"Water Curse!"
After the excitement, Bai Ye threw a talisman, and then, water appeared, surrounding Bai Ye's body, helping him recover his stamina and to some extent, heal his injuries.
Taking advantage of this interlude, Bai Ye sat on the ground to rest. He then discovered that after Situ Chicheng's death, he had left him three fragments of God's Stone.
Bai Ye's eyes lit up. He had made a profit!
Moreover, continuous sparring with experts had another benefit.
Spiritual Gathering was complete!
Five Spirit Disk, Spiritual Gathering (200/200)
"You have completed the Spiritual Gathering cultivation. Your Strength, Speed, Stamina, and Spirit stats have increased by 3 points."
"You have completed the Spiritual Gathering cultivation. Your Five Spirit Curses have been enhanced."
"Due to the enhancement of your Five Spirit Curses, the Thunder Curse has evolved into Lightning Flash."
Bai Ye completed his Spiritual Gathering cultivation, and his physical attributes received another boost. What was even more surprising was that after the enhancement of the Five Spirit Curses, the Thunder Curse among the five Taoist spells had evolved into Lightning Flash.
However, there weren't many changes in the attributes themselves; only the power had increased, and the paralysis effect had also improved.
Bai Ye wasn't surprised. The Thunder attribute was a purely offensive Taoist spell. Generally, no matter how it was enhanced, the main improvement was in its power.
After completing the second Spiritual Gathering, the Spiritual Gathering of the Five Spirit Disk had also leaped forward, directly becoming 0/500.
After resting for a short while, Bai Ye got up and started heading towards the broadcast television tower. He then took the elevator all the way to the top floor of the tower.
"Welcome, Chen Long!"
The old man Bai Ye had met before stood in the hall, looking at Bai Ye as he stepped out of the elevator.
Bai Ye said, "You don't seem very happy?"
"Of course. If you had died on your way here, there would be no winner in this Twelve Great Battles," the old man said. "Otherwise, why would the winner have to come here to receive their reward?"
"Uh..."
Bai Ye was speechless. So this was the meaning behind that rule?
"Just kidding," the old man burst into laughter. Then he said, "Regardless, you are the winner of this Twelve Great Battles. According to the rules, you can receive a Wish Task. However, you are not the trigger of the Wish Task, so you do not have the right to make a wish. You can only inherit the right to choose the wish. Do you understand?"
Bai Ye nodded. "I understand."
This explanation was indeed a bit difficult to grasp, but Bai Ye had participated in Wish Task battles in his previous life, so he understood. Simply put, the wish had already been completed when the Wish Task was triggered. Bai Ye could only choose the reward he wanted, based on the direction of the original wish.
The old man continued, "Wish Tasks have five levels, from the lowest one-star to the highest five-star. This time, a two-star Wish Task was triggered. The reward is anything below black quality. The participant who triggered the Wish Task has already completed their wish, and their wish was for abilities. Therefore, you can choose any ability below black quality as your reward."
After the old man finished speaking, he waved his hand forward.
In the next instant, countless light screens appeared around Bai Ye, forming a circle that slowly rotated around his body.
The old man said, "There are a total of 117 abilities below black quality, and they are all here. There is no time limit. You can review them in detail and then tell me your choice."
"No need to look," Bai Ye said. "I choose Phoenix."
The old man was suddenly stunned. After a while, he said, "That is not an ability below black quality; it is a gold ability..."
"No, it is a blue ability," Bai Ye said. "The Phoenix ability is blue at its initial stage and can evolve into a gold ability. Therefore, in its initial state, it complies with the rules."
The old man was silent for a moment, then said, "Evolving abilities that grow and evolve are not included in the selection."
Bai Ye said, "You did not mention this condition when you explained the rules."
The old man said, "That's how the rules are..."
"No, that's not how the rules are," Bai Ye spread his hands. "Of course, you are the rule maker. If you say you've added a rule temporarily, then I'll admit defeat. However, I must remind you that the purpose of rules is order. If the rule maker does not abide by the rules, then the so-called rules are a joke."
The old man fell silent again, then said, "Congratulations, you have obtained the Phoenix ability!"
The old man waved his hand again, and all the surrounding light screens disappeared, leaving only one.
Phoenix (Ability) (Blue): An ability granted by the legendary phoenix, capable of burning everything with flames. If one obtains phoenix feathers, immortal flames, or phoenix dwelling phoenix wood, the ability can grow and evolve. Effect: Phoenix Flame (burns targets with flames).
Bai Ye looked at the introduction of the Phoenix ability displayed on the light screen and nodded with satisfaction. When the old man mentioned "ability," Bai Ye immediately thought of this ability and chose no other.
The old man asked curiously, "Can you tell me how you knew about the Phoenix ability?"
How did he know?
Of course, because he had drawn it from a gacha machine in his previous life!
At that time, Bai Ye was extremely puzzled why, after drawing a gold gacha, it turned out to be a blue ability, let alone matching the gold quality, it wasn't even a high-level ability.
Later, Bai Ye learned that the Phoenix was an ability of the growth and evolution type, starting at blue quality and capable of evolving all the way to gold.
Of course, this type of ability probably wasn't limited to just the Phoenix, but Bai Ye only knew about the Phoenix. Since that was the case, he naturally chose it.
Bai Ye looked at the old man. "Is this a question that must be answered?"
"Of course not," the old man smiled. "I just hoped you could satisfy the curiosity of an old man like me."
Bai Ye said, "I'm very sorry, I do not intend to do so."
"What a shame. You are a heartless person, unable to fulfill even a small wish of this old man," the old man smiled, then said, "In ten seconds, you will return to where you were before."
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."
After the old man finished speaking, Bai Ye heard the countdown. Then, the moment "0" appeared...
Bai Ye found that the scenery around him shifted rapidly. Soon, the surroundings became blurry, but it only lasted for about half a minute before everything became clear again. Immediately, Bai Ye found himself back in the marketplace of the Soul Society.
And then...
Bai Ye looked in front of him and couldn't help but show disappointment.
The stall owner was indeed no longer there.