Chapter 324: Heavenly Secrets Can Be Leaked

Daoist Shanqing did not seem truly angry; he took the food quite readily, skillfully tore open the packaging, and began to eat, showing not the slightest intention of holding Lin Li accountable.

"Grandpa, I've brought you the materials regarding the legal statutes of our world that you asked for. They're all on this hard drive."

At this moment, Lin Li pulled the hard drive he had brought from his pocket—the capacity of a USB flash drive was too small.

There was no helping it; some videos and games were so large that if they weren't downloaded onto a hard drive, the laptop's memory wouldn't be enough.

Who could have imagined that the 20,000 GB storage space of the Magic Phone in *Magic Mobile* would have seemed like an absolutely astronomical amount of storage at the time?

But now, it was merely 20 TB.

"There are also Soul-series games inside—including walkthrough videos for the one you're playing. If you intend to keep playing, you can take a look," Lin Li introduced.

As for why Lin Li had Daoist Shanqing start with *Dark Souls 1*—which still had low image quality and trash optimization even after being remastered—instead of the Soul-like games released in recent years, the reason was simple: it is easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality.

Starting with the games that had the best graphics would set expectations too high, leading to a significant decrease in subsequent enjoyment.

"Play! Why wouldn't I play!" Daoist Shanqing said while eating, nodding heavily at these words: "I have already figured out the attack patterns of this Asylum Demon. Later, as long as I hide behind its body, I will definitely be able to kill it!"

"If I don't kill it, I feel uncomfortable all over; I can't do anything else!"

"This kind of ant can only be like this on the internet. If it really dared to appear in front of me, even though I am now nothing more than a wandering soul, I could easily crush it!"

Daoist Shanqing gritted his teeth.

Lin Li clicked his tongue.

Asylum Demon, you should be glad you're a virtual character. If you were real, you would have already been doxxed and would be about to be dealt with in real life.

A hardcore version of "If you're not convinced, let's fight in real life."

Holy shit, if Daoist Shanqing could appear in the modern era, it feels like he really could track people down through the internet cables—the end of the keyboard warriors.

"Then good luck, Grandpa."

After thinking for a while, Lin Li swallowed the "cheese" (shortcut) methods he had originally intended to mention and just smiled and nodded, offering his encouragement.

The boss fights in *Soul 1* aren't considered the most disgusting part of the Soul series—as long as you don't start with the "Deprived" class, the most disgusting part is the map mechanics.

There was no helping it; Hidetaka Miyazaki was like this when he was a child—

When he was a child, he fell asleep while doing his homework. After being woken up by the urge to use the bathroom, he found that his homework had all been reset. But he couldn't care about that; he turned and went to the bathroom, only to find that the bathroom door couldn't be opened from that side. With no other choice, he had to climb out the window, only to be swept into a hole in the ground by a tree branch while climbing.

After coming out of the hole, he found he had to climb over three mountains, wade across two rivers, pass through a jungle, and then walk into a pitch-black tunnel for 8 kilometers before he could see the roof of his house through a telescope. He gave up and wanted to solve it on the spot, but discovered he had to touch the toilet lid to poop.

Finally, Hidetaka Miyazaki detoured and climbed into the bathroom, only to find 5 stone gargoyle mobs hiding on the ceiling. Moreover, the commotion was too loud and drew his father's dissatisfaction. His father took out a belt and started a fast-and-slow whipping combo. Hidetaka Miyazaki could only roll back and forth, but his father could read his inputs; the moment he finished rolling, his father would step up and deliver a three-hit belt combo.

Hidetaka Miyazaki didn't want to use the bathroom anymore and wanted to flee back to his room, only to find that he had to light eight lamps under the siege of eight archers before he could return. Finally, he reached the door, but found that the door couldn't be opened from that side either. He had to climb out the window again, and then he was whipped by the same tree branch into the same hole again. After coming out of the hole, he found he had to climb over three mountains...

Damn it, Lin Li still couldn't forget the one goat, two dogs, and the "Desktop Cleaner" in *Soul 1*.

Fuck you, Hidetaka Miyazaki!

However, Lin Li suspected that Daoist Shanqing had already found some pleasure in the abuse.

The mission progress bar wouldn't lie.

But only some, because the progress bar wasn't rising as fast as it had when he was playing *Angry Birds*.

Still, overall, the mission was now more than halfway done. Perhaps next time he came, it could be completed.

Telling him the "cheese" walkthroughs would actually be more likely to ruin this hard-won pleasure.

"I will," Daoist Shanqing nodded, then asked with some curiosity, "Lin Li, does your world really have no cultivation or transcendent objects? Then how were these games made?"

"Are the demons and monsters in the games all imagined?"

"Yes," Lin Li nodded with a smile: "Human imagination is a very magical thing."

