The height adjustment droned on for a solid fourteen hours.
After eating, showering, and a good night's sleep, Han Lie's barefoot height reached 179.1 centimeters.
The increase wasn't especially large, but it was thrilling enough.
"Haha! Just another 0.9 cm, and this guy will completely leave the 'disabled' level behind!"
Calling it "disabled" was, of course, just a joke referencing a popular meme.
The average height for Huaxia's post-90s males wasn't really as exaggerated as 180 cm.
The Health Commission had compiled data. It showed that in the eight southern provinces, the average for post-90s males was under 170 cm. Around the Tropic of Cancer, it was 175 cm, and the overall average was about 172 cm.
The post-2000s generation was indeed more impressive. They averaged 175 cm, with those in the northern regions averaging 180 cm.
It was only 2013, so the first batch of post-2000s hadn't fully developed yet, meaning the pressure on the post-90s wasn't too great.
But after 2022, those kids would be online every day, boastfully asking, "If you're not even 175 cm, aren't you just disabled?"
The thought was enough to make Han Lie want to hit someone.
But the truth was, the kids really were taller than him, and by a good margin.
Height was Han Lie's second biggest regret, surpassed only by intelligence, but ranking above his looks, teeth, and nearsightedness.
Now, to have it corrected overnight, Han Lie was over the moon.
He bounced around his room for a while, gleefully touching the ceiling again and again, vividly embodying the saying that a man never truly outgrows his boyhood.
When Han Lie finally had his fill of admiring his new height, he began to enhance his knowledge and skills.
[Knowledge: Mathematics Level 2, English Level 3, Accounting Level 1, Finance Level 3, Law Level 1, Marketing Level 1, Literature Level 2...]
[Skills: Driving Level 1, Driving Techniques Level 3, Culinary Arts Level 2, Craftsmanship Level 4, Stock Trading Level 2, Writing Level 2...]
Knowledge and skills followed the same set of rules.
Level 1 represented a basic understanding, with a total experience value of 1,000 points.
Level 2 meant actually grasping the subject, with a total experience value of 10,000 points.
Level 3 signified proficient application, with a total experience value of 200,000 points.
Level 4 was professional level, requiring a terrifying 10 million experience points to master.
Han Lie's sole Level 4 skill, when selected, displayed: Craftsmanship (125/10,000,000).
Looking at all those zeroes, he immediately lost the urge to practice any further. Forget it, forget it! I quit!
Overall, improving knowledge and skills up to Level 3 was relatively easy.
It was said that to take a subject from complete ignorance to the level of "proficient application" (Level 3) only required 11,000 experience points.
Of course, this was preceded by the effort to generally grasp the related knowledge and convert it onto the panel.
Subjects like physics, chemistry, and biology that Han Lie had once learned no longer existed on his panel.
He'd returned it all to his teachers.
In contrast, the knowledge needed for work was still maintained at a certain level.
Well, a pretty ordinary level.
Han Lie wasn't an elite; he was just a laid-back, slacking worker.
Glancing over the total number of his skills and knowledge, the former slacker, now aspiring elite Han, waved his hand and directly upgraded them all to Level 3.
That's how a wealthy tycoon spends—trust me!
In an instant, Tycoon Lie was overwhelmed by an endless flood of knowledge.
He rolled his eyes back, swaying from side to side.
Advanced calculus, geometry, linear algebra...
Commercial law, civil law, criminal law...
Literary appreciation, appreciation of ancient poetry, the essentials of writing erotic literature...
So many things were crammed into his head at once. It felt full, swelling, and warm. He felt like he was on the verge of shock.
Han Lie lay groggy in the hotel for an entire day.
During this time, Chen Yanfei sent a message asking about his recovery status. Han Lie glanced at it before tossing it aside.
No mood, and no energy to reply. Damn it, that was rash! I shouldn't have crammed so much into my head at once...
At night, he forced himself to eat a large amount of food and sleep again. When he woke up the following morning, Han Lie finally felt back to normal.
When not actively thinking, he felt no different than before.
But as soon as he began to contemplate specific issues, he immediately noticed the difference.
Too perceptive.
