83: Chapter 83 Can your thick skin defy the laws of physics?
At the foot of the mountain of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, in a withered forest.
Several streaks of light streaked across the sky, landing and transforming into several Elders with profound auras. Leading them was a man with an ancient sword on his back; he was the Sect Head of the Heavenly River Sword Sect, Daoist Qingxu. Behind him followed the Discipline Hall Elder and several Peak Masters.
They had rushed over after sensing an extremely strange fluctuation of spiritual power—or rather, a fluctuation of rules—erupting here. "This is..." The Discipline Hall Elder had just taken a step when his boot made a strange "sizzle" sound. He looked down, and his pupils constricted sharply.
On the ground was a deep trench five hundred meters long. This trench wasn't carved by Sword Qi, nor was it blasted by Spells; it was flat and smooth, as if someone had used a giant spoon to forcibly scoop a layer out of the soil. At the end of the trench, a person was embedded. Or rather, a mass of matter that used to be a person.
"It's the commander of the Great Zhou Dynasty's Secret Guards, Ye Xiao." Daoist Qingxu stepped forward to investigate and sucked in a cold breath. "A Foundation Establishment Late Stage, half-step Golden Core expert. He... he's still alive, but..."
Ye Xiao was indeed still alive, but his mind had collapsed. He was currently embedded in a tree trunk in a spread-eagle shape. His entire face had swollen into a pig's head due to prolonged extreme friction, and his features were blurred. Even more terrifyingly, he was still muttering incoherent nonsense that no one could understand: "...coefficient of friction... normal force... I won't do the problems anymore... let me go... I want to hand in a blank paper..."
"Hiss—" The several Elders looked at each other, feeling a chill rush from their tailbones straight to the top of their heads. "What kind of evil technique is this?" a Peak Master asked tremulously. "No spiritual power needed, no celestial phenomena triggered, purely relying on... relying on what to grind a person down like this?"
Daoist Qingxu remained silent for a long time, reaching out to gently stroke the mirror-smooth trench. In the residual aura, he felt no killing intent, only a sense of "rationality" that was cold to the extreme. It was a rule that transcended all living beings: if I say you will slip, you must slip; no matter how thick-skinned you are, it's useless.
"This is not an evil technique." Daoist Qingxu stood up, his gaze turning toward the Scripture Pavilion on the back mountain, his eyes filled with deep awe. "This is... the 'Dao'. That Senior is using this method to warn the world: before the true 'Great Dao', our so-called cultivation and Protective Aura are nothing but thin paper."
The Elders were filled with solemn respect. So, the "reclusive Saint" in the Scripture Pavilion had already become strong to such an extent? Even harming people was so full of philosophy!
...
Meanwhile, inside the Scripture Pavilion.
"Achoo!" Li Mo rubbed his nose and flipped a page of the "Elementary Firewall Construction Guide" in his hand. "Who's talking about me behind my back again?"
He glanced at the System panel. [Ding! Your Disciple Chu Linger used 'Newton's Second Law' to defeat the enemy, triggering the 'Physics Persuasion' achievement.] [Reward obtained: Scripture Pavilion defense mechanism upgrade component—'Turing Test' (Cultivation Version).] [Current prestige has skyrocketed; all members of the Heavenly River Sword Sect have +1000 respect for you.]
"Respect my foot." Li Mo looked through the window at the dense crowd of heads outside the Scripture Pavilion, feeling a massive headache.
Ever since he turned on silent mode during the last "Ghost Tide" incident, these Sect Disciples had treated the Scripture Pavilion like a Holy Land. Every day before dawn, a row of people would be kneeling at the door. Some begged for Cultivation Techniques, some for guidance, and there was even an outrageous Elder who brought his newborn grandson to ask for a "Blessing." So noisy. Although they didn't dare to make a loud racket, the "gaze" of hundreds of pairs of eyes staring at him was scarier than noise.
"Since you're all so idle, then do some problems." A mischievous smile curled at the corner of Li Mo's mouth as he tapped lightly in the Void Realm. It was the reward he had just received: [Turing Test (Cultivation Version)].
