“It’s not like anyone is dying. What’s there to be afraid of?” Blue Maple replied very calmly. “Why don’t I feel particularly strong?” Blue Maple quickly asked before the old man could even say anything.

“Bullshit. When I gave you the trench coat, I Sealed the additional gains in your attributes,” the old man explained.

“Seal?” It was only at this moment that Blue Maple noticed his system notifications. Two of them were flashing.

Announcement: You’ve exceeded your fusion limit of Heavenly Fire, as well as some Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice. Your attributes have been greatly increased!

Announcement: Your attributes are too great. Your mentor, Sword Hermit Fang Chen, shall Seal some of it. For more information, you can ask your mentor, Fang Chen.

“Hehe, let’s not even talk about the excess fusion. Even if you didn’t exceed your limit, I’d still seal your additional attributes”

“Usually only those above 100 can gain a legendary item like the Heavenly Fire. Let’s not even harp on the fact that you’ve exceeded your fusion limit. Let’s turn our attention to the fact that you’ve obtained the Nine Heavens Mysterious Class, which can be classed in the same tier as the Heavenly Fire.

“Wait a minute. I almost went off topic because of you. Tell me what’s with the Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice.” The old man realized something, and started probing.

Blue Maple knew he couldn’t escape this topic, so he could only answer honestly. He recounted why he had swallowed the Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice and how the Heavenly Fire and the Mysterious Ice fought in his gut. He also mentioned how everything settled down, helping him complete the fusion. In fact, Blue Maple knew that he had done something wrong, which was why he tried to divert the topic earlier...

The old man went into deep thought after Blue Maple finished speaking.

After a brief moment, he said, “At the very start, I was most afraid that the Heavenly Fire and Mysterious Ice would clash in your body. However, it seems the Mysterious Ice has gone into hibernation. There shouldn’t be much problem for the moment.

“You’ve really experienced a blessing in disguise. The Mysterious Ice is aware of the Heavenly Fire. It must have thought that you were going to fuse it because you swallowed it. That’s why it clashed with the Heavenly Fire and directly went to the same spot to undergo the fusion. The Heavenly Fire quickly gathered to challenge the Mysterious Ice after reckoning that the Mysterious Ice was a little too audacious, challenging for territory even though it was present in such small amounts.

“Eventually, the Mysterious Ice listened to you because of its low spiritual intelligence, although it’s still very spiritual in nature. Right now, it’s indeed not comparable to the Heavenly Fire, so it has to lay low, but it has indeed fused with you. However, it’s being suppressed by the Heavenly Fire. It can only supplement your attributes, but it can’t be used like the Heavenly Fire.

“You won’t gain any ice-type attributes. Only your strength, defense, and other basic attributes will be supplemented. However, you’ve truly affected the balance of the game due to your excess fusion of Heavenly Fire. This is why the system wants me to seal the additional attributes that you’ve gained. Originally, I thought that I would only have to Seal the additional attributes from the excess Heavenly Fire. I didn’t expect you to possess the Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice too! That was why I was confused about why I had to Seal so much more...”

Blue Maple also started to understand why the Seal was needed after this explanation.

“It’s going to be Sealed throughout?” Although Blue Maple understood the rationale, he didn’t believe that it had to be Sealed indefinitely.

“Hmph, the system aka the mastermind of the game mentioned that the Seal will be gone after your fifth Class Advancement. The stronger and weaker players will be completely distinguished by that time. No one will be bothered by you, no matter how strong you are then, because everything will be earned.”

“However, it’s not appropriate for you to be so strong. It’ll affect the experiences of other players. That’s why the game has to be fair to other players.” The old man emphasized the word ‘fair’ as he answered Blue Maple’s question.

“Uh, so I can’t use it at all before my fifth Class advancement?” Blue Maple asked. What was the point of it if he had it and couldn’t use it?

“That’s not entirely true. The system permits you to three opportunities to use your attributes every time you experience an advancement. However, hehe, I’m not going to follow the system. You can use it anytime you want.”

“I designed three Seals for you. Right now, you only possess additional attributes that every Second Class advancement player has. This means that the additional attributes that you gained from being in my Class have been Sealed too!

“The first Seal is to restrict the additional attributes from your switch in Class. The second Seal works on your Heavenly Fire and the third Seal is used on the additional attributes from your Heavenly Fire. I mean, additional attributes from your Heavenly Fire and Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice.”

“How much more excess Heavenly Fire did you actually absorb? It’s all because of the Mysterious Ice. It should be a lot more. It’s actually a wonder that you didn’t explode!

“But you should have been able to absorb more, just that I didn’t allow you to reach your limit, just in case. There’s also some Heavenly Fire watching over the Mysterious Ice. That’s why you’re still fine. Hmm, that should be the case.” The old man looked like he had figured everything out.

“However, you’ll need to deal with the Mysterious Ice sooner or later. There are two propositions for you to choose from now.

“First, you can absorb more Heavenly Fire the next time, before forcing the Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice out. That shouldn’t be much of a problem. After all, both of them might fight at any time in your body. It’s like a time bomb stuck in your body.”

“Two, you can find more Nine Heavens Mysterious Ice or something that exudes extremely cold energy to strengthen the Mysterious Ice in your body. You don’t have to pursue a balance or seek to suppress the Heavenly Fire. You just need to ensure that the Mysterious Ice won’t get expelled or dissipated. Then, you find something that balances Yin and Yang so that both ice and fire can co-exist in your body.

