Chapter 68 - 60: Talent Divine Techniques — Outer Path Incarnation

Chapter 68: Chapter 60: Talent Divine Techniques — Outer Path Incarnation

[You have consumed 2 Soul Crystal Fragments (Green) and obtained 60 Soul Crystal Fragments (White).]

[Note: 50 Soul Crystal Fragments (White) can be condensed into 1 Soul Crystal Fragment (Green).]

Lu Chen thought, "Oh, wonderful. So this is how we’re playing?"

One green Soul Crystal Fragment could be exchanged for thirty white ones. But the other way around, the system demanded twenty extra fragments.

"The designers of *True Cultivation* sure know how to skim off the top!"

Although exchanging green-quality fragments for white-quality ones was a terrible deal, Lu Chen understood that a bird in the hand was worth two in the bush. Rather than hoarding them for a small price difference and delaying the awakening of his Talent Divine Technique, it was better to use them now and reap the benefits early.

After all, no one knew which would come first—tomorrow or a deadly accident.

The essence of prudence lay in maximizing one’s ability to handle unforeseen circumstances. The last thing he wanted was to be caught in a situation he couldn’t resolve. Lu Chen had no intention of being a miser who hoarded his wealth until disaster struck, leaving him powerless to change his fate.

[You have consumed 33 Soul Crystal Fragments (White), meeting the conditions to awaken a Talent Divine Technique...]

[Awakening Talent Divine Technique...]

The instant Lu Chen fulfilled the conditions, he felt the once-calm Spiritual Power within his body begin to surge. An indescribable, mysterious force welled up from the depths of his Sea of Consciousness.

Overwhelmed by the sudden mutation, a wave of inexplicable dizziness washed over him, and he face-planted onto the ground.

An unknown amount of time passed before Lu Chen finally regained consciousness. He sat up, shaking his groggy head, and rested for quite a while before completely clearing his mind.

"Why is awakening a Talent Divine Technique more exhausting than fighting a Foundation Establishment Outer Path?" he wondered. "When I watched Yezi awaken hers, nothing like this happened. Is it because our Physiques are different? Whatever. I should check what my Talent Divine Technique is first."

Lu Chen opened his status panel and quickly spotted a brand-new line of data.

[Talent Divine Technique: Outer Path Incarnation]

[Grade: First Realm]

[Effect: Upon use, you can manifest an Outer Path Incarnation. The incarnation possesses 50% of the main body’s Cultivation and Physique, 100% of the Skill Level, and takes 500% increased damage.]

[Note 1: When the Outer Path Incarnation dies, all its memories will be fed back to the main body. It requires condensing the Power of Outer Path again before it can be summoned anew.]

[Note 2: Spiritual Power and Power of Outer Path can be converted at a 2:1 ratio.]

"An O-Outer Path Incarnation?!"

Lu Chen stared at his Talent Divine Technique, utterly dumbfounded. He had imagined many possibilities for his awakened ability, but he never expected it to be a so-called Outer Path Avatar!

Having gone through the Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb and Ancient Cultivator’s Sword Tomb Dungeons, Lu Chen had gained a fair understanding of the Outer Demons. They were universally despised figures that everyone wanted dead!

How on earth did his Talent Divine Technique end up related to those guys?

"Do I, Lu Chen, look like someone from the Evil Demon and Heretic Dao?!" he thought indignantly.

Complaints aside, Lu Chen was actually extremely satisfied with this Talent Divine Technique.

Even though the Outer Path Incarnation only possessed 50% of his Cultivation and Physique while taking 500% increased damage—making it as fragile as glass—one couldn’t ignore the fact that it inherited all of Lu Chen’s Skill Levels. As long as it didn’t get hit easily, it was essentially a low-budget version of himself.

More importantly, once the Outer Path Incarnation dissipated, Lu Chen would inherit all of its memories from its time in existence.

This final feature naturally reminded Lu Chen of a classic cultivation scene from a certain wildly popular ninja manga. It was the technique where the main body and the clone trained simultaneously, reaping double the cultivation insights in the same amount of time.

Could his Outer Path Incarnation pull that off?

