Scholar

Seeing the panel, familiar memories surged into Li Wen's mind.

Wasn't this panel exactly the one from a game he used to play back in the day?

In the game, every player could choose a profession.

Different professions had different core skills.

With a thought, Li Wen focused his attention on the [Profession] column.

Soon, rows upon rows of various profession information appeared before his eyes.

[Scholar: Active Skill (Absolute Focus), Passive Skill (Once Proven, Forever Proven)]

[Martial Artist: Active Skill (...), Passive Skill (...)]

Without any hesitation, Li Wen selected [Scholar].

[Do you wish to select the profession "Scholar"?]

[Confirm!]

As a loyal fan who played until the game shut down, no one knew better than him how invincible this profession was in the late game.

Just that passive skill, Once Proven, Forever Proven, was something no other profession could compare to.

The only downside was that in the early game, this profession was considerably weaker than others.

But that was in the game.

Now, in this high-martial world, the Scholar was just as overpowered in the early stages.

[Name: Li Wen]

[Age: Eighteen]

[Profession: Scholar Lv1 (0/100)]

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Scanning the panel once more, Li Wen willed it closed with a thought, took a deep breath, and blew out the burning candle before him.

Wispy white smoke drifted upward, and the living room lights soon flicked on.

The family of three gathered around and began to enjoy the cake.

"Mom, Dad, I'm going back to my room to cultivate." Eighteen years of living together hadn't been diluted by the merged memories; Li Wen still regarded them as his parents.

In fact, he understood even more how great their love for him was.

"Mm, go ahead. Your father and I will clean up." Mother Wang Juan smiled and nodded.

Watching Li Wen's thin retreating figure, Wang Juan's eyes were full of heartache.

Li Wen's hard work was evident to her. Although his martial arts talent wasn't great, if he could have received the same resource support as other normal families, getting into a martial arts university wouldn't have been difficult.

But she and Li Wen's father, Li Hong, were ordinary people, at the bottom of society. The only way they could earn money was through sweat and toil.

After living expenses, there was hardly anything left each month, and they had no extra money to buy Li Wen supplementary potions for cultivation.

Because of this, ever since Li Wen started cultivating, his body had never been sturdy; he had always been very thin.

Cultivation was a leap in the hierarchy of life, consuming an enormous amount of blood qi, which ordinary food simply couldn't supply.

Most people had two ways to replenish blood qi.

One was to take blood qi supplements, and the other was to eat demon beast meat rich in blood qi.

The most widely circulated blood qi supplement on the market was the various grades of blood qi potions developed by the Galactic Alliance.

The Galactic Alliance was composed of five major planets and was humanity's highest command.

The price of blood qi potions skyrocketed exponentially with each grade increase.

The lowest, a Level 1 Blood Qi Potion, cost one hundred Galactic Credits per vial.

One Galactic Credit was roughly five Hua Xia Credits.

That meant one Level 1 Blood Qi Potion cost five hundred Hua Xia Credits.

In Li Wen's class, most people took anywhere from five to ten vials a month.

He took only three vials a month.

Any more, and his family couldn't afford it.

After all, sending him to Qingshi No.3 High School had nearly drained all their savings.

Returning to his room, Li Wen closed the door, took off his slippers, and stood barefoot on a mat.

He bent his legs slightly and slowly sank down.

His hands formed different gestures, presenting an extremely strange posture.

Closing his eyes, he concentrated his mind and began breathing according to a specific rhythm.

Cultivation methods are the foundation for everyone who walks the martial path.

It is through cultivation methods that humans continuously elevate their physical ranks.

Li Wen cultivated the metal-attributed Fracture Edge Gold Sha Method, one of the five basic cultivation methods.

Though called a cultivation method, it was more like an unconventional stance training.

This method specialized in slaughter, pursuing ultimate sharpness and invincibility, renowned for combat power among the five basic cultivation methods.

It was also the most widely practiced basic cultivation method, capable of gradually shaping a human body into a killing machine.

"Inhale~ Exhale~" Li Wen's chest rose and fell steadily with his breathing.

He could clearly feel his blood qi rapidly circulating throughout his body under the method's guidance, stimulating every muscle.

However, most of the blood qi dissipated and was wasted due to his shallow understanding of the technique, failing to take effect.

Even so, this time of day remained Li Wen's most enjoyable moment.

Feeling his body grow stronger bit by bit—this sensation captivated him.

Unfortunately, good things never lasted long. Within ten minutes, Li Wen was drenched in sweat, his face flushed bright red.

Hoo~

With a large exhale of white hot air, Li Wen could no longer maintain the standard posture. He braced his hands on his knees, bent over on the mat, gasping heavily.

His previous comprehension had been poor, leaving his understanding of the Fracture Edge Gold Sha Method shallow to this day, which made it hard for him to persist for long.

However, this would soon become a thing of the past.

Not to mention that he had now activated the [Scholar] profession, gaining two core skills—Absolute Focus and Once Proven, Forever Proven.

Just from fusing two lifetimes of souls, Li Wen could vaguely sense that his mind had become much sharper.

The former feeling of mental sluggishness was gone.

Thinking back, his low comprehension in the past was likely due to the incomplete fusion of his two souls causing conflict.

"Let me try Absolute Focus first. I wonder what it feels like to use it in reality." After resting, Li Wen resumed the previous posture.

But this time, he didn't rely on himself alone; he activated the Scholar's active skill.

"Activate!—[Absolute Focus]" With a thought, Li Wen triggered the skill.

Instantly, all the noise around him rapidly faded away.

His eyes changed in that moment—the fatigue that had been there was replaced by intense focus.

His movements also underwent subtle adjustments. Though the changes were minor, they gave off an entirely new feeling.

This was the enhanced body control brought by Absolute Focus!

If Li Wen were to check his internal condition now, he would be shocked.

The flow of blood qi within his body was more than twice as smooth, and its stimulation of his muscles had multiplied accordingly.

What's more, the loss of blood qi was much smaller than when he actively operated the method.

Overall efficiency had increased several times over.

About half an hour passed in a flash.

Li Wen suddenly dropped out of the Absolute Focus state.

"The improvement is indeed much faster, but the consumption of my blood qi has also multiplied." Coming back to his senses, Li Wen quickly felt a hollow emptiness inside.

His face was pale, utterly bloodless—a classic case of blood qi depletion.

"Good thing I still have one tube of Level 1 Blood Qi Potion left, or I'd have to crawl to school tomorrow." With unsteady steps, Li Wen trudged to the bedside desk.

He pulled open the top drawer with effort, revealing a tube of purplish-brown blood qi potion inside.

Without hesitation, he grabbed the potion, bit off the stopper with his teeth, and poured it into his mouth.

Gulp~ Gulp~

The slightly sweet and fishy liquid slid down his throat.

A wave of heat quickly spread from his dantian, flowing through his limbs and bones.

The medicinal components that would normally linger in his body for several days were now greedily devoured by every cell in Li Wen's flesh.

Consumption was fast, but improvement was even faster.

Li Wen could clearly feel his body growing stronger.