On the mountain peak, the little hedgehog hurriedly rummaged through the books.

Chen Xu brushed his palm near the Red Mud Small Stove, simultaneously performing the Spirit Roasting Eight Techniques to control the fire and stimulate the medicinal properties of the Jade Needle Grass in the pottery jar.

At this moment, the sunset was halfway down, and the small village beneath the cloud cliffs, which had been ravaged by a great fire, lay silent and still.

Yet, on the eastern side, the dense forest stretched out lushly, with the wind brushing through the pine waves like the sound of blue waves.

Occasionally, bird chirps and faint insect sounds could be heard.

Wei Yuan pulled out a pile of books and placed them on the large rock beside him, with his heart pounding with excitement, he eagerly called out to Chen Xu:

"Mr. Chen, look at these books of mine. My cultivation has broken through, and I can take two more books out of the box.

Come and see if there's anything you want to read."

Chen Xu controlled the fire with one hand, making a gesture so that the red flames in the stove gradually subsided, changing from Martial Fire to Literary Fire.

He took out a lid and covered the pottery jar.

The Jade Needle Grass in this jar would simmer on low heat for half an hour, fully releasing its medicinal properties.

Consuming this soup would be very effective in treating both internal and external injuries.

Chen Xu got up and walked over to the little hedgehog, casually sitting down on the ground beside it.

The rock under the little hedgehog was just over a foot high, so Chen Xu, sitting on the ground, could speak to it face-to-face without bending over too much.

The sunset stretched his shadow, perfectly enveloping Wei Yuan.

The little hedgehog looked up at him and suddenly felt that even this shadow gave it great comfort.

Wei Yuan felt a swell in his heart and hurriedly pushed out two new books, offering them like treasures: "Mr. Chen, look! These are the new books I've just taken out, different from the old ones.

My teacher placed a restriction on my book box, allowing me to take out new books whenever my cultivation level advances.

From now on, whenever I get new books, I'll let you read them, okay?"

Its tone was joyous.

Though it spoke of giving the books to Chen Xu, as if offering something, it was evident that for the little hedgehog at that moment, giving was actually more joyful than receiving.

With a smile in his eyes, Chen Xu took the two new books.

Though called new, the two books bore the marks of frequent reading, exuding a timeless bookish scent.

Perhaps, these were books read by a Great Scholar countless years ago, later passed on to Wei Yuan, this little demon disciple.

Though the Great Scholar himself was elusive and hard to find, the things he left for Wei Yuan showed genuine care and heartfelt intentions.

Among the two new books, one was "Su Wen," and the other surprisingly was "Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious."

Upon seeing "Su Wen," Chen Xu didn't react too obviously, but upon seeing "Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious," he was suddenly startled.

The book remained unopened, but merely that one cover—

On the cover, a sea of clouds spread out, with towering cliffs, and amidst the surging turbid waves, one could vaguely see a scale and a claw.

The brushwork of the painting was freehand and elegant, filled with boundless joy and exuberance.

Chen Xu couldn't even see the full appearance of the creature in the sea at first glance, yet just meeting that one scale and claw conveyed an indescribable sense of imposing presence.

Like an endless sea and mountains, vast and boundless.

Chen Xu felt an immense shock, and a word sprang to mind: dragon!

Though the cover depicted only a dragon's claw, upon seeing it, the thought in Chen Xu's mind was unambiguously clear.

A dragon shows its head but not its tail.

A dragon floats like clouds, a divine dragon emerges from the sea, a dragon flies to the azure firmament.

In all postures, there was a sense of unfettered mystique, like a boundless river, like the unfathomable heaven and earth.

Chen Xu even immediately felt an urge, feeling that if he just looked at this divine dragon a bit more, he might comprehend some of its mystical aura.

What mystical aura?

A dragon entering the sea, roaming the blue skies;

The waves of mountains and seas, the splendid stars;

The cycles of the sun and moon, the eternal river...

Upon seeing this mountain-and-sea divine dragon, countless inspirations like shooting stars flickered through Chen Xu's mind.

If one truly had to describe Chen Xu's real feeling at that moment.

It would be: to say that inspiration burst forth like a volcanic eruption wouldn't be an exaggeration.

However, all this inspiration was exceedingly brief.

When the mountain wind blew again and the pines roared back, Chen Xu focused his gaze to find that all the strange phenomena earlier seemed like mere illusions.

What did he see?

It seemed like he saw nothing.

On the cover of "Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious," the sea of clouds and treacherous cliffs remained, the one scale and claw still vividly painted.

Yet, the myriad mystical strings of power that Chen Xu earlier sensed mysteriously vanished.

Chen Xu was momentarily dazed, then, looking again at the mountain peaks and high cliffs before him, the setting sun hanging at an angle, the clouds like a sea.

Suddenly, he sighed softly, feeling inexplicably lost and forlorn.

The little hedgehog saw his expression change subtly just by holding that book and couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Chen, is there something wrong with this book?"

Chen Xu held onto the "Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious," about to answer Wei Yuan's question when he was suddenly moved.

Just then, when the bizarre phenomena vanished before his eyes, while he was feeling wistful, the Food Cauldron Celestial Book by his side silently opened.

Chen Xu was originally immersed in the divine sensations earlier and had not noticed the subtle prompts of the Food Cauldron Celestial Book.

But looking again now, he saw several incredible lines of text appear:

[Wind Summoning Level 2 (756/1000)]

[Water Divination Level 2 (239/1000)]

[Spirit Control Level 1 (99/100)]

Just a quarter of an hour ago, his Wind Summoning experience was [Level 2 (532/1000)].

Water Divination was [Water Divination Level 2 (135/1000)].

As for the Spirit Manipulation Technique, Chen Xu had been practicing diligently but, due to its profound nature, progress was always slow.

Before this, Spirit Manipulation was just [Level 1 (69/100)].

But simply by looking at the cover's divine dragon of "Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious," his three magic skills naturally made progressive leaps.

Could this be sudden insight?

No, Chen Xu believed it wasn't truly sudden insight.

Because at this moment, he didn't feel any overwhelming clarity akin to great enlightenment, rather he felt a lack of full channeling of inspiration, resulting in an odd sensation trapped in his heart, neither up nor down, uncomfortable.

This was... having realized something, yet not completely grasping it.

But fortunately, Chen Xu was adept at self-regulation.

He knew that the "Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious" that the little hedgehog had just taken out was akin to a fleeting opportunity.

And such opportunities are often serendipitous rather than sought after.

The fact that he gained so much in just a glance was already an immense harvest.

If he were too obsessed, harboring greed, only focusing on what he hadn't acquired and not appreciating what he had gained, he might indeed risk falling into demonic obsession.

Chen Xu quietly rubbed the cover of the book in his hand; now looking back, those mystical insights were hard to recreate.

Yet, the substantial progress in the three magic skills was undeniably real.

He chewed over the insights he had just gained, and gradually, it was as if a wind stirred around him.

On the rock opposite, the little hedgehog widened its eyes, looking at him with a gaze filled with wonder.

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