Some Mysterious Golden Light

Zhang Chen looked at the red bead on the ground, his eyes instantly brightened. He didn't even care about Zhang Chen's earlier insult and hurried over to see what good things the Fox Spirit had dropped. When he reached the bead and took a look, he felt a bit disappointed: "Another experience point?"

The bead had '+5' written on it, which wasn't the skill he was hoping for.

However, Zhang Chen quickly composed himself and reassured himself, "Having something drop is better than nothing. Once I have skills, points will become important, so it's not a bad idea to stock up on points now."

Zhang Chen picked up the experience points, and then the experience point interface in front of him changed:

[Name: Zhang Chen]

[Skills: None]

[Points: 45]

Zhang Chen carried the roe deer back to his courtyard, hanging the skinned deer on the wall. He then turned and sat in the corner of the room, his eyes quietly fixed on the roe deer on the wall. However, he didn't have to wait long; in the next moment, the roe deer hanging on the wall vanished into thin air, leaving only a red-yellow bead in its place.

Seeing this, Zhang Chen gritted his teeth in frustration. He even heard a faint complaint from next door: "Why hasn't that roe deer been skinned? That poor, lazy hunter next door is getting worse. I'll have to do it myself."

Listening to the muffled grumbling, Zhang Chen silently stepped forward to collect the experience points '+5,' his brows twitching in anger.

"This is too much! It's simply outrageous!" After collecting the experience points, Zhang Chen stood in front of the wall, looking at the gap he had sealed with mud, and felt a stirring in his heart. After a moment of internal conflict, he took out a piece of iron wire and carefully poked open the previously sealed hole.

To defeat the enemy, one must first understand them. Since they hadn't noticed him peeking before, he figured if he was careful now, they wouldn't notice him either.

Zhang Chen cautiously brought his eyes close to the hole, and the scene next door came into view. To his surprise, he saw two oil lamps lit in the next room. The poor scholar wasn't in the room; instead, the White-Clad Girl was busy with her bloody hands preparing the roe deer, cursing as she worked, "Damn that hunter! He's getting lazier every day. I'm getting sick of eating roe deer meat all the time. Can't he change things up a bit? And can't he at least prepare it properly before bringing it back?"

Before long, the fragrant claypot rice was ready. The girl transformed back into a white fox and jumped onto the kang. Just then, footsteps were heard outside, and the poor scholar, Zhang Chen, walked in carrying a bucket of water. He looked at the table full of food and couldn't help but smile slightly, "I wonder which passing immortal has bestowed this upon me. I thank you here. But if the immortal could send me a bowl of chicken tomorrow instead of roe deer meat, that would be perfect. Thank you, immortal!"

After a seemingly sincere expression of gratitude, the scholar sat down and began to feast, picking up meat from the table and feeding it to the little fox.

"You should be thanking me!" Zhang Chen grumbled next door, nearly grinding his teeth in frustration.

After dinner, the scholar cleaned up the table and sat down at the worn-out desk. At that moment, the little fox brought over a page of gold leaf, jumping into the scholar's arms.

"Alright, it's time for our nightly reading… Huh? Where did this page of the Golden Book come from? It's made of gold leaf, which is quite extravagant for a medium to carry text." The scholar, holding the fox, examined the gold leaf page for a moment, astonished.

"A page made of gold? How extravagant! What kind of writing requires a gold page for inscription? Where did you find this, little fox?"

The scholar looked at the gold leaf book with curiosity, holding it in his hand, "Let me see what this Golden Book records. Huh, this seems to be writing from the Primordial Era. Just the other day, my teacher taught me about it."

Meanwhile, Zhang Chen, peeking through the hole, suddenly saw two golden 'skill points' drop from the gold leaf page, leaving him momentarily stunned: "That gold leaf page is something special."

After examining it for a moment, the scholar stroked the little fox's head and said, "It turns out to be a piece of nonsense claiming to honor the gods and ward off evil. It's just a bunch of worthless garbage."

But the little fox wouldn't give up, bouncing around eagerly. The scholar, seeing this, helplessly said, "Alright, alright, if you want to listen, I'll read it to you."

After saying this, the scholar began to recite the text on the gold leaf. This was their little routine; the fox often brought back books from unknown eras, and since the fox couldn't read, he would read them aloud.

"The Dao is everywhere, even in the barbaric lands and distant regions. How could one not follow this Dao? The enlightened awaken the unaware, and only the Sage can illuminate the way; thus, even distant lands can be saved and not abandoned…"

As the chanting began, Zhang Chen suddenly found the space in front of him flickering, and the golden finger interface began to flash:

[Name: Zhang Chen]

[Skills: Xi Sheng Scripture#Incomplete (0/10)]

[Points: 50]

[Remarks: An incomplete mysterious scripture; adding points may lead to mysterious changes.]

"Skills? I actually got a skill?"

