Could It Be... I'm a Genius?

This is like a fairyland!

Zhong Wen reading the landscape in front of him, the phrase "Fresh grass and blooming petals..." instantly came to his mind.

After passing through the stone gate, at first, there was only a narrow passage for one person to walk through. Gradually, the passage widened, and it became brighter ahead.

Suddenly, the field of vision opened up. Vast fields of medicinal herbs stretched out before him, seemingly endless. The terraced fields ascended one after another, and the spiritual energy in the valley was so dense that it almost seemed tangible, gently drifting in the air.

Just standing in the valley, Zhong Wen felt his fatigue disappear, and his whole body was filled with boundless energy.

At the end of the medicinal fields, there was a cluster of pavilions and buildings immersed in the thick mist of spiritual energy, giving off an ethereal and divine aura, resembling the Heavenly Palace of the Jade Emperor.

Zhong Wen walked slowly through the medicinal fields. Perhaps due to a lack of care for a long time, most of the medicinal plants in the fields had withered. Only a few of them grew vigorously, and some of them had even taken on human-like forms.

In front of the complex of buildings, above the entrance of a magnificent ancient-style building, large golden characters, "Divine Hall of the Medicine King," shimmered brightly, giving Zhong Wen a sense of closeness in his heart.

Entering the main hall of the temple, there were twelve tall candle stands on the long table in front. Each stand had a piece of Spirit Crystal on it, but it no longer emitted light, likely because the spiritual energy inside the Spirit Crystals had been depleted.

Behind the long table, there were portraits of people hanging on the wall. Without the illumination of the Spirit Crystal lamps, Zhong Wen relied on the moonlight entering the hall and couldn't completely make out the faces in the paintings. He had no idea if the people depicted were revered as immortals or deities by the members of the Medicine King Valley.

Passing through the main hall and exiting through the back door, Zhong Wen arrived at another slightly shorter building. Above it, three Chinese characters read "Spirit Medicine Pavilion."

Upon entering, rows of shelves appeared before Zhong Wen. Each shelf held numerous medicinal cabinets, and upon closer inspection, he saw labels in Chinese characters indicating the contents, such as "Nine Leaf Spirit Grass," "Seven Star Herb," "Dragon's Bane," "Blood Essence Herb," "Thousand-Year Fo-ti," "Thousand-Year Vermilion Fruit," and so on.

Zhong Wen opened a cabinet labeled "Thousand-Year Fo-ti" and found that the herbs inside had withered and turned into remnants. Inside the cabinet's compartments was a piece of Spirit Crystal. Having read Record of the Valley of the Medicine King, Zhong Wen knew that there were special spirit runes engraved at the bottom of the compartments to preserve the herbs. These runes were activated by the Spirit Crystals above, but now that the spiritual energy inside the Spirit Crystals had been depleted, the runes no longer functioned.

Zhong Wen opened several more cabinets, and the herbs inside had all turned into dregs. Feeling disappointed, he closed the cabinets and left the Spirit Medicine Pavilion.

Next, he arrived at another triangular-shaped building, with the words "Spirit Crystal Repository" written above it. Zhong Wen's eyes lit up. Based on the information he had gathered over the past few days, the word "Spirit Crystal" in this world was nearly equivalent to "gold" in his previous life. In his mind, "Spirit Crystal Repository" was automatically translated as "Bank Vault."

The moment he stepped into the Spirit Crystal Repository, Zhong Wen was so excited that he almost cried. Since unexpectedly dying and coming to this world, his anxious heart had finally found some relief.

I'm going to be rich!

Looking at the first floor of the Spirit Crystal Repository, which was piled up like a small mountain with dimly glowing Spirit Crystals, Zhong Wen couldn't contain his excitement.

He reached out and touched them, scattering a handful into the air like a nouveau riche, watching as the Spirit Crystals fell, clinking and clattering along the slope of the small mountain.

Gulp!

Zhong Wen swallowed hard. Finally, he reluctantly left the small mountain of Spirit Crystals, picked up a Spirit Crystal lamp from near the door, replaced the spent Spirit Crystal inside it with a new one he had picked up from the ground, and lit up the entire storage room. This time, Zhong Wen could see more clearly the quantity of Spirit Crystals on the first floor. The area of the bottom floor was approximately equivalent to half a football field and was filled to the brim, with hardly any room to stand.

Gulp!

Zhong Wen gulped again and, with some difficulty, managed to ascend to the second floor of the Spirit Crystal Repository.

The second floor was much smaller than the first, and there were no small mountains of Spirit Crystals. Rows of shelves displayed individual Spirit Crystals, each smaller in size than those on the lower floor but emitting a much stronger radiance than ordinary Spirit Crystals.

"Spirit Crystal Cores?" Zhong Wen read the Chinese characters on the shelves.

