My Salvation Game Became true?!

Chapter 168: Chapter 164 Professional Legacy and The Ancient Wood Qingmu (Seeking Monthly Passes)

In the village, the chirping of birds resonated with incessant twittering.

The songs of insects and birds were much more abundant here than elsewhere, with birds frequently flying past, perching on the branches, and the dappled sunlight filtering through the treetops was warm, lacking the cold desolation of other forests.

Following this stone staircase, Fang You advanced step by step.

One step per stair, refusing to hasten even a single step.

After a full half-hour, he finally reached the end of the stone steps.

Before him lay a magnificent expanse.

Huge stone pillars stood erect, guarding the flagstone path that led to the central area.

Time had left its mark here, but it did nothing to diminish the grandeur of the place, only making it seem more ancient and weathered.

A profound sense of weight hit him.

Through a stone gate, the Land of Inheritance revealed itself in front of him. This place was very spacious and had also served as a training ground in times past. The surrounding weapon racks had decayed, but those mottled battle swords still stood defiantly erect.

In the center of the Land of Inheritance stood a huge stele.

But now,

in front of the stele, stood an additional statue.

Clad in a white robe and smiling, one hand held in a loose grip as if holding something, within which was a scepter that showed no signs of wear and tear through the passing of time.

The Glorious Scepter.

Fang You was stunned.

After a long while, he slowly raised his hand, his right fist clenched before his chest.

The wind brushed past, and An Jianyou, who had followed him step by step, suddenly widened her eyes.

In front of her,

she seemed to see a series of faint golden silhouettes, youths, adults, and elderly alike.

Some carried battle swords, others wielded long spears.

But now, they all shared the same motion, slowly raising their right fists, clenched tightly before their chests, their lips quivering slightly.

As the wind blew,

it lifted the hair of the instructor, as well as the strands of those figures.

A pair of eyes reflected the same scene.

An Jianyou also slowed her breathing, standing tall at the end of the row of silhouettes, her expression solemn, her palm clasped firmly before her heart.

“The torch is passed on, humanity… endures.”

“Is this the lineage of our torch-bearing ancestors?”

…

Upon the stele of inheritance, Fang You held a sword, inscribing one name after another upon it.

Wei Jingwu, Wang Hei, Li Ergou, Li Sanniu…

An Jianyou sat quietly to one side, her eyes wide open as if she were trying to etch each and every name into her memory.

For a long time,

Fang You sheathed his longsword and looked out over the Land of Inheritance before him.

‘Land of Inheritance (Gold)’

‘Primary Inheritance: Blade Warrior Inheritance’

‘This inheritance includes: Basic Swordsmanship, Blade Slash, Mysterious Evil Tracking, War Blood Fiend, Sharp Breath, and more…’

‘Basic Effect: First Awakening +35%, Second Awakening +20%, Third Awakening +10%, Fourth Awakening +3%, and several other cultivation effects (click for details)’

‘Note: The more one’s alignment with the Land of Inheritance, the more complete the benefits received; conversely, the lower the benefits.’

‘Inheritance Effect: By expending a certain amount of Strange Crystals, one can activate the “Blade Warrior Inheritance”, acquiring all content of the inheritance, and there is a great possibility of breaking through awakening levels during the inheritance process, the consumption depending on the specifics.’

‘Note: Meeting prerequisite conditions is required to accept the primary inheritance.’

Beyond the primary inheritance, there were various other inheritances.

The cultivation imprint of Healing Water.

The usage rules of Palm Thunder.

All providing a boost in power.

In essence, the Land of Inheritance was a sacred place for cultivation and breakthrough; however, it wasn’t just that.

“As time consolidates, the Land of Inheritance is gradually merging similar types of inheritances to create a synergy greater than the sum of its parts.”

“If one activates an inheritance proactively, they could gain remarkable strength in a short time, and the awakening rate would surge substantially. Even a breakthrough from the third to fourth awakening level would have a significantly higher chance.”

However, the cost of activating an inheritance was also substantial.

Also, inheritances like this Blade Warrior Inheritance required at least a second-level awakening, as well as Blade Slash and Basic Swordsmanship to a certain standard, before they could be accepted.

It was akin to learning a high-level skill, only more comprehensive, being an integration of numerous low to mid-level skills.

It also incorporated combat experience, as well as tangible increases in power and awakening levels.

He approached and placed his hand on the main stele. As the owner of this structure, Fang You could roughly understand the messages of this inheritance.

Streams of information flowed into him.

After a while, he smiled.

“As expected, the greatest value lies in the integration of skills.”

“The skills acquired through inheritance are no longer independent entities. Instead, they have fused combat techniques and awakening experiences into them. Perhaps, it’s time to coin a new term…”

“Profession!”

Profession: Blade Warrior!

It encompassed methods of battle, improvement, and breakthrough.

Especially breakthroughs, which had a much higher probability than the simple mysterious boil, leading directly to a breakthrough… of course, the prerequisite requirements for a breakthrough were also higher.

“This Blade Warrior profession still has many deficiencies and needs to be continually perfected over the coming years.”

“But it’s a viable path.”

“If through this profession one can deduce a complete cultivation method, one that aids in awakening breakthroughs, that would be a truly significant boon!”

He was delighted.

This was the heritage left to future generations by torch-bearing warriors like Wei Jingwu, a legacy and a foundation.

But the road still had to be traveled one step at a time.

