Zhaoye understood his meaning.
The rule for the third stage of the Xuandu Ghost Emperor Mansion was to comprehend three talents and defeat three strands of divine sense within the time it took for three sticks of incense to burn.
While many could pass, the difference in performance was like night and day.
Some geniuses could manage one talent per stick, finishing just as the third incense stick burnt out.
Some freaks could master three within two sticks, leaving the final stick to waste.
The fastest record Xuandu had ever witnessed was mastering all three talents and defeating all three strands of divine sense within the time of a single stick of incense.
That record had been set by a direct descendant of the divine race, who later went on to become a successor candidate for the Xuandu Ghost Emperor Mansion.
“Can he break the record?” Zhaoye asked.
Xuandu glanced at him but did not answer.
However, Zhaoye saw the answer in Xuandu's eyes—he was also waiting in anticipation.
In the void, three sticks of incense burned quietly.
Wisps of blue smoke rose, tracing intricate patterns in the void before slowly dissipating.
Chen Zhou sat cross-legged amidst tens of thousands of talent light orbs, his ash-gray Ghost Domain expanding to envelop them all.
He was in no rush to act.
Mastering three talents and defeating three strands of divine sense within three sticks of incense was a tight schedule, but he wasn't panicking.
He possessed an advantage others did not: he had already cleared the Zhaoye Ghost Emperor Mansion and obtained the Zhaoye Ghost Decree.
Chen Zhou could consume the Source of Divine Power to temporarily borrow the abilities of any of his Devout Believers or higher, boosting them to the level of divine techniques.
Hong Ling's Linglong Heart could drastically increase his comprehension.
Ku Chan's ability to read people could help him quickly perceive the core of a talent.
Jian Huaishuang's Lucid Sword Heart could grant him rapid mastery over sword-related talents.
These were all his trump cards.
However, Chen Zhou didn't plan to use them immediately. The Source of Divine Power was a scarce resource; he didn't have many units left and couldn't afford to waste them.
Furthermore, he wanted to see what level he could reach on his own, without external buffs or borrowed believer abilities.
Chen Zhou closed his eyes, sensing the fluctuations of every mist-like talent within his Ghost Domain.
Tens of thousands of clusters of mist floated there, each representing the manifestation of a talent.
Some felt like fire, blazing and violent; others like flowing water, continuous and resilient.
Chen Zhou scanned through them, deciding to start with something simple.
With a wave of his hand, a cluster of cyan mist drifted from the void and hovered before him.
Countless tiny light-points circulated within the mist. These points were pale gold, radiating a gentle yet steadfast aura.
Chen Zhou's divine sense delved into it, and a stream of information flooded his mind.
【Vajra Iron Bone: A physical talent that tempers the body to the hardness of stone and metal. At mastery, one becomes immune to blades, fire, and water, and impervious to all techniques.】
It was a common physical enhancement talent.
In the cultivation novels he had read, this would be considered a standard skill for the body-refining style.
Chen Zhou submerged his divine sense into the mist and began to deconstruct the core of the talent.
The light-points within the mist flared up, and countless insights surged toward his soul like a tide.
The cultivation method for Vajra Iron Bone, the pathways for blood and qi circulation, the secrets of body tempering, and precautions for various stages...
Chen Zhou's soul was like a sponge, frantically absorbing the information.
Then, he realized something was off.
It was too fast.
Once the information entered his soul, he understood, digested, and absorbed it almost without any resistance.
The tedious cultivation methods seemed as simple and clear as basic arithmetic to him.
He only had to glance at the complex blood and qi circulation pathways to naturally understand their principles.
He didn't even need to consciously memorize the profound secrets of body tempering; he mastered them instinctively.
Chen Zhou frowned and opened his eyes to check the time.
The first stick of incense had burned less than one-fifth of its length.
Yet, he had already mastered about eighty percent of the Vajra Iron Bone talent.
“This fast?”
Chen Zhou was somewhat surprised.
He had originally thought that even for the simplest physical talent, it would take at least a third of a stick of incense to comprehend.
To have basically mastered it in less than one-fifth of a stick was unexpected.
Either he had overestimated the difficulty of the talent, or he had underestimated his own potential.
Chen Zhou pondered for a moment before deciding to increase the difficulty.
With a flick of his wrist, the Vajra Iron Bone mist drifted back into the void, and another cluster was drawn toward him.
This cluster was significantly larger than the previous one. The runic light-points inside were as dense as a honeycomb, radiating a sharp and cold sword intent.
【Evil-Slaying Sword Manual: A sword-dao talent that manifests Noble Spirit into a sword, specifically designed to counter evil spirits and ghosts. At mastery, one strike can slay a hundred ghosts, and three strikes can shatter ten thousand evils.】
Sword-dao talents were much more difficult than physical ones.
Sword-dao involved more than just forms and techniques; it required an understanding and perception of sword intent.
Without sufficient savvy, even if one memorized every word of the manual, they wouldn't be able to unleash a fraction of its true power.
Chen Zhou had never used a sword before. His only experience was occasionally using Bone Incarnation to possess Jian Huaishuang, where he would swing a blade with raw strength and no real technique.
Chen Zhou's divine sense plunged into the mist once more.
This time, the information was far more massive and complex.
The manual's general principles, mental methods, sword forms, footwork, and the insights and annotations of past practitioners pressed down on him like a mountain.
Chen Zhou pushed his divine sense to its limit, frantically deconstructing, digesting, and absorbing the data.
And then, he noticed the same strange phenomenon.
The core sword intents, described in the annotations of past practitioners as obscure and requiring centuries of contemplation to grasp, were perfectly clear to him at a glance.
He only needed to run each form and technique through his mind once to precisely grasp its essence.
He didn't even need to consciously try to understand the flow and changes of the sword intent; he simply mastered them by instinct.
“This...”
Chen Zhou opened his eyes and checked the time again.
The first stick of incense wasn't even half-burned.
Yet, he had already mastered ninety percent of the Evil-Slaying Sword Manual.
He was only a step away from complete mastery.
Chen Zhou fell silent.
Was it because he had rarely practiced the sword before that he hadn't realized he had a talent for it?
No.
If he had a specific talent for the sword, he should have noticed it long ago when he encountered sword-dao techniques or forms.
The problem was that his comprehension of the physical talent, Vajra Iron Bone, had also been ridiculously fast.
One was a physical talent, the other a sword-dao talent—two completely unrelated fields—yet his comprehension speed for both was terrifying.
What did this mean?
It meant that his talent was likely universal. He possessed a comprehension far exceeding that of ordinary people in every field.
Chen Zhou suddenly remembered a small incident from a while back.
During his sixth-stage Eerification, he had planned to distribute his excess divinity to his subordinates. However, Jian Huaishuang could only absorb divinities like Deception and Delusion, while the Plague Rat could only absorb Festering and other plague-related divinities.
In contrast, his own divinities—Hatred, Venom, Filth, Decay—had no relation to one another. For anyone else, being able to absorb even one would be a monumental stroke of luck.
But he could absorb them all without restriction. His cultivation had no bottlenecks; he simply had to tap his system panel to break through.
At the time, Chen Zhou hadn't thought much of it, assuming it was just a perk of the Evil God System.
Looking at it now, it seemed it wasn't just a matter of the system.
His evil spirit body appeared to be fundamentally different from everyone else's.
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