Chapter 579: Genius Mode

Liu Ziyi extended a hand and tapped lightly in the void, as if dragging lines through the air; the trajectory stabilized in the wind, finally landing on the ground to carve marks amidst the weeds and dirt.

Luo Qi watched her curiously, and Du Zhengyi explained from the side, "You don't need to learn to draw this; it's her personal habit. To accelerate her entry into a state of Meditation, she draws out the trajectories that assist her thinking. You just need to meditate on the shapes in your heart, as Mage Hashi taught you."

Luo Qi nodded, "I see this as where humans misunderstand us; she looks like both an alchemist and a Daoist right now."

Liu Ziyi stood in the middle of a complex radial pattern, and after silently pondering for a dozen seconds, she said, "I'm just about ready. Senior Brother, I will establish a Shallow Connection with you so you can clearly see my Deep Dive state; I'll leave it to you to look after me."

"If you cannot wake up, I will wake you," Du Zhengyi said.

"Also, you know that this puts you somewhat within my scope; you might become a parameter I need to reference, and your Magic traits will permeate my set," Liu Ziyi said. To Luo Qi, it sounded like a disclaimer, as if Du Zhengyi could still sue her for damages.

Du Zhengyi nodded, not caring much.

Luo Qi looked around curiously, eager to see what would happen next. If this was the content of his future studies, he suspected it was a very advanced elective. "Wait a moment, let me clarify my position first. Do I need to stand further away?"

"No need," Du Zhengyi said.

"Will I still be able to speak later?" Luo Qi asked.

"As long as you don't speak directly to Liu Ziyi, the impact caused should be manageable. But since Liu Ziyi will certainly be able to hear you, you should still be careful. It is best if your way of speaking is simple; on one hand, avoid multiple meanings, and on the other, conversely, each of your sentences should be as unambiguous as possible. Do not add rhetoric, try to have no emotion, and keep your words rigorous," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice.

"Ah? You saying that makes me a bit panicked. Is this a strong Magic Array? If I say something ambiguous, will it affect the Magic and cause her to be hit by a Curse? It wouldn't be the kind of Magic told in Aladdin's lamp, the kind that always twists the original intent of the person using the Magic, would it?" Luo Qi asked.

"No, it's just because too much nonsense will distract Liu Ziyi's brain," Du Zhengyi said.

Luo Qi lowered his eyes, his fingers reaching into the kitten's soft fur to stroke it, his fingertips rubbing the cat's neck. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Liu Ziyi sit cross-legged on the ground, take a deep breath, and exhale slowly, a bit of Magic power slowly radiating out. In Luo Qi's other field of vision, he vaguely "heard" the Spell Liu Ziyi was reciting silently, one incantation after another emerging in her shallow Yajian. Luo Qi could recognize some of the incantations, but these incantations were becoming longer and more complex; he could read some basic principles he had learned himself, but after they were connected together, he began to feel dizzy.

Just then, he suddenly felt a trace of anomaly. In his Yajian field of vision, Liu Ziyi had changed. He suddenly raised his head, not knowing how to describe this feeling; if one were to describe a person's consciousness as a soul, then Liu Ziyi's soul had changed. She was still her, but she had already become another person.

The arm Luo Qi was holding the cat with grew somewhat stiff; he looked nervously at Liu Ziyi's small body, wanting to project his own Yajian over to check her consciousness. Just then, the arm supporting the cat was pinched. He came back to his senses and looked at Du Zhengyi; Du Zhengyi let go and slowly lowered his arm, as if afraid that an abrupt movement would disturb something.

"Can you see the category of Liu Ziyi's active consciousness?" Du Zhengyi asked slowly.

Luo Qi blinked. Du Zhengyi's voice was very low, and even his breathing had slowed down; his body was relaxed and soothing. Luo Qi followed him and slowly exhaled a breath, keeping up with Du Zhengyi's breathing and heart rate. Du Zhengyi nodded very slightly, as if they were practicing diving; he followed Du Zhengyi's lead.

He looked at Liu Ziyi in his Yajian field of vision, gently analyzing her consciousness, and he suddenly realized that a category of consciousness that was very active in his own brain was rapidly decreasing in Liu Ziyi's mind. He compared them carefully; it was the ability to understand people, the ability to imagine, the ability to speak fluently, the ability to grasp the unspoken intentions of others... He snuck a glance at Du Zhengyi. Du Zhengyi hadn't been mocking him earlier; Liu Ziyi was lowering her already limited ability to understand social life. She was strictly purging her mind to make herself smarter; Luo Qi guessed that the laws of the world were now appearing clearly before her eyes.

Luo Qi felt the power of Magic grow stronger; more incantations swirled in Liu Ziyi's mind, and multiple Spells were being chanted by her consciousness simultaneously. Liu Ziyi had become like a machine, a Magic machine; she created countless running Spells, like a complex system. Magic power was deployed in a crisscrossing manner, and a torrent of Magic branched out into countless exquisite new twigs, with Magic surging toward different levels. Luo Qi felt tests, collections, summons, and responses directed at countless domains.

"Truly amazing," Luo Qi said quietly.

"She needs to use all her intellect to balance this kind of Magic," Du Zhengyi explained.

Luo Qi observed quietly, which gave him quite a bit of inspiration. Mages were actually capable of high-intensity self-control; Du Zhengyi could control his emotions, prune away empathy and other non-absolutely rational reactions to strengthen his abilities as a Battle Mage. Liu Ziyi had a different goal; she wanted to artificially reserve all her brain's power for absolute rationality, pushing the genius side to its limit, not even allowing the brain to harbor fantasies. He pondered how he could apply such Magic. Which part could he prune? Pruning imagination and the understanding of people was definitely not an option; he needed imagination to help him open up his Yajian, and he needed to understand people because the targets of his spellcasting were people themselves. But he also absolutely needed rigorous thinking ability, so it seemed he was naturally destined to find a balance between these.

"If she doesn't prune half her brain, can't she stimulate the other half separately?" Luo Qi asked Du Zhengyi in a low voice.

"That would push her physiology to the limit, giving all activity to the brain, which could lead to brain damage."

Luo Qi understood; in human terms, it might overload or short-circuit.

"She will soon have difficulty understanding emotional behavior. If you are as active as usual, it will take a lot of her energy to understand your impulsive actions. So, don't let her be too distracted."

"Oh." Luo Qi understood and couldn't help but raise his gaze, wanting to let himself rest for a moment, but his eyes caught sight of Wusu in the distance.

Wusu was walking slowly among the group of Battle Mages, stopping from time to time. Luo Qi followed his angle and estimated he was looking at the river channel. It was just too strange; Wusu's actions didn't look like he was admiring the scenery. If Luo Qi had to describe it, he looked like a surveyor scientifically observing the terrain.

"Is Wusu going back to his old profession as a bounty hunter?" Luo Qi said involuntarily.

"Shh," Du Zhengyi said in a low voice, watching Liu Ziyi, "Talk about other things later."

(End of chapter)