Chapter 244: Five-in-a-row Training Method

Xiao Feng, as a player, does not need to fear that the demigod tribulation will kill him.

However, if the trial is truly difficult, it still needs to be treated carefully.

Who knows what will happen if the trial fails?

If this is a one-time tribulation and failure means no retrial, then he would be stuck forever at level 250!

Xiao Feng sat on the scorching stone slab and discussed the demigod tribulation with La Luo Na Er.

La Luo Na Er is already a demigod, having experienced it once, and has much to share.

Xiao Feng took this opportunity to gather more information, preparing in advance.

After finishing the inquiries, more than half an hour had passed.

But he still did not rush to leave.

Saying he would keep the old man company by chatting, he truly did just that, rather than only asking what he wanted to know.

Besides, he had nothing urgent to do; in the game, one hour equals six minutes in reality, so even spending a whole day chatting with La Luo Na Er would be only a little over two hours.

Guarding the Earth Core Lake bored La Luo Na Er; Xiao Feng was willing to keep him company, which made him happy, so he naturally would not refuse.

The master and disciple sat on the hot stone and began to talk freely.

As they chatted, Xiao Feng felt that just talking was a bit boring, so he started some small games again.

He gathered materials on the spot, dug some small stones, then drew intersecting lines on the ground, making a makeshift board, and taught La Luo Na Er to play a folk mini-game called Hen-and-chicks Chess from the real world.

This mini-game differs from traditional chess; one side plays the "mother hen" with a single piece, the other side plays the "chicks" with twenty-four pieces.

The board has twenty-five intersections; pieces move one step along the lines each turn, the mother hen moves first, and whenever there are two or four chicks on a diagonal, it can "capture"; capturing reduces the chicks to two or fewer, which means victory.

The chicks win by leaving the mother hen with no moves; after regaining all the chicks, it counts as a win.

The rules are very simple; La Luo Na Er, a demigod several hundred years old with high wisdom, learned it in a few minutes.

The master and disciple sat on a stone hot enough to roast a person, exchanging moves and enjoying themselves greatly.

At first, Xiao Feng relied on his experience advantage to maintain the upper hand, often needing to go easy to give the old man face.

But as they played, La Luo Na Er became increasingly familiar with the rules and soon started to turn the tables on him.

Xiao Feng stopped holding back, but even with his full effort he could only manage an even match.

After two hours, both found the game a bit dull, as the chicks always won, making the outcome largely unrelated to intellect.

Thus Xiao Feng brought out another great god—Five-in-a-row!

This game requires two different colored pieces; Xiao Feng originally wanted to use gold and silver coins as substitutes, but after La Luo Na Er played a few rounds, he felt the gameplay was too monotonous.

So he switched to using elements instead of pieces, playing "Magic Chess"!

La Luo Na Er used his willpower to etch fifteen intersecting golden lines in the air, forming the board.

Then he condensed red fire element as pieces, having Xiao Feng condense earth or wind element as pieces to oppose him.

Xiao Feng expressed his frustration with this!

Originally not skilled at chess, under such high-difficulty operation he was utterly defeated by La Luo Na Er.

He needed to simultaneously use willpower to keep numerous pieces from scattering or moving, and continually condense new pieces to play against La Luo Na Er.

Whether maintaining piece stability or thinking where to place them, both require mental effort.

After a long time, he became exhausted and sweaty, and the element pieces often mysteriously dissipated, causing the game to collapse as they played.

But as they played, he discovered that his willpower was actually increasing!

Previously, when training magic, his willpower would increase about once every twenty-plus minutes, two or three times per hour, gaining 2-3 points each time.

But during the chess process, basically each completed game increased his willpower by about two points!

A single round of Five-in-a-row takes less than ten minutes; this growth rate is far faster than training magic!

Upon discovering this benefit, Xiao Feng was overjoyed, no longer feeling tired, and fully focused on playing Magic Five-in-a-row with La Luo Na Er.

La Luo Na Er also saw his growth, understood that this training method was remarkably effective, and felt relieved.

What pleased him most was that, with this training method, Xiao Feng no longer needed to return to the Xiao residence to train; staying here with him would allow rapid growth.

Master and disciple each stumbled upon a training shortcut, and finally having someone to accompany them, both gained something.

Time slowly passed, with round after round of Five-in-a-row, which did not bore Xiao Feng but instead made him more engrossed.

His control over the pieces gradually strengthened; the element pieces that used to mysteriously scatter now rarely did so.

His willpower gradually grew; using multi-tasking to maintain piece stability, assess the situation, and place pieces, he slowly grasped some insights.

Unnoticed, six or seven hours passed.

After another round of Five-in-a-row ended, Xiao Feng glanced at his attribute panel.

His willpower points, after nearly eight hours of training, had risen to 1120!

At this rate, he only needs to continue for about twenty-four or twenty-five days to accumulate enough willpower—ten thousand—to break through the Holy Realm and enter demigodhood!

But if he trained as before, he would need at least fifty days, half the speed!

"If not for Master La Luo Na Er's suggestion, I would never have thought of this clever trick. Following this idea, I can analogize and invent even more difficult training methods; perhaps my growth speed can continue to increase!"

Xiao Feng thought to himself.

The demigod realm is hard to enter; a normal player merely reaching level 250 must spend at least half a year of game time.

He usually breezed through with cheats, but facing the willpower attribute as a bottleneck, he had to stop and obediently train.

Previously he had calculated his training speed; combined with daily gameplay needing time for entertainment and relaxation, at least four out of every twenty-four hours are not spent training.

On average, he would need at least seventy-plus game days to reach the ten thousand willpower required for demigodhood.

And in real life he cannot stay online all day, so the required time naturally becomes even longer.

Thus, calculating back and forth, someone like Shen Chuo, who opened a server half a month early and now has level 277 strength, is already considered quite fast.

But now that he has a new path, he feels he should be able to break through to demigod within thirty days of opening the server!

Given enough time, he should be able to catch up to the top player progress of Shen Chuo on that planet!

"Child, you've kept me company long enough today; it's time you went to attend to your own affairs." La Luo Na Er, who had played the game for almost 10 hours, said he was already very satisfied and didn't need to keep me company.

Xiao Feng, however, still felt somewhat unsatisfied, saying: "It's fine, I'm not busy, Master, let's keep playing; this kind of chess practice does wonders for my willpower!"

La Luo Na Er chuckled and said: "Diligence is certainly good, but we also need to balance work and rest. Keeping the mind under prolonged high pressure may bring quick growth in the short term, but over the long haul it brings many drawbacks."

"Um, this..."

Xiao Feng felt a bit embarrassed after being lectured.

La Luo Na Er said: "Go out and clear your mind; just now I sensed that an emissary from the Shen Jie has descended onto the Zhu Shen Da Lu. You can go look around—you might find a surprise."

"Huh? A Shen Jie emissary?" Xiao Feng exclaimed, taken aback.

What is a Shen Jie emissary doing coming down for no reason?

Is he here to deliver a city-building order to me, Xiao Feng?