Dao Seed

Wei Yuefu frowned deeply. He had initially assumed seven days had passed, but that was not the case. He was not sure exactly how much time had elapsed, but he was certain it could not have been more than ten minutes. To be even bolder, it might have been less than a single minute. He quickly put the matter out of his mind. For him, this was a good thing. Regardless of the underlying principle, it spared him a great deal of trouble. Once he had settled his arrangements, he set about refining the heaven-and-earth treasure known as the innate spirit root. It was not particularly difficult; when it was bestowed, it came with the corresponding method of refinement. Combined with the fact that this was fundamentally a low-magic world, it took him only half an hour from start to finish to refine, digest, and absorb it completely. Wei Yuefu adjusted to the changes within himself. His standing had now shifted to Heaven Grade + Heaven Grade, though he remained ranked third. "With this aptitude of mine, I seem to be the gatekeeper of Heaven Grade..." Wei Yuefu muttered under his breath. Although the innate spirit root had elevated his aptitude to Heaven Grade, he had only barely crossed the threshold. The greatest change, however, was that something extra had appeared inside his body... a skill tree? Well, calling it a skill tree was just an analogy; in reality, it ought to be called a Dao Seed tree. Now his Dao Seed points finally had a place to go. Currently, only Tier 1 of the Dao Seeds was open. What separated a Qi Refiner of Heaven Grade aptitude from other Qi Refiners was precisely the addition of Dao Seeds. Wei Yuefu swept his gaze over them. There were not many, but he wanted all of them. Some could raise the upper limit of his three attributes, while others could advance the level of his Layered Tower Art... yet he ignored both of those outright. His Dao Seed points were limited. Those two aspects could be improved on his own through practice, so there was no need to spend points on them. His eyes then fell upon the Yellow Turban Strongman series of Dao Seeds. After looking them over from every angle... he temporarily set them aside. Allocating points to these Dao Seeds would indeed increase the potency of this innate spell and grant it new effects. For Wei Yuefu right now, however, that offered little real benefit. Furthermore, he discovered that while the acquired spell Layered Tower Art could only have its level increased, the innate spell Yellow Turban Strongman possessed a much higher potential and ceiling. Of course, that was not the priority. The real crux lay within the divine ability series of Dao Seeds. The divine ability series was surely the key to granting his little brother the capacity for growth. It was just that... Wei Yuefu realized they seemed only capable of enhancing his little brother's strength, not his intellect. Well, perhaps that would come in Tier 2. In addition, quite a few Dao Seeds had prerequisites—earlier Dao Seeds had to be unlocked before subsequent ones could be activated. Take the Dao Seed "Essence, Qi, and Spirit: Cap (III)" as an example. Its effect was to raise the cap of his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to 8 points. Wei Yuefu would have to activate I and II first. Fortunately, he had already activated those two through his own natural growth. Similarly, "Layered Tower Art: Level (Major Mastery)" required minor mastery as a prerequisite. Those branches had clearly defined progressions, whereas others granted special effects and could only be activated once. Such was the case with the little brother series of Dao Seeds that Wei Yuefu selected: ----- [Skill Slot: Capacity (I) / Skill Slot: Cross-Application] [Companion Primordial Spirit skill slot cap +1 / Companion Primordial Spirit skill slots can carry the host's spells and convert them into skills belonging to the proxy identity] [Prerequisite Dao Seed: None / Skill Slot: Capacity (I)] [Dao Seed Points: 1 / 1] ----- [Equipment Slot: Unlock / Equipment Slot: Capacity (I) / Equipment Slot: Lateral Transfer] [Skill primordial spirit unlocks 1st equipment slot, allowing other complete skills of the proxy to be equipped as gear / Companion Primordial Spirit equipment slot cap +1 / Equipped skills receive half the advancement progress gained by the merged proxy skill] [Prerequisite Dao Seed: None / Equipment Slot: Unlock / Equipment Slot: Capacity (I)] [Dao Seed Points: 1 / 1 / 1] ----- All 5 of his Dao Seed points were expended in one go. He anticipated that new types of Dao Seeds would appear later on. After all, this divine ability branch was clearly an effect derived from the innate spirit root. If he obtained other heaven-and-earth treasures in the future, it was entirely possible that further varieties of Dao Seeds would be added. The capacity of skill slots and equipment slots in Tier 1 ended at I, unlike the enhancements to Essence, Qi, and Spirit or Layered Tower Art, which possessed clear progressions within Tier 1 itself. If he wanted more, he would likely have to wait until Tier 2 was activated. After maxing out the little brother series, two unactivated Dao Seeds remained, their effects unknown to Wei Yuefu. The penultimate one required the final Dao Seed of the Yellow Turban Strongman series, in addition to "Skill Slot: Cross-Application" and "Equipment Slot: Lateral Transfer" from the little brother series, as prerequisites. Because Wei Yuefu had maxed out the little brother series, he was able to see part of those prerequisites. As for the very last Dao Seed, its prerequisites were completely hidden from view. Much like the Yellow Turban Strongman branch, where he could only see the first Dao Seed, he could only tell that subsequent unactivated ones belonged to the same series without knowing what they were. Wei Yuefu was already well satisfied. To him, backed by the empowerment of these five Dao Seeds, his little brother had undergone a qualitative transformation. Everything else was straightforward, but "Skill Slot: Cross-Application" struck him as rather curious. With this Dao Seed, Wei Yuefu could use his own Yellow Turban Strongman spell through his proxy identity. Yet... taking the Yellow Turban Strongmen over offered little practical use. To put it bluntly, they were merely labor machines. It was entirely unfeasible to make them do anything else, and they could only receive instructions related to agricultural labor. If he wanted one to block a blade for him, it would only work if he timed the casting just right so the Yellow Turban Strongman materialized directly in front of him to intercept the strike; otherwise, under normal circumstances, the summon would simply sidestep on its own. Granted... their recognition sometimes malfunctioned. Calling them artificial idiots would already be generous. And that was not even the main issue. The main issue was that once he slotted the Yellow Turban Strongman spell into a skill slot, removing it could only be done upon returning. It was unlike a proxy's skills, which could be swapped freely within the descent world. And upon return, taking it out would convert it directly into a spell. Therefore, he estimated that the true purpose of "Skill Slot: Cross-Application" would likely not reveal itself until he maxed out the Yellow Turban Strongman series and unlocked that penultimate Dao Seed. If his next few descent missions still took place in Ding Shoucheng's world, then if he did not cultivate any new martial arts on his next trip, he could bring the Yellow Turban Strongmen over on the trip after that to see what happened. After all, on his next trip he needed to bring back Pagoda Stance and Bright Hall Force, while on the trip after that, Eight Treasures Golden Body would occupy a slot. Given "Ding Shoucheng's" circumstances, mastering the Eight Treasures Golden Body might not be guaranteed, but Wei Yuefu was different. He now possessed Heaven Grade aptitude, along with power and wealth. Even if he was just the gatekeeper of Heaven Grade, Heaven Grade was still Heaven Grade. The only drawback was that his little brother remained bound to the transmigrator destiny; without a proxy identity, it could not enter the skill primordial spirit state. However, now that he had Dao Seeds, rounding that out in the future would not pose much of a problem. Afterward, Wei Yuefu began refining the heaven-and-earth marvel known as the spirit vein. This was an immense treasure, and he needed to secure it in his grasp as quickly as possible.