Chapter 4: Skill Tree

Translator: Asuka

Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys

Amidst the crackling sounds, the weak flame flickered and finally died out. The torch inserted in the hidden pillar had burned out. Although the hidden mining tunnel was plunged into darkness, Lu Ye did not lose his sight completely. His surroundings that should have been completely filled with a pitch-black darkness still contained some faint light in his vision. He could see the outline of Manager Yang’s corpse not far away, as well as the cold light coming from the sword he had previously tossed aside…

It wasn’t that the mining tunnel wasn’t dark. It was simply that his eyesight had improved. After unlocking his Spiritual Points, he could clearly feel that his body had undergone some mysterious changes. Even his body that was weakened by injury had given birth to a lot of strength.

“Haha… Hahaha… Hahahaha…” He burst into wild laughter. His maniacal laughter echoed in this confined and enclosed environment. It wasn’t until his movements pulled at his injury that he hurriedly stopped laughing.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, he thought back on the changes just now. He was certain that his sudden Enlightenment was related to the Shadowy Tree. It was also related to that piece of dark red ore that he had never seen before. [No. The ore is not the key. The key lies in that ball of orange-yellow flame inside the ore!] When the Shadowy Tree grew tree roots and devoured that flame, he had achieved Enlightenment as a result. However, the Shadowy Tree had never experienced such changes before. The changes were probably caused by the stimulation of that orange-yellow flame…

It would seem that his previous conjecture had been correct. That Shadowy Tree was indeed capable of helping him out in mysterious ways. It was just that he had failed to find the right method all this time.

Sorting out his thoughts, he quickly focused his mind. He wanted to see how the Shadowy Tree looked now. The Shadowy Tree had absorbed that orange-yellow flame, there must be some changes to it anyhow. Perhaps it was because he was too emotional, but even though he tried to concentrate, he could not detect that Shadowy Tree again. Similar situations often happened in the past, and the cause was always a lack of concentration.

He took several deep breaths and calmed down. Then, he tried again after waiting for some time. This time around, the Shadowy Tree successfully reappeared in his vision. Sure enough, it was just as he thought. The originally grey and blurry Shadowy Tree had undergone some changes.

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In general, the Shadowy Tree had the same appearance as before. The tree roots that grew out previously were nowhere to be seen. The only difference was a single leaf shrouded in blazing fire near the bottom of the canopy. It looked as if it was on fire.

Lu Ye focused his attention and fixed his gaze on that burning leaf. He could vaguely make out a very complicated and intricate pattern imprinted on the leaf. Concentrating hard, he tried to see the pattern clearly. All of a sudden, an unexpected change occurred!

That small leaf was repeatedly magnified in front of his eyes until it obstructed his vision in an instant. At the same time, a large amount of inexplicable information flooded into his mind unchecked. He suddenly felt as though somebody had smashed his head in with a large sledgehammer. He didn’t even manage to make a single sound before passing out.

When he regained consciousness again, he felt extremely dizzy. Moreover, his head was about to split open from the pain. He shook his head slightly, gritted his teeth, and sat up with his back leaning against the rock wall.

He thought back on what happened before he lost consciousness and was surprised to discover that his head was filled with all sorts of information that he had never seen before. Furthermore, this information was ingrained so deeply that it felt like they were his own memories. Gathering his composure, he carefully went over these memories that should never have existed and quickly understood the whole story.

The cause was still the Shadowy Tree. After devouring that orange-yellow flame, a burning leaf appeared on the Shadowy Tree as a result. That leaf had a mysterious pattern on it, which contained large quantities of magical knowledge. Thus, that knowledge was forcibly downloaded into his mind when he studied the leaf carefully.

Sharp Edge! That was the information contained in the leaf. It was a Spiritual Pattern called ‘Sharp Edge’. He had heard of Spiritual Patterns before. It was something that contained mysterious power. In addition, it was closely related to the life, cultivation, and battle of the cultivators. There seemed to be people who specialized in studying Spiritual Patterns and were known as Spiritual Pattern Masters. It was just that researching Spiritual Patterns was not easy, so there were very few of them. ????????????????????????????xt.????????????

