Chapter 21: Real Five-Star Characters vs. Pseudo Five-Star Characters

Sigh…

How troublesome…

A professional with four attributes above 'B' would be considered a genius among geniuses in the Little Lantern Grass City where Zhang Yun lived.

A few years might be needed.

Only then would there be one or two lucky ones.

In Hai Lingzhi City and all the surrounding satellite cities, the total population had reached 10 million. Even so, the probability of a natural B-grade professional appearing was only one in a hundred thousand.

Some people might say that this was too scant.

Actually, it wasn't.

First of all, the concept should be discussed clearly. 

A natural B-grade professional and a 'pseudo' B-grade professional didn't belong on the same plane of existence. 

Take the card drawing game as an example.

A professional with a natural B-grade would start with such a grade in terms of Strength and Agility Growth Rate.

Whether it was D or A, it didn't matter what the Overall Evaluation was.

The attribute points they gained from leveling up were all based on the standard of B-grade or above.

It wouldn't be dependent on the D-grade standard.

It was equivalent to...

These were true legendary characters who were born with five stars.

As for the 'pseudo' B-grade professionals, they referred to those who had a growth rate of D-grade to C-grade in their four-dimensional attributes, but their Overall Evaluation had reached B-grade.

In the early stages, the 'pseudo' B-grade professionals would grow according to the Attribute Growth Rate of a D-grade or C-grade.

They were similar to ordinary professionals.

But with time, the faster they could obtain their attributes, there would also be some extra attribute points to make up for the losses in the early stage.

This was because the original D-grade and C-grade Attribute Growth Rates would constantly move toward B-grade under the influence of the Overall Evaluation. In the end, all of them would become B-grade, and the attribute values would need to be revised.

It was equivalent to...

These were 'pseudo' five-star characters that had broken through from three-star and four-star characters to five-star.

In that case, could a real five-star character be on the same level as a 'pseudo' five-star character that had broken through later in life?

Obviously not.

Therefore, Zhang Yun's judgment of the purple-robed mage's combat power, from high to low, could only be based on these few situations:

[Innate B+] 

[Pseudo B+ (Complete)] 

[Innate B] 

[Pseudo B+ (Growth Stage)] 

[Pseudo B (Complete)] 

[Fjolm (Growth Stage)]

And the higher the ranking, the higher the possibility.

Of course…

There were also a few special circumstances.

For instance: Certain professionals who specialized in a specific ability, such as [B+] Spirit Growth Rate, and all other [D] Glass Cannon Mages, would break with-single touch.

Perhaps, the purple-robed mage teleported over after his magic damage output was temporarily increased by 500% through a buff. He would then enter a long period of weakness after the effects wore off. 

Zhang Yun could not consider these for the time being.

Because...

If that was the case...

If Zhang Yun had the means to rely on his invincible Shadow Legion to toy with the other party…

"Forget it! There's no use thinking about these things. What's going to come will come... It's better to help the uprising army expand first. After we suppress the enemies at the border, I'll personally make a trip to the volcanic land. After all…except for the mage…the rest of the Five Dragon Generals of the Prongia Empire will probably try to assassinate Fjolm as well. We have to wipe them all out."

He made up his mind.

Zhang Yun continued with the simulation.

[After several months of recuperation, Fjolm recovered 90% of her strength, and after a long period of contact, she became more and more trusting of you.]

[Fjolm invited you to talk all night to explain her next battle plan...]

The development of the matter was similar to the previous week.

While secretly providing relief to the people at the border, Fjolm trained the combat power of the Silver Wolf Bandits. At the same time, she tried to contact the ambitious knights in the Royal Army at the border and persuade the bottom-level officers who had long been dissatisfied with the local tyrants to defect.

When Fjolm fully recovered her strength...

She and her forces would then declare an official uprising.

The difference was...

In the previous week, the location of their main stronghold had been discovered due to the spies who tailed Zhang Yun from the borders.

The Silver Wolf Bandits had to move to another base.

This time, Zhang Yun acted alone. No one had noticed or followed him, and thus, he had found the Silver Wolf Bandits' stronghold without attracting attention.

The main base remained intact.

No enemy had invaded.

[With your help, the uprising army led by Fjolm was unstoppable. The Royal Army was firmly suppressed at the border.]

[It would only take a few more months, at most, to completely liberate the entire border.]

[At this time, you suddenly looked for Fjolm and told her that you were headed north to the Prongia Empire.]

[Nevertheless, half of the Shadow Soldiers would remain, and they would listen to Fjolm's orders unconditionally.]

[Although Fjolm was reluctant to part with you, she didn't ask you to stay. Her understanding nature made her accept that you had more important things to do.]

[Thereafter, with the help of a guide that was familiar with the northern terrain found by Fjolm, you successfully arrived at the 'new' country built on top of a volcano.]

[At this time, you were surprised to find that the Flame Emperor of the Prongia Empire had implemented a policy of enlisting all the natives to become soldiers. Garukasa made every citizen living in the volcanic land pick up a weapon in their hands and constantly train their combat skills.]

[Simultaneously, in order to prevent this information from leaking outside the territory, all visitors would be invited to a tea party by the Imperial Army. They would not be allowed to leave the volcanic region or take even half a step. Otherwise, the outsiders would be killed without mercy.] 

[You realized that the Flame Emperor had long planned to conquer the entire continent. The Ice Kingdom was his first target of invasion.] 

[Choose an option.]

[A: Find a way to join the Flame Emperor.] 

[B: Confront the Imperial Army of the Prongia Empire.]

[C: Gather information from all over the place first.]

[D: Be invited to the tea party by the other party.]

[Special: Personally interfere.]

Tsk!

Wasn't it part of the plot to be invited to the tea party the moment he arrived?

There was no need to think about it. Option D, which was to be invited to have tea, could be directly abandoned. This was no different from waiting for death.

Aside from that…

Option B, to directly confront the Imperial Army of the Prongia Empire...

Zhang Yun definitely couldn't choose this.

Brother Shadow was still not qualified to challenge the other party directly.

If they started fighting, Zhang Yun would definitely be killed by the Five Dragon Generals who could teleport.

He didn't even need to do anything.

The Dragon Cavalry of the Prongia Empire patrolling the streets could annihilate Brother Shadow and his Shadow Legion. Their strength was infinitely better than the white-armored knights of the Royal Army at the border.

It seemed that the Imperial Army around the Flame Emperor had been specially sent out by him from the capital to deal with those 'foreigners' who had come from afar.

So…

The only remaining choices were Option A and Option C.

Under normal circumstances, Option C would be better. Gathering information before taking action was definitely much better than doing things blindly.

However, considering that the Flame Emperor's invasion attempt was already blatant… 

If Brother Shadow were to ask these knights questions, it would be easy for them to label him as a 'Spy of the Ice Kingdom', and Zhang Yun would be executed without leaving any survivors.

And so.

In the end, Zhang Yun chose option A.

He would first infiltrate the enemy's base and slowly gather information. Once he found a suitable method, he would come back and destroy these guys.

…