"Is this the Gray Seal?"
Lin Sheng was a little dazed. He hadn't expected such a pleasant surprise to come so easily.
He just didn't know whether this thing actually worked.
He quickly flipped through the book, skimming the instructions on how to meditate.
The person named Anselia who'd written the notes said that this Gray Seal wouldn't last much longer.
But it looked perfectly fine now, didn't it?
Lin Sheng quickly memorized the meditation method, then flipped back to the page with the Gray Seal.
A line of delicate, tiny text appeared beneath it.
'Gray Seal: Sanctuary.
Warning: Meditating on the Gray Seal requires an extremely high level of mental fortitude. Failure on the first attempt may have severe consequences.'
"Sanctuary? Is that the name of this Gray Seal?" Lin Sheng's heart stirred.
After reading the book for a while, he'd gathered that each Gray Seal had a different effect.
Different Gray Seals were passed down and guarded by the Temples of different regions.
As a result, the Temple Knights in each region, with their different inheritances, had developed fighting styles with their own distinct specialties.
The Gray Seal before him was the one belonging to the Temple of Black Feather City, and it was called Sanctuary.
"I'll try it first. Worst comes to worst, I die." Without another word, Lin Sheng resolutely fixed his gaze on the Gray Seal symbol.
What had happened with the White Card Gang had shaken him badly.
Although nothing else had gone wrong afterward, the White Card Gang had backed down and sent word to Russell's family, saying it had all been a misunderstanding.
But Lin Sheng still felt a fire smoldering inside him.
The White Card Gang had clearly backed off out of respect for Russell's family. Otherwise, a gang of hardened criminals like them would never have let the matter drop.
He needed to get stronger!
Since gaining the ability to enter dreams, he'd never felt so desperate to gain strength and influence.
He had to stare without blinking. Only after more than twenty seconds would the first recording of the Gray Seal count as complete.
Lin Sheng widened his eyes and stared motionlessly at the Gray Seal.
Time passed, second by second.
His eyes began to ache from being held open. The surface of his eyeballs stung faintly, and he desperately wanted to blink.
But he forced himself to hold on.
Soon, the twenty-five seconds he'd counted in his head were up.
Afraid he might have miscounted, he'd added five extra seconds to make sure he'd stared long enough.
He closed his eyes and rested for well over a minute before opening them again.
To his delight, he found that the Gray Seal seemed to have taken root in his mind. Whenever he wanted, he could recall it with ease.
It wasn't just a vague memory, either. Every detail of its intricate pattern was vivid.
"I got it on the first try!" Lin Sheng breathed a sigh of relief.
According to the book, this was what it looked like when someone successfully recorded a Gray Seal for the first time.
What puzzled him was that the book said only people with exceptionally strong wills and mental fortitude could usually succeed on the first try.
Most people needed at least ten attempts to record it completely.
He knew himself well. He had some self-discipline, sure, but calling his willpower exceptionally strong would be a joke.
"Could it have something to do with all those memory fragments I absorbed?" Lin Sheng suddenly wondered.
After quickly memorizing the Sanctuary Gray Seal, Lin Sheng closed the book and recalled it with his eyes shut. The Gray Seal really had lodged itself in his mind.
At the slightest prompting, it appeared before his eyes like a photograph.
"Amazing!" he marveled.
Since the church seemed safe, he decided to stay and test it repeatedly.
The book was also very thick, and he hadn't finished reading most of it, so there was no need to rush.
Lin Sheng stood before the Prayer Altar and carefully read the rest.
Unfortunately, aside from a little information about the Gray Seals, the rest of the book was filled with hymns praising the gods.
The church worshipped Hill, a deity who commanded the light.
He didn't know how long it had been before Lin Sheng's consciousness began to grow hazy. Only then did he realize his dream was about to end.
He closed the book and climbed down, first going outside to quickly shut the iron gate around the courtyard, then closing the church doors. It made him feel that much safer.
Finally, he sat down to rest on one of the rows of neatly arranged pews.
Only then did his consciousness fade completely into darkness.
With a rustle, Lin Sheng flipped over and sprang out of bed.
The moment he woke up, anticipation filled his heart.
He'd charged into the city this time, fully prepared to die, and hadn't expected to make such a major breakthrough.
He'd actually managed to get his hands on the Gray Seal, that mysterious system of cultivation practiced by the Temple Knights.
If he'd had more time, he'd planned to search the church some more.
He might have found something else useful, like equipment.
Sitting down at his desk, Lin Sheng composed himself, closed his eyes, and began recalling the Gray Seal symbol.
To his surprise, the Gray Seal rune, supposedly difficult to master and demanding immense mental fortitude, appeared clearly in his mind in an instant, every detail perfectly distinct.
The Temple's meditation method was very simple.
Once the Gray Seal rune appeared clearly in his mind, he had to focus and fix his attention on one section of its lines.
Then he had to move his focus along the rune, following it all the way to the end.
Successfully following it once counted as completing one cycle of meditation.
Without hesitation, Lin Sheng began trying it out.
To his surprise, bringing the rune to mind was easy. But focusing on its lines and following them with his gaze was far more difficult than he'd expected.
He tried three times in a row before succeeding once.
And even after succeeding, he felt nothing unusual. After completing one cycle, Lin Sheng refused to give up and successfully meditated twice more.
Only then did he feel his mind grow thoroughly drained. Sleepiness washed over him, and he went back to bed.
This time, he didn't enter the dream again. He slept straight through until dawn.
Early the next morning, Lin Sheng left home alone with his sword on his back and headed to the club.
The incident before had quietly given him another plan.
He'd gotten through that crisis thanks to Russell's grandfather, but what about next time? He couldn't rely on other people forever, could he?
He knew himself. With his ability to enter dreams, sooner or later he'd end up on an extraordinary path. Rather than sit around waiting for trouble to find him, he might as well prepare in advance.
The vehicle passed one stop after another. After changing once, Lin Sheng soon arrived at the Steel Scale Club.
He got off and strode through the entrance.
The girl at the front desk greeted him with a polite nod and smile.
"Good morning, Coach Lin. You're here early today."
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep, so I came by to take a look. Are they here yet?" Lin Sheng asked casually.
He'd gotten familiar with the others at the club over the past while, and now he spoke with them much more casually.
"Miss Xiayin is here, but the others haven't arrived yet. While you were away, they only came by once in a while," the receptionist replied softly.
Lin Sheng nodded and hurried upstairs.
He passed one practice room after another and soon reached the only room with its door open. He turned right and went in.
Xiayin stood by the window, holding her phone and talking.
When she saw Lin Sheng enter, her pretty face froze in surprise. She quickly wrapped up the call and hung up.
"Coach, why are you here when you don't have a class today?" she asked, puzzled.
"Something's been on my mind, but I need to get your approval first," Lin Sheng said calmly.
"What is it?"
"I'm planning to start a self-defense club and run training courses on self-defense and counterattacks," Lin Sheng said calmly.
"Self-defense?" Xiayin blinked.
Before you continue