During the break, Cao Baiming found a quiet spot to sit down.
Everything around him felt so familiar at this moment – the familiar stadium, the green grass, the gentle breeze, and the surrounding buildings. Although the fatigue from training wasn't particularly overwhelming, resting quietly in such a place for just a short while was enough to restore his spirit.
If he remembered correctly, he had just completed a hidden quest, and the system’s reward was a talent skill card.
"Ding, here are the talent names available for the host to choose from. You can ask for more details if needed; the main attributes and skill characteristics will be explained more thoroughly..."
"There are five talents in total. The first one: Golden Cyclone, allows for dribbling within a specified area and increases the ball's trajectory accuracy by three hundred percent!"
"The second one, Swift Wind and Lightning, has a passive effect of increasing running and sprint burst speed. The active skill can further boost speed on this basis, and other speed attributes will also be correspondingly improved!"
"The third one, Positioning Master, solely relying on defensive positioning can significantly increase the success rate of defense!"
"The fourth one, Intellect Aura, can interfere with the intelligence of other nearby players. It has a time limit, and can be used a total of three times during a formal match."
"The fifth one, Phantom Feathered Ice Heart, greatly enhances the elegance of dribbling and close control moves, elevating ball control to a higher level, possessing king-like supreme ball sense, becoming one with the ball!"
Cao Baiming listened carefully to all of this, his mind racing.
"My heavens, these talent skill cards are getting more and more flashy. I've heard so many unimaginable skills all at once, and there's even something like an Intellect Aura. Isn't this ridiculous?"
However, after carefully reviewing them again, he realized that compared to the fourth skill card, the fifth one was even more preposterous.
At first glance, there might not seem to be anything particularly outstanding, but the name itself already harbored a hidden mystery.
After all, based on the system's naming style, the previously seen talent names were all related to some functional aspect. But this one, it had no connection to any function whatsoever.
And, more importantly...
The name was exceptionally pleasant to hear!
Phantom Feathered, Ice Heart... it evoked a feeling of being in a world of ice and snow, with white snowflakes drifting like dreamlike feathers, shimmering under the sunlight. Ice Heart was like the warm sun in winter, seemingly warm yet also intensely cold.
"System, choose the fifth one!"
Cao Baiming no longer hesitated, knowing his time was running short.
"You have chosen the Phantom Feathered Ice Heart talent card. Its max-level effect will grant special technical effects to your movements, making them as smooth as flowing water!"
As he thought this, Cao Baiming felt a slight change within his body.
It seemed that his basic abilities had already reached a very high level, and further significant improvements were unlikely.
He couldn't feel much change now, possibly because he had already mastered the fundamental techniques, and his current technical skill and ball sense were not lacking!
If Cao Baiming were to claim his ball sense and technique were poor, there probably wouldn't be anyone in the world who dared to say their technique was good. That was the reality.
In an instant, Cao Baiming seemed to understand a truth.
Abilities have no limits, but one always encounters bottlenecks. Currently, combining football skill with art seemed to be the path forward!
Continuously discovering new uncertainties and then personally resolving and filling these uncertainties to open up new horizons.
It was impossible for him to stay at Arsenal for long, as he didn't have an inseparable bond with Arsenal like Henry, nor was he at the end of his career like Messi.
Cao Baiming was very aware of this.
So many things had happened recently – the World Cup, the Ballon d'Or, birthday parties, Max...
At such times, he couldn't help but re-evaluate this matter.
If he wanted to break through himself and achieve more records and honors, staying at Arsenal might not be a wise decision.
He was somewhat interested in the legendary super warship that Real Madrid was about to build.
Imagine, in a year's time, if Real Madrid had Ronaldo, Zidane, Beckham, Carlos, Mbappé, and other superstars, plus Cao Baiming, who could adapt to any system in any position.
The strength this team would possess would be unprecedented in history, truly groundbreaking.
At that time, whether in the league, the Champions League, or any other competition, no team would be able to truly contend with them. Achieving a thirty-game winning streak or a fifty-game winning streak would be effortless.
Because no team could pose a threat, not a single one!
Even aiming for a hundred-game winning streak and exceeding a hundred goals in a single year, these records could potentially be created.
However, Cao Baiming didn't think this way.
While that vision was indeed beautiful, another path laid before him was more interesting!
Compared to joining a super team and being a part of it, it was more fulfilling to defeat it, to defeat it with one's own strength!
He had deeply experienced this during the World Cup. At that time, the Samba Legion had arguably the strongest lineup in the world, hailed by the public as invincible and unstoppable.
The excitement and sense of accomplishment after personally leading his team to victory were unparalleled, a completely new experience!
He had never experienced such exhilaration in any of his matches at Arsenal, because his teammates were too strong, and the gap between the opposing sides wasn't too significant.
The Premier League also lacked an absolute boss-level team, resembling more of a multi-power dominance.
Leading a team like the Chinese national team, composed of supposedly weak players, to victory was the best proof of his own strength!
Thinking of Maradona back then, leading an unremarkable Napoli from the bottom of the league to win the championship, the story itself was enough to stir the heart.