Chapter Ten: New Skills

Chapter Ten: New Skills

“Hey, aren’t you afraid of getting shocked?” Zhan Lan asked Jing Chen, who had just picked up Xiao Xue.

“Hmm? Why should I be? As long as you aren’t hostile or make sudden movements, these bird-like pets won’t attack you,” Jing Chen replied, feeding Xiao Xue a piece of bread.

“Really? Can I touch it?” Zhan Lan inquired, drawn by the creature’s cuteness, which everyone seemed to appreciate.

While the three girls played with Xiao Xue, Schuster stepped forward alone beneath the glowing orb.

“Lord God, I know you’re intelligent. Since you can’t determine my level of mystery, you’d better not test me. I doubt you’re smarter than the Queen of Flames was. Answer me before I decide to attack you,” Schuster communicated telepathically.

“State your identity. I never brought you here,” Lord God’s voice echoed in his mind after half a minute.

“Me? I suppose you’ve already guessed. I’m a being higher than you, just here for a visit. We’ll leave soon enough. Now, return the rewards you withheld from us,” Schuster nearly laughed.

“Fine. I hope you keep your promise, and don’t excessively disrupt the balance. You’re just tourists; there’s no need for too much destruction,” Lord God conceded.

“No problem. Excessive destruction was never my intention.”

“Compensation: two C-level plot events, two thousand reward points.” Schuster received the compensation.

“I got a C-level plot event and a thousand reward points. Did you do this, brother?” Lolita’s voice echoed in his mind.

“Yes, I just negotiated with Lord God. We each get a B-level side plot and five thousand points. I earned an extra 602 points—how about you?” Schuster asked.

“Five hundred seventy-four! Not enough to exchange for much,” Lolita responded.

“Oh well, I’ll make sure to save more soul crystals,” Schuster wore the expression of someone who understands the value of resources.

“Tch, everyone knows you’re stingy. Look at your soul crystal count,” Lolita replied with a look that said, “You’re hopeless.”

“Let me see… soul crystals: 123456789. Easy to remember.” Schuster recited his count, oblivious to Lolita’s growing contempt.

“Lord God, show me the list of magical manuals.”

A list appeared before him:

Beginner Water Magic Book, rating: 69. Suitable for most horror films. Contains common water spells for daily convenience, but no attack skills. Requires D-level water magic and self-study. Exchange: 100 reward points—such a useless skill, why list it? What’s the point without combat ability? Just for cooking and cleaning?

Beginner Fire Magic Book, rating: 75. Suitable for most horror films. Basic combat abilities, low lethality. Requires D-level fire magic and self-study. Exchange: 100 reward points—low lethality? How low? Inquiry ongoing… Seriously, even thumb-sized fireballs are considered lethal?

“Lord God! Show me forbidden-level magic books!” Schuster demanded through gritted teeth.

Forbidden Water Magic Book, rating: 90. Capable of freezing any material, extremely high lethality. Requires S-level water magic and self-study. Exchange: 500 reward points—impressive, but I’m not attuned to water magic.

He skipped a few similar entries…

Sanctum of the Seven Luminaries, rating: 100. Legendary forbidden spell only gods can cast. Combines seven magical elements into a city-level spell. Requires mastery over all seven elements and self-study. Exchange: 1000 reward points—this is the only one I can learn. The static force field trait allows friction in the air to convert magical elements into thunder magic elements, or reverse them into the other six. This is it.

After the light faded, Schuster found himself holding two books: one was the Sanctum of the Seven Luminaries, the other a Comprehensive Thunder Magic Manual.

The two books cost the reward points earned from killing zombies, totaling 1170. The Thunder Magic Manual, containing beginner, intermediate, advanced, sanctum, and forbidden levels, cost 70 points.

“Here, I’ll handle this Comprehensive Thunder Magic Manual, you take the Sanctum of the Seven Luminaries. Let’s aim to master them in five days,” Schuster tossed the Sanctum to Lolita, then stowed the other book in his infinite space.

“Lord God, show me the bloodline exchange list; highest-level undead types only.”

