Chapter Sixty-Five: The Immortal Sovereign

Unbeknownst to him, Zhao Tianhe had spent half a month in the Sunken Ship Cavern. Through persistent effort during this time, Zhao Tianhe finally leveled up, and Eileigh's talent system was unlocked.

Talent System: Immortal Sovereign lv0 (0/10000)

Upon talent level increase, gain one talent point.

Virtual Divine Core lvmax

Like a god yet not a god, abandoning all remnants of divinity, divine rank, and godhood, leaving behind a similar structure—this represents Ereshkigal's current state, that of a "god who is not a god." She possesses extremely high resistance and adaptability to all domain states, reducing the effects of all domain-related negative states by 50% (if the domain state is of mental, illusion, or curse type, it is further weakened by the Ancient Soul after the reduction).

Death Essence Absorption lv1

When attacking undead, absorbs 50% of the damage dealt, converting it into mana or health to replenish herself.

Soul Amplification lv1

Spirit + (5×skill level), maximum mana + (100×skill level)

Eileigh's talent effects were terrifying, and it was now clear that her development path was heading towards a necromancer berserker + summoner route.

If the next boss spawned in the Sunken Ship Cavern was undead, Eileigh could probably solo it herself.

No, since she could summon, the fight would likely turn into a brawl...

As long as she had enough mana, Eileigh could continuously summon Garuda Spirits, trading one for one in suicidal explosions, while her attacks would replenish her mana and health, making her a perpetual motion machine in battles against the undead.

As for physical endurance, with Eileigh's bodily strength, even if she fought intensely for an hour during summoning, she could hold out.

On Zhao Tianhe's side, he too had gained a skill, though not the life-saving skill he and Jeros had so desperately hoped for, but a rather peculiar passive arcane support ability.

Passive Skill: Arcane Premonition lv1

While casting spells, there is a 5% chance to randomly cast a spell of the same school and attribute, but 1-3 levels higher (for example, casting Fireball might trigger a more advanced fire attack spell; casting a dark curse would trigger a higher-level curse, but not a dark attack spell).

It was likely related to Zhao Tianhe's habit of using numerous low-level spells even in daily tasks like cooking. He developed this habit to train his spellcasting abilities, hoping to find the "feel" for casting advanced spells, but it proved he truly could not learn higher-level spells.

"This chance is a bit low," Jeros remarked after seeing Zhao Tianhe's new skill, then suggested, "But it's still good. Your defensive options are starting to take shape. I'll teach you some defensive spells from each school, especially those that can be stacked. When the time comes, casting dozens on yourself should yield a few advanced defensive spells... Since you haven't used your skill points from leveling up, try it out."

Zhao Tianhe nodded in agreement and immediately upgraded Arcane Premonition.

The result was subtle—the probability did not increase, but another chance was added.

Passive Skill: Arcane Premonition lv2

While casting spells, there is a 5% chance to randomly cast a spell of the same school and attribute, but 1-3 levels higher.

lv2 Enhancement: An additional 1% chance to cast a spell of the same school and attribute, but 2 levels higher.

"Well, that's a kind of indirect increase," Jeros nodded, beginning to consider which spells to teach Zhao Tianhe.

After all, he hadn't used low-level spells for so long; he certainly knew them, but he couldn't recall their specific effects and characteristics.

"I'll go check my books..." Jeros finally compromised. As a genius among geniuses, he had started learning second and third-level spells at age seven, and first-level spells had faded into the hazy memories of childhood.

"No need. I can recite the Encyclopedia of Daily Minor Spells and the Children's Primer of Spells by heart," Zhao Tianhe replied with a bitter smile. "I can come up with at least a dozen targeted combinations."

"So... there are that many types of low-level spells... hahaha..." Jeros scratched his chin awkwardly.

In truth, with his grasp of arcane fundamentals, Jeros could even compose and create low-level spells himself, but that hardly compares to the accumulated wisdom of countless predecessors. In this regard, Zhao Tianhe definitely had him beat.

Waving his hand, Zhao Tianhe returned to his room, relaxed, laying on the bed and watching Pixie play on her phone, tears streaming from the corners of his eyes.

"At last, I won't have to endure any more 'combat training'!"

When Jeros got serious, he really didn't treat people as people. The past ten days, Zhao Tianhe's training intensity had increased from facing two small monsters to four, and every day he was beaten half to death before it was over. Several times, his health nearly hit zero, but Jeros never lifted a finger to help.

Even Artoria was dragged into special training by Jeros; what used to be cheerful meals with her now turned into sparring sessions.

Even when using the lower-stats Archer King form, Zhao Tianhe was still beaten relentlessly.

There was nothing he could do—even if his perception was high enough to briefly predict Artoria's attack trajectory, the difference in stats meant he couldn't dodge even when he knew, leaving him to take the hits.

Though Zhao Tianhe considered this training pointless, Artoria believed it would help him focus during battle, achieving the same state that helped her dodge the Ghost Captain before.

Additionally, among the two bosses spawned recently, one was soloed by Jeros specifically to get Zhao Tianhe a boss item to strengthen him, but unfortunately, it ended up being elite equipment for a mage.

"Right, I need to check in town later to see if that item has been exchanged, and then go with Eileigh to the new billiards hall," Zhao Tianhe said, sitting up and picking up Pixie.

"What? More special training?" Pixie lazily scratched her belly.

"Taking you out for a walk. Have you gained weight lately?" Zhao Tianhe observed Pixie's noticeably round face and plump little belly, then pinched her thigh, which was also soft and chubby.

"Impossible! I'm a nature spirit—my form doesn't change from birth, unless..." Pixie shook her head, then suddenly remembered something. "Unless I'm about to evolve!"

"Evolve?!" Zhao Tianhe's expression turned serious—he loved evolution, super-evolution, ultimate evolution, and the like. "You can do that?!"

"Of course! Otherwise, how do you think the Spirit King comes about?!" Pixie crossed her arms proudly. "Looks like having the courage to leave my homeland finally helped me unlock my potential. Hmm, anyway, play by yourself—I want to play games... no, evolve."

Apparently, as her affinity increased, the variety of games on her phone had grown, which explained her obsession. Otherwise, she would have long been bored of just one game. Now, she still played mainly because her friend, the original Saber, Artoria, kept chatting and urging her.

"I think you're just lazy..." Zhao Tianhe watched Pixie fly onto the phone, head down, operating with her feet, while picking up a cherry and nibbling it like a melon.

"I'm accumulating nutrients for my evolution. Anyway, you don't understand nature spirit ecology, so stop talking nonsense," Pixie said, leaning against the pillow and controlling her character with her heel.

'Whatever, if she doesn't want to go out, that's fine. Nature spirits are ageless and immortal—they won't get sick from staying home for a few days.' Zhao Tianhe shook his head and left the Hero Apartment alone, pondering how best to use his new passive skill as he walked.