He first picked up the two-star skill book: [Helical Throw].
[Helical Throw Skill Book: Teaches you the skill 'Helical Throw', with a 100% success rate.]
"This skill book was made by a powerful Advanced Awakened."
Su Xiaoxiao was happy to chat a bit more with Bai Pu, and she explained a bit about skill books.
There are two types of skill books.
One is made by Awakened; the other is a product of the Spirit Realm.
To create a skill book, an Awakened must first cultivate the skill to a very high level!
Then, on a specific 'base material', the comprehension of the skill is fully documented for successors to grasp.
Specific base materials generally include monster hides or bones with relevant skill talents, like [War Trample], typically from the special parts of creatures like Kodo Beasts, Earth-Splitting Rhinoceros, Centaur, and so on.
Such base materials are hard to find.
Many rare skills are almost impossible to document, even if a powerful being has cultivated it to a high level, without a monster with the relevant skill talent.
Therefore, ordinary skill books are relatively abundant; you can learn them as many times as you want as long as you have Honor Points.
But rare skill books from the Spirit Realm can't be casually exchanged with Honor Points; ordinary permissions can't even query them!
Su Xiaoxiao said, "I suggest you learn the most precious one, [Unstable Shield]. This is a rare skill book by the Spirit Realm Will; no Awakened in the real world has been able to produce it."
Bai Pu nodded. The more numerous and stronger the skills an Awakened has, the lower the success rate for learning new skills.
So, starting with the most precious skill to ensure a high comprehension efficiency makes sense.
Bai Pu opened the [Unstable Shield] skill book, and a burst of luminous particles spewed, transforming into a stream of information pouring into his mind.
Before Bai Pu's eyes appeared a terrifying furnace, filled with multicolored Demon Fire. The chaotic energy rapidly expanded, reaching a subtle balance amidst vibrations.
Then with a bang, the energy exploded.
[You have acquired the two-star skill: Unstable Shield. Current skill level: Level 1.]
With the prompt, Bai Pu sensed clearly that he had initially mastered the skill and could check specific data.
The shield created by [Unstable Shield] absorbs up to (45) points of damage, which is three times the Endurance Attribute.
Similarly, when the shield explodes, the maximum damage it can inflict on surrounding enemies is also 45 points.
A 45-point group attack is undeniably formidable in the early stages.
The downside is the 3-second delay required before it can explode, so Bai Pu must be careful not to let enemies drain it too much after activating the shield, or it will lose its power.
Bai Pu then picked up the [Helical Throw] skill book again. Now, the comprehension success rate for [Helical Throw] had dropped to 97%.
"It still has a 97% success rate?" Several people nearby, including the knowledgeable Su Xiaoxiao, were stunned.
"I remember Mad Dog had a 91% success rate when learning his second skill. That was already the highest in our batch... His first skill was only One-star." Qilin muttered.
"Little Bai Pu's hidden attribute: Comprehension, must be extraordinarily high!" Su Xiaoxiao asserted.
Bai Pu smiled slightly, held his breath, and opened the skill book with concentration.
A scene appeared before him, showing a majestic Awakened, slightly bending like a Great Bow full of power! He swung his arm, sending a Shield whistling through the air, drawing a forceful and graceful arc, snapping a distant tree in half!
That Shield continued its arc and flew back into the hand of the Awakened.
No rare event occurred, and Bai Pu successfully learned [Helical Throw].
For the third skill book, [Jump Slash], Bai Pu's comprehension success rate dropped to 85%. He also mastered Jump Slash, and having another Displacement Skill is very useful.
"Wow, the third skill book success rate is the same as my second one..." Black Tiger smacked his lips and said, "If you learn a fourth skill now, I predict your success rate will still be over 60%."
"I have no Honor Points left," Bai Pu said. In fact, he owed 300 points.
"When you reach Level 2, learning a fourth skill will have a higher comprehension success rate than when you learned it at Level 1," Su Xiaoxiao said.
"Exactly, an Awakened's comprehension success rate for skills is related to their Level and Profession Template. The stronger the Profession Template and higher the level, the higher the comprehension success rate for skills. Especially at Level 4 and Level 7, they are significant milestones for Mid-level and Advanced Awakened, providing a significant boost." Qilin explained this common knowledge.
Bai Pu stretched and yawned; once everything was done, a heavy drowsiness hit him.
The exhaustion from clearing three levels of the White Bone Cave and mastering three skills was overwhelming.
"Go rest quickly, get some sleep, otherwise your Spiritual Power won't recover," Su Xiaoxiao said with concern, "Your room is arranged at No. 237, here's your key."
Bai Pu yawned, "I still want to familiarize myself with the skills more..."
However, he could barely keep his eyes open.
...
After waking up, Bai Pu raised his watch.
The smart assistant Xiaobai reported: "Master, you've slept for 3 hours and 46 minutes. The current time is 5:27 in the afternoon. There is a package at your door, delivered by Ms. Su Xiaoxiao, along with a message."
Bai Pu sat up and felt energized, all exhaustion gone.
He opened the door to get the package, which contained a set of clothes.
Su Xiaoxiao's message played simultaneously: "Little Bai Pu, I bought you a set of clothes, a white hoodie, black trousers, and paired with white sneakers, which I think suits your vibe~"
Bai Pu discovered there were even unopened underwear and socks in the package.
He couldn't help but cover his face, wondering how Su Xiaoxiao knew he had just returned from the Spirit Realm and wasn't wearing any underwear...
It must be charisma at work. Bai Pu still wasn't accustomed to being treated like a star held in people's hands, his role had always been transparent for over a decade, and the mindset wasn't easy to change.
He gave an instruction to Xiaobai to scan how much the outfit cost, then transferred it to Su Xiaoxiao via his social account.
After lifting the Police Department restrictions, Bai Pu could comfortably use his personal account.
Though Bai Pu was broke, his personal account had little money, it was still all his savings, enough to pay for the outfit.
A strong hunger surged through him, and Bai Pu quickly dressed and opened the door.
"Su Xiaoxiao mentioned there's a paid restaurant at the base. Xiaobai! Help me find it!"
Ding ding, the watch projected a holographic screen showing a map of the Divine Strategy Army's Xicheng Branch Base.
A green line stretched from Bai Pu's current location, guiding through two turns straight to the restaurant.
Bai Pu silently praised the convenience and intelligence of personal information terminals; he couldn't afford such an expensive terminal before. He followed the navigation route and quickly reached the restaurant.
The Divine Strategy Army's base restaurant was a self-serve style, with a layout resembling a cafe; it had partitioned spaces with two-person and four-person tables in each partition.
There were few people in the restaurant now, sparsely seated in various corners.
In the southeast corner, Bai Pu spotted Li Ling and Su Xiaoxiao sitting across from each other in a booth.
Li Ling was communicating through a personal terminal, looking quite upset.
"Little Bai Pu! Over here, over here~" Su Xiaoxiao waved her hand.
Bai Pu carried a full plate of food, sat down next to Su Xiaoxiao, and began devouring the food rapidly. The energy consumption had been significant; it needed to be replenished quickly.
Su Xiaoxiao rested her chin in one hand, watching Bai Pu eat with great interest, and casually remarked, "Wow, Little Bai Pu, how do you eat so fast, yet look so good doing it?"