Chapter 1: The Seed of Class

Spiraling upward—
As if crossing some boundary.

*

Zhou Yan’s gaze cleared.

Before him was the phone screen; at this moment, the time on the screen had just begun to move.

He had returned to the apartment where he had been before his journey.

“Back.”

Zhou Yan dismissed the phone screen. The countdown timer was started at the exact second before he began his journey. This confirmed once again that during his traversal of the Calamity Realm, time in the “main world” was indeed suspended.

Or, to be more precise, the passage of time was less than 0.1 seconds.

Putting the phone away, Zhou Yan noticed a few messages flashing across the screen.

[Fourth “Calamity Realm Journey” completed.]
[Next Calamity Realm Journey: 15 days later.]

“The interval has extended by another five days. By then, this exchange tournament should be over.”

Zhou Yan withdrew his gaze and quickly brought up his status panel.

Most of the details had already been glanced over when he upgraded his life equipment to one star, so he merely checked his attributes to confirm how much the attribute boost was under the unequipped state after the upgrade to one star.

[Attributes: Constitution 18 (56), Agility 14 (51), Spirit 20 (56)]

Impressive!

Zhou Yan’s eyes lit up. His base attributes were only about twice that of an average person, but under the reinforcement granted by the one-star life equipment, they had surged to five times normal levels, with his Spirit attribute surpassing ten times that of a normal person.

With such formidable strength, he could easily overwhelm the so-called geniuses from other sword schools.

It was clear that his growth rate was astonishingly rapid; every Calamity Realm journey caused his power to undergo earth-shattering changes.

And this was still his “weakest” state.

If he wore the full life equipment set, his Constitution and Agility would both reach a full ten times that of an ordinary person.

Moreover, after reaching one star, the life equipment had gained a “mimicry” function, so he no longer needed to worry about its appearance being too conspicuous and drawing unwanted attention.

Realizing this, Zhou Yan suddenly understood—he could now wear his life equipment openly in reality!

Without hesitation, he dove under the blanket—aiming to prevent any unknown surveillance in this unfamiliar apartment.

Immediately, he stripped off all his clothes beneath the blanket and summoned the life equipment.

The black, form-fitting armor materialized instantly on his body.

[Mimicry]

With a slight shift of thought, he felt the armor, originally in its full suit form, rapidly transform, becoming a simple pair of plain, close-fitting boxer shorts in an instant.

Incredible! It could do that much!

Zhou Yan buried his head in the blanket, his eyes shining as he reached out to tug at the black shorts his life equipment had become. The familiar ultra-thin material, somewhere between leather and rubber, perfectly hugged his body.

Because it was skin-tight, it created a slight bulge.

No matter—once he put on pants over it, no one would notice a thing.

However, Zhou Yan observed the life equipment in this mimicry form and silently pondered: ‘It seems that after using the mimicry function to change the material, the life equipment’s inherent additional defense is lost.’

He shook his head gently and quickly accepted the fact: ‘There are always trade-offs. Anyway, if I ever encounter real danger, I’ll enter fusion form directly and won’t need to fight in the original form of the life equipment. As long as I can enjoy the full attribute bonus in my normal state, that’s enough.’

With this in mind, he looked once more at his attributes.

[Attributes: Constitution 18 (114), Agility 14 (107), Spirit 20 (109)]

There was nothing left to fear.

Zhou Yan’s eyes gleamed. At this level of power, he probably surpassed even Luo Xuan’s strength.

He just didn’t know if it was true, as online rumors claimed, that once a Mechanist wielded their Divine Machine, their power would increase tenfold or more.

If the rumors about the “military-grade Divine Machine” were true, then...

Zhou Yan shook his head and slowly reined in his wandering thoughts.

He disliked making conjectures or fantasies based on too many “ifs.”

Better to focus on something concrete.

He clearly remembered that upon settling the journey, he had received “two” rewards, one of which was something he hadn’t seen before.

So Zhou Yan opened his panel again and looked at his inventory.

Besides his original items, there were two new additions.

The Seed of the Profession and the Secret Tome of the Path!

Eagerly, he examined the unfamiliar item first.

[Seed of the Profession: Upon use, allows you to select a low-level profession that meets your requirements, imbuing your life equipment with the corresponding profession’s traits and gaining stronger specialized growth in subsequent advancements.]

“Profession... is this like a class system?”

Zhou Yan guessed. He had long been curious about the “Profession” category in his life equipment’s attributes.

