7. Talent—Exceptional!

The copper mirror emitted a faint, cyan glow, possessing an archaic and eerie power.

It did not reflect the girl’s face; instead, a strange energy slowly emerged upon the surface. After a moment, the Stone Arcanist seemed to recognize it. With a look of surprise and a glint of amusement in his eyes, he announced, "High-grade, Combat-type!"

A high-grade combat talent, no less.

Upon hearing this, the smiles on the faces of the girl’s parents were uncontrollable, their anxiety over the drought fading significantly. In this world, merely awakening a talent was a blessing, let alone a high-grade one.

He Lan, the captain of the guard, had been standing watch by the eerie plant known as the Green Millet to prevent any accidents. She had been observing everything, and even she wore a rare smile the moment the girl’s talent was revealed, unable to help but exclaim, "Good! Excellent!"

The guard unit had high requirements for talent, and the majority of its members had to be of the combat type. Now in her prime, she was duty-bound to care for the next generation; a talented new generation meant a constant flow of fresh blood for the guards, ensuring the village would only become safer.

"Go back and eat more eerie-food. Don't skimp on the White Millet at home. After the ceremony, go find Qian Bachun; those with high-grade talents can receive two bundles of Green Millet every month," the Stone Arcanist said with a satisfied nod. While instructing the overjoyed girl on the rules, he added, "Don't be reluctant to eat it; this is what the village provides for you."

Even in villages with established ranks, not every child could awaken a talent, and some who did only possessed low-grade ones—better than nothing, but barely. The village had a great need for children with high-grade talents, so it was naturally far from stingy.

The next child was even more nervous.

A plump, fair-skinned boy slowly approached. The Stone Arcanist took a look, and this time, his expression remained quite calm, though he nodded and said, "Mid-grade, Auxiliary-type talent."

"Don't move, let me take a closer look!" The Stone Arcanist reached out, channeling his eerie power. A pale yellow energy emerged from his palm, spiraling and gently wrapping around the boy. The initially nervous child gradually calmed down as a layer of faint yellow light appeared around him, resisting the Arcanist’s power.

"Very good, an Earth-type auxiliary talent." The satisfaction on the Stone Arcanist’s face deepened, and his gaze toward the boy softened. "You are quite fortunate. You can walk the path of cultivation in the future. If your talent were slightly higher, you would be able to clearly perceive the state of the soil, making the planting of eerie-crops far easier for you than for others. Just by growing White Millet, your family could earn quite an income." This was the Arcanist’s friendly advice.

Once the Stone Arcanist spoke, the parents of the plump boy were equally delighted. In this world, especially for villages like theirs that relied on growing eerie-crops, an auxiliary talent—particularly one related to farmland—was comparable to a high-grade combat talent.

As for the last boy, who was quite tall, he stood at the very end with a nervous expression. Not far behind him, an elderly couple watched the ceremony with even greater anxiety.

Ye Lu knew this boy. His name was Chen, and he was the child of a daughter who had married out, though his bloodline was more distant; only his grandmother was originally from He Village. His parents had both passed away, and he lived in He Village with his maternal grandparents, having eaten eerie-food for only a little longer than Ye Lu.

The Chen grandparents were not wealthy in He Village. At least Ye Lu still had the fine things left behind by his father, the Arcanist; the Chen family were truly ordinary villagers who relied entirely on their skill in growing White Millet. It could be said that whether or not he awakened a talent was truly vital for Chen Yuanli.

"Chen Yuanli!" The Stone Arcanist’s attitude toward this boy was no different from the others, and he gestured for the child to lower his head.

The Stone Arcanist also leaned down to look at the copper mirror. After watching for quite a while, he slowly nodded and said, "Awakened talent, low-grade."

"Combat-type!" When the Stone Arcanist finished speaking, he glanced at the mirror again, paused, and looked up at Chen Yuanli. "Don't move yet, let me see where your talent lies."

This was not like a typical combat talent. When Liu Xiaocao had awakened, the light was so bright that a war banner had nearly burst from the mirror’s surface. The Arcanist hadn't even needed to inspect her; she was clearly a prime candidate for the guards. Chen Yuanli’s talent, however, was somewhat peculiar.

The Stone Arcanist lifted his hand, and a pale yellow light moved first, circling Chen Yuanli for a long time. It continued to probe, and only after a long while did a faint red glow emerge, offering a nearly imperceptible resistance to the pale yellow energy.

"Physical enhancement type. A bit niche, but not unusable." The Stone Arcanist nodded upon seeing the red light, a flash of understanding crossing his face. He reassured the calm-looking Chen Yuanli, "Niche talents have their own benefits. It’s just unclear which part is being enhanced. If it’s your five senses, your talent won't be inferior to He Xiaoxiao's." He Xiaoxiao was the name of the plump boy from earlier.

Only then did a small smile touch Chen Yuanli’s lips.

If his five senses were enhanced, he would have an advantage in farming, and more importantly, in foraging. If he could find a valuable piece of eerie-flora, Chen Yuanli would indeed fare better than He Xiaoxiao. The only regret was that his talent was only low-grade.

Chen Yuanli was already very satisfied. His parents were ordinary people; his father had been a common scholar without even a shred of eerie power. The things his father had left behind had long since been used up, and he had inherited almost nothing but a decent name. He had been living off his maternal grandparents the whole time. With this talent, he could at least provide for them in the future.

