Chapter 40

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Chapter 40: A New Breakthrough, Unlocking an Advanced Profession!

By the time Bai Fu arrived at Lin En’s place at eight in the evening, it was already late, and the meeting with Zhang Chu Si Chu had been rescheduled for the next day.

“Then let’s find somewhere to stay for the night.”

After a whole day of travel, she herself wasn’t tired, but Anya was different. If not for her hand holding Bai Fu’s, she might have collapsed on the road at any moment.

Seeing her about to leave, Xia Shi hurriedly stopped her: “If you don’t mind, you can move in with me. My house is quite spacious, and it’s close to Si Chu. The Truth Society won’t dare do anything rash even if they’re arrogant.”

Bai Fu paused. She had intended to find a chance to get closer to Xia Shi to see if she could get some plot quests from her. Unexpectedly, Xia Shi had approached her first. What reason did she have to object?

Could it be that she was afraid Xia Shi wanted to do something more thrilling than the game? Joking aside, she was very brave. With her current attributes, it would be great if she didn’t end up teaching Xia Shi a thing or two instead.

“That would be a bother.”

Bai Fu dragged her large suitcase and Anya to Xia Shi’s home.

Xia Shi lived in a three-bedroom apartment with over 100 square meters of actual area, excluding public space. The interior decoration was typical Syrian style, but the size alone made it enviable.

“The Genesys Intelligence Bureau gives such good benefits, including a big house?”

Xia Shi casually threw her coat onto the sofa: “The benefits are decent. This house is one I bought myself.”

She turned out to be a wealthy woman, which explained why she chose to be a Mechanical Engineer.

In the stars above, being a Mechanical Engineer was undoubtedly a rich man’s profession. Although there wasn’t much difference between this profession and others in the early stages, and there were even additional output bonuses in shooting, as advanced professions and blueprint manufacturing unlocked, this profession became truly extravagant, with no money to play with.

Civilians worked hard to build a mech by hand, only to be defeated by a passing Physical Cultivator player within a few hours.

Rich people, however, could directly build dozens of mechs and then set up particle beams behind them, effortlessly defeating anyone regardless of their cultivation.

Of course, this “rich” had multiple meanings for players. Having money could buy blueprints and knowledge chains, but merely having money wasn’t enough; one needed to invest a lot of experience to upgrade blueprints, combine them, and enhance various passive skills.

Therefore, although a fully leveled-up Mechanical Engineer looked impressive, not many players were willing to learn this profession.

Bai Fu was discouraged by such advice.

She had no money and couldn’t rely on her foresight to gain advantages, so she thought a Spiritual Energy stream profession would suit her better.

The Spiritual Energy stream profession focused on auxiliary functions initially, but once the level increased, it could perform astonishing operations through “my consideration power.”

To quote a master —

There are no useless professions, only useless players.

In other games, this statement might not hold true, like in LOL where certain heroes have low win rates and pick rates, no matter how well you play, it’s hard to get them on the field.

But in the stars above, each profession has numerous skill combinations and equipment setups, and through professional synergies, the upper limit of a profession can be enhanced.

A Mechanical Engineer is powerful later on, but our Physical Cultivation stream’s “extreme intention technique” isn’t to be underestimated!

Bai Fu put away her belongings and took a comfortable bath.

When she came out of the bathroom, she found Xia Shi sitting barefoot on the sofa watching a dull video program.

“After coming to Lin En, are you still planning to go back?”

Bai Fu sat down beside Xia Shi: “No, I don’t want to see that monument again and feel sad.”

“I understand. Those outsiders…” Xia Shi sighed, “How did you meet them? I heard you killed many outsiders, but they don’t seem to hate you.”

Bai Fu slightly turned her head, noticing that Xia Shi’s toes were tightly curled when mentioning this matter.

She seemed to understand why Xia Shi invited her to stay.

Was it an indirect interrogation?

Ha, women, playing with fire!

Bai Fu hesitated but didn’t make any unnecessary movements.

It seemed Si Chu didn’t want direct conflict with her, otherwise, they wouldn’t use such a gentle approach and would have directly sent someone to arrest and interrogate her.

Continue pretending to be a little white sheep.

“Those outsiders aren’t all on the same side. I’ve had conflicts with some of them and helped others.”

“Exactly, with so many people, how could they all be of one mind? Meetings in Si Chu often turn into heated arguments.” Xia Shi awkwardly cleared her throat, “By the way, don’t worry. The Director is a kind person. If he says he wants to reward you, he definitely means it. Think about what you want.”

This topic suited Bai Fu just fine: “Can it be related to Spiritual Energy advancement knowledge?”

Xia Shi thought for a moment: “If it’s ordinary advancement knowledge, Si Chu’s library has it. I can take you to see it, but accessing higher-level knowledge isn’t easy. Unless you have significant contributions, those materials aren’t usually open to the public.”

Bai Fu felt a surge of excitement.

She originally just wanted an advancement knowledge book, but now she had the chance to access the Spiritual Energy knowledge chain.

“Do I need significant contributions?”

According to official descriptions, on the Source Star, most elite monsters and bosses were advanced professions, and only a few bosses unlocked high-level professions. This meant that unlocking a high-level profession equated to reaching the T0 tier of personal combat strength on the Source Star.

And the knowledge chain was an essential boost from advanced to high-level professions. It was reasonable for the Genesys Intelligence Bureau to keep the knowledge chain under wraps.

