Chapter 40: A New Breakthrough, Unlocking the Advanced Class!
By the time Bai Fu arrived in Lynn, it was already eight o'clock in the evening.
Since it was late, the meeting with the head of Division Four had been postponed to the following day.
"Then let's find a place to stay for the night first."
After sitting in a vehicle all day, she herself wasn’t tired, but it was a different story for Anya. If Bai Fu hadn’t been holding her hand the whole time, she probably would’ve flopped right onto the road at some point.
Seeing that Bai Fu was about to leave, Xia Shi quickly called out to her: "If you don’t mind, you can move into my place for now. It’s pretty spacious, and it’s close to Division Four. No matter how arrogant the Truth Society people are, they wouldn’t dare stir up trouble there."
Bai Fu paused. She had originally been looking for a chance to get close to Xia Shi and see if she could trigger some plot-related quests from her. She hadn’t expected Xia Shi to approach her proactively—why would she turn that down?
No way she’d be scared Xia Shi might try something more thrilling than the game itself, right? What a joke. She was super brave, okay? With her current stats, it would be impressive enough if she didn’t end up teaching Xia Shi how to ride dua-lang instead.
"That would be a big help. Thank you."
Bai Fu dragged her large suitcase and came to Xia Shi’s home together with Anya.
Xia Shi’s residence was a three-bedroom unit, with an actual usable area of over a hundred square meters, not counting shared spaces. Although the interior decor was in typical Syrian style, the sheer space alone was enough to make anyone envious.
"The treatment at the Gene Primordials Intelligence Bureau is this good? They even assign such spacious housing?"
Xia Shi casually tossed her coat onto the sofa. "The treatment’s just so-so. I bought this place myself."
So she was a rich lady. No wonder she dared to pick Mechanic as her class.
In Beyond the Stars, the Mechanic was unquestionably a tycoon class. Although early on it wasn’t much different from other classes—in fact, it even had several damage bonuses in terms of shooting—once advanced classes and the blueprint crafting system were unlocked, the class turned into a full-on "no money, no play" tycoon class.
A commoner would slave away just to handcraft a single mech, and before they even had a couple hours of fun, it’d get turned into scrap by a passing Body Cultivation-style Player.
But it was different for tycoons. They’d just mass-produce dozens or even hundreds of mechs, slap on a few particle beam spears in the back, and it didn’t matter what kind of build you were—you’d be vaporized in no time.
Of course, "tycoon" had multiple layers of meaning for Players. Having money could buy you blueprints and knowledge chains for the mechanical system, but money alone wasn’t enough. One also had to invest a massive amount of XP to level up blueprints, combine them, and upgrade various passive Skills.
So despite how flashy the Mechanic looked when maxed out, there weren’t many Players who were actually willing to take it up.
Bai Fu had been one of those deterred.
She had neither the money, nor the ability to use her knowledge of the plot to fish for all sorts of benefits. After much deliberation, she’d concluded that Psionic stream classes were more suitable for her.
Psionic stream classes were all about support functions in the early game. But once the levels were up, using the power of “I think, therefore I win,” she could pull off all kinds of absurd plays.
To borrow a certain master’s words—
There were no trash classes, only trash Players.
In other games that saying might not hold water. Like in League of Legends, there were always those few champions with terrifyingly low win and pick rates—no matter how fancy your plays were, you’d never make it onto the pro scene.
But it was different in Beyond the Stars. This game had an overwhelming number of class skill combos and gear setups, and you could further expand a class’s ceiling through class synergies.
The Mechanic might be amazing in the late game, but our Body Cultivation-style’s “Ultra Instinct” was no joke either!
Bai Fu set her things down and then took a nice, relaxing shower.
When she came out of the bathroom, she found Xia Shi sitting cross-legged on the sofa barefoot, watching some boring VHS program.
"Now that you’re in Lynn, do you plan on going back?"