Chen Yuanli happily stepped back to join the elderly couple. Now, only Ye Lu and two others remained. Ye Lu stood at the front—or rather, Uncle He Qi was in front of him.

"Don't worry, your father was an Arcanist, and our family has produced many talented children. When your turn comes, you'll definitely awaken a talent!" Uncle He Qi, mistaking his nephew’s expressionless face for nervousness, spoke in a low voice to comfort him.

Ye Lu nodded obediently, though in reality, he wasn't very nervous; he was mostly curious. Instinctively, he felt he possessed a talent; he was only curious about what kind it was.

"Ye Lu!" The Stone Arcanist squinted at him. Recognizing Ye Lu, his tone grew more familiar, and he gestured for him to hurry over. The young man walked over naturally.

The Stone Arcanist was very familiar with the He surname. Ye Lu’s mother’s bloodline could even be traced back to the Arcanist He’s lineage, so the Stone Arcanist was not overly worried. In this world, those with talents often found it difficult to conceive, but once they did, the likelihood of the offspring awakening a talent was much higher.

"Lower your head and observe the copper mirror intently!" The Stone Arcanist’s voice echoed in his ear.

Ye Lu subconsciously looked down into the copper mirror. At first, it was blurry and the surface deep, unable to reflect a human face, while the patterns around the rim were constantly changing and rotating.

Ye Lu stared at the mirror, stunned. A second later, a scene exploded within his mind.

A vision leaped out.

It was a towering mountain, a mountain that commanded awe. He did not know when he had ascended to the peak, but the summit was gloomy and shrouded in thick, dark clouds. Yet, those clouds were swirling upward, circle after circle, and at the very apex of the cloud layer, a gate flickered in and out of existence—a gate carved with ancient, elegant patterns.

The vegetation on the mountain was incredibly lush, with towering trees, immortal flora, and spirit fungi, reaching a terrifying degree of vitality.

The night was already deep.

In the gaps between the dark clouds, a faint moonlight began to spill down.

Ye Lu looked at the ancient, square-shaped sacrificial table illuminated by the moonlight, which seemed to bear specific patterns. Floating directly above the table was a portrait; the figure in the painting was blurry, his face obscured, yet one could vaguely discern a presence of immense power.

This was... the scene of the Taishan sacrifice he had witnessed for the first time.

Ye Lu was stunned, a flicker of surprise flashing through his heart.

He looked at the empty sacrificial table and hesitated. He remembered that before he had devoured it, there had been items on that table—treasures that those eerie entities had gone to great lengths to obtain. He had not only seized the divine body but had swallowed all the offerings in one go.

Ye Lu wanted to lean in closer to see what was going on, but the next second, the image shattered, and he snapped back to reality.

Upon waking, Ye Lu found he hadn't moved at all. On the surface of the mirror, a golden symbol of grass and wood appeared—the golden light was exceptionally bright and large, as if it were about to leap out.

Immediately following this, the Stone Arcanist’s voice rang out in surprise: "Super-grade! Auxiliary-type!"

"And it's a grass and wood type, too!" the Stone Arcanist added in the same breath.

Ye Lu felt a bit confused in his heart. Wait, he had the Taishan divine body, right? It was a mountain; it shouldn't be Earth-type or Ground-type, but it should at least have some connection to the Eerie-type, considering Taishan was the ancestor of all mountains and also governed the underworld.

How did it end up as a grass and wood type? Even if that could be explained, it shouldn't have been the grass and wood category!

"How long has it been since our He Village produced a super-grade auxiliary talent?" Arcanist He opened his eyes in surprise, looking toward Ye Lu with a smile he couldn't hide.

Behind them, Uncle He Qi’s expression was exaggerated. He had been nervous at first, but upon hearing "super-grade" and "auxiliary-type," his face twisted into an ecstatic grin. *Hahahaha, my nephew! Super-grade! And it’s an auxiliary-type!*

If he weren't at the ceremony in front of all the Arcanists, he would have jumped up and bragged to everyone: *Look, that’s my nephew!* As it was, he wasn't doing much better; he kept poking his older brother, He Si—a man of few words—his annoying, ear-to-ear grin never fading.

He Qi no longer thought of his late brother-in-law as a jinx. He had once believed his sister had been bewitched by that man, leading to her death and leaving his nephew all alone and miserable. But looking at him now, his sister had clearly had a keen eye for talent; she had recognized that the boy’s bloodline was strong, and look—the child she bore had such a great gift!

The Stone Arcanist couldn't help but smile. A super-grade talent was rare for a village like theirs that possessed eerie-crops, and to be an auxiliary-type was even better. He was planning to retire in He Village, and seeing the children in the village growing stronger only brought him joy.

Especially in this world.

The Stone Arcanist’s smile deepened. Looking at the bewildered Ye Lu, he said, "Super-grade talents are quite special and require you to explore them yourself. I won't lecture you on it. When the time comes, just go to Qian Bachun to receive your Green Millet. Those with super-grade talents receive five bundles per month, high-grade receive two, mid-grade one, and low-grade half a bundle."

"This is what the village gives you."

"Take it and eat it. Strive to cultivate and unlock your true talent as soon as possible—it will be to your benefit!"