[ General Information ]
[ Name: Theodore Winter ]
[ Age: 22 ]
[ Race: Human ]
[ Affiliation: Winter Family ]
[ Cultivation ]
[ Realm: Ordinary Mortal ]
[ Attributes ]
[ Strength: 112 ]
[ Dexterity: 111 ]
[ Vitality: 113 ]
[ Endurance: 113 ]
[ Agility: 112 ]
[ Intelligence: 177 ]
[ Wisdom: 1,911 ]
[ Mind: 2,042 ]
[ Luck: 103 ]
[ Talents ]
[ Existence's Foremost Calamity (Heavenly Dao), Supreme Empyrean Physique (Supreme), Winter Family Member (Supreme), Cultivation Polymath (Transcendent), Eternal Freeze (Transcendent), Sacred Phoenix Physique (Transcendent), Array Luminary (Mythical), Coattail Ascension (Mythical), Fate Suppression (Mythical), Spring of Clarity (Mythical), Absolute Reflection (Legendary), Alchemy Savant (Legendary), Darkness Incarnate (Legendary), Gravity's Proxy (Legendary), Intraworld Teleportation (Legendary), Near Miss (Legendary), Regression (Legendary), The One Behind The Curtain (Legendary), (See More) ]
[ Proficiencies ]
[ Weapon Mastery (Perfection, 7%), Ice Manipulation (Master, 99%), Body Cultivation (Master, 38%), Energy Cultivation (Master, 5%), Scheming (Master, 0%), Tactics (Expert, 94%), Acting (Expert, 91%), Faction Management (Expert, 53%), Array Formation (Expert, 52%), Alchemy (Expert, 49%), (See More) ]
[ Subordinates ]
[ • Followers: Xie Mei (Ordinary Mortal, S-)
• Retainers: Currently locked (2)
• Slaves: Currently locked (1) ]
[ Special Statuses ]
[ Concealed Status Panel: Unique-grade ]
[ Heaven's Chosen Level: 3 ]
Amongst the nine Attributes that he had currently unlocked, the first five were referred to as the Standard Attributes. They could very easily be improved by increasing one's cultivation realm or by being affected by corresponding Talent effects.
Intelligence, Wisdom, Mind and Luck, on the other hand, were some of the Special Attributes. They could not be augmented directly in any way, whether it be via Talent-related enhancements or growing stronger. Only personal growth when it came to what they represented could increase their values.
Contrary to the Standard Attributes, it would get progressively more difficult to improve one's Special Attributes the higher that their values got. And while Wisdom and Mind could at least somewhat straightforwardly be accumulated over time, the other two plateaued even earlier. Luck could still be influenced by one's own decision-making, in a way, but it wouldn't fluctuate much. As for Intelligence, it was nearly impossible to positively affect. If one injured one's brain and soul enough, though, its value could be significantly lowered! It was as close to an inborn Attribute as any one of them could ever be.
His own Proficiencies were very straightforward to understand. He had trained them all during and before his illusory lives. Only two of them markedly increased afterwards–Array Formation and Alchemy. This was due to him having 'picked up' fantastic Talents supporting them in the past four years.
But speaking about Talents, he had quite the luxurious line-up. Even after setting his Status Panel to solely display those at or above Legendary-grade, there were still 18 of them! Yet, merely five of these he had originally been born with.
Existence's Foremost Calamity needed no introduction–as the further advanced form of Grim Reaper's Levy, the most important tool in his arsenal, he would never overlook any part of it.
[ Supreme Empyrean Physique (Supreme):
• Born at the extreme limit of the Initial Ascension stage.
• Divinely beautiful.
• Immune to all negative or controlling effects at or below Supreme-grade.
• Breakthrough difficulty: -99.99%
• Wound healing speed: +999,900% ]
Although he had lost his original cultivation realm, it was really not a loss. Nobody was born perfect, or having surpassed all limits, as nature was always flawed. With a chance to start from scratch, from a stage countless times weaker than he had been at birth, he was truly looking forward to pioneering his own unique path!
Everything about his connate physique was easy enough to understand, other than just how impressive his recovery ability actually was. Considering that his current Standard Attributes already caused him to recover a little more than ten times faster than the average person, this Talent allowed him to heal a cut which would take two weeks to perfectly recover from within a tenth of a second! At higher cultivation realms, this would only further increase to ridiculously staggering heights. Then, if he was not obliterated instantly and entirely, there was little chance for him to die.
[ Winter Family Member (Supreme):
• Officially recognized as a member of the Winter Family, therefore born with a Winter-related Talent.
• Winter-related Affinities: +99,999,900%
• Winter-related Technique cultivation difficulty: -99.9999%
• Winter-related Technique cultivation speed: +99,999,900%
• Winter-related Proficiencies improvement efficiency: +99,900%
• Winter-related Laws comprehension difficulty: -50% ]
[ Eternal Freeze (Transcendent):
• Endowed with the ability to produce and manipulate Eternal Ice.
• The production of Eternal Ice depends on the Energy Attribute, whereas its manipulation does on the Mind Attribute. ]
These two had come as a set, with 'Winter Family Member' literally bestowing 'Eternal Freeze' upon him. Amongst the countless Winter-related Talents which his family had come to know about over the eons, it was considered a quite good one, although not at the very forefront.