After understanding this, he tried to mobilize the Spiritual Power in his Spiritual Point. However, he found that the Spiritual Power in his Spiritual Point was so heavy that he couldn’t mobilize it at all. Mulling over it for a moment, he recalled that he was still being enveloped in the Yuan Metal Force Field. How could it be easy to mobilize his Spiritual Power? Even Manager Yang had died in his hands because of this reason.

He stood up and hobbled into the distance. While walking, he tested the reaction of his Spiritual Power in his Spiritual Point. It wasn’t until he could mobilize his Spiritual Power that he stopped walking. This position was outside the range of the Yuan Metal Force Field. The Spiritual Power that felt so heavy just now became incredibly active. With a little directive from him, it flowed throughout his body. The places where it flowed felt warm and comfortable. He had never had such an experience before and was extremely amazed as a result.

After fooling around for a bit, he remembered the Spiritual Pattern. It was practically instinctive; he poured his Spiritual Power into his palm and a brilliant light flashed on the palm of his hand in an instant. Although it only lasted for a fleeting moment, he saw it clearly. That light was an extremely complicated and intricate pattern. It was the exact same pattern as the one on the burning leaf!

“This is Sharp Edge?” He looked down at his palm. Logically speaking, he had just unlocked his Spiritual Point. He barely even knew how to use his Spiritual Power, let alone use his Spiritual Power to construct a Spiritual Pattern. Nevertheless, he managed to succeed in doing just that so easily as though he had practiced countless times before.

The palm of his hand was glowing faintly like an enormous firefly. Moreover, bursts of tingling pain came from his palm, making him feel as though there were many needles piercing into his flesh. It was just a single palm, and yet, that palm gave off an extremely sharp vibe. He felt like he could split a stone into two with a single palm strike!

When that thought crossed his mind, he immediately dragged a rock the size of a small basin over to him. This kind of rock could be found anywhere in the mine. It had no value whatsoever. Placing the rock in front of him, he raised his palm and chopped down on the rock. That rock the size of a small basin cracked down the middle with a loud sound. The incision down the middle was neat and tidy.

He was stunned. The thought that he could split a tone with his bare hands had crossed his mind just now, but he never thought that it would have such an effect. [This isn’t splitting; this is slicing! And, the thing that sliced this rock in half was my hand!]

All of this could only be done with the enchantment from Sharp Edge. This Spiritual Pattern seemed to work by making the enchanted object incredibly sharp. [I once watched a cultivator from Evil Moon Valley smash a rock with his hand and was greatly shocked at the time. From the looks of things, I seem to have gained the ability to do that too. What’s more, I can do it better. This is just slicing rocks… What if I sliced a Human?]

The light shining from his palm slowly began to fade after he sliced through the rock. It was caused by exhaustion of Spiritual Power. At the same time, he felt as though his body was completely empty and an infinite sense of weakness washed over him. His Mind had been broken. Despite having just attained Enlightenment, he formed a Spiritual Pattern in a moment of insatiable curiosity and went way beyond his limits. Thus, he was experiencing a serious overuse of power.

A wave of fatigue struck him. He tried to endure it. If he fell asleep at a time like this, he wasn’t sure if he could wake up again. Hurrying back to the place from before, he picked up a bottle of Qi Blood Pills, took out a few, and stuffed them into his mouth. Then, he picked up another piece of meat and forced himself to take large bites out of it. As the Qi Blood Pills came into effect, it gradually filled his entire body with energy and the feeling of weakness slowly subsided.

Leaning back against the rock wall, he sorted out his thoughts. After the Shadowy Tree that had been accompanying him for more than a year devoured that ball of orange-yellow flame, he unlocked his Spiritual Points and became a cultivator. Subsequently, he discovered a burning leaf when he was checking the Shadowy Tree for changes and obtained the Spiritual Pattern, Sharp Edge, from that burning leaf…

At this moment, Lu Ye couldn’t help feeling a strong sense of déjà vu when he looked at the Shadowy Tree again. He pondered in silence for a moment and the realization suddenly dawned on him. “Isn’t this a Skill Tree?”