Chapter 94: A Skill

[5th Sign-In successful!]

[Sign-In reward: Skill: Beast Usurper!]

[Beast Usurper: A unique skill that allows the user to claim beasts they have personally slain and summon them as Shadow Beasts. Upon killing a beast, the user has to choose between extracting its Soul Essence for personal growth or usurping its existence to transform it into a Shadow Beast. Usurped beasts retain their original abilities, instincts, and combat capabilities while becoming absolutely loyal to the user. Once a beast’s existence has been usurped, its Soul Essence can no longer be obtained.]

Neolan fell completely silent as he stared at the system window. He read through the information once again before a thought crossed his mind. ‘A skill…’

This was the first time he had received a skill from the system. Until now, the rewards had always consisted of techniques and items, never anything that could be classified as a skill. However, Neolan wasn’t particularly concerned about receiving a skill.

What caught his attention was the fundamental difference between skills and techniques.

One of the major differences was that techniques could be improved through continuous practice and understanding. With enough training and mastery, a cultivator could gradually refine a technique and even break through its existing limitations.

Skills, on the other hand, generally required specific conditions to be fulfilled before they could level up or evolve, making their progression heavily dependent on luck and circumstances.

‘Hmm, but in my case, I can just upgrade the skill grade with Soul Essen—’ Before he could even finish his thought, another system window appeared before him.

[Host cannot upgrade any skills or techniques received from the system using Soul Essence.]

Neolan frowned as he read the notification, ‘What the…’

For a moment, he was left speechless by such a restriction on his own cheat. He stared at the system window for a while before releasing a tired sigh. ‘Well, I already have too many cheats in my arsenal. Trying to find loopholes for everything would only make my entire progression as a cultivator crude and ruin my mentality.’

He wasn’t particularly bothered by the restriction itself. After all, he had already experienced how much of an advantage his existing abilities provided, and there was no need to force another shortcut into the equation.

Instead, his attention shifted toward something else he had noticed recently, ‘That means I can upgrade the skills and techniques received from the system through understanding, essentially my talent.’

A thoughtful expression appeared on Neolan’s face as he recalled how he had improved the Basic Sealing technique just a day ago by reading its manual.

‘Beast Usurper huh? I can use it if I gain excessive soul essence someday. But one thing…’ Neolan paused as he narrowed his eyes, ‘Does this not apply to the monsters in rifts?’

[No, It only applies to Spiritual Beasts in the cultivation world]

Neolan went speechless once again, “….” before thinking with a sigh, ‘There must be some reason, but I don’t want to dwell on something I can’t find answers about.’ He nodded before a small smile appeared on his face and he spoke.

“If I can kill a high-tier spiritual beast whose cultivation realm touches the higher realms, then I will hit the jackpot. No…simply getting this skill itself is a jackpot even though I would need to compromise Soul Essence.”

‘For now, I should see what my progress looks like.’ With that thought, Neolan summoned his current status window. He wanted to review his progress and see how much he had accomplished since arriving in this cultivation world.

[Paradox Sign-In System]

[Status]

[Host: Qing Lan / Neolan Ashburn]

[Cultivation Stage: Foundation Establishment Realm {Late Stage}]

[Available Sign-In: Zero]

[Current Location: Nine Lotus Sect]

[Talent: Ultimate Comprehension]

[Spiritual Roots: Twelve Sovereign Spiritual Roots {Early Stage Foundation Realm}]

[Techniques: Void Steps {Perfect}, Zero Line, Dome of Infinity, Absolute Sealing Arts, Spirit Clone]

[Skills: Beast Usurper] {New!}

[Soul Essence: 3600]

Neolan examined the entire status screen, taking in each detail before slowly exhaling. Although he had made considerable progress, there were still several matters that needed his attention.

He dismissed the window and shifted his thoughts to another matter, ‘I had sent that clone into the other Grand Region to investigate the matters concerning the Sect Master, but it seems I’ll have to change my plans and contact him.’

Without wasting any more time, Neolan stood up from his bed and made his way toward the cultivation chamber inside his residence. He entered the chamber and sat on the same circular platform as before, assuming a lotus position before gradually closing his eyes. Once he had settled down, he began establishing a connection with the clone.

A long moment passed, but Neolan failed to establish any connection whatsoever, ‘Is this because of the barrier separating the Grand Regions?’

He tried again, carefully attempting to connect with the clone through their shared Sea of Consciousness. However, the result remained the same, and he couldn’t sense even the slightest response from the other end.

The method itself was relatively simple, as he only needed to connect with his own Sea of Consciousness and the shared parts would naturally resonate with one another.

However, that wasn’t happening now. The connection with his clone on Earth was already impossible to establish because of the enormous distance separating the two worlds. Considering how far apart the cultivation world and Earth were, he had long since accepted that limitation. But the inability to contact a clone within the same cultivation world was an entirely different problem.

Neolan attempted to establish the connection three more times, but each attempt ended in failure. ‘Damn it, this is a headache. If I could just relay it to him about the hidden runic formations built across every Grand Region…’

He cursed inwardly before considering another possible solution. However, just as the thought came to him, he shook his head and dismissed it. ‘I could make another clone, but my Sea of Consciousness wouldn’t be able to handle it.’

There was also another problem he couldn’t afford to overlook. ‘That bastard of a demon is there too. Who knows what might happen if I put too much strain on my own Sea of Consciousness? That bastard might find an opening within it and strike.’

He couldn’t afford to underestimate a demon, especially a Royal Demon. Even if its current condition was the worst it had ever been, that didn’t mean it would remain passive. Demons were known to go to any lengths to retaliate against those who stood in their way, and Neolan had no intention of giving that creature an opportunity.

‘Though, I doubt he has the strength anymore. He doesn’t even have a body.’ Neolan shook his head and pushed those thoughts aside for the moment. There was no point in worrying about something he couldn’t confirm right now. Instead, he focused on the more immediate problem and began considering what he could do to overcome the limitations of his Sea of Consciousness.

‘The only way is to expand my Sea of Consciousness. And to do that, I need to break through to another major realm. But that would be risky too, since everyone, including the Sect Master, would become even more suspicious of me.’

Neolan couldn’t help but feel caught in a dilemma.

Even if he claimed that he had finally obtained enough resources from the nine-lotus sect to advance his cultivation, his breakthrough speed would still be difficult to justify. According to the people within the sect, he possessed the Six-Sovereign Spiritual Roots, meaning he had to cultivate all six elements before he could advance to the next major realm.

However, the reality was quite different. He possessed twelve Sovereign Spiritual Roots, and he had been using his Soul Essence to cultivate all of them alongside his own cultivation. Concealing that fact while maintaining a believable pace was becoming increasingly troublesome.

‘I don’t think I even have enough Soul Essence to cultivate all the way to the next major realm while also raising my Spiritual Roots to the same realm, right, System?’

Although a possible solution had already been forming in his mind, Neolan still wanted to know the exact amount required. There was no point in making plans without understanding how much Soul Essence he would need to accomplish everything.

[Host is correct. To accomplish that feat, Host needs 20,000 Soul Essence in total.]

‘…’

‘I really need to go hunt Spiritual Beasts.’

– – –

[A/N: To all the readers who have been enjoying this book, I apologize but I will be reducing the chapter update to a minimum from next month as I am not getting the support for the effort I have been putting in Paradox. I am not dropping the novel or going Hiatus, I will simply update less. That’s all. Thank you to all the readers for reading and supporting till now, they mean a lot to me and that’s why I decided not to drop it completely and continue the novel.]