[Weary of the long years of strife in the Martial World, you decide to retire at the height of your career, choosing to become a solitary wanderer and no longer interfere with the affairs of the Martial World.]
[You feel it is time to pass down your legacy...]
"Poetry and Wine World" was a virtual reality single-player grand martial arts game. Its unique "inheritance" gameplay allowed players to experience magnificent stories of the Martial World across multiple playthroughs and perspectives, witnessing the rise and fall of Dynasties and Sects over time.
As a veteran player of this game, Chen Xin had already experienced multiple inheritances and was quite familiar with the process.
Chen Xin took a deep breath. After grinding for so long in this lifetime, he had finally maxed out his Inheritance Points, ensuring his successor would start the game with the "A Man among Men" Talent Evaluation.
The "A Man among Men" Evaluation required the successor’s Innate Attributes of "Enlightenment" and "Talent" to be at full value from the very beginning.
"Enlightenment" governed the threshold for comprehending Martial Arts, Cultivation speed, and breaking through bottlenecks, while "Talent" was related to True Qi circulation through Meridians and Inner Power Cultivation.
Both being at Full-level represented the most formidable Talent in the virtual reality game "Poetry and Wine World": A Man among Men.
Of course, everything had its pros and cons. With Enlightenment and Talent maxed out, other Innate Attributes—such as strength, physique, focus, and agility—would be relatively lower combat attributes.
Chen Xin naturally knew this, but it didn’t matter. The "relatively lower" only applied when compared to Enlightenment and Talent; they were still leaps and bounds above the normal combat attributes of an Ordinary person.
Moreover, Chen Xin had left his successor a Healing Martial Arts whose fame rivaled a Daimyo’s: the Divine Illumination Skill!
Its ability to restore vitality and heal injuries was second to none in the game. Upon reaching Great Success, it could even bring the dead back to life and regrow flesh on bare bones, essentially making the user a walking Healing Holy Medicine.
Since Cultivators were virtually unkillable, it earned the affectionate nickname of "Divine Survival Skill" among the player base.
[You pat your successor’s shoulder, injecting a surge of Inner Breath of absolute Purity into his body to cleanse impurities, aid Qi Circulation, and reshape his foundation.]
[Successor’s Innate Attributes have changed as follows: Enlightenment 49, Talent 49.]
The Great Dao encompasses fifty, while Heaven derives forty-nine. Forty-nine was the maximum value for Innate Attributes in the game.
[You speak with a Blooming Lotus tongue, dictating a Supreme Martial Arts manual to your successor, along with your insights into Martial Arts. Every word is a gem of wisdom, profound and insightful.]
[Successor has learned the Martial Arts: Divine Illumination Skill.]
Inheritance in the game only allowed passing down a single Cultivation Skill. If not for this restriction, Chen Xin had a True Return thought: he truly wanted to pass down all the Supreme Martial Arts he had collected in this lifetime at once.
[Having done all this, you turn your back and depart, stepping out of the Martial World to vanish into an ethereal realm.]
[Meanwhile, the bustling Martial World welcomes a new Young Hero.]
Inheritance complete.
Chen Xin’s vision gradually darkened. The game was loading. Next, he would begin a new journey in the Martial World as the successor.
Only, this time, the game’s loading screen seemed exceptionally long...
PITTER-PATTER!
The sound of rain fell in waves, echoing right by his ears. Chen Xin opened his eyes and saw a Long Blade lying beside him. His surroundings were an old, dilapidated temple that had long been out of repair.
Chen Xin immediately sensed something was wrong. A successor’s spawn point was usually in a major city, so why was he here? Before Chen Xin could dwell on it, a wave of intense agony flared from every corner of his body.
"Ah!"
Chen Xin couldn’t help but cry out, his voice unusually hoarse. Only then did he realize his skin was torn and his flesh mangled, dripping with blood. He was covered in wounds, the deepest of which ran vertically across his chest, exposing the bone underneath.
Moreover, a fiery sensation seemed to be wandering along crisscrossing paths within his body, ultimately converging at his lower abdomen’s Dantian. This was also where the burning sensation was most intense.
Chen Xin was deathly pale and completely powerless. Every breath tugged at his wounds, causing the pain to flare even hotter. Just as Chen Xin thought he was going to die here, a flood of another person’s memories surged into his mind, assaulting his already groggy consciousness.
"I’ve transmigrated into the game," Chen Xin muttered under his breath.
