The Second Destiny Treasure Chest

Meanwhile, Shi Quan was strolling through the academy with his parents, chatting and laughing.

Although Notting Academy looked grand and imposing from the outside, it was not actually as large within as one might imagine. Aside from the dormitory buildings, there were two teaching buildings, two sports fields, and a cafeteria building. In less than an hour, the three of them had finished walking around the academy.

After sitting down to rest and chat for another half hour, Shi Jian and Li Meili reluctantly said goodbye to Shi Quan, even though it was still afternoon.

There was still some distance from Notting City back to Stone Family Village. Traveling during the day was more convenient and much safer. Douluo Continent was not like China; wild beasts could attack travelers on the roads between towns and villages at night. To be safe, Shi Jian decided to head back earlier.

Partings were always painful.

Outside the gates of Notting Academy, Shi Quan watched Li Meili, her eyes red from crying, wave to him again and again from the carriage. His own eyes could not help reddening as well.

Watching his parents gradually disappear into the distance, Shi Quan let out a long breath. After standing there blankly for a while, he did not return directly to the academy. Instead, he headed straight outside it.

He needed to find a quiet place where no one would disturb him so he could extract the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art.

The description of the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art had specifically warned him to be careful. Afraid that something might go wrong during the transfer process, he decided to extract it somewhere safe.

Before long, Shi Quan stopped outside a small inn not far from Notting Academy.

"Auntie, could you help me rent the cheapest room?"

Shi Quan's voice came from below the counter. At six years old, even standing on tiptoe, he could barely reach its height.

The clerk behind the counter was clearly startled for a moment before realizing that someone had appeared in front of it. She leaned over the counter, looked at Shi Quan's childish face, and smiled. "Little friend, where are your family members? Why did you come here alone?"

Shi Quan put on a troubled expression. "Auntie, I'm from Notting Academy. There are too many people at the academy today, so I wanted to rent a room here and rest somewhere quiet. I'll return to the academy later."

"You're from Notting Academy?" The look in the clerk's eyes visibly changed.

"Mm, impressive, right?" Shi Quan puffed out his chest, wearing an expression that plainly said, I'm a Soul Master. I'm amazing.

The clerk burst out laughing. "All right, little Lord Soul Master. If you're only resting for a while, ten Copper Spirit Coins will do. Is that okay, little Lord Soul Master?"

"No problem." Shi Quan nodded, rummaged through the money pouch in his robes, and took out ten Copper Spirit Coins to hand to the clerk.

When Shi Jian and Li Meili left, they had given Shi Quan an entire year's worth of living expenses. He was a little rich man now. Ten Copper Spirit Coins were nothing to him.

After taking the money, the clerk quickly led Shi Quan to a small room of less than ten square meters. The room was nearly bare, with nothing but a bed.

Shi Quan was not picky about the environment and did not complain. He merely reminded the clerk again that he wanted to rest quietly and did not wish to be disturbed.

After the clerk nodded in agreement, Shi Quan inspected the room once more. He locked the doors and windows from the inside, drew the curtains, and then sat cross-legged on the bed.

"Open the System Space."

With a thought, the scene before Shi Quan's eyes changed. Looking at the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art before him, he took a deep breath and silently said, "Extract."

The instant his words fell, boom! Shi Quan felt as though something had exploded in his mind. Countless memories and pieces of knowledge surged through his mind like crashing waves.

At the same time, Shi Quan felt a cold aura and a scorching aura suddenly enter his body. These two auras were extremely strange. They could not truly be called cold, nor could they truly be called hot. Wherever they passed, his meridians, flesh, and blood trembled uncontrollably. Even the Soul Power within him was suppressed by the two auras, lying motionless in his Dantian like stagnant water.

"Is this the trace of Yin Yang Power attached to the Divine Art?"

Before he could think further, as more and more memories and knowledge flooded into his mind, Shi Quan gradually fell into a muddled, unconscious state.

At first, the two auras intertwined and drifted aimlessly through Shi Quan's body. But as his consciousness sank deeper, the two auras seemed to be drawn by something. They suddenly began circulating through Shi Quan's meridians along a peculiar route.

At the same time, the Soul Power that had been as still as stagnant water suddenly began to boil. Drawn along by the two auras, it actually started circulating with them.

