As the black symbol in his palm underwent a series of changes, a thick book as black as ink had already appeared in Zhang Yu’s hand.
“Feather Book?”
Looking at the two large characters on the cover, Zhang Yu’s heart stirred slightly with surprise.
Then, following his mental impulse, the black book in his hand began turning pages on its own without any wind, naturally opening to the first page.
“This must be the table of contents, right?”
Looking at the table of contents where, apart from the first line reading “Prologue,” everything below was filled with row after row of blurry, indistinct text that seemed to be pixelated or coded.
Zhang Yu thought to himself: “Does this mean only the prologue is available right now?”
With a thought, he flipped to the prologue. What appeared before him was a character portrait on the left page and rows of data and information on the right page.
“Is this drawing me?”
The character portrait on the left page showed Zhang Yu sitting cross-legged with his eyes gently closed, as if in meditation.
The expression was so lifelike that it gave the impression the figure in the painting was still breathing.
Particularly noticeable was the faint luminescence flowing within the image, which Zhang Yu felt must represent the circulation of magical power within his body.
On the right page were rows of data and information:
Zhang Yu
Dao Heart: Level 1
Magical Power: 7.7
Physical Strength: 0.83 Level
Martial Arts: Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms Level 1, Free-hand Combat Level 1
Dao Techniques: Basic Breathing Method Level 1, Basic Heart Refinement Method Level 1
“This is me?”
“Above are the numerical values for various immortal cultivation qualities. The Dao Heart level matches the school’s testing, which can’t be precise to decimal places.”
“Below are the martial arts and Dao techniques I’ve currently learned?”
Among the four skills listed below, apart from the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms used to improve physical strength, there was also the Free-hand Combat learned in martial arts class for training practical combat ability, the Basic Breathing Method from magical power class for refining magical power, and the Basic Heart Refinement Method for improving Dao Heart—all at the beginner level of 1.
Looking at the numbers above, Zhang Yu thought to himself: “Is this the potential that evil god activated? This book can detect my various attributes?”
“But… it shouldn’t be just this, right?”
“According to what that evil god said, it activated my potential, but what kind of potential is just detection? I can test this at school every day.”
“There should be other wonderful uses.”
Thinking of this, Zhang Yu decided to test it out. He concentrated his attention on the attribute numbers and shouted in his mind: “Feather Book! Add points for me!”
Looking at the completely motionless data in the book, Zhang Yu sighed inwardly that this evil god was really unreliable—it hadn’t activated his potential at all.
Trying to flip to the next page, he discovered it actually read “To be continued” in four large characters.
Recalling the content in the table of contents that hadn’t been displayed yet, Zhang Yu speculated: “What does this mean? Could this ability still be upgraded? Only after upgrading would there be later functions?”
He could only flip back to the previous pages again, constantly concentrating his attention on his rows of data and skills, seeing if he could trigger any effects.
Just as he concentrated his attention on “Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms Level 1,” he suddenly felt that line of text give a slight jump and was actually dragged along, following his mental intention as it moved around the book page.
While Zhang Yu was dragging “Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms Level 1” around the book page, wondering what use this had, when the text touched the character portrait, it suddenly solidified and was directly absorbed by the Zhang Yu in the painting.
With this absorption, Zhang Yu felt as if a clear spring was pouring down from the top of his head. Some indescribable sensation welled up in his heart, making him feel he had established some strange connection with the Zhang Yu in the painting.
At the same time, the originally cross-legged portrait suddenly stood up and actually began demonstrating the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms move by move.
Above the portrait, a line of small text had appeared: Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms Level 1+
Looking at the small “+” at the end, Zhang Yu immediately became excited: “Here it comes! My potential has really been activated!”
His attention quickly focused on the “+”, feeling as if he was pressing it with his thoughts.
The next moment, the “+” became slightly blurred before changing to “(0/10)”.
Then a sudden understanding arose in Zhang Yu’s heart: Practice the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms ten times to complete the martial arts upgrade.
Looking at the “Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms Level 1 (0/10)” in the Feather Book, Zhang Yu thought with surprise: “Just practicing it ten times can upgrade this martial art?”
You have to know that since the start of school, Zhang Yu had practiced the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms countless times, never once feeling like it was about to upgrade.
“Ten times?”
