On the bench, Li Wen gulped down the last of his energy drink.
The cool liquid slid down his throat, bringing a little relief.
But it couldn't suppress the strange sensation slowly receding from the depths of his mind like the tide. It wasn't just fatigue being swept away; it felt more like he had undergone a baptism of the soul.
Half a minute ago, the instant his [Scholar] level jumped from lv3 to lv5, a wave of refreshment far stronger and clearer than when he had leveled up from lv2 to lv3 surged through his Sea of Consciousness.
It wasn't simply a cool feeling in his head, but a sense of transcendence that touched his soul. It was as though gentle yet resilient threads had completely untangled his chaotic, knotted thoughts, swept away the dust, and left every thought crystalline and incredibly swift.
His mind had never worked so smoothly or nimbly. It was as if he had broken through some invisible shackle and gained greater powers of calculation and capacity, while a solid sense of support rooted in the very source of life welled up within him.
"Spiritual attributes..." Li Wen closed his eyes and gently pressed his fingertips against his temples, feeling his consciousness clearer than ever as he pondered in silence.
"When I reached lv3 last time, I only felt clearheaded for a moment. It was nowhere near this intense. In games, leveling up raises a character's four core attributes. The one associated with the [Scholar] Profession should be Spiritual Power."
He recalled the highly realistic game he had played in his previous life. Strength, constitution, spirit, and agility were the basic measures of a character.
Since this world had skills as heaven-defying as [Absolute Focus], technology like Virtual Pods, and even classifications of martial arts realms, then the existence of a hidden attribute system wasn't impossible either.
Still, reality wasn't a game. There were no clear numerical panels displaying the four attributes. This seemed more like an essential improvement to life itself.
"What benefits come with higher Spiritual Power? Sharper perception? Faster thinking? Or... could it awaken some kind of psychic ability?" Li Wen furrowed his brows and searched his memories.
Yet in his eighteen years of life, from family matters and school education to the martial arts knowledge he had encountered, there had been not a single mention of "spiritual attributes" or related cultivation.
"Is information about it strictly sealed off by the upper factions? Or does this world's martial arts system reject the spiritual domain—or simply not know how to develop it yet?" He shook his head, pushing the question he couldn't answer for now to the back of his mind.
There was no point fretting over missing information.
What he was more eager to verify now was how [Absolute Focus], which had come with [Scholar] lv5, had changed.
Based on his gaming experience in his previous life, lv5 [Absolute Focus] would unlock a key new function: it would let him control the skill's duration to some extent, turning it on and off at will. He would no longer end up completely drained.
To make absolutely sure, and to thoroughly map out the limits of this new function, Li Wen took a deep breath and began a rigorous series of tests.
He activated [Absolute Focus] again and again, then tried to turn it off, carefully noting the subtle physical feedback and clarity of consciousness with each shift in state.
The first activation.
The instant his consciousness sank in, Li Wen picked up on an experience completely unlike those he'd had before.
Previously, whenever he activated the skill, his subjective "self" was shoved deep into his subconscious, as if he'd fallen into a deep sleep. His body was left entirely to the control of that cold, hyper-efficient calculating instinct.
But this time, he sensed something different—his conscious mind hadn't fallen completely asleep! It was as if it were wrapped in a tough, transparent membrane, suspended above a surging flood of data.
He could vaguely sense his surroundings and the movements his body was carrying out. He could even dimly form a thought like "stop," though actually making it happen was still difficult.
This membrane was the new buffer between his conscious mind and his hyper-fast calculating instinct.
"So that's how it works!" Li Wen realized.
"The key to controlling it myself is that my conscious mind hasn't been stripped of all authority! In the game, it was just a cold 'Cancel' button. In reality, I've truly been allowed to watch and intervene."
Next, he activated and deactivated the skill repeatedly, carefully monitoring how quickly it consumed Spiritual Power, how smoothly he could interrupt it, and the discomfort in his body and mind afterward.
After a few tries, the loss of Spiritual Power became more noticeable, but an exhilarated smile spread across his face. The experiment had succeeded.
The lv5 [Absolute Focus] function worked exactly as expected.
Minimum activation duration: five minutes.
During those five minutes, once the skill was activated, his conscious mind couldn't forcibly stop it.
Manual deactivation: once five minutes had passed, his conscious mind could interrupt the skill whenever he wished. He was in control of when it ended.
After testing it three more times in a row, Li Wen stopped again, and a powerful wave of exhaustion suddenly hit him—far worse than after simply practicing blade techniques.
Switching into the hyper-focused state at high intensity and frequency consumed far more mental energy than he'd imagined. His steps unsteady, he returned to the bench in the rest area and leaned back, his chest rising and falling gently.
"Ha... ha..." He took a few breaths before he began to feel a little stronger.
He took out another bottle of energy drink and gulped down more than half of it. The icy liquid seemed to douse the heat in his head as well.
Once his breathing settled, Li Wen brought the panel back up in his mind:
[You practiced blade techniques for one hour. Rainbow Light Blade Art improved] [You focused on practicing blade techniques for 20 minutes. Rainbow Light Blade Art +2] [Skill: Blade Art: Peak (Initiation 27→29/100)]
Looking at the panel's experience value, displayed as a precise integer, Li Wen couldn't help smiling.
The panel seemed a little "obsessive-compulsive"—it never showed decimal values below 1.
Still, as the true owner of this experience, he could vaguely sense that his blade art progress was now greater than 29 but less than 30, and closer to 30.
"Phew~" Li Wen let out a long breath, his satisfaction growing.
"lv5 [Absolute Focus] really is powerful! A 50% boost to comprehension, combined with the support of my improved Spiritual Power, let me gain more than 2 points of blade art experience in just twenty minutes of focused practice! That efficiency is terrifying!"
Based on this rate of improvement, his comprehension while [Absolute Focus] was active was definitely higher than that of the prodigy at Qingshi No.1 High School who had been signed to a B-level Contract in advance by the Four Great Factions.
That student was widely recognized across Qingshi County as the one with the greatest comprehension.
"The only pity is..." After his excitement, a trace of helplessness crept into his heart.
"Other people's extraordinary comprehension is a passive talent they have all day long, with no cost. My improved comprehension is a 'wonder drug' I get by burning Spiritual Power and enduring immense pain. Duration is the key to everything."
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