The matron was stunned by Yue Yang's question.
In her eyes, the Summoning Codex showed nothing beneath the portrait but a blank expanse.
No icons, no text. Yet Third's expression didn't look like he was lying… could there really be a talent there—one she couldn't see?
"Third, don't you dare lie to Fourth Madam. Is there really, really a talent? I can't see it—what kind of talent is it?" Her heart leapt into her throat as she gripped Yue Yang's hand, anxious.
"Uh… it's Hidden. My talent is a Hidden Talent!" Yue Yang scratched the back of his head and lied; he realized he was as sly as a fox.
"As long as you have a talent, that's fine. You frightened me!" She patted her chest, closed her eyes, and let out a long breath. All Codex holders awaken a talent; if Third didn't, people would slander him as trash. It doesn't matter what the talent is—as long as it exists. Peak powerhouses have long proved there are no trash talents, only trash people.
A Hidden Talent that others can't see might even be quite good!
She gently stroked the crown of his head, smiling. "Third, Fourth Madam is truly happy for you. With this Hidden Talent, you'll definitely do great things."
Seeing her mother stroke his head, the little girl imitated, reaching out with fair tiny hands to grab his hair.
The matron quickly set her down when she started to make trouble.
Composing herself, she motioned for Yue Yang to turn the page. "Flip to the next page, Third; let's see your life guardian beast… Shuang'er, don't fidget. Let your brother turn the page. Be good—stand here and watch. Huh? Is that fog? All white—your life guardian beast is an elemental Fog? Not bad. Elementals grow slowly but have great power. Early on, they may be slightly inferior to enhancement or beast-class, but later they're by no means weaker, even stronger—so long as it's not a Special class. Third, your life guardian beast is pretty good!"
The matron clapped, beaming.
Yue Yang, however, was dumbfounded.
He didn't see white fog at all, but a pitch-black shadow—one that looked exactly like himself!
Beneath the shadow was a brief line describing the beast's abilities.
Phantom: Special class, Level 1. You can control your shadow; each shadow possesses half your abilities. Shadows can stack, enhancing the body.
Yue Yang lightly pressed his hand over the Phantom icon; golden light flickered between his fingers.
"So that's how it is…"
At the same time, knowledge about summoning beasts flashed through his mind.
On the Dragon Soar Continent, any warrior who trained diligently could learn one or two summoning skills and contract a beast. But without a Summoning Codex, the number of beasts was strictly limited. Ordinary warriors could contract only one; a few elite warriors could manage two.
For Codex holders, the number of contracts was unrestricted.
Each page of the Codex could hold a summoned beast, until the pages were full.
Yet the greatest advantage of the Codex wasn't unlimited contracts—it was that each holder received a unique life guardian beast. Unlike ordinary beasts, a life guardian beast never truly dies and never betrays its master. It grows alongside its master, requiring no extra conditions; as the master's abilities rise or the Codex levels up, it strengthens in kind.
"Huh?"
Yue Yang wanted to summon a shadow to see for himself—but to his surprise, he couldn't.
The knowledge in his mind explained it was due to insufficient spirit energy; he couldn't successfully summon a shadow. He could faintly sense that summoning this shadow required ten times more spirit energy than other beasts…
"What's wrong?" Seeing his expression, the matron asked, worried. "What happened?"
"Nothing. I don't have enough spirit energy; I can't summon the life guardian beast yet." Yue Yang shook his head. A thought flashed through his mind: a shadow that could stack and buff his own power—this had better remain secret. Even if he could summon it later, he shouldn't easily display it to others.
It should be his secret weapon.
"Ah? Third, don't worry. Elemental summons demand especially high spirit energy; not being able to summon at first is normal. A life guardian beast will definitely be the most helpful to your growth—absolutely!" She hurried to comfort the transmigrator.
"Yes. I'll train hard and strive to summon it as soon as possible!" Outwardly he said that, but his thoughts ran differently.
The Codex's transferred knowledge laid out the spirit energy standards for summoning. If it were an ordinary elemental beast, Yue Yang felt he could summon it.
But his "Phantom" demanded over ten times the spirit energy of other beasts—far too high! And this was only Level 1; higher levels would likely need even more…
Still, this wasn't a bad thing. The more spirit energy a summon required, the stronger the summoned beast. His life guardian "Phantom" needing tenfold energy was like the difference between a heavy sniper rifle and a bow. Both are ranged weapons—but their power isn't comparable!
He also discovered that the biggest difference between his "Phantom" and others' beasts wasn't strength—but duration.
Ordinary warriors' summons vanish in about an hour per call.
Elite warriors can last two or three hours.
A tiny handful of super-geniuses can go five hours—such people are one-in-a-million.
Although he couldn't summon it yet, pressing his hand to the icon let him sense and resonate with the shadow's abilities. After carefully feeling it out, he was stunned: once summoned, the shadow could exist for as long as ten days.
"Holy—" Yue Yang broke into a cold sweat. This secret mustn't leak, or people would catch him and dissect him like a monster!
"Big Brother Third, what's 'Holy—'?" the little girl asked, blinking curious eyes, pure as can be.
"Ah, that's a special move of the summoning divine beast Grass-Mud Horse. Supremely powerful—when unleashed it raises Rage by a hundred, and may drive enemies mad, crazed, pounding their chests, stomping, hair-pulling, hopping in place, head-butting walls—various chaos. It deals double damage to chrysanthem—never mind—and is completely ineffective against shameless folks with extremely high mental defense or pure-hearted souls… The Grass-Mud Horse usually lives on the Mar-a-Gobi, likes sunshine and grazing, especially lying by a trough to eat… How can you say the Grass-Mud Horse isn't strong? It's extraordinarily strong! Other than the invincible divine beast River Crab, none are its match. Yak Lizard and Yamede may be called divine beasts, but they're nowhere near its tier! Okay, that's enough about divine beasts; this topic can't be discussed too… specifically!"
Yue Yang, faced with a studious little loli, spared no effort corrupting her education.
At first the matron thought the lad had gotten overexcited and let slip some rough language.
But seeing him speak earnestly and logically, she began to believe such bizarrely named divine beasts might exist in the world.
Of course, she knew divine beasts weren't so easily summoned. Not to mention Level 1 novice apprentices—even peak human powerhouses seldom possessed divine beasts—so aiming too high was unwise. She quickly advised Yue Yang: "Third, divine beasts and the like are powerful beings; they don't contract with weak warriors. Don't think about that now. Train your summoning skills, and raise your spirit energy… This year may be too late; after New Year, your Fourth Uncle and I will send you to the academy. Work hard, and you'll surely have a bright future!"
"Yes, yes." Yue Yang secretly wiped a cold sweat. Luckily she hadn't understood, or he would've earned a slap.
After seeing off the cheerful matron and the reluctant little girl, he let out a breath.
He'd managed to fool them; she hadn't realized he was an imposter.
But… what should he do next?