TL: Etude
Ye Tian stepped forward and plucked the golden fruit. It wasn't large, just enough for one bite. After a moment of hesitation, he decisively swallowed the golden fruit in one gulp.
The golden fruit transformed into a torrent of energy that flowed into his body. A massive surge of power erupted and flooded into Ye Tian's mind, causing him to lose consciousness.
What Ye Tian didn't know was that, during his unconscious state, various points of light appeared deep within his mind. These points of light came in various colors, but at the center was a golden point. This golden point represented his most important talent: the ability to duplicate talents. The golden fruit's energy flowed into this deep part of his mind, and the golden point rapidly absorbed it. The golden point visibly grew larger, brighter, and its fluctuations became stronger.
It was evolving, or perhaps transforming.
...
"I actually passed out!" Ye Tian was somewhat surprised and also a bit scared. Fortunately, he was in a safe place. Had he been in a dangerous area while absorbing the golden fruit, he might have encountered danger while unconscious.
Standing up, he saw Xiao Jin lying nearby, keeping watch.
"Xiao Jin, did you pass out when you ate the fruit?" Ye Tian asked.
"I did," Xiao Jin answered truthfully.
"Why didn't you warn me?" Ye Tian rolled his eyes in blame.
"Master, you didn't ask," Xiao Jin felt somewhat wronged.
Ye Tian chuckled. He really couldn't blame Xiao Jin; although it was intelligent, it wasn't a human after all.
"Check talents!" With a thought, Ye Tian's talent status appeared before his eyes.
Human: Ye Tian
Cultivation Talent: High-level
Speed Talent: Top-level
Blade Talent: Mid-level
Shadow Talent: Basic-level
Healing Talent: Top-level
Strength Talent: High-level
"Huh, my talents didn't change?" Ye Tian was both surprised and disappointed.
He had thought that his talents would undergo a transformation. After all, that golden fruit looked extraordinary. Even Xiao Jin had elevated its talents to a top-level bloodline. Logically, his high-level cultivation talent should easily upgrade to a top-level cultivation talent!
"Could it have enhanced other talents?" Ye Tian wondered.
But upon closer inspection, his other talents remained the same, unchanged.
Subsequently, Ye Tian carefully examined his body and found a few differences. First, his mental state had improved significantly, and he even developed psychic power. His psychic power could cover a ten-meter radius. Although it wasn't as extensive as the twenty-meter range of a great martial warrior, it was still a breakthrough.
He had never heard of anyone possessing psychic power at the elite martial warrior level, and this was something to be proud of.
However, when he asked Xiao Jin and found out that its psychic power could now cover a radius of thirty meters, he felt utterly defeated.
Of course, Ye Tian understood that this was because Xiao Jin had a higher level of cultivation. Once he reached the peak of the elite martial warrior realm, his psychic power would naturally grow as well.
Apart from this, Ye Tian noticed another change in himself. The range of his talent-duplication ability had expanded, allowing him to scan talents within a fifty-meter radius. This meant he could more easily check the talents of others or beasts.
But still...
"Ah, it's a bit frustrating. Xiao Jin became a lot stronger after eating the golden fruit, while all I got was some psychic power and a slightly extended range for my talent-duplication ability. My gains are nothing compared to Xiao Jin's," Ye Tian expressed his extreme disappointment.
However, there was some change, and since the treasure came for free, he didn't lose anything.
"Only ten more days until I can duplicate talents again. I'll stay here for ten more days before going back," Ye Tian decided.
During these ten days, Ye Tian and Xiao Jin went out to hunt high-level beasts. According to Xiao Jin, each area in the Xiao Qian Ye Forest had a ruler beast, so finding high-level beasts wouldn't be difficult.
Working together, Ye Tian and Xiao Jin easily killed high-level beasts. As they had agreed, Ye Tian took the blood of the high-level beasts, while Xiao Jin took their bodies.
Soon, ten days passed.
"1600 portions of high-level beast blood, enough for a long period of cultivation!" Ye Tian looked at the small pool of blood in front of him, excited.
But soon, he became troubled.
He couldn't carry all this beast blood; his water bottle couldn't hold much. In the end, he could only take a small portion.
"Ah, if only I had a storage bag, it would be so much more convenient," Ye Tian sighed.
Another day passed, and Ye Tian's talent-duplication ability was finally ready to be used again.
He planned to duplicate Xiao Jin's stamina talent. It wasn't that he didn't want to duplicate other talents; he just hadn't encountered any good ones.
Just as Ye Tian was walking towards Xiao Jin, he froze.
"This..."
His retina displayed Xiao Jin's talent status. Besides the top-level speed talent, there was a 'duplicate' button next to the other talents.
He was familiar with this situation; it meant he could duplicate.
The key issue was, he hadn't touched Xiao Jin yet!
"Could it be..."
Ye Tian suddenly started breathing rapidly.
He finally understood why his talents didn't seem to transform after eating the golden fruit. It wasn't that they hadn't transformed; he just hadn't noticed.
His talent-duplication ability had evolved or transformed.
"Yes, the talent to duplicate is also a talent!" Ye Tian realized.
From what he could see, his talent-duplication ability had evolved to the point where he could duplicate talents without physical contact.
This was much more convenient than before. For example, when duplicating human talents, sometimes he would encounter an impressive talent but couldn't duplicate it because he couldn't touch the person. What a pity that used to be!
Now, everything was much easier.
"Since I can duplicate from a distance, there's no rush to duplicate Xiao Jin's stamina talent, which isn't that useful anyway. If I can encounter someone with a high-level cultivation talent at Linhai Base, like Lin Wanli from the Lin family who has a high-level cultivation talent, I can duplicate it without even touching him. Just being somewhat close would be enough," Ye Tian thought.
So, Ye Tian prepared to abandon duplicating Xiao Jin's talent.