Chapter 237: Chapter 237 – The Rhythm is Fun

[Thank you for the invite.

We can see from the given information that the male mage is the only one among the mages in the mystery realm who can purify the monsters. The female mages are not involved in the process, so the following assertion can be made—the male and female mages play different roles.

Unlike the female mages, the male mage was able to purify monsters and cast Forbidden Spells, in addition to fighting in the battle and healing those who were injured. As such, it can be seen that the male mage is, to a certain extent, of a higher standing than the female mages.

In that case, why was it that there was only one male mage + multiple female mages in the mystery realm battles? After all, the male mage was extremely resolute in his purpose of killing the monsters and was even willing to sacrifice himself to accomplish that goal. There was no reason for the World Tree not to ‘send more male mages’—if they could do so.

Based on the above, it can be concluded that: there are other restrictions with regard to the mystery realm, over and above that of only allowing Extroardinaires to access it. There could be much stricter access restrictions for mages, and male mages who are capable of purifying monsters may not be allowed to enter in large numbers. It could even be the case that only one such male mage was allowed inside the mystery realm.

Moreover, it is highly likely that there are other control mechanisms influencing male mages, which make them less afraid of sacrificing themselves, as compared to female mages. This could be due to their beliefs, or it could also be due to them possessing abilities like ‘resurrection’ or ‘reincarnation’.

Similarly, why did the number of female mages increase with each successful battle in the mystery realm? I believe that this is also related to the mystery realm itself.

According to the given information, the strength and quantity of monsters in the mystery realms are both gradually increasing. This leads to two possibilities: the first is that the mage is purifying the mystery realms based on the order of strength, from the weakest to the strongest; the other possibility is that after one mystery realm is purified by the mage, the other mystery realms would react such that the strength of the monsters in these mystery realms would be enhanced.

Since the mystery realms all appeared at the same time, there must be a certain extraordinary connection between them that is not observable using science.

As the mystery realms grow stronger, the ‘entrances’ to them also grow in size. However, although these ‘entrances’ become enlarged, it is likely that, as before, only one male mage can pass through it, while the number of female mages who enter the mystery realms continue to increase.

Judging from the mages’ combat style, it is very likely that they have already become accustomed to such brutal battles, and the relationships between them are thus very weak. Death must have been a common occurrence for them, so they would not give up just because of the death of their companions. Instead, they would hasten their pace in order to purify the mystery realms.

As above.]

After writing his reply, Ren Suo proceeded to Practice. When he returned to check on his reply three hours later, he discovered that it had already received 212 likes—as the question thread revealed a lot of information about the mages, it had garnered over ten thousand clicks very quickly, and many researchers participated in the discussion.

Moreover, Ren Suo was no longer a Level 1 Researcher. After he provided numerous correct answers to previous ‘extraordinary’ questions and was promoted to a Level 2 Researcher, he could be considered an ‘industry authority’. Many researchers read through his answer seriously.

There were also plenty of researchers who refuted Ren Suo’s answer using their actual names. They felt that Ren Suo was trying to force a logic over the facts, as if he was only drawing the target after releasing the arrow. However, Ren Suo looked through the discussion thread and found that there were currently no other answers which were more reliable and logical than his own. Most of the answers were similar to Ren Suo’s, in that they sought to find reasons to explain the behaviors of the mages.

In that way, Ren Suo had already won the battle.

What he needed to do was not to come up with superficial answers to earn himself researcher points, but to think of ways to influence the general direction the researchers thought in. He needed to come up with an answer that was ‘logical but still seemed somewhat out-of-the-ordinary’, and lead them to make more guesses to refute his answer.

There could be someone who would perfectly explain the logic of the mages’ actions, but it did not matter to Ren Suo if that person was not him. Anyway, his role was to help the mages fill up the loopholes in their stories.

Now, if there was no other evidence that would disprove what the mage said, the large majority of researchers would not doubt the existence of the World Tree. Instead, they would be thinking of ways to prove its existence.

Simply put, Ren Suo established momentum within the intranet.

‘It’s so fun to establish the momentum…’ Ren Suo thought.