This matter is also recorded in detail in *SpongeBob SquarePants*; Squidward has deep experience with it.

Moreover, many times, Lin Li also found it hard to imagine how some videos and texts could be born in a country that bans drugs. What exactly was the inspiration?

"Man can conquer nature," Daoist Shanqing sighed.

"Actually, it's not just this Western-style demon worldview. Grandpa, our world also has fantasies about cultivation. If you're interested later, you can try the two games *Tales of Immortal* and *The Scroll of Taiwu*."

"Additionally, in the novel folder, I have downloaded thousands of web novels and electronic versions of traditional literature, which also cover a large number of cultivation and fantasy novels. You can find an opportunity to take a look."

"I'll take a look when I have the chance," Daoist Shanqing nodded, actually feeling a bit expectant.

But, let's crush this big-assed boss first.

I, Shanqing, have never been weaker than others in my life. To be beaten to death by this thing several times—there is absolutely no possibility of me swallowing my anger!

However, before starting the game, the two of them first conducted their daily Q&A session.

Twenty minutes later.

"Grandpa, I've understood some of my doubts about cultivation. Have you ever heard of a magic treasure called the 'Seven-Colored Treasure Garment'?" Lin Li hadn't forgotten one of his goals, so he asked.

"Never heard of it, but it's perfectly normal for magic treasures to change names over a hundred years. What does this treasure look like, and what does it do?"

Daoist Shanqing thought for a while upon hearing this, but shook his head.

"I don't have the physical object, so I don't know what it looks like. Its function is that after refining it, wearing it on the body can greatly mitigate and dissolve damage suffered, as well as grant immunity to low-level spells."

The items in the 【Mall】 had no text at all, so Lin Li truly didn't know the appearance of the magic treasure and could only recite its effects.

"Most clothing-type magic tools have this effect. I can't give a judgment. Lin Li, why are you asking about this?" Daoist Shanqing still shook his head.

"My divine ability gives me a chance to obtain it—but it requires paying a relatively large, irreversible price. I am currently considering whether it is necessary to do so." Lin Li simplified the description.

"Isn't your current world quite safe?"

"Yes."

"Then since no one here will harm you, if the price is high, why bother redeeming it?" Daoist Shanqing's tone was relaxed, and he even lifted his chin:

"Wait until the demon race's remnant soul is completely suppressed and killed. By then, Grandpa can go down to the ancient battlefield and help you look for any corpses they might have left behind. Perhaps I can help you refine and create a few magic treasures then."

"Thank you, Grandpa," Lin Li said, his eyes lighting up as he bowed politely.

However, Lin Li didn't truly pin his hopes on this.

Although Daoist Shanqing said the remnant soul would be suppressed and killed "soon," this "soon" and "quickly" were based on a hundred-year timeline comparison. Not to mention that under conditions where time flows differently, it would inevitably take a long time.

He still had to rely on himself.

"Grandpa, then what about 'Life-Extending Pills', 'Luck Talismans'... have you heard of these?" Lin Li continued to ask.

Daoist Shanqing seemed to know all of these and immediately explained them to Lin Li.

"Life-Extending Pills" were considered mid-to-low-grade elixirs. Talisman papers came in all grades; the same talisman, made by the lowest-level ninth-grade talisman master versus a talisman grandmaster above the first grade, would have vastly different effects.

The "Poop-Holding Talisman" that Lin Li had, which could only last for ten minutes and had side effects, was an extremely inferior product. Daoist Shanqing called it an eighty-first-grade talisman—the ninth of the ninth grade.

The "Luck Talisman" wasn't quite as bad; Daoist Shanqing studied the patterns on it and evaluated it as mid-to-low grade.

"However, you have reminded me. I will also write a manual on these basic pieces of knowledge for you. You can take a look at it when you have time; it will also increase your experience and knowledge."

Daoist Shanqing asked Lin Li for paper and a pen and manipulated them to write the book himself, but warned:

"However, Lin Li, greed for too much leads to poor digestion. Even a top-tier genius would not demand that they be proficient in all Daos. I, your Grandpa, have only dabbled in talisman and alchemy Daos. You should just look at these things at your current stage; don't try to practice them—your current world probably doesn't have the environment for practice either."

"Thank you, Grandpa, I have a sense of it in my heart," Lin Li nodded.

It was indeed impossible to practice, but Lin Li would still read and translate them.

Besides increasing his cultivation knowledge, perhaps the system would trigger a mission after he finished reading them.

"This magic treasure of yours is actually quite good." Afterward, Daoist Shanqing played with the "Heavenly Secret Mirror" that Lin Li had let him see and nodded:

"The Heavenly Secret Stone on this mirror is very complete."

