Obtaining 'Innate Skill' (II)

Chapter Sixteen: Obtaining 'Innate Skill' (II)

Sometimes, the ways of the world were just that strange. When faced with an unsolvable problem, all it took was a change in approach, and the so-called problem was no longer a problem at all.

Just like Li Wei now. Looking at the Innate Skill manual in his hand, a faint smile appeared on his face.

All the items in Shadow Street's market were supposedly "accidentally" obtained by veterans in mission worlds. Since no one knew the origins of specific items, there was no way to trace them.

It was like rare item drops in games. Only those who had fought a particular monster knew what it could drop. If they did not reveal that information, others might never learn where a certain item came from in their entire lives.

As a result, those who knew the drop locations of rare items earned huge amounts of points from them, and "drop information" became an unspeakable secret.

But Li Wei, who now possessed the Eye of Perception, was an anomaly. He only needed to activate the perception skill to learn an item's exact origin.

Just now, he had traded the information on where Guide Manual IV could be obtained, along with a Miao Saber and 4,000 points, for the [Innate Skill] in his hands. Because of this, he had also learned something even more exciting: in Shadow Street, one could spend a certain number of points to reenter a game world one had previously visited.

The points needed to reenter a game world were not many. Combined with the drop location for the Guide Manual IV manual that Li Wei had provided, the veteran immediately realized what an enormous fortune this was. All he needed to do was repeatedly enter that scenario world, find the specific monster, and kill it to obtain Guide Manual IV, which was worth tens of thousands of points.

So when he heard Li Wei's terms for the trade, he agreed without the slightest hesitation.

At first glance, Li Wei seemed to be the one getting the worse deal. In truth, however, he had gained far more. When it came to farming Skill Books and equipment, Li Wei held an absolute advantage that no one else could match.

After selling the remaining Refined Steel Miao Saber for 2,200 points, Li Wei packed up his stall.

He now had 2,950 points left. At a stall selling firearms and ammunition, he spent 100 points on a Glock 18 pistol—the USP from Counter-Strike. This weapon, used as a standard sidearm by police forces in many countries, was something Li Wei had often seen in military magazines. It also fulfilled a childhood dream of his.

The skill Precision was indeed as useful as the stall owner had claimed. Although it was only LV1 at the moment, it had already turned Li Wei, who had never received shooting training, into an expert marksman.

Of course, the improvement granted by an LV1 skill was limited. So Li Wei bought all the Skill Books for Precision LV2 through LV4 from several stalls. He also bought a copy of Shooting Mastery. These Skill Books were common items, and together they cost less than 400 points, making them much cheaper.

After learning Precision LV2 through LV4 and Shooting Mastery, picking up the pistol felt completely different. The formerly cold metal now seemed alive, like an extension of his arm.

He aimed and fired with movements even more standard than those of a professional soldier. A single bullet accurately struck a copper coin Li Wei had placed dozens of meters away, producing a crisp ring.

Li Wei nodded in satisfaction. Compared with powerful close-combat abilities, long-range shooting skills were more practical, and more importantly, much cheaper to learn.

Putting away the pistol, Li Wei took out the hard-won Innate Skill manual.

"Learn 'Innate Skill'!"

Li Wei stared intently at the little blue-bound book in his hand. In an instant, it transformed into countless motes of light and burrowed into his body.

At the same time, endless information surfaced in Li Wei's mind, shifting rapidly like a moving film. Only after a long while did Li Wei open his eyes again and inspect his body.

Compared with passive skills like Precision and Shooting Mastery, learning Innate Skill had caused dramatic changes to his body. First, his tendons, bones, and muscles had clearly become stronger. Every muscle and every bone had been reinforced. In addition, a mass of dense white mist had appeared in his lower abdomen, at the place Daoists called the "dantian."

The mist formed a small vortex. Like an engine, it supplied every part of his body with "extra" strength.

Is this internal energy?

Li Wei felt that the vortex within him was like a clear spring nourishing his body. As long as that mass of mist remained, he would possess inexhaustible strength.

"Number 1987: Human (Martial Artist), Strength 7, Agility 7, Spirit 11, Stamina 5, Internal Energy 30; Skills: Innate Skill, First Layer; Precision LV4; Shooting Mastery; Overall Rating: E2!"

He stretched his arms, and a surge of force traveled from his waist and back straight into his arms, producing a series of crackling pops. Even if a wild bull stood before him now, Li Wei was confident he could knock it down with a single strike.

The attributes granted by the first layer of Innate Skill had thoroughly remade every part of his body. He was like an athlete who had trained for years, brimming with explosive power and strength.

If he had to sum it up in one sentence, it would be: This feels incredible!

And this was only the first layer of Innate Skill. If he reached the seventh layer, Li Wei did not dare imagine how powerful he would become.

Filled with excitement, Li Wei took out Cloud-Piercing Palm. Like the Innate Skill manual, the book transformed into particles and entered his body after he confirmed that he wished to learn it.

This time, Li Wei clearly felt an overwhelming flood of information crashing into his brain. Like someone who had squatted for too long and suddenly stood up, he experienced a brief spell of dizziness and even felt the urge to vomit.

The feeling came quickly and faded just as fast. In a daze, a virtual human figure appeared in his mind and began demonstrating an exquisite palm technique. This palm technique clearly utilized internal energy. Countless white strands representing internal energy circulated through the virtual body, and every movement was imprinted in Li Wei's mind as deeply as characters carved into stone.

Li Wei was once again awed by this method of learning. Compared with people who spent long periods mastering a skill, his learning speed could only be called monstrous. If this method of imprinting knowledge directly into the mind could be popularized, people might be born as omnipotent superhumans.

By the time Li Wei emerged from the deserted alley, he was completely different from before. His gaze was restrained, and the muscles throughout his body were taut without being bulky, giving him the air of a drawn bow ready to be released.

With the first layer of Innate Skill and the first stance of Cloud Piercing Palm, these two ultimate techniques had forcibly raised Li Wei's Strength and Agility to 9 and 10. That was a full doubling from when he had first entered Shadow Street.

His rating had also risen from E2 to E3.

Li Wei did not remain in Shadow Street any longer and chose to return to the real world.

Just as he had expected, only ten minutes had passed in reality. His coworkers were still bent over their desks, dealing with tedious matters. They had no idea that a familiar colleague beside them had undergone a tremendous change.