Even stranger, as they continued circulating, the Soul Power within Shi Quan's body began to evaporate. More accurately, it was being transformed into a power similar to those two special forces. The transformation was not fast. Each time the two auras completed a circuit through Shi Quan's body, only a portion of his Soul Power would be converted.

Shi Quan had no idea how many times the two auras circulated within him. Eventually, they quieted down and settled into his Dantian along with his remaining Soul Power.

Shi Quan then collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

"Hm?"

After an unknown amount of time, Shi Quan slowly sat up from the bed, clutching his swollen, aching head. It took him a long while to regain his senses.

The first thing he did was examine the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art in his mind.

The next moment, its contents appeared as clearly as if they had been branded into his mind. Vast, boundless knowledge instantly unfolded before him.

After merely skimming through the contents of the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art, Shi Quan remained stunned for a long time.

The main reason was that it contained far too much. Inner Strength Cultivation Methods, external cultivation techniques, Light Body Techniques, Force Techniques, fist techniques, palm techniques, Footwork, and more—it was all-encompassing. No wonder it was called the greatest technique in Jin Yong's parallel world, without equal.

There was simply too much content. For a moment, Shi Quan did not even know what he should choose.

But he had no time to think about it now. At some point, the sky beyond the curtains had changed from bright daylight to darkness. Because he had been unconscious, he had no idea how long he had slept. He needed to return to the academy first.

When he walked out of the inn, the stars were already high in the sky.

Fortunately, the inn was not far from the academy. Shi Quan hurried back, and before long, he had returned to Notting Academy.

Once inside the academy, Shi Quan finally slowed down. As he walked toward the dormitory, he continued examining the techniques in his mind.

"You're cheating! We're sparring, not playing hide-and-seek!"

After walking for only a short while, Shi Quan's attention was suddenly caught by an angry cry from nearby.

Following the sound, Shi Quan saw two figures chasing each other across the sports field.

"Ding! Congratulations, Host, for encountering the Daughter of Destiny. A Destiny Treasure Chest has been triggered and opened for the Host. Rewards obtained: one copy of the novel Douluo Continent, one Critical Hit Card!"

Hearing the voice in his mind, Shi Quan immediately stopped in place.

"The Daughter of Destiny? Xiao Wu?"

Shi Quan's expression became rather complicated as he looked toward the sports field.

That was right. The people on the sports field were Tang San and Xiao Wu, who had come out in the middle of the night to fight because they had nothing better to do.

At noon, he had encountered Grandmaster but had not triggered a treasure chest. He had thought that only Tang San could trigger them.

Yet now, upon meeting Xiao Wu, the system had triggered another treasure chest.

"Tang San is Douluo's male protagonist, while Xiao Wu is its female protagonist. Going by the usual logic of novels, if there are 'righteous' male and female protagonists, then there should also be fated great villains to correspond with them. Does that mean..."

As he thought of this, Shi Quan's eyes lit up.

The trigger conditions for the system's treasure chests were truly impossible to pin down. Still, judging from the two Destiny Treasure Chests triggered today, there was a very high chance that his guess was correct.

"The two greatest 'villains' in Douluo are naturally Qian Renxue and Bibi Dong, the two future Gods."

Thinking of those two, Shi Quan could not help shaking his head. Their identities were not something he could come into contact with right now. He had no chance to prove his theory and could only wait until later.

His attention returned to Tang San and Xiao Wu, who were still chasing each other around the sports field.

"This movement resembles the Mystic Wave Microstep somewhat. Left, left, back, right... If Xiao Wu chases toward the back right, she'll have a chance to Bind Tang San."

As he watched the two spar, the thought naturally surfaced in Shi Quan's mind. Shi Quan, who had been watching with great interest, suddenly froze. His pupils contracted sharply. "How do I know that?"

"No... Have I become... Wang Yuyan?"

The Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art contained a vast number of Martial Arts manuals. Once that knowledge had been transferred into Shi Quan's mind, it had been directly branded into his memories. Although he had not learned the techniques yet, every principle of martial arts had appeared within his consciousness as though it were his own memory.

