As the System text refreshed, Theodore's fingers curled tight around his staff.
So.
Connecting with Dumbledore: achieved.
Up to now, no matter whether he'd bonded with Snape or McGonagall, the System had never ranked them above Twelve Golden Immortals.
Dumbledore was the first person he'd tied to who stood beyond that tier.
Expectation churned in his chest as he dragged his gaze down to the rest of the pane.
If this was on par with, or even above, the reward for befriending Duobao Daoist… this was going to be good.
Lines of text unfolded, crisp and sure.
[South Pole Elder stands as Jade Void's senior-most disciple; his cultivation spans Heaven and Earth, already brushing the Quasi-Sage realm. In divining Heaven's secrets, even among Quasi-Sages he has few peers.
Fortune from befriending South Pole Elder is enough to make a Golden Immortal covet.
Bond with South Pole Elder: Acquaintance → Talent: Merit-Blessed Immortal. Slay demons, right wrongs, walk in virtue — all actions accumulate merit. The deeper your store of merit, the more easily you evade calamity and draw opportunity. The unseen Dao itself tends to shield you.
Bond with South Pole Elder: Close Friend → Talent: Heaven's Secrets at Hand. In the arts of divination and augury, Heaven's patterns bend close to your thoughts. With a little study, so long as a great Calamity does not shroud it, nothing under Heaven or Earth lies beyond your calculations; any beneath Saint realm finds it difficult to escape your sight.
Bond with South Pole Elder: Life-and-Death → Reward: Chance at the Innate Five Directions Banners. Wutu Apricot-Yellow Banner, Plain-Cloud World Banner, Azure Lotus Treasure Banner, Leaving-Ground Flame-Light Banner, True-Martial Black Tortoise Banner — together, they are the Innate Five Directions Banners. Each banner is wrought from a lotus leaf of the Primordial Creation Green Lotus; when the Five Banners combine, no defence beneath a Saint can be broken.]
Theodore drew a long, steady breath.
Not bad.
Not bad at all.
Coming from someone on South Pole Elder's level, of course the rewards were outrageous.
Just that first talent alone — Merit-Blessed Immortal — was plain ridiculous. Accumulating merit wasn't that different from stacking luck; both warped probabilities in your favour.
More importantly, they didn't clash.
Fortune and Merit.
If he could be both fortune-blessed and merit-rich… that was stacking a tiger on top of a dragon.
As for Heaven's Secrets at Hand, while it didn't pump his raw combat strength, the implications were terrifying in their own way.
Being able to read good and ill beforehand?
That was leagues past any single "life-saving" trinket.
And if he could casually divine where and when his next big chance would appear…
With that, his cultivation road might as well be paved in gold from end to end.
The last reward made him relive, for a heartbeat, the jolt he'd felt when he first saw the Zhu-Xian Sword Formation.
True, the System wasn't handing him the Innate Five Directions Banners outright — just the opportunity.
But even a chance was insane.
Any one of those Innate banners would be a priceless treasure. The full set together, under a proper wielder, formed a defence that only a Saint could crack. For anyone below that realm, it was simply unbreakable.
Forget the full set; even if he only managed to bag one…
Then no matter how deep the wizarding world's waters ran, it would all be spring breezes across his face.
Even if this world got wiped and rebooted, Theodore thought, with something like that in hand I'd still walk away intact.
It took him quite a while to calm his breathing.
Across from him, Dumbledore was watching with that faint, knowing smile of his.
"So," the Headmaster said gently, "I take it that's a yes?"
"In that case—" his eyes twinkled "—come with me. I'll take you somewhere a little more suitable for studying magic."
He turned and led Theodore up, along the corridor, to the eighth floor — to the tapestry of trolls clubbing Barnabas the Barmy.
Under Dumbledore's lead, the Boy Who Knew Too Much didn't need three laps or mental chanting. A door simply flowed into being under the Headmaster's hand.
Inside, the Room of Requirement had been reshaped.
Under Dumbledore's "request", the space had opened vast and high, pillars and banners draped with phoenixes and lions. Deep carpets, arching ceiling, an elegance that felt half palace, half temple.
