Fey Evolution Merchant Chapter 4: Exclusive Skill

Once a contract is established with a human, every fey—regardless of how common it is—will manifest an ability. Usually, this ability is rooted in the species' natural instincts.

For instance, consider the Jasmine Lily. Even if someone contracts with a Normal-grade version of this fey, they will invariably gain a healing-type ability.

These initial abilities are merely the foundation. To truly unlock a fey's potential, it must evolve to the Bronze-grade to trigger an exclusive skill. These exclusive skills can then be paired with existing abilities to create devastatingly powerful effects.

This is precisely why the common saying suggests that a fey's journey truly begins at the Bronze-grade. Consequently, any spirit qi professional with even a modest background will ensure their first contracted fey is already at the Bronze-grade.

Upon reaching the Bronze-grade, feys unlock various unique skills, even if they belong to the same species. This variation allows spirit qi professionals to select a fey whose specific skill best complements their own needs.

Spiritual energy is required to forge a contract, as it serves to bind the souls of the human and the fey together. Once this bond is created, dissolving it is a task as difficult as climbing to the heavens.

This explains why many experts, who initially contracted low-grade feys due to a lack of wealth, choose to invest heavily in evolving those same feys rather than replacing them as they grow more powerful.

Lin Yuan focused his attention on Morbius, attempting to examine its attributes. Currently, Morbius possessed only enough spirituality to convey faint emotions. Lin Yuan realized he would need to recover for some time before he could hold a proper conversation with it.

While inspecting Morbius, Lin Yuan was shocked to find that although it was listed as a Normal-grade fey, its attributes were anything but ordinary. Morbius didn't just have a standard ability—it already possessed an exclusive skill!

It was common knowledge that exclusive skills were reserved strictly for feys that had reached the Bronze-grade.

“Heavens, Morbius, my contracted fey, seems incredibly strong!” Lin Yuan’s eyes widened in sheer disbelief.

Morbius had entered this world alongside him and already held an exclusive skill at the Normal-grade. If it reached the Bronze-grade and unlocked another, it would possess dual exclusive skills!

According to legends, such a feat—possessing dual exclusive skills—was only possible if a fey was nurtured into a Fantasy Breed.

Fantasy Breeds were the stuff of myths, and such classified information was currently beyond Lin Yuan’s reach. However, he knew that compared to standard feys, Fantasy Breeds existed on an entirely different level.

Shock soon turned into pure excitement. Suddenly, Lin Yuan felt a mental nudge from Morbius, requesting that he activate its first ability.

Following the request, Lin Yuan triggered the ability immediately. As he looked at Morbius, all the fey's details were suddenly laid out before him in a clear, data-driven format.

[Fey Name]: Morbius

[Fey-Lifeform Species]: ???

[Fey Grade]: Normal (1/10)

[Fey Type]: Spatial/Mystery

[Fey Quality]: Normal

Abilities:

[True Data]: Converts all complex, invisible information into data. This digitized information may reveal hidden truths that are not apparent on the surface.

[Calm Mind]: A passive ability. Its effectiveness scales with the fey's grade. It stabilizes the user's mental state and provides a chance to resist negative status effects.

Exclusive Skill:

[Spirit Lock]: Morbius provides a spatial zone dedicated to nurturing feys. The initial grade of any fey placed here cannot exceed Morbius' own grade. Morbius is unable to level up independently; instead, its grade increases alongside the fey it is currently nurturing. Furthermore, Morbius inherits the initial ability of the nurtured fey, though it gains no further abilities as it levels up. Each time Morbius increases in grade, it gains the capacity to nurture one additional fey. This growth mechanic remains constant throughout its development.

As Lin Yuan processed the information revealed by True Data, the grin on his face slowly vanished...

After a long moment of silence, Lin Yuan trembled and sent a mental query to Morbius. When Morbius confirmed his fears, Lin Yuan nearly fell over.

“This is a total scam! Morbius is only a Normal I fey right now! That means Spirit Lock can only be used on another Normal I fey. Besides, the cost of raising a fey is already astronomical, and my current spiritual energy isn't even enough to contract a Normal fey!”

Even if the fey lived within Morbius’ spatial zone, Lin Yuan was still the one who had to form the contract. He was still haunted by the traumatic experience of contracting his domestic beasts, Chimey and Genius.

The most terrifying part was that Morbius only unlocked one additional slot per grade increase, and it could only level up by nurturing those feys. After such a massive investment, the only reward was the nurtured fey's most basic, initial ability.

The return on investment was completely lopsided. Furthermore, evolving feys—especially those of low quality—was an uphill battle. How could Lin Yuan possibly afford to constantly evolve them?

The Spirit Lock skill could bankrupt a wealthy man in the blink of an eye. For someone as broke as Lin Yuan, it seemed impossible.

The high of obtaining a contracted fey was quickly replaced by a profound sense of defeat. However, Lin Yuan’s natural optimism soon kicked in.

He was still in a better position than he had been before. Even if the path ahead was riddled with obstacles, his life had always been a struggle. At least now he had a clear path forward, rather than wandering aimlessly.

He decided to put the hardships of the past behind him; the future was looking bright.

While Lin Yuan was stabilizing his thoughts, Morbius sent a faint pulse of spiritual energy into his mind. Suddenly, the spiritual energy in his mind expanded fivefold. Though it was now slightly thicker than a strand of hair, it was still less than a tenth of what a normal person possessed.

Nevertheless, this amount was sufficient to contract a Normal I plant-type fey. It likely wouldn't be enough for an animal-type.

It was common knowledge that animal feys required significantly more spiritual energy to contract than plant feys.

The only workaround was to obtain an animal's egg. At the moment of hatching, the creature’s spiritual energy is at its weakest, making a contract possible.

After the transfer, Lin Yuan could feel Morbius growing weak. It had strained itself to force its own spiritual energy into Lin Yuan.

It was often said that feys possessed a deep spirituality and that once a contract was signed, they would remain loyal to their human for life.

Lin Yuan had never truly understood that sentiment until now, witnessing Morbius' sacrifice.

From this moment on, they were bound together until the very end!