Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint-Chapter 542: The Realm of Talent

The Earth Mother gives birth to children, and the Heavenly Father watches over them. Those born from the land grow while gazing at the sky. All things in the world are born and perish by the grace of these two gods, continuing the great cycle. That is the order of the universe.

But as they say, even among five fingers, there are those that hurt less. The Heavenly Father may be a strict father, but he is not a fair one. The Earth Mother may be a loving mother, but she is not a meticulous one. Some children grow exceptionally well, while others remain frail.

And in the Enger Plains, children had a tendency—an excessive one—to grow too well.

“...Ah. It’s overflowing.”

Standing atop a small hill, I clicked my tongue as I watched a black river flow below.

The wind rustled through their black fur, making it seem as though dark ink was surging like a river. Hundreds—no, thousands—of buffalo moved in a single direction, shaking the ground as they marched.

A great herd of beasts followed the path of grass rather than water, its sheer scale turning it into a force of nature, almost destructive in its majesty. If I threw a stone into their path, I was sure it would be ground to fine dust within seconds.

With their twin-curved horns raised high, the beasts carried the raw power of the primordial era as they moved in search of food.

I could cross if I wanted to, but I decided to wait until the stampede passed. Feeling bored, I asked the regressor.

“Shei, do you think you could win against them?”

“What kind of nonsense is that? I could hunt one or two easily, but what reason would I have to fight the entire herd? Who would be stupid enough to do that?”

“So you’d lose?”

“If it’s about hunting, then I could wipe them all out. But of course, I won’t. If I use Jizan for something so pointless, it'll sulk again. It took enough effort just to coax it into letting me carry it around.”

She ignores people’s opinions, but she sure cares about Jizan’s mood. Maybe she should just marry the sword.

“What about you, Azzy? Can you win?”

Azzy raised her head and barked.

“Lose!”

“That’s an awfully confident answer. Don’t you have any pride as a king?”

“Pride doesn’t feed me!”

“Wise words.”

“You can’t win either!”

Hah. She’s trying to provoke me, but it won’t work. I have no qualms about being weak.

I was born this way—what am I supposed to do? Instead of wasting time resenting the world, it’s better to focus on how to survive.

“Of course not. I’m weak. That’s why I’d rather talk it out. And if that fails, I just won’t fight at all.”

“Bark? Talk? Can’t!”

“It’s not like that’s the King of Buffaloes. How would you even talk to them?”

“I can do it!”

“...What?”

Without another word, Azzy dashed toward the buffalo herd.

She looked confident, but something felt off. The reason beast kings could communicate was because they had a humanoid form.

Just because Azzy was the King of Dogs didn’t mean she understood buffalo language. She might be able to gauge their emotions from their expressions and body language, but that was vastly different from actual conversation.

“Just don’t provoke them too much and come back!”

If she stirred them up, we’d all be in danger. Well—I’d be in danger.

As I took a break, the regressor lifted Tianying high above her head. She looked ridiculous, but there was a logical reason behind it.

Tianying was a blade that compressed space itself. To unleash its full power, it needed to be infused with wind.

The sword held an immense reserve of wind energy, but after the battle against the Mountain King, Shei had drained it too much. If she didn’t replenish it along the way, it would run out mid-combat.

“If I had enough wind, I could just fly over.”

Muttering her complaints, she suddenly turned to me.

“Wait. Hughes, you took an elixir, right?”

“Yes. I did.”

“How is it?”

“...Not very effective. Considering I took three, the results were underwhelming.”

Shei nodded knowingly, then patted me on the shoulder in an almost comforting manner.

“People have different abilities when it comes to absorbing elixirs. You barely absorbed anything from the Ivory Pill last time, remember? Absorption depends on talent and constitution. And more than anything, younger bodies retain energy better. Don’t be too disappointed.”

...Why does she look so pleased about this?

Sorry to disappoint, but I’m not a complete dunce. I pulled out a card and channeled internal energy into it.

“With external energy, I can do this.”

