62: Chapter 62 Mentorship
He raised his right hand, and a ball of white light lit up in his palm.
The ball of light rotated slowly in his palm; its edges were clear, and its shape was as stable as a polished bead, without a single wisp of excess light spilling out.
"Look at this ball of light of mine. How is it different from yours?"
Zhen Lu opened his right hand and activated Holy Light. White light surged out from his palm, a lukewarm expanse with scattered edges, like a lamp without a proper shade.
"Your light is scattered. Scattered light wastes a massive amount of Mental Power. The first thing you need to do is not to learn some new skill, but to contain this scattered light, turn it into a ball, a line, or a point, and make it listen to you instead of spilling outward on its own."
Matthew retracted his palm. The ball of light spun around his fingertips once and then extinguished, leaving behind no residual glow.
"The Healing-oriented advancement of Holy Light branches into two directions. One is the improvement of Healing intensity, using less Mental Power to achieve better Healing effects. The other is the expansion of Healing range, changing from single-target Healing to group Healing. The corresponding skill is called Holy Light Link, which distributes Healing effects to multiple targets simultaneously through threads of Mental Power."
Mentor Matthew's words were correct, and he taught very earnestly, often providing vivid demonstrations.
But Zhen Lu spent the whole time in a daze; he didn't quite understand these things. Matthew must have forgotten that he was a latecomer to this path.
Besides, he just learned the skills by taking them out; there was no process or experience of developing them bit by bit.
After saying a lot, Matthew paused and looked at Zhen Lu.
"You won't deeply understand the logic of skill usage just by me talking about it. The Church has its own skill sales outlet in the Realm of Holy Light, right in the side hall of this grand cathedral. Temporary Skill Scrolls for the Holy Light series—Holy Light Link, Holy Light Barrier, and Holy Light Enhancement—can all be bought there, and the prices are much cheaper than the outside auction houses. You should go find a temporary Holy Light Link Skill Scroll to use first, to feel in advance how Mental Power moves when a skill is operating, so you have an impression in your mind. Tomorrow, I will teach you how to control it in detail."
Zhen Lu understood this sentence: come to buy skills, get a discount.
This first student experience ended just like that.
The Church's skill sales outlet was a completely different style from the auction plaza he had visited before.
No street stalls, no hawking, and no players squatting by the side of the road to sell things.
In the side hall, there was a row of neat stone counters. Behind each counter stood an NPC wearing Church robes, and above the counter floated a translucent light screen, scrolling with the names and prices of available skills.
Scattered throughout the hall were a few people wearing Church robes; some were browsing lists in front of the light screens, while others were receiving newly purchased Skill Scrolls from behind the counters.
Zhen Lu walked to the nearest empty counter. The NPC behind the counter was an old monk wearing round-rimmed glasses, who looked up and smiled slightly at him. "What do you need?"
"Just looking around. What skills are there in the Holy Light series? Can you list them?"
The old monk swiped a few times on the light screen, and a list of skill names and prices appeared before Zhen Lu's eyes.
They were arranged neatly from top to bottom, with level labels and selling prices following each skill.
Holy Light Link, Basic-Level, Temporary Skill Scroll. Price: 120,000 Credits.
Holy Light Barrier, Basic-Level, Temporary Skill Scroll. Price: 95,000 Credits.
Holy Light Enhancement, Basic-Level, Temporary Skill Scroll. Price: 110,000 Credits.
Pure Spirit, Basic-Level, Temporary Skill Scroll—specifically for increasing Mental Power recovery speed. Price: 120,000 Credits.
Zhen Lu's gaze swept across this row of prices from beginning to end, and then from end to beginning.
These four skills were all Basic-Level temporary Skill Scrolls of the Holy Light series, each costing around 100,000 Credits.
He memorized the prices one by one in his mind.
There were a few permanent Skill Scrolls priced higher, but he didn't look at them closely, because even if he looked, he couldn't afford them.
These temporary Skill Scrolls were obviously helpful to ordinary Church members; after using them, they could feel in advance how the skills operated, making their own practice outside twice as effective with half the effort.
