Chapter 2014 - 82: Imprint Commences (Part 2)

Zhang Xiaoman took out the materials he had prepared from the storage ring one by one, and when he finally took out the Chaos Spirit Flower, his actions were particularly cautious, fearing that a careless move would damage it.

Huan Cai saw him take out the materials and slowly gathered her scattered thoughts, focusing on the Star Pattern Imprint.

"There’s something I’d like to ask first: how long will it take us to imprint this Star Pattern?"

Zhang Xiaoman suddenly asked.

Huan Cai replied without hesitation:

"The imprinting of the fifth Star Pattern is different from the previous ones. The time it takes is not fixed but varies depending on the individual’s Dark Spirit talent. If your talent is high enough, my imprinting speed will be very fast. Unfortunately, due to a lack of practical data, I can’t give you an accurate answer. I can only say that it took me about fifty years when I imprinted it myself."

"Fifty years..."

Zhang Xiaoman fell silent.

Although he had mentally prepared himself initially, he hadn’t expected that just the step of imprinting the Star Pattern would take fifty years, which was indeed beyond his expectations.

He knew that this was only the imprinting time, and after the imprinting, he would need to spend more time nourishing it. Calculating at this rate, wouldn’t he have to spend at least 500 years?

It could even be said that 500 years is only a conservative estimate, and Zhang Xiaoman felt he might be acting a bit too hastily.

Considering the outside world is in chaos due to the Demon Nest crisis, if he stayed here for decades or centuries, who knows what might happen outside.

"If worse comes to worst, I’ll postpone the imprinting and nourishing of the Star Pattern for a while and deal with the Demon Nest crisis first, then make plans afterwards..."

He secretly made up his mind that if it were just fifty years, he could ask Ni Yang for help, and there shouldn’t be too much of an issue with the Star Alliance.

Zhang Xiaoman’s hesitation was noticed by the Demon Princess, who waved her hand gently, causing the surrounding flow of time to slow significantly, akin to a Fingertip Quicksand power.

"Regarding the issue of time, you needn’t worry. This is the edge of the Chaotic Void, where the time-space system is inherently unstable. With a slight intervention, I can grant you endless time."

As the Demon Princess’s words fell, Zhang Xiaoman could clearly feel that the surrounding time had almost come to a standstill, and he was incredibly astonished by this scene.

He naturally knew the ability of Fingertip Quicksand, but to reduce the flow of time over such a vast area and seemingly maintain this state for fifty years was truly frightening.

Although the time-space instability at the edge of the Chaotic Void lowers the difficulty of using Fingertip Quicksand, fifty years is a long time, and Zhang Xiaoman felt that he could hardly sustain it even if he were completely depleted.

"Is this the power of the Upper Transcendent Level? Not to mention anything else, just the gap in Spiritual Power limits is so vast. If I were to face such an existence, I wouldn’t stand a chance..."

Zhang Xiaoman forced a smile in his heart, but admitting a lack of skill is unavoidable. Fortunately, he has his own advantages; having unlocked all the Dark Spirit Series from birth, he only needs to constantly increase his total Spiritual Power to keep breaking through, believing that it won’t take long before he reaches such a realm.

"Although your talent has granted you many unique abilities, those abilities are mostly extensions based on the Law, and before you can truly control them, they are easily countered. Thus, the key lies in solidifying your foundation, enhancing your inherent strength so you can freely manipulate your talents."

The Demon Princess casually advised him, which Zhang Xiaoman felt at that moment, most of his skills were locked and couldn’t be activated.

"This is..."

He was shocked, quickly checking what had happened.

Through his perception, Zhang Xiaoman realized that the abilities locked were all System-generated skills, distinct from his self-developed Cultivation Techniques, sharing a common trait of having cooling time and activation time settings.

Now, all activation times for skills, except instant ones, were infinitely extended, and the cooling times were infinitely extended too, which is why Zhang Xiaoman couldn’t use them.

"Could it be because... Fingertip Quicksand?"

He suddenly had some guesses, quickly trying to use Unlimited Teleportation, only to find it indeed couldn’t be used.

Despite being prepared, Zhang Xiaoman felt a chill in his heart at this moment.

This was the first time he couldn’t use Unlimited Teleportation, and the first time he felt a strong sense of defeat.

Yes, Unlimited Teleportation can bypass all restrictions for teleportation, but the prerequisite is that he can activate it.

Now, because of the Demon Princess’s time stasis, Unlimited Teleportation can’t be activated.

This is because releasing this skill requires five seconds of preparation, which, due to the Demon Princess’s interference, has become virtually infinite, hence unusable.

Likewise, other skills are the same, even if instant skills are activated, their cooling time is also infinitely extended, meaning Zhang Xiaoman could only use each once at most.

Zhang Xiaoman broke out in a cold sweat at this point, finally understanding the meaning behind the Demon Princess’s earlier words, facing the drawbacks of these skills for the first time. Although System skills are convenient, these flaws are indeed present.

"It seems that the fundamental issue is still strength. If I can also reach the Upper Transcendent Level, I should be able to break free from these rule restrictions, using my own power to activate abilities without being affected by time..."

Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaoman felt an even stronger urgency to enhance his strength swiftly.

Meanwhile, he looked at the Demon Princess, bowing slightly in gratitude:

"Thank you for your advice, senior. I am immensely grateful."

The Demon Princess waved her hand, indicating it was nothing.

A minor episode passed quickly, and Zhang Xiaoman’s Star Pattern Imprinting began.

Huan Cai first spent about a month processing all the materials, which is relative to them, as only an instant would have passed externally.

With the materials ready, the next step was the formation, which was complex and took more time, nearly half a year in total, even with Huan Cai’s preparation.

Finally, amid Zhang Xiaoman’s anticipation, the imprinting of his fifth Star Pattern commenced.

But as the saying goes, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. Perhaps due to the Demon Princess’s presence making Huan Cai too nervous, she committed a serious error during the imprinting, causing all materials to be wasted, and the fifth Star Pattern Imprinting was declared a failure.

"I... I... I didn’t mean to... Ji Xing, maybe I should refund you... and I’ll try to compensate you for the materials..."

Huan Cai was a bit panicked, fearing retaliation from the distinguished person for messing things up unintentionally.

Actually, the imprinting of the Star Pattern inherently carries a failure probability; it’s not guaranteed to succeed, even for her.

Moreover, it’s the fifth Star Pattern, where the success rate is inherently low. They had previously agreed that if such a scenario occurs, Zhang Xiaoman would have to accept the loss, a routine practice in the Star Pattern imprinting industry.