Chapter 162: Origin Realm, Refinement Talent

At the boss chamber of Blood Castle, Scarlett unleashed a fiery blast of Pyrokinesis, felling the boss outright.

The fire, like a flying serpent, twisted and coiled in mid-air, like DNA, traversing the chamber and piercing through the creature.

Too powerful. This power was thanks to "Infinite Aeon".

Energy never running dry, so every attack is significantly stronger than usual—probably half again as powerful. That’s 1.5x stronger. So, Scarlett’s attacks are not an exception.

Although she didn’t have the Empyrean Phoenix with her, Echo ensured she can mimic half of the Empyrean Phoenix.

FWOOM!

After slaying the boss monster of the Blood Castle, what is left of the Blood Castle died off too. The zombie dogs, the fat rats, all swarming the room a moment ago, vanished without a trace, leaving Scarlett and Neo alone, and their rewards.

However, the objective at Old Village wasn’t yet complete.

Per the system, Scarlett must obtain a talent.

The talent was among the rewards from clearing the Blood Castle. Next to it were evolution crystals and temporary attribute bonuses for her beasts, laid out item by item.

Of the seven attributes, Scarlett chose Strength and Agility for Neo, the Martian Frog.

〖Success. You have added attribute points to the <Martian Frog>’s Strength and Agility.〗

〖Good choice, wise master Scarlett.〗 Neo said. 〖I’m a frog; in close combat, I need to be able to protect myself. Strength and agility are useful. And you? Which of your new talents will you choose?〗

Scarlett stared at the short list, unable to make up her mind.

One of the talents is Infinite Evolution.

Infinite Evolution permits her beast to evolve continuously without ceilings. But this talent was too biased. It only benefited the beast. And what about her? The beasts evolved and grew stronger, but her own abilities remained stagnant, not improving at all. In the end, the beasts become stronger, but she remains the same.

The second is called "Eye of Potential." It can see the potential of any beast or anything else, allowing her to invest in it.

The last one is called "Refinement." It can turn something into something ten or a hundred times more valuable than it was before.

This was somewhat unexpected.

Summoners already possess a global talent—summoning beasts. But now, they could add another talent?

Scarlett pondered the intricacies of this situation. On the positive side, the path was wider, allowing for faster progress and greater strides.

On the negative side, was this talent permanent? Would it still be there after leaving the Origin Realm? If not, then her current joy would be joy wasted.

Answering her questions, Neo replied: 〖"I see no reason why it wouldn’t be permanent.〗, leaving Scarlett satisfied.

"So this must be how powerful summoners like my aunt attain unique techniques that make them unprecedentedly strong," she thought. "If I have any of these talents, it’ll make my progress rocket. I chose the third one."

Neo was a little surprised by Scarlett’s choice.

〖Refinement Talent? What do you know that I don’t?〗

"The Refinement Talent will be very useful on Earth too, not only in the Origin Realm," Scarlett said. "I can’t take ’Infinite Evolution’ or ’Eye of Potential.’ ’Eye of Potential’ is only useful in this Origin Realm when picking up allies along the way and seeing whose potential is worth investing in. Back on Earth, I only have one beast. What’s the use of seeing another person’s beast potential if I can never have the beast?

’Infinite Evolution’ is a double-edged sword. You evolve your beast all the way past limits, but you become too weak to keep up. By the time that happens, your Beast’s strength, you can’t even command. However strong it gets, you can’t direct it. So, I chose the last one."

〖Congratulations, you have obtained the Special talent <Refinement>.〗

〖Refinement: Use Refinement Points to turn waste into treasures worth ten to a hundred times more. Note: Refinement Points are obtained by killing monsters. This Talent only applies to Summon-related items, not personal belongings.〗

〖Refinement Points: 20〗

After acquiring the talent, testing it is important so one can understand how to use it in due time.

The system is explicit that this talent works only on Summon-related items, and no upgrading whatever she pleased—like using it to improve personal things for herself.

In other words, evolution crystals, beast rations, monster cores, etcetera, can all be upgraded.

The batch of evolution crystals obtained from Blood Castle will be perfect for testing.

〖Will you spend 5 Refinement Points to upgrade a Simple-Tier Evolution Crystal?〗

"Yes."

Soon, a soft energy flashed and disappeared not long after, and the Evolution Crystal she selected underwent a change

〖Congratulations, you have raised the Simple-Tier Evolution Crystal tenfold, obtaining a Complex-Tier Evolution Crystal〗

She did it again.

〖Will you spend 15 Reconstruction Points to upgrade a Simple-Tier Evolution Crystal?〗

〖Congratulations, you have raised the Simple-Tier Evolution Crystal a hundredfold, obtaining a Totality-Tier Evolution Crystal!〗

After another try, Scarlett realized that she had just exhausted all the Refinement Points, enthusiastic with novelty.

In the blink of an eye, she upgraded evolution crystals from the lowest tier to the upper-middle tier, and then to the top—the Totality-Tier!

One Totality-Tier evolution crystal was as rare as a mythic beast, and yet here was Scarlett, able to get one on a whim, whenever she pleased. Even Complex-tier Evolution Crystals are considered gold!

However, the talent says 10x-100x chance of refinement. This means that Scarlett was very lucky with the Totality-Tier upgrade, and was simultaneously not so lucky with the Complex-tier, considering 10x is the lowest to get.

In other words, whatever she upgraded going forward might come out twentyfold, thirtyfold, or more.

But whichever way it went, an upgrade was an upgrade. Even at the lowest, tenfold alone was enough to put her miles ahead of anyone else.

As they left the Blood Castle, Neo asked: 〖Are you from a poor family? You were clever when you chose the third talent. With this, you could upgrade trash, sell it, and build yourself up from nothing.〗

"No, Neo," Scarlett said, "My family’s situation is quite the opposite. Nevertheless, money isn’t everything in this world. If I could upgrade things like this, I’d gain more than ’Infinite Evolution.’ If I upgraded a spirit fruit that teaches my beast a rare technique, that would be far better than adding two points to the beast’s Fortitude every week."

The Black Sun Source Realm was bizarre.

The ground was red. The sky was dark reddish-black. The black sun overhead hung there forever, neither setting nor rising.

All around was ruin. It was clear this place had once been glorious. There were buildings, roads, and platforms, but they were all collapsed.

Scarlett looked at it, her heart sinking.

This was what Earth might look like after being ravaged by the second apocalypse.

Later, her face hardened.

She had come for this. Conquering one Origin Realm wouldn’t save the world from the apocalypse. But at least she could learn how to save it.

Not long after, they entered a new place within the Origin Realm—the Death Farm.

As soon as they entered, the atmosphere changed. The air tightened, as if someone was choking you.

〖You have entered: Death Farm of the Nine-Tailed Jackal.〗

〖Task: Clear the farm, kill the Nine-Tailed Jackal, and take its glyphs.〗

The farm was wide, covering everywhere like it was the center of the Black Sun Origin Realm.

There weren’t many crops in this farm, because there were none. However, there were rows and rows of bodies, nailed to crosses and impaled on spikes, neatly arranged and cultivated like crops.