Chapter 2: Knowledge is Power
The moment Lixiang started reading, he forgot everything around him. The background and history of this New Era read like a fantasy novel—novel and unimaginable—while those legendary heroes seemed as distant and unreachable as stars in the sky.
"Ding! Knowledge of the New Era +1!"
"Ding! Knowledge of the New Era +1!"
"Ding! Knowledge of the New Era +1!"
"Ding! Knowledge of the true meaning of Light +100!"
The rows of system prompts made no annoying sounds and failed to distract Lixiang from his absorption. He did not even notice them. At some point, a priest in red robes had quietly appeared in the room.
The priest looked at Lixiang sitting there, his eyes flashing with comfort and praise.
"Ding! Light Faction favorability +10!"
Lixiang stretched, finally finishing the two books. Feeling deeply satisfied, he looked up and saw the priest standing beside him. He hurriedly stood up, looking a bit awkward. "I'm sorry, Father, I came in without your permission."
"It's alright, it's alright. Since you are so keen on reading, I can grant you permission. You can come over and read whenever you like," the priest said with a smile.
The two of them talked as harmoniously as a teacher and student. In particular, the questions Lixiang asked were points he hadn't fully understood while reading, which made Draenei take an even greater liking to him, seeing that Lixiang had genuinely studied the texts.
Meanwhile, some passing players noticed that the door, which was usually left open, was closed for some reason. No matter how hard they pushed, they couldn't get it to budge.
With the books available, Lixiang began arriving at the library every day with the strict punctuality of attending a class. Sometimes Draenei would also come here to read, and the old man and the young man would occasionally exchange a few words, both benefiting immensely. Lixiang possessed a formidable capacity for learning; in just a few short days, he had already read a third of the books in the library.
"Heartless Parting, your piety toward the Light has shown me your future. Would you be willing to become my student?" Draenei asked.
"You were already my teacher in my heart; I have always been your student," Heartless Parting replied with a smile. A teacher's role was to impart the Dao, teach professional knowledge, and resolve doubts!
Draenei felt instantly comforted. He could tell that Lixiang respected him from the bottom of his heart, unlike that crowd outside who hovered around him demanding this or that, utterly insatiable. He couldn't even fathom how such people had managed to become Light Apprentices.
"Since you are my student, as your teacher I should give you a welcome gift. Take this *Path of Light*; this was given to me by my own teacher."
Lixiang curiously took *Path of Light*. The book was bound in white sheepskin that had turned somewhat dark, and the pages were slightly yellowed. Strangely, however, the cover seemed coated with a layer of fluorescent powder that emitted a faint, gentle glow.
The moment he took it in his hands, information regarding the book instantly transmitted into his mind:
"*Path of Light*: Book, special item, Draenei's cherished possession. Equipping it increases Intelligence by 10 points and reduces Light-type spell casting time by one percent."
"Special attribute: Daily Knowledge +10 points!"
Lixiang said respectfully, "Thank you, Teacher."
Seeing that Lixiang showed no excessive excitement or agitation, but instead calmly put the book away first before thanking him, Draenei grew even more pleased.
Outside, the number of players remained high, but everyone was gradually figuring out that every skill had level requirements, and each additional level only awarded 5 attribute points and 1 skill point, making the Priest the slowest-leveling class of all.
The effects of skills learned from different NPCs varied, and naturally, the learning costs varied as well.
Lixiang knew nothing of this. Right now, all he was doing was reading *Path of Light*, which felt like an introductory textbook introducing the Holy See of Light.
"Teacher, the spell you just taught me was Healing Art instead of Healing Art? Is there a difference?" Having reached Level One, Lixiang was eligible to learn a basic skill. He had originally planned to go wait in line to learn Healing Art, but when Draenei found out, he had burst into laughter and directly taught him Healing Art instead.
At that moment, Draenei radiated an incomparable pride and power, like an emperor. The presence he exuded gave the impression that he held everything firmly in his grasp.
"Heartless Parting, you must remember that you are a student of me, the Cardinal Draenei. Naturally, you must be different from those people," Draenei said proudly, his voice softening a moment later. "That Healing Art simply restores a target's basic health by 15 points, and even when mastered to Great Perfection, it only increases a target's health by at most 90 percent."
"That kind of Healing Art is for those low-ranking clerics down there to learn."
"Then what about Healing Art?" Lixiang asked.
"Healing Art restores health to the target while simultaneously restoring mana, and at the same rank, the amount restored is double that of Healing Art."
*So Healing Art is basically an enhanced version of Healing Art,* Lixiang thought with an inner smile. During this period, although he hadn't run outside to do so-called level grinding, his Knowledge had reached three hundred, and his Light Faction standing had reached Level Two: Respected (Intimate, Respected, Revered, Admired, Illustrious, Worshiped, Exalted, Legendary...).
