A New Breakthrough, Advanced Class Unlocked!

By the time Bai Fu arrived in Lynn, it was already eight in the evening. Since it was late, her meeting with the director of the Fourth Division was arranged for the next day.

"Then let's find somewhere to stay for the night first."

After sitting in a car all day, Bai Fu herself wasn't tired, but An Ya was another matter. If Bai Fu hadn't been holding her hand the whole time, she might have collapsed right onto the road at any moment.

Seeing Bai Fu about to leave, Xia Shi hurriedly stopped her. "If you don't mind, you can stay at my place first. My home is pretty big, and it's close to the Fourth Division. No matter how arrogant The Truth Society is, they wouldn't dare mess around there."

Bai Fu stopped. She had originally been looking for a chance to get close to Xia Shi and see whether she could squeeze some plot quests out of her. She hadn't expected Xia Shi to take the initiative herself, so what was there for Bai Fu to mind?

It wasn't as though she was afraid Xia Shi wanted to do something even more exciting than in the game. What a joke—she was incredibly brave, okay? With her current attributes, it would already be something if she didn't end up teaching Xia Shi how to become a man.

"Then I'll have to trouble you."

Bai Fu dragged her large suitcase and followed An Ya to Xia Shi's home.

Xia Shi lived in a three-bedroom apartment. Its actual floor area, excluding common areas, was over a hundred square meters. The interior decoration might have been a classic Syrian-style mess, but the space alone was enough to make others jealous.

"The Gene Primordial Intelligence Bureau's benefits are this good? They even assign you such a large apartment?"

Xia Shi casually tossed her coat onto the sofa. "The benefits are so-so. I bought this apartment myself."

So she was rich. No wonder she had dared to choose the mechanic class.

In Above the Stars, mechanics were undoubtedly a class for the wealthy. While they weren't much stronger than other classes in the early stages—and even gained plenty of damage bonuses when shooting—once Advanced Classes and blueprint crafting were unlocked, the class completely became one of those "no money, no fucking playing" rich-player classes.

Ordinary players painstakingly hand-built a mech, only for a Body Cultivation Style player passing by to smash it into scrap before they could enjoy it for even an hour or two.

The rich were different. They could build dozens or even hundreds of mechs at once, then set up a few particle lances behind them. It didn't matter what kind of cultivation you practiced—they could turn you to ash in a few hits.

Of course, "rich" had several meanings for players. Money could buy blueprints and Mechanical Knowledge Chains, but money alone was far from enough. They also had to invest huge amounts of experience into leveling blueprints, combining blueprints, and upgrading all kinds of passive skills.

Therefore, although max-level mechanics looked cool as hell, not many players were truly willing to learn the class.

Bai Fu had been discouraged by exactly that.

She had no money, and she couldn't rely on foreknowledge of the plot to reap all kinds of benefits. After thinking it over, she still felt that Spiritual Energy School classes suited her better.

Spiritual Energy School classes focused on support functions in the early stages, but once their levels rose, they could pull off all sorts of inconceivable tricks through the "power of thinking it works."

To borrow the words of a certain master—

There were no useless classes, only useless players.

That might not hold true in other games. For example, in LoL, there were always a few champions with terrifyingly low win rates and pick rates. No matter how fancy your mechanics were, it was still hard to make it onto the competitive stage.

But Above the Stars was different. The combinations of skills and equipment available to a single class in this game were frighteningly numerous, and class synergies could also raise a class's upper limit.

Mechanics might be awesome in the late game, but our Body Cultivation Style's "Ultra Instinct" wasn't to be underestimated either!

Bai Fu put her things away, then took a comfortable bath.

When she came out of the bathroom, she found Xia Shi sitting cross-legged barefoot on the sofa, watching a boring recorded program.

"Now that you've come to Lynn, are you planning to go back?"

Bai Fu sat down beside Xia Shi. "No. I don't want to see that monument and feel sad."

