The Ultimate Divine Class

As expected.

Seeing White Grass's reply, Lu Yuan wasn't too surprised. Although Lu Jing's archaeological team hadn't made the news, people in the same circle couldn't possibly be unaware of such a major event as the excavation of temple ruins. Unless White Grass was overseas and the Sum Country had suppressed news about the archaeological team.

After some thought, Lu Yuan replied to White Grass: "I can't tell you the origin of the pattern yet; I also saw it elsewhere."

Lu Yuan wasn't sure if White Grass could locate him. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he frankly told her that the truly valuable information wasn't with him.

Soon after he sent the message, White Grass quickly replied.

"I guessed as much, otherwise you wouldn't have hand-drawn the pattern and sent it. (laugh)"

"Oh, right, may I venture to ask one more question? Did you ask about the Elephant God Religion because... you, or someone you know, is in trouble?"

Seeing this last message from White Grass, Lu Yuan's eyelids twitched violently. His hands flew over the keyboard as he typed rapidly: "Do you know something? Please tell me, this is really important to me!!!"

He had initially ended with one exclamation mark, but after a moment's thought, he added two more, hoping White Grass, far away in Havel, could sense his current urgency and anxiety.

After sending the message, Lu Yuan stared fixedly at the computer screen. It was as if a clock was ticking in his mind: TICK-TOCK-TICK-TOCK...

After one minute and thirty-five seconds, White Grass finally responded.

"I don't know how to help you. (sigh)"

"All I can do is tell you what I know."

"Existing information on the Elephant God Religion is extremely scarce. This is not only due to the religion's inherent mystery and its brief existence during the White Mountain Era, but also because anything or anyone connected to the Elephant God Religion... has, without exception, ultimately died or disappeared."

Light flickered in Lu Yuan's eyes, his pupils reflecting the last sentence from White Grass in the chat box. Yet, his mood was surprisingly calm.

"When you say 'connected,' what kind of connection are you referring to? Does our current level of involvement count?"

"Of course not," White Grass replied. "Only those who have had close contact with unearthed Elephant God Religion relics are said to suffer this fate. What we study now are rubbings and reproductions."

"Misfortune? Is there a basis for such a claim?"

"The news reports are the basis, though you probably can't search for them. No government officially links murder and disappearance cases to such causes and publicizes them. What I know is based on information circulated within our circles."

Lu Yuan thought for a moment, then typed: "If someone *did* accidentally come into contact with such items, is there any way to remedy the situation? Have there been any such cases before?"

White Grass: "I don't know. Most of what I've told you is hearsay; no one can truly confirm its veracity. The Elephant God Religion is just one of my research topics, and so far, my understanding of it isn't deep."

"Could you give more details about those cases? For example, specifics about who came into contact with Elephant God Religion items, when, and then how and when they died or disappeared?"

Lu Yuan kept sending one question after another. But White Grass seemed to be growing impatient. Her response times grew longer, and her replies became increasingly brief. Eventually, Lu Yuan's messages went completely unanswered.

Lu Yuan finally gave up on asking more questions.

For a stranger on the internet to tell me this much is already quite something... Lu Yuan mused with a quiet sigh, then tried to add White Grass as a friend.

But before she could accept, Lu Yuan saw White Grass's avatar turn gray.

Lu Yuan silently looked away from the computer screen, his gaze falling on the Elephant God Religion symbol drawn in the notebook open before him.

If what White Grass had told him was true, then Lu Jing's archaeological team was indeed in serious trouble. This might also explain Lu Jing's unusual behavior recently.

Unfortunately, even knowing all this, Lu Yuan could do nothing. He could only pray that Lu Jing hadn't come into contact with whatever her archaeological team had unearthed from beneath the temple. There was a good chance of that. After all, Lu Jing was just a recent graduate, an intern trailing after the archaeology team's professor and handling miscellaneous tasks. Such precious ancient artifacts wouldn't have been entrusted to her.

Lu Yuan didn't dare tell Lu Jing the information he'd gotten from White Grass. Because if Lu Jing knew, regardless of whether she had actually come into contact with anything, her personality was such that she would become paranoid and live in constant anxiety.

But not warning her at all wasn't an option either. Lu Yuan thought for a bit, then sent Lu Jing a message. He told her he'd read an overseas research report suggesting that ancient unearthed artifacts tended to be malevolent. Whether it was true or not, she should have as little contact with them as possible; she should slack off whenever possible, and besides, she would be back soon anyway.

Lu Jing didn't reply for a long time; he didn't know if she had seen the message.

Lu Yuan sighed softly, calmed himself, and set the matter aside for the time being.

The purplish-red bruises from his impact resistance training had mostly faded. He put on a shirt, then picked up the ancient language books from his desk and began to study. Learning more ancient languages would be very beneficial, both for enhancing his own strength and for resolving potential future troubles.

「Later.」

HISS—

Lu Yuan focused his concentration, feeling his five fingers gradually tearing through the air resistance, a mysterious qi circulating at his fingertips, leaving white trails in the air.

