The Versatile Master Artist

Replace it with a more straightforward understanding.

If at this moment the system’s virtual panel could display all of a person’s stats in a data format like RPG online games.

Given Gu Weijing’s current state,

His [Perception] ability, the corresponding stats would be incredibly high!

Clearly, the external world hasn’t changed, yet Gu Weijing is so clear-headed.

He doesn’t experience any hallucinations, nor does he see twisted rainbows on the walls or mistake dark floors for burning flames like someone drugged or with neurosis disorders might.

Yet everything has become completely different.

Gu Weijing’s vision can easily catch the trajectory of tiny dust floating in the light, hear the chirping of insects and birds outside the window.

Even the grainy texture of uneven painted plaster on the bedroom wall meters away is distinctly visible.

This feeling is so novel; Gu Weijing feels like he’s recognizing this familiar yet strange, wonderful yet beautiful world for the first time.

It’s as if a person who kept their eyes shut for ten years has opened them again to adapt to the sunlight, or a clueless unborn child has been reincarnated.

His senses were unprecedentedly heightened, inspiration flowing like a fountain.

He could hear Shakespeare’s famous verses in the beetle’s wing beats, and imagine a youthful crayon’s accidental ginger yellow curve as a hazy crescent moon, with Li Taibai drunkenly composing three thousand poems above it, reflecting three figures in the moonlight.

The world is magnificent,

All kinds of brilliance,

Are encompassed within it.

Gu Weijing suddenly felt an impulse to cry.

”I never realized this world is so beautiful, yet I haven’t discovered it all along.”

Gu Weijing almost greedily gazed and listened to everything he could see and hear.

Every object could once again bring him exceptionally novel sensations.

The brain received external information at an unprecedented speed, thoughts spun like light and electricity.

His thoughts were turning too fast, inspiration grew madly like weeds in spring, even time seemed to slow down remarkably.

So many ideas flashed through Gu Weijing’s mind, from English dramas to Huaxia poems.

The countdown on the virtual panel had only just ticked past five seconds.

In this state, he felt if he picked up a pen to draw anything, regardless of style, the final emotional rating wouldn’t be less than [Heartfelt].

”Should get back to business.”

Gu Weijing quietly reminded himself.

He regrettably chose not to dwell on those precious inspirations that came with a jingle like pearls, and his gaze left the incredibly beautiful surrounding objects to focus on the white cover of ”The Little Prince”.

Moved by intention.

A pale yellow light screen popped up from the virtual panel.

[Title: The Little Prince]

[Author: Saint-Exupéry]

[Familiarity with the Work: High (Calligraphy and Painting Identification Skill available)]

”Identification skill can be used!”

Gu Weijing quickly scanned over two other books on the table, which were accurately one page and one book.

The page contained a famous poem by Wang Wei—”From a distance the mountain has color, up close the water has no sound”—a five-character quatrain ”Painting”.

The thick tome was Dickens’s longest novel, ”Dickens: Bleak House”.

Before lighting the Blessing Candle, Gu Weijing already planned with determination and preparation.

The opportunity to light the candle comes only once.

If the system sets high requirements,

Determining that Gu Weijing’s familiarity with ”The Little Prince” isn’t sufficient for using Calligraphy and Painting Identification Skill, then time shouldn’t be wasted.

Gu Weijing planned to use the Identification Skill on Wang Wei’s poetry.

He learned this poem ”Painting” in elementary school as his first poem; the entire piece has only twenty characters, and Gu Weijing could recite it at age four, which should belong to the most understood text, surely not failing him.

Dickens’s ”Bleak House” is recommended reading in tenth-grade English grammar classes for Fitz’s students.

Some classic passages, they even rehearsed in groups for drama during class, but with too many Chapters in full, Gu Weijing merely skimmed through it.

Fitting the category of having a general impression from reading,

Hmm... perhaps somewhat similar to typical students with ordinary literature interest and grades in language arts at a second-tier Dongxia middle school who understand ”Dream of the Red Chamber”?

Gu Weijing specifically picked this book to see what the system’s criteria were for having ”strong understanding and recognition” of a book.

In case the treasure chest continues to offer Blessing Small Candle in future, he could have a hint of judgment standard.

As his gaze sweeps quickly over,

Equally, two earthy yellow virtual panels appeared before Gu Weijing’s eyes.

Similar to his initial thought, Wang Wei’s ”Painting” could use the identification skill, its familiarity also high.

”Bleak House” fared rather poorly.

The level of familiarity didn’t even rate ”Medium”, just a pitiful ”Low”; whether the Calligraphy and Painting Identification Skill was usable showed as a gray, unselectable option.

”So, just having generally read it isn’t enough, it must be thoroughly mastered to use the Calligraphy and Painting Identification Skill further.”

Gu Weijing basically grasped the concept.

This little test also took him ten seconds.

The countdown on the virtual panel still left 320 seconds at this point.

Time is precious, Gu Weijing has no time to think deeply, he directly used his master-level identification skill on the white-covered book.

The next moment,

Bang!

”The Little Prince” exploded directly.

[...If someone’s in love with a unique flower that blooms in the vast sea of stars, then when they look up at the starry sky, they will be contented...]

[...He would tell himself: ”My beloved flower is there, on that distant star.”]

[...But if a sheep eats the flower, then for him, all the starlight will dim in an instant!]...

[...When you truly like someone, you’ll think a lot, easily act foolishly, say silly things...]

In an instant, Saint-Exupéry’s fairy tale shattered into hundreds and thousands of words and sentences, these jumping letters rushed into Gu Weijing’s mind like a flooding sea.

He suddenly clenched his fist tightly.