It seemed necessary to stay in Lin En for a while.

Bai Fu chatted with Xia Shi for a bit before going to sleep.

The next morning, under Xia Shi’s guidance, she successfully entered the Si Chu library.

After a short wait, Xia Shi brought a thick book as heavy as a modern Chinese dictionary.

“Do you think this will work?”

Bai Fu took the book.

[Read the Advanced Application of Spiritual Power?]

She raised her head: “Sure.”

Xia Shi said, “Then I won’t disturb you. Take your time reading. I have some other things to handle. If you need anything, call the guards outside. They’ll notify me.”

She left voluntarily.

Bai Fu looked around and noticed surveillance cameras on the walls.

Is this a test?

Whatever, she really came to read, and she had no ill intentions towards the Genesys Intelligence Bureau, at least for now.

[Confirm]

The reading progress bar began to slowly rise.

[You start reading “Advanced Application of Spiritual Power,” the basic proficiency of Spiritual Energy takes effect, increasing your reading speed by 10%. Current progress: 0.1%… 0.2%…]

While Bai Fu was engrossed in her reading, in the office of the Director Lu Yulin, his gaze constantly shifted between the monitor and Bai Fu’s file.

“Her experiences are normal. Her strength increase can be explained by awakening. There are no issues to be seen.”

“Of course.” Xia Shi sighed helplessly, “I saw her dive into the bug tide to save the Scrapped Cooling Plant, and I also saw her erect a monument for those outsiders. Such a good person, who wouldn’t praise her? Even the leader of the Wildfire Gang willingly entrusted the gang to her. I never expected you guys to suspect her.”

Lu Yulin smiled: “Better safe than sorry. But you’re right. We’ll put the investigation aside for now. Let her stay at your place. This way, we can protect her more easily. Since the Truth Society has issued an assassination bounty, they will definitely act soon.”

“No problem.” Xia Shi’s mood improved instantly.

Lu Yulin smiled and waved her off, then continued reading Bai Fu’s investigation report.

From previous investigations, Bai Fu couldn’t possibly be related to the Truth Society, as she had killed members of the Truth Society and even handed over drugs they researched to them. But what if all of this was a ruse?

…

[Current progress: 100%. Would you like to spend 20,000 experience points to unlock the new profession [Spiritual Prayer Mage]?]

After twenty minutes, Bai Fu received a new game prompt and, with her 50,000 experience points, she decisively pressed confirm.

[You have unlocked the new profession [Spiritual Prayer Mage]. Intelligence +1, Inspiration +2, Attribute Points +2]

[During reading, you have mastered new skills: [Chain Reaction], [Battle Etiquette], [Intermediate Spiritual Energy Proficiency], [Low-Level Spiritual Energy Endurance]]

Two prompts sounded in quick succession, and Bai Fu felt as though she was listening to celestial music.

“It worked!”

After several days, she finally unlocked the advanced profession and could continue leveling up.

The advanced profession indeed lived up to its name. The Spiritual Prayer Mage’s level cap was 20, twice that of a Spiritual Energy Apprentice. For each level gained, her inspiration bonus increased from 1 point to 2 points.

Onwards!

Bai Fu invested another 25,000 experience points into the [Spiritual Prayer Mage], raising her level to Lv2. Then, she added all 4 free attribute points to Constitution.

Thus, her attribute panel became:

[Main Profession]: Spiritual Prayer Mage Lv2 (0/30000) [Sub-profession Spiritual Energy Apprentice Lv10 (maxed)], Vagrant Lv5 (maxed)

[Secondary Profession]: None

[Health Points]: 770/770

[Spirit Energy]: 115/115

[Attributes]: Strength 11, Agility 7, Constitution 37, Intelligence 5, Spirit 14, Inspiration 23

[Skills]:

Frenzy Lv3, Hardening Lv1, Spiritual Vision, Innate Spiritual Nature Lv1, Surge of Strength (inferior), Multiplicative Boost (inferior), Spiritual Boil

Chain Reaction – Binds target B to target A. During the binding period, target B shares all states of target A. Consumes 5 Spirit Energy every minute, cooldown 1 second.

Battle Etiquette – Though battles are fun, etiquette should not be neglected. Use once per battle, consumes 20 Spirit Energy, forces target to perform battle etiquette with you (2s), cooldown 1 minute.

Intermediate Spiritual Energy Proficiency – Increases learning efficiency of Spiritual Energy knowledge and active skill effects by 20%.

Low-Level Spiritual Energy Endurance – Grants +2 Inspiration judgment when attacked.

[Talent]: Luck

This round of upgrades didn’t significantly boost her stats, but her health cap increased by 80 points. The most satisfying aspect was acquiring new skills.

Chain Reaction appeared to be a buff-grabbing skill, but it could also share debuffs with enemies.

In an instant, Bai Fu thought of several uses.

As for Battle Etiquette, it was far from an ordinary skill. At first glance, it seemed like a taunt skill that could immobilize opponents for 2 seconds, creating opportunities for allies.

Considering the customization options for Battle Etiquette and the potential manipulation of its activation time, its upper limit might surpass that of Chain Reaction.

Bai Fu closed the book. It was time to devise a battle etiquette that could significantly weaken the opponent in a short time.

PS: There will be another update tonight, 3-4k words. I’ll take a break and write it as soon as possible. Thank you for reading.

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