I Will Grind My Way To Godhood

"Li Qi spoke up."

"Xue Jing, upon hearing, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, assumed the stance of the Dormant Dragon Technique, and tried to clear his mind of thoughts."

"After days of practice, he had long internalized the workings of the Dormant Dragon Technique. Now, even without consciously directing it, his body instinctively began to operate, gradually activating countless nodes, embarking on the training of the Dormant Dragon Technique."

"However, only after less than three minutes, his mind started to wander and become restless, prompting him to involuntarily regain control of his body and actively perform the technique."

"Xue Jing opened his eyes and shook his head, 'Master, I can't maintain this state for long.'"

"Li Qi, however, was satisfied, saying, 'You don't need to maintain it for long; doing it is enough.'"

'A genius is indeed a genius, quick to grasp the essence. Compared to you, Chen Fuguang is a blockhead. When I taught him back in the day, I was nearly driven mad.'"

"...Xue Jing had nothing much to say and pretended not to hear."

'I'll prepare some things; wait here and don't move,' Li Qi instructed.

"Xue Jing nodded."

"As soon as Li Qi wheeled himself away, Xue Jing glanced at his phone, noticing unread messages on WeChat."

"Opening it, he saw they were from Wu Youqing."

"Xue Jing felt a brief thrill of excitement, but it turned out she wasn't offering any work—just sending over some files."

'Wu Youqing: These are documents related to Divine Relics. Try to learn more about them; they'll be useful in the future.'"

'Xue Jing: Panda Head OK.jpg'

'Xue Jing: Good Sister, when is there work to do?'"

On the screen, Wu Youqing sent a picture of a cat patting someone's head, offering comfort.

【Wu Youqing: Don't worry. Our company has no performance evaluations. Even if we don’t contain any Divine Relics for a whole month, your salary will still be paid.】

【Xue Jing: Ah, listening to you, sis, it's not about the paycheck. It’s about my passion for containing Divine Relics.】

【Wu Youqing: Sneakily laughs.jpg, so you mean it's okay not to pay, right?】

After chatting with the wealthy and imposing Wu Youqing for a bit, Xue Jing noticed that Li Qi hadn't returned yet. He then opened the information Wu Youqing had sent about the Divine Relics.

"The Five Laws of Divine Relics"

【First, each Divine Relic is unique, one-of-a-kind, and cannot be replicated.】

【Second, Divine Relics cannot be destroyed. Even if physically shattered to dust, they will randomly reappear elsewhere.】

【Third, Divine Relics always have side effects. Without exception, their severity is independent of the relic's power and follows no pattern.】

【Fourth, Divine Relics possess transference abilities, with unclear triggers for their random transfers, lacking predictability.】

【Fifth, Divine Relics are merely objects. Despite possibly having thoughts, emotions, language abilities, or even humanoid forms, they are not true beings. Therefore, no Divine Relics are entitled to human rights, repeated, no Divine Relics are entitled to human rights.】

“……”

Xue Jing quietly read through the Five Laws of Divine Relics, his finger pausing over the fifth point, "Divine Relics are merely objects," deep in thought.

“It seems like something troubling must have happened for this oddly specific law to have been added.”

He shook his head, closed the document, and then opened another file.

【Divine Relics Compendium】

Xue Jing opened the interface to see a long list of selectable serial numbers.

【GOD-001·■■■■】

【GOD-002·The First■■】

【GOD-003·Divine■■】

【GOD-004·Emerald■■】

【GOD-005·Mirror■■】

...

【GOD-015·Reverse■■】

【GOD-016·Ashes■■】

【GOD-017·Of Fathers■■】

【GOD-057·Golden■■】

【GOD-066·Future■■】

Xue Jing started browsing through the top hundred entries in the sequence. Every entry was either completely obscured or partially veiled by those mysterious black bars. Clicking on any of them only resulted in the message, "Insufficient Permissions," blocking any further access.

With persistent scrolling, he reached entries beyond sequence number 300, where the full names of some Divine Relics occasionally appeared, but clicking on them still yielded the same access denial.

Not until he went past sequence number 1000 did he manage to access brief descriptions.

Picking one at random, Xue Jing selected:

【GOD·1057·Rapid Heartache Pill】

『It disguises itself as an ordinary heart-saving pill. It often randomly transfers to a regular bottle of heart-saving pills. Once consumed, it induces agonizing pain, and the user will not die or lose consciousness for any reason within two hours, maintaining full awareness in pain for the entire duration.』

Xue Jing: “……”

What kind of demonic divine relic is this?

Nonetheless, it is a life-saving artifact. As expected from a divine relic, it makes no sense at all. Absolutely undying within two hours...

As Xue Jing delved deeper into thought, the door of the practice room opened, and Li Qi wheeled himself in.

In his hand was a porcelain pill bottle. He uncorked it and poured out a pitch-black pill, handing it to Xue Jing.

“Take it.”

Li Qi said.

Without suspicion, Xue Jing accepted the pill and tossed it into his mouth, swallowing it directly.

The taste was peculiar, a strong herbal flavor intertwined with an indescribable subtle fragrance.

“Master, what is this?” Xue Jing asked.

Li Qi replied leisurely, “It’s a secret concoction made using the bodily fluids of 'Dragon Species Creatures' from the Boundary Lands as the primary material, imparting a moderate hallucinogenic effect.”

“... May I ask what bodily fluid?”

“Some things are better left unknown.” Li Qi said meaningfully.

Xue Jing: “……”

“Xiao Jing, look at me.” Li Qi suddenly instructed.

Instinctively, Xue Jing met Li Qi’s gaze.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Xue Jing felt as if his mind had been suddenly struck with a heavy blow. Various sounds flooded his ears, and his vision turned into a white blur.

Once his sight cleared, he looked up again.

Before him, there was no trace of Li Qi. In the entire training room, there lay only an ancient dragon, vividly lifelike, hibernating on the ground!

This old dragon had four feet with five claws, a head crowned with antlers, and its body was covered with densely packed golden scales, yet it was scarred all over, with exhaustion written in its eyes, on the brink of death.

But with just a faint glance from its dark golden vertical pupils, Xue Jing was frozen in place, utterly immobile, as if even breathing was a luxury.

As he snapped back to reality, he wanted to rub his eyes, but when he raised his hand, he was taken aback.

Was this...a dragon's claw?

His arms, at some unknown time, had become layered with scales, and sharp claws had grown from his fingers.

Xue Jing had an epiphany and immediately assumed the stance for the dragon hibernation technique, as if the entire person—or rather, the entire dragon—was hibernating on the ground.

He entrusted the execution of the dragon hibernation technique to his instincts, immersing himself wholly in the sensation of 'becoming a dragon.'

...

It was unclear how much time had passed.

Xue Jing slowly opened his eyes, and for a brief moment, a flash of light brightened them. His pupils transformed into dark golden vertical slits, but only for an instant before reverting back, like an illusion.

【Condition met, skill activated: Visualization】

【Visualization Lv1】

...

Chen stood silently in the secluded grove behind the dojo, lost in thoughts of the vision he had experienced earlier.

The dragon's voice still echoed in his mind, urging him to delve deeper into his newfound ability, 'Visualization Lv1.'

(End of Chapter)