The setting sun gently descends, and the drifting clouds gradually disperse.
The entire academy is left with only the third-year students. Green Vine Academy encourages students to study 'independently,' and those about to take the college entrance exam are even more expected to 'proactively' attend evening classes.
Especially the students in the advanced classes, who are required to 'proactively' study until ten at night. However, after the recent incident, Su Tu was not in the mood to continue studying. After taking leave from the teacher, he left the school.
Returning home, the clean living room was empty.
In this life, Su Tu's family was perfect. His mother was an employee of a cross-star company, and his father was a scientific explorer. However, they were often on business trips, so most of the time, Su Tu was home alone.
He tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa, and then the system panel appeared before him.
[Fighting (Initial Tier): 100/300]
[Strengthen Body (Initial Tier): 160/300]
[Culinary Skill (Initial Tier): 200/300]
[Spiritual Wisdom (Middle Tier): 140/1000]
[Observing Dao (Initial Tier): 10/300]
[Skill Points: 6]
Su Tu received a skill point each time he acquired a new skill or leveled up a skill, but he couldn't allocate it to his existing skills, so he didn't pay much attention to the skill point he had just received.
His main focus was on the newly acquired skill.
"How can I improve the proficiency of the Observing Dao skill?" Su Tu pondered thoughtfully.
The system panel objectively defined skills. Just like how he activated the Fighting skill by learning traditional boxing, but traditional boxing wasn't categorized as a skill, rather a method and technique of fighting, similar to the knowledge of mathematics and physics.
They are all ways to improve skill proficiency, but there was no way to enhance the proficiency of Observing Dao.
Because he merely activated the skill by looking at a painting without mastering any techniques.
Thus, there was no way to improve the proficiency of Observing Dao.
"The Observing Dao skill is definitely important, and it might even be the stepping stone to uncovering the 'truth' of Martial Arts Dao. Furthermore, it can enhance both Spiritual Wisdom and Strengthen Body. The cost-performance ratio is very high, I must quickly figure out how to improve its proficiency."
Su Tu had long noticed that proficiency enhancement wasn't singular, just like how his daytime boxing training elevated Fighting proficiency while simultaneously boosting Strengthen Body proficiency. This is because fighting inherently involves physical movement, and the two skills complement each other.
And the fact that Observing Dao can enhance the proficiency of two skills at once makes its cost-performance value extremely high.
"Could it be that painting I saw during the day..." Su Tu suddenly recalled the scroll that activated his Observing Dao skill.
"Wait a minute, that painting... seemed to have nothing on it!!"
He recollected the memory, but was shocked to discover that in his recollection, the painting hanging on the wall was a blank piece of paper!!
Yet... what he saw back then...
Before Su Tu could think deeper, the blank scroll in his memory emitted a radiant, misty glow, reminiscent of early dawn.
The next moment!
He found himself once again in that wondrous scene, with Heishan trembling beneath his feet, Cyan Snake hissing atop the mountain, fierce tigers crouching in ambush, and two moons hanging in a solitary sky.
Observing everything around him, a mysterious insight surged within his heart. He breathed in a special rhythm, a force welling up within him, as rays of light emerged around his body.
This time, he managed to hold on longer than during the day, lasting about half a minute, before his breathing halted and the rhythm was disrupted, causing everything around him to dissolve.
Upon awakening, he was drenched in sweat, feeling sticky and uncomfortable. When he wiped his hand, he was surprised to find it covered in a black substance that had a faint stench.
"Ugh, what is this?" Unable to stand the sensation, Su Tu quickly went into the bathroom to take a shower.
[You completed one Observing Dao, Observing Dao proficiency +10]
[Observing Dao (Initial Tier): 20/300]
As Su Tu showered, he read the notifications before him, frowning slightly.
"This time, it didn't concurrently boost Spiritual Wisdom and Strengthen Body. Was the first enhancement a newbie benefit?"
Su Tu's thoughts wandered. This time, Observing Dao didn't enhance Spiritual Wisdom and Strengthen Body but expelled some black gunk from his body instead.
Moreover, Su Tu felt his senses had become sharper, his previously near-sighted eyes now clear.
