After shaking off their pursuers and entering the inner city, Ye Bai opened her newly acquired profession panel following her class change.
【Cryptic Mage】
Profession Trait: Magic Omnipotence
Effect: Unlocks all magic systems (current level 1), reduces casting range by 30%, reduces spell intensity by 30%, and increases mana cost by 200% extra.
Description: You've activated the 'Bloodline of Magic'. Pray for the favor of elemental laws!
Current Profession Skills: None
Skill Points: 1
Just like when she upgraded her talents, Ye Bai experienced the changes after her class change with a keen sense of awareness. The transformation wasn't as strikingly obvious as when she upgraded her talents; instead, it felt like knowledge she had always possessed was being awakened from some forgotten corner of her memory.
Ye Bai waved her hand towards a twig by the roadside. In the next moment, a wind blade flew towards her target position, precisely slicing off a leaf.
Fireball, Icebolt, Earth Spike, Vine Whip, Lightning Bolt, Light Arrow, Slow, Mind Ray... All the basic skills of every magic system were now automatically mastered by Ye Bai without the need for additional learning.
This was the extraordinary advantage of hidden professions. If it were a regular Elemental Mage, all these skills would have to be learned through skill points.
Each magic system had its unique strengths and weaknesses. Regular magical professions typically progress from fewer to more, starting with one magic system and slowly adding more as they advanced. The Cryptic Mage was the only hidden profession that could directly unlock all magic systems from the outset.
Therefore, in Ye Bai's hands, who was already well-versed in all game skills, the Cryptic Mage could truly shine, becoming a versatile "hexagonal mage."
However, the tradeoff was also quite apparent. This hidden profession vividly demonstrated what it meant to be "broad but not deep." The three most critical dimensions of spell effectiveness—casting range, spell intensity, and spell consumption—were all compromised.
To remedy this, skill points were necessary.
After successfully changing classes, every profession would gain a new profession panel, similar to the talent tree. The profession tree would also appear, allowing the use of skill points to enhance skills or learn new ones.
For example, a Frost Elemental Mage could allocate skill points to the basic Icebolt to obtain [Icebolt - Modified], enhancing both damage and range, or use them to learn its advanced skill, [Ice Shard].
Ye Bai, however, was different. Due to her current weakened state, her skill points would restore her skills to normal effectiveness. But if she chose to learn advanced skills, she would instantly master them across all systems.
Under such circumstances, to grow stronger meant investing significantly more skill points than regular professions.
There were only three ways to obtain skill points: acquiring 1 point automatically every five levels, completing high-difficulty missions for rewards, and killing dungeon bosses with a small chance of dropping skill books.
Without her knowledge of the game's strategies, most players wouldn't know if transitioning into a hidden profession was a blessing or a curse.
Meanwhile, Ye Bai's personal panel finally displayed the mark of a professional—
Mana: 194/250
Magic professions had the highest mana among all professions, and the Cryptic Mage had the highest mana among all magic professions, bar none.
Although the number 250 was somewhat mocking, compared to the regular professions' 100-150 range and magic professions' 150-200 range, this value somewhat compensated for the doubled mana consumption.
Ye Bai didn't rush to allocate skill or talent points. Instead, she logged off directly within the inner city.
...
Just after logging out of the Star Network, Ye Bai was once again engulfed by darkness.
But this time, the experience was noticeably different from before. Previously, Ye Bai had always found mental strength to be quite abstract, feeling like it was an intangible concept, invisible and untouchable. Now, for the first time, she felt the presence of mental strength.
This sensation was difficult to describe in words. It was like growing a new, versatile limb, a form of perception that was distinct from the traditional senses of sight, hearing, and touch, yet more comprehensive.
Ye Bai issued a command to her personal terminal.
【Test Mental Strength】
【Mental Strength Quantitative Evaluation in Progress, Current Range: 50 nano+, Rating: D+】
Mental strength had indeed risen to D-level!
At this stage, she had transcended the realm of ordinary humans, reaching the basic level of combat units in the universe. Though still relatively weak, she had finally stepped into the realm of the extraordinary, capable of influencing the outside world with her mental strength.
Meanwhile, the unique nature of mental strength meant that personal terminals, which were micro machinery, could only measure up to a certain limit. They could only detect that Ye Bai's mental strength fluctuations exceeded 50 nano, but couldn't provide a specific value. This meant that even if a higher D-level mental strength user were to use the terminal, the result would be the same as Ye Bai's.
Now, the personal terminal could truly be considered Ye Bai's personal tool, no longer susceptible to control by other signals, as Ye Bai could now use her mental strength to block such signals.
Subsequently, Ye Bai gradually familiarized herself with mental strength usage, transforming it into an extended "tentacle" that she cautiously and slowly extended outward.
Throughout this process, Identification was constantly activated. As Ye Bai expected, it could achieve "touch" judgment and successfully obtain the same nutrient solution information as before.