"Heavenly secrets are the hardest to calculate. This item can be considered a treasure. You can refine it well. In the future, not only can you obtain the protection of the Heavenly Dao, but later, when you encounter matters you cannot decide or are missing something, you can ask it. It will be of great benefit."

It seemed that the value of this magic treasure in Daoist Shanqing's eyes was even higher than the "Formless Sword," and Lin Li was very happy.

It was rare for a magic treasure to be recognized.

Looking at the system, based on the information just obtained, Lin Li still decided to use this week's free refresh opportunity on the "Seven-Colored Treasure Garment" as originally planned.

【You have refreshed "Remote Cockpit (Lin Li Perfect Mold)": 100 system currency (daily purchase limit 1), replace?】

【Remote Cockpit: Binds to a designated mecha. Cannot be changed after the link is achieved. At the cost of sacrificing a little sensitivity and control precision, you can remotely control the mecha from within this cockpit. There is no limit to the remote distance.】

It wasn't something from the cultivation world that was refreshed.

However, after seeing the item description, Lin Li's eyes lit up.

He could directly remote-control a mecha to fight without worrying about his own safety?

Then, of course, he would replace it.

Lin Li replaced it and redeemed one on the spot.

It was a pity that it couldn't be changed after binding to a mecha, otherwise Lin Li really wanted to bind it to a real-world vehicle to try it out.

Seeing a hearse drifting in the middle of the night, passersby would sigh—smart driving is really awesome now; car companies can even hire themselves to smear their competitors in this way.

Because it didn't belong to reality or the cultivation world, Lin Li didn't manifest it.

Having asked everything he needed to ask, he prepared to cultivate.

Leaving the "Heavenly Secret Mirror" aside to absorb spiritual energy on its own, Lin Li sat cross-legged and manifested the "Spirit Gathering Heavenly Array."

The range he could control had expanded again.

Added to the spiritual energy absorption speed boost buff granted by the system, it had already gone from 600% to 800%.

The time Lin Li needed to become a Foundation Establishment powerhouse could be further shortened.

He didn't know if he would have a chance to reach the fifth level of Qi Condensation after using up the remaining six-plus hours today—Daoist Shanqing said his current aura already showed signs of the fifth level of Qi Condensation.

That was normal; after all, he hadn't done little spiritual energy cultivation while in reality.

However, he didn't know if it was the difference between modern people and people from the cultivation world, but Lin Li felt his growth was completely linear; there were no so-called bottlenecks to break through, but there were also no sudden leaps in strength.

But this wasn't too important.

He calmed his mind and began to absorb spiritual energy in earnest.

The process of this cultivation session was not as quiet as before; it had many more "disturbances."

—Lin Li could frequently see scenes of a large number of bosses or mobs from *Dark Souls* appearing nearby, only to be smashed to pieces by a punch from Daoist Shanqing.

Look, he's getting anxious again.

Among them were treasure chests with long teeth, which he had smashed dozens of times.

Actually, it was very normal for there to be no treasure inside a treasure chest; after all, according to the Tang Niu Inequality, having a treasure chest ≠ having treasure.

And the reason Daoist Shanqing was so angry was that he had lost thirty firebombs he had been hoarding for a long time because he was bitten by a treasure chest.

The hoarder's fury.

When Daoist Shanqing lost control, the "No-Fault Thunder" in this forbidden area could reflect his emotions. Falling thunder was anger and annoyance, while when purple light swam like a dragon in the surrounding sky, it meant the old man was very happy.

Sometimes Daoist Shanqing would suddenly take off his headphones, his expression excited, subconsciously looking at Lin Li, but seeing that Lin Li was cultivating, he wouldn't make a sound, just continuing to look at the screen by himself, a smile on his lips and a smug look in his eyes.

But at these times, Lin Li would actively stop absorbing spiritual energy, come to Daoist Shanqing's side, and ask "What's wrong?"

Then he would start listening to the old man's recent gaming experience and how he had figured out the boss's mechanics and successfully killed it without relying on any walkthroughs. At such times, Lin Li wouldn't be stingy with his praise, heaping it on frantically.

Perfectly providing emotional value—this was the self-cultivation of a sycophant like Lin Li.

Moreover, to be honest, as someone coming into contact with computer games for the first time, for Daoist Shanqing to be able to reach the bottom layer in six and a half hours, and to have killed that damn one-goat-two-dogs combo without looking at a walkthrough, was truly impressive.

And Lin Li's praise was still very effective.

Daoist Shanqing only regretted that his physical body had shattered and his magic treasures were all destroyed; otherwise, he would definitely have stuffed his big magic treasure into Lin Li's small Qiankun Ring.

No wonder they say that if a sycophant licks until the end, they will have everything.

Although there were no magic treasures, Lin Li also had his own gains—when coaxing the old man to be happy, the mission progress bar rose rapidly.

As of now, it had already passed 75%. Next time he came, he could complete it.

