beyond them, is it not? How can anyone be cradled to true power? I don’t doubt the disciples of this Overlord Sect are powerful here in the Shattered Realm, but what about the higher realm? When they can no longer be taken care of by others, they will perish. And even if they don’t, they might as well have.”
‘What a joke! My talent is basically a 10,000-time amplification of my comprehension. How could I ever make things even easier for myself? Am I supposed to die of boredom?
Feeling the need to prove his words, Samuel said, "I'll be going back to cultivate now. Unless it's a pressing matter, please do not disturb me."
No person has ever held his head higher and chest more pushed out than Samuel as he said this sentence. Almost as if a peacock, he strutted down towards his cabin, leaving the awed trio on the deck. After a little time passed, Merling turned toward Quinn and Lukas.
"You should both learn from his example. Forge your own cultivation heart. Now, go and cultivate."
"Yes, uncle Merling."
Soon everyone was in their own rooms, cultivating, including Merling. How could he allow that airhead fool to surpass him in drive? No way!
After Samuel returned to his room, he flipped the bed over and put the mattress back on again before laying down.
"Why would anyone sit to cultivate when you can lie down? Hmmm, since I can already control whether I want to enter my time sphere, I think I should focus on cultivating this time. There is no need for a cultivation technique at this stage, seeing as it's just gathering qi in your talent to let it grow. But mine is a special case. Since my talent resides in my soul, the spiritual qi needs to enter the soul before being guided into the time sphere. However, I can't control my soul, making this method impossible. Hmm, I think if I use the method of entering the time sphere on the energy, it should work the same way. Alright, let's get to it."
Samuel, during his two weeks, amplified by 10,000 times, or, in other words, approximately 400 years spent inside the time sphere, finally managed to create the technique to allow him to enter and exit freely. Yes, freely. It takes nothing but an instant for him to enter! Anyway, in the process of creating this method, he had to locate where his talent was located, or rather, where in his soul it was located. It turns out there were a bunch of obscure runes covering the entirety of his soul, with only the rune on the Yin Tang acupoint being relatively clear. Inside of which the time sphere was located. Correspondingly, the entrance to the time sphere was also in the Yin Tang acupoint on his physical body. So, what he needed to do was gather the spiritual qi into this point, like he did with his mind force, and focus greatly before uttering the chant 'gowla' to allow it to enter his time sphere. It should be able to do the rest itself.
You might be asking yourself how it took him almost 400 years to create this technique, and the answer is because Samuel did it in an incredibly tedious way. He found where the time sphere was located and that it would require some form of either comprehension or chant to allow him to enter and exit within a month. However, since he didn't know the chant and didn't know how to gain this comprehension, he decided to brute force it. Almost like how one could brute force a lock. For 390 years, he sat there, uttering different noises that could potentially work as a chant, before finally finding the correct one, 'gowla'.
He got to trying immediately. Soon, in record time, he managed to make some spiritual qi enter his time sphere. As a response, he could feel a feeble and passive enhancement of his body and its connection to spiritual qi.
"It worked! Nice! Now all I need to do is continue to gather energy like this."
And so, he did.