Chapter Twelve: A Golden Blossom

“Forget it, I’ll go with the Mist Veil talent after all!”

After hesitating for over ten minutes, Ye Han finally gave up on the Resilience talent.

While the Resilience talent could enhance the endurance of a living being, the Mist Veil offered a miraculous life-saving effect at critical moments.

It could completely serve as a hidden trump card.

As soon as Ye Han slotted the Mist Veil into his talent grid, his Bond Panel immediately felt complete.

...

Bond Panel

Name: Ye Han (Hanlan, Earth)
Authority: Level 3 (560.4/1000)
Evaluation: 9.4/551
Cohesion: 0.1/0.7
Origin: 430700857
Talents: Enlightenment, Spatial Shift, Mist Veil, Death Wish, Frenzied Dance, Glazed Flame.
Achievements: Virtual Data Parser (60), Intelligent Framework Source Code (20), Neural Sensory Device (14), East Wind-86 (50), On Assets (230), Marxist-Leninist Texts (450).
Bonded Planets: Hanlan Star (Pan-Human Camp—Liyang Star Domain) / Earth (Unbound Camp)
Planet Coordinates: 12-171-19-001-14-411 / 01-001-1-023-07-006

...

With that, all six talent slots on Ye Han’s panel were filled.

Unlike Mist Veil, the talents Death Wish, Frenzied Dance, and Glazed Flame held pivotal status on the Mystic Spirit path.

In Ye Han’s view, even mastering just one of these three talents would be enough to establish oneself as a dominating force on the battlefield of the myriad worlds—let alone mastering all three.

The effect of Death Wish: When a living being comprehends this talent, any physical injury has a 5% chance to trigger “Focus,” and a 10% chance to trigger “Bloodlust.” As the injuries worsen, the trigger probabilities increase. Upon suffering fatal, overflowing damage, “Wraith” is forcibly triggered.

(Focus: When triggered, the being’s combat ability increases by 20%.)
(Bloodlust: When triggered, the being’s overall strength remains at the triggered state until death or full recovery.)
(Wraith: When fatally wounded by overflowing damage, the being forcibly maintains its peak state for one minute.)

The three features of this talent cover damage, endurance, and explosive power.

Although the activation conditions are harsh, its merits outweigh its flaws.

Ye Han’s decision to forgo Resilience was partly influenced by this very talent.

As for Frenzied Dance: Upon comprehending this talent, a being’s overall agility increases by 50%, with a 1% chance to land a “Critical Hit.” When attacked by two or more sources, each additional source raises agility by 5% and critical chance by 1%. Agility caps at 300%, critical chance at 100%.

(Critical Hit: When triggered, all defenses are ignored and direct damage is dealt to the source.)

This talent is tailored for overwhelming odds and swarm tactics.

When facing attacks from fifty sources, a being can max out its agility attribute, boosting it to three times its normal value.

Whether in evasion, reflexes, or sheer speed, all abilities skyrocket.

This talent, to a certain extent, can turn the tables in desperate situations.

Finally, Glazed Flame is somewhat less impressive than the other two.

It has only one feature: The body of a being who comprehends it is in a constant state of “Tempering.”

(Tempering: Removes impurities from the body; when breaking through its own limits, the body is continuously repaired.)

Though less impressive, this talent is well-suited for laid-back cultivators.

Essentially, even eating, drinking, or just lying down will steadily improve one’s physical strength.

This kind of cultivation, Ye Han felt, would be highly popular on both Earth and Hanlan.

“I can use all these talents, but to truly develop them, I need natives from my Bonded planets!”

Ye Han looked with satisfaction at the four newly acquired talents.

These talents were merely in their most basic forms.

Using industrial terms, they were like “machine tools”—the foundation upon which other branches or advanced versions could be developed, relying on the abilities of the native beings of the Bonded planets.

Ye Han himself could not develop them further.

But if the natives could reach deeper understanding, he could burn Origin to overwrite his existing talents.

Of course, this only applied to the base talents; if natives comprehended other talents on their own, Ye Han couldn’t overwrite those.

To obtain those, he’d need to level up and wait for new talent slots before embedding them.

“Han, where are you?”

Just as Ye Han was about to leave the Hall of Legacy and head to the Faction Store, a sudden message came from Xu the Fatty.

“Is something urgent?”

Ye Han hadn’t told Xu where he was.

After all, the college entrance exam required the Bonded to participate in person, and everyone’s talents were their last line of defense.

For now, Ye Han didn’t want to reveal that his authority had reached Level 3.

As for the Earth Bond, he certainly wouldn’t mention that.

“I have the latest news on the exam.”

Xu replied in seconds, perhaps sensing his words lacked weight, and added, “It’s about Hope Star. Come quick, I’ll explain everything.”

What’s going on?

Though puzzled, Ye Han didn’t hesitate and opened a spatial portal.

“Oh, my dear brother, you’re finally here!”

