205: First attempt at miniature astral erosion

Xinghai University, Practice Teaching Zone, No. 3 "Micro-Astral Access Hall".

Under the massive dome, hundreds of silver-gray independent operation pods were arranged neatly, shaped like upright elliptical cocoons. Faint energy veins flowed across the surface of each pod, connecting to the thick, pillar-like main control crystal tower in the center of the hall that reached the dome. A subtle hum of high-frequency energy flow permeated the air, along with the faint scent of "Soul-Soothing Incense" used to stabilize the Soul link.

At this moment, the hall was bustling. Hundreds of freshmen, guided by teaching assistants, entered their assigned pods in Order of their student numbers. Every face bore varying degrees of tension, excitement, and curiosity. Today was the first practical session of their "Basics of Divine Domain Expansion and Barrier Erosion" course, where they would attempt a real erosion in the strictly controlled, lowest-risk "Micro Teaching Astral Realm."

Lin Zhou stood before operation pod B-47. The pod door had already slid open; the interior was small, only large enough for one person to stand. Directly ahead was a curved, uniquely textured translucent crystalline wall, with complex conduits and rune arrays connected behind it. There were no seats inside, only a small Divine Power conduction platform at the feet and a few simple status indicators.

"Listen up!" Professor Yang Zhongshan's raspy and majestic voice rang through the hall via an amplification Spell array. He stood by the central control console, his mechanical right arm connected to several data fiber cables, and his left-eye monocle shimmering with light, clearly monitoring all connection statuses.

"You are about to access the 'Micro-Astral Teaching Network,' which contains dozens of screened, relatively simple, and 'extremely low' risk-rated micro-astral fragments. Each astral realm typically covers an area between 0.5 to 2 square kilometers, with a single Law structure, native creatures no higher than Rank 30, and strictly controlled numbers."

"Your goal is to complete the following tasks within one standard class period (90 minutes in real-time): First, successfully project your consciousness and achieve stable anchoring; second, complete preliminary Law infiltration over an area of at least 0.1 square kilometers (about 5%-20% of the total area), with a coverage rate of over 10%; third, successfully record and analyze at least one primary Law characteristic of that astral realm. Your task completion will be factored into this semester's practical course grade."

Yang Zhongshan's gaze swept across the room, his tone becoming heavier: "Remember what you learned in class! Keep the anchoring steady, the infiltration gradual, and monitor Law conflict data at all times! The pods are equipped with an emergency disconnection program. If Divine Power consumption exceeds the preset safety threshold (30% of your personal limit) or the Law conflict index exceeds the yellow alert (3.0), the System will issue a warning. After three warnings, the link may be forcibly terminated. Don't try to be a hero! Now, enter the pods and prepare to link!"

As the command was given, the freshmen took deep breaths and stepped into their respective pods. The doors closed silently behind them, and a soft white light illuminated the interior.

Lin Zhou stood firm on the Divine Power conduction platform, his consciousness sinking into the core of his Divine Domain. He first performed a quick self-check of his status.

[Deity Panel (Lin Zhou · Current)]:

Godhead Rank: Rank 150 (Faint Divinity Intermediate)

Divine Power Reserve: 7248 / 8500 (approx. 85.3%)

Divine Power Recovery Rate (Normal): approx. 12/hour

Divine Fire Status: Burning steadily, civilization patterns are clear.

Core divine office Embryo: [Education (Faint)], [Law (Faint)].

Divine Kingdom Area: approx. 80 square kilometers (including private astral territory).

Current Available Erosion-related Bonuses:

river of civilization (Passive): Slightly improves Law compatibility and reconciliation ability (specific values are limited by Godhead and difficult to quantify, estimated to reduce rejection coefficient by 5%-10%).

Legalist School · Net of Law (Concept): Potential advantage in Law definition and Order construction.

Godhead Processing Speed: Due to long-term immersion in the Hundred Schools of Thought and the influence of the Temple of Civilization, Law analysis and adaptation abilities are slightly higher than those of the same Rank.

"Condition good," Lin Zhou thought to himself. He didn't plan to use the power of the river of civilization or specific Hundred Schools of Thought from the start, deciding instead to follow the standard procedure and experience the most basic erosion process.

A prompt sounded inside the pod: "Please place both hands on the sensing areas, stabilize Divine Thought output, and prepare to access the micro-astral network... 3... 2... 1... Connection starting!"