Zhong Wen had no concept of what Spirit Crystal cores were, but he could guess that they were something even more precious than ordinary Spirit Crystals.

Zhong Wen picked up a Spirit Crystal core from one of the shelves and stashed it in his pocket. Then he turned and ascended to the third floor.

The third floor reached the top and was less than half the size of the second floor. At most, it could be considered one room. In the center of the room, there was a square table measuring about one meter on each side. On the table was a wooden box.

With the anticipation of opening a treasure chest after defeating a boss, Zhong Wen approached the table. The spirit rune lock on the wooden box had long since become ineffective, and he effortlessly opened the box.

Inside, he found a round, pearl-sized, milky-white sphere. The surface of the sphere emitted a faint and gentle glow, not dazzling but rather comforting.

This is a treasure!

Zhong Wen quickly made that judgment in his mind.

Without hesitation, he tucked the precious sphere into his pocket and turned to leave the room. He intended to continue exploring this ancient sect.

As Zhong Wen left the bottom floor of the Spirit Crystal Repository, he couldn't help but cast a longing glance at the small mountain of Spirit Crystals.

Roughly estimating the time, it should be nearing midnight. To return to the Drifting Petal Palace before daybreak, Zhong Wen had to skip past several buildings like the "Spirit Pill Pavilion" and "Spirit Artifact Pavilion" on his way and head straight for the "Scripture Repository."

Being a prestigious major sect, the Medicine King Valley's Scripture Repository was far beyond comparison with the Drifting Petal Palace. As he pushed open the door, the fragrance of books wafted towards him. Rows upon rows of bookshelves were filled with various books, neatly categorized and well-organized.

Carrying his Spirit Crystal lamp, Zhong Wen browsed through the shelves one by one. He read the labels on the shelves: "Spirit Medicine," "Alchemy," "Diagnosis," "Medical Principles," "Pharmacology," "Health Maintenance," "Acupuncture," "Spirit Runes," and more.

Zhong Wen grew more and more frustrated as he walked. While the Medicine King Valley had an extensive collection of books, most of them were related to medicine and healthcare. He hadn't been able to find any formidable cultivation techniques or secret manuals.

Just when he was on the verge of losing hope, he finally stumbled upon a bookshelf labeled "Martial Arts and Spirit Techniques."

Zhong Wen was elated and quickly approached it.

Is that all?

Seeing the contents on the shelf, Zhong Wen felt like he was riding a roller coaster of emotions.

For the entire "Martial Arts and Spirit Techniques" category, there were only two solitary books!

For such a large sect, is this it?

Zhong Wen was almost ready to burst into expletives.

After calming down, and with a "something is better than nothing" attitude, Zhong Wen reached out and took one of the books. He looked at the lively Chinese characters on the cover, and his mood improved somewhat.

Longevity Technique.

Closing his eyes, "Xinhua Scripture Repository" appeared in his mind, and familiar words appeared on the panel:

"Discovered the book Longevity Technique in the 'Martial Arts and Spirit Techniques' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

Zhong Wen decisively chose "Yes," and soon, in the "Martial Arts and Spirit Techniques" section of his mental library, he found a book titled Longevity Technique classified under the "Diamond Grade."

Zhong Wen placed the book Longevity Technique back on the shelf of the Scripture Repository and picked up another book nearby.

"Discovered the book Cloud-Soaring Immortal Steps in the 'Spirit Techniques' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

"Yes!"

Another book appeared in the "Star Techniques" category of Zhong Wen's mental library.

Turning to look at the vast sea of other books, Zhong Wen was unwilling to leave just like that. However, he didn't have the time to record them all. So, he rushed to the bookshelves in the "Spirit Medicine" and "Alchemy" categories without reading them in detail, simply reaching out and scanning through the rows.

"Discovered the book Spirit Medicine Identification Record Volume One in the 'Spirit Medicine' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

"Discovered the book Spirit Medicine Identification Record Volume Two in the 'Spirit Medicine' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

"Discovered the book Detailed Explanation of Spirit Medicine Cultivation Techniques Volume One in the 'Spirit Medicine' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

"Discovered the book Detailed Explanation of Spirit Medicine Cultivation Techniques Volume Two in the 'Spirit Medicine' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

...

"Discovered the book Basic Alchemy Arts Volume One in the 'Alchemy' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

"Discovered the book Basic Alchemy Arts Volume Two in the 'Alchemy' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

"Discovered the book Advanced Alchemy Arts Volume One in the 'Alchemy' category. Would you like to record it? Yes/No."

...

Phew!

Just these two categories of bookshelves had consumed a great deal of Zhong Wen's time and energy. After painstakingly recording them all in the "Xinhua Scripture Repository," he wiped the sweat from his forehead.