After leaving the Land of Inheritance, he went to the Tombstone Forest to the north, where hundreds of tombstones stood. No one had tended to this place for years, and it was overgrown and in disarray.

Rolling up his sleeves, he didn’t use invisible hands, but his own to pull weeds, cleaning each tombstone one by one.

An Jianyou, the girl, showed no signs of a wealthy young lady’s frailties; she squatted down to join him, getting her face all muddied in the process.

Not until nightfall was this entire Tombstone Forest clean.

Fang You wiped the sweat from his brow and then wiped the mud from An Jianyou’s forehead. Standing up, he looked at the names on the tombstones before him.

There were those he recognized and those he did not, who had come to this village after he had left.

But without exception, they were all buried here.

Including the warriors who, after the great battle, were unwilling to leave and ended their days in this place.

Their lives were not long.

Even if the war went very smoothly, and superhuman-ranked individuals like Wang Hei and Li Ergou survived, once the tide of mystery receded and their strength could no longer improve, they could not live into the modern day, a thousand years later.

The lifespan of someone at the Superhuman Rank was only a bit longer than that of an ordinary person, perhaps one or two hundred years.

The same was true for those at the Commanding and Throne ranks.

They were still within the bounds of the mortal, with limited lifespans.

Unless one could step into the Mythic Rank, it would be like a carp transforming into a dragon, undergoing cross-species evolution, gaining divinity, endless possibilities, and a vastly extended lifespan.

Under the passage of a thousand years, even if you were the king of man, you would but turn to dry bones.

This place seemed to be the only Land of Inheritance, untouched by the ravages of time.

However,

Fang You continued forward, coming close to the Tombstone Forest, where an ancient tree reached up to the heavens, its roots coiling like flying dragons, its trunk so thick that a dozen men could hardly encircle it, and its flourishing crown even spread over the Tombstone Forest.

The ancient tree!

An ancient tree of a thousand years!

And it was…

As he drew nearer, its presence unfolded, the ancient tree gradually stirring from its Deep Slumber, reviving from its age-old state.

The leaves rustled, and the earth trembled.

Gradually, an old, weathered face emerged, its branches reaching out and flying towards Fang You.

It brushed against him.

Loneliness, grievance, excitement, joy—various emotions came through.

There was also a particular obsession.

Desiring to have a name given by him.

If that is the case, let’s call you…

“Qingmu.”

Whoosh—

The branches swayed, and the façade of Qingmu was displayed before him.

It was of the Superhuman Rank Awakening.

Moreover, the ancient tree, Qingmu, had slain countless Mysterious Evils and Winged Blood beings during the war, including several Superhuman-ranked Winged Bloods.

If one were to set aside the final moment of supreme transcendence, Wang Hei’s tally of Superhuman-ranked Winged Blood kills wouldn’t surpass it.

Qingmu’s battle achievements were numerous, and it had long since accumulated enough mysteries.

It used a slumber of consciousness to prevent the loss of mystery, and now, in front of Fang You, “Guidance·Awakening” for the ancient tree Qingmu was an illuminated option.

However,

The chances were too low.

Not because it was weak, as Qingmu was among the stronger beings of the Superhuman Rank, but it ultimately suffered from an innate deficiency. Even if it had escaped the shackles of fate to reach the Superhuman Rank, it was nearly at its limit.

Breaking through was not impossible, just that the odds were really low.

Historically low.

Trying to break into the Commanding Rank was as difficult as striking gold.

“But it’s not a big problem,”

“Since it’s an innate deficiency, just supplement it. Any sufficiently high-grade Wood Series or life-related treasures could generally make up for Qingmu’s shortcomings.”

“As for where to find these treasures?”

Fang You, the mentor, still had three thousand destiny points, enough for thirty draws from the Advanced Card Pool. Could he really not pull a single Wood Series treasure?

…

“Damn! Really can’t pull one out?!”

He had in total pulled twenty times from the Advanced Card Pool and sixty times from the intermediate one, yielding several gold and purple items, but…

None were what he wanted.

The gold-level was for the structure ‘Land of Inheritance’, another one of those.

At the purple-level, he obtained several training cards and two Skill Seeds.

Besides that, potions, Skill Books, Strange Implements were drawn in abundance, along with a large quantity of Strange Crystals.

But he noticed a pattern.

The Skill Books he pulled were mostly ones he already had, as were the Strange Implements.

He pulled out another Evil-Slaying Greatsword, and as for Blade Slash Skill Books, six more, a wholesale delivery.

There were new Skill Books as well, all of low-level skills.

‘Buddha’s Palm’

‘Triple Thrust’

‘Fireball Technique’

Fang You looked at the ancient tree Qingmu before him, lost in thought.

Today was not the day.

The breakthrough, perhaps another time.

…

Deep into the night, all was silent.

In a small city in Baichuan Prefecture, the Investigation Bureau office building still had its lights on.

The investigators took shifts guarding, day and night, maintaining the peace of the city.

Suddenly,

An investigator pushed open the door to the bureau chief’s office, “Chief, we’ve discovered an abnormal item, and we’re currently unable to determine if it’s a Strange Implement.”

The investigator cautiously took out a scroll.

The paper was yellowed, exuding an ancient air.

The gloved investigator slowly unrolled the scroll, revealing to the chief a peculiar painting.

Why peculiar?

Despite being a mere black and white painting, the chief saw a blood-red sky, a giant eye opening, and before the giant eye, standing above the heavens, a golden figure.

A towering figure wielding a scepter.