Chapter 51: Fragrant... Er, the Title Muse Turned Into a Butterfly and Flew Away

Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Fragrant... Er, the Title Muse Turned Into a Butterfly and Flew Away

Su Han discovered that this guy before him was a goddamn genius.

Faced with such promising material, the ever-thrifty Young Master decisively gave up any thought of killing him to tie up loose ends.

’This guy is worth cultivating!’

After spouting some more nonsense about the Seven Soul Seals and ensuring Zhao Yang would stray ever further down this path of no return, Su Han was satisfied and moved on.

"The Seven Soul Seals is a powerful Secret Magic, but it damages the Divine Soul. From now on, you should use it as little as possible unless it’s absolutely necessary."

Thinking that it wasn’t easy to come across such a top-grade specimen, Su Han offered a worried reminder. After a moment’s thought, he took out a jade bottle from his Storage Ring.

"Here is a batch of three-star Soul Nourishing Pills. They can nourish your Divine Soul. You just performed the Seven Soul Seals Secret Magic over a dozen times. Even though you were only scratching the surface, your soul still took some damage.

Take one elixir first before you continue."

Zhao Yang thanked him profusely and gratefully accepted the jade bottle from Su Han. As instructed, he poured out a single Soul Nourishing Pill.

Upon seeing the Soul Nourishing Pill in his hand, Zhao Yang’s eyes contracted sharply, his face a mask of utter shock.

"These are... Pill Patterns!"

Seeing the four Pill Patterns clearly on the Soul Nourishing Pill, Zhao Yang snapped his head up to stare at Su Han, his face a picture of utter astonishment.

"Mm. As core members of the Beggar Gang, we’d be too embarrassed to show our faces outside if the elixirs we carry weren’t Super Grade."

Su Han smiled, light and unbothered, as if giving away a batch of twelve four-pattern Soul Nourishing Pills was of no consequence.

However, those words so startled Zhao Yang that his hand trembled, and he nearly dropped the elixir on the ground.

’Too embarrassed to go out without Super Grade elixirs?’

’This... this is the Beggar Gang?’

’Aren’t the Beggar Gang rumored to be a sect made up of a bunch of beggars? Why does it sound like this senior’s sect is absolutely rolling in it?’

’Has the profession of begging become that profitable these days, or have I just had a complete misunderstanding of the word ’beggar’ my whole life?!’

’Even in our Celestial Demon Sect, we wouldn’t dare claim we could just casually hand out Super Grade elixirs to our core members.’

’Forget core members, every time the Pill Hall refines a Super Grade elixir, most of them are sent to the Celestial Being Ancestors in the forbidden grounds.’

’Even for the Core True Inheritance disciples, getting even one Super Grade elixir is considered a blessing of the highest order, you know?’

At that moment, if it weren’t for the doctrine of loyalty to the Celestial Demon Sect drilled into him since childhood, Zhao Yang would have thrown himself at Su Han’s feet, hugged his legs, and shouted, "Senior, is the Beggar Gang still recruiting?"

With a trembling hand, he placed the four-pattern Soul Nourishing Pill into his mouth. The elixir dissolved upon entry, transforming into pure energy that nourished Zhao Yang’s Divine Soul.

By the time the elixir’s effects faded, it hadn’t just healed the damage to his Divine Soul from using the Seven Soul Seals moments ago.

Even the hidden injuries left from the two previous times he’d been forced to burn his blood essence to use the Seven Soul Seals were completely eliminated by this single elixir.

"Senior, for your kindness, this junior has no way to repay you..."

Seeing that Zhao Yang was about to kneel again, Su Han waved his hand dismissively. "If you’re truly grateful, just look after any disciples of my Beggar Gang you happen to meet in the future. A little help here and there will be enough."

Zhao Yang nodded. "This junior will spare no effort."

"Good."

Su Han pointed to the large tree in the distance that had successfully advanced, becoming the thickest and tallest in the small wood.

"If there’s anything else you need this old man’s guidance on, hurry up and perform it. You don’t have much time left."

Zhao Yang obediently ran to the base of the large tree, assumed a stance, and began his demonstration.

This time, Zhao Yang performed a Martial Technique called the Profound Moon Finger.

Standing a short distance away, Su Han activated his Eye of Truth and quietly watched Zhao Yang perform the Profound Moon Finger.

But... as Zhao Yang finished one demonstration, Su Han couldn’t help but frown slightly.

"Senior?"

Seeing Su Han’s frown, Zhao Yang felt a little uneasy.

Su Han glanced at him. "Continue."

Zhao Yang nodded and demonstrated the Profound Moon Finger a second time.

Once the demonstration was over, Su Han’s brow furrowed even deeper.

Nothing!

Zhao Yang had demonstrated the Profound Moon Finger twice in a row, but this time, Su Han hadn’t seen the same ethereal aura seeping from his body as before.

