I can see experience bars after being transported to another world.

Lu Yuan stared at the last four words for two seconds.

Deceitful.

The gray and white text already says it's a hoax.

But he didn't show it; instead, he glanced outside the door.

Beside the main gate of the alchemy workshop, the night watchman was leaning against the wall. When he saw Lu Yuan come out, he nodded slightly.

everything is normal.

He was completely unaware that a short old man was standing at Lu Yuan's feet.

"I can't see him."

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze from the Night Watchman and returned it to the old man.

dwarf.

Are there other races in this world?

"Stop looking, those people outside can't see me," the old man muttered in dissatisfaction. "If you don't let me in, I'm going to get angry."

Lu Yuan nodded in response to the Night Watchman, then stepped aside to make way for him.

The old man squeezed through the gap.

Lu Yuan closed the door.

The old dwarf had already found a chair on the first floor, and casually climbed up and sat down. His two short legs dangled off the ground.

He looked around the alchemy workshop and wrinkled his nose.

Then, looking at Lu Yuan, his expression returned to solemnity.

"My name is Dor Hawke."

He patted his chest.

"Your inscription skills have reached the threshold, and I'm here to help you with your subsequent choices."

Lu Yuan sat down opposite him, looking at this suddenly appearing figure.

"You dwarves are so generous?"

Dor Hawke chuckled, his white beard swaying with it.

"Smart. Of course not."

He extended a short, stubby finger.

"When you chose the path I recommended, it helped me. I'm here to help you, but it's not for nothing."

"What kind of help?"

"We'll talk about it later," Dor Hawke waved his hand. "Besides, once you confirm your joining, your skills won't be wasted. You'll be able to get some orders specifically for us dwarves."

He held up two fingers.

"First, it can improve your skills. Our orders are guaranteed to be ten times better than what you can figure out on your own."

"Secondly, you can earn some currency. You can then buy some... things you wouldn't even imagine from me."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

"What can I buy? Materials? Information?"

Dort Hawke gave a meaningful smile.

"I have everything you need."

He stopped smiling and said in a serious tone.

"Alright, that's all beside the point. Let's get down to business."

Dol Hawke pulled a palm-sized stone slab from his apron pocket. The slab was covered with tiny, densely packed inscriptions that shimmered faintly in the morning light.

"Your inscription aura is very weak; you've only just begun." He squinted at Lu Yuan, "but based on your aura, I can recommend a few directions for you."

He tapped the stone slab four times, and each time a symbol appeared on the slab.

"Weapon Inscription. Large-scale Inscription. Ancient Inscription. Mysterious Inscription."

Four symbols hung above the stone slab, emitting a faint light.

"These four are the options you can choose at this stage," said Dor Hawke. "I personally recommend weapon inscription or ancient inscription."

Lu Yuan looked at the four symbols.

What's the difference between these two?

Dor Hawke's expression turned serious.

"The difference is huge."

He jumped off the chair and began pacing in front of Lu Yuan. His steps were short, but he walked very quickly.

"The field of inscription studies covers dozens of areas. Even we dwarves can only specialize in one at most, while having some knowledge of the others."

He stopped and looked up at Lu Yuan.

"Your situation is rare. The main path isn't inscription, but extraordinary knowledge, but your talent for inscription is enough to get you started."

He sniffed.

"To be honest, the aura around you is very 'dark.' I don't know which direction you've chosen, but learning other knowledge would be beneficial for you."

Lu Yuan did not respond.

"Doctor Hawke continued."

"Weapon inscriptions, as the name suggests, are inscriptions engraved on weapons. These weapons are quite effective against strange and unusual creatures."

His gaze suddenly fell on Lu Yuan's waist.

"Don't you have one?"

Lu Yuan looked down and saw the enchanted revolver, "Flame".

"The idea is good," Dor Hawke commented, "but unfortunately it's a defective product. The inscription base used for fire enchanting is a mass-produced, low-end product; the engraving depth is insufficient, and the rune connections are discontinuous. It will degrade after a dozen or so uses."

He pursed his lips.

"You human craftsmen... sigh, never mind."

"Secondly, there's Ancient Inscription." Dor Hawke's tone changed, becoming more cautious. "This is an inscription path exclusive to those with extraordinary knowledge. In other words, one must first achieve extraordinary knowledge, then begin learning inscription, before even having a chance to enter this field."

"Are the conditions very demanding?"

"It's not that it's demanding," Dor Hawke shook his head, "it's just that it's been lost to time."

Lu Yuan's brow twitched slightly.

"Lost in history?"

"Yes. That's it." Dor Hawke spread his hands. "I don't know exactly what this thing could do. I only know that it once existed and was deeply bound to knowledge. But the lineage was broken, and the existing data is not enough to piece together a complete system."

Lu Yuan remained silent for a few seconds.

"The person who recommended this major to me didn't even know what it would lead to."

Is this old man trying to trick me into choosing weapon inscription?

The gray text is correct.

"The artifacts on the Bronze City," Lu Yuan suddenly changed the subject, "...to which style of inscription?"

Dor Hawke seemed a little thirsty.

