"Water Curse!"
After the excitement, Bai Ye threw a talisman. Immediately, a stream of water appeared, circling Bai Ye's body, helping him recover his stamina and to some extent, heal his injuries.
Taking advantage of this interval, Bai Ye sat on the ground to rest. He then discovered that after Situ Chi Cheng's death, he had left behind three fragments of Divine Stones.
Bai Ye's eyes lit up. A profit!
Moreover, there was another benefit from continuously sparring with experts.
Spirit Gathering was complete!
Five Spirit Plate, Spirit Gathering (200/200)
"You have completed Spirit Gathering cultivation. Your Strength, Speed, Stamina, and Spirit stats have increased by 3 points."
"You have completed Spirit Gathering cultivation. Your Five Spirit Curses have been enhanced."
"Due to the enhancement of your Five Spirit Curses, Thunder Curse has evolved into Startling Thunder Flash."
Upon completing Spirit Gathering cultivation, Bai Ye's physical attributes had once again improved. What was even more surprising was that after the enhancement of the Five Spirit Curses, the Thunder Curse among the five Dao techniques had evolved into Startling Thunder Flash.
However, the attribute changes were not significant; only the power and paralysis effect had been amplified.
Bai Ye was not surprised. The thunder element was a purely offensive Dao technique. Generally, no matter how it was enhanced, the primary focus would be on its power.
After completing the second stage of Spirit Gathering, the Spirit Gathering progress on the Five Spirit Plate had also leaped forward, directly becoming 0/500.
After resting for a short while, Bai Ye stood up and began heading towards the Broadcast and 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 must the victor come here to receive their reward?"
"Uh..."
Bai Ye was speechless. So, this rule meant that?
"Just kidding." The old man burst into laughter, then said, "Regardless, you are the victor of this Twelve Great Battles. According to the rules, you are entitled to a Wish Mission. However, you are not the trigger for the Wish Mission, 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 difficult to grasp, but Bai Ye, having participated in Wish Missions in his previous life, understood. Simply put, the wish had already been made when the Wish Mission was triggered. Bai Ye could only choose his desired reward, based on the direction of the other party's wish.
The old man continued, "Wish Missions have five levels, from the lowest one-star to the highest five-star. This time, a two-star Wish Mission was triggered, with the reward being the ability to wish for anything below black quality. Furthermore, the participant who triggered the Wish Mission has already completed their wish, which was for an ability. Therefore, you can choose any ability below black quality as your reward."
After speaking, the old man waved his hand forward.
The next moment, countless screens of light appeared around Bai Ye, forming a circle and slowly rotating around his body.
The old man said, "There are a total of 117 abilities below black quality, all of them are here. There are no time restrictions. 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 quality ability..."
"No, it's a blue quality ability," Bai Ye countered. "The Phoenix ability is blue quality initially, and it can evolve into gold quality. Therefore, in its initial state, it complies with the rules."
The old man was silent for a moment, then said, "Growth-evolutionary abilities are not included in the selection."
Bai Ye said, "You did not mention this clause when you explained the rules."
The old man said, "The rules are like this..."
"No, the rules are not like this," Bai Ye spread his hands. "Of course, you are the rule maker. If you simply say you've added a rule temporarily, then I'll admit defeat. However, I must remind you that rules exist to maintain order. If the rule maker themselves does not abide by the rules, then those so-called rules are a joke."
The old man was silent again, then said, "Congratulations, you have obtained the Phoenix ability!"
The old man waved his hand again, and all the screens of light around disappeared, leaving only one.
Phoenix (Ability) (Blue): An ability bestowed by the legendary phoenix, capable of incinerating everything with burning flames. If one obtains phoenix feathers, immortal flames, or phoenix nesting wood, the ability can grow and evolve. Effect: Phoenix Flame (burns targets with flames).
Bai Ye looked at the description of the Phoenix ability displayed on the screen and nodded with satisfaction. When the old man mentioned "ability," Bai Ye immediately thought of this ability and made no other choice.
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 gashapon in his previous life!
At that time, Bai Ye was very puzzled. Why did he get a blue ability from a golden gashapon? It wasn't even considered a high-level ability, let alone matching the golden quality.
Later, Bai Ye realized that the Phoenix was a growth-evolutionary ability, starting at blue quality and capable of growing into gold.
Of course, abilities of this type were probably not 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 and asked, "Is this something I must answer?"
"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, but I do not intend to do so."
"What a pity. You are a heartless person, unable to even fulfill such a small wish of an old man like me." The old man smiled, then said, "In ten seconds, you will return to the place you left from."
"10, 9, 8, 7, 6..."
After the old man finished speaking, Bai Ye heard the countdown. And the moment it reached "0"...
Bai Ye found his surroundings shifting. Soon, the scenery around him blurred. However, after only about half a minute, everything began to become clear again. Immediately, Bai Ye found himself back in the market of the Soul Society.
Then...
Bai Ye looked in front of him and couldn't help but show disappointment.
The stall owner was indeed no longer there.