One Glance, Ten Lines

The first light of dawn emerged, the east turning a faint white.

Willow Town, West Street.

"Young Master, it's time to wake up." The girl's crisp voice rang out beside his ear.

Chu Ming opened his eyes with difficulty and looked at the maidservant bowing as she waited by the bedside.

"Xiao Shan, why are you always so punctual every single day?"

He had been in this world for ten days now, and he still wasn't used to being woken up at the hour of the rabbit; in his past life, this time was only six in the morning.

Six o'clock—that was when he was just about to go to sleep, not wake up.

He had spent the whole night rushing a manuscript until dawn, exhausted to the point of collapse, and before he could even lie down, he had fallen over. When he woke up, he had transmigrated here.

The original owner was the third young master of a wealthy merchant in the city, but because he was an illegitimate son born to a maid, he was ostracized everywhere.

A year ago, after his mother passed away, the wealthy merchant's legal wife had him cast out of the family on the charges of being unlearned and ruining the family's reputation.

These two charges were not merely trumped-up accusations by the head wife; the original owner was truly like that.

He did not study poetry, books, or military strategy, but loved reading travelogues and storybooks.

He did not practice martial arts to strengthen his body, but preferred frequenting brothels to listen to music.

In Chu Ming's view, this was the definition of being unlearned and a behavior of waiting for death while rotting away.

In the Great Qin Dynasty, foreign tribes eyed the land covetously, and demons and evil spirits ran rampant.

For a youth like the original owner, those with ambition would either strive for official rank to secure a government post or don armor to join the army and kill enemies on the battlefield.

Even without grand aspirations, at sixteen years old, one should at least be able to support a small household.

It could only be said that the original owner was born lucky; even if he was a layabout, his wealthy merchant father wouldn't let him starve, and he didn't have to worry about food or clothing.

But no matter how good one's fate was, it couldn't withstand such self-destruction. The original owner spent his days obsessed with travelogues, skipping meals, and over time, his constitution became so weak that he lacked the strength to walk, eventually passing away one night...

"Xiao Shan, why is there no meat in the morning porridge today?"

"Young Master..." The maidservant looked somewhat flustered, "The head wife hasn't sent anyone to deliver this month's silver yet."

"Is there no savings left?"

"It was all used by Young Master to buy travelogues and storybooks..."

He deserved to starve!

Chu Ming gulped down the morning porridge in a few mouthfuls. It lacked flavor, but he couldn't afford not to eat; this body was far too frail.

The little maidservant swallowed her saliva involuntarily. Didn't the Young Master hate white porridge the most before?

"Is there any more?"

"Gurgle... yes, there is a little bit..."

Chu Ming looked at the flustered maid and gently patted her hair: "Oh, you drink it."

"Ah? Young Master isn't drinking anymore?"

"I'm full."

Chu Ming walked to the desk, sat cross-legged, and picked up a travelogue titled Sword Gourd Travels to read.

The content of Sword Gourd Travels was similar to what he had read in his past life, telling the story of a knight-errant who, with a sword and a gourd, traveled across mountains and rivers in search of immortals.

Seeing the Young Master reading a travelogue right after eating, worry appeared on Xiao Shan's slightly flushed face.

The serious illness the Young Master had suffered before was caused by reading those very travelogues.

But she was only a little maidservant; she couldn't interfere with whatever the Young Master chose to do.

Chu Ming glanced at the departing maid and continued reading Sword Gourd Travels with a calm expression.

At the same time, several lines of text appeared before his eyes.

[Reading (Entry-level): Ten lines at a glance]

[Progress: 90/100]

"Almost there. If I read for one more day, the progress should be full."

On the second day after he transmigrated, this panel-like object appeared. He didn't need to think twice to know what it was.

To put it in layman's terms, it was a golden finger panel for grinding skills.

In ten days, he had tried many things, such as boxing or wielding weapons, but no other skills had appeared.

He pondered it and concluded it must be related to the foundation the original owner had built by reading travelogues for years.

As for the rest... his flailing was worse than flowery fists and embroidered legs, completely devoid of technique, and with his frail body, how could he possibly trigger a skill?

In the small courtyard outside.

Xiao Shan carried the empty bowl toward the kitchen.

"Did the Young Master finish it?" asked an old man with slightly gray hair but a straight, upright posture.

