Feather Scroll

Feather Scroll

As the black symbol in his palm shifted, a thick book black as ink appeared in Zhang Yu's hand.

"Feather Scroll?"

Seeing the two large characters on the cover, Zhang Yu was slightly stunned.

Then, with a flicker of thought, the black book in his hand began turning by itself without any wind, naturally opening to the first page.

"This is the table of contents, right?"

Other than the first line, the prologue, every line after it was blurry and unreadable, as though covered by a layer of censorship.

Zhang Yu thought, Does this mean only the prologue is available right now?

With another thought, he opened the prologue. Before him appeared a character portrait on the left page, and rows of data and information on the right.

"Is that me?"

The portrait on the left page showed Zhang Yu sitting cross-legged with his eyes gently closed, seemingly meditating.

His expression was lifelike, giving the impression that the figure in the painting was still breathing in and out.

In particular, a faint radiance flowed through it. Zhang Yu felt that it should represent the flow of Magical Power within his body.

The right-hand page contained rows of information and data:

Zhang Yu

Dao Heart Level 1

Magical Power 7.7

Physical Strength Level 0.83

Martial Arts: Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms Level 1, Freehand Fighting Level 1

Dao Arts: Basic Breathing Technique Level 1, Basic Heart Refining Method Level 1

"Is this me?"

"These are the data for my various Immortal Dao Attributes. This Dao Heart Level is the same as the school's test results—it can't be measured precisely beyond the decimal point."

"And below are the Martial Arts and Dao Arts I've currently learned?"

Of the four skills below, aside from the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms used to raise Physical Strength, there was also Freehand Fighting from Martial Arts Class for honing actual combat ability, the Basic Breathing Technique from Magical Power class for refining Magical Power, and the Basic Heart Refining Method for raising the Dao Heart. All of them were only at the beginner Level 1.

Looking at the numbers, Zhang Yu secretly thought, Is this the potential the Evil God awakened? This book can detect all my attributes?

"But... it shouldn't be limited to that, right?"

"According to that Evil God, it awakened my potential. But what kind of potential is mere detection? I can test that at school every day."

"There should be some other use."

Thinking this, Zhang Yu decided to test it. He focused his attention on the attribute values and shouted in his mind, Feather Scroll! Add some points for me!

Looking at the utterly motionless data in the book, Zhang Yu sighed inwardly. That Evil God really was useless—it had not awakened his potential at all.

He tried turning to the next page, only to find four large characters written there: "Coming Soon."

Thinking of the content that had yet to appear in the table of contents, Zhang Yu guessed, What does this mean? Could this ability be upgraded? Will the later functions only unlock after it upgrades?

He could only turn back to the previous page and keep focusing on each row of his data and skills, seeing whether he could trigger any effect.

Then, when he focused on "Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms Level 1," he suddenly saw the line twitch slightly. It was directly dragged around, moving back and forth across the page with his thoughts.

Just as Zhang Yu dragged "Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms Level 1" all over the page, wondering what use it had—

The moment "Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms Level 1" touched the character portrait, it abruptly froze and was directly absorbed by the Zhang Yu in the picture.

As it was absorbed, Zhang Yu felt as if a pool of clear spring water had poured down from the Crown of the Head. An indescribable sensation surged within him, making him feel that he had formed a strange connection with the Zhang Yu in the portrait.

At the same time, the originally cross-legged figure suddenly stood up and began demonstrating the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms, move by move.

A line of small text had appeared above the portrait: Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms Level 1+

Seeing that tiny "+" at the end, Zhang Yu immediately grew excited. "Here it comes! Here it comes! My potential really has been awakened!"

He swiftly focused on the "+," feeling as though he had pressed it with his thoughts.

The next moment, the "+" blurred slightly before becoming "(0/10)."

Then enlightenment rose in Zhang Yu's heart: practice the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms ten times, and the Martial Arts could be upgraded.

Looking at "Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms Level 1 (0/10)" in the Feather Scroll, Zhang Yu thought in surprise, I can upgrade this Martial Art just by practicing it ten times?

Ever since school began, Zhang Yu had practiced the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms countless times, yet he had never once felt even the slightest sign of advancement.

"Ten times?"

