A Springboard to the Truth of Martial Arts
The setting sun slowly sank, and the drifting clouds gradually scattered.
By this time, only the third-year students were left at Green Vine Academy.
The academy encouraged students to study independently.
And students preparing for the Gaokao were even expected to voluntarily attend evening study sessions.
Students in the elite classes had it even worse.
They were expected to voluntarily study until ten at night.
But after what had happened earlier, Su Tu had no interest in continuing to study.
He asked his teacher for leave and went home.
When Su Tu returned home, the clean living room was empty.
His family in this life was quite happy.
His mother worked for an interstellar corporation, while his father was an exploration scientist.
However, both of them spent most of the year away on business trips.
Because of that, Su Tu usually lived alone.
He tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa.
Then the system panel appeared before his eyes.
Combat (Beginner): 100/300
Body Strengthening (Beginner): 160/300
Cooking (Beginner): 200/300
Spiritual Wisdom (Intermediate): 140/1000
Dao Gathering (Beginner): 10/300
Skill Points: 6
Every time Su Tu acquired a new skill or raised a skill to a higher level, he received one Skill Point.
However, those Skill Points couldn't be added directly to his existing skills.
Because of that, he hadn't paid much attention to the Skill Point he gained earlier.
His attention was entirely focused on his newest skill.
Dao Gathering.
Su Tu fell into thought.
How am I supposed to increase Dao Gathering's proficiency?
The system's definition of a skill was extremely objective.
For example, Su Tu had unlocked Combat by learning the straight punch.
However, the straight punch itself hadn't been classified as a skill.
It was merely a method and technique used in combat.
It was similar to subjects such as mathematics and physics.
They were all methods that could increase the proficiency of a broader skill.
But Dao Gathering was different.
Su Tu had no idea how to train it.
He had simply looked at a painting and suddenly awakened the skill.
He hadn't learned any actual technique from it.
Because of that, he had no obvious method of raising its proficiency.
Su Tu narrowed his eyes.
Dao Gathering has to be important.
It might even be the springboard that lets me reach the truth behind martial arts.
More importantly, his first attempt at Dao Gathering had increased both Spiritual Wisdom and Body Strengthening.
The efficiency was simply too good to ignore.
I need to figure out how to increase its proficiency as soon as possible.
Su Tu had long since discovered that gaining proficiency wasn't limited to only one skill at a time.
Take the straight-punch training from earlier.
While it increased Combat, it had also increased Body Strengthening.
That was because combat itself required physical movement.
The two skills naturally complemented one another.
And Dao Gathering had increased two other skills at once.
Its value was obvious.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Su Tu's mind.
Could it be that painting from earlier...?
Then he froze.
Wait.
His expression changed.
There wasn't anything on that painting!
Su Tu carefully searched through his memories.
To his shock, he realized that the painting hanging on Lin Feiyang's office wall had been completely blank.
Nothing but white paper.
But what he had seen at the time...
Before Su Tu could continue thinking, the blank painting within his memory suddenly began glowing.
Mist-like radiance rose from it, brilliant and hazy like the first light of dawn.
Then, in the next instant...
Everything changed.
Su Tu once again appeared inside that mysterious landscape.
The black mountain beneath his feet trembled.
The massive green serpent on the summit raised its head and hissed.
The fierce tiger crouched below, filled with killing intent.
Above them, two moons hung silently in the same sky.
One white.
One blood-red.
Looking at everything around him, a strange understanding slowly rose in Su Tu's heart.
His breathing unconsciously changed.
Inhale.
Exhale.
A mysterious rhythm emerged.
A strange force surged through his body.
Faint rays of glowing light appeared around him one after another.
This time, Su Tu lasted longer than before.
Nearly thirty seconds passed.
Then...
His breathing suddenly faltered.
The mysterious rhythm broke.
The entire strange world immediately collapsed and vanished around him.
When Su Tu opened his eyes again, his entire body was drenched in sweat.
His skin felt sticky and uncomfortable.
He wiped his arm.
A layer of black substance came off on his hand.
It carried a faint, fishy stench.
Su Tu stared at it.
What the hell is this?
Unable to tolerate the disgusting feeling, he immediately rushed into the bathroom and began showering.
A system notification appeared.
You have completed one Dao Gathering session.
Dao Gathering Proficiency +10
Dao Gathering (Beginner): 20/300
While standing beneath the shower, Su Tu looked at the notification and frowned.
This time it didn't increase Spiritual Wisdom or Body Strengthening.
Was the first time some kind of beginner bonus?
Random possibilities filled his mind.
Although this attempt hadn't raised Spiritual Wisdom or Body Strengthening, it had forced some kind of black impurity out of his body.
More importantly...
Su Tu could clearly feel that his five senses had become sharper.
His eyesight had also improved.
Before this, his vision had shown faint signs of becoming nearsighted.
Now everything looked incredibly clear.
He glanced out the window.
His eyes suddenly widened.
He could actually see a tiny green caterpillar crawling along the pine tree downstairs.
Su Tu quietly felt the changes in his body.
My body has transformed...
A possibility immediately occurred to him.
Could Dao Gathering's true effect be to continuously transform and strengthen my body?
He remembered the black substance that had been expelled from his skin.
It looked almost exactly like the impurities that protagonists in cultivation novels from his previous life would expel after undergoing some kind of bodily purification.
