Chapter 487 Terrifying Potential

In the end, Michael had Jester return to his usual form—but instead of sending him back to the Netherworld, he slipped the small undead into his pocket.

This was the first undead Michael had ever owned that displayed such high intelligence, and that alone made him curious about many things.

Thanks to Li Yang’s memories, conversing with Jester was surprisingly enlightening. But what Michael valued more than personality or conversation—was knowledge. And Jester, unfortunately or not, was brimming with it.

From their exchange, Michael could already tell that Li Yang’s cultivation world was technologically inferior to Aurora. But that didn’t mean it was primitive or lacking powerful inventions.

Quite the opposite.

The world was terrifyingly strong—just in a different way.

Still, Michael wasn’t in a rush to compare his world to theirs. After all, he didn’t fully understand the extent of that world’s power.

At least, that was his stance—until he heard about the "Children of Heaven" from Jester.

As an Awakener himself, Michael was intimately familiar with what defined his kind. But hearing about them shook his assumptions.

With history far older than Aurora, that other world had depth.

And Michael couldn’t help but feel that, in the grand scheme of things... his own world might be the weaker one.

How weak exactly, though—that, he didn’t yet know.

Another revelation struck Michael later, back in the quiet of his manor study in Thornvale.

It was something Jester had casually mentioned—something that hadn’t fully registered in the heat of earlier events.

He had been reviewing the absurd list of skills Jester had absorbed when he found himself muttering aloud, half-joking, half-curious.

"I wonder if I could learn any of these..."

To his surprise, Jester answered immediately, with far too much enthusiasm.

—

Oh, you can! I can teach you!

Michael blinked.

"You can?"

—

Well, not me, technically. My original skills weren’t designed for teaching. But he—Li Yang—had plenty. Dozens of methods to transfer knowledge. Some required spirit roots, but not all. It’s general knowledge in his world.

Michael stared at him, stunned for a few seconds.

That changed things.

If true—this meant Michael had access to more than just an undead with many skills.

He had access to the legacy of a powerful being that has lived for centuries

All bundled up in the form of a small undead in his pocket.

He leaned back in his chair, gaze distant as possibilities unfolded in his mind like a map.

"...Could you really teach me?" he asked slowly. "Even if I don’t have a spirit root?"

—

We’d need to test, but yes. Some techniques work without it. It’s about how you channel internal energy. Your mana might function similarly.

Michael’s mind raced. If even a portion of those techniques were compatible with his system, that would be great.

Immediately, Michael decided to test his luck and rattled off a few things he figured he needed.

"Do you have a cultivation skill that can increase my mana? If it improves my physique too, that’s a bonus—I’ll take it. Oh, oh—this one!"

Something else suddenly came to mind. Something far more important to him.

"Do you have any skill that can connect my soul to something—or someone?"

—Hmmm... maybe a refinement art.

"Refinement art?" Michael echoed, raising an eyebrow.

—

Yes

, Jester chirped.

Let’s say you want to bind an object to your soul directly. A spiritual connection. Through refinement, you can do that. At the lowest level, it’s used to keep items within the soulscape. At other levels, it nourishes the item, strengthens it, and in some cases... allows it to grow.

Michael leaned forward slightly. "So... like evolving an item?"

—

Not quite. This is different. Think of it like... bathing something in your essence over time. You give it your soul’s flavor. That makes it yours in a way no one else can replicate. Some cultivators even refine swords to such a level they become pseudo-living extensions of themselves.

Michael muttered under his breath, "A spiritual bond..."

—

Exactly. And it’s not limited to tools. At more advanced levels, you can refine many things.

—

There are three primary branches of Refinement Arts. First:

Object Refinement

. This is what we just talked about—anchoring something to your soul. Second:

Self-Refinement

. You refine your own soul and mind, sharpening focus, boosting memory retention, and increasing resistance to mental attacks. Third:

Symbiotic Refinement

. The rarest. You refine a connection between your soul and another’s—living or dead. It’s used for dual cultivation, or mutual strengthening.

Michael’s expression turned serious.

"...That last one. Can it be used on undead?"

Jester paused for a moment.

—

Not normally. Undead don’t have real souls. But you’re different, Master. There’s some spirit. Well, I’m using me as an example so if your other undead are like me then yes.

Michael exhaled deeply.

"I want to try all three," he said calmly. "Object, self, and... maybe the symbiotic one later."

There was a reason Michael wanted to try all three.

The first—

Object Refinement

—was directly tied to his Talent.

The second—

Self-Refinement

—was a necessity born from experience. If he didn’t start defending his own mind, it was only a matter of time before he encountered something he couldn’t block out.

The third—

Symbiotic Refinement

—was the most uncertain, but also the most tempting.... Maybe it could fix the issue he had with [Taming].

"How exactly would you teach me?"

Michael inquired.

—

Simple! I’ll just push the knowledge into your consciousness, Jester replied cheerfully.

Michael blinked. "Wait... you can do that?"

—

Of course! I did say Li Yang knew many methods. Some involve this

—Jester’s tone practically buzzed with glee—

direct memory infusion.

Michael then thought of something immediately. "...If you can do that, then... does that mean you can do the same to anything else? As long as it has a hint of awareness?"

There was a pause.

—

Yes

, Jester answered slowly, tone more thoughtful this time.

That’s the theory, at least. If something has the capacity to comprehend, even on a basic level, then yes—I can teach it. Push knowledge into it.

Michael’s mind reeled at the potential. "So... if I gave you an undead with just a little bit of intelligence, you could—"

"Yes."

"Damn!"

****

A/N: Mass release tomorrow. Thanks for reading!!!