Comprehension +100%?!!

He forcibly tamped down his excitement.

Li Jingzhe's gaze moved down to the final item.

Comprehension +100%?!

"Gasp... Even if this isn't heaven-defying comprehension, it's at least profound, mystical comprehension!"

Th-this... How was this some kind of Innate Domain? This was the deep love of Mother Blue Star for her wandering child!

Most importantly, cultivation manuals and martial arts could be spread, and when others mastered them, their cultivation could be returned to him? With a critical boost, too?

Everyone knew the thing the Douluo World lacked most was cultivation methods. Whether they were Soul Masters from ordinary families, Spirit Hall, the two great empires, or the other major powers, everyone relied on meditation to cultivate.

It was no exaggeration to say that if Scoundrel had used the Mysterious Heaven Skill to win people over during the Battle of Jialing Pass, eighty percent of Spirit Hall's Soul Master army would have defected!

But the system was telling him that the cultivation methods and martial arts in the Scripture Depository could be spread?

And as the one spreading them, the instigator, he could enjoy a critical-boost return of their cultivation?

Holy shit!

Wouldn't that send him straight into the stratosphere?

As long as he spread the word, the cultivation methods and martial arts in the Scripture Depository would have no trouble reaching people. And the more people who practiced them, the more cultivation he'd get back with a critical boost!

Where there's a will, there's a way?

Heh. With a cheat, what couldn't he do?

Who said this didn't fit the setting?

It fit perfectly!

Good, good, good—

So he was going to practice martial arts, was he?

He would!

He absolutely had to!

Right now!

With a thought, Li Jingzhe released the Scripture Depository Martial Soul. It flew up and swelled against the wind. In the blink of an eye, it blotted out the clouds and hid the moon, then crashed to the ground with a rumble, sending billowing clouds of dust into the air.

When the dust settled, Li Jingzhe examined the magnificent building before him by the light of the moon. It stood nine stories tall, with a post-and-lintel frame and interlocking mortise-and-tenon joints. Its pillars and doors were lacquered vermilion, its walls laid with blue bricks and tiled roofs. Dignified beasts perched along the ridgeline, and the structure loomed with such grandeur that it was breathtaking, like a divine palace!

Li Jingzhe nodded with satisfaction, his heart suddenly swelling with pride... This was his starting point in this world. From here, he would climb, one step at a time, to the very top!

With his hands behind his back, he strode lightly through the entrance, then lifted his eyes to survey the interior.

Above him was a painted and carved ceiling; beneath his feet were purple-gold bricks adorned with birds and beasts. Lifelike murals covered the four walls, depicting gods and Buddhas across the heavens, Asura and yakshas, demons from hell, and every facet of human life.

Three rows across and three columns deep, nine sets of large bookcases stood within. They were made of rosewood and edged in gilt. Li Jingzhe stepped forward for a look, and—

He couldn't hold it in. He burst out laughing.

Good grief. Nine sets of bookcases, and each one had only a single book on it?

This system sure knew how to put on a show...

He casually summoned a book and glanced at its title... Chongling Sword Technique?

If he remembered right, it was a sword technique Linghu Chong and Yue Lingshan had created in their spare time in the Smiling Proud World, wasn't it?

At best, it was a third-rate martial art.

Li Jingzhe furrowed his brow and summoned another book... Mount Song Mental Method!

Just as he'd expected!

Another piece of third-rate junk!

The Mount Song Mental Method was also from the Smiling Proud World. Zuo Lengchan, the head of the Mount Song Sect, had compiled it from the cultivation methods and martial arts his sect had lost over time... He'd recovered what he could and put it together himself, so gaps were inevitable. That was why Li Jingzhe called it third-rate junk.

The Mount Song Sect and Mount Hua Sect might both be famous orthodox sects, but the martial arts world of the Smiling Proud World was inherently a cut below that of other worlds.

Compared with the Muscle and Tendon Classic, Lingbo Microsteps, and Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique he'd gotten from the starter pack, these really were third-rate junk.

After making the rounds... Seven Injuries Fist, Blazing Blade, Thousand Spider Poison Hand, Leopard Tail Kick, Precept-Breaking Saber Technique, Chongling Sword Technique, Mount Song Mental Method, Iron Cloth Shirt, Triple Cloud Step.

Li Jingzhe was beginning to understand. These nine cultivation methods and martial arts corresponded to fist-and-palm techniques, finger techniques, leg techniques, saber techniques, sword techniques, internal cultivation, external cultivation, and lightness skills!

Quite a flashy array of categories, but every one of them was third-rate junk.

Only the Blazing Blade was remotely interesting. Despite its name, it was actually a palm technique, and it could unleash the rare elemental attacks of the martial arts world. But in the end, it was still nothing special... Give Jiumozhi a few hundred years to study it, and he might actually come up with a path to immortality.

Too bad the Blazing Blade was still far too crude.

The Thousand Spider Poison Hand and Seven Injuries Fist were even worse. They were all about impressive power at the cost of hurting yourself first: one built up poison inside the body, while the other directly drained the five internal organs and the yin and yang energies, making it all too easy to go wrong during cultivation...

As expected, the cultivation methods and martial arts on the first floor were probably all at this level. He wondered what the second floor held...