Buzz— The door of the Scripture Pavilion suddenly trembled, and a pale gold light curtain slowly rose, blocking the front of the door. On the light curtain, there were no profound Formation runes; instead, nine pictures appeared, along with a line of shining large characters:
[Pavilion Entry Verification] [Please select all pictures containing 'Heart Demons' from the nine pictures below.] [Those who answer correctly may enter the pavilion to browse; those who answer incorrectly will be muted for three days.]
The Disciples outside instantly boiled over (albeit in a silent boil). "This... this is the trial set by the Senior!" "Heart Demons? The Senior is testing our Dao Hearts!"
Senior Brother Lei Wanjun was the first to rush forward, full of confidence. "Heart Demons are formless and intangible, but for us Sword Cultivators, all obstacles are Heart Demons!" He widened his eyes to look at the nine pictures.
First picture: a rabbit eating grass. Second picture: an ordinary stone. Third picture: a snapshot of Sect Head Qingxu picking his nose (Li Mo's private addition). Fourth picture: a mass of blurry black mist...
Lei Wanjun was stunned. What was this? A rabbit is a Heart Demon? A stone is a Heart Demon? Or is the Sect Head a Heart Demon? His hand trembled as he tentatively clicked on the mass of black mist.
[Incorrect.] A red cross popped up on the light curtain. [That's the smoke from when the Sect Head boils water in the morning.] Immediately afterward, before Lei Wanjun could react, an invisible seal appeared on his mouth. Muted for three days.
"Next." Li Mo watched this scene from the second floor, laughing like a three-hundred-pound child. This captcha System was linked to the laws of Karma. What is a Heart Demon? It is only if you feel it is in your heart. These cultivators talked about "Dao Heart" all day, but when they encountered this kind of "spot the difference" that pointed directly to the heart, they all showed their true colors.
"Squeak." The Treasure-Seeking Rat jumped down from the beam, holding a freshly peeled grape and handing it to Li Mo. It pointed out the window, meaning: the Sect Head is here.
Sure enough, Daoist Qingxu was standing solemnly before the light curtain. He looked at the nine pictures, especially the one of himself picking his nose, and his old face couldn't help but twitch. "The Senior... is warning me." Daoist Qingxu was deeply shaken, "He's telling me that as a Sect Head, I must not only mind my decorum but also see the essence of things and not be deceived by appearances!"
He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, no longer looking with his physical eyes but releasing his Divine Sense to perceive. A moment later, he snapped his eyes open and decisively pointed at the ninth picture—it was a blank image.
[Congratulations, you passed.] The light curtain dissipated, and the door slowly opened.
Li Mo raised an eyebrow upstairs. "Oh, someone actually guessed that 'nothingness' is 'something'? This old man has some Comprehension Ability." However, this also meant trouble was coming.
Daoist Qingxu straightened his clothes and respectfully walked through the door, bowing deeply to Li Mo on the second floor: "Junior Qingxu has come specifically to thank the Senior for saving the Sect. Also..." He paused, his tone becoming exceptionally grave. "The 'Divine Marquis Who Guards the Nation' of the Great Zhou Dynasty has approached the Heavenly River Sword Sect with a hundred thousand Black-Armored Soldiers. The reason is... we are rebelling."
Hearing this, Li Mo just yawned lazily and flicked the grape skin accurately into a distant trash can. "Rebellion? That charge is too cliché." He picked up a pen from the table, casually wrote a few words on a piece of white paper, gave it a light blow, and the paper drifted down in front of Daoist Qingxu.
"Take this and hang it on the mountain gate."
Daoist Qingxu took the paper and looked; only one sentence was written on it in messy handwriting, yet it exuded an unreasonable dominance: [Construction ahead. No entry for unauthorized personnel (and armies under 100,000).]
"Senior, this..." Daoist Qingxu was dumbfounded. "Can this block a hundred thousand-strong army?" "Can't block it?" Li Mo smiled, his smile carrying a "top student" aura that made one's skin crawl. "Then let them come in and try. It just so happens that Linger just finished the first chapter of that 'five-year simulation,' and I was worrying about where to hold the 'midterm exam'."