A chart appeared:

Springfield Fool’s Hot-Blooded Undead Bloodline, rating: 100. Stronger than Superman, total immunity to physical, magical, and mental attacks, instant recovery from any state, even pulverization, pain intensity increased by 500%… Exchange requires…

—Is this even possible to exchange? This bloodline is only suitable for god-level masochists, no, god-level masochists among masochists.

Disciple of the Spring Brother Bloodline, rating: 100. A powerful bloodline recorded after the emergence of the Spring Brother as a Sage. Half-profession, half-bloodline enhancement. After strengthening, allows full HP/MP/rage revival once daily, and grants advanced Spring Yang Aura… Exchange requires…

—Spring Brother’s disciples have invaded Lord God’s space? Is believing in Spring Brother really the path to immortality? Is this even safe?

“Damn it! What are these bloodlines? Are you kidding me?” Schuster felt like unleashing the Wrath of Thunder upon the glowing orb.

He continued reading, growing more alarmed the further he looked.

Stellar Warlord Bloodline, Phoenix Undead Bloodline, Saint Seiya Cockroach Fate Bloodline, Penglai Immortal Bloodline… Damn, these are all masochists!

All sorts of masochists. Saint Seiya are beaten, grow stronger, get beaten again, grow stronger again…

Penglai Immortal… Enough said. The process involves enduring the Phoenix’s flames for ages.

Is Lord God’s space a breeding ground for god-level masochists?

CodeGea Bloodline, rating: 90. Code’s immortality applies to the host, but is merely a byproduct. Its essence is to fix both humanity and the world. Humanity is born from the source and returns to it, but Code forbids this return. It severs the cycle, keeping people and their creations at the moment they desire. The true power is that a wielder’s small wish with Geass can merge people, eventually enabling Code’s use. Yet, realizing Code’s essence is extremely difficult. Each inherited Code is imperfect at that moment. To fix the world and escape the root of cyclical repetition, Code must itself grow. But no holder has succeeded. None have. Exchange requires an A-level side plot and 20,000 reward points.

“In that case, let’s exchange this as a gift for Sister Jing Chen’s return. Hey, Lolita, this is our next goal. Understood?” Schuster sent the memory and spoke.

“No problem. Let’s first exchange for a Heart Contract. We’ll need to take Sister Jing Chen with us,” Lolita responded with a mental chain.

“OK, you handle the exchange. I’ll start studying this magic book.” Schuster returned to the sofa and opened the Comprehensive Thunder Magic Manual.

It was surprisingly complete—not only thunder magic, but also electrical superpowers, warrior’s thunder aura, ways to shorten incantations, and optimize elemental combinations.

“What a pleasant surprise; it even includes gravity and iron sand manipulation techniques.” Schuster and Lolita delved into their studies, while the surrounding reincarnators watched speechlessly as Schuster exchanged two books at Lord God’s place, then sat reading with Lolita. Jing Chen also quietly read her own book. The three were perfectly harmonious.

“Forget it, we should just exchange separately, no need to coordinate with them,” Zheng Zhe decided, seeing the trio, to conduct his own exchange.

A column of light enveloped Zheng Zhe, lifting him gently…

After a while, Zhang Jie’s voice called out behind them: “Alright, you three, put the books away—come to my place for a meal. My wife’s cooking is chef-level, haha! When it comes to food, Lord God’s never stingy. You can make almost anything in the kitchen. Come on, from this afternoon, you’ll be training with me.”

“Training?” The three were perplexed. If they could exchange, why bother with training?

Zhang Jie explained as he walked: “Yes, training. A person’s attributes change constantly with exercise. From my observation, soldiers who undergo intensive training only have slightly lower physical stats than Zheng Zhe—just missing inner energy and vampire power, but their fighting skills and endurance are impressive. If they fought Zheng Zhe, he might lose. During these four horror films, I’ve kept training, improving my neural reflexes and muscle strength. Besides these two, you need to learn shooting and other skills. Don’t worry, my basement has an enormous shooting range. For the next horror film, we all have to work hard.”

PS: Alas, a bit overwhelmed.