He felt it was entirely possible. After all, the main body acquiring the avatar’s memories meant that any insights gained during Cultivation would also be seamlessly inherited.

Therefore, even though the Outer Path Incarnation might bring him some trouble, Lu Chen had to admit it was indeed one of the most suitable Talent Divine Techniques for him.

At this thought, Lu Chen let out a sigh. "To think that I, a dignified Righteous Cultivator, would ultimately awaken a Talent Divine Technique wielding the Power of Outer Path. If I were to use this in front of regular people, wouldn’t I easily be misunderstood?"

As a prudent man, Lu Chen hadn’t even cast the Outer Path Incarnation yet, but he was already calculating the potential fallout of using it. And just as he said, if he were to abruptly summon the Outer Path Incarnation in front of others, it would be extremely difficult to explain.

If he claimed it was his awakened Talent Divine Technique, the misunderstanding would only deepen. After all, how could someone who didn’t practice the Evil Demon and Heretic Dao awaken a Talent Divine Technique belonging to the Outer Path?

Unless, of course, his ancestors were from the Outer Path.

In that case, in the eyes of those who didn’t know better, he would either be an Outer Demon or the son of an Outer Demon. Neither option sounded good.

A headache. This was a massive headache.

At this moment, Lu Chen felt that this awakening had brought him far too many unexpected troubles. It perfectly illustrated the concept of a mixed blessing.

As fantastic as the Outer Path Incarnation was, it couldn’t be used openly. Once he was branded with the "Evil Demon and Heretic Dao" label, many doors would immediately close for him.

Fortunately, Lu Chen wasn’t limited to awakening just one Talent Divine Technique. He still had an additional Talent Divine Technique reward pending from Novice Mission III.

[Novice Mission III: Become an Inner Sect Disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect and reach the Foundation Establishment Stage of Cultivation.]

[Minimum Mission Reward: 10,000 Experience Points, Random Second Talent Divine Technique x1.]

[Note: The higher the Foundation Establishment Quality, the richer the mission rewards.]

Since he was already an Inner Sect Disciple of the Cyan Cloud Sect, Novice Mission III was half complete.

Once he raised his Cultivation to the Foundation Establishment Stage, he would be able to awaken a second Divine Technique. As long as this second technique wasn’t an Outer Path Divine Technique, he could pass it off as his Lifebound Divine Technique, using it as a smokescreen to hide the Outer Path Incarnation.

After all, whether in the game’s Cultivation Realm or reality’s Cultivation Realm, those who could awaken a second Divine Technique were as rare as phoenix feathers. Ordinary people would never even suspect that he possessed dual Talent Divine Techniques.

Regardless, that would all have to wait until he completed Novice Mission III.

"For the foreseeable future, I’ll just use this Outer Path Incarnation as a tool to train my Skills," Lu Chen murmured to himself. "Outside of Dungeons, it’s best if I don’t use it in broad daylight to avoid unnecessary trouble."

Having made up his mind, Lu Chen immediately shifted his attention to his Ink Flood Dragon Sword. Ever since he defeated Fang Heng, he had felt a significant change occurring within the weapon.

[Name: Ink Flood Dragon Sword]

[Grade: First Realm (50%)]

[Affix 1 - Blood Ink: Can devour the blood of enemies to nourish itself, upgrading the Spirit Sword’s Grade.]

[Affix 2 - Ink Spirit (1/5): Can imprison the souls of the slain and summon them to fight when necessary.]

"Just as I suspected," Lu Chen said. "The Ink Flood Dragon Sword really did absorb Fang Heng’s remnant soul into the blade. Let’s see just how much of his former Power Fang Heng retains as an Ink Spirit."

Lu Chen stood up and lightly swung the Ink Flood Dragon Sword. The tip of the blade immediately splattered out a special Spiritual Power resembling ink, as if he were painting on the air itself.

Before long, a pitch-black figure rose from the ink and stood before him. This Ink Spirit looked exactly like Fang Heng.

Filled with curiosity, Lu Chen checked Ink Spirit Fang Heng’s status panel.

One glance was all it took to leave him utterly astounded.

"Is this really a status panel that a summon should have...?" he thought in shock.