111: Chapter 111 Time to make money again!

The Vendor tilted her head to think, then smacked her lips.

"Skill Scrolls like the ones you're talking about are rare on the market. You probably know how Skill Scrolls come to be. Players go to a world, learn skills from NPCs through the standard process, and once the system acknowledges it, a skill imprint forms within their body. After they die, there's a chance this imprint will drop. Temporary ones, permanent ones, ones based on usage counts, or those based on minutes—it's all random. Permanent ones have the lowest probability, so they are the most valuable."

"There's also the kind where someone who has learned a skill from a Skill Scroll might have a chance to drop a Skill Scroll upon death."

She paused, picked up the data pad, and spun it around in her hand.

"But for the kind of skills you're talking about—those that restore or store life energy—very few worlds allow you to learn them individually. Most NPCs in most worlds teach attack-type, defense-type, or support-type skills. There are Healing-type ones, but those are for treating wounds, not for replenishing life energy. So, they are very rare on the market. It's not a question of whether they're expensive or not; there's simply no stock."

"Then are there any other ways?"

"Why don't you try Ability Scrolls?"

The Vendor set the data pad down and leaned forward.

"Ability Scrolls are also dropped by players, but the origin is different. If players obtain secret treasures in the game or happen to awaken abilities through encounters, they have a chance to awaken abilities. Another way is by using Ability Scrolls. Upon death in a small world, there is a chance to drop Ability Scrolls as well."

"If you already possess abilities in reality, the ones you bring in won't drop upon death."

"Based on the direction you want—restoring energy, storing energy—Ability types are more to your taste. However, they will be much more expensive than Skill Scrolls because there are few players with abilities to begin with, and few secret treasures that can awaken abilities, so the chance of them dropping upon death is even lower."

"If you are just looking for a stopgap for now, I actually have a skill book here. I don't know if it catches your eye."

The Vendor bent down, rummaged through a storage compartment under her stall, and brought out a scroll, placing it in front of Zhen Lu.

The label read: "Vitality".

"Vitality. The effect of this skill is very straightforward: it increases your own upper limit of life activity by about 30 percent. Whether it's the total value of energy stored in your body or the output depth when you mobilize energy, both can be raised by a notch. For example, if you could previously perform ten full-power attacks at full status, you could perform thirteen after learning this. It's not a restoration-type skill; it can't help you replenish energy you've already consumed, but it allows your energy pool itself to become larger. When the pool is larger, you can last longer under the same consumption, and the upper limit for recovery is also higher."

She pushed the scroll toward Zhen Lu.

"But this is a temporary scroll, so the price is much cheaper than a permanent one—one million. If you feel that abilities aren't suitable, it's fine to take this to tide you over."

Seeing that he didn't immediately refuse "Vitality", the Vendor knew in her heart that this deal could still be negotiated.

"Do you have any recommendations for Ability types based on my requirements?"

"I don't have any Ability Scrolls in stock here, but I do happen to know of a few that match the direction you need."

She clicked on the items on the data pad.

"First, Energy Storage. This ability allows you to open up an independent Energy Storage space within your body, with a capacity limit of five times your own total energy value. Whether it's life force or Mental Power, you can store whatever you don't finish using at the time. However, the storage speed is relatively slow; it's a natural dissipation-style absorption, and it takes about a week to fill up."

"Second, Energy Absorption. Unlike storage, which is for storing your own, absorption is for extracting dissipated energy from the external environment, with a capacity limit of three times. Natural elements in the surroundings, energy fluctuations overflowing from opponents during battle, and even residual radiation from certain energy mineral veins can all be absorbed and converted. The efficiency is faster than natural recovery, and it is passively replenishing anytime and anywhere, accumulating over time."

"Third, Energy Conservation. This is a passive effect that directly reduces the energy consumption of all your active skills. The reduction isn't exaggerated—about 20 to 30 percent—but the coverage is wide. Whether it's Healing-type, Psychokinesis Shaping-type, or any other abilities you have, as long as they require energy consumption to activate, they all fall within its effective range."

The Vendor pushed the data pad toward Zhen Lu.

"These three are all Ability Scrolls. Their rarity is what it is, and as for the price, it's a tier higher than skill books."

The Vendor pointed to each one on the screen.

