Chapter 471
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Chapter 471: You Can’t Afford to Play
Two months later.
Reinforced warehouse.
Lin Qiye slowly closed the book in his hands and let out a long breath.
He looked around and found that everyone else was still immersed in their stories, not making a sound to disturb him. They silently returned their books to the cardboard boxes and headed toward the kitchen.
In these two months, he had read through all the novels in the boxes. From initially skimming through the text to now savoring every word, Lin Qiye had become accustomed to immersing himself in the books, experiencing the joys and sorrows of the characters…
Although he still couldn’t learn any techniques from the books, this period of focused reading had greatly changed his state of mind.
During these two months, the “mystery,” the “believers,” the ancient god church, the outer gods… these things that had been haunting him seemed to have completely vanished from his world. He no longer had to rush for tasks or live in constant fear. The taut string in his mind finally relaxed completely, and the restlessness that had lingered began to settle.
If he had to describe his life over the past two months in one word, it would be “calm.”
Calm down, read books, cook, clean, train…
Whether it was due to the change in his state of mind or the training of “Sword Qi Tides,” Lin Qiye could already feel the bottleneck in his internal realm beginning to loosen.
However, Lin Qiye’s progress was not the most significant.
An Qingyu had already broken through the bottleneck a week ago, becoming the second team member to reach the “Sea” realm after Bai Li Pangpang.
Of course, this was because Zhou Ping often went out and brought back some strange “mystery” corpses for dissection. An Qingyu didn’t need much training; as long as he could continuously use the “One True Answer” to solve puzzles, his mental strength would increase at a terrifying speed.
According to Zhou Ping, Jialan had already broken through the “Sea” realm, so now in the entire team, only Lin Qiye and Cao Yuan had not yet broken through their realms.
Just as Lin Qiye was tidying up the kitchen, An Qingyu walked in from outside.
“Qiye.” An Qingyu took out a palm-sized specimen from his pocket and handed it to Lin Qiye. “During this time, I’ve finished analyzing the ‘Bel Kland.’ You can take it and use it.”
Lin Qiye accepted the corpse of “Bel Kland” and curiously asked, “What ability did you gain from it?”
“The method to create that kind of mental pollution mist.” An Qingyu adjusted his glasses and took out a test tube containing a small amount of purple liquid that emitted a faint glow under the light. “This is the concentrated mental pollution liquid I made. Its effect is similar to that of ‘Bel Kland,’ but I’ve condensed the mist into liquid form.”
Lin Qiye took the test tube and shook the purple liquid. “So, you can control other beings with this mental pollution now?”
“Not quite.” An Qingyu replied helplessly. “The reason ‘Bel Kland’ can control beings affected by mental pollution is that the pollution is produced by its body. Anyone who inhales the mist will form a kind of mental link with it. But I’m not ‘mystery’ and can’t fully replicate ‘Bel Kland’s’ physiological structure. These liquids are artificially created using scientific methods. While they can erode others’ minds, they cannot establish a mental link with them.”
Lin Qiye nodded and comforted him, “That’s already impressive.”
An Qingyu smiled shyly. “You can keep this tube for self-defense. Just break the bottle when you need to use it, but be careful not to inhale the gas, or you’ll be affected too.”
“Okay.”
Lin Qiye brought out the prepared dishes, and after everyone finished lunch, they took a short break before starting the afternoon’s practical training.
Bai Li Pangpang and Cao Yuan sat across from each other, with a large tic-tac-toe board between them. Each had a stick beside them, their expressions extremely serious.
“Are you ready?” Cao Yuan took a deep breath.
“Ready.” Bai Li Pangpang gripped the jade ring in his hand, looking as if he were facing a great enemy. “Bring it on!”
“Then here I come…”
Cao Yuan placed his thumb on the knife handle and slowly pushed it out. A flash of blade light erupted, and black malevolent flames surged forth!
Cao Yuan, cloaked in a layer of malevolent flames, raised his head, his crimson eyes emitting a chilling light as terrifying malevolence swept out!
In the next moment, his body trembled, the crimson in his eyes quickly dimming, a clarity rising in his gaze. The Buddhist beads on his wrist emitted a faint golden light, and he slowly relaxed his grip on the knife handle…
“Hehehehe… you go first… hehehe… down.”
Mumbled words spilled from the mouth of the frenzied Cao Yuan, his body still trembling slightly, every muscle fighting against the consciousness of the Black King, struggling for control.
Seeing this, Bai Li Pangpang let out a sigh of relief, quickly grabbing the stick beside him and drawing a circle in the corner of the tic-tac-toe board.
“Your turn.”
The frenzied Cao Yuan moved his hand away from the knife handle, grasped the stick beside him, and shakily lifted it, drawing a crooked “X” in the center of the board.
Bai Li Pangpang raised his hand again and drew another circle in the corner.
The two continued to draw, and finally, Bai Li Pangpang raised his hand and drew another circle, forming a straight line with three circles, achieving victory.
“I won.” Bai Li Pangpang grinned, looking up at the frenzied Cao Yuan, his expression suddenly freezing.
Cao Yuan glanced at the board, then at Bai Li Pangpang, seemingly a bit angry. He suddenly gripped the stick tightly and snapped it in half.
Crack—!
Immediately, the clarity in Cao Yuan’s eyes receded like a tide, the golden light from the Buddhist beads was suppressed by the malevolent energy, and a surge of black malevolence erupted!
“Damn! Lao Cao! Can’t you just play nice?!”
Bai Li Pangpang’s jade ring instantly transformed into a suit of armor covering his body, several forbidden objects floating around him, all of his mental strength from the “Sea” realm pouring into them.
“Hehehehe… does it kill you to let me… hehehe… win once?”
The frenzied Cao Yuan spoke coherently, raising the straight knife in his hand, the blade entwined with black blade light, and crazily slashed toward Bai Li Pangpang!
“What do you know? This is called competitive spirit!”
Bai Li Pangpang refused to back down, a massive Taiji Bagua diagram unfolding beneath his feet, instantly covering the entire area.
…
In a corner.
Lin Qiye turned to look at the warehouse, where explosions were continuously sounding, and sighed deeply.
“It seems Cao Yuan lost again today…”
He turned his head to look at the blue-robed girl standing opposite him, weighing the white long knife in his hand.
“Shall we start too?”
Jialan turned her head, her small mouth slightly puffed up, looking as if she was still sulking.
“Hmph, who said we are starting?”