The speed of thought, the perception of the problem itself, the approach to solving the problem...
Every aspect was significantly improved.
The improvement was so vast that Han Lie found it hard to believe.
However, thanks to the establishment of his entire knowledge system and the increase in his intelligence, he finally understood the reason:
Knowledge exists independently, but thinking does not.
When enough closely related knowledge has been mastered to establish a system, thinking begins to extend horizontally and root vertically, and abilities significantly improve.
A top-tier elite necessarily possesses an immense knowledge reserve.
Most of this knowledge isn't directly applicable in actual work, but it's an indispensable part of building one's intellectual framework.
Without it, you're finished.
Han Lie finally understood why he had such a miserable life in his previous existence.
He had enough general knowledge, read a lot, and understood many principles.
However, his truly useful professional knowledge was far from enough to form a coherent system.
What's the use of understanding so many principles if you become clueless as soon as a specific application scenario arises?
Consider graduates from prestigious universities. If your reaction time is a bit slower than theirs, your knowledge reserve a bit smaller, your learning ability a bit weaker, and your depth of understanding a bit shallower... If you are a little bit behind in every aspect, how big would the combined gap in ability be?
At first, Han Lie hadn't been convinced, but after truly experiencing certain things, he deeply realized that people are indeed different.
Back then, he thought it was due to innate differences in intelligence.
Now, Han Lie understood; it was actually the disparity created by knowledge systems and long-term learning habits.
Apart from special cases like Wei Shen, normal people aren't that much dumber than each other.
If one's abilities are lacking, it is mostly because one's foundation is insufficient.
So this is the significance of "Professional Knowledge"...
Han Lie suddenly grew excited.
Just give me enough time and experience, and I can become a top-tier elite too! So what if my school isn't prestigious? I'm a goddamn cheat!
After reveling in his smugness for a while, he checked "Skills" again and felt thrilled for quite some time.
Skills were relatively independent; Level 3 Driving had nothing to do with Level 3 Culinary Arts, but Level 3 Writing skills could indeed make use of Level 3 Driving Techniques...
COUGH, COUGH!
No need, no need, I haven't done that sort of thing for ages!
...
Looking at the panel filled with 69s, Han Lie felt extremely good.
Seeing the array of Level 3 skills made him even more delighted.
Finally, clicking on the continuously blinking "Messages" tab... Han Lie couldn't contain himself anymore.
He grinned from ear to ear, like a happy dog.
[You have met all upgrade requirements. The consumption system has been upgraded to Level 2.]
[Changes are as follows:]
[I. The 'Outstanding' attribute point-adding function has been unlocked. You can now use experience to add points at any time.]
[For attributes in the 70-79 point range, each point added requires 200,000 experience points.]
Wow! That's not cheap... One attribute point for 200,000. Maxing out a single attribute would cost 2 million. For four Basic Attributes plus four Secondary Attributes, I'd need a total of 16 million in consumption to max them all out!
But on closer thought, Han Lie felt the price wasn't actually expensive.
If those top-tier tycoons had the chance to add attribute points, they'd probably be thrilled to pay a hundred million per point. Hmm, some attributes are even worth more than a hundred million. Health for two hundred million a point, fair enough? Special for five hundred million a point, reasonable enough? How many men are as gifted as I am, starting at 75?! Anything less really isn't enough! Hehehehe...
[II. The highest level for 'Professional Knowledge' and 'Skills' has been opened to Level 4. The cap for Level 4 is 9,999,999 experience points.]
Looking at that string of nines, Han Lie's head began to ache.
It's pretty easy to upgrade a skill to enter Level 4; 200,000 experience is enough. But advancing from Level 4 to Level 5, the difficulty is simply despairing. Ten million experience points! Whoa! However, if Level 4 represents professional competence, then Level 5 would be expert level. That's a qualitative leap. Maxing out experience at Level 5, I guess, would make one a top master, like Terence Tao in mathematics or Chen-Ning Yang in physics. Mama mia, it's unthinkable, unthinkable...
[III. New function unlocked: "Consumption Gift".]
Huh, a new feature?!
Han Lie perked up immediately, eagerly looking at the detailed description of the function.