"What is it?"
Seeing the sudden delight on Zhou Zhe's face, Director Huang was somewhat bewildered. "Did you run into some problem?"
"Nothing. I suddenly gained some insight and made a little breakthrough in my cultivation."
Zhou Zhe smiled and shook his hand. "I'll redeem suitable teaching materials as soon as possible to support the lessons."
"Also, you know about my exclusive mission. I'll need your help and support."
"We can discuss the details in a few days!"
"I need to prepare the lesson plans first and raise my own strength a little higher."
"Otherwise, as a teacher, being too weak would be rather hard to justify."
Hearing this, Huang Tiankai gave the black sword-and-shield mark on the back of Zhou Zhe's hand a meaningful glance.
"You're too modest."
"A Black Iron Four-Star gladiator absolutely deserves to be called a 'strong person' on today's Earth!"
As he spoke, Huang Tiankai handed him an intercom. "No matter when it is, no matter what trouble you encounter, you can contact me directly!"
"If I can't solve it, those above me will have a way to handle it!"
"Remember, China will always be your support!"
The people from the Supernatural Affairs Department all carried the heavy bearing of soldiers. They acted with thunderous speed, and after confirming their partnership, they left Swift Wind Pavilion to arrange suitable candidates to become Zhou Zhe's apprentices.
Zhou Zhe also began analyzing the redemption option he had spent most of the day finding.
"Elementary Planar Cryptography": Decipher Plane Passwords, anchor cosmic coordinates, and uncover the treasures of new worlds! An essential skill for Phase Explorers! — Redemption cost: 25 Gladiator Points. (Note: This subject has an extremely high barrier to entry. Before deciding to redeem it, please objectively assess your own intellectual level.)
"Twenty-five points..."
Zhou Zhe felt his teeth itch. "Isn't this way too expensive?!"
All the other books only cost one point each.
But on second thought, cheap goods were never good goods. If he could truly master this book, it would be equivalent to opening a new dungeon right here on Earth!
Earth had only just entered the Supernatural Era. Everything was waiting to be rebuilt, and many areas remained lacking.
They had blazed a trail through brambles and built the forest from nothing.
If there was no road ahead, then he would hack through thorns and briars and carve one out with his own hands!
"Spend Gladiator Points. Confirm redemption!"
Gritting his teeth, Zhou Zhe still decided to redeem the book.
He had considerable confidence in the Absolute Comprehension talent bestowed by the mysterious notebook.
Twenty-five Gladiator Points flowed away like water.
Only twenty-five points remained in Zhou Zhe's little treasury.
Whoosh!
A "specially made brick," thirty centimeters long, twenty-three centimeters wide, and forty centimeters thick, tore through space and landed on the table.
Bang!
A dull thud rang out.
The tabletop was smashed into a depression.
"..."
Though he had already mentally prepared himself, the moment Zhou Zhe saw this copy of "Elementary Planar Cryptography," the corner of his eye still twitched uncontrollably.
What did a book forty centimeters thick even mean?
Let's find something for comparison!
The eighth edition of China's Internal Medicine, which had made countless medical students cough up blood, was only 3.9 centimeters thick.
Compared to "Elementary Planar Cryptography," it was practically a little runt!
Zhou Zhe picked up "Elementary Planar Cryptography" and weighed it in his hands.
He had no idea what material the pages were made from, but the entire book weighed at least three hundred jin...
He kind of wanted to throw up. What should he do?
Zhou Zhe let out a long breath.
He had made this mess himself, so he had to take responsibility for it himself!
He had spent a fortune on this book. Even if he had to read it through in tears, he would finish it!
Opening the title page, Zhou Zhe nodded slightly.
It was at least genuine value for the money, with attentive service. At the very least, it had not given him a heap of incomprehensible alien writing; everything had been translated into simplified script.
Starting from scratch with a subject he had never even heard of was a little difficult.
But Absolute Comprehension was truly fucking amazing!
Zhou Zhe flipped through three pages and did not find anything he could not understand. He could comprehend it all, and he could remember it all!
"If I'd had this talent back when I was a student, even if I couldn't have become a study demon, I'd at least have been at the level of a study god!"
