Father's Bequest: "Wisdom Art"

"No wonder I learned and cultivated so much faster than other people in the real world..." Understanding dawned on Lin Xu.

Having lived a second life, he was more mature and levelheaded than others his age. After breaking through the mystery of the womb, he had set his mind on a path and carefully planned his life according to the success theories he had encountered in his previous life.

For his studies, he got up at five thirty every morning and used the memory palace method to engrave knowledge into his mind. For physical training, he never slacked off, rain or shine. For sleep, he strictly followed scientifically determined sleep cycles, ensuring that none of his sleep stages were interrupted.

Whatever he did, Lin Xu tried to focus his attention and do it to the utmost. Perhaps it was this habit that had awakened his "Focus" talent.

"If I can make it back to the real world alive, the awakened gold talent alone will earn me a three-million bonus. A million a year won't be a dream."

He took a deep breath and suppressed the emotions stirring within him, then turned his gaze to the task bar.

[Task: Become a true disciple of Xuanwei Monastery]

Lin Xu frowned slightly as he looked at the task.

The task was extremely difficult. He was only an outer disciple now, with the rank of inner disciple still standing between him and the position of true disciple.

A true disciple had to distinguish himself among the inner disciples, then be personally tested and accepted by the monastery master. The difficulty was easy to imagine.

If it were simply a matter of securing a place as a true disciple, that would have been one thing. He had confidence in himself, but the Spirit Realm Trial lasted at most a month. Anyone who failed to return to the real world within that time would be permanently assimilated by the Spirit Realm, their self-awareness dissipating until they became something like an NPC in a game.

"Become a true disciple within a month..." Lin Xu murmured, a sudden sense of urgency rising in his heart.

After some thought, he took out the skill book his father had left him.

The Spirit Realm's rules were bizarre. Objects from the real world simply could not be brought in. Even ore taken out of the Spirit Realm could not be brought back in after being smelted into a weapon in the real world.

The only known way to bring real-world items in was to wear them during the first trial, and they had to be ordinary clothes without attributes.

Before unlocking his personal panel, he had been unable to view the item's detailed information.

A flash of golden light nearly blinded him. Lin Xu cried out, "A dark gold skill book?!"

In this world, items were ranked by color: white, cyan, blue, purple, and gold. But even gray trash was already a rare treasure to an ordinary adventurer.

Divided further, items also came in three grades: common, fine, and rare.

Beyond the usual three grades was legendary quality, which raised an item half a rank above its original tier.

Dark gold was still a gold item by rank, but it surpassed the usual three grades and was only half a rank below the legendary crimson divine tier!

A skill book of this rank existed only in legends, even on internet forums. No one had ever taken one out to photograph and show off-because of the close connection between the Spirit Realm and the real world, an item of this rank was enough to stir up a storm across the globe and might even spark a struggle between nations.

Lin Xu looked at the words "Wisdom Art" written in large characters on the book's cover, his face showing both grief and joy.

As he remembered it, his father had been a very ordinary adventurer who had exhausted all his luck just passing the Spirit Realm Trial.

His father had relied on state benefits to secure a job with the Night Watcher Unit and had been careful every time he entered the Spirit Realm. Lin Xu had never expected him to have hidden away such a treasure...

He collected himself and looked at the item description:

Name: Wisdom Art

Rank: Gold legendary

Effect: Intelligence +2, grants the talent "Thought Overclocking," skill learning speed +100%

Requirements: Intelligence 13, spirit 13

Description: Every legend is destined to live a life of sweeping grandeur. Are you ready?

It directly added two points to intelligence, the hardest attribute to raise, and granted a new talent to boot. It truly was worthy of being a dark gold skill!

Best of all, his attributes were just high enough to learn it.

Without hesitation, Lin Xu used the skill book.

Perhaps the book could have fetched an astronomical price of several hundred million in the real world, but he feared he might live to receive the money and not live to spend it. Investing in himself was the most worthwhile choice.

A cool sensation flashed through his mind, and his slightly muddled thoughts instantly became clear. Knowledge he had learned and books he had read streaked through his consciousness like meteors.

If he needed it, a single thought would be enough to clearly recall the knowledge he had acquired in the past.

He looked at his skill bar:

Wisdom Art · dark gold (beginner 0/100): Intelligence +2, skill learning speed +100%

"As expected of a dark gold skill. It added two points of intelligence at the beginner level!" Lin Xu drew a breath and looked at his personal panel.

Sure enough, his intelligence had risen to 15 points, equal to his spirit.

He then looked at his talent bar. Sure enough, besides "Focus," he had gained another talent:

Thought Overclocking (gold · legendary): Consumes a large amount of stamina (or mana, magic power, and other supernatural powers; not unlocked) to put the mind and consciousness into an overclocked state. In this state, skill learning speed +1000%, intelligence +5.

"This talent..." His gaze grew hot as he stared fixedly at it.

Wisdom Art added two points of intelligence, and with the bonus from Thought Overclocking, his intelligence crossed the threshold of 20 points, just barely touching the legendary realm.

People were born with unequal talents. Some had an innate intelligence of 17 or even 18 points, born seeds of legend.

Others had physiques far stronger than ordinary people's from birth, making it easier for them to break through the limits of biology and reach 20 points. They possessed an innate advantage in physique-oriented professions.

These were innate gifts found in only one person in ten thousand. The Spirit Realm merely brought such talents out and gave them concrete form.

Before this, Lin Xu had never dared hope he could obtain a talent of this level. In fact, awakening the gold Focus talent had already filled him with delight.

Now, he could look toward a more distant future...

"Perhaps becoming a Spirit Realm lord is no longer a dream..." His heart burned.

At that moment, he was certain he would be able to complete this difficult Spirit Realm Trial.

Just then, however, a cold current swept through his consciousness, quickly calming him down.

It was the Ice Heart Jade Pendant.

Once calm again, he set off toward the monastery gates.

Xuanwei Monastery occupied roughly a hundred mu, built against a mountainside with halls arranged at varying heights.

The monastery had around three hundred disciples, divided into three strictly ranked levels: outer, inner, and true disciples.

Besides the formal disciples, there were even more menial workers responsible for cleaning and daily chores. They were all children from the sheltered villages near the monastery, and once they turned fifteen, they could enter the outer sect by passing a test.

There were also guardian Dao soldiers. They had no talent for Daoist arts, but possessed natural strength or sturdy physiques. They cultivated the monastery's guardian arts and served as its guards, stationed at strategic routes and outside the mountain gate.

As he crossed the square before the front hall, the morning mist had yet to disperse. Several figures were already leaping and darting around the training ground, their swords flashing like rainbows.

Lin Xu stopped to watch, a sharp glint passing through his eyes.

The martial skills of these outer disciples were nothing special, at most comparable to those of middle school students in the real world. Their three physical attributes hovered between eight and nine points.