The King of Black Fog

Li Changzhou made his way through the crowd; everyone stepped aside to let him pass.

This was a super-strong person who had mastered Visualization without breaking his limits and had maxed out two attributes.

Compared to him, it was like comparing the Invincible Fleet of Spain to toy boats in a kiddie pool.

He faintly heard people discussing—

"A month's time. Why is the gap so big?"

"Aren't these things always happening? You've been grinding since five thousand years ago, working nonstop up to today, and still not making as much in one day as others, is that not a big gap?"

Li Changzhou returned to the corner and casually handed the book to Yang Qinglan.

"How's it?" Li Changzhou sat down and whispered boastfully to Li Qianxia.

"So-so." Li Qianxia coldly crossed her arms, showing none of the earlier enthusiasm she had for making a PowerPoint for her brother—at least not unless she was offered a skirt.

"It's average," Li Changzhou didn't deny, "Master Huang is incredible. That punch just now, aside from Death God and Emerald Bee Sword, was my strongest strike, and he didn't even take a step back."

"He coughed up blood." Yang Qinglan casually flipped two more pages of Master Huang's Value Game Experiences, then closed it and set it aside, planning to read it slowly later.

"Coughed up blood? I didn't—" Before he could finish, Li Changzhou realized and looked towards Master Huang on the stage.

Master Huang leisurely tightened his cup lid, his robe fluttering elegantly as he put away the Thunder Map and sat down in the chair, adjusting the microphone, showing no signs that he had coughed up blood.

"Alright," as soon as Master Huang spoke, he captured everyone's attention, "let's continue."

"Does anyone wonder how I could tell at a glance that the player just now had two maxed attributes?"

Some people turned to look at Li Changzhou.

"It's simple, envisioning the Thunder Map consumes a lot of energy; the higher the attributes, the more times one can envision. Roughly speaking, one maxed attribute allows for three visions a day, two maxed attributes allow for ten times a day, three maxed attributes..."

"Heh," Master Huang chuckled, "I don't know the exact numbers, but it's said that Little Martial Saint can envision thirty times a day, three times the amount of two maxed attributes, ten times the amount of one maxed attribute. His one day of envisioning is equivalent to a month for a player with one maxed attribute."

"That's not even the most crucial part; the most crucial thing is that they can learn more advanced ideologies."

"Higher level ideologies, combined with their high talents, equals one day of theirs being our one year."

"I know now everyone is definitely energized and wants to enhance their attributes, raise their backgrounds. That's one of the reasons why I and the Special Warfare Bureau are holding this lecture, to make the players of Xia Country aware of this and become stronger."

"But I must also remind everyone—livelihood brings hope, in the Value Game anything is possible."

"For instance, the time period I visited had items that could change talents, and to access these items, you must 'be born', able to return to the past."

The crowd, originally eager to aim for a higher status, now calmed down slightly, reflecting on their future path combining Master Huang's advice.

"After breaking limits, there's another very important, extremely important point," Master Huang said.

"Returning to the past isn't like entering an uninhabitable environment right now. If there are plants or herbivores in a world with light, water, and soil, it has become imperative to eat meat to sustain the body's needs."

"But the past is different, it is a complete world."

"If it weren't for the time limits of the missions, one could even live there indefinitely."

"My trip to that time was such a world. My mission was minimal, I shouldn't have come into contact with ideologies at all, but by a stroke of luck, I entered a sect."

"Because I was somewhat talented, I barely became an official disciple and learned one of the introductory Visualizations, the Thunder Book, from the Five Books."

"I spent the entire mission's time, a full three months, finally mastering the Thunder Book under the sect's guidance. During that time, I paid no attention to the mission."

"The mission failed, my purchase rights were very low, but because of my status as an official disciple, I gained special rights to buy the Thunder Map. My team and I scraped together enough money and finally bought it."

The audience listened intently, their hearts surging.

To return to the past, witness real history, and change history with one's own hands!

To return to the past and traverse the vastness of ancient times, encountering legendary fated encounters!

What an incredible and magnificent experience!

And no need to forcibly complete the instance!

Wouldn't it then just be... find a hidden spot and hide out?

"Three months," Li Changzhou muttered to himself.

"Did everyone pick up on the key points?" Master Huang smiled, stroking his goatee and asking.

"No need to do the missions!" someone shouted.

"But you need to break the limits; as long as you 'are born', becoming a resident of the new world, you will naturally be given a way to live, but you must also be prepared to be at the bottom for life," Master Huang said.

"You could encounter adventures and go treasure hunting!" another added.

"First, you have to find it, and secondly, what you find might not be treasure but danger. What if, like my last time, I had encountered an evil sect?"

Master Huang paused, then said, "Actually, the most important thing is the time. From the time I got on the subway to the time I got off, only one day had passed in the real world, while I had spent three months in the past practicing the Thunder Book."

"With the Thunder Book, for the next mission, my team and I don't have to care about the tasks; we just need to find a place to hide, utilize the time difference to slowly cultivate. Even if we don't complete the mission, we will still have increased our abilities and won't be too weak in the real world."

