Leveling Up

After the battle ended completely, a new interface popped up before Gu Hang.

Looking at the four characters that read "Resounding Victory," his expression was a bit strange.

Shouldn't there be options like "Epic Triumph," "Slight Advantage," or "Hard-Won Victory"?

Not only could he see the overall spoils and losses, but he could also view the specific status of each branch unit.

More importantly, he had gained 19 points of Favor after winning the battle.

The gains from this single fight were almost four times his fixed monthly income!

Good grief, so this is a warmonger system, right? Fighting is the most profitable activity, and farming is just there to serve the war?

He clicked on the system interface and saw the [Hero] tab flickering slightly.

Clicking it again, it was his own name that was flickering.

[Hero: Gu Hang (Faction Leader), LV1, Sufficient Experience to Upgrade (10 Favor)]

[Constitution: 7, Spirituality: 14]

[Traits:]

[Psionic Caster: You possess the power of psionics and can consume Spirituality to cast psionic spells.]

[Governor of Nuxiao Planet: You are the legitimate ruler of Nuxiao Planet and have a higher probability of legally annexing local factions on Nuxiao Planet.]

This was his personal information.

Of the two traits, the Governor of Nuxiao Planet was derived from his status, which went without saying; the other, Psionic Caster, was his personal ability.

Gu Hang was a psionic, a legitimate one.

The Gu family he belonged to naturally cultivated its core descendants. Education, politics, business, and providing connections went without saying, and those like Gu Hang who showed psionic talent in childhood were certainly not overlooked.

His talent for psionics was not bad; the 14 points in his attributes, as seen in the system, were proof of that.

Gu Hang had basically figured out how these attributes worked.

Strength, agility, neural reflexes, damage resistance... all physical-based abilities were categorized under Constitution. A powerful physique was essential for growing into an excellent warrior.

In this era of extraordinary power, even with technological advancement, individual martial prowess still held significance in war. Top-tier warriors with top-tier equipment—cutting a starship in half might be an exaggeration, but charging into battle, breaching trenches, and taking fortresses... these were easy tasks.

That greenskin beast from earlier was proof of that. If not for Gu Hang, while that thing still wouldn't have survived, he didn't know how many additional servitors or even marines would have had to die to finish it off.

Psionics, on the other hand, were more mysterious; in many ignorant worlds, they were called witchcraft or magic.

This was a supernatural power derived from the dark side of the universe. Starship faster-than-light travel and many high-spec, powerful weapons utilized this supernatural energy. The Empire had dedicated energy worlds that harvested psionics and condensed them into crystals.

At the same time, the more high-tech the equipment, the more it required a skilled psionic to operate; powerful psionics themselves, without relying on any equipment, could display strong combat capabilities using psionic spells.

Gu Hang had dealt with the greenskin earlier by using a psionic spell. A single "Soul Severing" had temporarily severed one of its legs, turning it into a sitting duck.

This was also the only psionic spell Gu Hang had mastered, as the stuff was difficult to learn. Spending decades with his head buried in books studying psionic spells was not something Gu Hang wanted to do.

However, the upgrade option in the Hero interface provided him with a new path.

Being able to upgrade directly—wasn't that sweet?

Before this, the upgrade option hadn't been there. He noticed the words "Sufficient Experience." He guessed it was brought about by winning a war.

It seemed that the upgrade option only appeared when there was enough experience.

As for the 10 points of Favor required for the upgrade, he gritted his teeth and paid it directly.

After obtaining 19 points of Favor this time, plus the 2 points remaining from before, he had a total of 21, which was enough.

Suddenly, a new prompt appeared before his eyes: [Please choose one from the five directions—Constitution, Spirituality, Command, Leadership, or Unique—to generate a new talent.]

There was even this kind of thing?

Constitution and Spirituality didn't need further explanation; they were likely related to personal strength.

As for the next two, Command and Leadership, the meanings were somewhat similar, but there had to be differences. Gu Hang guessed that the former referred to military command, strengthening the ability to lead troops in war; the latter was the leadership ability of a ruler or administrator.

As for the final "Unique"... exclusive talents granted based on the individual? As for what exactly they were, there was truly no way to guess.

Gu Hang tried selecting "Unique," but received a new prompt: [Upgrade project for the Unique sequence has not been unlocked; upgrade failed.]

"I wonder what the unlocking conditions are..."

Helpless, he could only choose from the first four.

He chose the Spirituality talent.

He didn't choose Constitution because it was clear he had more talent on the path of a psionic than as a warrior. As for the bonuses to Command or Leadership, while certainly good, they likely wouldn't have much effect in the early stages when his army was small and his territory was limited. Conversely, individual strength would be more prominent in small-scale conflicts.

Moreover, if he truly became a psionic master capable of moving mountains and filling seas, possessing overwhelming individual strength, it might not necessarily be inferior to the effects of army-wide or faction-wide bonuses.

After completing his selection, Gu Hang immediately felt a surge of heat rushing from his heart to every part of his body, right down to his extremities.

His complexion became flushed because of it; fortunately, only some servitor soldiers were nearby, and these cyborgs, which did not think for themselves, wouldn't ask any questions.

"Hoo..." Exhaling a long breath of hot air, Gu Hang felt that his whole body was now full of strength. He could feel his muscle contours becoming more defined, his joints becoming more flexible, his senses sharper, and his thinking more rapid...

An all-around enhancement!

However... didn't I pick the Spirituality talent? Why does it feel like my Constitution attribute has also gone up a notch?

Summoning the system once more, he saw the digitized effects of his upgrade.

[Hero: Gu Hang (Faction Leader), LV2, insufficient experience to upgrade]

[Constitution: 8, Spirituality: 15]

[Traits: Psionic Caster, Governor of Nuxiao Planet]

[Talents:]

[Aura of Protection: When suffering damage, you may expend Spirituality to negate the damage. Spirituality +1]

His Constitution had indeed increased, which seemed to be because leveling up naturally boosted base attributes. His Constitution stat had been a bit too low, so the improvement was quite noticeable, whereas the change to his Spirituality was less so.

The slight increase in his final Spirituality was due to the new talent he had unlocked, Aura of Protection.

An increase in Constitution was a good thing; being healthier and stronger was naturally beneficial. As for the boost to his Spirituality attribute, it allowed him to cast more psionic spells and increased the power of those spells as well.

However, the most important aspect of the Aura of Protection talent was its inherent special effect.

With a mere thought, he felt a miraculous energy flood his entire body, soaking every single one of his cells. When an external blow struck, the corresponding damage would be negated by his psionic energy until he actively deactivated the ability or his Spirituality was exhausted.

The performance of Aura of Protection was also excellent. It was a toggleable passive effect that consumed nothing while active, only draining energy when damage was actually received, meaning he didn't have to worry about failing to activate a skill in the face of a sneak attack. And if a critical moment truly arrived, he could temporarily turn it off, choosing to risk injury to preserve some Spirituality for a counter-kill.

In short, the operation was highly flexible.

Gu Hang was very satisfied with such a practical skill that traded his blue bar for health points.