Chapter 47: Clarifying Thoughts, Setting Goals

Over an hour later, the two men returned to the inner city once again.

“Well, young man, if there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave now.”

“As for your payment… If things go quickly, it’ll be in your account tonight; at the latest, by tomorrow morning.”

“No problem, I’m not in a hurry.”

The burly man gave a respectful nod and quickly vanished down the street.

It seemed he was eager to find a buyer.

Watching the man recede into the distance, Song Qi took a moment to compose himself, then set out toward the Professional Guild.

“It’s time to update my professional record.”

He was now level twenty-one.

But to become an official intermediate professional, he still needed to pass a test. Only after passing would his profile be updated to “Intermediate Professional,” granting him access to the intermediate dungeon zone.

It was said that there hadn’t always been such a test, but because the death rate in the intermediate dungeons was so high, this method had been adopted out of necessity.

Of course, for Song Qi, the test posed no difficulty whatsoever.

About ten minutes later…

Song Qi stepped out of the hall.

As expected, the test went smoothly.

He looked up; sunlight poured across half his face, warm and slightly blinding.

He felt strangely disoriented.

For almost half a month, he’d been going nonstop, but now, with a sudden lull, he wasn’t quite sure what to do.

Go to the City Lord’s Mansion?

Impossible. He’d asked for leave today, and the City Lord likely hadn’t prepared his daily potions.

Go home?

He glanced at the time—just past four in the afternoon.

Too early.

“I’ll find a place to organize my thoughts. So much has happened lately, I can barely keep track.”

Scratching his head, Song Qi entered a restaurant, ordered two dishes at random, and asked the proprietor for paper and pen.

Then, he opened his panel:

Name: Song Qi
Profession: Summoner
Level: 21
Experience: 43,125/2,000,000
Strength: 13
Constitution: 36
Agility: 34
Spirit: 382
Free Attribute Points: 21
Equipment: [Seven Deadly Sins: Envy]
Talent: Divine Summoning

Skills: [Summoning] [Soul Link] [Life Shelter]
…

“First, regarding attributes. My recent training has paid off—my Spirit is nearly at the 400 mark!”

“A high Spirit means I can start learning high-consumption skills.”

“And I’ve just hit level twenty-one, with two new skill slots still unused.”

Song Qi picked up the pen and wrote a ‘1’.

“As for skill types and directions…”

“Considering the monstrous panels of Lü Bu and Ying Zheng…”

“Support and attack skills aren’t needed for now.”

“I already have defense covered.”

“And if the City Lord can’t get me into the advanced dungeon zone early, I may have to level up in the wild soon.”

“So, when selecting skills, I’m leaning toward those that help with escape and travel.”

With these thoughts, Song Qi’s mind became clear.

“Yes, the first thing is decided: learn two consumption-type skills for escaping or traveling.”

“Second… ask the City Lord about ways to enter the advanced dungeon zone early.”

“Third… if early entry isn’t possible, try to get a map of monster distributions in the wild from the City Lord.”

He wrote all his ideas down.

“Skills aside, next is equipment.”

“The first question: do I really need equipment right now?”

He answered almost instantly.

“The answer is… not really. More precisely, I don’t need anything below legendary quality.”

He was powerful, but his level was low.

Low-level gear didn’t provide enough attributes to matter.

The only motivation was the system’s quest:

[Optional Quest 3: Equip five items of extraordinary quality or above.]

But the quest wouldn’t disappear, nor was there a time limit; new quests would only appear after all current ones were complete.

Whether he finished one quest days earlier or later made little difference.

So there was no need to rush.

“In other words, I only need to focus on skill selection now.”

Song Qi crossed out the equipment section on his paper and reviewed everything a few times. Confirming nothing was overlooked, he put the paper away and began eating.

Since skill books could only be sold in the Professional Hall, Song Qi returned inside.

Carrying a fruit basket, Song Qi went up to the twenty-second floor to find Zuo Mingzheng, the guardian.

Upon seeing Song Qi, Zuo Mingzheng looked slightly puzzled.

“Why are you bringing a fruit basket here? This isn’t a hospital.”

Song Qi smiled.

“Don’t tease me, sir.”

“It’s like this: I heard you are a top summoner.”

“So, I hope to ask your advice on a few summoner skills.”

Song Qi had learned from Principal Shen that Zuo Mingzheng was once a high-level summoner capable of braving the wild, and one of humanity’s pillars.

With such experience, helping Song Qi find two skills shouldn’t be difficult.

Zuo Mingzheng was amused.

Who brings just a fruit basket when asking for a favor?

But he didn’t mind.

He nodded, set the fruit basket aside, peeled a banana, and started eating.

“All right, I’ll help you to the end. Ask whatever you want.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Song Qi was overjoyed and hurriedly expressed his gratitude.

“My question is, are there any summoner skills for escaping or traveling?”

“Escape and travel skills?”

Zuo Mingzheng frowned, thought carefully, then replied.

“There are some, but not many, especially if you care about long-term practicality. Most are expensive as well.”

“There’s a skill called [Fixed-Point Jump].”

“It allows the user to instantly teleport to any spot within sight, up to two kilometers away.”

“The higher the skill level, the shorter the cooldown.”

“The minimum cooldown is zero.”

“But every use consumes your Spirit; if your Spirit isn’t high, it’s not recommended.”

“That’s perfect!”

Song Qi’s eyes lit up.

Instant movement!

As for Spirit consumption? He wasn’t worried.

“Are there others?”

“There’s also [Void Torrent],” Zuo Mingzheng continued.

“It lets you enter a fast-flowing void channel, completely isolating you from the outside world.”

“In the void, you won’t be harmed by anything, and you can stay as long as you wish.”

“The downside is you can’t control where you exit.”

“And each time, you’ll fall into a weakened state—your attributes reduced by eighty percent for a month.”

Song Qi pondered.

That was a trump card for survival.

If faced with a desperate situation, it was essentially an extra life.

“So… where can I buy these skills?”

Zuo Mingzheng pointed downstairs.

“With your ultra S-class talent, just go to the Professional Guild’s shop—they have a high-quality skills store.”

“Summoners are rare, so they stock all the hero-level skill books with clear prices.”

“Thank you, sir!”

Song Qi was delighted and dashed downstairs, eager and full of expectation.