The original owner of the body was also named Chen Xin, courtesy name Junzhang. He was a Senior Commander of the Divine Robe Guard in the Taixuan Dynasty, having inherited his official rank from his father, Chen Qix. Even so, he was no useless glutton; he was worldly-wise, possessed a basic understanding of literature, and had even reached Minor Achievement in his Martial Arts.
Recently, in order to earn merits and be promoted to Copper Order Divine Robe, he had taken on a mission to apprehend an evil disciple of the Demon Sect’s Blood Hound Sect. This villain had been terrorizing the Land of Youji, brutally murdering many people just to suck their blood for Cultivation.
The original owner’s Martial Arts were at the Inner Realm Level, making him a standout among the many Senior Commanders. He had won a series of consecutive victories in the department’s martial tournaments, which made him quite complacent and even a bit arrogant. Blinded by his arrogance, he was severely injured in a sneak attack by the Blood Hound Sect villain, who was also at the Inner Realm Level. Forced to use his Lightweight Skill to flee into the mountains, he eventually collapsed from exhaustion in this dilapidated Mountain God Temple.
Chen Xin almost laughed until he cried after processing these memories.
In the game... or rather, in the Taixuan Dynasty, Martial Arts were divided into Grand Realms, such as Inner Realm, Outer Realm, and Profound Master. However, there were no minor levels like one, two, three, four, or five. The ability to tell at a glance what level of the Inner Realm or Outer Realm an opponent was at simply didn’t exist. For Cultivators in the same Realm, the only way to accurately gauge the power gap was to engage in a palm-to-palm clash of Inner Strength, determining superiority by seeing whose Inner Strength was depleted first.
After multiple real-combat experiences in the department tournaments and on external missions, the original owner had long come to believe that he had no rivals within the Inner Realm Level. Because of this, upon learning that his opponent was only at the Inner Realm Level as well, the original owner had been overly proud and dismissive of him. Ultimately, he was treated to the opponent’s poisonous sand and perished with a grudge in the Mountain God Temple, ending up in such a miserable state.
Chen Xin shook his head. The original owner was gone, but he had left behind a terrible mess for him to clean up.
Chen Xin shifted his gaze to his left forearm. Beneath the skin, a strip-shaped creature was squirming along his Meridians. Wherever it went, the skin would bulge, making the blue veins bulge like a Zheng, clearly visible.
This was Miaojiang’s "Mother and Child Soul Chasing Gu."
Realizing that Chen Xin was about to escape using his Lightweight Skill, the Blood Hound Sect villain used Palm Force from a distance to shoot it into the wound on Chen Xin’s hand. The Gu Insect instantly burrowed inside, mingling with his flesh and blood. No matter how much the original owner channeled his Inner Strength, he couldn’t force it out.
The Mother and Child Soul Chasing Gu, as the name implied, consisted of two parts: the Child Gu and the Mother Gu. There was a mutual connection between the mother and child. Legend had it that this connection would not be severed even if they were thousands of miles apart, hence the name Thousand-Mile Soul Chasing.
What Chen Xin had been hit with was precisely the Child Gu. The Mother Gu was in the hands of the Blood Hound Sect villain, and the opponent would definitely be able to track him down by relying on the connection between the Mother and Child Gu.
However, because his predecessor’s Lightweight Skill was exceptional, and the local terrain was complex, it would take the opponent at least the time it takes an incense stick to burn to find this Mountain God Temple.
Time was of the essence. Chen Xin forced himself to sit cross-legged, assuming the Five Hearts Facing Heaven posture to circulate his Heart Skill.
His predecessor had mastered three types of Martial Arts: the Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique and the Hundred Victory Saber Technique, both of which were Ordinary Cultivation Skills distributed by the department. The Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique was a relatively well-known Inner Power. Its True Qi was refined, making it suitable for polishing one’s foundation. The Hundred Victory Saber Technique featured sweeping and powerful moves, using brute force to overcome finesse. Both were at the level of Middle Eighth Grade.
There was also an Upper Seventh Grade Lightweight Skill personally imparted by the original owner’s father, Chen Qix: the Meteor Meteor Body Technique. When activated, it allowed the user to unleash a short burst of speed, darting as swiftly as a Meteor streaking across the sky.
It was exactly by relying on this Lightweight Skill that the original owner had managed to temporarily escape the tiger’s den.
Following the mnemonic of the Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique, Chen Xin initiated a Circulation. Instantly, he noticed something different: the Meridians throughout his body were incredibly unobstructed. The True Qi flowed without any hindrance, surging powerfully as a Grand Circulation formed effortlessly!
