The scenery before his eyes sped backward, and Bai Xiaowen could still hear the royal female knight's furious, unwilling shouts by his ears. There even seemed to be a trace of... grievance in them?
Bai Xiaowen shook his head.
The scenery froze. Bai Xiaowen found himself amid a magnificent river of stars, as though he could pluck the stars down with a mere stretch of his hand.
"So this is the settlement interface space after leaving a Spirit Realm Plane World? It's directly set against the cosmic starry sky. Pretty imposing indeed."
Before Bai Xiaowen, scene after scene from his adventures in the Aaron Plane World flipped past like a fast-forwarded movie, finally freezing on the image of him sneak-attacking Lyra Redleaf and leaping down with his bare ass exposed.
"Ahem, that's a little embarrassing. Good thing I'm the only one here."
The Banshee Delifa's soft, seductive voice rang out. "Master is so well-endowed. Truly mighty and magnificent."
Bai Xiaowen: "..."
Fortunately, prompt messages soon appeared, easing Bai Xiaowen's embarrassment.
Explored Plane: Aaron World. Time Spent: 9 days, 17 hours, 23 minutes, 55 seconds. Area: Lionheart Empire Northern Frontier, Elu City Territory—Spiked Helm City Territory. Based on the quests you discovered and completed, as well as your evaluation, you have received 349 Psionic Points. After deducting 100 points for Insight, 249 points remain. You have accumulated 150 World Fame in Aaron World. Your fame in Aaron World is D-Tier (First Showing of Brilliance). You have obtained the D-Tier title: Underhanded Ambusher. A decline in fame will cause this title to disappear. Please maintain and increase your fame tier to obtain higher-tier titles.
"What is World Fame? And what use are titles?" Bai Xiaowen became interested.
World Fame refers to your reputation within a Plane World. From low to high, fame tiers include E-Tier (Unknown), D-Tier (First Showing of Brilliance), C-Tier (somewhat well-known), B-Tier (Far-Famed), A-Tier (renowned throughout the world), and S-Tier (world-famous), among others. Each fame tier grants a corresponding title. Titles can be worn and viewed by other Awakened, and provide a certain enhancement to your abilities.
Bai Xiaowen checked his D-Tier title, "Underhanded Ambusher." Its effect was: "After a successful sneak-attack judgment, damage dealt by the first strike is increased by 20%."
This title clearly had something to do with Bai Xiaowen's combat style in Aaron World. From the first Imperial Army auxiliary soldier to the final Elite Tier Lyra Redleaf, he had won almost entirely through sneak attacks.
"What use do I have for this title?" Bai Xiaowen grumbled. "How great would it be if I could transfer it to a Shadow Assassin?"
But on second thought, Bai Xiaowen decided to accept the title anyway, following the principle that there was no reason to refuse something free.
The settlement was over. Bai Xiaowen also took this opportunity to review all the reward messages that had been Sealing away because he had lacked the time to check them after successfully changing classes.
Reward Information, Entry One: You have obtained an Advanced Psychic Field. Hostile attacks that do not contain Psionic Particles will be weakened by 75%. The Psychic Field is a universal ability. It will not appear on your personal page and will not occupy any skill slots.
Cool!
Although it was useless in battles between Awakened and adventures in the Spirit Realm, it greatly improved his safety on Earth. He no longer had much reason to fear conventional firearms.
Bai Xiaowen looked up information on the "Psychic Field."
A Psychic Field was a universal ability of Awakened, representing the recognition of Psionic Particles. It could be understood as a kind of protective barrier. Whether bullets, artillery shells, or bombs, any attack that did not contain Psionic Particles would be heavily weakened.
It was worth mentioning that Awakened with different class templates received different Psychic Fields.
Awakened with Standard Classes possessed a "Basic Psychic Field," which could reduce damage from non-psionic attacks by 50%.
Awakened with Elite Classes possessed an "Intermediate Psychic Field," reducing such damage by 66%.
As a Hero Class, Bai Xiaowen possessed an "Advanced Psychic Field," which reduced attacks without Psionic Particles by as much as 75%! With a physique twelve times stronger than that of an ordinary person, he would not be injured even if a submachine gun sprayed him with bullets.
Bai Xiaowen further realized that this was one reason the influence of state power had declined during the Psychic Energy Era. Awakened were practically superhuman. Even guns and bullets could not kill them, so conventional armies and police were of little use. Only Awakened could deal with Awakened.
Moreover, due to the threat posed by powerful monsters in the Wilderness Zone, state power could not adopt high-pressure policies toward large Awakened Guilds. Instead, it had to use conciliatory methods and unite every force it could.
Reward Information, Entry Two: You have obtained a total base priority of 4. This includes Awakened priority 1 and Hero Class priority 3.
Priority was another new term.
Bai Xiaowen continued his inquiry.
Priority applied to certain key skills. For instance, when an enemy was on the verge of death, they might activate a Holy Protection spell that granted immunity to all damage. Assuming that skill had a priority of 3, all attacks with a priority no higher than 3 would be unable to break through the protection of Holy Protection and could only stare helplessly.
Bai Xiaowen's priority, however, was 4. That meant he could ignore the invincibility effect of Holy Protection and take down his opponent.
Naturally, the higher one's priority, the better.
Reward Information, Entry Three: Spirit Realm currency access has been unlocked. You may now view your Psionic Point total on your personal attributes page.
Bai Xiaowen said, "Query the uses of Psionic Points."
Psionic Points can be used to enhance equipment. Certain special talent abilities also require Psionic Points to activate.
Bai Xiaowen recalled that before returning, when he had used the Insight Talent to assess Goliya's strength, there had been a prompt saying that 100 Psionic Points would be deducted. Somewhat unwilling, he asked, "What's going on with my talent? It didn't cost anything before, right? Why does it cost points after I've leveled up instead?"
Before advancing to an Awakened, Spirit Realm currency access had not been unlocked. Therefore, you could not obtain Psionic Points by killing enemies, nor did using talent abilities consume Psionic Points.
"Can't it be cheaper? Does every use of Insight cost 100 points?" Bai Xiaowen stared at the 249 Psionic Points on his personal page and complained bitterly.
When using the Insight Talent for detection, Psionic Point consumption depends on the relative strength of both parties. The stronger the target is compared to you, the more Psionic Points will be consumed, up to a maximum of 100 points. Conversely, fewer Psionic Points will be consumed, with a minimum of 10 points.
Bai Xiaowen sighed. He could barely accept that result. In the future, he could no longer use Insight whenever he pleased—unless he wanted to see a budget deficit.
"Then how do I earn Psionic Points? Is completing quests the only way?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
Psionic Points can be obtained by completing quests, killing enemies, and dismantling equipment.
Bai Xiaowen understood the first two methods well enough, but this was the first time he had heard of dismantling equipment.
On reflection, it made sense. Most Spirit Realm equipment was Bind on Pickup and could not be traded. If he found equipment unsuitable for his own use, was he supposed to let it rot in his hands? Dismantling it for Psionic Points could at least make up for some of the loss.
Reward Information, Entry Four: You have obtained 10 cubic meters of Personal Storage Space. The length, width, and height of the Storage Space may be adjusted freely, but its volume will not change.
With that, he had finished reviewing all the reward information he had not had time to check in Aaron World.
"Whew, this Spirit Realm journey is finally over. Return to Earth!" Bai Xiaowen said. He had spent nearly ten days in Aaron World. On Earth, he had probably already been listed as a missing person, so he needed to get back quickly.
Before you continue