Zhang Yu couldn’t wait to try it out. He stepped forward, and with a bang, his entire body’s flesh and blood twisted like a giant python, exploding with layers of power.
Although when practicing the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms at school, Zhang Yu would use equipment, that was only to increase the effectiveness of training.
Actually, the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms, as the most basic body cultivation martial art, could be practiced with or without equipment. Practitioners could even focus on different directions like strength, speed, or agility according to their preferences.
For example, the original Zhang Yu had chosen a direction of balanced development between strength and speed, without becoming bulky.
Now Zhang Yu could be seen moving back and forth in the small room, his feet making banging sounds on the floor, while his flesh and blood continuously expanded and contracted before gradually heating up.
But before he could practice more than a few moves, cursing voices came from around: “Are you sick?! Tearing down the house in the middle of the night?!”
Zhang Yu immediately stopped, thinking helplessly: “The soundproofing in this rental is too poor—can’t practice martial arts at night.”
Looking at the Feather Book manifesting in his palm, Zhang Yu could barely contain his restless excitement, wanting nothing more than to immediately train intensively and practice the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms ten times in one go to see the effect.
“Why not change locations?”
“I remember there’s an abandoned unfinished building nearby…”
…
In the darkness.
Bang bang bang sounds continuously echoed through the corridors of the unfinished building.
Accompanied by the neon lights from distant streets flashing back and forth, a young man’s figure occasionally appeared in the shadows.
It was Zhang Yu, who had come to the unfinished building to practice the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms.
At this moment, his expression was focused as he practiced the training methods of the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms move by move. After a short while, he was already drenched in sweat, looking steamy with heat.
Zhang Yu had already trained all morning during the day and had finally collapsed exhausted on the ground. Without the assistance of injections, pills, or dietary supplements, practicing the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms now made his whole body feel weak and sore, with every movement and every exertion of strength bringing muscle-tearing pain.
However, thinking about the changes in the Feather Book, his spirits lifted, and he ultimately persevered through completing one full set of the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms.
The gasping Zhang Yu couldn’t wait to open his palm, and the Feather Book manifested again with his mental intention.
Looking at the “Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms Level 1 (1/10)” displayed, Zhang Yu’s face couldn’t help but show a trace of joy.
“Is this my potential?”
“Raising the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms to Level 2… it really seems possible.”
“I’m going to practice ten full sets tonight!”
Zhang Yu couldn’t wait to begin the second set of Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms.
But after just a moment, he collapsed sitting on the ground, feeling as if his hands and feet no longer belonged to him.
“Can’t do it anymore, reached my limit. Looks like I’ll have to try again tomorrow.”
Just as Zhang Yu decided to stop training and rest a bit before going home for a good night’s sleep, a wave of malevolent chill suddenly surged from his heart.
At the same time, a voice also rang out in his mind.
“Please abide by the ritual agreement, work hard to fulfill your wish, do not deliberately slack off or delay. 10.”
“Please abide by the ritual agreement, work hard to fulfill your wish, do not deliberately slack off or delay. 9.”
“Please abide by the ritual agreement, work hard to fulfill your wish, do not deliberately slack off or delay. 8.”
As the voice’s countdown continued, the malevolent chill in Zhang Yu’s heart grew more and more intense, as if something was about to surge wildly from within his body and tear apart all his flesh and blood.
“Ritual… agreement… wish…” He immediately reacted: “Could this be the power of that god-summoning ritual?”
Zhang Yu’s mind immediately recalled what the rag doll had said.
…
“If you choose to refuse to fulfill my wish, or deliberately delay or even fail during the fulfillment process, you will suffer under the ritual’s backlash—flesh exploding and soul scattered.”
…
Zhang Yu thought: “So it’s because I planned to complete the second wish through diligent study, getting into a prestigious university, joining a major sect, and making money.”
“So any slacking off during this process is considered deliberately delaying the completion of the wish?”
“If I don’t listen, will I really die under the ritual’s backlash?”
Hearing that the countdown had unknowingly reached 3, Zhang Yu quickly jumped up.
With a miserable cry, he endured the muscle-tearing pain throughout his body and began practicing the Thirty-Six Body Strengthening Forms.
The moment he began practicing, the countdown completely disappeared without a trace.