Lin Zhou did as instructed. Instantly, he felt his consciousness being pulled and stretched by a soft but powerful force, as if passing through a kaleidoscopic tunnel. A slight sense of dizziness followed—a normal reaction when consciousness projects away from the original Divine Domain. About two or three seconds later, his feet felt solid, and the scene before him suddenly opened up.

He was "standing" on... the surface of the water.

No, more accurately, his consciousness projection (a blurry phantom emitting his own Divine Power fluctuations) was hovering about a meter above the water. Beneath his feet was an endless "ocean" shimmering with a faint blue light. The water's surface wasn't completely still; it had slow, breath-like ripples, but there were no signs of islands or land. The sky was a hazy pale blue, without sun, moon, or stars. Light came uniformly from all directions, bathing the entire world in a serene and strange blue tone.

The air (if it existed) was incredibly humid, filled with a rich aura of water elements. Lin Zhou could clearly feel that the basic Law here was extremely biased toward "water" and "flow," while the Laws of other elements like earth, fire, and wind were so weak they were almost nonexistent.

[Accessing Astral Information Loading...]

Astral Name: [Micro Water Elemental Realm - No. 7 (Teaching Use)]

Estimated Area: approx. 1.2 square kilometers (spherical water body space).

Environmental Characteristics:

Composition: 98% high-purity "Spiritual Water" containing faint water element activity, 2% dissolved inert mineral particles and trace gases.

Water Depth: Average depth approx. 50 meters, deepest point no more than 80 meters.

Law Tone: Pure, single, highly fluid. Water element Law activity rating: Low (Inert).

Energy Concentration: Medium water element energy concentration, extremely low energy for other elements.

Gravity: Approx. 70% of standard planetary gravity, directed toward the center of the water body.

Light Source: Self-fluorescence and diffused light from water element Laws, no day-night cycle.

Native Lifeforms:

Main Species: Water Elemental (Water Elemental, Rank 20-Rank 30).

Quantity: According to the scan, a total of 30-40 units, scattered.

Characteristics: Dependent on the water environment, can Fusion with and manipulate the water body to a certain extent. Generally mild-tempered, but will show hostility toward those who invade their Domain.

Mission Suitability Assessment: Simple Laws, low biological threat, suitable for freshmen's first erosion practice. Note possible interference from Water Elementals and slight rejection of non-water attribute Laws by the water environment.

"As expected, a Water Elemental Realm..." Lin Zhou's projection scanned the serene blue world. The environment was indeed simple, but it also meant his Divine Domain Laws (primarily Confucian Teaching, Legalist Order, Mohist Engineering, etc.) might naturally have a certain level of incompatibility here. Especially since his core followers (elves, dwarves, murlocs) were not pure aquatic or water-element-aligned races. Although murlocs were water-friendly, it was more of a "water-friendly" nature under "Order," which was still different from this purely natural elemental water body.

"First, find an anchor point." Lin Zhou recalled the classroom content. In such an almost completely homogeneous water world, natural and stable Law fulcrums were hard to find. He needed to create one himself.

He controlled his consciousness projection to descend slowly until his "feet" lightly touched the shimmering blue water surface below. The sensation was cool with a slight elasticity, as if stepping on some kind of gel. He slowly injected a sliver of Divine Power into the contact point beneath his feet, beginning to perceive and analyze the structure of the nearby water Law.

A few minutes later, he had a general grasp of the patterns. The Law network of this water area was like countless interwoven, flowing blue threads. Although inert overall, it was not completely homogeneous. In some areas where the current was relatively calm and the depth was greater, the weaving of the Law threads was slightly tighter and more stable.

He chose a "Law node" located about twenty meters below the "sea" surface, in an area where the surrounding current was nearly still, as his target. Several major Law threads converged there, forming a natural, tiny "knot" with slightly higher stability.

"Anchoring begin." Lin Zhou composed himself and began to draw Divine Power from his own Divine Domain. Being his first practice, he was extremely cautious, the Divine Power output as thin as a gossamer thread, traveling along the faint link between his consciousness projection and his Divine Domain, crossing the void to be injected into the selected underwater "Law node."