Nonetheless, the fact that Xuan Nation knew that there were four female mages in one of the mystery realms signified that the Mage had cleared the fourth checkpoint.

That progress was quite fast… Ren Suo looked at the time and realized that it was only four days since he ate durian chicken… or rather, since the day that he went to Xiang City.

In that case, did that mean that Mage was essentially conquering the various mystery realms without taking any breaks?

Ren Suo did not know the time interval between two checkpoints (he would stop to Practice for a day or two when he cleared a checkpoint in the game each time). He once controlled Mage to sneak in the question: ‘What day is it today?”, when he met people from Earth in the game.

The other person responded then: “It is the *beep* of *beep* in the year 20*beep*.”

All of the crucial numbers were censored…

At present, ‘Naisser Ren’ had not uploaded any video either, so it appeared that a video would only be uploaded after Mage had completely purified all of the mystery realms.

There were only a few more days to August, I shall Practice well then!

Although that was what Ren Suo intended to do, life did not always go according to plan—

After he had lunch at Dong Chengling’s house at noon, Ren Suo remained behind to wash the dishes in the kitchen (it would be Gu Yueyan’s turn that night). When he finished washing the dishes, he saw Dong Chengling sitting in the living room, waiting for him to be done.

Dong Chengling said, “Wait, Ren Suo. Would you be free tomorrow?”

“Yes, I am,” Ren Suo replied.

“Shall we go to the movies?” Dong Chengling asked.

Ren Suo was stunned for a moment, then looked at her grimly and said, “Will a tier 2 Practitioner still run a fever…? Do you need me to treat you?”

It came as a surprise to Ren Suo that Dong Chengling suddenly wanted to watch a movie, for she had always only been focused on Practicing or teaching. There was no other reason to explain her sudden motivation to watch a movie, other than the possibility that she was sick.

“I’m being serious,” Dong Chengling replied. She said calmly, “I want to watch ‘The Ghost Blade’.”

“‘The Ghost Blade’?” Ren Suo replied. He took out his mobile phone to search for the movie, then remarked in surprise, “It’s an action movie based on the theme of Practitioners and monsters fighting in the city? Wait, the Tianjing Countermeasure Headquarters participated in the production of the movie, and it is dubbed the first ‘3D magical realism action movie involving Practitioners’? It was quickly released in all theaters after less than 2 months in production?”

Dong Chengling nodded and said, “Although I don’t fancy such entertainment like movies, this movie is said to have referenced the true process of how Practitioners suppress monsters, so it has both great entertainment and educational value.”

Ren Suo thought about it and understood why the nation would release such a movie—although the Countermeasure Division was currently suppressing the monsters, they were not completely eliminated. Making such a movie would allow the general public to develop a basic understanding of monsters, and it could, at the same time, promote patriotism. The position of the Countermeasure Division which ‘protected the people of the nation’ would be further elevated.

At the same time, it was beneficial for other potential Practitioners and Awakeners to know that the nation had established a well-developed system to nurture Extraordinaires, as well as a complete system for career progression. They would naturally be law-abiding and embrace their recruitment and nurturing by the nation—even if they were not willing to do so, they still had to spare a thought for their family.

Although the nation placed much emphasis on training Practitioners at present, that was news which was only circulated internally. Ordinary citizens only knew that there were ten Practitioner Institutions where students could engage in ‘cultivation’. Most people would still be unaware of the nation’s stance towards Practitioners.

As such, the movie would undoubtedly become the nation’s best publicity material.

Ren Suo continued to read through the information on the webpage. He asked, “Is it just you and me who will be watching the movie?”

“Yeah,” Dong Chengling replied with a nod.

Ren Suo said, “I think so too. After all, this is an R-rated movie, and children under 18 are not allowed to view it, so Gu Yueyan and Lin Xianyu can’t watch the movie.”

“The Ghost Blade” sought to mimic reality as much as possible—not only was there said to be blood, but also scenes of dead corpses, intestines, and internal organs. It was an R-rated movie that minors could not watch.

Dong Chengling was slightly stunned. She nodded and said, “Indeed.”

“Alright, when do you want to watch the movie tomorrow?” Ren Suo asked.