This heaven-defying Cultivation speed was the result of his maxed-out Innate Talent! After a few Grand Circulations, Chen Xin felt his True Qi swelling. The Inner Strength from the Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique began to nourish his body, healing his injuries.
However, the Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique was not a Cultivation Skill specialized in healing, so the recovery progress was extremely slow...
A thought struck Chen Xin. The Divine Illumination Skill!
Immediately after, he abandoned using the Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique to run his Circulation. Holding his breath and focusing his mind, he sank his consciousness into his memories and found the mnemonic for the Divine Illumination Skill passed down from his previous life.
The Divine Illumination Skill emphasized a wondrous comprehension of nature; it could not be mastered through mere diligent practice alone. But this was no obstacle for Chen Xin’s Full-Level Enlightenment! He grasped it in a single thought, mastered it instantly, and perfected it effortlessly!
Chen Xin cast aside all distracting thoughts and sat in focused meditation. Within his Dantian, the refined Inner Strength previously Cultivated by the Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique transformed into successive waves of warm currents. They flowed from his chest to his back, and from his back to his chest, circulating over and over again.
This was the absolute Purity and wondrous Inner Strength of the Divine Illumination Skill, gathering the purest and most profound essence in the world. Thanks to the foundation-polishing nature of the Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique, this Inner Strength was converted into Divine Illumination Internal Power almost without any loss.
Streams of warm current flowed through his limbs and bones. Under its nourishment, the wounds all over his body were rapidly healed. The originally deep, bone-deep gash on his chest gradually sprouted new flesh and skin. The newborn skin on his chest was as smooth and delicate as a child’s, bringing a wave of itchiness to Chen Xin.
The sound of the rain outside the Mountain God Temple gradually thinned out into fragments.
With a mere thought from Chen Xin, his Divine Illumination Internal Power flowed to his left forearm.
Unlike before, the foreign object in his flesh was instantly rooted out. In the face of the ultimate Purity of the Divine Illumination Internal Power, it simply had nowhere to hide.
The Child Gu beneath his skin wriggled frantically, battered into a dizzy and disoriented state by the Inner Strength. Right at that moment, the skin and flesh on Chen Xin’s left arm split open, revealing a gap right above the Gu Insect.
Finding an escape route, the Child Gu instantly catapulted out, abandoning the flesh it had parasitized.
SWISH!
In the briefest flash of a Fire Stone, Chen Xin thrust out the index and middle fingers of his right hand, clamping down on the strip-shaped worm in midair.
"SQUEAK... SQUEAK..."
Pinching this dark-green Gu Insect, Chen Xin’s ears twitched. He could hear the Child Gu continuously emitting faint sound waves.
Even the sound of a speck of Dust landing on the ground would overpower it. If Chen Xin hadn’t gained heightened senses from the enhancement of the Divine Illumination Skill, and if the diminishing rain outside hadn’t reduced the interference, he wouldn’t have been able to catch this subtle noise.
The Mother Gu presumably possessed a special organ capable of sensing the unique sound waves of the Child Gu, which was how it achieved the Thousand-Mile Soul Chasing.
Chen Xin didn’t kill the Child Gu. Instead, he tore off a corner of his clothing and wrapped it up tightly. Once removed from human flesh, the Child Gu was no different from an Ordinary bug; even a child could easily handle it, and a simple strip of cloth was enough to bind it.
A fierce glint flashed in Chen Xin’s eyes. He would keep the Child Gu to lure that Blood Hound Sect villain over, allowing him to personally slay the man and eliminate future troubles.
SWISH! Chen Xin stood up. The Divine Illumination Internal Power had already restored his body to its original state. His wounds were gone as if they had never existed. The only issue was that his newly regenerated skin was even fairer and more delicate than that of a pampered young lady, clashing jarringly with his surrounding bronze complexion.
Chen Xin kicked up the Long Blade by his feet. This was the original owner’s saber, forged from Hundred-refined Steel. Heavy and powerful, it perfectly complemented the moves of the Hundred Victory Saber Technique.
SWOOSH! The midair Long Blade was accurately caught by his right hand!
At the same time, a translucent panel abruptly materialized before Chen Xin’s eyes!
[Name: Chen Xin]
[Talent: A Man among Men]
[Realm: Inner Realm]
[Evaluation: Minor Achievement]
[Martial Arts: Divine Illumination Skill, Breathing and Nourishing Qi Technique, Meteor Meteor Body Technique, Hundred Victory Saber Technique]