Ever since it was confirmed that the Spirit Ruins would be integrated with the real world, Jiang Hao had been wondering, what exactly is the Spirit Ruins?

It's definitely more than just a game.

Think back to when I first entered Lingxu; I leveled up and fought monsters in a game-like manner. All the attributes and skills I saw, whether they were my own or the monsters', were definitely the result of Lingxu's datafication.

Therefore, Jiang Hao came to his first conclusion: Lingxu can be digitized.

What about the countless monsters inside the Spirit Ruins?

Previously, when leveling up and fighting monsters, the monsters would respawn after they died, and the monsters in the dungeon would be cleared out and reset after a while, as if they were endlessly regenerating.

Therefore, Lingxu must also have a replication function.

Okay, here comes a problem.

Where did the monster samples that Lingxu initially copied come from? Jiang Hao once thought that perhaps there were no samples at all, but rather that Lingxu made them up arbitrarily to enhance the player experience.

However, the gnolls he killed during his special mission, and the monsters that suddenly appeared from the void during the merging of the two worlds, are truly dead, leaving behind corpses. Regardless of how the corpses are ultimately disposed of, they will always leave some traces in this world.

This means that these monsters actually exist somewhere in the world.

The data-generated monsters at the Spirit Ruins level were replicated using these as samples.

Now, there's only one question left.

When did these sample monsters appear? This question is related to the essence of Lingxu.

If the monsters appeared before the Spirit Ruins, then it can be assumed that some people created the Spirit Ruins to fight against the monsters. The Spirit Ruins helped humans improve their strength and helped them fight against the monster attacks.

In this way, the Spirit Ruins can be used temporarily as a tool for people to fight against monsters.

Based on Jiang Hao's current understanding, the five major races—the jackal people, the beastmen, the deep-sea people, the human race, and the dragon race—are all beneficiaries of the Spirit Ruins.

If these sample monsters appeared along with the emergence of the Spirit Ruins, or appeared after the existence of the Spirit Ruins, then one has to consider the true nature of the Spirit Ruins.

Is it a machine created by certain individuals to antagonize others? Or a tool deliberately instigated to kill? Who created the Spirit Ruins, and who benefits from them? What advantages do they receive?

It leaves one with no way to think.

As Jiang Hao opened the Ancient Martial Arts Pavilion icon, a sentence at the top of the screen provided him with the answer.

Ancient Martial Arts: Before the emergence of the Spirit Ruins, it was humanity's reliance in fighting monsters.

This statement reveals the chronological order in which the monsters and the Spirit Ruins appeared. It also confirms the true nature of the Spirit Ruins: a tool to help humanity, or rather, the five major races, fight against the monsters.

Regardless of whether this conjecture is comprehensive or not, at least for Jiang Hao, this explanation is currently reasonable.

Jiang Hao stared absentmindedly at the icons on the screen before him. Since the Spirit Ruins could better replace ancient martial arts and help people fight against those powerful monsters, was it still necessary to study these ancient martial arts, or rather, the weapons humanity relied on before the Spirit Ruins appeared?

Jiang Hao was not interested.

But then Jiang Hao thought again, since this thing is a reward for the initial stage of the Source Realm, and it's placed together with tens of millions of free attribute points, millions of skill points, and 500,000 professional points, it should have something that can tempt people, right?

So he began to examine several ancient martial arts books in the beginner's training manual.

The first manual, Evergreen Skill, is a beginner-level technique. Learning it increases one's affinity with nature and enhances the healing effect of nature-based healing skills by 30%. Note: It does not occupy a skill slot in your profession.

Price: 100,000 career points.

That's it?

It's just a passive skill that doesn't take up a job slot, right?

And they still have the nerve to sell it for 100,000 career points?

To be honest, even if this book were given away for free, Jiang Hao wouldn't want it, let alone exchange it.

Rubbish!

The second manual, Ironwood Skill, is a beginner-level technique. Learning it increases your defense by 30%. Note: It does not occupy a skill slot in your class's skill tree.

Price: 100,000 career points.

It's slightly better, but it still can't win Jiang Hao's heart.

What use would I, a summoner, have for this defense?

But I think a defensive warrior would like it, right?

100,000 career points is not bad.

As for Jiang Hao, he would be happy to accept it if it were given to him for free, but if it required exchanging professional points or wasting an exchange opportunity, Jiang Hao felt it was not worth it.

Looking at the third book in the first row, it's the Thunderclap Skill, a beginner-level technique. Once learned, it can be used to increase the speed and damage of normal attacks by 30%. Note: It does not occupy a skill slot in your class's skill tree.

Price: 200,000 career points.

Holy crap!

I'm smitten!

Because the first and second books on ancient martial arts were incompatible with Jiang Hao's profession, Jiang Hao felt nothing for them.

But this one, this one…

If it can be applied to one's own talent, then this book can definitely increase one's combat power by 30%!

Jiang Hao completely overturned his previous disdain and contempt for ancient martial arts.

How can this be a passive skill that doesn't take up a skill slot?

This is clearly a private halo that only he can enjoy!

No matter how strong it is, it can always increase its strength again by a percentage!

Perhaps this thing can also be called... talent!

Jiang Hao's breathing became rapid. He seemed to have grasped a glimpse of the source of his talent.

Could it be... related to these ancient martial arts?

Jiang Hao continued reading: Water Profound Skill, Five Elements Skill, Crimson Sun Skill, Golden Profound Skill...

Some icons are visible and can be redeemed, while others are hidden. For some reason, ancient weapons with hidden icons cannot be redeemed. In short, visible icons are fewer, and hidden icons are more numerous. The prices mostly range from 100,000 to 200,000 profession points.

Jiang Hao wasn't satisfied, so he opened the intermediate-level cultivation techniques and looked at them one by one: the Absolute Heart Technique, the Universe Heart Technique, the Unadorned Technique, the Return to the Source Technique...

Most of the various ability bonuses here reach 50%, with more obvious ones than hidden ones, and the price ranges from 300,000 to 500,000 career points.

Jiang Hao noticed a section for advanced cultivation techniques at the very bottom. All the techniques listed there, except for one which was dark, were fully visible.

Jiang Hao involuntarily turned his gaze to the dark cultivation manual. This glance was like a bolt from the blue, striking Jiang Hao's head.

The God-Slaying Curse is an advanced technique that can be actively cast. It inflicts a curse on the target's soul, causing them to lose 1% of their health per second. This curse cannot be dispelled and lasts for 24 hours. The technique can be trained to a maximum of 18 levels; for each higher level, the curse duration increases by 24 hours. During the curse's duration, the affected person is immune to all healing effects from other skills.

Note: This does not occupy a skill slot in the profession skills section.

Price: 1 million career points.

Does it look familiar?

That face looked so familiar! Jiang Hao would never forget it in his lifetime!

Isn't this the same move that the archmage Oron of the Gnoll Empire used against me?

Jiang Hao was so angry he gritted his teeth. No wonder Aorong's skills looked so strange; it turned out they came from here!

Jiang Hao thought to himself, "What have I done to deserve that a level 10 newbie like me deserved that jackal man using a skill worth 1 million professional points to deal with me?"

This is utterly absurd!

At the same time, Jiang Hao also noticed some clues. Could it be that the ancient martial arts of the Ancient Martial Arts Pavilion would become corrupted once someone learned them?

Doesn't that mean that these ancient martial arts are unique in the entire Lingxu?