The time for this second round of exams was slightly longer than usual, but when they walked out of the examination hall, it was only 11 a.m.
It wasn't yet time for lunch.
Su Hao returned to the hotel directly. Once he opened the room door, Su Hao saw a light yellow thing jump up and hit the ceiling.
"Gurgl—"
Bang!
"So, you're secretly playing with the computer."
"Gurgle, gurgle!"
Silkworm Baby dragged out the spiritual force ball and immediately filled it with spiritual force.
I've already finished the training, how can you say I'm secretly playing!?
"Alright."
Su Hao was in a good mood and decided to let it go for once.
He pushed Silkworm Baby away and sat down in front of the computer. He opened the official website of the Union of Sprite Trainers and then clicked into the internal forum.
The Union of Sprite Trainers had an official website that ordinary people could also view, and they also had an intranet that only official Sprite Trainers or Sprite Cultivator could access.
Su Hao had just obtained the qualifications.
Before this, he was at most a student who raised a sprite.
[Please log in to your account.]
Su Hao typed in the Sprite Cultivator certificate number he just got and created a password.
A beautiful website loaded in front of him.
"According to President An, what I can log into right now is only the forum of Dragon Nation, and I only have the lowest level of authorization."
There were several important parts in the whole intranet.
There were a trading and shopping center, a discussion forum, and a New World interface—part of which he still had no authorization to enter.
Su Hao entered the page for shopping.
Immediately, all types of items appeared on his screen.
He filtered with the words "sprite unique skill", the page changed, and many pictures of unique skill guides appeared, with introduction and prices.
Deadly Waves, Thunder Clouds Storm, Shattering Light…
Many top-grade unique skills could be bought there.
Of course, the prices were extremely high, and one had to have enough authorization.
"In the external world, only some basic unique skills are in circulation, and the plans are very rough and shallow. Real secret guidebooks for unique skills need to be bought at the Union's shopping center.
"Furthermore, apart from buying unique skills in the Union's shopping center, one can only sell self-invented unique skills they own."
Every unique skill there was certified by the Union. It was forbidden to spread them privately, especially for profit. Once discovered, the punishment was harsh.
Schools could teach some unique skills because they had bought the right to disseminate, and they could only teach to their students.
The reason it was so strict was to motivate Sprite Trainers to be creative and invent more skills suitable for sprites.
Su Hao was a shallow person, and he only wanted to make money.
He had no platform in the past, so he couldn't sell the improved version of Charging even if he wanted to. Now, there was the Union's official shopping center, and this was great.
"Although Charging is a basic unique skill, it is distinct after improvement. It should be able to pass the checks.
"After checking, the Union will set the price. Even the improved version of Charging is only a basic unique skill, and its price can't be that high. Still, basic unique skills similarly target a larger group, so it can also make quite a lot of money."
There were also some other rules. For example, basic unique skills such as this would be priced the highest in the first year and would be reduced per year.
This was a way for the Union to both ensure profits for the inventors and allow basic unique skills to spread more widely. In any case, basic unique skills weren't complicated, and even with the Union's laws, they couldn't stop pirating.
They might as well completely make it public after a certain amount of time.
Su Hao typed in "Improved Charging" in the part for "Name".
Then he typed in the description of the unique skill and detailed training plans.
In order to make sure he passed the verification, he wrote a full 2,000 characters for the plans, along with photos of Silkworm Baby's training.
In the end, Su Hao took out his phone, scanned the QR code, and paid the verification fees for the plan—500 yuan.
No matter whether it passed, these 500 yuan were gone.
"So freaking expensive!"
…
The next two days were the weekend, and Su Hao planned on staying for two more days in Yunhua City. He could even stay in the hotel for free.
After lunch, Su Hao visited the Association's library.
Once he entered and saw the great variety of book collection, he felt like he had arrived in a gold mine.
His eyes shone brightly.
"It is said that knowledge is wealth. Knowledge is Intelligence Points!"
Su Hao took a moment to calm down his excitement. Then his eyes glanced across the bookshelves. He picked out a few most content-heavy comprehensive books authored by great masters and placed them on the table.
"Gurgle(σ`д′)σ".
Su Hao just remembered there was still a Silkworm Baby on top of his head.
He thought about it, returned to the bookcase, and picked out a thick, leather-covered book.
"The Accomplishment of Sprites".
What attracted Su Hao's attention wasn't the name of the book, but the author underneath—Budd the Elephant General.
This was an extremely legendary sprite.
Its trainer had accidentally died during exploration, but the grieving Armored Elephant hadn't fallen to despair. It had evolved into an Elephant General with its own hard work and continued to become stronger.
It had lived for decades, kept on fighting, and obtained the powers to overcome the main sprite of a Heavenly King Sprite Trainer.
It was a sprite that had lost its trainer!
It was very inspiring!
A book by Elephant General Budd can probably give Silkworm Baby some inspiration.
Su Hao picked the book and placed it on the opposite side of the table.
Without needing him to speak, the learning-loving Silkworm Baby leaped down from the top of his head.
Su Hao also opened the book. Upon listening to the cue tone of Intelligence Points beside his ears, he got into it right away.
Time passed fast.
When Su Hao's mind returned from the world constructed by the master, he had already finished the bulk of the book.
Further behind was some deep knowledge that was hard for him to understand right now.
"Let me see how much the Intelligence Points increased."
Su Hao opened the interface in a flash.
The Intelligence Points shown on there were… 84 points.
"Why only 84?"
Su Hao had picked out the type of books with the most learning points. He had deduced that the higher level the knowledge was, the more Intelligence Points it could give him.
It shouldn't be a problem for a master's book to provide him with 30 to 40 points, and even if he only finished most of it, it shouldn't have been so little.
Su Hao frowned.
Suddenly, he recalled that the speed of increase of Intelligence Points had grown slower in the period before that.
Some books he had never read couldn't even provide him with Intelligence Points.
"Intelligence Points come from new knowledge related to sprites, and unlocking Intelligence Points is equivalent to gaining new knowledge. When I encounter similar knowledge again, I won't be able to gain Intelligence Points anymore.
"Which means…
"It is getting harder and harder for me to get Intelligence Points?"
Su Hao's expression froze.
It didn't seem so good.
Just as he was thinking…
"Ding-dong!"
The crisp and pleasant sound sounded again.
"Accumulated Intelligence Points have reached 200. Interface upgrade is starting."
"Interface upgrading…"
Inside the Sprite Cultivator Association…
The Deputy President An Yushan was sitting leisurely in the office, tasting tea, and dealing with official businesses.
Suddenly the phone rang, so he picked it up. "Okay, very well, I see, raise his borrowing authority by one level."
He put down the phone.
An Yushan exclaimed, "This is a real genius, he has talent yet doesn't get conceited because of it. He's just gotten the certificate with full marks in the morning, and in the afternoon, he's already studying in the library. No wonder he can have this kind of achievement despite coming from an ordinary background.
"It's rare, indeed!"
His appreciation for Su Hao increased even more.
In another room…
"What?" Ai Zishi's face was full of surprise. "He's better than me, and he still works harder than me! No, I won't eat dinner for now. I have to learn three more sets of cultivation plans tonight!"