The Past Life's Gifts Were Not Yet Over—Special Profession: [Scholar]

Professions within each tier were further divided by strength into lower, intermediate, upper, and top-tier professions.

Lower and intermediate professions were the most common. Upper professions were relatively rare, while top-tier professions were even harder to come by.

To advance a profession, one had to obtain information on the higher-tier profession, fulfill the advancement requirements, and develop the profession to a certain degree.

"Development level..." Su Chen thought. "Jiang He is so powerful. It's probably not just because she's an Arcane Apprentice—her profession's development level must be high too."

Aside from these three major categories, the book vaguely mentioned a special case.

Special professions without tiers possessed extremely peculiar abilities.

The book did not say much, but it directly listed one profession.

[Special profession discovered—Scholar. You may take the profession upon fulfilling its requirements.]

[Scholar requirement one: Twelve years of diligent study.]

[Scholar requirement two: Study at least twelve different categories of knowledge, spending no less than one year on each.]

[Scholar requirement three: Obtain information on a top-tier profession.]

Given how nearly all profession information was kept secret in reality, the fact that this special profession had been placed in the library was clearly quite unusual.

On one hand, [Scholar] was considered a purely support-oriented profession.

On the other hand, its requirements were extremely harsh. Perhaps it was also meant to display the Academy's depth of foundation.

As far as he knew, due to physical development, people could only begin the various forms of training required for taking professions when they were nearly adults.

Southwind City's education system, meanwhile, was extremely rudimentary. People only started school in their teens, where they learned conventional knowledge.

But everyone wanted to become a profession user. How could they possibly settle down and study knowledge that seemed so useless?

After becoming a profession user, their focus naturally turned to improving their profession's development level. Twelve years of diligent study was practically impossible to achieve.

Not to mention learning twelve categories of knowledge and obtaining information on a top-tier profession.

"However..." Su Chen's expression turned rather strange as he looked at the panel.

[Scholar requirement one: Twelve years of diligent study (nine years completed).]

[Scholar requirement two: Master twelve different categories of knowledge, studying each category for at least one year (completed).]

[Scholar requirement three: Obtain information on a top-tier profession (completed).]

Two requirements had already been completed, while the first was nine years done.

"Could it be because of my past life..."

Su Chen muttered to himself. In his past life, he had at least graduated from university. Elementary school, middle school, high school, plus university—there had been all kinds of subjects, and his years of education had not been few.

Yet only nine years had been counted for him. Perhaps it was because he had spent several of those years having far too much fun.

"But three years of diligent study is still too long..." Su Chen shook his head. This kind of rigid time requirement was truly difficult.

"Why does it have to be so long? Make it shorter, shorter..." Su Chen racked his brain, trying to make [Scholar] react, but the panel remained cold and indifferent.

"Fine..." Su Chen gave up. He had no idea how to trigger a profession's human-like response.

As for another matter that concerned him more—how many professions one person could hold at the same time—

The answer given in the book was straightforward: theoretically, unlimited.

This was not a game world where everyone had profession slots.

In theory, as long as one's body did not reject them, one could continue to accommodate more professions. But in reality, rejection happened often.

The requirements for taking each profession were usually different, especially for high-tier professions. Conflicts could kill people.

Human energy was also limited. Rather than accommodating more professions, it was better to pursue higher-tier ones. Accommodating ten first-tier professions might not even make one stronger than a single second-tier profession.

"Grrr..."

His stomach protested. Su Chen sighed helplessly. He was hungry again.

His metabolism was too fast. Those cans he had eaten that morning had been completely useless; he had digested most of them before even reaching Southwind City.

And now, he was unbearably hungry.

"I'll check out the cafeteria first. There should be food with higher nutritional value..." Su Chen went down to the first floor and retrieved the student ID he had left as collateral.

By the time he left the library, it was already getting dark outside. He stopped a kind-looking student and asked where the cafeteria was.

Just as he had guessed, the cafeteria did not accept cash. Student IDs were used as payment credentials instead.

But there was no money on his student ID.

"Mm... then I won't eat for now." Su Chen left the service window as if nothing had happened. The staff member in charge looked like she wanted to say something, while the students waiting behind him were rendered speechless.

"A penny stumps a hero." Su Chen grew hungrier and hungrier as he considered whether to find Jiang He and mooch a meal off her.

"If it really comes down to it, I'll just rob a meal from this place. Jiang He can clean up afterward anyway."

Robbing a meal was not exactly a big deal. He figured there would not be any serious consequences, so he prepared to get back in line.