The "Heavenly Secret Mirror" had also absorbed enough spiritual energy very early on; the mirror surface was emitting a bronze light, but nothing was revealed.

Daoist Shanqing had also explained this to Lin Li: it was simply because this place, the forbidden area, was a place of chaos and disorder; naturally, there could be no such thing as heavenly secrets.

The "Heavenly Secret Mirror" couldn't take effect.

That was also fine; after all, Lin Li felt that the heavenly secrets here didn't seem to be of any use to him anyway.

However, Lin Li had some doubts.

Didn't Daoist Shanqing say he wanted to study the laws of reality to comprehend the secrets of heaven and man, complete the laws of heaven and earth, and suppress the remnant soul in advance? Why was he doing none of these major tasks and instead playing games all the time?

He was addicted to the computer.

If Daoist Shanqing's grades dropped in the future, he hoped his parents wouldn't come to him in a dream to scold him for how he had corrupted their son.

"Then Grandpa, I'll head back first. I'll see you in about half an hour."

The prodigy Lin Li, who had been told he already showed signs of the fifth level of Qi Condensation, said goodbye to Daoist Shanqing.

"Good, see you in a bit," Daoist Shanqing nodded, watching Lin Li disappear before his eyes.

Daoist Shanqing began to play music out loud, let out a long breath, and continued his campaign in the bottom layer.

Noticing the phone out of the corner of his eye, he first glanced at the hard drive Lin Li had brought, and Daoist Shanqing sneered:

"Bufan, I already have a weapon to deal with you in my hands. Once I clear this game, I'll come to settle things with you..."

At home.

Lin Li had just come up from downstairs.

—He had gone downstairs to manifest and immediately retract the "Remote Cockpit."

The reason he did such a risky and redundant thing was mainly because Lin Li didn't know how big this thing actually was.

He was afraid that manifesting it rashly at home would cause some anomaly.

The place Lin Li found had no surveillance, and after seeing its size clearly, he retracted it immediately; it was over in a flash.

Not to mention being seen by others, he hadn't even seen a person coming or going.

Confirming that its volume was only slightly larger than himself, after going upstairs, Lin Li manifested it in his home with peace of mind.

A huge elliptical sphere; after manifestation, the hatch opened, and inside, the same gel-like jelly substance as in the mecha cockpit was laid out all around.

With the experience from last time, Lin Li lay down on it directly.

"Not yet bound to a mecha, please bind."

"There are currently no bindable targets nearby."

When the jelly substance completely wrapped around him, Lin Li saw this information.

It seemed that the mecha had to be nearby to bind.

That was no rush. Lin Li left the cockpit, retracted it into the system, and instead manifested the "Heavenly Secret Mirror."

Sure enough, it was completely different from when he was in the cultivation world.

He saw that the moment it appeared, the bronze mirror surface, which had been extremely calm after absorbing enough spiritual energy in the cultivation world, suddenly revealed thousands of dark gold patterns, like living snakes twisting into strange and complex shapes.

The four characters "Observer of Impermanence" engraved on the back burst with cyan light, and the center of the mirror churned with chaos!

So cool! Lin Li was very expectant.

The dark gold patterns of the shapes began to disassemble and gradually began to condense into characters—"Sun" (Ri).

"Sun." Lin Li didn't even dare to blink, staring fixedly at the Heavenly Secret Mirror, afraid that the heavenly secret would pass in an instant.

"Sun-Moon" (Ri-Yue).

The second character that emerged was "Moon" (Yue).

As expected of the Heavenly Mystery Mirror; the opening is so magnificent, involving the sun and the moon.

"Sun-Moon-Sun"

The third character was a larger "Sun" (Ri).

Hmm?

Wait, that first one seemed to be the "Sun" radical, which combined with "Moon" to form the character "Bright" (Ming).

Reasonable, so it was telling him the heavenly secret about tomorrow?

The patterns continued to form characters, and Lin Li was even more expectant.

When the four characters were fully formed, the cyan light reached its brightest point, and then the next moment, the gold patterns and cyan light instantly dimmed, the mirror surface shattered, and the characters were also swallowed.

Lin Li: (；o_o)?

The remaining two characters:

"No" (Wu).

"Rain" (Yu).

"Tomorrow, no rain." Lin Li read it out in succession.

The light dimmed, meaning all the heavenly secrets had been revealed. After reading it, Lin Li fell silent.

Haha.

His mother tongue was "no rain."

"..."

"Fuck your mother, Heavenly Secret Mirror!!!"

—Lin Li: (□)＝＝＝)) Heavenly Secret Mirror.

The excellent magic treasure in Daoist Shanqing's mouth was punched hard and flew onto the head of the little bear.

"Who the fuck taught you that the heavenly secret is a weather forecast!!!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 325 =====