At present, Ren Suo only had a Level 1 Coupling with Dong Chengling. Although he did not know what requirements were there to reach a Level 2 Coupling, it would certainly not do any harm to engage in more activities together with her.

“In the afternoon,” Dong Chengling replied.

“It’s all set then,” Ren Suo said.

After leaving Dong Chengling’s house, Ren Suo saw Gu Yueyan leaning against the wall again, on the first floor of the dormitory building.

That scene seemed somewhat familiar… Ren Suo immediately looked down and attempted to walk right past her, but was still stopped by Gu Yueyan.

“Ren Suo, wait,” Gu Yueyan said.

“I am ultimately still your teacher,” Ren Suo said as he looked at her helplessly. He continued, “I don’t mind that you always call me by my full name, but other people might think that you are disrespectful if they hear you call me that.”

Gu Yueyan looked at Ren Suo scornfully and asked, “Do you want me to call you ‘Brother Ren’ like Xiao Yu, then?”

“Well, if you would…” Ren Suo replied.

“You should practice well and stop day-dreaming, old man,” Gu Yueyan said.

Ren Suo waved his hand and said, “Just call me by my name, it’s better than calling me an old man…”

Gu Yueyan asked, “Do you still remember that you owe me an accompanying treatment?”

Ren Suo pondered for a moment and nodded. He replied, “Yes, I still remember about that.”

More than half a month ago when he went to Island Lake in Xiang City with Gu Yueyan, he had failed to quickly rescue Gu Yueyan from the water. He felt that he had not fulfilled his responsibilities as her ‘protector’, and so he said that he owed Gu Yueyan one for that.

Gu Yueyan said, “I plan to train my Awakened Ability at the mountain behind the school at night. Since my Awakened Ability is a damage-type ability, and I still do not have perfect control of my ability, I may end up hurting myself. As such, I hope that you would remain beside me during my training as a form of insurance.”

She paused for a moment before continuing, “I once trained alone, and although I did not injure myself, I cut a small chunk of my hair off…”

Ren Suo could not help but snicker. He said, “You injured yourself with your own Awakened Ability… You are now as much of an embarrassment as Xiao Yu… Anyway, sure, when do you need my help?”

Remembering that he had not yet formed a Coupling with Gu Yueyan, and especially that Gu Yueyan possessed a rare damage-type ability, Ren Suo naturally did not want to miss such an opportunity.

“Tomorrow night!” Gu Yueyan said.

Ren Suo blinked. He replied hesitantly, “Eh… can you pick another time to train?”

“Huh? I am going home the day after tomorrow, and I will only be back next month,” Gu Yueyan replied. She continued, “Moreover, my Awakening is related to the condition of the sky. It would be a full moon tomorrow, which is the most suitable environment for casting my Awakened Ability. Why, do you have something on tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow night… I’m not really busy then, I suppose,” Ren Suo said.

“It’s all set then! Remember, I’ll meet you at the mountain at the back of the school at 8 p.m. tomorrow night. The day is longer in summer!”

Upon finishing her sentence, Gu Yueyan hurried away, as if she was afraid that Ren Suo would refuse.

At that juncture, Ren Suo’s mobile phone rang. It was Zhao Huo.

He said, “Let’s meet tomorrow! Chairman Xie would be free tomorrow as well. Let’s enjoy a round of beer and barbeque together…”

“I’m busy tomorrow. Moreover, it’s not as beneficial to hang out with you guys,” Ren Suo replied.

Although Zhao Huo and the others were also quite capable, they were not Awakeners, and he naturally could not form Couplings with them.

After Ren Suo hung up on him, Zhao Huo was stunned for a moment. He rubbed his chin and muttered to himself, “How could this guy talk about ‘benefits’. The only thing that would be more beneficial’ than hanging out with us would be that… he was going to hang out with a girl?!”

When Ren Suo reached the foot of his dormitory block, he saw the black cat lying in a cool area while basking in the sun as usual. He squatted down and patted the cat as he pondered:

“Is it not too coincidental…”

————

“Team Leader, what are you laughing at?”

Hearing her team member’s question, Qiao Muyi put her mobile phone back into the pocket of her pants and replied:

“It’s nothing, it’s just fun to establish the momentum.”