Harvest and Silver Treasure Vault Rewards

"Scene: Viper's Divine... crackle... $#%&..."

"Difficulty: Hard."

"Current Scene Exploration: 78.9%."

"Scene... $#%&... Mode: Non-Peaceful."

"Triggered Quest: Investigate the truth behind the Yokai disturbance in the Viper's Divine Realm."

"Completed Quest..." crackle... $#%&...

"Overall Rating: C-."

"Based on the overall rating, an additional 25% General Experience and 1 Silver Key have been awarded."

The scene of the Viper's Divine Realm concluded, and the group returned to Sagiyama Castle.

Without disturbing the old man's family reunion, Gu Mo, feeling a bit tired, returned to his room and began reviewing the Idiot System's scene settlement. He was somewhat surprised to find that he had received an overall rating of C-.

Although he had mostly been slacking off this time as well, it was certainly much more reliable than his trip to Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, right? At that time, he was truly useless at everything and had nothing, yet even so, by tagging along with Axiu through the entire scene, he still managed to get a B rating.

Why was it that this time, he wasn't as flustered and passive as before, but instead actively attacked and had richer skills and tactical options, with a noticeable increase in kills... Even if he couldn't say he fought beautifully, like a "textbook guide to pioneering," it was definitely much better than his performance in Thirteen Cherry Blossom Village, right?

Why did his rating drop instead, only getting a C, and even a C-...

Was it because the scene difficulty was higher, or would the scoring criteria have some dynamic changes? Or perhaps, the factors that truly influenced the tendency of the overall rating were not the combat portions, but the real focus was on participation in the plot and the magnitude of the butterfly effect?

If that were the case, it would be understandable. In fact, even getting a C- overall rating right now was thanks to the old man.

—If that viper hadn't randomly imagined things and misinterpreted the situation, the degree of plot alteration might not have been so obvious.

Of course, these were all just speculations, and Gu Mo couldn't confirm them for the time being. Before the Idiot System provided instructions, there were many things he needed to figure out for himself and then compare and confirm. In other words, whether it was true or not could only be left to time to provide the answer.

Now, his attention shifted back to the basin of water in front of him. Using his thoughts to manipulate the reflection on the water surface, he skillfully exited the inbox history page. He had already roughly browsed the settlement content, and there was nothing else that needed attention.

Switching back to the upgrade page, Gu Mo was relieved to see that his Life Level had finally risen to LV6. He was still a little short originally, but with the additional experience point bonus from the scene settlement, he finally broke through that last sliver of space and completely filled the progress bar.

Another level up, another precious assignable attribute point...

He thought carefully about how he should best allocate this point. Considering the standard value of 10 points for a normal person as a reference, and the significant boost each point provides, it seemed like the Strength and Constitution attributes, which had already been allocated two or three points respectively, could be further strengthened.

After all, being well-rounded often meant being mediocre. Choosing a specialized route and concentrating resources was also very necessary.

However, was this really what he needed right now?

Most of the skills he was starting to learn and master were talisman and magic techniques. He could only say he knew how to use melee skills, but he hadn't even truly mastered the most basic stances. If he considered the proportion of skills, he should be focusing on improving the attributes needed for magic users right now, shouldn't he?

Besides, physical ability and the like—

With a Guardian Spirit that could possess and merge with him, allowing for direct Yokai Transformation, if close-quarters combat were truly necessary, he wasn't without trump cards in that regard... Yokai Transformation provided a very high Strength, Agility, and Constitution bonus. A normal person's body would become as tough as sword steel, like a tireless, pain-ignoring fighting machine.

"Huh? What's this...?"

As Gu Mo was contemplating, he suddenly noticed the Profession Level below had changed at some point. The progress bar had unknowingly filled up, and a subtle "+" symbol had appeared after the progress bar, faintly shimmering with light.

It was there, just not particularly noticeable or strong.

He had been very concerned about this before. After all, precious core resources like assignable attribute points were obtained one point at a time for every Life Level increase, and he hadn't found any other ways to obtain them yet... But precisely below "Life Level," there was also the existence of "Profession Level." How could he not pay attention?

It was just that he couldn't figure out how to access it. The progress bar wasn't completely unchanged, but the efficiency of accumulating experience was infuriatingly low, and no matter how he looked at it, "Commoner" didn't sound like a real profession... Unfortunately, the Idiot System didn't make any noise either. After pondering for a long time without understanding, he had temporarily given up.

He didn't expect that this thing would actually seem to have unlocked at this moment, which was truly a pleasant surprise.