"Ah... Good morning, Steward Fang. The young master finished it in just a few gulps."

"He didn't ask for more?"

"He did..." Xiao Shan recalled the young master's expression and hesitated, "but it seemed like he didn't, either..."

"You little girl, are you playing games with Old Man Fang?"

"No, Steward Fang, Xiao Shan wouldn't dare."

"Call me Old Man Fang!"

"Old Man Fang, Xiao Shan feels like the young master has changed."

"Oh? How has he changed?"

Inside the room, Chu Ming's gaze was like a torch as he swept rapidly through the travelogue.

With over twenty lines of text per page, he could finish reading one in two or three breaths.

Progress: 91... 92... 93...

At high noon, when Chu Ming had finished the majority of the travelogue, the text on the panel stopped flickering with progress numbers.

[Reading (Minor Accomplishment): Eidetic Memory]

[Progress: 1/100]

He had finally grinded his way to the next stage.

"From Entry-level to Minor Accomplishment, 'reading ten lines at a glance' has evolved into 'eidetic memory'..."

Chu Ming closed his eyes slightly, recalling the contents of Sword Gourd Travels.

Reading ten lines at a glance meant reading fast, but also forgetting fast; he hadn't retained much, feeling more like he was just skimming the surface.

But with eidetic memory...

He waited for about half a quarter of an hour, until he had basically forgotten what he had just read, before picking up the travelogue to read it again.

This time, not only did he read quickly, but the content he saw seemed to be carved into his brain. After flipping through a dozen pages, he still clearly remembered everything that came before, and could even recite it.

"With 'reading ten lines at a glance' combined with 'eidetic memory,' this skill—if nothing else—makes reading the Classics or military strategy to earn a scholarly title quite simple."

"It's just that the progress bar seems to have slowed down significantly."

After reading the entire Sword Gourd Travels, his reading progress for Minor Accomplishment had only increased by two points; compared to before, the difference was not just a little bit.

He set Sword Gourd Travels aside and picked up other travelogues to read.

The original owner hadn't left him much money or property, but there were truly many travelogues—over twenty of them.

He flipped through them one by one, and his [Reading] progress grew slowly.

By the time all the travelogues had been read through again, the progress had barely reached 20.

After that, no matter what he did, the progress would no longer change.

The stories in the twenty-plus travelogues were all firmly memorized; he could recite the next page automatically after seeing the first, so how could the progress possibly increase?

"I must need new books..."

"But buying books costs money, and nourishing this body also costs money..."

Chu Ming put down Sword Gourd Travels, walked out of the room, and stretched his limbs in the courtyard.

Grinding skills looked simple, but it was actually quite grueling.

If it weren't for his patience exceeding that of an ordinary person, sitting there so dryly for the better part of a day wouldn't be an easy task—the original owner excluded.

After walking a few laps, a sense of exhaustion welled up in his heart.

"Young master, go back and rest." Steward Fang, who was sitting under the eaves, saw this and said in a flat tone.

"Mm."

Although he was somewhat unwilling to admit that this body was truly frail, Chu Ming really couldn't hold on any longer.

He returned to his room to rest, and the night passed in silence.

The next morning, after Chu Ming finished breakfast, he flipped through a few travelogues, but his [Reading] progress barely budged, stuck at 23 and refusing to move.

With no other choice, he began to try throwing punches, slapping his palms, and kicking his legs, stiffly practicing some martial arts movements he had seen in his past life, attempting to grind out a skill similar to a martial technique.

However, after tossing and turning for the better part of an hour, no martial arts skill appeared, and he was instead left utterly exhausted.

After resting for a moment, he came to the courtyard and sat down to flip through the travelogues.

Suddenly, a knock came at the gate. Xiao Shan wiped her hands and trotted over to open it.

"Xiao Shan, have you thought clearly about what I told you last time?" A slightly sharp voice rang out.

"Qin Gui!" Xiao Shan was so frightened she took two steps back.

Hearing the sound, Steward Fang rushed over, his expression cold as he blocked the doorway.

The moment Qin Gui saw Steward Fang, fear flashed across his face.

"Steward Fang, no, that... this one is just here to deliver the monthly allowance." As Qin Gui spoke, he took the silver from his bosom and handed it over.

Monthly allowance?