After finishing the explanation, Lixiang went back to reading his book. Draenei thought for a moment and finally said, "Heartless Parting, Elder Sister Hawk in the east of the city is ill. You should go take a look."
"Me? Teacher, it's useless even if I go," Lixiang asked in surprise.
"Hn, didn't I just pass Healing Art on to you? Consider this a chance to go practice." It was rare for Draenei to offer an explanation; in the past, that would have been completely out of the question. Back then, if he stood in the main hall and casually issued a quest, people would have fought tooth and nail for it. He would assign it and never offer explanations. But this was his student Lixiang.
Lixiang immediately turned solemn, looked at his teacher, and said earnestly, "Teacher, you often tell me that the Light is sacred and solemn. Elder Sister Hawk is sick, so she needs someone capable of medical treatment, someone who knows medicine. Even if no Priest can be found, you cannot send me—an apprentice who has never once used Healing Art—to tend to her. That is a lack of respect for life and a desecration of the sacred profession of the Light." Once Lixiang's scholar-like stubbornness flared up, truly no one could stop him.
Draenei, a Cardinal no less, was left speechless and breaking out in a cold sweat. How had a task as simple as simple tasks could be escalated to such a height? He wanted to refute it, but what his student said was undeniably correct; yet if he didn't refute it, was he supposed to admit *he* was wrong?
"Forget it. Just keep reading your books."
"The Light called the day Day, and the darkness it called Night. There was evening and there was morning, the first day. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, and on its circuits the wind returns."
This was a psalm recorded within *Path of Light*. The entire book described the might and benevolence of the God of Light, filled with a yearning for the Light. It also strongly expressed people's fear and resentment toward Dark Creatures...
Light pitted against darkness, warriors of Light fighting Dark Creatures—this was a portrayal of past and present reality. Back then, people thought only of how to defeat evil and defend their homeland.
After finishing *Path of Light*, Lixiang could intensely feel the sentiment of the people of that era—the determination to defeat evil even if it meant sacrificing themselves.
Dark Creatures running rampant, magical beasts roaming and devouring people, foreign races invading... How painful it must have been for the people of that time.
Lixiang felt a deep empathy. For a moment, he was immersed in the feeling of being ready to sacrifice oneself for country and home.
"Ding! Heartless Parting has perceived the true meaning of the Path of Light. Intelligence +10!"
"Heartless Parting, you are now a pious Light Apprentice as well. Merely studying is not enough; you must also practice. Recently, magical beasts have been running rampant outside, and many residents have been injured. Go check on them," Draenei said with a smile.
Looking at Draenei's smiling face, Lixiang was somewhat speechless. *Can't you just let me read in peace for a while?* "Alright, Teacher, I'm going right now."
Perhaps sensing Lixiang's helplessness, Draenei seemed to feel that disturbing his student's reading was deeply impolite. He gave a dry cough and said, "Since this is your first time heading out, take this ring with you."
"*Ring of Light*: Blue equipment, increases Intelligence by 10 points, maximum Mana pool increased by 50, Light-type spell casting speed increased by 0.3!"
"Thank you, Teacher." Lixiang took the ring and walked outside, entirely unaware that countless people were suddenly thrown into an uproar because a piece of blue equipment had appeared on the equipment rankings.
Equipment in this game was graded into White, Green, Blue, Purple, Gold... Up until now, only green equipment had appeared, as the monsters available to fight were merely chickens, cats, and the like, incapable of dropping anything particularly good.
The highest level on the leaderboard was only Level Thirteen. Dying once meant losing ten levels, which restricted most hot-headed and impulsive players, instantly wiping many characters who had once stood high and mighty back below Level Five.
As Lixiang just stepped out of the library doors, he saw a female player wearing a white novice robe standing at the entrance, staring at him with wide, astonished eyes.
"You... you..."
"Is there something you need?" Lixiang turned and checked his surroundings, confirming that he was the only one there.
The girl's face flushed slightly, feeling a bit embarrassed by her earlier reaction. She blinked her large eyes a few times and asked, "How did you manage to come out of there? I've been here many times and I've never seen anyone able to go inside."
"Oh, this is the reading room. If you can't get in, you can look for Cardinal Draenei here; he's actually quite easy to talk to," Lixiang said, and walked away.
Behind him, the girl muttered to herself, "Cardinal Draenei is easy to talk to? Who doesn't know his face is as cold as a coffin lid? Forget about quests, anyone who even gets close gets directly blasted away." She looked up, but Lixiang was already far away. "Hey~~!"
"Why is this person like that? So impolite." The girl thought for a moment, touched her own face, and dragged her staff over to the library doors. She raised a foot and gave the door a kick. "What kind of crappy library won't even let people in?"
"Is there something you need?" Draenei's cold, majestic voice rang in her ear, and the tightly shut doors finally swung open.