Eternal Ice had the ability to freeze even time itself and was impossible to melt by any flame or temperature at or below Transcendent-grade. It was a representation of permanence, excelling at durability and–as a result–defence. Of course, if fashioned to form a proper shape and used appropriately, it could turn from an impenetrable shield into an indestructible weapon.
But what it was the best at was containment. Enemies could easily be covered in thin layers of Eternal Ice raining down upon them in the appearance of snow, restricting them until they managed to break through this shackle. It was very annoying to deal with, if Theodore's past spars with his peers and siblings were any indication.
[ Cultivation Polymath (Transcendent):
• Cultivation difficulty: -99.999%
• Cultivation speed: +9,999,900%
• Daily: 90% chance to enter a state of enlightenment ]
As the last of his original Talents that surpassed the Legendary-grade, 'Cultivation Polymath' was as straight-forward as they could be. With it and Winter Family Member in tow, he was practically guaranteed to face no significant bottlenecks for the foreseeable future. Compared to a regular person, he would have it more than a hundred million times easier, as well!
The daily enlightenment could unfortunately solely be triggered while cultivating, and could only help with doing so as well. It wasn't of the all-encompassing sort which could make every aspect of life easier. Still, there was a bit of a work-around. If one was simultaneously cultivating and doing something else, then that other activity would also be benefiting from the state of enlightenment.
[ Sacred Phoenix Physique (Transcendent):
• Born at the very beginning of the Initial Ascension stage.
• Immaculately noble bearing and appearance.
• Immune to all negative or controlling effects at or below Transcendent-grade.
• One hour after death, if any part of one's body still remains, one will turn into ashes and revive completely from the remnants within 24 hours. If this process is interrupted, one's death will be finalized.
• There is no limit to the number of revivals.
• Innately able to transform Energy into a gentle light capable of healing any wound or affliction.
• Efficiency of healing performed: +999,900%
• Light Affinity: +9,999,900%
• Light Technique cultivation difficulty: -99.999%
• Light Technique cultivation speed: +9,999,900% ]
Even though most of this one would not be of any use to him, as the additional Light-related bonuses were unlikely to ever be necessary, the ability to heal others was still very valuable. This would allow him to sit back and have his Subordinates do the fighting, all the while turning them into unkillable incarnations of slaughter. It might also come in handy during other unexpected situations.
The conditional revival that this Talent allowed for was of course not ideal and would likely never really come into play, considering his absurdly rapid injury recovery speed. But still, it wasn't bad to have it lying around, just in case. Every other effect of the 'Sacred Phoenix Physique' was simply not worth mentioning.
Unsurprisingly, he had obtained this one from an unlucky member of a branch of the Phoenix Family. Having been born only a few years before the competition began and far away from the main lineage, the young child had to travel for months to reach absolute safety–but before that point arrived, the Winter Family got a hold of the information. What happened next was obvious to all. The young phoenix never had the chance to be reborn from her ashes.
[ Array Luminary (Mythical):
• Array studies difficulty: -99.99%
• Array efficiency: +99,900%
• Daily: 50% chance to enter a state of enlightenment ]
[ Alchemy Savant (Legendary):
• Alchemy studies difficulty: -99.9%
• Alchemy efficiency: +9,900%
• Daily: 25% chance to enter a state of enlightenment ]
'Alchemy Savant' had been picked up the earliest of these two, which was also the reason as to why his Alchemy Proficiency had only very recently been overtaken by his Array Proficiency. Both Talents were entirely supportive in nature and functioned much like the Cultivation-related line of similar ones. There were no surprises to be found here.
[ Coattail Ascension (Mythical):
• Allows one's Subordinates to benefit from the following effects:
- Every Standard Attribute will be increased by 10% of their Superior's respective Attribute.
- If their Superior's cultivation realm is higher than their own, Breakthrough difficulty: -80%
- Proficiencies improvement efficiency: +900% ]
[ Fate Suppression (Mythical):
• Allows for concealment of one's own fate plus destiny, as well as any and all related information.
• Only Talents above the Mythical-grade, a Divination Proficiency at the Transcendent-level or an entity vastly surpassing one's own cultivation realm can overcome this effect. ]
[ Spring of Clarity (Mythical):
• Completely immune to all mental attacks, interferences and illusions at or below Mythical-grade.
• Partially resistant to all mental attacks, interferences and illusions at Transcendent-grade.
• Minutely resistant to all mental attacks, interferences and illusions at Supreme-grade.
• Vastly improved concentration. ]
Coattail Ascension didn't have any more secrets to showcase other than what Xie Mei had already seen herself. Meanwhile, 'Fate Suppression' and 'Spring of Clarity' were primarily life-saving Talents which did make up for some of his remaining weaknesses. He had been incredibly fortunate that the geniuses originally owning these did not have any significant background, so he had been able to acquire them with little to no hassle.
[ Absolute Reflection (Legendary):
• Any and all damage, attacks or negative effects will be returned in kind to their originator.
