An Added Piece of News

"Shopkeeper Sun, was there something else?" Zhang Yao, who had been about to leave, stopped and looked at Shopkeeper Sun in puzzlement.

"Heh heh, you're the first of this batch of Chosen Ones to buy anything from me, kid, and you've been very polite to this old man. That makes you a lad after my own heart! So I've decided to throw in another piece of information, free of charge!" Shopkeeper Sun said with a chuckle.

"Then let me thank you in advance, Shopkeeper Sun! What would you like to tell me?"

Hearing this, Zhang Yao felt that treating Shopkeeper Sun politely had certainly been the right choice. The reward had come almost immediately. He became even more courteous toward Shopkeeper Sun.

"You Chosen Ones are both fortunate and unfortunate. One careless mistake here can send you to the Yellow Springs, without even anyone to collect your body! So, to give you a better chance of surviving, things called Skill Books appeared in Rodos World-things that work only for you." Shopkeeper Sun took off his glasses, pulled a cleaning cloth from a drawer, and spoke as he wiped them.

Zhang Yao already knew everything Shopkeeper Sun was telling him. The information the Guide had poured into his mind had explained it all in detail. But he did not interrupt Shopkeeper Sun's account. He simply stood quietly and listened. Since Shopkeeper Sun had promised him a piece of information, everything he was saying now had to be related to it. Sure enough, Shopkeeper Sun soon came to the point.

"These Skill Books are hard to obtain, and even when you get one, it's usually only a D- or E-rank Skill Book. That's why many people are reluctant to use their limited skill slots to learn these weaker skills. Unfortunately, high-rank skills are also very difficult for you Chosen Ones to obtain, so quite a few Chosen Ones die without having used even one of their ten skill slots! That's why this old man advises you to learn any Skill Book you get as soon as possible. It can only help you, not hurt you! Their ranks may be low, but what they can do could save your life!" Shopkeeper Sun paused, put his glasses back on, and took a breath before continuing. "Besides, these low-rank skills can also be upgraded into high-rank skills!"

"What? Low-rank skills can be upgraded into high-rank skills?" Zhang Yao had listened calmly as Shopkeeper Sun spoke, but that last sentence made him cry out in astonishment.

"Heh heh, that's right!" Seeing Zhang Yao's astonished face, Shopkeeper Sun could not help smiling smugly. He was very pleased with that expression.

Ever since entering the Spacetime Shop, Zhang Yao had remained utterly unruffled, looking as though he would not so much as change expression even if Mount Tai collapsed before him. Shopkeeper Sun had found this young boy's pretense of maturity quite irritating. Go on, keep pretending. Let's see how long you can keep it up, he had thought. Just as Zhang Yao was about to leave, Shopkeeper Sun had come up with this idea to see how long the boy could maintain his act. Now that his words had finally startled Zhang Yao, an intangible sense of accomplishment welled up inside him, instantly delighting Shopkeeper Sun, who had been waiting so eagerly for this moment.

"How do you upgrade a low-rank skill into a high-rank one?" Once Shopkeeper Sun nodded in confirmation, Zhang Yao hurriedly asked.

"Heh heh, there are quite a few ways to upgrade low-rank skills into high-rank ones! But they all boil down to one saying-Heaven rewards diligence!" Shopkeeper Sun settled back into his recliner and spoke with narrowed eyes and a smile.

"Whew!"

Zhang Yao left the Spacetime Shop and returned to the same cabin aboard the ship. Lying on his bed, he sorted through the information he had received from Shopkeeper Sun. (Almost no time passed between entering the Spacetime Shop from Rodos World and returning to Rodos World.)

What a haul. Not only did I buy the incredibly useful Overview of Rodos, I also picked up all this helpful information. This trip certainly wasn't wasted. Zhang Yao took the Overview of Rodos out of his Spatial Ring and leafed through it as he thought.

The Overview of Rodos was a palm-sized book of roughly a hundred pages. It supplemented the Guide's explanations with details about Rodos that had been left out, giving the Chosen Ones a better understanding of the world.

Zhang Yao lay on the bed, steadily reading through the Overview of Rodos. Only when the sky grew dark did he stop. Having finished the book, he put it back into his Spatial Ring and closed his eyes, absorbing the information he had just acquired.

First, the Overview of Rodos had given Zhang Yao a general understanding of Rodos's geography. Rodos World was hundreds of times larger than his home world. It was divided into an eastern and a western continent, separated by the Endless Sea, with countless islands scattered throughout the sea between the two continents. Based on the markings on the book's map and the Andal Harbor that Doreze and Luo De had mentioned earlier, Zhang Yao roughly determined that he was near the Western Continent.

Second, Zhang Yao learned that Rodos was a world of many races. Besides humans, there were elves, dwarves, orcs, and numerous others.

Finally came what Zhang Yao considered the most valuable information in the overview. According to the book, the strength of Chosen Ones was divided into stages of five levels each. For example, levels 0 through 4 made up the first stage, while levels 5 through 9 made up the second. With each new stage, leveling up granted more attributes, but the experience required also far exceeded that of the previous stage. The book also explained that each stage of a Chosen One's abilities corresponded to a native strength rank in Rodos World. For example, first-stage Chosen Ones at levels 0 through 4 corresponded to ordinary people in Rodos World, while second-stage Chosen Ones at levels 5 through 9 corresponded to beginner professionals.

Heaven Tier, meanwhile, was the designation given to professionals in Rodos World who had surpassed the advanced rank. From the overview, Zhang Yao also learned that Heaven Tier was further divided into Greater Heaven Tier and Lesser Heaven Tier!

Heaven Tier! That means I have to reach level 20 to get there! And that's only Lesser Heaven Tier. Greater Heaven Tier requires level 25. I wonder whether Lancelot is Greater Heaven Tier or Lesser Heaven Tier. And what comes after level 29? After learning which levels Heaven Tier represented, Zhang Yao glanced at his experience, which had barely crept into level 7, and let out a pained groan. The gulf between him and Lancelot felt impossibly vast. Moreover, the overview explained the strength ranks only up to level 29 in detail; it said nothing at all about what came afterward. Zhang Yao was therefore very curious about what lay beyond level 29.

"Knock, knock. Zhang Yao! Zhang Yao!"

While Zhang Yao was still lying on his bed, pondering the gap in strength between himself and Lancelot, Luo De knocked on the door.

"What is it, Luo De?" Zhang Yao got out of bed, opened the door, and asked.

"Heh, Zhang Yao, look at the time. Don't you think there's something you ought to be doing?" Luo De smiled and mimed eating.

"Uh, I hadn't noticed until you mentioned it. Now that you have, my stomach's growling with hunger!" Zhang Yao froze for a moment before remembering that he had gone almost an entire day without eating. His stomach had long since been completely empty.