The more Zhou Zhe read "Elementary Planar Cryptography," the more pleasantly surprised he became, gaining a harvest full to the brim.
As one thing led to another, the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation in his chest also began to beat more vigorously.
The Wind Element power that had originally accumulated within his body was completely consumed and transformed by the Heart of Heavenly Tribulation into a higher-level power—the power of Qianfeng Tribulation Lightning.
If the Energy Intensity of the Wind Element was 1, then the Energy Intensity of Qianfeng Tribulation Lightning was equivalent to 13!
Put simply, Zhou Zhe's total mana pool had not changed much, but...
A skill that had originally required 13 mana to cast now only needed 1 mana!
And its practical combat effect would be even better!
Besides the dry knowledge of Planar Cryptography, this book also recorded a few interesting little stories.
The contents from line six to line thirty-five on the third page, with the protagonist's womanizing exploits omitted, could be summarized as follows—
Violet Tate, a Phase Explorer, Star Arcanist, and Master of the Flower Patch born in a Low-Magic World, discovered a certain High-Martial World and crossed over without making sufficient preparations.
Because the concentration of magic power in his body was too low, it was diluted, assimilated, and absorbed by the "heaven-and-earth vital energy" in the air. In his misfortune, he dropped nine levels in a row, falling straight from a Radiant Sun-tier Grand Wizard to a wizard apprentice. Trapped in danger, Mr. Tate relied on his silver tongue to latch onto the empress of the Martial Dynasty and survive his most difficult period.
From this little story, high-level energy had a suppressive effect on low-level energy and could assimilate and absorb it.
Thirteen times the Energy Intensity!
Of course, that did not mean Zhou Zhe's combat power was now thirteen times what it had been.
The human body was a container, and the amount of supernatural energy it could hold was limited.
Under normal circumstances, only after filling one's energy to the brim would one begin compressing and sublimating it, entering another level.
Yet Zhou Zhe had taken a shortcut, directly obtaining the high-quality power of Qianfeng Tribulation Lightning.
"Stronger again..."
"Feels great!"
Zhou Zhe glanced at the mark on the back of his hand. It was still four Black Iron stars, with no change.
But his strength had genuinely improved.
This gladiator rank thing could only be used as a reference.
After all, a gladiator's rating also took factors such as fame and Gladiator Points spent into account. It was not an absolute assessment of strength.
Trump cards and finishing moves kept hidden up one's sleeve were not counted. Only ordinary combat power was calculated.
Otherwise, what would be fun about gladiator battles?
Everyone could just compare levels, and whoever had the lower one could kill themselves, right?
His ears twitched slightly. Zhou Zhe put down "Elementary Planar Cryptography" and rose to his feet.
Zhang Miaoran and her best friend Shanshan had arrived.
The girl he liked was still wearing a gray dress, without a trace of makeup. Clean and fresh, yet still breathtakingly beautiful.
As for her best friend, Shanshan...
She had a standard influencer face, superb makeup skills, and was quite adept at dressing herself up.
After arriving at the office, Zhang Miaoran looked at Zhou Zhe, then at her glamorous best friend beside her. A sense of inferiority rose within her, and her heart suddenly felt a little sour. "A Zhe, is Shanshan pretty?"
The question left Zhou Zhe utterly baffled.
Weren't they here to become apprentices and learn?
Why ask that?
He had only looked at her once!
In truth, Zhang Miaoran regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.
Guys probably hated girls who got jealous so easily, right?
She and Zhou Zhe had not even confirmed their relationship yet. What right did she have to be sour here?
However...
Zhou Zhe's reply instantly left Zhang Miaoran and her best friend frozen in shock.
"She's alright."
"But when it comes to looks, you fit my tastes better."
"Miaoran, you're gentle, elegant, beautiful, and graceful. You're pretty without even needing makeup."
"A natural little fairy!"
???
Seeing Zhang Miaoran's little ears begin to redden, Zhou Zhe felt quietly delighted.
Thank you, Violet Tate, Phase Explorer, Star Arcanist, and Master of the Flower Patch!
Thank you, "Elementary Planar Cryptography"!
This money had been well spent!
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