"This is just one path; the game offers too many choices, depending on everyone to discover and explore."

"Finally, one more thing about the instance—the white card players will have a natural advantage, as they will directly replace key historical figures, ensuring history is not altered."

"Alright, that's the end of this lecture. If anyone wants to try the Thunder Book again, you can attend my next lecture and follow my public WeChat account: Master Huang."

"The account will have the lecture schedule, and sometimes it will share some anecdotes and intelligence."

"Next, those who want to buy books, please feel free to come on stage."

Saying this, the staff brought several boxes of books over to Master Huang's side.

"Don't rush! Don't rush! Starting with the first row, there are definitely enough books!"

Players lined up one by one to take a book from Master Huang's hand just like receiving a diploma at graduation, leaving behind a little Game Coin.

"Qian Xia," Li Changzhou stood up.

"Hmm? Ready to go?" Li Qianxia stood up as well.

"Go buy a book later, and while you're at it, ask Master Huang if there's a way to increase Charm and Intelligence. After that, you and Qing Lan head back first, I need to leave earlier," Li Changzhou instructed before he turned and left Ming'en Hall.

"What could he possibly have to do?" Li Qianxia asked Yang Qinglan, puzzled.

"Probably going to the bathroom," Yang Qinglan flipped through the book in her hand, "Master Huang's Observations on the Value of Games."

"What's there to sneak about going to the bathroom? When he's old, isn't it still going to be me helping him with his catheter?"

Yang Qinglan glanced at her with a cold expression.

"Hehe, or maybe it's you, Qing Lan," Li Qianxia hugged her arm, trying to ingratiate herself.

"I'm not vying for the job of catheter management. You can do it if you want; no one is going to fight you for it. I just find you disgusting."

"Wow! You're calling me disgusting! You're the disgusting one! You fox spirit, Yang Daji, always seducing my brother! By the way, do you think we'll actually get to meet Daji someday? I really want to see how flirtatious she can be!"

"Don't forget what your brother asked us to do," Yang Qinglan said, too tired to argue with a pampered, immature girl who gets a new whim every moment.

"Got it, hand the book over a bit, let's read it together."

◇

Li Changzhou left Ming'en Hall, unable to even wait for the time it would take to return to the house on Yanhe Road and evade the cameras to enter the "Honeycomb World."

He arrived at the smallest playground of Ming University, leaped over the barbed wire, and found a secluded, quiet corner to sit cross-legged.

Grasping the last bit of sensation, he began the Visualization of the Thunder Map.

Clearing his mind, very smoothly;

Visualizing the dark clouds, failed;

Failed, failed, failed....

Failed, failed, failed.....

"Concentration"

Failed, failed, a glimmer of hope, failed...

Failed, failed, failed....

Failed, failed, failed....

A drop of dew fell from his hair's tips, landing on Li Changzhou's calm face.

His head numb, he opened his eyes, and it was already early morning, dew starting to bead up, the playground wet all over.

He sat quietly in the dark, with moonlight shining a meter away, the ground shimmering like mercury and darkness towering at his side.

Still a failure.

Suddenly, he grinned.

All was quiet, the lecture building was empty, the crowd from the lecture had long dispersed, even the dormitories had their lights off.

Chilly dew, pitch-black night sky, somber moonlight. Li Changzhou sat alone in the darkness, listening to the beat of his own heart, feeling an unparalleled joy.

The last time he felt this joy was long ago.

In high school, he always studied till the end, and walking back to the dorm under the bright searchlights, only his shadow accompanied him. Then, he often felt this joy bubbling up inside.

His spirit slowly recovering, Li Changzhou closed his eyes again.

Failed, failed, failed...

He wasn't rushed or impatient, like a person sitting alone in a deserted senior year classroom, working on a math problem that made no sense.

Occasionally looking up, every classroom in the lecture building was dark, even the light in his own classroom was lit just above his head.

He felt submerged in the ocean of night, his mood clear and tranquil.

As dawn began to break, he opened his eyes, his body drenched by the autumn morning dew.

Still a failure.

Li Changzhou stood up, took out his smartphone, and took a selfie with the playground and skyline in the background, planning to send it to the {Sisters Group}.

After a thought, he switched to a private chat with Yang Qinglan.

No, isn't this excluding my sister?

Got it.

Li Changzhou took a photo of the track in the playground and sent it to Yang Qinglan with the caption: "Morning workout started."

He then sent the selfie to the {Sisters Group} with the caption: "Ever seen a handsome guy at four in the morning?"

Yang Qinglan was already awake and replied to him privately first: "Oh"

In the {Sisters Group} she posted: "Hard work!"

Li Changzhou pondered for a while, what did that convey? Why was the private chat cold, but the group chat warm?

Couldn't figure it out.

Forget it.

Packing away his phone, he took a deep breath of the crisp air, shook his head, stretched his limbs, and prepared to start his day with fifty laps around the track.

His right foot stepped out onto the track.

Boom!

The dam burst open, and an endless stream of life force was released, pouring into his body like the sky was splitting and the earth was shattering.

The second Physical Enhancement, here it came.