"First, Energy Storage: a temporary scroll is about ten million. This is the cheapest because most people don't need that much energy. To put it bluntly, most of the time you won't need to store an extra five times the energy, so the cost-performance ratio isn't high."

"Second, Energy Absorption: a temporary scroll is fifteen million. It's more expensive than storage because absorption extracts energy directly from the external environment. The recovery speed is much faster than storage, and its practicality is broader. Whether you are between battles or idling in an energy mining area, it is passively operating. It has a high cost-performance ratio, so the price naturally goes up."

"Third, Energy Conservation: thirty million. This is the most expensive. It directly reduces the energy consumption of all active skills. With the same amount of energy, you can unleash several more rounds of skills after learning this; this is a qualitative improvement."

The Vendor lifted her eyes to look at Zhen Lu.

"These are all prices for temporary scrolls. If they were permanent scrolls, you would need to raise the price by about 30 to 40 percent."

Zhen Lu didn't speak after hearing this.

He was quite fond of these abilities. If he could bring them out, he would be incredibly powerful, but he had less than two million left in his account. He had no money.

He quickly calculated in his mind, then lifted his eyes and asked:

"Then do you have any in stock?"

The Vendor grinned.

"I really don't have any here, and even if you bought them through me, you wouldn't get a cheap deal. I'm just providing you with ideas. Ability Scrolls are hard to find in the entire Trading Plaza; you have to camp at the auction house or find special channels."

"Then I'll take this Vitality Skill Scroll."

Zhen Lu transferred the money for the Vitality scroll, put the scroll into his backpack, stood up, patted the dust off his pants, and didn't look at any other stalls.

He walked across the Trading Plaza toward the Main Star Plaza, had Xiao Guang filter for a few Temporary Summoning missions with high rewards, high requirements, and short durations, and accepted one to complete. He needed to make money now.

After coming out, he cut directly into the exclusive teleportation gate of the Holy See, passed through the main hall, and turned into the Training Room.

Mentor Matthew was already waiting. The two didn't say much and started today's training content immediately.

Coming out of the Training Room, he walked along the corridor into the empty Training Room he usually used and locked the door.

He took out the remaining four Psychokinesis Skill Scrolls from his backpack and tapped them onto his body one by one.

White light flashed successively. His Psychokinesis broke through from Specialized to Mastery, and his Mental Power attribute subsequently rose by five points.

He felt it for a moment; his Mental Power was surging violently inside his skull, and his perception range seemed to have broken through a ceiling, expanding outward abruptly.

His Mental Power had reached C-rank.

He stood in place and took a few deep breaths, waiting for that sense of impact to slowly subside, then took out the remaining two Super Speed scrolls and tapped them onto his body one by one.

White light flashed successively. Super Speed crossed from Proficient to Specialized, and his Agility attribute subsequently jumped by four points.

Next, he took out the Vitality scroll he had just bought and tapped it onto his body. As the white light flashed, a wave of warmth spread from his body outward, as if something had been recalibrated deep within his body, and all attributes rose by one point.

He stood in place, moving his ankles and wrists, feeling the changes brought by the newly added attributes.

The remaining scrolls in his backpack: Psychokinesis Shaping, Psychokinesis Amplification, Strengthened Will, and Rapid Recovery, two of each. He wasn't in a hurry to use them for now.

Tonight's improvement was already enough.

He pushed open the door of the Training Room and returned to the Main Star Plaza through the teleportation gate. Then, he exited the game directly.

He opened his eyes to the ceiling of his apartment in Central City.

He sat up from the bed, walked to the coffee table, picked up the five bottles of sustained-release nutrient solution he had exchanged from the Guardian Branch logistics, unscrewed one, and drank it down.

The liquid was very thick. As it slid down his throat into his stomach, that familiar feeling of hunger was visibly suppressed. He drank a few more gulps of water, leaned on the sofa to wait for a moment, and then supplemented with a few energy bars as an aid.

After the physical discomfort gradually subsided, perhaps because the Vitality skill had taken effect, he felt very comfortable, as if he were soaking in a hot spring.

When he had just come out, the hunger in his body was very heavy, but he could feel that he could endure it for a very long time without harming his body. This might be another effect brought by the Vitality skill.