Glancing out the window, he could even see a caterpillar wriggling on the pine tree below.
"My body has transformed..." Su Tu marveled at the changes within himself.
"Could it be that Observing Dao's effect is to continuously transform and enhance my body?"
Recalling the black substance expelled earlier, it closely resembled the impurities discharged from a protagonist's body in his previous life's novels.
If that's the case, then this skill is extraordinary!
Having gone through this experience, Su Tu understood how to perform Observing Dao. By imagining the scene in the painting, he could enter it, though it drained a significant amount of energy.
Furthermore, that unique breathing method couldn't be maintained in reality; it could only be sustained within the illusion.
Su Tu attempted to re-enter Observing Dao, but found himself unable to visualize the scene in the scroll, clearly indicating that he lacked the stamina to support another foray into Observing Dao.
"I initially thought I could slack off by using Observing Dao to enhance Strengthen Body and Spiritual Wisdom. It seems I still have to progress step by step."
"My academic scores are already sufficient. In the upcoming period, I should set a small goal to raise Strengthen Body and Fighting to Middle Tier. That way, even if Martial Arts Dao is included in the college entrance exam, I'll have some confidence!"
Su Tu contemplated briefly and settled on his objective.
Changing into black sportswear, he headed out.
Donning headphones and starting a random playlist, Su Tu stretched briefly, chose a direction, and started running.
Under the hazy moonlight, a gentle evening breeze arose, and the boy ran beneath the moon, as if chasing the Celestial Palace.
Meanwhile.
A woman walking home from a night shift wore an exhausted expression.
She had worked overtime for half the day and had almost been taken advantage of by a stupid customer, only to end up signing a small deal.
A 130,000 yuan deal, which netted her a mere 300 yuan commission, a pitiful amount that would bring tears to the eyes of even cattle and horses.
"I really don't want to live anymore, I'm tired of it!" she lamented. She had said such words countless times, but it was nothing more than a complaint. Life is an unrelenting millstone, and if they slowed down, people like them would be ground into dust.
Her parents were already old, and she had a brother back home waiting for her support. She wasn't exactly afraid of dying, but she couldn't afford to.
The night breeze grew colder, prompting her to wrap her arms tightly around herself, quickening her pace for some inexplicable reason as a sensation of prickling unease crept up her back.
"Is it really so..." A sudden voice broke the silence, as if fingernails were scraping a chalkboard, raspy and harsh.
"Who, who's there!?" she cried out in terror, goosebumps erupting all over her body.
She looked around but failed to see a soul.
"The pressure must be too much, I'm hearing things." She rubbed her temples and quickened her pace further.
But then!!!
A slick sensation suddenly engulfed her entire body, and out of nowhere, a pitch-black figure appeared behind her, wrapping her in an embrace. Large clumps of mud fell to the ground as a clammy hand clamped over her mouth, silencing any cries and leaving her wide-eyed in terror.
Powerless, her handbag dropped to the ground, scattering makeup items everywhere, as a raspy whisper tickled her ear.
"If you're truly sick of living, lend me your life..."
The dim streetlights flickered, and as impossible force squeezed her bones to the point of breaking, her body was squashed like a pile of muck, absorbed into that shadowy figure.
The spine-chilling sound of chewing echoed in the darkness, making one's skin crawl.
"The taste of hairless monkeys is truly revolting. If it weren't for the depletion of vital energy coming to this star, I wouldn't even consider such weak fare," it grumbled.
The twisted figure coalesced beneath the streetlight into a tall silhouette, its face sporting gill-like features, with crimson eyes oozing mud-like liquid.
It gazed intently toward a nearby corner, the red glow in its eyes intensifying, drool inadvertently trickling from its mouth.
"So full of vitality. Who would've thought this Ancestor Star of hairless monkeys harbors such delectable food?"
As its drool spattered onto the ground, a sizzle of corrosion pierced the air, leaving small pits in the cement floor.
The streetlamp flickered intermittently, and at some point, the distorted figure vanished without a trace, leaving only a forgotten little makeup bag behind....
The youth in black sportswear happened to round the street corner at that moment, his silhouette half-concealed in the night.