For him, it meant something completely different. As long as he used them, the skills would be permanent.
But right now, he didn't have a single Credit on him. He hadn't brought anything when he entered this world, couldn't even contact Xiao Guang, and had nowhere to transfer funds.
He memorized the prices, turned around, left the side hall, followed the corridor back to the main hall of the grand cathedral, and then passed through the light curtain portal from the main hall, returning to the Main Star Plaza.
His feet stepped back onto the glowing white stone, and Xiao Guang floated out from behind his shoulder.
Zhen Lu didn't wait for it to speak; he immediately had it pull up the prices of similar skills at the auction house for comparison.
Xiao Guang flickered, and a few lines of search results appeared before his eyes.
In the auction house, the Holy Light Link temporary Skill Scroll was priced at 260,000.
Pure Spirit was 280,000.
Holy Light Barrier was a little over 200,000.
Each one was more than twice as expensive as inside the Church.
The prices at the Church were indeed cheaper, but for him, the biggest problem right now wasn't which side was cheaper, but that his account balance was only 160,000. Any random Holy Light skill cost 120,000; buying one would hollow out most of his savings.
What he needed now was more money. Before earning money, he should buy what he could first.
"Xiao Guang, take all the Credits in my account."
"Understood."
Zhen Lu turned and walked back to that pure white portal.
He stepped into the light curtain.
He passed through the main hall of the grand cathedral, turned into the side corridor, and pushed open the door to the side hall.
The old monk saw him return and raised his eyebrows slightly.
"I didn't have money earlier. I want Holy Light Link, the Basic-Level temporary Skill Scroll."
The old monk pulled up the price on the light screen, and Zhen Lu transferred the 120,000 Credits.
The old monk took a scroll from a hidden compartment under the counter and handed it over.
Zhen Lu took the Skill Scroll and slapped it onto his body. White light seeped into his chest, and a new line appeared in his skill bar: Holy Light Link.
The effect of this skill was very direct: when activating Holy Light, Mental Power could pull out connecting lines, connecting the Healing effect to up to three targets simultaneously. Each additional target reduced the single-target effect by 10%, but being able to pull up the health lines of three people in one go was much faster than Healing them one by one.
He didn't stay at the Church for long.
There was no rush on Matthew's side; they had agreed to continue practicing tomorrow.
What was urgent right now was earning money.
He passed through the light curtain portal in the main hall and returned to the Main Star Plaza once again.
"Xiao Guang, search for Temporary Summoning missions. Ones with skills and high rewards."
Xiao Guang's light body flickered, and a mission list appeared before his eyes.
He flipped down a few pages, and his gaze stopped on an entry that had just refreshed.
[Temporary Summoning] World: Wanren · Requirement: Mastery-Level Movement Technique · Participants: 0 / 1 person · Reward: 20,000 Credits / 8 hours · Bonus Skill: Basic Endurance
"I have Mastery-Level Movement Technique, which meets the requirement. 20,000 is really quite a lot."
"This one." Zhen Lu clicked accept. A white light flashed.
Zhen Lu opened his eyes and was standing in a huge cave entrance.
Stalactites overhead were dripping water, which shattered into several pieces upon hitting the stalagmites, the sound bouncing back and forth between the empty cave walls.
The air was very cool, carrying the scent of stones that had been soaked in water for a long time. It was daytime in this world, and sunlight could shine directly in.
At the corner of the cave wall directly in front, someone was sitting, leaning against it.
A man, twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, wearing a short martial arts outfit that was covered in mud stains. His left leg was stretched out straight, and below the knee, it was swollen so much that it strained the pant leg.
His lips were chapped and peeling, his eye sockets were dark, and the moment he saw Zhen Lu, his eyes lit up.
"You've finally arrived! I'm about to starve to death."
He pushed against the ground, trying to sit upright, but pulled at his leg injury and hissed, shrinking back.
Zhen Lu walked over, crouched down, and glanced at his leg. "What happened?"