Chapter 168: Chapter 168: The Shackles of Talent

“I’ll exchange my Mutated Crystal Base pet for your secret, you just have to tell me how it’s done—that’s all. No need to give anything,” Ouyang Yudu was still persistent as he continued.

“No deal,” Lin Shen, too lazy to waste any more words on Ouyang Yudu, directly refused.

Right now, Lin Shen was feeling his own changes, where did he have the leisure to chat with him.

Unexpectedly, intense battle had also triggered the operation of Evolution Theory, which was somewhat beyond Lin Shen’s expectations.

Originally, when his physical strength was too depleted, Lin Shen had thought about retreating or using the Super Base Pattern, but to his surprise, Evolution Theory started up, continuously strengthening and mutating his body during the battle, making his body more suited for prolonged combat.

Mainly, it was the enhancement of endurance. When he started swinging the Battle Axe continuously at first, his muscles would easily ache, but after Evolution Theory took effect, his muscles didn’t tire as quickly.

Moreover, as long as Lin Shen relaxed, the fatigue in his muscles would dissipate very quickly, recovering faster and faster.

The reason why Lin Shen seemed to lazily retreat a bit every so often was to recover his bodily functions.

Being able to fight continuously for such a long time, Evolution Theory’s role was indispensable.

In addition, Lin Shen discovered something even more interesting. In battle, even when Evolution Theory was activated, Stepping on the Immortal Court could still be used, and the two didn’t conflict.

Or rather, Evolution Theory accommodated Stepping on the Immortal Court. A part of it was transforming to strengthen Lin Shen’s body, and another part converted into the power of Stepping on the Immortal Court, circulating continuously with Lin Shen’s movements.

Lin Shen didn’t pay much attention to Wufu’s Battle Axe techniques because he was always studying the practical application of Stepping on the Immortal Court.

Outsiders only saw that his axe skills weren’t that great, but they didn’t realize that Lin Shen’s overall movements were actually continuously changing.

Lin Shen was adjusting those seventy-three movements to better fit himself, and he eliminated some impractical movements, leaving only the most pure and direct ones.

Some movements could also be used, but the strength flowed slightly less smoothly, or perhaps a bit slower, and were also discarded by Lin Shen.

If it can be simplified, why make it so complicated? Lin Shen wanted the simplest and the most practical kind, not those flashy things.

Of course, all these required repeated experimentation, and then ensuring that after those movements were removed, the other movements could still link up coherently.

All sorts of disassembling, then recombining—these all needed a lot of time and trials.

Real combat was indeed different from personal practice, and Wufu was not wrong. Only in real combat could one truly see what they were capable of; it was also the only standard to test oneself.

Ouyang Yudu said something else, but Lin Shen wasn’t interested in listening at all, mainly because he couldn’t explain why he could last so long.

Ouyang Yudu’s temperament, however, was really quite good. Lin Shen ignored him, and he wasn’t annoyed at all, taking the opportunity to speak a few words to Lin Shen, hoping he could move him.

Lin Shen, genuinely a bit overwhelmed by his words, simply said, “This is a secret not to be passed on, just stop asking.”

“I don’t need to know what the secret itself is like, I just want to know its name. Whatever you want, as long as I have it, I can exchange it for that,” Ouyang Yudu was very persistent, not giving up because of this.

“What use is knowing the name to you?” Lin Shen couldn’t understand Ouyang Yudu’s way of thinking.

“Of course it’s useful, at least I know it’s not an innate talent that can be forged later on, even if I can’t use your method, I can still look for others. What I want is a possibility, not the secret itself,” Ouyang Yudu said while fighting.

“For someone with extraordinary talent like you, do you really care about these things?” Lin Shen was somewhat surprised; he hadn’t expected Ouyang Yudu to say something like that.

When it comes to talent, there’s probably no one stronger than Ouyang Yudu on our mother planet, but from the sound of it, he himself seemed to have quite an aversion to the concept of talent.

“Talent determines the upper limit, you’ve heard that saying, haven’t you?” Ouyang Yudu asked.

“I have,” Lin Shen admitted, and he quite agreed with it.

Anyone can work hard, but not everyone has talent. With the same amount of effort, those with talent naturally go higher and farther.

“What I want isn’t the upper limit, but to break through it. That’s why to me, talent is like a shackle; I don’t want to be bound by it,” Ouyang Yudu said sincerely.

Listening to him, Lin Shen really wanted to douse him with a bucket of ice water to cool him down and then think about how to speak like a normal person.

It’s like someone who’s a decathlete, good-looking, charming, capable, intelligent, emotionally intelligent, and also incredibly lucky—in short, good at everything.

And then, when someone praises him by saying how good he is, he responds deeply with, “No, I’m not good enough, I can’t bear children in my stomach.”

All Lin Shen wanted to say was, isn’t it normal for a man not to have that function? You’re already good at everything; do you also have to take over women’s roles? Don’t you have any shame?

As for Ouyang Yudu, Lin Shen was truly speechless. If he had the same talent as Ouyang Yudu, he would never waste his time on such matters, nor would he bother learning “Talent Theory.”

He would just choose an easy high-level Evolution Skill and advance effortlessly, becoming an ancient ancestor revered by all, living comfortably with everything provided for him. Why go through all the trouble of learning “Talent Theory”?

“Talent Theory” might be unbeatable at the same level, but if you’re at a higher level, you can still easily deal with them, can’t you?

As Lin Shen thought more about it, he realized he actually hadn’t trained in “Talent Theory,” and his situation wasn’t easy either. “Evolution Theory” wasn’t easy to practice, for that matter.

Thinking this way, he felt that he and Ouyang Yudu were indeed brothers in adversity, except Ouyang Yudu was a masochist by choice, and he was an accidental victim of circumstances. Both had their own difficulties.

“Alright, I’ll tell you, this was acquired later on. However, this method is not suitable for you. You should think of something else,” Lin Shen said.

“That’s all I needed to hear. Tell me what you want, as long as I have it,” Ouyang Yudu responded cheerfully.

Seeing his boundless generosity, as if his father were the Cosmic Emperor and the whole universe belonged to his family, Lin Shen replied irritably, “Would you give me Bai Shenfei as well?”

Ouyang Yudu laughed, “If you want Bai Shenfei, then go and fight for her yourself; she isn’t mine to give.”

“Aren’t you two a match made in heaven? You don’t care about that?” Lin Shen was taken aback.

“She and I just need each other’s ‘Talent Theory,’ and it may not even be necessary. I myself might be able to break through ‘Talent Theory,’ and she’s not irreplaceable,” Ouyang Yudu explained.

“You’re thinking of castrating yourself?” Lin Shen’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at Ouyang Yudu.