He decisively clicked on the plus sign icon, and a new page jumped out, slowly unfolding before his eyes. It was a square page with swirling cloud patterns around the edges, displayed with the texture effect simulating an ancient ink and wash scroll. The image in the center was the outline of a man wearing a tall hat and a hunting robe, with a blurred face.

Below was the text description—

"Onmyoji."

"Those who practice Yin and Yang Five Elements, cultivators originating from the concept of the Yin-Yang School in China, a cultivation branch gradually formed by the ideas of the Yin-Yang School and the Five Elements theory. During the Tang Dynasty, concepts such as the Yin-Yang School were introduced to Japan, and Onmyoji began to appear as state-exclusive diviners. Combining with Japan's original Curse Prohibition Way and Shintoism, the Onmyodo developed to its peak in the Heian period."

"Detected that the player has met the requirements for transferring to the Onmyoji profession. Do you choose Onmyoji as your main profession?"

Below were the confirm and deny options, leaving Gu Mo momentarily in a dilemma.

Fortunately, he sharp-eyed noticed a small question mark icon in the bottom right corner. After focusing his attention on it, a hidden sub-label page popped up, providing a basic explanation and description of the profession system.

—The damn System finally did something useful!

Gu Mo breathed a sigh of relief and carefully examined it. According to the damn System's notes and explanations, Profession Level was different from Life Level. The latter was the purification and sublimation of life essence time and time again, while the former was a direct manifestation of the mastery, understanding, and attainment of a specific knowledge and ability system.

However, Profession Level could also increase basic attributes. It wasn't a reward of assignable points that could be freely distributed according to one's own ideas, but rather, according to the characteristics of the chosen profession, a point would be added directly to the attribute affected by the profession when leveling up.

This was probably because Life Level symbolized the direction life chose for itself, while Profession Level was a direct reflection of the player's adherence to a formed specific knowledge and ability system, and thus inevitably influenced by its school's characteristics.

After all, if a person were to ignore the influence of professional factors, they could choose to train their physical or mental strength according to their own ideas; there were no restrictions on this.

—But if they were an athlete or a laborer, the results of their training and accumulation would be reflected in their body; if they were a brain-working professional like a lawyer or designer, the physical labor intensity would not be high, and their nerves would often be highly tense, so they would naturally only train their brain.

It was impossible to say the opposite, that someone who worked out every day would develop a strong brain, or that someone who used their brain every day would instead become physically strong... The result and the object simply didn't match, just like saying "persisting in fitness makes the barbell strong," which sounded particularly absurd.

Just like that, Profession Level would also increase basic attributes, similarly one point per level. However, it couldn't be freely assigned by oneself. When this profession was chosen, the key influencing attribute was already determined and could not be easily changed thereafter.

Of course, there seemed to be a way, because the difference between Profession Level and Life Level was still very obvious. A person only had one life, but they could have many professions... The damn System also stated that concurrent jobs were allowed, meaning that if one took on several different concurrent jobs, corresponding each of the six basic attributes one by one...

Just as this enthusiastic idea surged in his mind, Gu Mo's beautiful dream was mercilessly shattered by the content of the next hidden tab page, like the previous illusion—the System stated that the total level of professions was considered as a whole, and the more concurrent professions one had, the more severe the experience penalty would be.

He sighed. Just as I thought, there's no easy loophole.

Continuing to browse the content, he frowned slightly, lost in thought. Choosing a profession simply provided another path to improve precious basic attributes. Besides that, it would be easier to learn corresponding professional skills, and using relevant professional skills would lead to more efficient experience accumulation...

That was basically it. There were no other extra bonuses, at least not according to the detailed notes the Idiot System had uncharacteristically provided.

The Onmyoji profession corresponded to the "Spirit" attribute, which seemed like a good choice. After all, Gu Mo was currently studying Onmyoji Magic and desperately needed to increase his magic power. Choosing this profession would add one point, and the distributable points would also add another, making it a total of 12 points immediately. His talismans would definitely be much stronger than before.

At the very least, his crafting ability would also improve. He wouldn't be stuck making only three or five talismans a day because his energy couldn't keep up, naturally limiting his production capacity.

However, the choice of profession seemed significant, and the penalty for multiclassing was particularly severe. He couldn't make a decision easily... He sighed softly, his attention already scanning past the content of the last hidden sub-tab page. Then he paused, and a moment later, he let out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, I don't have to make a decision right away.

