Sutra-Copying Boy

"Junior Brother Shen, congratulations! Word has already spread that you placed second in the entry assessment."

"I heard Elder Li of Sword-Coming Peak and Elder Sun of Blackwater Peak both took a liking to you. They're fighting to take you in as a disciple."

"What? That happened?"

"Shut up... this has nothing to do with you."

"Junior Brother, have you made up your mind yet? You have to choose your main peak within three days, or you'll lose your qualification for the Qi-Gathering Ceremony! Out of the goodness of my heart, I'd advise you not to waste your talent by skipping Sword-Coming Peak. That's where sword cultivators like us belong."

The voices around him were a chaotic jumble, filled with every sort of attitude and invitation.

There was flattery, envy... and more than a trace of obvious sourness.

"Mm, yes, yes. Senior Brother is absolutely right."

"Good."

"Ah, right, right, right..."

Shen Qingzhou stood before the outer disciples' quarters, smiling as he nodded at everyone. He fobbed them off, barely managing to deal with them.

His heart was sinking bit by bit.

This is bad. The script is wrong.

Three days had passed.

He had been in this world for three days. He was not some genius who had comprehended Sword Intent at sixteen, but a soul from twenty-first-century Blue Star.

A genius?

He would rather not have that title!

He racked his brains, trying to fit into this world. In the original owner's memories, the immortal path flourished, and cultivation was divided into five major realms: ten levels of Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Purple Palace, Golden Core, and Dao Embryo.

Each step opened into a new heaven and earth.

Foundation Establishment and above—Purple Palace and Golden Core—were realms outer disciples did not even dare dream of. Even in the original owner's memories, they were blurred and hazy, as though veiled by mist.

And yet, he had not even touched the threshold of the first level of Qi Refining. Before formally entering Qi Refining, there was another hurdle called Marrow Cleansing. One had to wash away the turbid qi of the mortal body and temper a set of bones capable of containing spiritual qi before one was qualified to speak of the Dao Path ahead.

The entry assessment tested precisely one's accomplishments in the Marrow Cleansing realm: comprehension, innate constitution, and temperament. Not one could be lacking.

At sixteen, the original owner had comprehended Tidal Sword Intent while in the Marrow Cleansing realm. Such insight at that age was exceedingly rare.

That was the reason everyone was flocking to him like ducks.

On the day of the entry assessment, the elders of Sword-Coming Peak, Cinnabar Glow Peak, Heavenly Craft Peak, and Blackwater Peak had all been present. Every peak wanted to identify the promising seedlings and claim them early.

Someone in the Marrow Cleansing realm who could comprehend Sword Intent was one in ten thousand. It truly required extraordinary comprehension.

And this year, there had been two.

Lu Chen, born of the direct line of the Lu Family, had comprehended Sinking Mountain Sword Intent at fifteen.

The other was naturally Shen Qingzhou.

Shen Qingzhou had inherited all the original owner's memories, but those insights regarding Tidal Sword Intent felt like a pile of rigid knowledge, as if a dictionary had been placed before an illiterate man.

He simply could not use them!

Guarding an empty treasure mountain without being able to enter it—what suffering!

Yet what he feared most came to pass. People feared fame just as pigs feared growing fat.

Three days later would be the sect's annual Qi-Gathering Ceremony!

With the immortal path flourishing, competition was bound to be incomparably fierce. The fate of a genius unable to fulfill his talent was easy to imagine... perhaps even worse than that of an ordinary mortal!

No one paid attention to mortals, but everyone watched geniuses.

The slightest irregularity would be magnified.

When the elders became concerned and happened to investigate him, he would be unable to hide anything.

Either they would treat him as trash ruined by qi deviation, or they would discover that his soul was abnormal and regard him as an evil demon who had seized another's body, then extract his soul and refine his spirit.

At the thought of those consequences, cold sweat broke out all over Shen Qingzhou's body, and his heart pounded faster.

With only his bare hands and a bellyful of hot blood, how could he possibly outplay those old monsters who had lived for centuries?

The crowd slowly dispersed. Shen Qingzhou finally let out a breath and shut his door with difficulty.

Looking around, he found the room simply furnished—plain, but tidy.

There was a wooden bed, a desk, and an open copy of the Supreme Clear Heart Mantra. He stepped closer, picked it up, and slowly ran his fingers over it.