He flipped through the items with one hand and pulled out a copper cup from somewhere. Then, his eyes swept around the alchemy workshop and his gaze fell directly on a bottle of excellent sanity potion on the table.

He jumped onto the table, grabbed the bottle of medicine without hesitation, and poured himself a glass.

Lu Yuan's lips twitched as he watched as half of his last bottle of potion was poured out.

Dor Hawke took a sip and smacked his lips with a look of pure bliss.

"Good stuff...good formula."

Then he answered slowly.

"The inscriptions on the Bronze City belong to the category of large-scale inscription literature."

He took another sip.

"However, if we really want to categorize it, we should add the word 'ancient' before it. Ancient large-scale inscriptions."

Lu Yuan stared at him.

"Is it related to the ancient inscription literature you mentioned?"

"Related, but different." Dor Hawke put down his cup, his expression turning serious. "Ancient large-scale inscription is the most difficult of all inscription disciplines. It's also the least suitable for you."

He jumped off the table, walked up to Lu Yuan, and looked up at him.

"You have your own path to knowledge. If you choose ancient large-scale inscription studies, your path to advancement will be blocked."

Why?

"Ancient large-scale inscriptions are cursed with knowledge," Dor Hawke said, his tone unusually grave. "Once you reach a certain level, it will lock you out of any progress you make in other areas of knowledge. All your experience, insights, and accumulations will be forcibly directed toward the inscriptions themselves."

He patted his apron.

"This isn't a problem for us dwarves; we've always followed the path of inscription. But for someone like you, a transcendent being with a primary path of knowledge..."

He didn't finish speaking, but his meaning was clear.

Taboos can be locked away.

Lu Yuan remained silent for a while.

Four directions.

Weapon inscription—practical, improves weapons, and can deal with the supernatural. But this old man is clearly leading us in that direction; he can benefit from it.

Large-scale inscriptions—too difficult, and ancient large-scale inscriptions have knowledge curses that lock away forbidden knowledge. Eliminated.

Ancient inscription literature—now lost, possessing extraordinary and exclusive knowledge, but no one knows exactly what it can be used for.

The bizarre inscription literature—the old man barely mentioned it, so it's probably not recommended.

"Let me think about it some more."

Lu Yuan looked at Dor Hawke.

Dor Hawke downed the medicine in his cup in one gulp.

"No rush."

He jumped off the chair and patted his bottom.

"You've already passed the initial hurdle, so you can choose a direction whenever you want. But be sure to come see me before you choose, don't just fumble around on your own."

He walked to the door and glanced back at Lu Yuan.

"Here's the stone slab; it has basic information on four directions. Remember to return it to me when you're done."

He then took something out of his apron pocket and threw it on the table.

A thumb-sized bronze whistle.

It was crudely made, with a pitted and uneven surface, and a worn-out leather cord hung from it.

"This is for you too. Blow it, and the dwarves nearby will hear it."

Dor Hawke had already reached the door without turning his head.

"Of course, whether there are dwarves nearby depends on luck."

After saying that, he squeezed out through the crack in the door, just as he had come in.

Lu Yuan walked to the door and took a look.

The corridor was empty.

The night watchman remained leaning against the wall, completely oblivious to anything amiss.

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze and closed the door.

He walked back to the table and looked down at the palm-sized stone slab.

The four symbols were still faintly glowing.

Weapon inscriptions. Large-scale inscriptions. Ancient inscriptions. Mysterious inscriptions.

Lu Yuan's finger paused briefly above the symbol for "Ancient Inscription Literature".

It has been lost.

Extraordinary knowledge is exclusive to you.

Nobody knows what it can do.

However, the copper pillar beneath the pipeline layer is covered with ready-made inscriptions.

"Lost in history? Not necessarily."

Lu Yuan sat at a table on the first floor, his fingers tracing the edge of the stone slab in his pocket.

The dwarf just left.

The four symbols on the stone slab still retained warmth, and the faint light flickered under my fingertips.

You can't believe everything a dwarf says.

The gray and white text clearly states that it's a hoax.

But Burren was different.

The old man is the Inscription Master on the Night Watch side; we ran together on the official server.

For some things, it's more reliable to ask him than to believe a dwarf who talks a lot about business.

Now that we've calculated the time, Buren should be arriving soon, right?

It didn't take long.

The door was pushed open.

Beren walked in, leaning on his cane, with a leather-bound notebook tucked under his other hand.

Kai followed behind, carrying a pile of unsorted inscription tools.

The old man leaned his cane against the table leg, sat down at the worktable by the window, opened his notebook, his finger pausing occasionally on a page, muttering to himself.

Kai'er squatted in the corner, laid out his tools one by one, and began to wipe.

Lu Yuan sat down opposite Bo Lun without taking out the stone slab.

"Berlen, do you need guidance to advance your inscription skills?"

The tone was casual, as if it were a casual question.

Beren didn't even look up.

"Why are you asking that, Captain Lu?"

My finger turned a page of my notebook.

Then the action was a beat too slow.

The old man raised his head and looked Lu Yuan up and down.

"Have you been studying inscriptions lately?"

Lu Yuan did not answer.

Beren stared at him for two seconds, then slammed the notebook shut.

"Wait. You haven't... mastered the basics, have you?"