Chapter 282: A Legend

“What did you say!?”

The apparent silence in the courtyard was shattered by Zi Jin’s voice. He was a reclusive existence that the students of the current generation regarded as a man of legend. The Zi Jin of today was far more outspoken than the one from half a year ago. Specifically, he was more susceptible to shouting out loud, like he was right now.

Looking at Bai Yunfei right in front of him, Zi Jin asked again, “Yunfei, what did you just say?”

Bai Yunfei nodded, “Master, I said that I want to form a second essence fireseed!!” He repeated.

“...” Zi Jin stared at Bai Yunfei for a long while as if in disbelief at what he was hearing. “Yunfei, what made you think about such a thing?”

“Master, I know this idea is a little preposterous, but I’m not daydreaming. Master, you’ve said it before, my situation is unique. My essence fireseed has not disappeared even after being outside of my body for a long time. This has never been seen before. Aside from the connection between it and I, my body does not have a single bit of elemental fire in it. I’m unable to control it, and it doesn’t affect me. If the essence fireseed disappears, I won’t feel anything, so my guess is if I can form a second essence fireseed, wouldn’t I have double the strength when the one in my Cataclysmic Seal fully heals?”

“Aren’t you still daydreaming?” Zi Jin sighed to himself. What Bai Yunfei was saying left him deep in thought.

Bai Yunfei felt nervous seeing his master silent like this. “Master… do you think this idea is feasible?”

Zi Jin’s eyebrows narrowed together as a sign of him thinking even harder. After a while, his eyes lit up in realization, “Yunfei. I cannot say for certain, but you may very well be able to!”

It was an unexpected answer, but Bai Yunfei was happy to hear it, “It really can be done!? Two essence fireseed can be formed!?”

“No. I’ve never heard of anyone being able to have two essence origin of the same element…” Zi Jin shook his head. When he saw the confused look on Bai Yunfei’s face, Zi Jin explained, “But, a similar situation was once told before. I haven’t seen it myself, but there was a person that had reached a similar situation like this over a thousand years ago in our school.”

“A similar situation? What was that?”

“He hadn’t two essence origins, but rather… a companion seed! That person was able to form a companion fireseed!”

“Companion fireseed?” He had never heard of such a thing before.

Zi Jin nodded. “Correct, like how the moon and the stars rotate around each other, the essence fireseed experiences something similar.”

Knowing that Zi Jin would need to be more specific due to Bai Yunfei’s confusion, he continued, “As you are aware, soul cultivators are not limited to any one element. Unless one is talented or strong, having a duality in elements isn’t worth the effort. One might not even have the chance to manipulate a second element, but when the strong maximize the potential of their main element, they may choose to cultivate a second element. By training in an element that complements their first, the power of both elements will get stronger.”

Zi Jin paused here to lift his right hand up. Above his palm, a greenish energy floated into the air. “I, for example, trained in elemental wood after elemental fire. Wood gives birth to fire, and elemental wood supplements elemental fire making it stronger. This is the path many of us crafters walk later in life. Of course, there are a few that choose to take another element.”

Dispersing the elemental wood, Zi Jin continued, “It goes without saying that geniuses like Zhiqiu, who have a duality of wood and fire since the beginning, are much better off than others. It’s an advantage for them and easier to work with. Whatever achievements they achieve later certainly won’t be unknown. That is what it means to have talent. Skill can be achieved with hard work, talent cannot.”

His face grew stern, “Many soul cultivators are capable of training in a second element, but for all intents and purpose, any one element can’t be ‘split’ apart. It’ll disappear and reform right away.

“There is, however, a very special circumstance that requires equally special conditions. If the essence origin takes in too much of the element it can handle, there is a chance that it can form a companion seed.

“It isn’t an essence origin but it ‘accompanies’ the essence origin. The companion seed is far weaker than the essence origin!

“But there is an exception. If an essence woodseed increases the strength of an essence fireseed twofold, then a companion fireseed will increase the essence fireseed by tenfold or even more!!

“Only a few have managed to form a companion seed over the course of history, but every single one of them were men of their generation and masters of their century!

“It is said that the founder of the Tianhun Empire, Wu Tianhun, had five companion seeds! He was a paragon of might and invincible in his time!”

“……”

Bai Yunfei found himself grow extremely excited after listening to Zi Jin, “Master, then are you saying it’s possible… I can form a companion fireseed!?”

“I cannot guarantee that.” Zi Jin shook his head with a sigh. “But I’m sure that in your current situation, having one form is extremely likely!”

Zi Jin was extremely excited by this. How could he not be. In the past, he had been constantly worrying about how to heal Bai Yunfei’s weakened essence fireseed without considering anything else. The companion fireseed was… something from the legends. If Bai Yunfei could really form one, his potential would be limitless!

A gleeful look of expectation flashed across Bai Yunfei’s eyes. “Master… if I’m unable to absorb elemental fire, what should I do if I wish to form a companion fireseed?”

Zi Jin thought about the question for a moment before replying, “Your current situation is extremely unique. As you are right now, your essence fireseed bears no influence on you. That means you can continue as if you’ve never had an essence fireseed to begin with and try to absorb elemental fire again. You can try to form a second essence fireseed. My guess is that even if you form a second one, the moment your first one is called back to your body, it will absorb the second one to strengthen itself. If by chance it doesn’t, then it’ll become a companion fireseed!

“But that is only my speculation. Whatever the case, there are two outcomes with the first outcome being more likely. The second outcome is less likely to happen.

“Furthermore, this requires the essence fireseed in your Cataclysmic Seal to fully recover first. That by itself is a difficult situation. As your master… I will try to find a way to help you. Even if it’s only a chance or if it requires the entirety of our schools medicine, your master will help you form a companion fireseed!!”