[South Pole Elder guides you through cloud and mist to his lecture hall beneath the Jade Void Palace.
Auspicious vapours curl by the myriad, rosy light brushes the Dipper — truly a saint's dojo, a place where Dao gathers.]
Theodore's brows lifted despite himself.
Dumbledore chuckled. "You've found this place before, haven't you? I was rather hoping to give you a grand surprise."
Theo nodded, then couldn't help his curiosity.
"I've been to the Room before, sir. I also tried asking it for a space to practice spells — but what it gave me was nowhere near this large. And it definitely didn't come with… interior decoration."
Dumbledore's smile went sly. "You know, Headmasters do get a few tiny privileges."
"Now then," he clapped his hands lightly, tone dropping into something more formal, "let's not waste time on small details. Time is precious. Let's begin."
His expression sharpened. He studied Theodore with a gaze that stripped pretence.
"I know a great many branches of magic," he said.
"Transfiguration, naturally — my speciality. Before I became Headmaster, I taught it here for many years."
"Alchemy. Also quite respectable, even if I say so myself."
"And, in my youth… duelling. Professor Flitwick takes no small pride in his duelling trophy. Between you and I"—he leaned in, conspiratorial—"please don't spread this—but I once entered three duelling tournaments under a pseudonym and took first place in all three. I stopped going only because it became… boring."
"Oh, and of course," his eyes cooled, deep currents moving under the surface, "I mustn't forget this…"
"I can teach you how to lengthen a wizard's life," Dumbledore said softly. "Even how to chase immortality itself."
"So then, Theodore — what sort of magic would you like to learn?"
System text scrolled, genial and relentless.
[South Pole Elder opens his hall and expounds the Dao; Heaven answers with marvel — flowers fall from the sky, golden lotuses spring from the ground.
You listen, rapt. At the end, Elder smiles and asks: what path do you wish to walk?
He offers a thousand transformations, a myriad arts: the Way of a Thousand Shapes, the Way of Turning Stone to Gold, the Way of War and Slaughter, and even the Way of Life as Long as Heaven.
You know this is Elder's question-to-the-heart. You must see your heart clearly, and name your own Way.]
Theo's mouth twitched.
Dumbledore's suspicions really ran deep — even now, he wasn't quite ready to relax.
Bringing up immortality like that… this was still a probe.
If Theodore had been a true mirror of Voldemort, obsessed with outwitting death at any cost, he'd have given himself away right here.
The only problem being—
The "immortality" Dumbledore was hinting at was nothing special in the cultivator world. It was practically a starter perk.
Theo's interest? Zero.
He thought for a moment, then answered plainly.
"Transfiguration is fun. Alchemy's nice," he said. "As for duelling technique — I suspect I might not need it much, but learning it as a toy to play with, or to teach my friends? That sounds fine."
"As for extending my life or not dying…" He tilted his head, considering. "If I ever chase that, it won't be for a few extra decades, or even centuries. It would be living on after sun and moon go dark, surviving when Heaven and Earth themselves decay."
"If there was a way to gain something like that without harming others or warping myself, I don't think anyone would turn it down." He glanced at Dumbledore, honest as anything. "But I doubt that's something you can give me, sir."
"And if it requires a terrible price — twisting my nature, sacrificing the quality of my life to cling on a bit longer — then I'm not interested at all."
Dumbledore's eyes narrowed in intrigue.
"So, Theodore — your answer is…?"
Theo grinned. "My answer, sir, is that what I want to learn depends entirely on what I'm interested in now."
"After all, it's a wizard's interests that lead them to magic — not 'learning magic' for its own sake."
"Right now, I'm interested in the Patronus Charm." His gaze grew sharp, bright with anticipation. "Headmaster, would you teach me that?"
System text shimmered, approving.
[Faced with South Pole Elder's question, you answer thus—
A thousand Dao-arts and ten thousand divine abilities are all external things. On the road of the Way, I seek only my Dao.]
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/StrawHatStudios