It would also make it easier for me to escape.

’With my current combat power, which can take on a Tier Five Nation Destruction Level Demon, I should be able to hold my own against, or even kill, an ordinary Level 5 Adventurer.’

As for facing a Level 6...

Lu Cang didn’t know what kind of combat power a Level 6 possessed, but anyone who reached that level was likely no ordinary person. Their strength couldn’t be compared to that of a common individual.

Lu Cang arrived at the library.

The library was open 24 hours a day.

He decided not to go back to sleep tonight. Rather than just waiting idly, he needed to find something to do.

The ground had stopped shaking. Lu Cang found a spot and took out some paper.

He listed out the decryption formula on the Fire-Written Paper.

[Decryption Scholar — Promotion Formula]

[Decryption Points from solved riddles — calculated based on the difficulty feedback of a single riddle, the knowledge involved, the Secret Level, the solving method... and the unit of time spent cracking a single riddle.]

[Then, based on the special riddle reference table, add the extra Decryption Points for special riddles.]

’Hmm... cracking Root Magic counts as a special riddle.’

’And the value is 10 points. That’s really high.’

The total points Lu Cang had accumulated from all other riddles he had solved was just over 8.

But cracking this one Root Magic had given him 10 points alone.

After calculating everything, his total Promotion Points were about 18.115.

[Promotion Condition: For each concurrent Profession, multiply by a different coefficient. Calculate the required Promotion Points based on the value of each Level in a single Profession, the time since changing to the Decryption Scholar Profession, and the time spent on decryption.]

’This formula is so complicated.’

The data was dense, and the tables he needed to cross-reference were also extremely complex.

’The promotion for a Decryption Scholar is a riddle in itself.’

’If I had been a mathematics major in my past life, I probably would have been a great fit for a Decryption Scholar, huh?’

’Too bad I wasn’t...’

However, thanks to his abundant Spirituality and the Decryption Scholar’s innate specialty in rapid calculation, the process wasn’t slow.

Soon, Lu Cang finished calculating his progress as a Decryption Scholar.

The existence of his other Professions did indeed raise the promotion requirements for the Decryption Scholar, and by a significant amount.

’Thankfully, the coefficient for the Mage Profession is relatively low.’

Cracking the Root Source as a Mage also provided a good number of Promotion Points.

’If I had changed to a Warrior... the promotion coefficient would have been terrifying.’

’And now... the required Promotion Points.’

’The standard requirement is 2 points.’

’A perfect promotion is 20 points.’

A tenfold difference.

’I’m still almost 2 Promotion Points short of a perfect promotion...’

’If I had only changed to Decryption Scholar...’

’The promotion requirement from Level 1 to 2 would have only been 0.8 points, and a perfect promotion would have only required 5 points.’

’Even with the Mage multiclass, cracking the Root Magic alone would have been enough for a perfect promotion to Level 2 Decryption Scholar.’

But unfortunately, Lu Cang was a Level 3 Mage, and adding the Death Priest Profession on top of that had increased the difficulty of his Decryption Scholar promotion considerably.

However, compared to other Professions that required innovation, comprehending Root Magic, or all sorts of other troublesome tasks...

...the Upgrade for a Decryption Scholar was much more straightforward.

You could directly calculate the conditions required for promotion.

And the points were also clearly calculated.

You just had to meet the requirements.

’I should probably crack a few more riddles... Learning new languages or decryption methods can also increase my Promotion Points.’

’Learning Intermediate Cryptography... increases Promotion Points by... 0.04.’

Lu Cang sighed softly.

He took a book out of his Storage Space and began to read.

’This is a good chance to test just how strong my learning ability is after my Spirituality increase.’

Lu Cang glanced at the time.

a.m.

He hadn’t slept for long, but for a Level 3 Mage, this short rest was enough.

As one’s Level increased, their Spirit would also grow stronger.

With his current Spirit, he could probably go five or six days without sleep with no major issues.

However, to maintain peak condition, Lu Cang still preferred to keep a normal sleep schedule.

Besides, he could also gain a great deal of inspiration in his dreams.

The insights gained from dreams were sometimes even greater than those from his waking state.

’First, Intermediate Cryptography...’

...

An hour passed, and Lu Cang closed the book.

’I think I’ve mastered Intermediate Cryptography.’

He still didn’t have a photographic memory, but he could clearly remember all the key points he read.

Knowledge that should have been obscure and difficult was now understood with a single glance, and he could immediately think of practical applications.

Even though he had only skimmed through it once from beginning to end...

...Lu Cang felt that he had already mastered the knowledge within.

He could also perfectly solve all the example problems listed in the book.

Then...

Lu Cang pulled out another book, *Password Analysis*.

These weren’t books he had borrowed from the library; Lu Cang had found them at a bookstore.

Having changed his Profession to Decryption Scholar, he felt he should get some practice in decryption.

With that in mind, Lu Cang had also bought quite a few related workbooks.

Read the problem, solve the problem.

Lines of text and symbols rapidly streaked across the Fire-Written Paper, then vanished in an instant.

Lu Cang was solving riddles at an astonishing speed, turning page after page...

When he reached the last page...

...Lu Cang snapped out of his trance.

He had just been in a state of complete, immersive flow.

Without realizing it, he had finished the entire workbook.

’There was nothing I couldn’t solve. It seems I really have understood it all completely.’

’So this is my learning efficiency now...’

He glanced at the time again.

’It has only been 15 minutes, yet I actually finished the 55-page *Introduction to Cryptography*.’

And his Decryption Scholar Skill had evolved into [Concentrated Breakthrough (Level: 204)].