Chapter Thirty-Three: The Layer Between Knowledge

This time, the improvement of his skills not only elevated Yi Shen’s offensive capabilities to a new level but also brought significant advancements in other areas. For instance, his ability to summon water elementals could now coexist with wind elementals, raising the maximum number of summoned creatures from three to six. The scouting technique allowed Yi Shen to investigate the attributes of monsters or other explorers; the information gleaned depended on both the skill and the target’s level. At higher levels, the scouting skill could even reveal the opponent’s attribute effects.

Spell Critical was an E-level passive skill, the first passive Yi Shen had obtained through arcane research, which increased his chance of spell critical hits.

Polymorph was even more potent.

It allowed certain targets to be turned into a sheep.

According to tests on the forums, low-level Polymorph could not be used on humans or elite monsters, nor did it affect undead or elemental creatures. Only when the skill reached B-level or above could it be used on humans or elite monsters, at which point it would become a truly godlike ability.

After organizing his skills, Yi Shen examined his status panel. Over the past few days, he had raised his level to 22, and, with the attributes acquired through various arcane research materials, his stats now far surpassed those of his peers.

———

[Name: Yi Shen]
[Class: Mage]
[Level: lv22 (1425/20000)]
[Health: 3640/3640]
[Mana: 6540/6540]
[Base Attack: 258-516]
[Base Defense: 112]
[Strength: 258]
[Agility: 224]
[Endurance: 364]
[Intellect: 654]
[Spirit: 443]

[Special Bonus: All spell and magic effects deal an additional 210 points of damage or healing]
[Skills: Arcane Research (SSS), Fire Bomb (D), Magic Enhancement (D), Blizzard (E), etc.]
[Talent: Heart of the Mage lv2 (482/1000)]
[Contribution Points: 2389]
———

After reviewing his stats, Yi Shen was quite satisfied with his progress. Though a mage, the stacking effects of his studies meant some of his attributes even surpassed those of warriors or rogues at the same level. After his latest gear update, his spell power had reached an impressive 210 points.

This meant his spell damage now outstripped the base damage of most skills. With a fully stacked Arcane Impact, he could potentially deal over 500 points of damage in one blow.

“From now on, besides leveling up, I’ll need to improve my attributes and skill levels,” Yi Shen mused about his future path.

With his attributes rising, those F-level and E-level skills he had acquired earlier were starting to feel inadequate. Starting from D-level, many skills not only increased base damage, but also began to add attribute-related bonuses. At the C and B levels, both the base damage and attribute bonuses would become even greater.

For example, his Magic Enhancement skill currently provided a 10% intellect bonus at D-level, but would jump to 20% at C-level, making his high attributes even more effective.

...

Zhu Qing was busy selling Yi Shen’s equipment, while Yi Shen himself rested for three days in the Jingmen Safe Zone. Each day, he kept up with changes in the situation, searched for news of his parents, collected payments from Zhu Qing, and, when he had time, teased Zhu You for amusement. Life was rather carefree.

Except for her somewhat “Little Red Riding Hood” physique, Zhu Qing was otherwise flawless—more than once, Yi Shen had nearly lost his self-control, but managed to restrain himself.

He knew he couldn’t remain idle for long; he needed to enter the otherworld again to strengthen himself. So, after briefly explaining the situation to the Zhu sisters, Yi Shen set out once more for the Dimensional Gate.

This time, however, he wasn’t heading for the Bone-burial Snowfield, but rather a place directly south of the Jingmen Safe Zone—an otherworld called “The Library.”

After his recent level-up, the experience gained from low-level monsters had dwindled to almost nothing.

Now, each level required tens of thousands of experience points. Even if he cleared a low-level dungeon, he’d hardly gain a level, and the effort of traveling between locations was increasingly costly. The monster levels in the Bone-burial Snowfield ranged from 1 to 30; staying there much longer would soon become pointless for him. So he set his sights on the Library to the south.

Of course, “The Library” was merely a nickname.

On the system, the world’s full name was “The Knowledge Layer.”

It was one of the few otherworlds near the Jingmen Safe Zone with such a distinctive, conscious name.

Monsters in the Knowledge Layer ranged from level 1 to 40, but their distribution was uneven—one moment, you might encounter a level 3 monster, and the next, a level 30-something opponent.

For most, the Library posed significant risks; people preferred to try other dimensional gates rather than venture here.

But for Yi Shen, the monsters here were perfect for grinding, the dungeons were much closer together than those on the snowy or desert plains, and the loot fetched much better prices.

So, after gathering the necessary information, he set out.

Once again, he took a car from the black market rather than using official channels. There were more people on the black market transport than usual; with spring’s arrival, everyone was more eager to grow stronger.

The ratio of men to women on the bus was about six to four.

It was said that when the mutations first began, most explorers were men. But as time went on and casualties in the otherworld rose, more and more women—undaunted by challenge—joined the fight. Zhu Qing was one such example; life and pressure had compelled her to stand up and face reality.

Wearing a mask and hat, Yi Shen didn’t pay much attention to the others, but one group did catch his interest: a squad from Peach Blossom Hollow.

There were five in total, three men and two women, two of whom sported the Peach Blossom Hollow insignia—a symbol Yi Shen had grown up recognizing.

Because the use of scouting skills could alert the target, Yi Shen refrained from probing them, simply listening quietly to their conversation.

From their words, it seemed Peach Blossom Hollow was going through a hard time. Several high-level explorers had parachuted in from other safe zones, and the squad members were complaining about their leadership or even considering leaving the guild.

These explorers were probably around level 20. Their goal this trip was to collect a material called Shattered Runes from the Library, which could be used to enchant weapons or sold for a decent price.