I placed a single card against my index finger and flicked it. The card moved as if it were an extension of my body.

Even a skilled magician like me couldn’t make a card stick to my finger without a gimmick. I’d have to hold it in my palm or secretly wedge it between my fingers. Otherwise, the only other method was internal energy.

“That’s it? Just making a card stick? It’s a neat trick, but anyone with basic external energy control can do that. You did this back in the Abyss too, didn’t you?”

“Well, yes. It doesn’t even count as a real magic trick.”

Normally, my meager internal energy would have stopped me here.

But right now, I had absorbed the elixirs.

I clenched my fingers and focused.

Wuuung.

A faint gray glow shimmered around the edges of the card.

The glow spread, gradually fusing with the card itself before solidifying into a sharp, gleaming edge.

“...Huh? Sword energy?”

“It’s not as impressive as true sword energy. I just wrapped the card with a thin layer of external energy.”

External energy was a technique that extended one’s qi outward, using energy to manipulate objects.

The first stage was controlling objects that were in direct contact with the body—like adhesion or repulsion.

The second stage was infusing qi to change an object’s properties.

The third stage was forming pure qi into a tangible shape to extend an object’s reach.

And the fourth stage was utilizing pure qi itself as a weapon. Those who reached this level didn’t even need physical blades—they could form sword energy from pure qi.

To be considered a master of external energy, one had to at least reach this fourth stage.

Some martial artists even claimed mastery required controlling wind or flowing water with qi, but that was more about technique and energy reserves rather than a difference in mastery level.

“This is the third stage—manifestation, right?”

“I already knew the technique. I just didn’t have enough qi to execute it before.”

Martial artists talk about ‘enlightenment’ and ‘realization,’ but honestly, it all comes down to technique.

Just like how shuffling cards or palming one takes practice, martial arts follow the same principle.

I’ve read countless thoughts with my mind-reading ability. Of course, I knew the techniques. The only problem was that my qi had been too weak to lift even a single card before.

“...Huh. Your skill level is higher than I thought. Wait—this might work.”

Something seemed to occur to Shei. She suddenly swung Tianying in the air five or six times.

The air shimmered where her sword cut, forming square-shaped clouds in the gaps.

She then handed me a staircase-shaped cloud.

"What? Ride what?"

"This. I used to wrap you in wind and carry you, but there's no need for that anymore. With external energy, you can stand on cloud steps just fine."

One of the perks of traveling with the regressor was that I didn’t have to exert much effort walking.

Azzy could run fast on her own, and Shei could fly on Tianying. That left me, the slow one, trailing behind. Since they couldn’t just leave me behind, Shei had been using wind to carry me along.

It was comfortable. I had no complaints.

So, I stalled for time.

"I'm fine as I am."

"I'm not fine! You're slowing us down! If you can hold onto the cloud steps with external energy, you'll be able to move faster and last longer."

"If you always take the easy way, your abilities will never develop properly."

"That’s you you’re talking about! Now suck it up and try!"

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Just because something is true doesn’t mean you should say it so bluntly. Ever heard of defamation by truth?

Besides, she doesn’t know this, but I had a glass ceiling to deal with! No matter how much I tried, average was my limit!

Grumbling, I stepped onto the cloud steps.

The misty, ethereal cloud looked soft enough for my foot to sink right through. But when I focused my mind and channeled external energy, it solidified just enough to hold my weight.

“...Ugh, this is pretty tricky.”

"You have to balance your body while maintaining your energy output. It requires refined control and a good sense of equilibrium. It won’t be easy to master in a short time, but hey—you're not going to die if you fall, right? Just learn by failing."

“I’d rather not. Falling still hurts, you know.”

“Then do your best not to fall! Stay up for a full minute, and then we’ll move.”

“A minute?”

“Yeah, a minute. The key is control. You need to release more energy where you want a stronger foothold. Try it. It’ll be good for you. It’s a form of training—you're strengthening both your body and your qi control at the same time. Think of it as training while traveling—what’s not to like?”