Even without choosing a profession, Profession Level would still increase—it seemed that was indeed the case. He remembered the security guard uncle in his neighborhood was Level 2 Commoner, and he hadn't been unable to level up just because he didn't have a special profession. Depending on the way experience was gained before leveling up, new profession options might be unlocked, and it would also determine which attribute was increased with this level-up...

Perhaps the Commoner path is also a viable playstyle? Maybe it could even make the biggest drawback—the inability to freely allocate attributes—controllable?

The thought flashed through his mind, but Gu Mo immediately shook his head, rejecting the idea himself. Based on his experience during this time, it wasn't feasible.

Before selecting a profession, the efficiency of accumulating professional experience was extremely low, infuriatingly low. Compared to his Life Level which had already risen to Level 6 during this time, he had only just unlocked the System page for professions now. This was probably no different from an experience penalty... The security guard uncle was even at his age and was only Level 2. The Commoner path was definitely not promising.

The Idiot System had left a margin, but it hadn't left a loophole.

He decisively backed out without making a choice, but he saw that his Profession Level had still become LV1, and his Spirit attribute had also increased by 1 point as expected.

The increase in Spirit attribute seemed different from the enhancement of physical attributes. There wasn't that comfortable feeling of every cell in his body being soaked in a warm current, but he could clearly feel that within his body, his consciousness seemed to be immersed in a cool sensation. His soul was like a seed sprouting and growing, gradually becoming stronger bit by bit.

Gu Mo added the distributable attribute points gained from increasing his Life Level. The increase in spiritual power brought by the two points was still extremely obvious. His eyes became slightly brighter and more alert, and he felt exceptionally energetic, as if he could work two or three days straight without resting or sleeping.

"Not bad. This trip basically resulted in two level-ups..."

He nodded with great satisfaction, then took out the ridiculously large, entirely silver, and shimmering ancient key from his Inventory. Next was the time to open the treasure vault and see if he could randomly get anything good.

Although this time it was only Silver level, the anticipation wasn't as high as before.

Just like before, there were special effects, but the dazzling golden light was replaced with shimmering silver radiance. The door of the void treasure vault, which was previously cast entirely in gold, was replaced with an entirely silver one. It was very simple and crude, leaving Gu Mo unsure how to even complain.

Inside the treasure vault, which was adorned with jewels and countless treasures as background textures, making it magnificent and grand.

Gu Mo, whose body or consciousness had appeared in this space, was stunned. He saw that the reward in the center of the treasure vault was a... "person".

To be precise, it was the figure of a young monk wearing a Kasaya robe, holding a tin staff in one hand and counting prayer beads in the other, with his head bowed, chanting Buddhist scriptures. The monk had red lips and white teeth, and was handsome and dignified, seemingly in his prime at twenty or thirty years old. But his demeanor was incredibly steady, as majestic as a mountain, displaying the air of a grand master.

As if sensing someone entering this space, the young monk slightly raised his eyes and looked forward. He looked directly into Gu Mo's eyes, smiled slightly, and pressed his palms together in a greeting—

"Benefactor, please watch closely. This humble monk will demonstrate."

Then, in the next moment, fierce flames erupted from somewhere, as if setting the entire treasure vault ablaze instantly. Accompanied by a clear cry, a firebird burning with magnificent flames, sacred and awe-inspiring like a phoenix, appeared beside the young monk.

It raised its head and cried out, spreading its wings. The flames on its body flowed outwards, causing countless flames to rapidly spread across the ground, turning into a sea of fire.

More flames, however, were like special effect illusory patterns, swirling around the young monk's body. Fire danced and swirled, howling and circling. The fierce flames entwined around the tin staff in his hand. The young monk raised the tin staff with a solemn expression, waving it in front of him like a Wind-Fire Wheels, giving off a feeling of great power and majesty...

Damn! It's that Fahai... no, that Divine Monk Kukai!

Master Kobo, who had given him so much trouble in the game, a human-like monster even fiercer than Minamoto no Raikou, Minamoto no Yoshitsune, and others!

Gu Mo, who finally recognized who this bald monk was, saw that the other party looked ready to attack, and his face turned green.

In the next moment, accompanied by countless fierce flames and fiery dragons swirling around him, the young monk opposite rushed forward with astonishing momentum! He rapidly enlarged in Gu Mo's field of vision!

In reality, Gu Mo snapped back to his senses with a jolt.

He looked around, then let out a long sigh of relief. He then hurriedly checked his System panel, wanting to see what reward he had received.

— "Skill Emblem: Ninety-Nine Weapons Mastery (Requires Guardian Spirit)."