"True. Those Outsiders..." Xia Shi sighed. "How did you get to know them? I heard you killed a lot of Outsiders, but in the end, they don't seem to hold it against you."

Bai Fu tilted her head slightly and noticed that, when Xia Shi brought this up, her toes had unconsciously curled together.

She seemed to understand a little why Xia Shi had invited her to stay at her home.

Had she received orders to interrogate Bai Fu indirectly?

Heh, woman, you're playing with fire!

Bai Fu hesitated for a moment but didn't make any unnecessary movements.

It seemed the Fourth Division didn't want a direct conflict with her. Otherwise, they wouldn't have used such a mild approach—they would have simply sent people to seize and interrogate her.

Better keep pretending to be a harmless little lamb.

"Not all of those Outsiders are on the same side. I've had conflicts with some of them, and I've helped others."

"That's true. With so many people, how could they possibly all be united? Even the Fourth Division often argues fiercely during meetings." Xia Shi cleared her throat awkwardly. "Oh, right. You don't need to be nervous. The director is a real good guy. Since he said he wants to reward you, he definitely means it. You can think about what you want."

That topic suited Bai Fu just fine. "Would advanced knowledge related to Spiritual Energy work?"

Xia Shi thought for a moment. "If it's ordinary advanced knowledge, the Fourth Division's archive has it. I can take you there to look. But if you want to consult higher-level knowledge, that won't be easy. Unless you make an enormous contribution, those things usually aren't open to outsiders."

Bai Fu's heart leaped with joy.

She had only wanted to obtain a book of advanced knowledge, but she might actually have a chance to access the Spiritual Energy Knowledge Chain.

"An enormous contribution?"

According to the official explanation, on a Novice Planet like Zu Yuan Star, most elite monsters and bosses only had Advanced Classes. Only a very small number of bosses had unlocked high-level classes. It could be said that whoever unlocked a high-level class had reached the T0 tier of personal combat power on Zu Yuan Star.

Knowledge Chains were precisely indispensable aids for advancing from an Advanced Class to a high-level class. It was perfectly reasonable for the Gene Primordial Intelligence Bureau to guard them so tightly.

It looked like she would need to stay in Lynn for a while.

After chatting idly with Xia Shi for a little longer, Bai Fu went to sleep.

The next morning, led by Xia Shi, she smoothly entered the Fourth Division's archive.

After waiting for a moment, Xia Shi brought over a book as thick as a modern Chinese dictionary.

"Do you think this will work?"

Bai Fu took the book.

[Do you wish to read Advanced Applications of Psychic Power?]

She looked up. "Yes."

Xia Shi said, "Then I won't disturb you for now. Take your time reading. I still have some other matters to handle. If you need anything, just call for the guards outside. They'll notify me."

She conscientiously excused herself.

Bai Fu looked around and spotted surveillance cameras mounted on the walls.

Was this another test?

It didn't matter. She really was here to read, and she bore no ill will toward the Gene Primordial either—at least, not for now.

[Yes]

After she confirmed it, the reading progress bar began to slowly rise.

[You have begun reading Advanced Applications of Psychic Power. Low-Level Spiritual Energy Specialization has taken effect. Your reading speed +10%. Current progress: 0.1%... 0.2%...]

While Bai Fu read intently, in the Fourth Division chief's office, Chief Lu Yuelin's gaze kept shifting between the monitor and Bai Fu's file in his hands.

"Her past is perfectly normal. Her increase in strength can also be explained by awakening. I can't see any problems."

"That's for sure." Xia Shi spoke helplessly. "I personally watched her venture into the Insect Tide to save the Waste Gas Cooling Plant, and I personally watched her erect monuments for those Outsiders. Who wouldn't praise someone as good as her? Even the Boss of the Wildfire Gang willingly entrusted the gang to her. I really didn't expect Uncle Lu and the others to suspect that there was something wrong with her."