Bai Fu sat down beside Xia Shi. "I’m not going back. I’d rather not see that monument and feel sad."
"True. Those Outsiders..." Xia Shi sighed. "How did you come to know them? I heard you killed a lot of Outsiders, but in the end, they didn’t seem to hold a grudge."
Bai Fu turned her head slightly and noticed that when the topic came up, Xia Shi’s toes curled tightly together in a very unnatural way.
She felt like she was beginning to understand why Xia Shi had invited her to stay at her place.
Was she ordered to conduct a covert interrogation?
Heh. Woman, you’re playing with fire!
Bai Fu hesitated for a moment, but made no extra moves.
It seemed Division Four didn’t want a direct conflict with her. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have used such a gentle approach—they’d have sent people to drag her off for interrogation already.
Might as well keep pretending to be a harmless little lamb.
"Not all of those Outsiders were on the same side. I had conflicts with some of them, and I also helped others."
"That’s true. So many people—it’s impossible for them to be united. Even during Division Four’s meetings, the arguments can get pretty intense." Xia Shi cleared her throat awkwardly. "Oh right, no need to be nervous. The Division Head is a genuinely kind man. If he says he’s going to reward you, then he really means it. You can think about what you want."
This was a topic that genuinely interested Bai Fu. "Would something related to advanced Psionic knowledge count?"
Xia Shi thought for a moment.「If it's ordinary advanced knowledge, Division Four’s library has it. I can take you there. But if you want to read higher-level knowledge, that won't be easy. Unless there's a significant contribution, those materials are usually not made available to outsiders.」
Bai Fu was secretly delighted.
She had only wanted a Profession Knowledge Book, but now it looked like she might get access to the Psionic Knowledge Chain.
「A significant contribution is required?」
According to the official explanation, on Origin Star—this kind of beginner planet—most Elite Mobs and Bosses were just advanced classes. Only a very small number of Bosses had unlocked Advanced Templates. It could be said that anyone who unlocked an Advanced Template had reached the T0 tier of personal combat power on Origin Star.
And the Knowledge Chain was precisely the essential aid for transitioning from advanced class to Advanced Template. That the Gene Primordials Intelligence Bureau would guard the Knowledge Chain so strictly was entirely reasonable.
It seemed necessary to stay in Lynn for a while.
After chatting idly with Xia Shi for a few more minutes, Bai Fu went to sleep.
The next morning, led by Xia Shi, she smoothly entered Division Four’s library.
After a brief wait, Xia Shi brought over a thick book the size of a modern Chinese dictionary.
「See if this one works for you?」
Bai Fu accepted the book.
【Would you like to read 《Advanced Applications of Psionic Power》?】
She looked up.「It works.」
Xia Shi said,「Then I won’t disturb you. Take your time reading. I’ve got other matters to attend to. If anything comes up, just call the guard outside—they’ll inform me.」
She tactfully left.
Bai Fu glanced around and noticed surveillance cameras mounted on the walls.
Was this also a kind of test?
It didn’t matter. She really was here to read. She harbored no ill intentions toward the Gene Primordials—at least not for now.
【Yes】
Upon confirmation, a reading progress bar began to rise slowly.
【You begin reading 《Advanced Applications of Psionic Power》. Basic Inspiration Specialization activated. Reading speed +10%. Current progress 0.1%…0.2%…】
While Bai Fu was deeply focused on reading, in the office of Division Four's director, Director Lu Yuelin’s gaze kept shifting between the monitor and Bai Fu’s file.