Once he finished reading these books, he might have something in common to discuss with the aloof girl, Yin Ning'er. It wasn't because he had any ulterior motives toward her; he just believed that building good relationships with the palace's disciples was necessary if he wanted to stay temporarily at the Drifting Petal Palace.

As for the other thoughts in his mind, they were not worth mentioning to outsiders.

After a moment, Zhong Wen appeared in an area behind the valley where the buildings were all single-story flat houses. The rooms on the east, west, and south sides were connected, forming a rectangle with the northern mountains, enclosing a central lake.

According to the descriptions in Record of the Valley of the Medicine King, this was the area where the Valley Master and disciples of the Medicine King Valley resided.

Zhong Wen didn't waste any time and went straight to the largest room on the south side, which was the residence of the Valley Master, as indicated by the author of the journal.

Pushing open the door, the size of the Valley Master's residence took Zhong Wen by surprise. It was about five to six times the size of his temporary residence in the Drifting Petal Palace. The interior was very simple, with only a landscape painting in the entrance hall. Besides that, there were no other decorations. Passing through the entrance, he could see a massive square table in the center, the Valley Master's bed in one corner, and a writing desk in another corner.

On the huge square table, medical books were scattered haphazardly, while the desk in the corner held paper, pens, and several volumes of notes, all containing the Valley Master's medical experiences. Zhong Wen flipped through them casually, finding that the people in both the Drifting Petal Palace and the Medicine King Valley used not brushes but a type of hard pen made from an unknown material for writing. It was much convenient than using a brush, and the ink was much darker than that of a pencil.

After closing the books, Zhong Wen approached the bed, pulling back the curtains.

What he saw in front of him was an entire human skeleton!

It was a translucent jade-white skeleton, sitting cross-legged on the bed. There was no sign of decay, and the skeleton was dressed in pure white clothes. Two hands extended from the oversized sleeves, resting on the leg bones.

Was this the Valley Master of the Medicine King Valley?

Zhong Wen looked at the jade-white skeleton on the bed, a mixture of emotions filling his heart – admiration, fear, and gratitude.

After standing there for a while, Zhong Wen took a step forward, and bowed deeply to the skeleton of the Medicine King Valley Master.

"Elder, thank you for your journal that brought me here. Although I don't know why the ancient civilization was destroyed, and why you were not buried properly, since I'm here now, and we both carry the legacy of Chinese characters, let me carry forward the tradition of the Medicine King Valley in this era!"

With that said, he boldly extended his hand towards the black ring on the index finger of the skeleton's right hand, completely disregarding the feelings of the skeleton's owner.

According to Record of the Valley of the Medicine King, the Valley Master possessed a certain kind of artifact – an item that Zhong Wen had envied when reading the journal.

A storage ring!

As described in the journal, even in ancient times, Runesmiths who were proficient in space runes were extremely rare, and Runesmith Masters who could inscribe space runes on a small ring were one of a kind. Due to the extreme difficulty in crafting space artifacts, this Master had only managed to create five rings, two bracelets, and one necklace throughout his entire life.

Therefore, in ancient times, owning a space artifact was a symbol of status.

The Valley Master of the Medicine King Valley received a storage ring as a token of gratitude after saving the life of an injured Taosit Scarless. Even as the head of the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, one of the Seven Great Sects, Taosit Scarless had felt a great sense of loss after giving away the ring.

It's just perfect!

After putting the black ring on his hand, Zhong Wen marveled at it repeatedly. He felt that the size and style of the ring matched him perfectly.

The journal mentioned that the material for the storage ring was very special. It could absorb spiritual energy from the air to power the runes inside, so it would never run out of energy. The user only needed to input a bit of spiritual energy to activate the space within.

Zhong Wen calmly closed his eyes and summoned the "Xinhua Scripture Repository."

Just as he was about to examine the martial arts and techniques collected from the Valley, he suddenly noticed a line of small text appearing on the panel below the bookshelves:

"Upon recording 100 books, please draw a reward: 1. Huang Rong's recipes; 2. Adamantine Immortal Art; 3. Map of Ancient Sects' Locations."

There were rewards! Zhong Wen was overjoyed, experiencing the feeling of a time traveler for the first time.

Adamantine Immortal Art, I must get the Adamantine Immortal Art!

Staring at the three reward options, Zhong Wen silently prayed in his heart and chanted, "Draw!"

Another line of small text appeared on the panel:

"Congratulations! You've received the reward: Huang Rong's recipes!"

Immediately after, a recipe book appeared in the "Miscellaneous Studies" category on the bookshelf.

What the heck! Zhong Wen couldn't help but curse in frustration.

