Humanoid Experience Pack

Back in a relatively safe area, Xu Qian's heart still could not settle. Ding Seventeen, that Mad Old Man, and that mysterious oilcloth had planted an itch-grass in his heart, endlessly teasing at his nerves.

Swordsmanship... that was swordsmanship!

In this Immortal Martial World, the value of an advanced Martial Skill—especially a fierce, lethal sword art—went without saying. Not to mention anything far off; if he could grasp even a shred of the old man's swordsmanship essence, then with the steadily growing cultivation granted by the Longevity Dao Fruit, his ability to protect himself in this Heavenly Prison, where danger lurked on every side, would rise by an entire tier!

Just thinking of Zhou Kang's razor-sharp blade aura filled him with envy.

Night fell. After finishing the day's work, Xu Qian hurried back to his dormitory and secured the door bolt.

He did not begin cultivating at once. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the hard wooden bed, closed his eyes, and tried his best to recall the chaotic lines and patterns he had seen on that oilcloth.

Those patterns were exceedingly rough. Many places were blurred beyond recognition, and their connections made no sense at all. They did not conform to any known martial arts diagram. To an ordinary martial artist, they would have looked like the random scribblings of a madman, worthy only of scorn.

Relying on the enhanced memory he had gained after awakening, Xu Qian barely managed to sketch several of the most deeply impressed line trajectories and the vague posture of the sword-wielding figure within his mind.

He tried to imitate one of the simplest movements, one that appeared to be a First Stab. Raising his arm, he held two fingers together like a sword and thrust them lightly forward.

The movement was clumsy and powerless, utterly devoid of any artistic conception.

The instant he made the gesture—

A sudden change erupted!

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the Longevity Dao Fruit, which had always floated silently and revolved slowly, seemed to have been stirred by some unseen current triggered by that immature movement. It actually began spinning slightly faster of its own accord!

An imperceptible clear current flowed through Xu Qian's heart. It was not a specific text or image, but a vague intent of deduction and correction.

He felt as though his clumsy First Stab had been dismantled and analyzed beneath the Dao Fruit's clear radiance. Several exceedingly subtle awkward points, concerning the angle of exertion and muscle coordination, were quietly corrected. A smoother, more precise sense of how to exert force naturally surfaced in his awareness.

Though that sensation remained illusory, far from enough for him to truly master this thrust, the direction had become clear!

Xu Qian abruptly opened his eyes, an incredulous gleam of delight bursting forth from them!

The Longevity Dao Fruit... can even assist in deducing martial arts?!

This discovery was no less shocking than the awakening of the Dao Fruit itself!

Previously, he had only known that the Dao Fruit could automatically increase his cultivation, render him Invulnerable to All Methods, and obscure karma. He had never imagined that it possessed such heaven-defying abilities of "learning" and "deduction"!

Of course, this deduction seemed to require him to first possess a rudimentary "seed," even an incorrect one. Just as before: he had needed to imitate that movement before the Dao Fruit could correct and deduce based on that foundation.

But that was already astounding enough!

What did that mean?

It meant that those prisoners were no longer merely sources of danger in his eyes. They were walking, living "humanoid skill manuals" and "experience packs"!

He did not need to risk his life interrogating them about cultivation methods, nor did he need to steal secret manuals that might not even exist.

He only needed to use the Qi Gazing Technique to find "treasure prisoners" possessing exceptional skills. Then, by observing their daily behavior, breathing rhythms, even unconscious movements—or by finding traces they had left behind, as he had today, such as that oilcloth covered in ghostly scribbles—he could obtain the initial, even incomplete, "information seed."

Then he could hand it over to the Longevity Dao Fruit!

Like the finest supercomputer, the Dao Fruit would draw upon its foundation containing the laws of the Great Dao to analyze, complete, and deduce this fragmentary information, ultimately transforming it into skills he could understand and master!

This was practically a divine sheep-shearing skill tailored specifically for him!

Safe, efficient, and exceedingly well-hidden!

Xu Qian paced back and forth excitedly through the cramped dormitory.

He thought of the heavy, earthy-yellow aura around that one-eyed brute, Ding Six. It might represent some kind of body-tempering hard art or an earth-element cultivation method.

He thought of the concealed chill emanating from the elderly woman, Ding Eleven. It might be a yin-leaning Internal Force or some strange occult art.

He even thought of the more powerful prisoners in Block C. Perhaps azure, golden, or even more dazzling lights rose from their bodies, representing deeper martial arts or divine abilities!

All of these might become his nourishment in the future!

I've struck it rich! This time, I've really struck it rich! Xu Qian felt as though he had discovered a mountain of gold with no one guarding it.

Of course, excitement was excitement; he had not let it go to his head.

The word "steadiness" remained his core principle.

The process of obtaining an "information seed" had to be sufficiently safe and could not arouse any suspicion. Little tricks like swapping coarse cloth towels, as he had done today, could not be repeated. He had to find a more natural, less conspicuous method.