He was now like Wang Yuyan from Jin Yong's novels: someone who had read the manuals of countless sects and schools, able to easily see through the techniques and moves of others, a profound martial arts theorist.

The sort who knew nothing personally and could only talk.

Even so, it was enough to shock Shi Quan. Simply receiving the martial arts knowledge of the Divine Art had brought his theoretical understanding to such a level. Once he cultivated and learned it, what level would his Martial Arts attain?

At that thought, Shi Quan felt a surge of excitement. He no longer paid attention to the two still chasing and sparring on the sports field. He continued toward the dormitory while inspecting the items that had just come from the treasure chest.

The system storage space.

The slot that had originally contained the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art had become a blue book with the words Douluo Continent written on it. Another slot had appeared beside it, containing a card of interwoven gold and silver, with the words Critical Hit written across it.

Douluo Continent: One copy of the original Douluo Continent novel.

Note: The book will be transferred into the Host's mind in the form of consciousness.

Critical Hit Card: Can trigger a critical hit on rewards obtained from treasure chests, doubling the reward or upgrading it into something better.

Note: Use after opening a treasure chest. There is no best, only better.

The descriptions of these rewards were very simple. Though they offered Shi Quan no direct practical help at the moment, they still made his eyes light up.

The appearance of Douluo Continent in particular delighted him. After all, a transmigrator's greatest advantage was knowing the future of the world.

He did not know how good other transmigrators' memories were. He had read Douluo Continent too, but it was a novel of over a million words. Even if someone had just finished reading it, if asked about certain details right away, an ordinary person would definitely be unable to answer. He was exactly that kind of person, let alone now.

Six years had passed since he transmigrated to Douluo, and he had read Douluo several years before that in his previous life. After so many years, forget the details—he had even forgotten parts of the main plot. If someone asked him about Douluo's setting, factions, and such, he could still explain a thing or two. But if they asked about the timeline of the plot's development, then sorry, he was not even sure himself.

However, the appearance of this original Douluo Continent novel had solved that problem for Shi Quan.

Two words: total control. With the original novel in hand, every description would be crystal clear. If he still could not take full advantage of it, then he would truly be letting the novel down.

He was not in a hurry to extract the original Douluo Continent novel yet. He had to take things one step at a time. Though he had forgotten much of the main plot, he still knew that Tang San would obtain his First Spirit Ring tomorrow. His most urgent task was to decide which Martial Arts he would cultivate. The Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art contained too many techniques, and he could not cultivate all of them. He understood the principle that biting off more than one could chew would only lead to failure.

Therefore, he had to choose a few Martial Arts from the Divine Art that suited him best.

The academy was especially quiet at night. Students and teachers were rarely seen. Along the way, Shi Quan had only seen Tang San and Xiao Wu sparring on the sports field. Even the dormitory building, noisy during the day, was quiet now.

When Shi Quan returned to the dormitory, he found that nearly everyone inside was cultivating.

Cultivating after dark was a Soul Master tradition. The families of these ordinary students almost all had Soul Masters among their elders, so they had naturally developed this habit.

Seeing this, Shi Quan did not make much noise. After briefly cleaning up and settling in, he quickly climbed onto his bed and began sorting through the vast amount of knowledge in his mind.

It could not be helped. There was simply too much recorded in the Divine Art. Even for Light Body Techniques alone, more than ten varieties were included. If Shi Quan wanted to read through all the contents of the Divine Art thoroughly and carefully, he would not be able to finish even if he spent an entire day and night on it.

He could only first categorize all the techniques according to their names and general contents, then choose Martial Arts suited to him based on their brief descriptions.

Fortunately, this knowledge and these memories had been directly branded into Shi Quan's mind. If the Nine Yin and Nine Yang Divine Art had been extracted in book form, Shi Quan could not imagine how he would have dealt with it.

Even so, it took Shi Quan a full half hour just to roughly sort the Martial Arts within the Divine Art into Inner Strength Cultivation Methods, External Strength Cultivation Methods, Light Body Techniques, Force Techniques, Basic Techniques, and Enemy Killing Techniques.

Once he had finished categorizing them, it was time for the most crucial part: choosing. Each of the six categories contained many options. If someone with difficulty making choices had faced this, they would likely have broken down long ago.