「Her background is perfectly normal. Her strength increase can be explained by Awakening. Nothing looks off.」
「That’s for sure,」Xia Shi said helplessly.「I personally saw her venture deep into the Insect Tide to save the Abandoned Cooling Plant. I also personally saw her erect a monument for those Outsiders. Who wouldn’t praise someone like that? Even the Wildfire Gang Boss was willing to entrust the Wildfire Gang to her. I really didn’t expect Uncle Lu that you all would suspect her of any problem.」
Lu Yuelin chuckled.「Better safe than sorry. But you’re right. We’ll set the investigation aside for now. Let her continue staying at your place. That’ll also make it easier for us to protect her. Since the Truth Society has issued an assassination bounty, they’ll definitely make a move in the near future.」
「No problem.」Xia Shi’s mood visibly brightened.
Lu Yuelin smiled and saw her off, then returned to examining Bai Fu’s investigation report.
Based on the previous investigations, it was impossible for Bai Fu to have ties to the Truth Society. After all, she’d killed Truth Society members and even let their researched medicine fall into their enemies’ hands. But what if all of it was an elaborate ruse?
……
【Current progress 100%. Spend 20,000 XP to unlock the new class [Psionic Prayer-user]?】
It took a full twenty minutes before Bai Fu received a new game notification. Sitting on over 50,000 XP, she pressed confirm without hesitation.
【You’ve unlocked the new class [Psionic Prayer-user]. Intelligence +1, Inspiration +2, Stat Points +2】
【During reading, you’ve learned new Skills: [Chain Reaction], [Battle Etiquette], [Intermediate Psionic Specialization], [Basic Psionic Toughness]】
Two consecutive prompts appeared, sounding like heavenly music to Bai Fu’s ears.
「It worked!」
After several days of effort, she had finally unlocked an advanced class and could continue leveling up.
No wonder advanced classes were called advanced—Psionic Prayer-user’s level cap was 20, double that of Psionic Apprentice. With each level-up, the Inspiration bonus had also increased from 1 to 2.
Onward!
Bai Fu invested another 25,000 XP into [Psionic Prayer-user], raising it to Lv2. Then she allocated all 4 free Stat Points into Constitution.
Her status panel now looked like this—
【Main Class】: Psionic Prayer-user Lv2 (0/30000) [Lower-tier Class Psionic Apprentice Lv10 (Maxed)], Unemployed Drifter Lv5 (Maxed)
【Sub Class】: None
【HP】: 770/770
【Psionic Value】: 115/115
【Stats】: Strength 11, Agility 7, Constitution 37, Intelligence 5, Spirit 14, Inspiration 23
【Skills】:
Fanaticism Lv3, Hardening Lv1, Psionic Vision, Innate Psionics Lv1, Power Surge (Inferior), Multiplier Boost (Inferior), Psionic Boil
Chain Reaction – Bind target B to target A. While bound, target B shares all of target A’s status effects. Consumes 5 Psionic per minute. Cooldown: 1 second.
Battle Etiquette – Fighting is fun, but etiquette is essential. Once per battle, can be used on a target to force them to perform a battle salute with you (2s). Consumes 20 Psionic. Cooldown: 1 minute.
Intermediate Psionic Specialization – +20% efficiency in learning Psionic knowledge and +20% effectiveness of active Psionic Skills.
Basic Psionic Toughness – When attacked, gain +2 Inspiration checks.
【Talent】: Luck
The stat gains from this level-up weren’t particularly striking, but the HP increase of 80 points was considerable. The most satisfying part, however, was the newly acquired Skills.
At first glance, Chain Reaction looked like a buff-leeching Skill, but flipped around, it could also transfer debuffs to enemies.
In just a moment, Bai Fu thought of several uses.
As for Battle Etiquette, it was far from a basic Skill either. Superficially, it seemed like a taunt that hard-controlled the target for 2 seconds, creating damage opportunities for allies.
But given that Battle Etiquette could be customized, and the activation timing could be manipulated, its potential might even surpass Chain Reaction.
Bai Fu closed the book. It was time to come up with a Battle Etiquette that could significantly weaken the enemy’s strength in a short time.
PS: There’s one more update tonight, 3-4k words. Taking a short break first, then I’ll try to get that written ASAP. Please stay tuned.