Li Jingzhe shifted his gaze to the staircase in the corner that led to the second floor... Should he go take a look?

He immediately took the stairs two at a time and reached the second floor, only to find it completely empty. His interest instantly evaporated.

Back on the first floor, he walked past the bookcases and spotted a desk. It, too, was made of fine rosewood with gilt trim. The Lingbo Microsteps, Muscle and Tendon Classic, and Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique from the starter pack were all laid out on top.

Without a second thought, he picked up the Muscle and Tendon Classic as if it were a priceless treasure... This body was already seventeen. He'd been worried he was too old and his bones had set, that he'd missed the best time to practice martial arts. Now he was in the clear. The Muscle and Tendon Classic should perfectly make up for that shortcoming.

He opened to the first page!

[General Principles: Purge the marrow and wash the sinews, transform the tendons and strengthen the bones, turn the rotten into the miraculous]

A towering building rises from level ground. First, he had to lay a solid foundation!

He quickly read through the Muscle and Tendon Classic. Perhaps because he was inside the Scripture Depository, with +100% comprehension, the passages that should have been obscure and difficult to understand were unexpectedly clear. They flowed smoothly as he read, and he understood them thoroughly.

The breathing techniques, the accompanying movements, the routes of circulation, and the acupoints throughout his body were all imprinted in his mind.

As his understanding of the Muscle and Tendon Classic deepened, his breathing quietly changed. The accompanying movements followed, and he began to practice them right where he stood.

Each inhalation and exhalation formed a cycle of its own; every gesture flowed naturally.

Before he knew it, he had completed the set of movements and finished a full cycle. Li Jingzhe settled into his stance and ended the exercise. A light breath escaped him instinctively, expelling a stream of stale air through his nose and mouth. His mind felt clear, his body refreshed, and he was exceptionally at ease.

Then he could clearly feel a pocket of warmth coiling in his dantian... Was this internal energy? Or Soul Power?

He opened the system interface.

[Soul Power Level: 1.25]

[Martial Arts: Muscle and Tendon Classic]

Sure enough, his Soul Power was no longer at zero, and the Martial Arts section now displayed the Muscle and Tendon Classic. It was just that seeing his Soul Power measured to two decimal places was honestly a little too funny...

But the amusement was immediately replaced by a fervent pride rising within him.

Would you believe it?

Scoundrel had practiced the Mysterious Heaven Skill for six years to reach a fake Innate Full Soul Power, while he'd only circulated the Muscle and Tendon Classic for one cycle. According to the text, he was still at the introductory stage of purging his marrow and washing his sinews, yet he'd already cultivated more than one level of Soul Power!

"If the cultivation speed is already this astonishing with just the Muscle and Tendon Classic, what if I practice it together with the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique and Lingbo Microsteps?"

Having tasted the benefits, Li Jingzhe suddenly had an idea.

Purging the marrow and washing the sinews, transforming the tendons and strengthening the bones—those were merely the appetizers, the Muscle and Tendon Classic's basic functions.

Absorbing the strengths of a hundred schools and turning the rotten into the miraculous were its core abilities.

Absorbing the strengths of a hundred schools meant that it could integrate any cultivation method or martial art, greatly raising their potential. You Tanzhi of the Heavenly Dragon World had fused the Muscle and Tendon Classic with the Ice Silkworm's cold poison to master the Ice Silkworm Poison Palm. That was the perfect example!

"The Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique is an exceptionally powerful external art. Once mastered, its palm strikes contain the force of a thousand jun..."

"Lingbo Microsteps is an extremely high-level lightness skill. Based on the positions of the I Ching Sixty-Four Hexagrams, it combines unique breathing techniques with footwork. Every completed cycle of steps can increase one's internal energy..."

"If I practice all three together..."

Li Jingzhe's eyes gradually lit up. He didn't waste a moment.

He quickly read through Lingbo Microsteps and the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique. Just as before, with his comprehension at +100%, every word burned itself into his mind. He remembered it all and understood it thoroughly.

When he moved again, a strange sensation swept over him.

It was as though a compass marked with the positions of the I Ching Sixty-Four Hexagrams had appeared beneath his feet. Each step aligned with the changes of the cycle. The warmth in his dantian stirred and flowed through his body with his movements, purging his marrow and washing his sinews, carrying away impurities. It grew stronger with every cycle, while his hand movements gained a steadier, weightier quality, opening wide and closing with force...

The Muscle and Tendon Classic was still at the core, but Lingbo Microsteps and the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Technique now appeared in every gesture and every breathing cycle!

Li Jingzhe was overjoyed. "It works!!"

Once progress and gains could be measured, effort was no longer dull. At that moment, he seemed to glimpse the hope of becoming a god, completely immersed in the exhilaration of his rising Soul Power.

The combined Muscle and Tendon Classic ran its course naturally. As the saying went, the profound, the more profound still; he'd speak of the Dao for a while, then expound on Zen, and the three schools worked together as one... Again and again, he lost himself in martial arts, utterly oblivious to everything else.

While Li Jingzhe was immersed in cultivation, two graceful figures suddenly appeared on the street outside the Scripture Depository.

"Hey, when did this pavilion appear here?"