“The second situation is more troublesome, because you need to find two different items. Neither is easy to find. If you can find something like the Mysterious Ice, but nothing to make ice and fire compatible, both parties will still fight it out. If you find something to make ice and fire compatible, but you’re unable to strengthen your Mysterious Ice, it won’t be a co-existence of ice and fire, it will be a domination. That won’t be good.”

The old man looked at Blue Maple and waited for his response after he finished speaking.

“Do I still need to choose?” Blue Maple was a little doubtful as he looked at the old man.

“Haha, I knew you would choose the second proposition. No wonder you are my disciple! Ambitious!” the old man was excited as he exclaimed.

“No, I choose the first.”

“Ugh…” The old man’s expression stiffened.

“What? Clearly you’ll become much stronger with the second choice. You might even become better than me. You should know that I’m the end product. I can’t absorb more cold energy. Don’t you want to become stronger?!” The old man was astonished.

“Troublesome,” Blue Maple answered indifferently.

“That’s…that’s why you don’t want to become stronger?” The old man was astonished, his jaw dropped.

“If not?” Blue Maple was as indifferent as ever. What has being strong got to do with me? I’m not even here to play the game. I’m here to pass my time. I only took up the Hidden Class because I thought it was more interesting. Do I really have to find rare items? I’m better off sleeping or reading a book.

“Fuck, you… you are here to… you are going to be the death of me! You don’t want to become stronger even with such an opportunity. What are you thinking? If I was you, this would be something I would be wishing for!” The old man seemed to be lost for words because of his anger.

“What’s the point of being strong?” Blue Maple asked in return. There seemed to be something strange about the tone he was speaking with.

“This…” The old man wanted to answer that a strong person commanded respect, possessed many things, could protect many things and many other benefits. However, to Blue Maple, all these…

Did Blue Maple have any needs? No.

Was there anything for Blue Maple to protect? No.

Did Blue Maple have anything? No, he had nothing…

Perhaps Blue Maple wanted something interesting to brighten up his life...

However, one didn’t need to be strong to discover interesting things in this gaming world. There were some things that perhaps only a weaker person could discover and experience. Wasn’t that the case?

The old man thought for a moment and realized that there was probably only one thing that Blue Maple cared about. “If you stand taller, you can see further. That gives you more room to discover interesting things.”

“Stand tall? It’ll be cold…” Blue Maple muttered. There was a solemn note of loneliness in his tone.

The old man sensed in Blue Maple’s tone. He opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say. After pondering for some time, he added, “This is the gaming world. It’s different from the outside world, isn’t it? Just treat it as if you are starting a new life. Are you just going to waste your time just like that?

“If you are strong, you can live your life with a different color in the gaming world.

“If you are weak, you can only trudge along with life. Are you just going to drink tea and go fishing to live out your ordinary life? You can still do all that when you are strong. But if you are weak, you cannot do anything strong.” The old man deviated from his normal childish demeanor and counseled Blue Maple.

“Color…” Blue Maple opened his mouth and only let out a breath. He was still mumbling to himself.

“What?” The old man couldn’t hear what Blue Maple was saying. Blue Maple didn’t utter a sound at all.

“I’m already strong enough. If I come across what you mentioned, I’ll consider it.” Blue Maple seemed to finally listen. The old man heaved a sigh of relief.

Oo, fortunately. If this rascal just wants to pass time, I’ll be doing everything for nothing. Given his talents, we can’t waste this! I’m still counting on him to shine, The old man heaved a sigh of relief as he thought to himself.

“Hmph! If you can’t find them, I’ll give you a helping hand. You’re a man. How can you not be strong? See, if you aren’t strong, that little doll will run away with someone else.” Seeing that Blue Maple didn’t find fault with his words, the old man also regained his normal slightly crazy demeanor.

“She was just there.” Blue Maple knew that the old man was talking about Blue Snow. It was none of his business if she left with someone else.

“You’re a big man. What’s there to be shy about? Let’s continue talking about the Seal. I was so distracted.”

No one’s shy!, Blue Maple thought.

“You can remove the Seal by yourself. However, every layer of Seal takes time to remove. Don’t bother with them in a high-intensity fight. Although there are Seals, the abilities that you got from the Heavenly Fire can be used. There are also some abilities that you should find out for yourself.

“Let’s put it this way. You can transform your Heavenly Fire in any way you want, but it’ll just be of a lower class. For example, it can be a defensive tool or two swords. The defensive tool won’t clash with any defensive tool that you fused into your body. However, if the Heavenly Fire is too far from your body, your additional attributes will be weaker. Also, its defensive attributes won’t be too high. At most, you should use it for fun or in a special circumstance.

“You can take the Heavenly Fire out of your body and use it as a hidden weapon. You can control it freely, as long as it’s not too far from your body. It’s just slightly weaker offensively. However, I think you’ll enjoy it.” Blue Maple was indeed very fond of things like that.

“Also, I Sealed your right hand.

“Don’t be confused. I know for a fact that there isn’t any difference between your hands. They are both well-trained. However, the system doesn’t recognize this. That’s why your left-hand attacks are still weaker than your right-hand attacks. After some time, I’ll remove the Seal and that’ll cease to exist, understand?”