Refusing to believe it, Su Han had Zhao Yang demonstrate it three more times.

But... after three more times, Su Han still couldn’t see the ethereal aura appear, and the trees near Zhao Yang showed no changes whatsoever.

’So... what exactly is going on?’

Puzzled, Su Han stopped Zhao Yang, who had been preparing to demonstrate the Profound Moon Finger again.

He pointed out some of the flaws revealed by his Eye of Truth, but because a Skill Tree hadn’t formed, Su Han hadn’t acquired the Profound Moon Finger skill. Therefore, he couldn’t reference his own version of the skill to correct Zhao Yang’s defects.

"These are basically the main flaws in your Profound Moon Finger.

Time is limited. So that I can guide you on a few more Magic and Martial Techniques, this old man won’t refine it for you. Now that you know the flaws, as long as you put your heart into understanding them, you’ll be able to refine it into a version of the Profound Moon Finger that best suits you."

Zhao Yang didn’t mind too much. Having the senior refine it for him would have been great, of course, but as long as he knew where the flaws and weaknesses were, he could perfect the Profound Moon Finger himself with a bit of time.

Just as the senior had said, rather than waste time on this, it would be better to have the senior guide him on a few more Martial Techniques.

Over the next four hours, Zhao Yang demonstrated three more Martial Techniques and two types of Magic.

But... without a single exception, Su Han was unable to see that ethereal aura with his Eye of Truth.

It was as if... his ability to form Skill Trees had stopped working.

Because of this sudden turn of events, Su Han lost the heart to continue his charade.

After pointing out the flaws in Zhao Yang’s various Martial Techniques and Magic based on the feedback from his Eye of Truth, Su Han left the grateful man behind and flew directly back to Lingzhou City.

His mind heavy with thoughts all the way, Su Han locked himself in his room as soon as he returned to Prince Jing’s Residence.

Sitting at his desk, he studied the skills he had mastered over and over again.

After continuous study, Su Han discovered some common characteristics among the skills he possessed.

Causality Technique—involved the mysterious power of causality, which was a Great Dao of Heaven and Earth.

Celestial Chosen Technique—involved the Majestic Power of Heaven and Earth, a manifestation of the Power of Heaven and Earth itself.

Forbidden Magic—the Forbidden Power, unfathomable to all beings. Like the Seven Soul Seals, which could seal a person’s Three Souls and Seven Spirits at the cost of damaging one’s own Divine Soul.

These three types of skills all touched upon the level of the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth. They were profound beyond measure and could not be fathomed by mortals.

In addition, there were the Eye of Truth and the Heaven-Deceiving Concealment Technique. These two seemed to be formed from the Power of Rules.

And besides these, Su Han had mastered many Ordinary Skills as well.

But among these Ordinary Skills—from the ethereal Moon Shadow Step, to gardening, Disguise and Transformation, Alchemy, Artifact Refining, and Array Inscriptions—they all seemed to share a common trait: the person who left the skill behind had mastered it to a level that approached the Dao.

Even the Rain of Fire he had learned from his own mother was no exception.

Putting all this information together, Su Han gradually began to deduce a pattern.

A Skill Tree wasn’t formed just because someone performed some Magic, Divine Technique, or Martial Technique under a tree enough times to leave behind a trace of Dao Rhyme.

Skill Trees are formed from Dao Rhyme.

And Dao Rhyme... the "Dao" in its name said it all.

A skill approaching the Dao—that was the fundamental requirement for forming a Skill Tree.

Either... one had to continuously delve into an ordinary ability until they reached a level where their skill approached the Dao.

Or... the ability itself had to be an interpretation of the Dao.

Only then could the performance or demonstration leave behind Dao Rhyme, which served as the nourishment for a Skill Tree’s formation.

Skills like Alchemy and Artifact Refining belonged to the former category.

The Heaven and Earth Melting Furnace, Celestial Punishment, Causality Technique, and Forbidden Magic—as well as the Eye of Truth, the Heaven-Deceiving Concealment Technique, and even the Basic Demon Transformation Map from the Technique of the Free-Transforming Celestial Demon—all belonged to the latter.

Su Han opened his eyes and sighed silently.

’In that case, my idea of being able to create unlimited Skill Trees... is probably a bust.’

He got up, left the room, and headed for his mother’s courtyard.

His father, Prince Jing, had once said that his mother was exceptionally talented in both Magic and Martial Techniques, having mastered every one she learned to an extremely profound level.

He felt that... he needed to run some experiments to verify his hypothesis.

「Meanwhile」

Outside the city, just beyond the small wood, a tall, sturdy woman with coarse features slowly approached.

A few moments later...

"Which goddamn motherfucking bastard burned down this old lady’s two thickest and tallest trees AGAIN!"

The heart-rending wail echoed for a long, long time outside the north gate of Lingzhou City.