Zhang Yu impatiently began trying it. He took one step forward, and with a bang, the flesh and blood all over his body twisted like a giant python, erupting with wave after wave of force.

Although Zhang Yu used equipment when practicing the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms at school, that was only to improve the effectiveness of his training.

In truth, as the most basic Body Tempering martial art, the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms could be practiced with or without equipment. Practitioners could even focus on different directions based on their own inclinations, such as strength, speed, or agility. The original Zhang Yu had chosen a balanced path of strength and speed, so he had not turned into some hulking brute.

Now, Zhang Yu darted back and forth through the tiny room. His feet struck the floor with repeated thuds, while the flesh and blood throughout his body swelled and contracted, gradually heating up.

But before he could perform more than a few moves, curses came from all around him. "Are you sick? Tearing the building down in the middle of the night?!"

Zhang Yu immediately stopped, thinking helplessly, The soundproofing in this rental is too terrible. I can't practice Martial Arts at night.

Looking at the Feather Scroll that had surfaced in his palm, Zhang Yu could barely suppress the restless urge in his heart. He only wanted to train explosively at once and practice the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms ten times in one go to see the results.

"Should I change locations?"

"I remember there's an Unfinished Building nearby..."

In the darkness.

The sounds of bang, bang, bang echoed continuously through the corridors of the Unfinished Building.

As the neon lights from the distant street flickered back and forth, the figure of a youth occasionally appeared within the shadows.

It was Zhang Yu, who had come to the Unfinished Building to practice the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms.

His gaze was solemn as he performed the training methods of the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms one move at a time. Before long, sweat drenched his entire body, steam practically rising from him.

Zhang Yu had already trained all morning during the day and had ultimately collapsed to the ground from exhaustion. Without injections, pills, or Dietary Supplementation to aid him, practicing the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms now left his whole body weak and aching. Every movement and every exertion of strength brought pain like his tendons and muscles were being torn apart.

But whenever he thought of the changes in the Feather Scroll, his spirits lifted. In the end, he gritted his teeth and finished one complete round of the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms.

Panting heavily, Zhang Yu impatiently opened his hand, and the Feather Scroll appeared again with his thoughts.

Seeing "Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms Level 1 (1/10)" written on it, Zhang Yu could not help showing a trace of delight.

"Is this my potential?"

"Raising the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms to Level 2... it really seems possible."

"I'll practice it ten times tonight!"

Zhang Yu eagerly began the second round of the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms.

But moments later, he collapsed into a sitting position on the ground, feeling as though his hands and feet no longer belonged to him.

"I can't do it anymore. I've reached my limit. Looks like I'll have to try again tomorrow."

Just as Zhang Yu decided to stop training, rest for a while, then go home and get a good night's sleep, a wave of chilling dread suddenly surged from within him.

At the same time, a voice rang out in his mind.

"Please abide by the Ritual Agreement. Work hard to fulfill the wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 10."

"Please abide by the Ritual Agreement. Work hard to fulfill the wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 9."

"Please abide by the Ritual Agreement. Work hard to fulfill the wish. Do not deliberately slack off or delay. 8."

As the voice's countdown continued, the chilling dread in Zhang Yu's heart grew increasingly intense, as if something was about to gush wildly from within his body and rip all his flesh and blood apart.

"Ritual... agreement... wish..." He immediately realized, Could this be the power of that Inviting God Ritual?

The words Wa Wa had once spoken immediately surfaced in Zhang Yu's mind.

"If you choose to refuse to fulfill my wish, or deliberately delay or even fail during the process of fulfilling it, then under the ritual's backlash, your flesh will burst apart and your soul will scatter into the winds."

Zhang Yu thought, So... because I plan to fulfill the second wish by studying hard, getting into a prestigious university, joining a major Sect, and earning money—

Then any slackness in that process is considered deliberately slacking off and delaying the fulfillment of the wish?

If I don't listen, will I die under the ritual's backlash?

Hearing that the countdown had unknowingly reached 3, Zhang Yu hurriedly jumped to his feet.

With a scream, he endured the agony of his tendons and muscles tearing apart and began practicing the Body Tempering Thirty-Six Forms.

The instant he began training, the countdown vanished completely.

(End of Chapter)