Looking at the golden finger in front of him, Zhang Chen's face lit up with joy. He hadn't expected that peeking tonight would yield unexpected rewards. He immediately added ten points, and in the next moment, the points in front of him changed again:

[Name: Zhang Chen]

[Skills: Some Mysterious Golden Light (0/50)]

[Points: 40]

Zhang Chen then felt a warmth in his body, a flow of energy gathering in his dantian, as if a golden light was swirling before his eyes.

"What is this?" Zhang Chen was taken aback, feeling a faint golden aura gathering in his dantian. It was weak, like a fine thread, but it was undeniably real, pulsing rhythmically with his breath.

Though the golden light was faint, it illuminated Zhang Chen's spiritual world, filling him with a sense of being able to ward off all darkness and cleanse all evil.

"What is this?" As he felt the golden light in his dantian, Zhang Chen was momentarily stunned.

He truly sensed that a golden light was pulsing in rhythm with his breath.

The pulsing was there, but then it just stopped; there was no other sensation.

"What use is this skill?" Zhang Chen felt a bit confused. He had a skill now, but he didn't know what it was for.

"The Some Mysterious Golden Light can't be used yet, which just means its level is too low. Once I level it up in the future, there will definitely be significant changes," Zhang Chen continuously encouraged himself.

"If I collect a bit more experience points, can't this 'Some Mysterious Golden Light' level up? Then I'll have a way to deal with that damn Fox Spirit!" Zhang Chen began to mutter to himself, but as he felt the rhythmic pulsing in his abdomen, he couldn't help but furrow his brows. "What exactly is this Some Mysterious Golden Light? Is it the legendary supernatural ability? Or some kind of divine power?"

Zhang Chen couldn't figure it out for the moment.

"This is a bit of a letdown!" Zhang Chen scratched his head, looking at the experience points needed for the Some Mysterious Golden Light to level up, which was fifty points. Then he glanced at the two golden lights that had fallen from the scripture next door, feeling a surge of envy.

However, to upgrade the Some Mysterious Golden Light, he needed fifty experience points. If he combined it with the two golden lights from next door, it should be enough.

Zhang Chen carefully sealed the hole in the wall and leaned against it, his mind racing with thoughts: "There are two golden lights on the floor next door. I wonder if they're skill points or experience points."

Thinking about the two golden lights next door, Zhang Chen felt a rush of excitement: "I need to find an opportunity to collect those two golden lights. Then my skill should be able to level up!"

"I wonder if Zhang Chen and the Fox Spirit will continue going to the academy tomorrow. They go out every day to visit the teacher." Zhang Chen quietly mused to himself.

However, Zhang Chen's troubles soon took a turn for the better. The next day, he didn't rush to leave. Instead, he waited until the Fox Spirit and the Scholar stepped out before peering through a crack in the wall. The Gold Leaf was nowhere to be found, but the two glowing clusters of Experience Points remained right where they were.

"Should I go?" Zhang Chen pondered. If the Fox Spirit caught him, there would be no way to explain himself. Nonetheless, looking at his Golden Finger interface, he made up his mind; after all, every Experience Point was incredibly valuable to him.

Zhang Chen stepped out of the courtyard and saw Zhang Chen carrying the Fox Spirit disappearing behind the village. He quickly climbed over the wall and entered the Fox Spirit's home.

The Scholar's house was quite simple, yet it was tidy and well-organized, appearing very orderly.

Inside, there was only a water vat, a bucket, a desk, a bed, and a bookshelf.

Seeing those two clusters of Experience Points made Zhang Chen's eyes widen; they even displayed '+50' for the Experience Points.

"What in the world is that Gold Page? The Experience Points dropped are even more than what the Fox Spirit gives," Zhang Chen thought, swiftly collecting the Experience Points. However, he didn't leave just yet; greed began to stir within him: "If I steal that Gold Leaf, could I generate Experience Points continuously?"

After much contemplation, rationality ultimately triumphed over greed. Zhang Chen quickly exited and returned to his own house to calm his racing heart. He then turned his gaze to the Golden Finger: "That Fox Spirit isn't someone I can offend right now. As long as I level up my skills, that Gold Leaf will eventually be mine."

[Name: Zhang Chen]

[Skill: Some Mysterious Golden Light (0/50)]

[Points: 140]

"The first upgrade is to evolve the Xi Sheng Scripture into Some Mysterious Golden Light. I wonder what the second upgrade will be." Zhang Chen felt a flicker of anticipation in his heart. Faced with the pressure from the Fox Spirit, he was truly terrified; it was as if he couldn't eat or sleep, feeling like there was a bone stuck in his throat. He was even afraid to sleep deeply, worried that he might accidentally say something he shouldn't.

When the tales from Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio entered reality, he didn't envy the Scholar's romantic encounters with the Red Sleeves at all! It felt like everyone wanted to ride a tiger, but when the tiger actually appeared before you, all you wanted to do was run!

It was just like when he first discovered the Fox Spirit; a wave of fear surged in Zhang Chen's mind. All those romantic notions of the Red Sleeves and the enchanting Fox Spirit from Strange Stories turned into a single thought: 'Will it harm me?'

"Is there a demon next door?"

"Will this demon eat people?"

"This is a demon!"

ps: Please give a recommendation ticket, everyone!