Things had already come to this. Panicking would do no good; he might as well calm himself first.

Perhaps his hands itched, or perhaps he wanted to distract himself. He took a deep breath, sat down, ground some ink, dipped his brush in it, and began copying.

The brush tip skimmed across the paper with a soft rustling sound, gradually calming him.

Just as he wrote the tenth character, a line of pale blue text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

[Detected host action: copying a scripture]

[[Scripture Master] profession unlocked]

Is this... a cheat? He nearly threw back his head and let out a long howl, but managed to restrain himself.

With a plop, his hand trembled, and a drop of ink spread across the page.

He did not care about the ink blot at all. He stared fixedly at the panel before him.

[Profession: Scripture Master]

[Level: Sutra-Copying Boy (0/100)]

[Professional abilities: none]

[Note: Read ten thousand volumes, travel ten thousand miles.]

This was a profession panel?

Copying scriptures had unlocked a profession?

Copying sutras... why does that not sound very powerful?

Shen Qingzhou's mind raced.

Was the activation of professions tied to specific actions?

Then how could he increase his progress?

Keep copying?

Never mind. He picked up his brush and patiently continued copying.

When he had copied an entire page of the Supreme Clear Heart Mantra, the text on the panel changed again.

[Copied the scripture Supreme Clear Heart Mantra once. Proficiency +1]

[Scripture Master level increased: Sutra-Copying Boy (1/100)]

[Comprehended professional ability: Focused Concentration]

[Focused Concentration: While copying, mental focus is enhanced and one is less easily disturbed by external things.]

It works!

Though it was only a basic ability, it gave him immense room for imagination! And this was merely the most basic ability.

His thoughts could not help but soar...

He should try copying another one. He still had this one... the Tidal Sword Canon!

Shen Qingzhou took out another scripture. This was the sword canon the original owner had once studied and practiced diligently.

He raised his brush again and began copying.

This time, the feeling was different. Calling it divine assistance would not have been an exaggeration. Every character in the sword canon carried a unique rhythm, and its obscurity gradually faded away.

[Detected host action: copying the scripture Tidal Sword Canon]

[[Scripture Master] profession proficiency +10]

[Scripture Master level increased: Sutra-Copying Boy (11/100)]

[Comprehended professional ability: Unforgettable Recall]

Shen Qingzhou's heart began to race.

Unforgettable Recall!

He immediately stopped writing and closed his eyes. Recalling the contents of the Clear Heart Mantra and the sword canon he had just copied, every character, every stroke, even the ink blot he himself had left behind, surfaced clearly in his mind without the slightest error.

If he had possessed this ability during the college entrance exam, would he not have been a shoo-in for Qinghua or Peking University?

With a sigh of emotion, he continued copying.

[Scripture Master] profession proficiency +10

Scripture Master level increased: Sutra-Copying Boy (21/100)

+10

+10

...

When he finished copying the general outline of the Tidal Sword Canon, his profession level had already reached (91/100).

The text on the panel changed once more.

[Copied the general outline of the scripture Tidal Sword Canon, greatly enhancing the ability to analyze Dao and principle]

[Comprehended professional ability: Infer Ten from One]

[Infer Ten from One: When analyzing scriptures, one may independently deduce and complete related systems of knowledge.]

Ah, I understand!

Delight appeared on Shen Qingzhou's face.

There was no time to mourn the foolish old him. It was time to welcome a true genius!

Now, when he looked at the Tidal Sword Canon in his hands...

The words he had previously failed to understand no longer seemed isolated. They were connected, sharing common characteristics!

How Sword Intent drew upon spiritual qi, how it imitated the rise and fall of the tides, how it accumulated power amid each surge and ebb before unleashing a mountain-toppling, sea-overturning strike... every barrier, every trick, no longer held any secrets from him!

The original owner's talent had allowed him to comprehend Sword Intent through instinct.

But Shen Qingzhou relied on this unreasonable profession panel.

He could grasp this Sword Intent from its very foundations.

He had even deduced several variations from this sword art that the original owner had never considered.

The next step... pay homage to a peak, consume a qi seed, learn cultivation arts, and enter the path of cultivation!

The Qi-Gathering Ceremony three days later, the struggle and contest among the peaks... that would be the real test.

Grind profession proficiency!