102: Chapter 102 Nascent Soul Stage? No, you're a high-energy battery.
Tianhe Academy, the swamp outside the mountain gate.
The atmosphere was awkward and tense. The Nascent Soul Stage Elder of the Wanfa Immortal Sect—Revered Master Xuanji—was currently maintaining an extremely undignified posture (handstand), half his body sunk in the 'gravity-reversal mud pit' created by Li Mo. Although the [Overdue Payment] Seal on his mouth was firmly plastered, his exposed eyes were already bulging like bronze bells, bloodshot with rage.
"Mmph! Mmph mmph!" (Translation: You whelp! How dare you insult me!)
Revered Master Xuanji's mind was in shambles. He, a mighty figure of the Middle Stage Nascent Soul, renowned throughout the Central Plains, had been trapped by this bizarre mud without even seeing his opponent? This mud held no Spiritual Qi fluctuations, only a strange, adhesive rule, as if treating him like a... data packet awaiting processing.
Second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
Li Mo watched the surveillance feed, twirling a pen in his hand. 'Seems the old gentleman is quite hot-tempered.' 'Moreover, his Spiritual Qi fluctuations are extremely unstable. Is he trying to self-detonate his Nascent Soul to break the Seal?'
A line of red text popped up on the System panel: [Warning: High-energy reaction detected.] [Target (Revered Master Xuanji) attempting to detonate high-density energy core (Nascent Soul) within body.] [Estimated yield: Equivalent to a small tactical nuclear warhead.] [Suggestion: Immediate physical elimination.]
"Elimination? Too wasteful." Li Mo shook his head. In this 'startup phase where even the landlord has no surplus grain,' every Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was a precious non-renewable resource.
He opened the recently unlocked **[Map Editor (Elementary)], selected the glowing, heating Revered Master Xuanji. Then, in the property panel on the right, he modified his 'Biological Attribute' column to... [Facility Attribute].
[Command: Maximize utility.] [Target Reconstruction: Convert 'Rampant Nascent Soul Cultivator' into 'Controllable High-Energy Spiritual Qi Generator.'] [Aesthetic Modification: Street Lamp (Vintage Style).]
...
Outside the mountain gate.
Revered Master Xuanji, who had been preparing to self-detonate to prove his resolve with death, suddenly felt the rampaging Spiritual Qi within him stall. Immediately after, he discovered in horror that his body was beginning to float uncontrollably. The mud pit vanished. In its place, a ten-zhang-tall black iron lamp post rose from the ground.
"Mmph?!" Before Revered Master Xuanji could react, he was 'sucked' to the top of the lamp post by an invisible force. Simultaneously, a transparent glass cover, engraved with dense talismanic scripts, appeared out of thin air, fitting over him seamlessly.
Click. Like a lightbulb being screwed into its socket.
The next second. Revered Master Xuanji felt the Nascent Soul within his body forcibly connected to a vast Formation network. The pure Spiritual Qi he had painstakingly Cultivated for five hundred years began to be continuously drained, flowing down the lamp post towards the entire Tianhe Academy.
Hum— The lamp lit up. Revered Master Xuanji's entire body emitted a dazzling yet soft white light (because Li Mo had added a 'soft light filter'), illuminating a radius of ten li.
[System Announcement: Campus infrastructure upgrade complete.] [New Facility Added: Nascent Soul-grade Humanoid Street Lamp (Revered Master Xuanji Model).] [Effect: Provides campus-wide nighttime illumination and free Spiritual Qi Wi-Fi coverage.]
"Mas... Revered Master?!" The two Wanfa Immortal Sect Disciples (one male, one female) who had been planted in the mud like spring onions finally pulled their heads out. They stared dumbfounded at the humanoid light source above them, their worldview shattered. Their Revered Master, who had shaken the Central Plains... had become a lightbulb?
"Too brutal..." The female Cultivator Lin Wan trembled, tears carving two trenches through the mud on her face, "This isn't some unorthodox path, this is a demon's den!"
"Run!" The male Cultivator Ye Qing still had some sense left. Grabbing his Junior Sister, he prepared to summon his Flying Sword and flee for his life.
However, before they could even mount their swords, two figures wearing yellow vests blocked their path. It was precisely the 'Head of the Civil Engineering Department' Butcher Xiao, and his capable teaching assistant (former Vanguard Officer).
"Running where?" Butcher Xiao held a measuring tape, looking the two up and down, his gaze as if appraising two uncut jade stones. 'Since you're already here, why not attend a couple of classes before leaving?'
"I won't attend class! I want to return to the Central Plains!" Ye Qing shrieked, his Flying Sword transforming into a streak of light as it shot towards Butcher Xiao.
Clang! The Flying Sword struck Butcher Xiao's chest, producing a crisp sound, not even breaking the skin. Because Butcher Xiao's chest now bore a **[Work Injury Insurance Talisman (Physical Immunity Edition)]** that Li Mo had just issued.
"Didn't eat? With that little strength, you still want to Cultivate immortality?" Butcher Xiao shook his head, extended his large hands, and grabbing them like chicks, lifted both of them up with one hand each. 'Perfect. Director Lei's Physics class is short of two 'control group' lab rats. You'll do.'
...
Tianhe Academy, First Lecture Hall.