He repeated this dozens, even hundreds of times, before choosing to exit the Consciousness Space.

Upon opening his eyes, Lu Yuan swiftly made his move. His right thumb, index, and middle fingers bent into a claw, striking at the air before him. Again and again... each time, the muscles in his right hand tensed like a spring before releasing. He continued until his right hand was so sore and swollen he could barely lift it.

He checked his Class panel.

[Your Basic Palm Skill has been improved, Experience Points +3]

[Your Basic Finger Skill has been improved, Experience Points +1]

...

After a round of practice, both his Basic Palm Skill and Basic Finger Skill had improved. The former improved much more significantly than the latter, having already risen to Lv4.

Under Lu Yuan's [Fighter] Class, these were the only two basic Class skills not yet maxed out.

Lu Yuan had accidentally discovered that attempting to imitate Qin Feng's Sure-kill move actually improved these two basic skills.

It makes sense. Qin Feng's claw attack is likely an evolution of palm and finger techniques. However…

Lu Yuan slightly bent his fingers and struck at the floor beneath him with a fierce claw.

BANG—

The floor tile he struck suddenly cracked. Lu Yuan hissed, retracting his hand as if shocked, a sharp pain stinging his fingertips. Looking at the cracked tile, the fissures originated primarily from the upper-left corner, corresponding to his index finger. The areas beneath his middle finger and thumb, to the right and bottom, showed almost no marks.

Qin Feng's move has two main aspects. The first is the penetrative power of the fingertips; the second is the subsequent force of grasping, tearing, and pulling. I haven't even mastered the first stage…

Lu Yuan knew very well that if he could perfectly replicate Qin Feng's move from the Consciousness Space, there would be three deep finger holes in the floor tile, and the tile itself would remain uncracked.

Let's practice slowly; this isn't something that can be achieved overnight…

Lu Yuan wasn't too disheartened. After all, he had also spent a long time fully comprehending [Crane Shadow Floating in the Air] initially.

His exploration of the Sure-kill Skill concluded for now. Lu Yuan immediately resumed his Spirit Crane Body movements.

After Lin Zhiquin left, Lu Yuan's life settled into a regular pattern. His daily routine now primarily consisted of practicing the Spirit Crane Body and the forms of Crane-shaped Fist. He engaged in practical combat in the Consciousness Space, analyzing Qin Feng's Sure-kill. He would also find time to visit the Origin Martial Arts Hall for a session of secret medicine and acupuncture therapy. Additionally, he read books, studied ancient languages, and farmed Experience Points.

During this time, he didn't neglect the skills on his [Death Teller (Extraordinary)] panel either. Whether it was [Death Omen Eye] or [Circulation of Death Qi], both skills gained Experience Points based on their duration of use. Activating these two skills didn't actually hinder him from doing other things. So, he had gotten into the habit of keeping both skills active while reading or doing other tasks, and after a few days, he had accumulated some Experience Points. However, he was still a considerable way from reaching Lv2.

Conversely, his [Crow Language] skill—thanks to occasionally training his Crow minions, interacting with them, and directing them to do various tasks—had smoothly broken through to Lv2.

「A peaceful afternoon.」

Clouds obscured the sun, allowing only a muted light to filter through. The air was thick with a restless humidity and oppressive heat, heralding an impending downpour.

Lu Yuan stood on his balcony, an open book resting on the railing. He looked as if he were on the balcony memorizing English vocabulary or something similar.

In reality, his Spiritual Power was connected to one of his Crow minions perched on the windowsill of an apartment opposite his, issuing it a command—

Go find me a pink sock!

The Crow minion quickly flapped its wings and flew off. A short while later, it actually returned, carrying a pink sock with a cartoon pattern on it. And it appeared to be unwashed, at that.

Lu Yuan issued another command, instructing the Crow minion to return the "stolen" sock the way it came, while he thoughtfully observed his Class panel.

[Crow Language Lv2 (3/200)]

The Lv2 [Crow Language] skill not only made the visual information relayed by his Crow minions clearer but also significantly improved their comprehension of Lu Yuan's commands. This wasn't to say the Crow minions' intelligence had increased. Rather, the Lv2 [Crow Language] skill "translated" Lu Yuan's intended meaning into a form more easily understood by the Crow minions. This made the information exchange between them much smoother.

So, my previous deliberate training efforts seem somewhat pointless. As long as I level up the skill, the Crow minions will naturally become 'smarter.'

Thinking this, Lu Yuan glanced at his Class panel again. This time, however, he was looking at the information for his [Ancient Language Expert] Class.

[Class: Ancient Language Expert Lv3 (398/400)]

Through daily study, driven half by interest and half by diligence as a chore, he had finally brought the [Ancient Language Expert] Class almost to the point of leveling up. With only 2 Experience Points remaining, Lu Yuan estimated he could achieve it by memorizing and understanding just a few more words.

He stood on the balcony and activated [Absolute Focus]. Just as the first raindrop of the impending storm landed on the page of his open book, he finally received the notification that his [Ancient Language Expert] Class had leveled up.