Chapter 6, Time to Upgrade.

After the battle had completely ended, a new interface popped up in front of Gu Hang.

Looking at the words "Glorious Victory," there was a strange look on his face.

Would there also be "Epic Triumphs," "Slight Advantage," "Bloody Close Victory," and the like?

He could not only see the overall spoils and losses but also the detailed situations of each branch of the troops.

And more importantly, the 19 ennoblement points he received after winning the battle.

The earnings from this battle were almost four times his regular monthly income!

Wow, so this is a war-monger system, huh? Is fighting the most profitable thing, and farming just a service for warfare?

He opened the system interface and saw that the "Hero" option was flashing slightly.

He clicked on it again, and it was his own name that was flashing.

[Hero: Gu Hang (Faction Leader), LV1, enough experience for an upgrade (10 ennoblement points)]

[Physique: 7, Spiritual: 14]

[Traits:]

[Psychic Caster: You possess the power of spiritual energy and can consume spiritual talent to release psychic spells.]

[Governor of Rage Owl Star: You are the legitimate ruler of Rage Owl Star, with a higher chance to legally unite the forces native to Rage Owl Star.]

This was his personal information.

Of the two traits, Governor of Rage Owl Star was due to his status; needless to say, the other trait, Psychic Caster, was his personal ability.

Gu Hang was a legal psychic.

The Gu Family he belonged to would, of course, train their core offspring. Education, politics, business, providing social resources—these are a given. Someone like Gu Hang who showed spiritual talent at a young age certainly wouldn't be overlooked either.

His talent in spiritual energy wasn't bad, and as could be seen from the system, the 14 points in that attribute showed that.

Gu Hang also had a pretty clear understanding of what attributes were about.

Strength, agility, neural response, resistance to damage... all abilities based on the body were categorized under physique. A strong body was essential for growing into an outstanding warrior.

In this era of supernatural strength, even with technological advancement, individual valor still had its place in warfare. The most elite warriors, with the most advanced equipment, slashing starships would be an exaggeration, but storming the front, capturing trenches, conquering strongholds... these were easy feats.

The green-skinned beast from before was a proof of that. If Gu Hang hadn't been there, even though the creature wouldn't have survived, who knew how many additional machinists and perhaps even marine troops' lives would have been lost to kill it.

Spiritual energy was even more mysterious, and in many ignorant worlds, it was known as witchcraft or magic.

This was a supernatural force from the dark side of the world. The ultra-light speed travel of the starships, many high-specification powerful equipment and weapons, all used this supernatural source. The empire had special energy worlds, where they collected spiritual energy and condensed it into crystals.

At the same time, the higher the spiritual technology content of cutting-edge devices, the more they required high-level psychics to operate them; powerful psychics themselves, without any equipment, could also demonstrate a strong combat capability with their psychic spells.

Earlier, when Gu Hang dealt with the green-skinned creature, he used a psychic spell. A "Soul Slash" temporarily severed one of its legs, making it a live target.

This was also the only psychic spell that Gu Hang had mastered, which was hard to learn. Spending decades poring over psychic spells wasn't something Gu Hang wanted to do.

However, the upgradeable option in the hero interface offered him a new path.

Why wouldn't he relish the prospect of direct upgrades?

Before this, the option to upgrade was nonexistent. He noticed the words "enough experience." He speculated that it came from winning a war.

It seemed that the upgrade option would only appear when there was enough experience.

As for the 10 points of grace needed to upgrade, he gritted his teeth and paid directly.

After receiving 19 points of grace this time, plus the previous 2 points, he had a total of 21 points, which was enough.

Suddenly, a new prompt appeared before him: "Please choose one among the following attributes to generate a new talent: Constitution, Spirituality, Command, Leadership, Unique."

What's this now?

Constitution and Spirituality need no further explanation, obviously related to personal strength.

The next two, Command and Leadership, seemed similar yet certainly had their differences. Gu Hang speculated that the former meant military command, enhancing the ability to lead troops in war; the latter referred to the leadership abilities of a ruler or governing official.

As for the last option 'Unique'... a special talent given based on each individual? As to what it specifically entailed, that was anyone's guess.

Gu Hang tried choosing 'Unique', but then received a new prompt: "Unique sequence upgrade path not unlocked, upgrade failed."

"No idea what the conditions for unlocking are..."

With no other option, he could only choose from the first four.

He chose Spiritual Talent.

He did not choose Constitution because it was clear that he had more talent on the path of a Psychic Caster than that of a warrior. Although bonuses to Command or Leadership were great, they were likely not very effective in the early stages when army size was limited and the realm small. In contrast, individual strength played a more significant role in small-scale conflicts.

What's more, if he were to become a powerful Psychic Master who could move mountains and fill seas, having tremendous personal strength might well surpass the effects of enhancements for the whole army or entire power.

After making his choice, Gu Hang immediately felt a warm surge from his chest flow through every part of his body, all the way to his extremities.

His complexion even turned rosy due to this, and fortunately, only the mechanical soldier-servants saw him. These modified beings that do not actively think wouldn't ask any questions.

"Whew..." Exhaling a warm breath, Gu Hang felt filled with strength. He could sense his muscles becoming more defined, his joints more flexible, his senses sharper, and his thoughts quicker...

A holistic enhancement!

But... didn't I choose Spiritual Talent? Why does it feel like my Constitution has improved?

Summoning the system again, he saw the datafied effects of the upgrade.

"Hero: Gu Hang (Faction Leader), LV2, insufficient experience to level up"

"Constitution: 8, Spirituality: 15"

"Traits: Psychic Caster, Rage Owl Star Governor"

"Talent:"

"Spiritual Energy Shield: When receiving damage, spiritual energy can be expended to offset the damage. Spirituality +1"

Constitution did indeed increase, which seemed to be a natural result of the level up enhancing basic attributes. His Constitution was somewhat low, so the increase was noticeable, whereas the rise in Spirituality was less obvious.

Yet, Spirituality was still able to grow by one point, thanks to the new talent "Spiritual Energy Shield".

An increase in Constitution was good, as being healthier and stronger was always beneficial. The boost to Spirituality allowed him to release more Psychic Spells and increased his spell power.

However, the most crucial part of the "Spiritual Energy Shield" talent was its actual effect.

With just a thought, he could feel a miraculous energy saturating his body, immersing every cell. If an external blow struck, the corresponding damage would be nullified by the spiritual energy, lasting until he chose to turn off this ability or ran out of Spiritual Energy.

The functionality of the 'Spiritual Energy Shield' was also excellent. It was a switchable passive effect, incurring no cost when active until damage was received, eradicating the worry of being unable to activate skills in time for ambushes. And in critical moments, temporarily turning it off to save some Spiritual Energy for a counterattack, even at the risk of injury, was an option.

Overall, the operation was very flexible.

This practical skill of exchanging mana for health was something Gu Hang was quite satisfied with.