Now, with this item finally appearing, he didn’t hesitate and chose to use it immediately.

No matter what it was, a reward granted by a powerful being of Order for journey settlement had to be something exceptional—the sooner he used it, the sooner he would enjoy its benefits!

The moment he confirmed the item’s use,

Zhou Yan’s consciousness blurred as he entered a strange space.

[Welcome to—The Hall of Professions]

Regaining his senses, he found himself standing inside an ancient, dilapidated hall.

Before him rose several broken humanoid stone statues.

His gaze swept over the statues, and just as when he had witnessed those supreme beings upon using the Secret Tome of the Path, he instantly understood what each statue represented.

The swordsman, expression carefree, full of youthful vigor.

The spearman, eyes sharp, wild and domineering.

The armored warrior, steady and calm, immovable as a mountain.

The archer, agile and swift, confident and proud.

The spellcaster, eyes deep and penetrating, reaching into the soul.

The masked figure, mysterious and unpredictable, harboring hidden danger.

Six statues in total, each signifying a “profession,” with clear, distinct directions.

“Swordsman, spearman, armored, archer, mage, assassin?”

“If there were also a cavalry and berserker class, it’d feel like some Earth anime about a Holy Grail War,” Zhou Yan couldn’t help but comment, feeling the setting a bit outdated.

Still, it didn’t affect his choice.

With the talent of “Super Fusion,” he was unlikely to be weak in any area, especially in offensive power and destructive capability.

Given that, survival and endurance were paramount.

Among these six professions, the one that best suited his needs was the armored warrior.

[Do you choose the profession—Armored?]
[Yes]

The next moment, a strange light flowed from the statue clad in heavy armor, instantly enveloping Zhou Yan’s entire body.

Within this glow, his life equipment first reverted from the “boxer shorts” form to basic black light armor, then underwent further transformation.

The seemingly modern black light armor rapidly changed color, shifting from matte black to a gleaming silver with gold accents.

Next, the material transformed from something like “carbon fiber panels” to one resembling metal more closely.

Then, under the swirling light, the metal life equipment began to change shape.

Finally, it became a suit of metallic light armor blending modern and medieval styles.

Zhou Yan couldn’t help but lower his head, gently stroking and tapping the armor, feeling its hardness, and rotating his body through various movements to test its flexibility.

The conclusion: the life equipment, now empowered by the “profession,” was significantly harder. Though heavier, it retained full mobility without any loss!

His face lit up with joy. He was about to conduct more tests.

Unexpectedly, in the next instant, the old hall quietly shattered.

All the statues turned to dust.

Zhou Yan’s pupils dilated as he came to and found himself still under the blanket.

The life equipment he had evolved in the shrine remained mimicked as a pair of boxer shorts.

A series of information prompts flashed before his eyes.

[You have chosen the profession “Armored.” Your life equipment has gained the corresponding traits of this profession.]
[Trait 1—Solid Armor: The hardness of the life equipment’s material has increased by one grade.]
[Trait 2—Enhanced Block: When actively defending, depending on timing and precision, damage resistance can increase by up to 50%.]
[Note: As the life equipment improves, the profession strengthens existing traits and activates new ones.]

Incredible!

And the direction of this enhancement was exactly what he desired!

Zhou Yan’s eyes gleamed with delight.

With his powerful Super Fusion form, offensive strength and destructive power were no problem.

The previously crucial endurance issue had been resolved through the Path of Abundance’s “Continuity,” along with several key circuits.

The greatest remaining problem was resistance to damage.

He had realized this shortcoming when fighting locust men in the world plagued by the insect disaster.

Though his overall attributes were high, against enemies with powerful burst capabilities, he could still suffer unexpected heavy injuries.

For example, he had been reluctant to take the final demon’s attack in the Hundred Demons World with his bare body.

Even though the demon’s Constitution was later confirmed to be inferior to his, the damage from an attack wasn’t always calculated solely on “Constitution”; it often combined factors like “mass” and even supernatural “demonic power.”

That demon’s enormous size, immense mass, and unknown depth of “demonic power” meant that if Zhou Yan were hit solidly, he’d likely suffer greatly.

Although he could recover from injuries through circuits like “Absorb,” “Harvest,” and “Immortal,”

it was always better to avoid injury than to get hurt and then find a way to heal.

Now, with the “Armored” profession traits, this flaw was effectively mitigated.

Zhou Yan was very satisfied with his profession choice.

Next, he turned his attention to the other reward.

The long-awaited—Secret Tome of the Path!

***