Martial Artist

This must be where the Gray Dwarf Chieftain encountered his fortuitous event.

While swimming in the underground river earlier.

Roger saw many broken ceramic pieces on the shallow riverbed.

There were also some old objects whose original forms were obscured by water erosion.

Similar items were scattered along the riverbank as well.

He estimated that the Gray Dwarf Chieftain found his White Raven's Crown and Fire Aversion Pearl here.

Walking about two kilometers upstream along the riverbank brought him to the end of the road.

There, a massive stone wall blocked his path forward.

A few clumps of Fluorescent Fungus emitted a faint glow.

The gentle flow of the underground river could be heard.

A gentle breeze blew.

Roger felt a sense of comfort he hadn't experienced in a long time.

He slowly approached the stone wall and gently touched the mysterious protrusions on its surface.

Suddenly, a faint, almost imperceptible laugh echoed in his ears.

Immediately after.

An unprecedented coolness surged through his fingertips like an electric shock, instantly reaching his heart.

The sensation was fleeting.

The wonderful feeling made Roger involuntarily want to savor it again.

But for some reason, even though it had just happened, he couldn't recall it at all.

He glanced at his status panel.

"You have sensed the existence of 'Qi'."

"Qi?"

Roger wasn't too surprised.

The Hidden Hero template also had the concept of "Qi," but it seemed to be a power one could only possess after reaching the fourth ring.

What he was more curious about was.

If Mystra truly had a glorious martial arts civilization, did it have any connection to the Hidden Hero class? Regarding this, there were two relatively common theories.

The "Hidden Hero" was just a MOD that a player had casually created.

Any commonalities between Mystra's martial arts civilization and the Hidden Hero template were purely coincidental.

The second theory was more conspiratorial.

Connecting it to his own transmigration.

Roger could mentally construct a world-shattering, earth-shattering drama within a minute.

And in this drama, he was merely a pawn of some influential figure.

The true secret of the Hidden Hero class might be related to the lost martial arts civilization.

However, after careful consideration.

Roger still leaned towards the first theory.

The reason was quite simple.

If some influential figure had orchestrated his transmigration.

They probably wouldn't have allowed him to linger in the novice village for ten years.

After all, it wouldn't be difficult to subtly urge him to leave Tongma Town.

They could have simply issued a few quests through the Hidden Hero template.

From this perspective, the possibility of a conspiracy was indeed low.

Unless, the influential figure's plans were far more intricate than Roger imagined.

That would lead to an endless nesting doll situation.

Roger never wasted his brain cells on such matters.

He touched the stone wall for a long time but didn't sense the presence of "Qi" again.

He also took out the White Raven's Crown and Master Qu Feng's Fire Aversion Pearl.

Trying to find some kind of clue.

But it was still fruitless.

After struggling for a long time, Roger felt a bit dejected.

"Am I really not even as good as a Gray Dwarf?"

The moment this thought surfaced, the stone wall suddenly underwent a dramatic change.

Roger's eyes widened, and he stumbled back several steps—

This was so he could get a clear view of the entire spectacle on the stone wall.

A faint glow shone from behind the stone wall, and numerous figures suddenly appeared on it! Not just figures.

On the stone wall, there were mountains, water, clouds, trees, and houses.

Suddenly, clouds and mist arose.

The scene on the stone wall seemed to transport him to a seaside.

A new sun was slowly rising from the east.

Rolling waves crashed powerfully against the reefs.

On the beach.

There were hundreds, even thousands, of figures.

They were practicing martial arts against the wind.

Every move, every stance was so strong and powerful.

He could faintly hear their shouts.

Suddenly.

Waves tens of meters high surged forward, rushing towards the beach.

Those thousands of figures transformed into a peerless grandmaster.

He stood on a reef, pushing forward gently with both palms.

In an instant.

The waves were pushed back into the sea!

Unconsciously, Roger became engrossed in the spectacle.

He felt as if he had entered a magical, god-like perspective, witnessing firsthand the unparalleled elegance of prehistoric martial artists' movements!

When he finally came to his senses.

The stone wall had returned to its original state, all the illusions vanishing.

Roger noticed.

The few clumps of "Fluorescent Fungus" near the stone wall had also dimmed, drooping limply on the ground.

A new prompt appeared on his status bar.

"You have comprehended the Mystic Art of Clear Spring Sect's martial arts on the Immortal Leaving Wall."

"You have obtained a new profession: Martial Artist."

"Martial Artist Options: 1. Dual Profession 2. Advancement 3. Expansion Module 4. Abandon."

"No wonder they call it a 'Martial Art Thief.' That Gray Dwarf must have comprehended martial arts on this very stone wall."

Roger fell into deep contemplation.

He was mainly weighing the pros and cons of the first three options.

The most direct benefit of obtaining the Martial Artist profession was that he could now learn the martial arts manuals he possessed.

Perhaps this could also serve as an opportunity to access more of Mystra's prehistoric civilizations.

There was only one drawback.

He was worried about trying to chew more than he could bite.

After all, he was a very practical person.

"Option 2 is immediately out."

Direct advancement was impossible; he had no idea how strong a Martial Artist truly was.

However, he had some expectations for how overpowered the Hidden Hero class was.

The Hidden Hero module came with an advanced profession in the later stages, so he couldn't waste a valuable advancement opportunity in the early game.

"Dual Profession" seemed like a good choice.

This would mean forming a cultivation structure with Hidden Hero as the primary focus and Martial Artist as the secondary.

Roger's patience was enough to ignore the experience penalty that came with a dual profession.

However, considering that Hidden Hero and Martial Artist had some overlap, it might become a hidden danger in the later stages.

He currently had too little information.

It was too early to decide on his final profession combination.

After much deliberation, he still chose the third option.

He would consume an "Expansion Slot" to incorporate the Martial Artist's professional abilities into the Hidden Hero's "Expansion Module."

This was also part of the Hidden Hero module's overpowered nature.

Doing so would turn the "Martial Artist" profession into a part of "Hidden Hero."

The price was consuming a very precious expansion slot! It was important to note that

the Hidden Hero template only had one initial expansion slot.

Theoretically, this could be increased.

However, Roger hadn't figured out the specific method to increase expansion slots yet.

"You have acquired the 'Martial Artist' Expansion Module."

"You can now comprehend martial arts through 'Martial Arts Manuals'!"

"You have gained a new base attribute: Comprehension."

"Your initial Comprehension is 13 points."

"Comprehension (13): You have extremely high aptitude for martial arts, comprehending Martial Arts Manuals with unusual speed; the upper limit of martial arts skills you can master will also increase."

"That's more like it."

Looking at the 13 points of Comprehension, Roger knew the expansion slot wasn't wasted.

This was the highest base attribute he possessed!

"Could I be the legendary martial arts prodigy?"

Just as his thoughts were wandering, a corner of the stone wall suddenly collapsed, revealing a small opening.

A very polite voice drifted from a great distance:

"Finally, I've been waiting for you."

"It's a bit embarrassing, but... um... could I trouble you to climb over?"