Chapter 164 - 138: Extraordinary!

Chapter 164: Chapter 138: Extraordinary!

Taking a direct hit from a ghost practically guaranteed a severe injury. No matter how much Treasure Medicine a Dream Descender consumed, their physical strength couldn’t increase infinitely; there was a limit.

"But after advancing to Extraordinary, the limits of human life are broken," Shi An thought. "For a Transcendent who specializes in physical cultivation, even bullets might not pierce their skin. The Extraordinary Realm even grants various divine Talents like ’Protective Fire,’ ’Undying Water,’ and ’Earth-Shattering Body.’

"Ultimately, someone in the Extraordinary Realm might no longer be human, just someone who looks like one."

He even suspected that there was a reproductive barrier between Extraordinaries and ordinary people.

"However, compared to ghosts, human Transcendents still fall short in Curse Power Value and Life Force," he mused.

"If they rely solely on their Lifebound Talent to fight ghosts of the same tier, humans will often lose and can only rely on their wits to survive. But humans can also use Curse Arts and Curse Artifacts as means to boost their combat power."

These Curse Artifacts were forged using Dream Curse Objects and were considered Extraordinary Level weapons and equipment.

"Then again, intelligent ghosts can also learn Curse Arts and use Curse Artifacts, though they have their own weaknesses," he continued pondering.

"A ghost is always a ghost. Even if they gain intelligence and break free from the shackles of hunting rules... they still have certain behaviors engraved into their souls."

Even if a Drowned Ghost could ignore the rules to hunt humans, it would still frequently choose drowning as its method of killing. A Beheading Ghost’s method of killing would always be decapitation, and a Pseudo-Man had to replace a human. These were the instincts of the soul that ghosts couldn’t defy.

"Oh, my four great ghosts don’t have these instinctual shackles? Never mind, then," he concluded.

The most important aspect of the Extraordinary Realm was still the Lifebound Talent. Inside the Training Ground, Li Feng tested his Talent.

"Armor Fusion!"

His Lifebound Talent was actually ’Curse Power Armor’. It wasn’t limited to molding armor; it could also manifest various weapons like sabers, swords, and spears. And he was indeed skilled in wielding a variety of weapons.

Shi An noticed that Li Feng’s Curse Power Armor covered his entire body, but only the blade of the Great Sword in his hands was covered in profound, dangerous dark red patterns.

Li Feng said, "Manager, your assumption is correct. These dark red patterns are the true form of my Talent. If applied to a weapon, it can easily cleave through metal and shatter city walls. If applied to armor, it becomes indestructible."

He struck a few more stances, transforming his Curse Power into various weapons to continuously familiarize himself with the application of his Talent.

At this moment, the two ghosts, Little Blood and Zhuo Ling, also arrived.

Little Blood watched with drool spilling from its mouth. It thought, "I was first! Whether it was becoming an employee or being the first to reach peak condition, I was clearly first! So why was I beaten to the punch for the Extraordinary Breakthrough?"

Shi An stroked his chin.

"From what I can see, although Li Feng is a ghost, his characteristics in the Extraordinary Realm are fundamentally the same as a human’s," he deduced.

"The human Extraordinary Realm is categorized into Early Stage, Middle Stage, Late Stage, and Perfection. Each stage is defined by how much of the body the Lifebound Talent can cover. When the Talent Power can simultaneously cover the entire body, that is Extraordinary Realm Perfection."

Chen Jianghuai could only cover one arm and a little more. However, Breaking Realm wasn’t entirely dependent on developing the Talent. If they wanted their Talent Power to cover more areas, Transcendents needed to possess larger reserves of Curse Power.

"Curse Power is the key," he reasoned.

"Before reaching Extraordinary, Dream Descenders can’t actually Cultivate; they can only train. A Dream Descender’s Curse Power Value depends entirely on the Curse Objects they Refine and cannot be increased through Cultivation.

"Fundamentally, the four Stages of a Dream Descender and the three Stages of Refinement all rely on external objects. Only upon reaching the Extraordinary Realm does the power truly belong to oneself.

"In the Extraordinary Realm, there are no longer so-called Curse Power organs in the body; all the cells of a Transcendent can absorb and store Curse Power.

"Cultivation in the Extraordinary Realm is simply expanding the Curse Power capacity of the cells."

That was why Dream Crystals were such an important resource. Transcendents could absorb Dream Crystals to restore their depleted Curse Power, and they could also use their power to incrementally break through their own Curse Power reserve limits.

"Besides that, those in the Extraordinary Realm can also use Curse Power to achieve all sorts of divine abilities," Shi An mused.

"For example, Chen Jianghuai’s Sealing Technique from earlier. Sealing Techniques are methods that can only be learned in the Extraordinary Realm. During the Refining Stage, Curse Power doesn’t truly belong to the user, so it can’t be directed as easily as moving one’s own arm. Though it seems like I can actually do it?

"The same goes for forging Curse Artifacts. Those storage suitcases from the Countermeasures Bureau seem to be a product born from combining Sealing Techniques, Curse Artifacts, and modern technology?"

Many people thought that stepping into the Extraordinary Realm was an instant rise to the top. Little did they know that there was still so much to learn after entering it, as many techniques had a learning threshold that required one to be in the Extraordinary Realm.

Shi An was simply observing and theorizing for now, verifying some of his thoughts using Li Feng and Chen Jianghuai’s notes. And from Li Feng, he had confirmed one thing.

"In the Extraordinary Realm, the methods possessed by ghosts are indeed similar to those of humans," he thought.

Take Li Feng, for example. After gradually familiarizing himself with his Lifebound Talent, he discovered that it also contained methods for forging Curse Artifacts.

"By using an Extraordinary Talent to Refine Curse Objects and forging them into Curse Artifacts, these Curse Artifacts can be merged into the body or manifested at will," Shi An analyzed. "At the same time, through Curse Artifacts, Li Feng’s Curse Power Armor can unleash even greater power and gain additional effects.

"However, these Curse Artifacts... seem to require ’Extraordinary Curse Objects’ extracted from Extraordinary Ghosts as materials.

"Should we go Slash an Extraordinary Ghost?"

Shi An genuinely wanted to witness the power of an Extraordinary Ghost.