Who in their youth hasn't fantasized about a miraculous encounter? Especially when this thing probably used to be a genuine supernatural artifact.
At this moment, Chen Shouyi did not notice that the finger he had stopped from bleeding with a band-aid had a thin stream of blood slowly seeping through the gaps, as if being drawn, toward the wooden board.
The moment the blood made contact.
The wooden board emitted a faint glow, as if eager to vanish without a trace.
Simultaneously, Chen Shouyi's brain felt like a bell's thunderous ringing, his body shuddered, and he collapsed limply to the ground, unconscious.
...
Uncertain how much time had passed, he felt as though he had traversed a long darkness, and in a half-dazed state, light appeared again in his eyes.
He gradually regained his senses, opening his eyes. As soon as he did, he instinctively gaped, his eyes widening in disbelief.
In front of him was a circular space with a diameter of about thirty meters, equivalent to the area of two school basketball courts. The edges of the space were filled with countless swirling gray mist, taking on various shapes, even including the mist beneath his feet.
This discovery startled Chen Shouyi, but he quickly realized there was no danger. It seemed some invisible force was supporting his body, allowing him to walk here as if on flat ground.
After a few tests, he soon relaxed.
The place was permeated with some kind of illusory aura, not only from the mist but also from himself. His body appeared transparent, and his clothes seemed like they would soon dissolve into mist.
In this space, it wasn't just mist. The most striking feature was the small, semi-transparent tree over a meter tall at the center, which was the only thing besides him that could be considered alive.
For some reason, seeing that tree gave Chen Shouyi a sense of blood connection, as if the tree was him, and he was the tree.
The tree was lush and full, its branches spreading widely. Through the sparse mist at his feet, Chen Shouyi seemed to see countless slender twisted roots extending endlessly into the distance.
It was then he noticed that each leaf on the tree flowed with countless images.
Just a slight focus on these images rapidly filled his mind with a flood of information; it was a memory from thirteen years ago.
Stunned, he gazed at the thousands of leaves with flowing phantom-like images: "Could these leaves represent all the memories I've had since birth?"
In that moment, an unfamiliar fear sprouted in his heart, the alert and awe of a human when their own memories are intruded upon.
But this fear quickly faded, and soon Chen Shouyi was overwhelmed by the curiosity within.
He gradually discovered a pattern: the lower the leaf, the older the memory. Memories he had completely forgotten, which he could no longer recall, were clearly displayed here, showing every second of his past experiences with meticulous detail.
He even spotted, at the very bottom, vague yet warm and comforting memories from before he was born.
His face could not hide his amazement; the discovery before him far exceeded the limits of his imagination.
Among the leaves seemed to grow fruits of various sizes, some unripe, some slightly red. Each time he focused, information automatically manifested in his mind.
He found that these represented all the knowledge he had learned since birth.
The largest among these fruits was "Chinese Language," which appeared in his proficiency level as "Mastery," about the size of an apple. As his daily-used mother tongue, it appeared slightly red, standing tall among the other fruits.
As for the rest, not only were they several times smaller, but most were immature, carrying a raw greenness.
He looked at the marbles-sized Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and even smaller Mathematics, English.
Chen Shouyi couldn't help but blush slightly.
Next, with a certain hopefulness, he took a long time carefully distinguishing, finally finding his Martial Arts knowledge on an insignificant small twig.
The Thirty-six Forms of Body Refinement was as tiny as sesame seed, rated as "Beginner," while "Enter Tranquility to Cultivate Self" was even smaller, only as large as a pinpoint, rated as "Uninitiated," hardly noticeable without a closer look. All the messy Swordsmanship from his summer Martial Arts class also stood here, all uninitiated.
Fortunately, with Chen Shouyi's level of shamelessness, he didn't mind these at all now.
"If the leaves and fruits represent memories and knowledge, then what does the trunk represent?"
He looked at the trunk, and this time the information response took much longer than before. Just as Chen Shouyi was about to avert his gaze, the next moment, a complex flood of information frantically surged into his mind.
After a long while, he finally organized this information, his eyes shining with wonder.
It turned out this tree was originally named the Book of Knowledge, crafted from the heart of the primal World Tree by the powerful deity God of Knowledge from another world. During the first invasion war when the other world and Earth merged, this deity attempted to enter this world in person but ended up falling.
His divine artifact, the Book of Knowledge, consequently drifted to Earth.
During the struggle against the world's rules here, the power of the Book of Knowledge disintegrated, and its Divine Power dissipated.
Normally, its power should have faded away long ago, rendered mundane.
However, its essence was inherently powerful, and its abilities were unique, particularly with advanced analytical and computational functions. It gradually found a rare breather during the resistance against the rules and instinctively, or perhaps even willfully, quickly aligned and adapted to this world's rules.
Name: Chen Shouyi
Attributes
Strength: 10.4 (10)
Agility: 10.4 (10)
Constitution: 10.3 (10)
Intelligence: 10.3 (10)
Perception: 10.3 (10)
Willpower: 10.0 (10)
Knowledge: Chinese Language (Mastery 5); Physics (Proficient 12); Chemistry (Proficient 11); Biology (Proficient 10); Mathematics (Proficient 8); English (Proficient 5); Computers (Beginner 6); Cooking (Beginner 5); Thirty-six Forms of Body Refinement (Beginner 5); Enter Tranquility to Cultivate Self (Uninitiated); Swordsmanship (Uninitiated); Archery (Uninitiated)
Energy Accumulation: 1.2
Chen Shouyi felt that the mere hundred or so words in his mind seemed to summarize his entire seventeen years of mediocre life.
But now everything was different!
The information just now allowed him to fully grasp the usage of this "Book of New Knowledge." Presently, it had only one remaining function: the optimization of knowledge.
He glanced at all the knowledge he possessed and chose the Thirty-six Forms of Body Refinement.
"Optimize!"
As soon as the words were spoken, 1 point of his Energy rapidly drained away, leaving only 0.2.
The next moment, his spirit wavered, like entering a dreamland, surrounded by a realm of gray mist, only him practicing the Thirty-six Forms of Body Refinement repeatedly. From the initial clumsiness to gradual fluency, over time, his movements began to subtly change, some useless moves were discarded, while others saw slight adjustments.
Seemingly more in sync with himself.
Unsure how much time had passed, perhaps hours, or maybe days, at some moment, he finally awoke from the dream.
Chen Shouyi quickly recalled, surprised to find his memory of the Thirty-six Forms of Body Refinement incredibly clear, every detail vivid in his mind.
As if he had truly practiced them countless times.
Just as he couldn't resist testing them out in this space, the space suddenly shook, and faintly a voice seemed to echo from afar, ethereal and empty.
...