“I don’t really—”

“I don’t know the specifics, but since you’ve learned external energy, you might as well master it properly. If needed, I can get you more elixirs or training manuals. Anyway, just last one min—"

"Shei."

“...Huh?”

“A minute’s already passed.”

“...What?”

The regressor blinked and looked at me again.

I stood calmly on the cloud steps, waving at her nonchalantly. It was no different from standing on solid ground.

“...It works?”

"I'm good with techniques."

If it’s something an ordinary human can do, then so can I.

What I can’t do is anything beyond my physical limits—like grand martial techniques or unique magic.

Before, my lack of qi and mana had prevented me from using external energy and magic at all.

But now, having absorbed the elixirs, I had some capability.

“...No way. Even if you’re skilled, to stand on clouds on your first try...?”

"It took me a whole month to get the hang of this...!"

"When I first learned to use Tianying, I had to be so careful! What the hell? Does being the ‘King of Humans’ automatically make you a genius?"

...Hey, I may be average, but I’m not stupid. Compared to you, sure, but I’m still the king of normal humans. Meaning, I can do anything that a normal human can do, just with a little extra talent in execution.

“...Tch. Tch. Tch. Tch.”

The regressor clicked her tongue over and over, shooting me a glare.

"Shei, you’re spitting everywhere. Are you marking your territory now? Do you just go around leaving bodily fluids everywhere?"

"I wasn’t spitting! Don’t get cocky just because you managed this!"

"Cocky? That’s literally the one thing I don’t do. Have I ever boasted about my strength or let my guard down? If anything, you are the one who’s been careless the most."

"Just get ready! We’re moving with the cloud steps from now on!"

Right at that moment, my energy ran dry. «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» My foot slipped straight through the cloud step.

The gray storm-cloud-like formation dispersed, reverting to soft, white mist.

"Uh, I ran out of qi."

"What?! Already?"

“Elixirs can only do so much. A guy my age can only absorb so much energy. Guess that was my limit.”

“Liar! ...Wait, you’re not lying? You really ran out of qi? Why do you burn through energy so fast?”

Her golden eyes flickered momentarily.

That short instant was enough for her to analyze my qi with her Seven-Colored Eyes.

She was genuinely confused.

“You use external energy just fine, so why can’t you retain it?”

“I dunno. Maybe because it’s not really my body?”

It was the Demon God’s influence.

There was still a disconnect between how I perceived my body and how the Demon God had altered it.

No matter how many elixirs I drank, only a fraction of it was actually absorbed.

“If that’s not your body, then what is it? Never mind that—do you feel okay? When qi runs out, it’s supposed to cause extreme fatigue.”

“Oh, so this is fatigue? Feels like my usual state.”

I never used internal energy to begin with, so I never really noticed.

Now that I thought about it, I did feel a little sluggish. I let my limbs droop and muttered,

“I’m gonna need a favor. Wrap me in wind again and carry me.”

“No way! I used up most of my wind just making those cloud steps!”

“Then why did you waste energy on something unnecessary?”

"That’s my line! Why did you exhaust yourself just from training?!"

“Woof!”

Before we could bicker any further, Azzy came bounding up the hill, looking as cheerful as ever.

“...Where did you go?”

As I turned to face her, two massive buffalo followed behind her, looking unimpressed.

Towering creatures with curved horns.

Thick black fur so dense that it hid their skin entirely.

And beneath that fur, muscles thick enough to crush a man with a single step.

Any human without internal energy would be completely helpless against them.

Even a trained martial artist would need the right weapon and knowledge of their weak points to stand a chance.

One of the buffalo, standing taller than me, snorted loudly.

Azzy, I told you not to provoke them! They might be the same kind of beast to you, but to me, they’re a walking disaster!

I took a cautious step backward, but before I could say anything, Azzy flicked her head back and called out—

“Hey! Ride!”

“...What?”

“They’ll give you a ride!”

I turned my head.

The buffalo snorted and lowered itself slightly—offering its back to me.