Liam watched in awe as the life of the elf flashed past his eyes, some parts slow, some parts fast.
He already knew that there was some sort of time dilation inside here.
The soul-blood beasts mentioned to him that they were kicked out immediately after entering but at the same time their memory was also erased.
From this he gathered that the elven elder probably showed them what he was showing right now and then erased everyone's mind before sending them out.
Or the other explanation was that he was somehow magically perceiving whatever the elder was showing in slow motion or at different speeds whatever pleased the elf.
Liam did not pay attention to these things. What he focused on was what the elf was showing. He was fully focussed on the man's forging journey that was not much different from his own.
The elf had almost no talent in forging, his body condition was weak and every single factor was against him and not in his favor. Yet he preserved and slowly learned to overcome his obstacles bit by bit.
He slogged day and night and earned enough to buy cleansing potion after cleansing potion and purified his body, finally developing a decent framework to begin training.
He did not stop there and continued working every single day and night and slowly forged himself to be someone. He was finally able to build a bit of affinity for the fire elemental.
He then attained Dao in forging even at such a young age with a level of just 45, with no mana core to boot.
Liam's respect for the elf grew tremendously as he continued watching the man who had nothing and was a nobody build himself up little by little.
Every swing of the hammer, every bead of sweat that dripped from the young elf's forehead, every glowing ember from the furnace; they all symbolized his unyielding spirit.
The story continued, showing the young elf's growth, his challenges, his failures, and his successes. With every weapon or artifact he crafted, he didn't just forge metal, but he also forged his destiny.
However, at the moment, the speed of the images also tremendously increased. It was as if the elf did not care much about what happened later in his life.
Liam could tell that the elf's proudest achievement was back then in his youth when he first attained the Dao seed for forging. He engraved the image into his mind, trying to feel what the elf had felt.
Liam then suddenly realized something. Was this the test? Was this what he had to do to gain the acknowledgment of the elven ancestor?
But how could gaining a dao seed be so easy?
Liam already had plentiful experience when it came to forging and yet he had never gained any Dao seed in it. He doubted if he would be able to gain anything even if he watched the same scene repeatedly over and over again.
Unlike the previous inheritance where he almost witnessed the attack along with its profoundness and aura, here all he was seeing was an image. So there was only so much he could glean from it.
However, Liam still had some cards left. An idea struck him and he decided to invest in this inheritance. He took out another verdant heartroot herb.
None of the six powerful figures who had their legacies sealed inside this world were ordinary beings. So he knew that it would be worth it to use a herb here.
Under the watchful eyes of the elves surrounding him, he casually took an S-Ranked herb and started chewing on it as if it was nothing.
At first, no one noticed it but suddenly one of the elves who specialized in alchemy pointed it out. "Verdant Heartroot! That human being is consuming a Verdant Heartroot!"
"Impossible!" Therion glared in anger.
Eldrin snapped out of his trance and stared at Liam in shock. By then Liam had already swallowed the herb but if what he heard was indeed true, he could die of sheer humiliation!
The elf gave a rueful smile as he remembered how he had gone on and on about all the glorious details and specifics of the herb as if it was the rarest treasure in the entire myriad realms. But to think that the human had one all along…
However, what was even more unbelievable was that…
A few minutes after Liam finished consuming the herb, he felt his mind once again attain a realm of clarity where he was able to focus on the images in a much more profound way.
The herb's effect was instantaneous, expanding his cognitive abilities, sharpening his focus, and enhancing his understanding.
Every single detail of the images became more vivid.
He could now perceive the subtle nuances of the young elf's movements, the intricate dance of his fingers, the rhythm of his hammer strikes, and the flow of his mana even without a core.
Each ember seemed alive, carrying with it the young elf's passion and unyielding spirit. It was as if he was right there with the elf observing him up close.
This, combined with his already extensive experience in smithing, made everything seem a lot clearer.
[Ding! You have obtained Dao seed of Heaviness]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
Liam entered a strange state of enlightenment, even receiving a dao seed. Unbeknownst to him, a white glow surrounded his body, making every single elf turn and look at him in shock and awe.
At this time, the elven ancestor's voice boomed!
"Who would have thought! You younglings disappoint me! The human has attained the first achievement! Keep it up and he will be the one going home with the inheritance!"
The elves gritted their teeth in anger. All of them were from decent backgrounds but even they did not possess a herb like Verdant Heartroot.
Just how were they supposed to compete with this strange human being? Where did he even come from?
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