Without waiting for him to vent his frustration, another line of text appeared on the panel:

"When you've recorded 100 books in the 'Herbology' category, please draw a reward: 1. Map of Ancient Sects' Locations; 2. Great Sun Heavenly Dragon Technique; 3. Wind-Twirling Sword Technique."

"Draw!"

"Congratulations! You've received the reward: Map of Ancient Sects' Locations!"

Just as Zhong Wen complained about his bad luck, another line of text appeared on the panel:

"When you've recorded 100 books in the 'Alchemy' category, please draw a reward: 1. History of the Great Qian Empire; 2. Ranking of Beautiful Women in the Great Qian; 3. Wind-Twirling Sword Technique."

"Draw!"

Given his luck, Zhong Wen didn't have high hopes, but to his surprise, the panel displayed the reward message:

"Congratulations! You've received the reward: Wind-Twirling Sword Technique!"

A "Platinum-grade" sword manual appeared in the "Spiritual Techniques" category on the bookshelf.

Finally, he had obtained a spiritual technique. Zhong Wen breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that he hadn't come out of this too badly.

After waiting for a while and seeing no more lottery information on the panel, Zhong Wen returned to his original purpose and immersed himself in the newly acquired Longevity Technique.

"The heavens have a cycle, one energy sustains eternal life..."

Rows of Chinese characters quickly flashed before his eyes, and soon, this "Diamond-grade" martial art was firmly engraved in Zhong Wen's mind.

The so-called Longevity Technique, despite its Diamond-grade ranking, was not a combat-oriented cultivation method. Instead, it was a practice aimed at health and longevity.

In the early stages of cultivation, progress was average, but the advantage lay in the fact that spiritual energy could circulate and strengthen itself within the body. The cultivated spiritual energy was balanced and beneficial to the body. In the advanced stages, it could continuously provide a steady stream of spiritual energy, capable of healing injuries, dispelling diseases, detoxifying, and prolonging life.

Furthermore, the attribute of spiritual energy cultivated by the Longevity Technique was mild, and it wouldn't conflict with any other cultivation methods. Instead, it could complement them.

Although it wasn't an overwhelmingly powerful technique, there wasn't much of a choice for Zhong Wen at the moment. Thinking about it, he followed the description in the book, contorted his body into a certain posture, silently chanted the mantra in his mind, and began the first step of his cultivation journey – drawing in spiritual energy.

According to the author of Longevity Technique, guiding the spiritual energy from the world into one's body was a lengthy process, and the time required could vary from person to person. Even for the most talented cultivators, this step would take about a week.

So, Zhong Wen wasn't in a hurry. He intended to experience the feeling of cultivation and then stop. He would continue to study it further after returning to the Drifting Petal Palace.

However, only a moment had passed when he faintly sensed a trace of energy entering his body through his nose and mouth. It flowed down his chest and gradually settled in his dantian.

Following that, a second strand of energy arrived.

As time passed, more and more energy entered his body, and the flow rate increased steadily.

Zhong Wen felt the breath in his dantian increasing steadily, and he gradually had a sense of swelling, his body growing hotter. Just as he began to feel a bit parched and considered stopping his cultivation, the breath that had gathered in his dantian suddenly began to slowly merge, and the feeling of swelling gradually subsided.

After a while, Zhong Wen felt the breath inside his dantian merge into a semicircular ring. A gentle breath emanated from the semicircular ring, spreading to his limbs and every part of his body. The heat had long disappeared, replaced by a refreshing sensation, making him feel completely comfortable from head to toe.

This was... the Human Wheel Realm?

After reading Longevity Technique, Zhong Wen had some understanding of the path of cultivation. To cultivate a martial art, one first had to draw in spiritual energy. After accumulating enough spiritual energy in the body, they would sequentially open the twelve Human Wheels, nine Earth Wheels, and six Heaven Wheels.

Those who had opened their Heaven Wheels were no longer considered ordinary people. They possessed great power and could potentially live beyond two hundred years.

As for the realms beyond Heaven Wheel, such as Spirit Sovereign, and even Sage, they seemed incredibly distant to Zhong Wen.

According to the book, even the most outstanding geniuses in ancient times needed at least two to three months to open the first Human Wheel from scratch. Those with lesser talent might spend a whole year just on the initial step of drawing in spiritual energy.

However, based on the sensations within his body, Zhong Wen could almost be certain that he had already completed this step. In just two hours, he had traversed the path that would have taken an ancient genius two months.

Could it be... that I'm an extraordinary genius, one in ten thousand years?

Or perhaps, people in ancient times are not very smart?

Regardless, having a fast cultivation speed was always a good thing. It meant that in this unfamiliar world, Zhong Wen had gained an extra layer of self-preservation ability. Zhong Wen didn't dwell on what he couldn't understand and instead focused on controlling the spiritual energy within his body, directing it into the black ring worn on his right hand...