Chapter 4: Talent Tree (Thanks to Leader ChiChi C for the reward)

Amidst crackling pops, the faint torchlight flickered a few times and finally went out.

The torch stuck in the hidden stake had burned out.

The hidden mine shaft plunged into darkness, but Lu Ye hadn't completely lost his sight. What should have been pitch black still held faint glimmers of light in his eyes. He could see the outline of Steward Yang's corpse not far away and the cold glint from the sword he had tossed aside.

It wasn't that the mine shaft wasn't dark enough, but that his vision had improved.

After opening his spiritual aperture, Lu Ye clearly felt some marvelous changes occurring within him. Even his body, weakened by injury, had inexplicably gained a lot of strength.

"Haha... hahaha... hahahaha..." Lu Ye couldn't help but burst into maniacal laughter. His laughter echoed in the confined space until it aggravated his injuries, prompting him to stop quickly.

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

What was certain was that his sudden opening of the aperture was related to the Shadow Tree, and also to a piece of dark red ore he had never seen before.

No, the ore wasn't the main point; the main point was the cluster of orange-yellow flames within the ore!

The Shadow Tree grew roots, devoured the flames, and as a result, he opened his aperture.

The Shadow Tree had never undergone such a change before; it must have been stimulated by the orange-yellow flames...

It seemed his previous thoughts were correct; this Shadow Tree truly could provide him with some wondrous help, he just hadn't found the right method all this time.

Clearing his thoughts, he quickly focused his mind. He wanted to see what the Shadow Tree looked like now. After all, the cluster of orange-yellow flames had been consumed by the Shadow Tree, so there must be some changes.

Perhaps because his emotions were too agitated, even though Lu Ye had tried hard to focus his mind, he still couldn't see the Shadow Tree. This had often happened before, due to insufficient concentration.

He took a few deep breaths, calmed his mood, and waited for a long time before trying again.

This time, he successfully saw the Shadow Tree. As expected, and just as Lu Ye had thought, the originally hazy Shadow Tree had undergone some changes.

Overall, the Shadow Tree still looked the same. The roots that had previously grown out were no longer visible. However, near the bottom of the tree canopy, there was a leaf enveloped in blazing firelight, as if it were burning.

Lu Ye strenuously focused his mind and gazed at the burning leaf. He vaguely saw an extremely complex and intricate pattern imprinted on the leaf.

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

A sudden change occurred!

The small leaf continuously magnified before his eyes, instantly obscuring his vision. At the same time, a vast amount of inexplicable information surged uncontrollably into his mind. Lu Ye immediately felt as if someone had brutally smashed his head with a sledgehammer. Without even a groan, he passed out directly.

When he awoke again, Lu Ye felt completely disoriented, and his head throbbed violently.

Shaking his head, he forced himself to stand up and leaned against the rock wall.

He recalled what had happened before he fainted, but was surprised to find a lot of unfamiliar information in his mind. This information was deeply ingrained, as if it were his own memories.

Lu Ye calmed his mind and carefully examined these memories that shouldn't have existed. He quickly understood the full story.

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

There was a mysterious pattern on the leaf, which contained a vast amount of magical knowledge. When Lu Ye concentrated on examining it, this knowledge was forcibly imprinted into his mind.

Sharpness!

This was what the leaf contained: a spirit mark called Sharpness.

Lu Ye had heard of spirit marks. They were things that contained mysterious power and were closely related to cultivators' lives, cultivation, and combat.

There also seemed to be people who specialized in studying spirit marks, known as Spirit Mark Masters. However, these people were usually few in number because spirit marks were difficult to study.

After understanding all this, Lu Ye wanted to mobilize the spiritual energy within his spiritual aperture.

However, he found that the spiritual energy in his aperture was incredibly heavy, and he couldn't mobilize it at all.

After a brief thought, Lu Ye remembered that he was still under the influence of the magnetic field. How could he easily mobilize spiritual energy?

Steward Yang had died at his hands precisely because of this reason.

He stood up and stumbled towards the distance. As he walked, he felt the spiritual energy in his aperture reacting, and only stopped when he could mobilize this spiritual energy. This position was already outside the range of the magnetic field.

The spiritual energy, which had been heavy, now became exceptionally active. Under Lu Ye's command, it flowed through his body. Wherever it went, a warm sensation spread. Never having experienced this before, he was greatly astonished.

After playing for a moment, he remembered the spirit mark. Almost instinctively, he channeled spiritual energy into his palm. Instantly, a brilliant light flashed across his palm.

Though it vanished in an instant, Lu Ye still saw clearly that the brilliant light was an extremely complex and intricate pattern, identical to the pattern on the burning leaf!

"Is this Sharpness?" Lu Ye lowered his head and examined his palm. Logically speaking, he had only just opened his spiritual aperture and barely understood how to use spiritual energy, let alone construct a spirit mark with it.

Yet he had done it so effortlessly, as if he had practiced countless times.

A faint light emanated from his palm, like a large firefly. Additionally, a tingling pain emanated from his palm, making Lu Ye feel as if many needles were pricking his flesh.

Though it was just a palm, it now gave off an extremely sharp sensation. Lu Ye felt he could split a stone with a single chop of his hand!

Thinking this, he immediately dragged over a basin-sized stone from nearby. Such stones were ubiquitous in the mine shaft and worthless.

Placing the stone before him, Lu Ye raised his hand like a blade and chopped down.

The basin-sized stone split in response to the chop, with a perfectly clean cut.

Lu Ye was stunned. Although he had just thought he could split a stone, he never imagined such an effect. This wasn't splitting; it was cutting. And what cut the stone was merely his hand!

All of this was merely due to the blessing of Sharpness. This spirit mark seemed capable of making anything it blessed extremely sharp.

Previously, he had seen a cultivator from Evil Moon Valley smash a stone with a single palm strike and had been astonished, thinking it was a feat of a deity. But now, it seemed he also had the ability to do it, and even better.

This was just cutting a stone. What if it were a person?

The brilliant light on his palm slowly dissipated after cutting the stone. This was due to the spiritual energy being depleted. At the same time, Lu Ye felt completely drained, and an immense sense of weakness washed over him.

He thought, *This is bad.*

He had only just opened his aperture. To have impulsively condensed a spirit mark was somewhat overestimating his abilities; this was a severe overdraft.

Drowsiness crept over him. Lu Ye strenuously resisted. If he fell asleep now, he didn't know if he would be able to wake up again.

He quickly returned to where he had been, picked up a bottle of Vitality Pills, poured out a few, and put them into his mouth. He then picked up a piece of beast meat and ate it heartily.

The medicinal effects of the Vitality Pills spread, gradually filling his body. The feeling of weakness slowly receded.

Leaning against the rock wall, he organized his thoughts.

The Shadow Tree, which had been with him for over a year, after devouring a cluster of orange-yellow flames, allowed him to open his spiritual aperture and become a cultivator. Then, when he examined the Shadow Tree, he found a burning leaf. From that burning leaf, he obtained the spirit mark called Sharpness...

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

After pondering for a moment, Lu Ye suddenly realized, "Isn't this a talent tree?"