• Complete immunity to any and all damage, attacks or negative effects.
• The above will not be absolute if faced with a Mythical-grade Talent or Proficiency, or an attack by an entity vastly surpassing one's own cultivation realm. ]
[ Darkness Incarnate (Legendary):
• Endowed with the ability to transform into, produce and manipulate Darkness.
• The production of Darkness depends on the Energy Attribute, its manipulation on the Mind Attribute, whereas the transformation into it does on both.
• Darkness Affinity: +9,900%
• Darkness Technique cultivation difficulty: -99%
• Darkness Technique cultivation speed: +9,900% ]
[ Gravity's Proxy (Legendary):
• Endowed with the ability to manipulate the gravity in an area in any way one sees fit.
• The manipulation depends on the Energy Attribute, while the size and distance of the area, as well as the severity of the change, are determined by one's cultivation realm.
• Gravity Affinity: +9,900%
• Gravity manipulation difficulty: -99% ]
[ Near Miss (Legendary):
• Any and all damage, attacks or negative effects aimed directly at oneself will be evaded by a slight margin.
• The above will not be absolute if faced with a Mythical-grade Talent or Proficiency, or an attack by an entity vastly surpassing one's own cultivation realm. ]
These four Legendary-grade Talents–while each outstanding in their own right–also all had significant flaws and weaknesses that made them little more than 'nice to have, but definitely not essential' additions to his repertoire. If they could be further upgraded, however, they would surely shine brightly!
Theodore really hoped that, at some point, 'Near Miss' would gain the ability to dodge indirect attacks and splash damage as well, because it was by far the easiest defensive Talent of his to circumvent. Its existence was also one of the reasons as to why the Regressor who had tried to eliminate him had never bothered to target him directly and had merely left him in the blast radius. The other one was the fact that he had to be instantly obliterated to ensure his death.
[ Intraworld Teleportation (Legendary):
• Able to teleport to anywhere in the world which one is currently located in at any time.
• Up to a maximum of seven willingly participating beings can be brought along.
• There is no limit to the number of teleportations, and no waiting period between them. ]
This simple but straightforward Talent had utility far surpassing its grade, as it would enable him to make any world his oyster. Its only downside was that if he transported himself randomly, he might end up in a terrifyingly dangerous place, or even one that could eradicate him within a fraction of a second.
If he was in a Universe-type world, he could very well end up stumbling across the core of a star. At a low cultivation realm, that would undoubtedly be fatal. But of course, there were plenty of significantly more treacherous areas which he might come across.
Therefore, he had decided to primarily rely on it for movement between known locations. That way, he would save time and experience no dangers whatsoever.
[ The One Behind The Curtain (Legendary):
• When not directly confronted with irrefutable evidence of one's guilt or fault, others will more easily tend towards perceiving one as innocent or as having been framed.
• Tactical acumen: +9,900%
• Scheming efficiency: +9,900% ]
This last Talent–other than Regression, which he had just recently acquired–was quite similar to Xie Mei's Plotter. However, where it differed was not only its grade, but also in the way in which it influenced the perception of others. His first Follower would be more easily overlooked, whereas others would tend to give him the benefit of the doubt or even outright support him in the face of accusations.
But other than that, it was also the sole Talent at or above Legendary-grade which he had personally obtained and raised all the way to this point, without the use of his Existence's Foremost Calamity or Grim Reaper's Levy.
Yes, certain Talents could indeed be developed naturally, but doing so was extremely time-consuming and difficult. If it had not been for the innumerable illusory lives which he had lived through, he would not have been able to do so for many thousands of years!
Originally, he had not been too much of a calculative person–at least not to the extent where he surpassed his peers in this aspect by a wide margin. But being aware of this, he obviously had to put in the work to rectify this shortcoming. Indubitably, others would have done the same as well, yet it was unknown how far they had managed to progress. The Legendary-grade was considered to be relatively outstanding, as it was the (formerly) fifth-highest Talent grade there was, so it was likely that he was amongst the very top in this regard.
'But in other ways, I still cannot compare.'
Thinking of this, he couldn't help but heave a helpless sigh, his gaze a troubled one, yet undeniably containing a firm fighting spirit.
While his Status Panel's contents might seem ridiculously strong to a regular person, or even extraordinary to a normal Named Family descendant, he knew that this was merely a matter of perspective. Due to having been cautioned countless times by his family, he understood that there was always a higher mountain.
There was at least one competitor in the Heavenly Succession who had been born with three Unique-grade Talents and a few more Supreme-grade ones. And that was just the one who happened to get exposed! Heck, even a few of his older siblings did outclass him in the number and grade of their Talents. Yet due to his ability to obtain practically infinite Talents and his significantly higher Mind Attribute, in the end, he had been chosen to be the primary representative of his family in this contest.
This didn't mean that they weren't participating too, though.
'I'd be very surprised if they got as unlucky as me. I wonder in which round I'll first run into one of them? Oh well, that's still at least a hundred years away, so there's no use in worrying about it too much right now.'
Refocusing on the present, Theodore was relieved to know that there was absolutely nothing that, by chance, had managed to slip his mind. His plans could therefore be kicked off in earnest!