Her mental strength extended further, passing through the nutrient solution and touching the metal cabin.
'MF-100 Model Hibernation Cabin, Manufactured on Centauri Gamma-78 Industrial Star.'
'Next Failure Likely in: 14793 Hours'
After several attempts and confirming that only these two pieces of valid information were obtained, Ye Bai continued to extend her mental strength outward.
'Anomaly Monitoring Device (Normal Mode)'
'Magnetic Field Protection - Standard Level 4'
As soon as it extended beyond the cabin, Ye Bai's mental strength sensed two more pieces of information.
There were monitoring and protective devices outside the nutrient cabin!
Ye Bai was startled, and her mental strength tentacle recoiled instinctively. Only after nothing unusual happened did she realize that the uniqueness of mental strength lay in its difficulty to be captured by normal machinery, detectable only by mental strength users or a handful of special materials.
Evidently, since no one had anticipated that Ye Bai could elevate her mental strength to D-level while inside the nutrient cabin, there were no devices in place to detect mental strength.
Relieved, Ye Bai continued her exploration and then "saw" more nutrient cabins arranged in rows.
Ye Bai counted them one by one... Good lord, the entire area, appearing to be a circular spaceship cabin, was lined tightly against the spaceship hull with six rows, 360 degrees around, containing 36 nutrient cabins in total, all exhibiting life signs.
These signs didn't require Ye Bai to extend her mental strength into the nutrient cabins to detect; they were naturally apparent, likely a characteristic unique to mental strength.
In her perception, the life forms' mental strengths resembled breath lights, flickering steadily within a fixed range, indicating they were also intelligent beings captured by Macul Group and still in hibernation.
It seemed Macul Group hadn't just captured Ye Bai; it was highly probable that these captives were from different star systems.
After exploring the cabin with her mental strength, Ye Bai began to feel noticeably fatigued, especially when extending her mental strength tentacle to farther distances, which was most taxing. Closer ranges required significantly less effort.
Fortunately, just like recovering from exhaustion, taking a break allowed Ye Bai to continue her explorations after a rest.
The entire spaceship cabin didn't hold any more information, and Ye Bai couldn't probe any farther. Her conclusion was that this cabin was specifically used by Macul's forces to detain biological specimens captured through illegal means.
So these were her "cellmates"...
Ye Bai's mental strength tentacle could perceive machinery but not the physical forms of beings with mental strength. The only thing she could sense was these "lights" varying in size, though she felt they were all weaker than her. Perhaps the size of these "lights" represented the strength of their mental strength?
If that's the case, it means that apart from Ye Bai, the unexpected guest, all the intelligent beings in this chamber have psychic powers below Level D.
Should she try to break free from the nutrient chamber?
No, it's too reckless. Level D isn't particularly high in the universe. Many advanced civilizations, after evolution, birth their citizens with Level D psychic power from the start. For example, the Phantasma Civilization, one of the top civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy, which Ye Bai knows well, where her alien friend Aurora comes from, has ordinary people starting at Level D, with the strongest even reaching Level A.
However, waiting passively is certainly not an option either. After pondering, Ye Bai extended her psychic power towards the 'cellmate' in the nutrient chamber next to hers.
If there's someone nearby who knows more about the situation, they might find a way out.
However, when Ye Bai's psychic power touched the 'neighbor's' spirit, it didn't go as expected—
"!!!”
As soon as Ye Bai's psychic power made contact, it was like dropping a drop of water into hot oil. The entire spirit entity began to violently shake like an unstable light bulb, completely losing its previous stability.
Ye Bai wasn't even sure if her message had been successfully transmitted, only sensing intense panic and fear from the other's psychic waves.
How could this happen?
Ye Bai quickly retracted her psychic power, full of questions and at a loss, feeling as if she had just cheerfully said 'Hi,' only for the other person to suddenly scream in heart-wrenching terror.
Her 'cellmate' also didn't know what kind of creature it was, possibly with a body structure unlike ancient humans. The intense psychic fluctuation might have caused it to move, instantly triggering the 'abnormal state monitor' Ye Bai had previously discovered.
"Beep——!”
An alarm sounded. Ye Bai's extended psychic tentacle noticed a mechanical device on the edge of the neighboring nutrient chamber activate, popping out a tube of liquid that connected to the chamber, slowly being injected inside.
Ye Bai immediately used [Appraisal] on the tube of liquid:
'Anesthetic GP-63+, patented by Macul Group's Fifth Research Institute, with an active ingredient double that of GP-63'
Ye Bai: ...Sorry, cellmate!!
As the syringe injected the double dose of anesthetic, the neighboring spirit gradually calmed down, returning to its initial state.
After waiting a while until everything was silent again, Ye Bai extended her psychic tentacle towards the other 'cellmate 2.'
A moment later...
"Beep——!”
Having apologized inwardly to cellmate 2, who also received an extra dose of anesthetic, Ye Bai quietly retracted her psychic power:
...It seems to be her problem.