This was originally a martial arts arena, now converted into a massive open-air classroom. Three thousand freshmen, dressed in blue and white school uniforms, sat upright with solemn expressions. On the podium, Great Senior Brother Lei Wanjun (Head of the Physics Department), adjusting his glasses, was writing furiously on a huge blackboard.
"Topic One: On Aerodynamic Optimization in Flying Sword Travel"
"Let me go! You lunatics!" Ye Qing and Lin Wan, bound tightly, were thrown to one side of the podium. Lei Wanjun didn't even glance at them, his chalk pointing to a formula on the blackboard: F = 1/2 * ρ * v² * S * Cl
"Students," Lei Wanjun's voice was calm yet fervent, "Traditional sword riding emphasizes 'unity of man and sword,' relying on Spiritual Qi to brute-force air resistance. This is an immense waste! A shameful act of inefficiency!" "According to the Saint's theory, simply by altering the cross-section of the Flying Sword and adding a 'spoiler,' we can reduce Spiritual Qi consumption by 30% and increase speed by 20%."
"Nonsense!" Ye Qing, bound on the ground, finally couldn't hold back, roaring, "The sword is the gentleman of all weapons! How can it be anything but straightforward? Adding a spoiler is an insult to the Dao of the Sword!" He was a sword Genius of the Wanfa Immortal Sect and would never allow such heresy to taint the sword Dao.
"Insult?" Lei Wanjun turned his head, a cold glint flashing on his glasses. "Since you object, let's conduct an experiment then."
He untied Ye Qing's ropes and tossed him an ordinary longsword. "You, use your proudest 'Myriad Laws Return to One Sword' and stab me with all your might."
Ye Qing sneered coldly: "Seeking death!" He unleashed his Spiritual Qi, revealing his Late Stage Golden Core cultivation. The longsword transformed into a streak of startling radiance, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek, aimed straight at Lei Wanjun's throat. This sword strike was fast, accurate, and ruthless, truly the work of a sword Revered Master.
However, Lei Wanjun stood in place, not moving a muscle. He simply pulled out from behind him a... peculiarly shaped sword. This sword's blade was streamlined, its tip conical, with several strange small holes (jet nozzles) near the hilt.
"Activate auxiliary propulsion," Lei Wanjun said flatly.
Boom! A burst of blue Spiritual Qi flame (compressed Spiritual Qi jet) suddenly shot out from the hilt of the strange sword. Lei Wanjun didn't use any profound sword technique, just a simple—counter-thrust.
Clang!
The two swords met. Ye Qing only felt an irresistible, tremendous force. Not only was the power immense, but more terrifyingly, the opponent's sword seemed to 'glide' through the air, encountering no resistance, its speed so fast his Divine Sense couldn't even track it.
Crack. The longsword in Ye Qing's hand snapped in two. Meanwhile, Lei Wanjun's strange sword had already come to a halt three inches from the center of his forehead. The expelled airflow blew Ye Qing's hair straight up, turning it into an afro.
Dead silence filled the hall. Three thousand freshmen stared, dumbstruck. That Genius from the Central Plains was defeated in one move?
"See?" Lei Wanjun retracted his strange sword, turned to face the students, and tapped the blackboard. "This is science." "He used 100 units of Spiritual Qi, but only 60 were converted into kinetic energy. The remaining 40 were wasted on friction heating with the air." "I, through structural optimization, increased the conversion rate to 95%." "This is—dimensional reduction strike."
The freshmen's eyes below the stage changed. From confusion to fanaticism. "Director Lei is awesome!" "science Cultivation, boundless power!"
Meanwhile, Ye Qing and Lin Wan, slumped on the ground, looked at the broken sword, then at their Revered Master glowing as a street lamp in the distance. Their worldview completely collapsed. Could it be... the Cultivation they learned before was actually false? Was this... the truth?
...
Second floor of the Scripture Pavilion.
Li Mo watched this scene, satisfied, and closed the *five-year simulation*. "Good, the first batch of 'exchange students' have been successfully brainwashed... ahem, educated."
He glanced out the window at Revered Master Xuanji, still glowing and emitting heat. "However, after beating the young ones, the old ones are sure to come." "The Wanfa Immortal Sect will probably notice something is wrong soon."
Just then, the System panel vibrated again. This time, it wasn't an alarm, but feedback from deep underground.
[Hint: The Ancient God (World's True Body) seems to find the specific frequency light waves emitted by that 'Nascent Soul street lamp' comfortable.] [The Ancient God has sent a friend request (fake).] [It hopes you can make more of these lamps; it's afraid of the dark.]
Li Mo: "..." He looked at the floor beneath his feet, his mouth twitching. The true body of this world was actually a baby afraid of the dark?
"Fine then." Li Mo sighed, taking out the *Cultivation World Complete Map* (Autopsy Report). "Since the client has a demand, we'll expand the business." "Aren't there many Nascent Soul mighty figures in the Central Plains? Aren't there many old monsters who deem themselves orthodox?"
His finger drew a circle over the Central Plains' location. "Once we capture them all and hang them all over the Southern Wastelands..." "Won't this world become bright and clear?"
A **'Street Lamp Recruitment Plan'** (Capture Plan) targeting all Nascent Soul Stage mighty figures across the Cultivation World was officially greenlit within Li Mo's mischievously imaginative mind.