Chapter 4 Talent Tree (Thanks to Alliance Hierarch ChiChiC for the reward)

In the crackling sound of explosions, a faint flame flickered several times before finally extinguishing.

The torch stuck in the dark post had burnt out.

The hidden mine shaft plunged into darkness, but Lu Ye had not completely lost light. In what should have been pitch-black surroundings, he could still see faint glimmers; he could make out the outline of Manager Yang's corpse nearby, and also the cold light on the sword he had thrown aside...

It was not that the mine shaft was not dark enough, but that his vision had enhanced.

After opening his own spiritual orifice, Lu Ye distinctly felt some wonderful changes in his body; even his weakened body, due to injuries, unexpectedly gained much strength.

"Haha... hahahaha... hahahahaha..." Lu Ye couldn't help but burst into wild laughter. The laughter echoed in the enclosed environment until it pulled at his injuries, and he quickly stopped himself.

Suppressing the joy in his heart, he recalled the recent turn of events.

What he could confirm was that his sudden orifice-opening related to the Shadow Tree and that dark red ore he had never seen before.

No, the ore was not the focus; the focus was the orange-yellow flame inside it!

The Shadow Tree had grown roots and devoured the flame, and as a result, he had opened his orifice.

Such a change in the Shadow Tree had never happened; it must have been stimulated by the orange-yellow flame...

It seemed his earlier thoughts were not wrong; the Shadow Tree really could provide some wonderful assistance, he just hadn't found the right method until now.

Gathering his thoughts, he quickly focused his mind, wanting to see what the Shadow Tree looked like now. After all, the orange-yellow flame was consumed by the Shadow Tree, and there must have been some changes.

Perhaps due to being overly excited, even though Lu Ye tried hard to focus, he couldn't see the Shadow Tree. This often happened before when he wasn't sufficiently focused.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself and waited a long time before attempting again.

This time, he successfully saw the Shadow Tree, and indeed, it had undergone some changes, just as Lu Ye had thought. The previously indistinct Shadow Tree had some differences.

Overall, the Shadow Tree looked the same, but he couldn't see the roots that had appeared earlier. However, a leaf near the bottom of the tree crown was enveloped in blazing fire, as if it was burning.

Lu Ye focused intensely, staring at the burning leaf, and vaguely saw an extremely complex and intricate pattern imprinted on it.

He focused his mind, wanting to see the pattern more clearly.

Suddenly, an anomaly arose!

The small leaf in front of his eyes magnified continuously, instantly blocking his vision. At the same time, vast amounts of unknown information uncontrollably surged into his mind. Lu Ye felt as though someone had smashed his head with a hammer, and without uttering a sound, he passed out.

When he awoke again, Lu Ye felt completely dazed and had a splitting headache.

He shook his head, propped up his spirit, and got up, leaning against the rock wall.

He reflected on his experiences right before losing consciousness and was surprised to find many unfamiliar pieces of information embedded in his mind as if they were his own memories.

Lu Ye calmed his mind and meticulously searched through these memories that shouldn't exist, quickly understanding the situation.

It was still because of the Shadow Tree. The Shadow Tree had devoured the orange-yellow flame, and as a result, a burning leaf had appeared on the tree.

The leaf bore a mysterious pattern that contained vast amounts of magical knowledge. When Lu Ye earnestly sought to explore it, this knowledge was forcibly infused into his mind.

Sharpness!

That was what the leaf bore, a spirit rune known as Sharpness.

Lu Ye had heard of spirit runes, mystical entities that held profound powers and were closely related to cultivators' lives, cultivation, and combat.

It seemed there were people who specifically studied spirit runes, known as spirit runes masters, but such individuals were generally few in number because studying spirit runes was no easy task.

Having understood this, Lu Ye wanted to mobilize the spirit force within his spiritual orifice.

However, he discovered that the spirit force in his spiritual orifice was incredibly heavy and couldn't be mobilized at all.

After a moment's thought, Lu Ye realized he was still under the influence of the origin magnetic field; how could mobilizing spirit force be easy?

The very reason Manager Yang had died by his hand was this.

He stood up, staggered toward the distance, and continued to walk, feeling the response of the spirit force in his spiritual orifice, until he could mobilize these forces, then he stopped; this position was already out of the range of the origin magnetic field.

The originally heavy spirit force became unusually active. Under Lu Ye's influence, it moved throughout his body, warming every part it reached, and he was greatly amazed by this experience he had never had before.

After playing for a moment, he remembered that spirit rune. Almost instinctively, he channeled the spirit force into his palm, and in an instant, a brilliant light flashed across his palm.

Though it was fleeting, Lu Ye still saw it clearly; that brilliant light was an extremely complex and intricate pattern, exactly the same as the pattern carried by the burning leaf!

"Is this Sharpness?" Lu Ye looked down at his palm. Logically speaking, he had just opened his spiritual orifice and barely understood how to use his spirit force, let alone construct a spirit rune with it.

Yet, he had done it with such ease, as if he had practiced countless times.

A pale light bloomed from his palm, resembling an oversized firefly, and his palm throbbed painfully, making Lu Ye feel as if many needles were stabbing into his flesh.

Although it was just one palm, this palm now gave an extremely sharp sensation; Lu Ye felt he could split a stone with one slap!

Thinking this, he immediately dragged over a basin-sized rock from the side. Such stones were commonly found in the mine tunnels and were worthless.

He positioned the stone in front of him and raised his palm like a knife, striking down.

The basin-sized rock split cleanly at the sound.

Lu Ye was stunned. Although he had felt he could split a stone, he had not anticipated such an effect; this wasn't just splitting but cutting, and the cutter was none other than his own hand!

And all this was due to the enhancement of Sharpness; this spirit rune seemed to make anything it enhanced extremely sharp.

Previously, when he saw a cultivator from Evil Moon Valley smash a stone with a slap, he was amazed, but now it seemed he had the ability to do the same, and even better.

This was just cutting stone; what if it were cutting a person?

The brilliant light on his palm slowly dissipated after cutting the stone, due to the exhaustion of spirit force. At the same time, Lu Ye felt completely drained, a boundless feeling of weakness engulfing him.

He thought this was bad.

He had just opened his orifice, and in a moment of eagerness, he had formed a spirit rune, much to his own detriment—it was a severe overexertion.

A wave of tiredness hit him, and Lu Ye endured it; if he fell asleep now, who knew if he could wake up again.

He hurried back to his previous spot, picked up a bottle of blood Qi pills, poured a few into his mouth, and then grabbed a piece of beast meat, eating it voraciously.

The medicinal effect of the blood Qi pill dissolved, gradually replenishing his body, and the feeling of weakness slowly retreated.

Leaning against the rock wall, he gathered his thoughts.

The Shadow Tree that had accompanied him for over a year had consumed a clump of orange flame, allowing him to open his spiritual orifice, turning him into a cultivator. Then, while examining the Shadow Tree, he discovered a burning leaf, from which he acquired the Sharpness spirit rune...

Now, looking at the Shadow Tree again, Lu Ye couldn't help but feel a strong sense of déjà vu.

After pondering for a moment, Lu Ye had a sudden realization, "Isn't this the Talent Tree?"