Third: The Book of Knowledge

What young person hadn't dreamed of a wondrous encounter? And besides, this thing had very likely once been a genuine supernatural object.

At that very moment, Chen Shouyi failed to notice that a thin trickle of blood was slowly seeping through the gap in the bandage on his finger, which had stopped bleeding. As if drawn by some force, it flowed toward the wooden board.

The instant the blood made contact.

The board gave off a faint glow, then seemed to vanish without a trace in the blink of an eye.

At the same time, a thunderous crash rang through Chen Shouyi's mind. His body shuddered, and he collapsed limply to the ground, unconscious.

He had no idea how much time passed. It felt as if he had spent an eternity in darkness. In a daze, light gradually returned to his eyes.

Slowly, he came to. The moment he opened his eyes, his mouth fell open and his eyes widened more and more.

Before him stretched a circular space about thirty meters in diameter, roughly the size of two school basketball courts. Countless gray mists twisted and shifted along its edges, taking on all sorts of shapes. Even beneath his feet, he was standing on mist.

The discovery startled Chen Shouyi, but he soon realized there was no danger. Some invisible force seemed to support his body, allowing him to walk across this space as if on solid ground.

After trying it out a few times, he quickly relaxed.

A certain illusory quality permeated this place. It wasn't just the mist; he seemed just as unreal. His body was translucent, and his clothes looked like mist on the verge of dispersing.

The space contained more than just mist. The most eye-catching thing was a small, semi-transparent tree in the center, a little over a meter tall. Apart from him, it was the only thing that could be called alive.

For some reason, the moment Chen Shouyi saw the tree, he felt a bond of blood between them, as if the tree were him and he were the tree.

The little tree was lush with branches and leaves. Through the sparse mist beneath his feet, Chen Shouyi seemed to glimpse countless long, twisted roots stretching into the endless distance.

Then he noticed countless images flowing across every leaf on the little tree.

He had only to look at one before a flood of information surged into his mind. It was a memory from some day thirteen years ago.

Staring in shock at the thousands of leaves shimmering with flowing images, he wondered, "Could these leaves represent every memory I've had since birth?"

For an instant, an inexplicable fear rose in his heart: the wariness and awe one felt when one's own memories had been violated.

But the fear vanished as quickly as it had come, and Chen Shouyi's curiosity soon took over.

Gradually, he noticed a pattern. The lower the leaves, the more distant the memories they held. Many were so old he had completely forgotten them and could no longer recall them at all, yet here they appeared in perfect detail, recording every second of what he had once experienced.

At the very bottom, he even saw his own memories from inside his mother's womb: dark and indistinct, yet warm and comfortable.

His face was full of shock. What he had discovered lay entirely beyond the bounds of his imagination.

Fruits seemed to grow among the leaves, some large and some small, some green and unripe, others faintly red. Each time he focused on one, information appeared in his mind.

He discovered they represented all the knowledge he had learned since birth.

The largest of these fruits was "Chinese Language," whose level was listed as "Proficient." About the size of an apple, it had begun to turn red, befitting a mother tongue he used every day. It stood head and shoulders above the rest.

The others were not only several times smaller, but mostly half-ripe, green and tender.

Physics, chemistry, and biology were no bigger than glass marbles; math and English were even smaller.

Chen Shouyi couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed.

Next, with a certain hope, he searched for a long time before finally finding his knowledge of martial arts on a tiny, insignificant branch.

The Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms was the size of a sesame seed, with its level listed as "Beginner." Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self was even smaller than a pinhead, with its level listed as "Not Yet Initiated." Unless he looked carefully, he would never have found it. The various sword techniques he had learned at the Martial Arts Cram Class over summer break were all listed as "Not Yet Initiated," too.

Fortunately, Chen Shouyi was thick-skinned enough not to care about that anymore.

"If the leaves and fruits represent memories and knowledge, respectively, then what does the trunk represent?"

He looked at the trunk. This time, it took noticeably longer for the information to come. Just as Chen Shouyi was about to look away, a vast torrent of information suddenly flooded his mind.

It took him a long time to sort through it all. When he finally did, his eyes shone with wonder.

It turned out that the tree's original name was the Book of Knowledge. It had been forged from the heartwood of the original World Tree by the powerful deity from another world known as the God of Knowledge. During the first invasion war after that world began merging with Earth, the deity had tried to enter this world in his true form, but had perished.

His Divine Artifact, the Book of Knowledge, had consequently ended up on Earth.

As it struggled against the crushing pressure of this world's rules, the Book of Knowledge's power had fallen apart, and its divine power had dissipated.

By all rights, its power should have long since vanished, leaving it an ordinary object.

However, its essence was still immensely powerful, and its abilities were unique. It had an extraordinary capacity for analysis and calculation. In its struggle against the rules, it had won a rare moment to catch its breath. Instinctively protecting itself, it had been forced—or perhaps had chosen—to rapidly adapt and change to conform to this world's rules.

Name: Chen Shouyi

Strength: 10.4 (10)

Agility: 10.4 (10)

Constitution: 10.3 (10)

Intelligence: 10.3 (10)

Perception: 10.3 (10)

Will: 10.0 (10)

Knowledge: Chinese Language (Proficient 5); Physics (Skilled 12); Chemistry (Skilled 11); Biology (Skilled 10); Mathematics (Skilled 8); English (Skilled 5); Computer Science (Beginner 6); Culinary Arts (Beginner 5); Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms (Beginner 5); Entering Tranquility to Refine the Self (Not Yet Initiated); Swordsmanship (Not Yet Initiated); Archery (Not Yet Initiated)

Energy Accumulation: 1.2

Chen Shouyi felt that the few hundred words in his mind seemed to sum up his entire mediocre life of seventeen years.

But now, everything was different!

The information he had just received had shown him exactly how to use this "new Book of Knowledge." It now had only one function: optimizing knowledge.

He looked at all the knowledge he had mastered and chose the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms.

"Optimize!"

Before the words had even left his mouth, 1 point of energy vanished from his total of 1.2, leaving just 0.2.

The next instant, his mind went hazy, as if he had entered a dream. Gray mist surrounded him, and the only thing there was himself, practicing the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms over and over. At first, his movements were awkward, but they gradually became smoother. As time passed, his motions slowly changed. Some useless moves were discarded outright, while others were subtly adjusted.

They seemed to suit his body better.

He had no idea how much time passed. Perhaps hours; perhaps several days. At some point, he finally woke from the dream.

Chen Shouyi hurriedly recalled what had happened and was surprised to find that his memories of the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms were crystal clear, every detail vivid in his mind.

It was as if he had truly practiced them countless times.

Just as he was about to try them out in this space, everything suddenly began to shake. Faintly, he seemed to hear a voice coming from far away, ethereal and hollow.