Chapter 241: You

"Big shot, how did you pull that off?"

Though deeply resentful inside, the pink Mao Mao Rabbit couldn't help asking after watching the Scientific Madman try just a few times and already find the key.

"Explaining it clearly is troublesome—basically, when you cast a skill, you feel something flowing out of you. Try to replicate that sensation, or just treat this iron bar like a Talisman."

The Scientific Madman spoke his insights aloud while still pondering how to pass the trial; he had learned the technique of drawing forth magical energy from his body after obtaining the Talisman, but the current trial was more than just drawing it out—even without understanding cultivation logic, he could grasp the underlying meaning of this training.

The difficulty lay in, without any external aid, using only willpower to evenly split something inherently foreign to oneself into two parts and output them at a steady rate.

……

"You're counting on these noobs? You'll be waiting until the Year of the Monkey or the Month of the Horse." In a side room behind the main hall of the Four Qi Monastery, Liu Yunxi stood behind Feng Xue, massaging his shoulders while gazing over his shoulder at the monitor screen—her expression turned dismissive.

"You can't even control your own cultivated energy—do you really expect these soul-body mismatched fools to master it quickly?"

"No, it's precisely because they're soul-body mismatched that they can learn fast." Feng Xue slumped limply in his chair, basking in Su'e Huiyeji's Longevity Divine Power while enjoying Liu Yunxi's ministrations, his tone growing lazy:

"These players 'naturally' output magical energy and cast spells—that's already been confirmed by the first-gen Talisman. Since this is genuine magical energy, not just data representation, if they can aim and hit precisely, it proves they inherently possess control—or some kind of correction mechanism. Once they learn to use this mechanism, I'm certain they'll pick it up quickly."

Feng Xue's player calibration wasn't just for exhaustively listing skills—technically, the multiple branches of Five Element Lightning were already sufficient for him; his true goal was, of course, to cultivate sufficiently powerful "Heroes."

He planned to return later and rescue that bitch, but the Ocean World's strength far exceeded even the Giant He Xing—without enough Devotion to burn, summoning King Ghidorah might not even defeat Ma Wu's core form.

His plan to transform his divine soul into a Yin Spirit also hit a bottleneck; he lacked sufficient technical reserves and suitable test subjects. He could try letting Liu Yunxi possess Su'e Huiyeji, but first, Huiyeji was his guarantee for extended lifespan, and second, he was reluctant to use Liu Yunxi as an experiment.

If anything went wrong, he could always raise another Huiyeji—but Liu Yunxi was irreplaceable!

Fortunately, Feng Xue still had Old Li as backup—he'd return to the Folklore World and ask Old Li for help researching this; with that man's lofty, already-achieved (though not really) perspective, he might solve this problem.

But before returning, one issue couldn't be ignored—

The Folklore World wasn't suitable for cultivation.

It wasn't about lack of spiritual energy or resources—it was the absence of sparring partners.

As the saying goes: Law, Wealth, Companion, Land—the companion is one form of Dao partner, a vital aid to spur cultivation and a mirror to reflect one's progress.

But training in the Folklore World was too costly; if you didn't fight to the death but only to determine superiority, you were too restrained—but if you fought every time with the intent to kill, not only could he not guarantee victory each time, he'd quickly run out of new sparring partners.

In contrast, the game world was ideal: abundant players, indifferent to life and death, genuinely enjoying it, plus the dungeon projection mechanism. The only problem? The players were weak.

But conversely, if he could raise the players' combat power, he'd gain a vast pool of fearless opponents who'd exhaust their ingenuity to defeat him and expose his weaknesses.

As for what if he trained the players too well…

He didn't care!

Even if things went off the rails, he could just find a dark corner, activate a Ghost Wall, build a hundred-ton ship, and run away.

Plotting his perfect scheme, Feng Xue glanced at the two players' progress and immediately said:

"Ying Bao, make the Ghost Wall more obvious!"

……

"So that's it! I knew the game couldn't be this complicated—it's just like controlling a flying sword! All you need is to 'think'! Fundamentally, it's still just one skill, just without an obvious trigger button!"

The Scientific Madman stared at the steady leaping flame—elation surged through him—but as his focus wavered, the flame tilted again.

"Focus, focus—the key is concentration!"

He immediately corrected the flame back to center; the Scientific Madman felt that if he used the first-gen Talisman to edit spells now, he could do it with far greater ease—even create targeted spells. But he had no intention of testing it in this village; after all, in the "plot," the first-gen Talisman had already been absorbed by the Demon Dragon—using it here might trigger a plot bug.

The Scientific Madman was, to some extent, a lawful player—he wouldn't deliberately exploit bugs. Of course, he figured that given the players' chaotic nature, later ones would inevitably try it anyway; he'd wait to see what results others got before deciding whether to use it himself—that was the prudent way.

Just as the Scientific Madman was pondering whether to log off for food or go find the acolyte to check the next quest, the door opened again—the acolyte entered with five players: Guan Er and his Four Bi team.

"Hey! Madman, you're not cool—you found it and didn't even tell your bro!" Guan Er waved casually, but the acolyte glared at him—he instantly fell silent and listened as the acolyte explained the trial.

Finally, as the Scientific Madman was about to say he'd completed it, the acolyte nodded as if he'd foreseen it:

"Since you've succeeded, come with me."

"Oh!" The Scientific Madman immediately followed. The Four Bi erupted in envious, jealous wails.

"Are all these Heroes this reckless?"

As the acolyte led the Scientific Madman out of the room, he suddenly turned and asked—this question left the Madman speechless. After thinking, he still couldn't bring himself to say this was already the most disciplined group.

The acolyte didn't expect an answer—he simply led the Scientific Madman past the side hall, through the scripture library, to a newly opened square on the side. At each corner stood a tiled-roof house, each bearing a sign: 【Transfer】, 【Transformation】, 【Fixation】, 【Screening】. The acolyte didn't take him inside as before—only said:

"Practice your spells here. The methods are all inside the rooms. If you have questions, consult the scripture library…"

Watching the acolyte walk away, the Scientific Madman stared blankly—then suddenly slapped his forehead: "Wait… so I've passed the tutorial and entered the real game?"

(End of Chapter)