Buzz... a tiny, faint golden light lit up in the depths of the dark blue water. It was the mark carried by Lin Zhou's Divine Power, belonging to the basic Laws of his Divine Domain (biased toward Order and stability), like a small pebble dropped into the water, attempting to fix a "nail" of his own within the network of flowing blue threads.

[Erosion Operation Interface (Personal)]:

Current Status: Anchoring in progress.

Divine Power Output: 1.5 units/minute (extremely low, safe).

Anchor Point Stability: 65% (slightly disturbed by water flow, slowly rising).

Law Conflict Index: 0.8 (slight, stemming from the natural difference between "Order Stability" Laws and "Water Flow" Laws).

Estimated Complete Anchoring Time: approx. 3 minutes.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly. The faint golden anchor point slowly stabilized at the bottom of the dark blue water, its light gradually solidifying.

However, just as the anchoring progress reached 85% and was about to succeed—

A sudden change occurred!

In the water about thirty meters away from the anchor point, the originally calm blue water suddenly churned and surged violently! A creature about three meters tall, composed entirely of clear flowing water and with a roughly humanoid silhouette that constantly shifted, "stood up" from the water! There were two glowing blue spots at its "head" position, like eyes, which were now "staring" intently at the faint golden light of Lin Zhou's anchor point, emitting clear hostility and vigilance.

[Native Unit Encounter!]

Name: Medium Water Elemental (Common)

Rank: Rank 25

Alignment: True Neutral (usually), Territorial (when triggered).

Core Attributes (Estimated):

Strength: 28 (composed of water, high plasticity, actual physical striking force is average)

Agility: 20 (moves slowly on land, but extremely agile in water)

Physique: 35 (elemental life, high resistance to physical attacks, medium energy resistance, weak to fire/ice special effects)

Intelligence: 12 (simple consciousness, follows instincts and elemental habits)

Spirit: 18 (will is relatively pure, less affected by strong emotions or Order-based powers)

Charisma: N/A

Talent/Characteristics:

Water Body Fusion (Core): Can partially or completely Fusion with the surrounding water (Spiritual Water) at any time. During Fusion:

Physical Immunity: Immune to most pure physical attacks (slashes, arrows, etc.).

Energy Resistance Increase: Resistance to water-attribute attacks is greatly increased, and resistance to other attribute attacks is slightly increased.

Hard to Lock: The unit's outline is blurred, and its aura is assimilated with the surrounding water. The hit rate of long-range locking skills is significantly reduced (approximately -40%), and the effectiveness of scouting skills is weakened.

Mobile Stealth: Can move quickly and silently underwater while in a fused state.

Water Home Field: When in an environment rich in water elements (such as this miniature astral realm), all water-attribute Spells/skill effects are increased by 30%, and energy recovery speed is increased by 50%.

Elemental Perception: Extremely sensitive to energy anomalies within the waters (such as Lin Zhou's anchored Divine Power).

Skills (Detected):

Water Arrow Burst (LV3): Condenses water elements to fire a high-speed water arrow, dealing water-attribute damage (base damage is approximately equal to a LV25 Mage's Fireball), with a slight impact effect. Cooldown: 8 seconds.

Water Current Binding (LV2): Manipulates water currents to entwine the target, restricting its movement (Agility check; failure reduces movement speed by 60%) for 15 seconds or until broken by strength. Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Summon Water Mist (LV1): Creates a water mist area with a 10-meter radius, reducing visibility and providing an additional stealth effect for itself. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

This water element had clearly sensed the fluctuations of "Order" Divine Power emitted during Lin Zhou's anchoring, which was incompatible with the local water element rules, viewing it as an intrusion into its territory and a pollution of the rules. Within its simple elemental consciousness, it was filled with the instinct to expel outsiders.

"Roar—" (A low-frequency hum produced by the violent vibration of the water flow.)

The water element raised an arm made of flowing water, pointing it from afar toward the direction of Lin Zhou's anchor point. The surrounding water rapidly gathered and compressed in its palm, forming a fist-sized, high-speed rotating azure water arrow with edges shimmering with a cold light in the blink of an eye!

Whoosh!

The water arrow left its hand, cutting through the water at a speed far exceeding that of an ordinary arrow, shooting straight toward that cluster of pale gold anchoring light! Wherever the water arrow passed, it left a brief trail of cavitation bubbles, demonstrating the force it contained.

