Chapter 22: Oh No, I've Become the Altar Cleanser!

With a burst of golden light, the reward materialized from the lucky bag.

Lu Wenwu remained calm this time. He suspected that this lucky bag produced golden special effects regardless of the contents, rather than him being some kind of luck-favored child.

【You have obtained Knowledge: Master of All Languages】
【Name: Master of All Languages】
【Type: Knowledge】
【Description: Upon learning, you will automatically master the languages of all known intelligent species.】

Lu Wenwu: "???"

A tangible, white orb of light appeared in his hand, though he felt nothing else from it.

【Do you wish to learn?】

Lu Wenwu pondered for a moment and said, "Learn."

In an instant, the white orb transformed into a stream of light that merged into his brain. Lu Wenwu felt as if someone had forcibly pried open his mind, continuously pouring in torrents of information. Fortunately, his "Cultivation of Physical Excellence Through Reasoning" had already significantly increased his soul strength, so the infusion process was not painful.

Ten seconds later, the learning process concluded, and all discomfort vanished. Lu Wenwu felt as though his mind were stuffed with new knowledge, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He walked quickly to the living room and picked up an untranslated English document to read. The dense text, which previously felt more effective than a sleeping pill, was now easy to understand and fluent to recite. It was as if it were his native tongue.

He stood stunned for a dozen seconds before slapping his thigh, muttering in disbelief, "Holy crap? This is insane! I can actually speak English! And it’s more authentic than those posh Londoners from the UK!"

*Master of All Languages... does this mean I can talk to animals?*

Lu Wenwu thought thoughtfully and tried to communicate with Mao Mao. Mao Mao tilted its head in confusion, then stood up on its hind legs and tugged at Lu Wenwu’s arm, wanting a hug. Lu Wenwu then tried to communicate with Xiaobao. Xiaobao, poked awake, merely glanced at Lu Wenwu with a look of disdain.

The experiment failed.

Returning to the training room, Lu Wenwu pondered. *Master of All Languages—it makes sense that there must be a language to master in the first place.*

While contemplating the utility of this knowledge, he opened the second mysterious lucky bag. A familiar golden light flashed. This time, he held nothing in his hand; it was not a physical reward.

【You have obtained Divine Ability: Heaven-Swallowing and Earth-Devouring】
【Divine Ability: Heaven-Swallowing and Earth-Devouring: Everything can be consumed. Swallow the essence of all things in the universe to strengthen yourself. When cultivated to its peak, even planets can be turned into sustenance.】
【You have unlocked a new ability category—Divine Ability】
【Note 1: Divine Abilities have no tiers and cannot be upgraded with Spirit Coins. Players must explore ways to increase their power on their own.】
【Note 2: The use of Divine Abilities requires manual operation by the player.】

Note 1 was easy to understand—it meant exactly what it said. Note 2 concerned the activation of active skills. Standard active skills could be triggered with a single thought, like in a game; one didn't need to understand the underlying principles, just tap and it would run. It was similar to the soul skills in the Tang Sect legends, where proficiency levels simply measured one's mastery. The higher the understanding, the more effective the skill.

However, Divine Abilities were clearly like traditional fantasy or cultivation techniques; they had to be manually channeled and released. There was no "one-click" activation. The system simply skipped the learning process by instilling the knowledge directly.

"Divine Ability..." Lu Wenwu felt the massive influx of experience and knowledge in his mind, his expression turning strange. This thing seemed incredibly powerful and perfectly complemented his "Cultivation of Physical Excellence Through Reasoning."

But why did it feel like... he had turned into Zhu Bajie? *Am I just going to eat, eat, and eat?*

Lu Wenwu thought for a moment, walked to the kitchen, took out the military shovel he had obtained from the initial dungeon, and cleaned it thoroughly. Recalling the method for "Heaven-Swallowing and Earth-Devouring," he clumsily activated it and tentatively took a bite of the shovel.

*Crunch.*

A crisp sound echoed, and a tooth-shaped notch appeared in the specialized alloy shovel. At the same time, Lu Wenwu felt a negligible amount of his stamina depleted. As a top-tier physical cultivation technique, "Cultivation of Physical Excellence Through Reasoning" allowed the practitioner to generate transcendental energy—like "spirit power" or "mana"—whenever they expended physical stamina. As he swallowed, "Heaven-Swallowing and Earth-Devouring" refined the special alloy into a unique energy, integrating it into his body.

*Crunch, crunch, crunch...*

Lu Wenwu grabbed a bag of pickled vegetables from the fridge and ate, eventually devouring the entire military shovel along with the pickles.

The taste was like compressed biscuits, only flavorless. Lu Wenwu found it unpleasant. After consuming the shovel, he felt his body improve by a negligible amount—so small it didn't even show on his stats panel. Since there was no real gain, the stamina cost was also negligible.

Lu Wenwu thought about it and spent over two hundred Spirit Coins in the shop to buy a standard, "Common" grade piece of equipment to swallow. This time, his "Physique" attribute increased by 0.1, reaching 53.1. Correspondingly, the stamina required for the swallowing and refining process was significantly higher than before.

After a few more attempts, Lu Wenwu confirmed that the attribute points gained from devouring equipment or items were no different from buying them directly from the shop. The process consumed physical stamina; the more powerful the item, the greater the benefits, but also the higher the cost. If the object contained negative effects or toxins, the stamina drain increased accordingly. If used on rare treasures or medicinal herbs, it could maximize their potency.

Overall, this was a Divine Ability perfectly suited for him, and truly, everything could be eaten. However, he feared that eating something too powerful might cause him to burst.

After the experiments, Lu Wenwu firmly suppressed the urge to chug the 10ml of the Outer God’s blood. After all, that thing had the word "God" in it! Even if it wasn't at the level of a legendary immortal, it had to be at the level of a top-tier player. It was, after all, likely the source of the pollution in the previous world. Lu Wenwu wasn't arrogant enough to think he was invincible as a lowly Level 10 transcendent.

He decided to wait until he finished allocating his points and upgrading his skills. He wasn't ready yet, and he didn't want to experience the feeling of severe indigestion. That would be agonizing.

As for now...

Lu Wenwu summoned his personal panel, a look of harvest-time joy on his face.

"System, add points!"