Wood Sovereign script
Su Chen reached into his system space and pulled out a jade tablet—green with swirling hints of white, smooth and cool to the touch, about the size of an adult's palm. It looked old, maybe ancient, but it glimmered faintly like it had been polished just yesterday. The word Sovereign was carved on its surface in an ancient, wood-like script—elegant, majestic… and completely unreadable.
"Oho? What's this now?" he muttered, his earlier seriousness melting into curious mischief. Like a bored child discovering a mysterious toy, Su Chen's eyes lit up. He flipped the jade over, then again, and again, as if it would suddenly start glowing or whisper secrets.
He held it up to his eyes. "Maybe there's a tiny hole somewhere? Some kind of mechanism?" he whispered conspiratorially, squinting at it from every angle. Nothing.
Next, he sniffed it. Deeply.
"...Smells like rock. Damn. Worth a try."
Running out of ideas, he looked around to make sure no one was watching. Then, he licked it. Just a little. Just in case. Still nothing.
"This damn thing's more mysterious than my love life," he muttered, now getting mildly annoyed.
Then a thought struck him like lightning. His eyes lit up with the kind of confidence only a fool or a genius would wear. "Wait… In some stories, they eat ancient items and the knowledge just—boom!—enters their brain!"
He hesitated for a second. "Well, worst case, I break a tooth."
He bit down on the jade like a starving man trying to chew a brick.
CRACK!
"AAAGGHH!! SH-SHIT!!" he screamed, dropping the jade like it had bitten him back. He clutched his jaw in agony, hopping on one leg like it would somehow help.
"I-It didn't even budge! My teeth almost committed suicide!"
Spitting and cursing, he glared at the jade tablet like it owed him money.
"In most novels, the system just beams the knowledge into your head, smooth and instant. But my system? Nooo, mine just tosses random crap at me like a drunk pigeon throwing breadcrumbs!"
Annoyed beyond words, Su Chen scowled at the jade tablet in his hand.
"You know what? Screw this rock!"
With a mighty swing, he hurled the jade toward a nearby boulder at the entrance of the cave.
CRACK!
The jade slammed into the stone with a sharp, satisfying sound—and to his surprise, instead of bouncing off, it shattered into countless tiny pieces.
"Huh?"
Before he could even react, a thin stream of green smoke rose from the fragments like mist from a boiling teapot. It twirled in the air—ominously, almost playfully—and then shot straight into his forehead with terrifying speed.
"Wait, wait—hey, hey, HEY! Don't—!"
WHOOSH!
"AAAAAGH!!" Su Chen let out a strangled cry, staggering back as if he'd just been electrocuted.
His eyes went wide. His body froze. And his brain? His brain was on fire.
It felt like someone had plugged his skull into a furnace and force-fed it the entire Encyclopedia Cultivania. Every nerve in his head lit up like a festival. His temples throbbed, his teeth clenched, and for a brief moment, he was convinced he could hear his own neurons screaming in protest.
"AAARGH! This is worse than the time I tried to memorize the whole Skybus syllabus one day before the exam!"
The pain continued for a few long, miserable seconds. Then, just as suddenly as it came, it stopped.
Su Chen collapsed to his knees, panting like a man who had just survived a spiritual thunderstorm.
And then… clarity.
His mind felt clear. No—sharp. Knowledge bloomed like a field of flowers. Every symbol, stroke, and syllable of the Wood Sovereign Script danced in his memory like old friends.
He blinked, then rubbed his forehead. "So… this is the Wood Sovereign Script, huh? Truly marvelous."
He sat there for a moment in awe, then snorted.
"But seriously, if this kind of instant knowledge transfer existed on Earth, I swear—parents would be buying these things in bulk. Every kid would get injected with the 'Doctor Package' by age six. Forget schools—kindergarteners would be performing surgeries and writing code by lunch break!"
He let out a chuckle, then sighed. "Still hurts like hell, though."
Only then did he begin to understand the path of cultivation.
The first level of cultivation is the Body Refining Realm. In this realm, mortals use Qi to temper their physical bodies. This was also Su Chen's current level.
Next comes Qi Refining—where one begins to absorb spiritual energy through breathing, transform it into magical power via the meridians, store it in the Dantian, and gradually alter their mortal constitution.
There are ten levels within the Qi Refining stage, divided into three phases:
Levels 1 to 3: Drawing Qi into the body, tempering the physique, and awakening spiritual awareness.
Levels 4 to 9: Gaining mastery over magical power, strengthening the meridians, and learning basic spells.
Level 10: Compressing and purifying magical power, laying the groundwork for Foundation Building, and further transforming the body.
The script also clearly outlined the five major realms of cultivation:
Body Refining, Qi Refining, Foundation Building, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul—with many more levels beyond, all the way to the True Immortal Realm.
The inheritance of the Wood Sovereign Script was impressively complete, spanning from the Qi Refining stage all the way to the True Immortal Realm, consisting of thirteen layers in total.
Each layer granted the practitioner a unique supernatural ability.
The first level's magical ability was called Wood Sensing. It enabled the user to perceive the presence of nearby plants and helped in absorbing Wood Qi from the environment.
The second level's magical ability was called Wood Emperor Token. This technique allowed the user to release spells that attracted attention, tracked enemies within a certain range, and exerted control over the surrounding area.
The third level's magical ability was an offensive technique called Sky Hand. With a massive handprint formed from condensed Qi, it could both attack and defend. Its power scaled with the user's cultivation.
And so it continued—each level of the script granting a powerful new ability, up to the thirteenth and final level.