Lin Zhou's heart tightened. Although it was just a teaching astral realm with a low biological threat level, the power of this water arrow, with the +30% home field bonus, was likely enough to easily shatter the anchor point he had just constructed and had not yet stabilized!

"The interference is coming..." Lin Zhou made an instant judgment. Interrupting the anchoring and retreating now was the safest choice, but that would mean the failure of his first practical attempt. Moreover, in real astral realm erosions, encountering resistance from native creatures was the norm; one could not simply give up at the first sign of interference.

"I can't take it head-on, nor can I let it continuously attack and interfere with the anchoring." Lin Zhou's thoughts raced. His consciousness projection itself had almost no combat power; he had to rely on responses at the rule level, or... summon a trace of his followers' projections? But the teaching astral realm rules were restrictive, allowing only the projection of extremely minute, symbolic follower power, and the consumption would not be small.

Seeing the water arrow about to hit the golden light of the anchor, Lin Zhou made a decision. He did not interrupt the anchoring but instead slightly increased the output of Divine Power maintaining the anchor. Simultaneously, his mind communicated with the [Legalist School · Temple of Law] within his own Divine Domain!

He could not project the Temple of Law directly, but he could borrow the core concepts of "definition," "boundaries," and "rule validity" from Legalist thought, combined with the authority of his Faint Divinity [Law] divine office prototype, to perform an extremely brief, conceptual-level "declaration" here!

"With this anchor as the center, the ten-meter radius of water is designated as a 'Temporary Immunity Zone'!" Lin Zhou's thoughts, accompanied by a wisp of pure Legalist Divine Power fluctuation, swept through that area of water like an invisible legal decree, "Any unauthorized attack shall have its effectiveness halved within this zone!"

This was not a direct defense or attack skill, but rather a temporary "definition" and "ruling" on the "concept" of the "attack effect" within a localized area, using the [Law] divine office prototype! It was equivalent to temporarily modifying the "damage rules" of that small area.

[Divine Art Application Attempt: Minor Effect · Rule Ruling (Based on Legalist Thought and Law divine office)]

Principle: Consumes Divine Power and divine office authority to perform a brief definition and correction of a specific "event" or "effect" within a localized range.

Current Application: Defines the "water arrow fired by the water element" as an "incomplete effectiveness attack" within the "Temporary Immunity Zone."

Consumption: Approximately 15 units of Divine Power (due to factors such as distance, Godhead level, and target strength, consumption is higher than conventional Divine Arts).

Effect: Successfully applied. Upon entering the ten-meter range around the anchor point, the incoming water arrow's elemental energy structure and impact kinetic energy suffered unstable disruption and decay, its power visibly decreasing.

Actual Performance: When the water arrow hit the pale gold anchor light, it made a muffled "thud" sound. The golden light flickered and shook violently, and the anchoring stability instantly plummeted from 92% to 71%, but it was not directly shattered! The water arrow itself burst into a cloud of ordinary water spray upon impact.

Rule Conflict Index: Slightly rose to 1.5 (due to the external rule definition interfering with the normal effect of the local water element's attack).

"It worked!" Lin Zhou's spirits lifted. Although the consumption was larger than expected, he had successfully withstood the first interference and saved the anchor point. However, this clearly enraged the water element.

Seeing its water arrow mysteriously weakened, the water element became even more frenzied. It did not launch another long-range attack but instead lunged forward with its entire body, instantly fusing completely with the surrounding water! Its outline disappeared, and its aura almost merged with the vast water element background, leaving only an extremely faint trace of water flow disturbance rapidly approaching Lin Zhou's anchor point!

It had activated its [Water Body Fusion] talent, preparing to destroy the anchor point directly at close range or use [Water Current Binding] to control that annoying external "node"!

"Fused state... Hard to lock, physical immunity..." Lin Zhou's brow furrowed. Conventional means were extremely inefficient against a water element in this state. His consciousness projection and that faint Legalist ruling power would find it very difficult to accurately capture a target fused within the water.

"Since it's hard to lock your 'form,' I'll lock your 'intent' and behavioral logic!" A flash of inspiration struck Lin Zhou. He remembered that among the Hundred Schools of Thought, there was one school whose philosophy might be able to deal with this situation—the School of Names!

