Chapter 271: No Misnamed Nickname

"Where is he? The aura was right here! How did it vanish again?"

Along the coastline, Seeing Bi Gelei, who had followed Feng Xue's aura all the way, stared at the empty shore and the demons bustling about hauling materials, and for a moment felt like she was about to explode.

Knowing there were probably no intelligent beings here, she grabbed a demon that looked vaguely humanoid and pulled out a Talisman and Spell.

"Blood Trace!"

Her sharp fingertips pierced the demon's body; the Talisman and Spell designed by Feng Xue activated. Though these demons were merely akin to mass-produced familiars, the fact that they could understand commands already indicated they possessed some degree of "memory function."

But for creatures that couldn't even speak, memory was normally inaccessible, and Seeing Bi Gelei had no time to teach them reading and writing—luckily, she had now unlocked several classic skills. As the demon's body withered, its memories flashed before Seeing Bi Gelei's eyes.

"Aaaah! I'll kill you!"

Seeing the scene of Feng Xue and Mei Luo heading toward the Hidden Village together, Seeing Bi Gelei felt as if her entire bat were burning—her blood-red wings snapped open, whipping up a gale that scattered the construction site…

……

"Waaah, I'm so dizzy… Your teleportation ability is way too dizzying! Ugh, if only we could build a Great Vortex!"

Mei Luo's eyes spun like flickering spots, yet her mouth uttered lines that left Feng Xue speechless.

"A Great Vortex sounds even more dizzying, doesn't it?"

Hearing Feng Xue say that, Mei Luo shook her head vigorously, then said:

"The Great Vortex isn't dizzy at all! The direction is consistent, and your vision stays smooth the whole time—unlike your constant flashing. Forget it, someday I'll definitely take you on a ride on a Great Vortex!"

"Fine, fine, fine. But right now, let's start the spell test. I've laid out some ritual circuits here, and the blue bar is easier to use. Do you have any divine arts you want to test?" Feng Xue didn't argue with Mei Luo, instead quickly pulling out various Talisman and Spell materials, ritual components, and paper and pen for calculations. Mei Luo had already planned this before arriving; without hesitation, she said:

"The first one to study? Definitely the Enlightenment Spell!"

"Can you explain its specific effect?" Though the name "Enlightenment Spell" clearly suggested its purpose, Feng Xue asked anyway to avoid cultural misunderstandings.

"In my world, it's a divine art that enhances intelligence. Entirely, the sea folk were built upon this spell. But after coming here, it became a status spell requiring constant energy to maintain."

As Mei Luo spoke, she began using Feng Xue's tools to prepare the altar. Though there was no Sea God here, Little Xiao Lingdang had once absorbed part of the ocean's authority and could temporarily serve as a Sea God, offering Mei Luo some divine support.

The first round of spellcasting yielded no surprises: the demons and wild animals subjected to it showed signs of increased sentience. Though far from "intelligent," the changes were evident.

"In my original world, this spell's effect was weak but permanent and reusable. Every year during the Sea God Festival, each race used the year's accumulated faith to cast the Enlightenment Spell—to enhance the innate talents of newborns and increase the sea folk's population."

"But now this skill has become a status spell, lasting only half an hour before fading. I have to keep recasting it, and while it's active, I teach them meditation—but as soon as the half-hour ends, they forget everything…"

Mei Luo mumbled about her behavior since crossing over, but Feng Xue wasn't paying close attention—he was entirely focused on the spell changes recorded by Little Xiao Lingdang.

From the ritual circuit, it was clear this blue-bar spell was a classic "divine art," and structurally, it could even be called a "divine descent" technique.

"In conclusion, the core of this spell is actually to manifest the 'Sea God' upon the subject, allowing them to share the 'Sea God's intelligence' and thus gain wisdom—so your sea folk's intelligence is shared?" Feng Xue dismantled individual basic constructs from the spell circuit, his expression slightly odd.

Mei Luo shook her head upon hearing this:

"Though the principle is like that, it only applies during infancy. Once intelligence is gained, one can meditate independently, strengthening the soul—and as the soul grows stronger, intelligence rises too!"

As Mei Luo spoke, she suddenly seemed to grasp something, slapping her forehead hard—

"Oh my god! So that's it! No wonder I've been getting dumber!"

"So you've been splitting your intelligence with those ocean creatures?"

Feng Xue stared at Mei Luo in shock. Now that he thought about it, since meeting her today, she really had seemed to be getting smarter…

"So it's not an illusion—it's that the intelligence you gave to the ocean creatures returns when you stop casting? That's why she doesn't seem dumb, yet Bi Gelei and others call her 'stupid fish'? Wait—no!"

Feng Xue suddenly froze—

"You mean… this blue bar… this spell under the world's rules… still lets you share intelligence with others?"

"I never thought of it before. After casting, I became dumb, and when not casting, I didn't notice." Mei Luo shrugged, then fell into thought. After a moment, she nodded:

"The mechanism must be that the divine power of this spell carries 'Sea God's wisdom,' but since there's no Sea God, wisdom can't be generated from nothing—so it draws from my own? This world's rules are truly insane!"

"I think it's more insane that you managed to cast this spell for years and only just noticed now!" Feng Xue rolled his eyes, yet his gaze toward the ritual circuit grew deeper.

If she could split her own brain matter, didn't that mean this ritual circuit contained components for building a "server"?

His previously casual mindset instantly ignited. His fingers danced rapidly, dismantling and reassembling constructs, which quickly took shape under Little Xiao Lingdang's exhaustive calculations.

Thanks to his prior collaboration with Bi Gelei, this process was far smoother. In mere minutes, a new Talisman and Spell was complete.

But…

Considering the brain-matter-sharing issue, Feng Xue still handed the spherical Talisman and Spell to Mei Luo—

"Uh… wanna try again?"

(End of Chapter)