Then his steps halted as he caught sight of a very familiar figure descending from the second floor.

He had asked around before. The second floor was where the rich second-generation kids ate, and the prices were not cheap.

Although Southwind Academy trained profession users, most students studied miscellaneous professions, the kind that merely ensured they could make a living outside. Not many of them came from wealthy families.

The resources required for more powerful physical and spiritual professions were far beyond what they could afford.

Without a solid foundation, it was easy to gain nothing in just three short years—or even pay with one's life.

He looked at the figure. She was slender and graceful, with hair spilling over her shoulders. Her profile was exquisite. She could be considered an acquaintance.

However, he had never seen her after she had washed up. He only recognized her because Little Pigeon had secretly shown him a photo.

"Bai Fengxi..."

Upon suddenly hearing her name, she paused. The several men and women beside her stopped as well and turned around in confusion.

"Another confession? Junior Bai is really popular."

"Look at her—she became a profession user in just three months. With that kind of talent, her future is boundless..."

"This guy is pretty handsome, but why don't I remember him? I should have seen a handsome guy like this before..."

Their discussion was quiet. All sorts of gazes crossed, carrying the anticipation of watching a good show.

"Sorry, but I only want to study right now. I'm not interested in anything else." Bai Fengxi frowned slightly, her expression cool.

Su Chen was speechless. "Um, I'm Su Chen."

"Su... Chen?" Bai Fengxi froze briefly, her eyes widening. Both embarrassed and startled, she looked him up and down before asking suspiciously, "You... Su Chen?"

"It's me..." Su Chen nodded.

Bai Fengxi examined him carefully. His brows and eyes did look somewhat familiar. So this guy actually looked pretty good once he cleaned up.

"Cough, cough..." She coughed twice to conceal her embarrassment. After saying something to the people beside her, she walked over and whispered familiarly, "Um, sorry. It was just a habit."

The two of them had not interacted much, but neither had they interacted little. After all, they had once made a living in the same place.

Only then did she notice the student ID hanging from Su Chen's chest, and her surprise deepened. "You... are also a student of Southwind Academy?"

"How did you get in?"

"It's a long story. Right now, there's something..." Su Chen said vaguely. "Do you have any money? Lend me some."

The wariness in Bai Fengxi's eyes was visible to the naked eye.

Su Chen was helpless too. "Not much. Just enough for one meal. I only arrived today, so I wasn't prepared."

He further emphasized it, easing her vigilance.

"One meal..." Bai Fengxi fell silent for a moment, then took out a slender glass bottle from her pocket. It contained a cloudy milky-white liquid. "This is concentrated nutrient solution. Dilute it with water, and it should last you several days."

Su Chen's mouth twitched. I asked to borrow the cost of one meal, and you really gave me one meal.

Could this stuff possibly taste good?

Bai Fengxi explained quietly, "Actually, I'm having a hard time too."

What a familiar excuse.

Su Chen sighed. Before Bai Fengxi could hand it over, he took the concentrated nutrient solution from her. "Thanks."

Not far away, Bai Fengxi's companions were chatting in surprise. "What's going on? Su Chen? An acquaintance?"

"Isn't Junior Bai the daughter of Vice Principal Yuan's friend? Her acquaintance probably isn't ordinary either."

"Zhou Zong, you have a rival now." A baby-faced girl secretly said to the man standing stiffly nearby.

Zhou Zong stared at Su Chen with furrowed brows. "Why does he feel like someone I've seen somewhere before?"

As they spoke, Bai Fengxi had already returned. The baby-faced girl asked slyly, "Little Bai, who's that?"

"An old friend." Bai Fengxi returned to her cool demeanor, but Zhou Zong's brows relaxed at that moment. As if nothing had happened, he said,

"I remember now. This afternoon, your friend seemed to have returned from outside the Academy with Teacher Jiang He."

"Jiang He?" the baby-faced girl exclaimed. "That Violet? No way..."

Jiang He's reputation was widely known throughout the Academy. At that moment, everyone's imaginations ran wild, and they all glanced at Bai Fengxi.

Bai Fengxi's steps paused. Zhou Zong stared at her, intending to catch a look of shock, disappointment, or something similar.

"Impressive..." Bai Fengxi uttered two words, seemingly with emotion. Everyone was stunned.

Impressive?

Zhou Zong looked utterly bewildered.

Yes, impressive. A refugee managing to climb into the bed of a Southwind Academy teacher—wasn't that impressive?

Bai Fengxi continued walking on her own.