Mysterious Jade Pendant

Lu Ming carefully took out the books and found their material somewhat unusual. They did not seem to be made of ordinary paper.

Then again, it made sense. The owner of the Stone Coffin had already turned to dry bones, yet these two books showed not the slightest trace of decay. They were neither damp nor moldy; instead, they felt remarkably tough to the touch. There had to be something special about them.

After looking them over a few more times, Lu Ming stopped dwelling on their material and began flipping through them.

The first book was rather thick. Opening its hard cover revealed a densely packed page of writing. He gave it a rough read, then shook his head in disappointment.

Sure enough, he could not recognize the writing either.

The reason he said "either" was that the original owner of this body, an orphaned little beggar, was certainly illiterate.

As for him, he had hoped the book might contain writing from his previous life. Even if it were classical Chinese, he would have been able to understand it.

Now, though, he was somewhat disappointed. The script in the book was one he had never seen before.

"Looks like after solving the problem of food and clothing, I'll have to find a way to learn the written language first. Otherwise, even if I hold peerless divine arts in my hands, it'll all be in vain if I can't read them."

Lu Ming muttered inwardly, then quickly adjusted his mindset and continued flipping through the book. He was searching for illustrations.

Those, perhaps, he might be able to understand.

Before long, he had turned through the first book page by page. It was a book of pure text, without a single illustration.

He was not disappointed and began looking through the second book.

Compared with the first, this one was much thinner. When he opened it, only three large characters met his eyes.

Though he still could not recognize them, an inexplicable oppressive sensation suddenly rushed at him from the page, making him realize that this book was far from ordinary.

It was very likely the martial arts manual he had been hoping for.

He eagerly turned to the second page.

There was still text, but this time there was also an illustration beneath it: a little figure sitting cross-legged with its five centers facing the heavens.

Lu Ming studied it for a long while, scrutinizing it carefully, but still could not make heads or tails of it. He turned to the third page.

Again, there was a passage of text paired with an illustration of a little figure. He still could not understand the words, but the drawing had changed.

This time, a line appeared across the little figure's body, seemingly representing a meridian.

"Looks like it really is a martial arts manual."

Seeing the illustration, Lu Ming became even more certain. His breathing unconsciously quickened. After all, this was the first time he had encountered something that had been mere fantasy in his previous life and was exceedingly difficult to obtain even in this one.

He hurriedly flipped onward.

This time, he turned the pages more slowly. Even if he could not understand them, he wanted to savor every bit of it.

Before long, he had gone through more than half the book. The content that appeared afterward was completely different from what came before.

Besides the text, there were only the changing poses of the little figures.

These little figures were no longer seated cross-legged. Instead, each held a long saber and assumed all manner of stances.

"Looks like this truly is a martial arts manual. The front should be an internal cultivation method, while the back is a saber technique."

After reading it all, Lu Ming was completely certain. He decided that he had to learn this world's written language as soon as possible.

He also needed to find a medical hall or somewhere similar to study knowledge related to the human body's meridians.

One could imagine that, given his current circumstances, accomplishing these two things would certainly be difficult. He might not even be able to complete them in the short term.

But at least he now had a goal to strive toward.

What people feared most was having no direction, and he now had a clear direction.

Having thought it through, Lu Ming closed the books. He now intended to find a proper place to hide them and retrieve them later.

But just as he was about to stand, an abrupt change occurred. For some reason, he suddenly felt a burst of heat in his chest.

"What's going on?"

Startled, Lu Ming hurriedly pulled open his thin cloth garment to check. Upon the blackish-purple skin of his chest, already frostbitten from the cold, a Jade Pendant pattern suddenly emerged.

"This is that Jade Pendant?"

Lu Ming was even more shocked, because he was exceedingly familiar with this Jade Pendant pattern. It was precisely the one he had collected from an antique market in his previous life.

In his previous life, his family had possessed great wealth and influence, and he had many hobbies. He usually enjoyed collecting all sorts of strange and unusual trinkets.

This Jade Pendant was one of them.

He simply did not know why it had appeared here, nor why it seemed to have burrowed into his body.

"Could it be that you were the reason I suddenly transmigrated?"

Filled with doubt, Lu Ming stared fixedly at his chest, wanting an answer. Yet no one answered him. Instead, darkness suddenly fell over his vision in the next instant.

Then, when his sight returned, he discovered that he had arrived in a mysterious space.

"Where is this? Is anyone here?"

The space was empty, seemingly boundless. Though Lu Ming guessed that this place lay within the Jade Pendant, he still called out.

His voice traveled far into the distance. No one replied, but strange changes appeared.

A figure suddenly materialized before him. Even more astonishingly, judging by its face and build, the figure was actually himself.

It wore the same tattered clothes. The only difference was that golden light continuously radiated from its body.

"Truly strange."

Lu Ming murmured to himself. He did not act rashly, merely staring intently at the golden figure.

After appearing, the golden figure did not speak. It simply sat cross-legged, with its five centers facing the heavens, then began making various movements.

"This is... the martial arts manual I just looked through!"

Lu Ming was greatly startled as he watched the figure. The movements it performed were not unfamiliar to him; they were clearly identical to the little figure illustrations in the book.

Sure enough, a saber suddenly appeared in the golden figure's hand, and it began demonstrating the saber technique recorded in the latter half of the book.

Only, unlike the little figure illustrations, this was a real person truly executing the saber technique.

At first, the golden figure's movements were not fast, and Lu Ming could still see them clearly. But afterward, they grew faster and faster, until he could see only afterimages and hear the whoosh, whoosh of the long saber slicing through the air.

Later still, he could no longer see even a shadow, nor could he hear any sound.

Only occasionally would an incomparably brilliant streak of saber qi slash forth.

Because no damage could be caused here, he had no way to directly sense just how powerful this saber technique was. But from the length of that saber qi alone, he knew it was no weak technique.

This was a saber dozens of meters long in the truest sense of the words.

Especially the final strike. It clearly had not yet been unleashed, nor was it aimed at him, yet he felt that strike had already locked onto him fiercely.

It was as if everything within the entire space was the target of that strike.

He did not know why he had such a feeling.

Finally, for some unknown reason, that strike was never unleashed. The golden figure sheathed its saber and stood, turning toward Lu Ming.

Lu Ming looked back at it. He guessed that the golden figure had appeared to teach him this cultivation method and saber technique.

He could also guess that what he had just witnessed had only been a demonstration, not the actual lesson.

Otherwise, there was no way he could possibly learn through that kind of teaching.

Sure enough, after sheathing its saber and standing still, the golden figure paused only briefly before suddenly transforming into a streak of golden light and shooting toward him.

Lu Ming instinctively raised an arm to block it. When he lowered his arm, he suddenly found himself back in that place where the freezing wind howled, with a flood of information abruptly appearing in his mind.

He hurriedly examined it and found that it contained all the information about that cultivation method and saber technique. It was simple and easy to understand, as though it had been engraved directly into his mind.

"You really are no simple thing."

After quickly reviewing it, Lu Ming looked down at his chest again. The Jade Pendant pattern had long since vanished. Perhaps it would appear again only when he encountered another secret manual.

After touching his chest, Lu Ming raised his head and glanced at the sky. He felt he had delayed too long. Hiding the books and entering the city were more urgent matters.

He hurriedly got to his feet.