Just as Ye Han stepped foot into Xu the Fatty’s room, Xu’s urgent voice rang out.

Before Ye Han could react, Xu grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the portal.

“Huh, Xiaoxiao, you’re here too.”

Once inside, Ye Han noticed another person sitting on the sofa.

He eyed Xu suspiciously.

Han Xiaoxiao and Xu Wenya were neighbors, their doors right next to each other.

Every day, Xu waited outside for Han Xiaoxiao to go to school.

He’d pursued her for years, and by now, she was sick of the sight of him.

So why was she here today? Had the fatty finally succeeded?

Ye Han pried Xu’s hand off his arm, his eyes flickering between the two with a hint of appraisal.

“Been a few days, Han, you’re itching for trouble again, aren’t you?”

Sensing the implication in Ye Han’s gaze, Han Xiaoxiao’s expression turned frosty, and with a crack, a three-meter-long whip of flame lashed out.

The air temperature shot up instantly.

“All right, why did you call me here?”

The whip stopped just short of Ye Han’s nose, but he didn’t even blink.

If his guess was right, this was the main player.

Xu was just the messenger.

Ye Han habitually went to the snack pile and dug out a bottle of nutrient blend.

“I found out where that fox’s faction is—it’s right next to the Eastern Li Dynasty.”

Han Xiaoxiao spoke quickly, without a trace of hesitation. “I want you to mess her up for me.”

“Gu Xiaoying?” Ye Han raised an eyebrow.

Was she out of her mind?

Gu Xiaoying and Han Xiaoxiao were classmates, both beautiful in their own right but each with a distinct style.

One was fiery and explosive, the other alluring and seductive.

They were the twin stars of Seventh High’s graduating class.

If not for both being stuck at Level 2 authority, even Luan Shuangyu would struggle to keep her "goddess" crown against them.

Ye Han barely knew Gu Xiaoying—why should he target her?

He was not pleased.

His former self had only met Han Xiaoxiao through Xu, and they were mere acquaintances—not close enough for Ye Han to risk offending someone for her sake.

“That’s right, that fox!”

A glint of resentment flashed in Han Xiaoxiao’s eyes at the name, and her whip lashed out again.

Xu shuddered violently in terror.

He’d been beaten so often over the years that he was almost traumatized.

Ye Han shot him a contemptuous look and said indifferently, “My Bonded planet is a mess right now. Even if I wanted to help, I couldn’t.”

He plopped down on the couch and set the nutrient blend heavily on the coffee table.

He had no intention of getting mixed up in the feud between Han Xiaoxiao and Gu Xiaoying.

“The basic Mystic Spirit package from the Fourth Sequence, worth one trillion Origin.”

Han Xiaoxiao glanced at the bottle on the table and said lightly, “You don’t have to confront her directly—just disrupt her rhythm, make things difficult for her.”

“Mystic Spirit package?!”

At the mention of Han Xiaoxiao’s offer, Ye Han couldn’t help but swallow.

His previous basic Magic package was listed at five hundred billion Origin at the Faction Store.

Even that required his parents to scrimp and save, working for years to afford it.

Now Han Xiaoxiao was offering, without blinking, a package worth a trillion.

Ye Han admitted—he was tempted.

“Well... Actually, I can’t stand that fox either!”

Ye Han stood up with righteous indignation, not even mentioning Gu Xiaoying’s name this time.

“I was just complaining about her to Xu earlier, right, Xu?”

He squinted at Xu the Fatty.

Normally sharp, Xu turned stupid the moment Han Xiaoxiao was around, trailing after her like a puppy.

“Ah? Oh!”

Jolted by Ye Han’s look, Xu finally came to his senses, hurried over and pulled out a chair.

“Xiaoxiao, you must be tired of standing.”

He placed the chair behind Han Xiaoxiao, oblivious to Ye Han’s real intent. “It’s too tiring to stand—sit and talk.”

“Mm.”

Han Xiaoxiao gave him a glance, dismissed her flame whip, and sat down.

Xu, seeing her accept, grinned foolishly.

“Pathetic!”

Watching Xu’s slavish grin, Ye Han muttered darkly.

How many sycophants end up with nothing in the end?

How could this fat fool have no self-awareness?

A fiery girl like Han Xiaoxiao—did he really think he could handle her? Not afraid of getting his tongue burned?

“So, what counts as disrupting her rhythm?”

Ye Han withdrew his gaze, carefully nudged the untouched nutrient blend toward the rich lady across from him.

“Surely there’s a standard for ‘making things difficult’?”

Seeing Han Xiaoxiao accept the bottle, Ye Han let out a slow breath.

He was eighteen in the main world of Liyang.

For Han Xiaoxiao to casually throw around a trillion Origin—on Earth, it would take seventeen years of saving without spending a cent to amass that much.

What twin star? She was pure gold—a walking fortune! A true goddess of wealth!