The School of Names excelled in debate, with its core lying in the "distinction between names and reality," "uniting similarities and differences," and "separating hardness and whiteness," pointing directly to the fundamentals of concepts and logic. Although Lin Zhou's unlocking of School of Names scriptures was not yet deep, its most basic ideas—confusing concepts, blurring boundaries, and creating logical contradictions—could perhaps be used to interfere with this water element that relied on simple elemental instincts!

He mobilized his Divine Power once again. This time, instead of invoking the [Temple of Law], he attempted to communicate with the corner of the Temple of Civilization that represented the thoughts of the School of Names. A wisp of Divine Power, extremely faint yet carrying an aura of sophistry and agility, was drawn out by him.

"Conceptual Endowment: Define the act of 'attacking the anchor' as 'repairing the water body'!" Using his will as a brush and the sophistry of the School of Names as ink, Lin Zhou "splashed" this extremely awkward concept, which contradicted the water element's current behavioral logic, toward the rapidly approaching, hostile water flow disturbance!

This was not forced control, but rather something closer to a high-intensity "Concept Confusion" or "cognitive interference" targeted at a simple logical individual. It was like forcibly inputting a contradictory command into a simple machine executing a fixed program, attempting to cause its logical processing to malfunction.

[Divine Art Application Attempt: Minor Effect · Concept Confusion (Based on School of Names Thought)]

Principle: Consumes Divine Power to apply brief conceptual distortion or logical interference to a target (especially units with simple logic that rely on instinct or fixed rules).

Current Application: Instills the contradictory concept of "attack = repair" into the fused water element.

Consumption: Approximately 12 units of Divine Power (the target has low mental attributes and weak resistance, but the fused state increases the difficulty of interference).

Effect Judgment: Water element Spirit 18, simple logic. Lin Zhou Godhead LV150, initial application of School of Names thought is unpracticed. Interference attempt... partially successful!

Actual Performance: That rapidly approaching, hostile water flow disturbance came to a sudden halt less than five meters from the anchor! From within the water flow came the water element's confused, intermittent mental fluctuations: "At... tack? Re... pair? Contradiction... error..." Its movements showed obvious hesitation and chaos, its fused state also became unstable, its outline flickering in and out of existence, and its forward speed greatly reduced.

Rule Conflict Index: Slight fluctuation, no significant increase (the School of Names interference acts on the target individual's logic, having little impact on the environment).

Taking this opportunity, Lin Zhou seized the moment of the water element's logical chaos and unstable Fusion to reinvest most of his mind into the anchoring. The pale gold anchor light stabilized once more and began to accelerate its absorption of the Divine Power he continuously supplied, with its stability rapidly recovering.

At the same time, he diverted a trace of his will to activate the basic "Rule Analysis and Recording" function provided by the teaching System, starting to scan and analyze the rule data of this water element and the surrounding waters to complete the third part of the task. Data streams refreshed rapidly in his consciousness.

The water element "struggled" in place for over ten seconds before barely breaking free from the logical confusion of "attack/repair," but its hostility and vigilance had been weakened considerably. It seemed to have developed an instinctive wariness toward the outsider who could make its "brain" malfunction. It did not launch an attack again immediately but instead hovered in a slightly more distant area of water, observing cautiously.

Lin Zhou seized this window to maintain the anchoring output with all his strength. Three minutes later, the anchor point was finally completely stabilized. The pale gold light, like a tiny sun, was embedded in the deep blue water bottom, becoming Lin Zhou's first rule fulcrum in this astral realm.

[Erosion Progress Update]:

Anchoring Status: Completed (100%).

Cumulative Divine Power Consumption: Approximately 58 units (including consumption for resisting interference).

Current Task: Begin rule penetration centered on the anchor point.

Lin Zhou breathed a sigh of relief but did not dare to be careless. He knew this was only the beginning. The penetration process would be longer and might attract the attention of more water elements. He needed to control his Divine Power output more cautiously, slowly letting his own Order rules—like ink dropped into water—diffuse and penetrate the surrounding waters with the anchor point as the center... This first practice was far more complex and real than listening to lectures in class. And this was merely a "very low" risk teaching astral realm. What would a real astral realm erosion look like? As Lin Zhou controlled the pace of penetration, he silently calculated in his mind. The application of the Hundred Schools of Thought in erosion seemed to have only just revealed a corner. And that water element still hovering in the distance, occasionally "looking" at the anchor in confusion, seemed to remind him that the collision of rules and civilization was never peaceful.