Lu Yuelin smiled. "Better safe than sorry. But you're right. Put the investigation aside for now. Let her keep staying at your place. That will also make it easier for us to protect her. Since The Truth Society has issued an assassination bounty, they'll definitely make a move soon."

"No problem." Xia Shi's mood immediately brightened.

Lu Yuelin smiled as he saw her off, then continued flipping through Bai Fu's investigation report.

Based on the previous investigation, it was impossible for Bai Fu to be connected to The Truth Society. After all, she had killed members of The Truth Society and caused the drugs they had been researching to fall into their hands. But what if it had all been an act to gain their trust?

[Current progress: 100%. Spend 20,000 EXP to unlock the new class [Spiritual Energy Priest]?]

A full twenty minutes passed before Bai Fu received the new game prompt. With more than 50,000 EXP on hand, she pressed confirm without hesitation.

[You have unlocked the new class [Spiritual Energy Priest]. Intelligence +1, Inspiration +2, Attribute Points +2]

[During the reading process, you have comprehended the new skills [Chain Reaction], [Combat Etiquette], [Intermediate Spiritual Energy Specialization], and [Low-Level Spiritual Energy Tenacity]]

The two prompts sounded in succession, and to Bai Fu, they were like heavenly music.

"It worked!"

After enduring several days of waiting, she had finally unlocked the Advanced Class she had wanted and could continue leveling up.

An Advanced Class truly was worthy of the name. Spiritual Energy Priest had a level cap of 20, double that of Spiritual Apprentice, and the Inspiration bonus she gained per level had risen from 1 point to 2.

Keep going!

Bai Fu invested another 25,000 EXP into [Spiritual Energy Priest], raising it to Level 2. After that, she put all 4 free attribute points into Constitution.

As a result, her attribute panel became—

[Main Class]: Spiritual Energy Priest Lv2 (0/30000) [Lower Class Spiritual Apprentice Lv10 (Max Level)], Unemployed Lv5 (Max Level)

[Secondary Class]: None

[Health Points]: 770/770

[Psychic Energy]: 115/115

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

[Skills]:

Fervor Lv3, Harden Lv1, Spiritual Vision, Innate Spirituality Lv1, Power Surge (Inferior), Rate Amplification (Inferior), Psychic Boiling

Chain Reaction—Binds Target B to Target A. While bound, Target B shares all of Target A's statuses. Consumes 5 Psychic Energy per minute while active. Cooldown: 1 second.

Combat Etiquette—Though battle is exhilarating, etiquette must not be abandoned. Can be used once on a target during each battle. Consumes 20 Psychic Energy and forcibly makes the target perform Combat Etiquette with you (2s). Cooldown: 1 minute.

Intermediate Spiritual Energy Specialization—Spiritual Energy knowledge learning efficiency and active skill effects +20%

Low-Level Spiritual Energy Tenacity—When attacked, gain +2 Inspiration on checks

[Talent]: Luck

The attribute gains from this round of leveling were not especially noticeable, but her maximum health had jumped by 80 points at once. What pleased Bai Fu most, however, were the newly acquired skills.

On the surface, Chain Reaction was a skill for piggybacking off buffs, but looked at the other way around, she could also share her own debuffs with an enemy.

In an instant, Bai Fu thought of several ways to use it.

As for Combat Etiquette, it was by no means an ordinary skill either. At first glance, it was a taunt skill that could hard-control an opponent for two seconds and create an opportunity for her teammates to deal damage.

But considering that she could set the Combat Etiquette herself, and that there was room to manipulate the timing of the skill's activation, its upper limit might well be far higher than that of Chain Reaction.

Bai Fu closed the book. It was time to come up with a Combat Etiquette that could drastically weaken an opponent in a short time.

PS: There will be another 3,000–4,000-word update tonight. I'll rest for a bit first, then write it as soon as possible. Please keep following.