No matter who you were, no matter how powerful you were before, your level becomes Lv0 upon arriving in this world. This was true even for Tonghua.
This was because Traits were acquired based on a summary of your actions in this world. A level didn't just signify strength; it also represented whether you were fulfilling your designated role in this world.
Only when you fulfilled your role would the world grant you a "reward."
This was also why, despite the increasingly bizarre state of Chen Li's home world and the growing number of monsters and demons, it still maintained a basic level of stability.
"How does this personal panel know that I was the former Cloud Knight Sword Champion? And... I am only the former Sword Champion," Jingliu asked as she followed Chen Li out of the house.
"This personal panel is essentially an external manifestation of the soul. Appearances can be changed, but the information recorded within the soul cannot be altered, so its accuracy is quite high. As for why your profession is Cloud Knight Sword Champion, it's probably because the world only extracts your most representative identity," Chen Li said.
He had only seen two outsiders. How could he possibly summarize a consistent rule from that?
"At a rough estimate, Teacher Jingliu, if you want to raise your level, you'll either have to teach swordsmanship, lead troops into battle, or hunt down Abominations of Abundance," Chen Li suggested.
"Not interested. This body is merely a projection. What does it matter if its level increases?" Jingliu lightly tapped the personal panel with her index finger, and it shattered and vanished.
The panel wasn't damaged; that was just its dismissal animation.
"But if you were to acquire a Trait or change your Identity, the effect would be permanent," Chen Li reminded her.
"Are you certain this permanent effect would still be active in another world?" Jingliu glanced at Chen Li.
"Alright, no, I'm not certain."
Tonghua wanted to expand her Authority because her world and Chen Li's existed within the same overarching cosmology.
Similar to the relationship between Honkai Impact 3rd and Genshin Impact.
But Chen Li had never heard from his parents that his world had ever come into contact with a world so closely resembling an anime. Therefore, it was safe to assume the two worlds did not share the same cosmology.
However, the case of Kaguya Houraisan made Chen Li hesitant to be completely sure about this.
But maybe Kaguya was just a "crossover" character.
"If only this personal panel could work in other worlds... hmm, wait a second." Chen Li stopped in his tracks, turned to look at Jingliu walking beside him, and suddenly had a bold idea.
"Teacher Jingliu, what if I were to forge you into a Curio?"
"Do you wish to betray your master and your ancestors?"
With her Mara-Struck state completely forbidden, Jingliu's personality seemed to have changed slightly.
"Ahem, what I mean is, I could fix this projection and your personal panel into a type of Curio and give it to your main body."
"Then why don't you simply create a Curio that allows others to generate a personal panel? Using a person as a forging material is the path of heresy," Jingliu retorted casually.
"Ah, Teacher Jingliu, you're an absolute genius. I need to write this down," Chen Li said as he summoned The Guide to Forging Curios and began jotting something down in its memo section.
Jingliu couldn't help but look at him askance.
She suddenly felt a bit worried that this cheap disciple of hers would one day become a mad artificer.
A single dangerous idea from the artisan Yingxing and the Dragon Predecessor Dan Feng was able to cause such great harm to the Xianzhou. If a Curio Forger like Chen Li were to go mad...
"Chen Li, I hope you do not walk the path of world destruction," Jingliu said.
"Don't worry. My predecessor has already made that mistake over a hundred times. Facts have proven that path is a dead end, so I certainly won't make the same mistake," Chen Li replied.
"Ah, Teacher Jingliu, you've leveled up," Chen Li said as soon as he finished speaking, noticing The Guide to Forging Curios vibrate and send him a notification.
[Teaching] EXP +1
"It seems... I have."
"Do Cloud Knight Sword Champions normally teach their subordinates?" Chen Li asked curiously.
"Occasionally. It is one of the duties of the Sword Champion. But... is leveling up in this world really this simple?"
"It's only simple from Lv0 to Lv1. It requires just 0.01 experience points, a level you can reach by doing pretty much anything. From Lv1 to Lv2 requires 100 EXP, from Lv2 to Lv3 requires 200 EXP, from Lv3 to Lv4 requires 300 EXP... and so on," Chen Li explained.
Gaining experience in this world was relatively difficult.
And since there were no shortcuts to gaining EXP, the gap between levels didn't increase exponentially.
The reason his "Transmigrator" profession was Lv0 was because he had never truly transmigrated before.
"I see. And can a Trait be acquired just by reaching level one? For instance, this [Sincere Counsel] Trait," Jingliu continued to ask.
"It already generated a Trait? But that's just a common one. You can select it for now and replace it later if a better one appears. But be aware, under normal circumstances, you can only choose one Trait every 10 levels. When you reach level 11, the personal panel will prompt you to confirm your final Tier 1 Trait," Chen Li explained.
Every 10 levels was considered a "tier," which was the common shorthand.
From Tonghua's experience, Chen Li could see that when a powerful being started a new character, although they didn't get a discount on leveling up, they generated Traits exceptionally quickly, completely unlike the natives who often didn't generate one until level 8 or higher.
But this was limited to the very first Trait.
For example, within ten minutes of arriving in this world, Tonghua had generated the "Coax" Trait.
She had told him this later.
As for the target of her coaxing?
It was Chen Li himself, of course.
She didn't succeed, though.
At the time, Tonghua had wondered how such a troublesome little brat could exist.
If this world wanted to integrate those powerful beings into its own cosmology, it naturally had to offer some incentives first.
"Understood. However... this world of yours doesn't seem very chaotic. Why did you need me to accompany you to meet your friend?" Jingliu asked, a little puzzled.
She remembered that before they left the house, Chen Li had repeatedly warned her to be on alert for potential dangers from all directions.
"..." Chen Li walked calmly down the street, but when he glanced at the restraint bracelet on his left wrist, his heart was anything but calm. Instead, a strange sadness washed over him.
So this is how peacefully ordinary people live in this world?
Weren't they ever attacked by strange people suddenly bursting out of manholes?
Didn't they ever turn a corner and see a loose car wheel hurtling toward them?
Didn't they...
At the very least, every time Chen Li had tried to meet his gaming partner, he would always run into some incomprehensible incident that obstructed his journey.
But he had never found it strange, because that was just his normal life.
That's right. The gaming partner who called herself Kaguya Houraisan didn't live far from him, only a dozen or so kilometers away. She had even told him her address a long time ago.
But in two years, Chen Li had never once met her.
What's that? You say she should go find him? That shut-in would rather pay an extra 5 yuan delivery fee to order takeout online from a shop 50 meters away than take a single step outside her door.
"More than ten kilometers? Are you trying to kill me? No way!"
Those were the exact words of the shut-in who called herself Kaguya Houraisan.
"How about... we try taking a taxi," Chen Li suddenly suggested.
"Hm?" Jingliu didn't understand why his attitude had changed so quickly.
Just before they left, Chen Li had insisted they walk in order to be ready for any potential dangers.
Because, as he had claimed, that way, at the very least, they wouldn't have to pay for damages to the vehicle on top of the fare.