115: Chapter 115 Good question, let me answer it!

Logically speaking, Su Bai already had a lot of money, but unlike Tier 1 cards, the rarity of materials consumed by Tier 2 cards increased exponentially.

It is worth noting that materials are not more valuable the higher their tier; it's about their rarity.

For example, between a common Tier 9 material and a legendary Tier 1 material, the latter is definitely more valuable, and by a significant margin.

And the materials Su Bai was using now involved a whole bunch of high-grade materials, some epic materials, and even some legendary materials.

Su Bai stood up and brushed the powder off his knees. The circuit architecture of the Stand Card was perfect on paper—a twelve-axis Causality Contract framework supporting Mental Power mapping, using nano-scale formless spirit sand as the medium and Abyssal Silver as the conductive layer. Logically, every node meshed seamlessly.

But in actual operation, it got stuck in the same place: bidirectional mass-energy conversion.

The core mechanism of the Stand is to convert mental energy into physical mass and then perfectly retract it after the battle ends. This "conversion → retraction" closed loop requires an extremely precise bidirectional magic array.

He tried eleven different node arrangements, and every time, it exploded during the retraction phase. Converting mental energy outward into physical mass was smooth, but the moment it converted back from physical mass to mental energy—the circuit would directly overload.

Simply put.

The Stand could be released, but it couldn't be retracted.

"This is no longer a parameter issue," Su Bai said, leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling. "It's that the underlying framework is missing a link. Pushing Mental Power out requires conductivity, but pulling the physical state back requires—some kind of reverse anchoring. A calibration mechanism that can re-identify Mental Power from a 'state that has already become matter'."

[What you are describing is a conceptual recognition function at the Causality Contract level.]

"Right. But this is different from the Causality Contract of the Magical Girl system. A contract is voluntary by both parties and has the ritualistic sense of signing and pressing a seal. A Stand is a unilateral extension of Mental Power; there is no 'other side' to sign this for you."

Su Bai closed his eyes.

His mind was flooded with the parameter tables he had discussed with Researcher Yun Zhi during the day. The coupling coefficient of 9.7 was perfect on paper, but in actual operation, the node temperature during the retraction phase would soar above the material's melting point within a fraction of a second. It wasn't that the conductivity was insufficient; it was that the circuit in this section physically couldn't withstand the frictional heat during reverse energy flow. Unless—

He opened his eyes and took out his phone.

Truth Sanctuary internal forum. Materials Research section.

[Su Bai]: [Question. Is there a material that can remain magically inert at room temperature, but automatically lowers its impedance when Mental Power passes through—in other words, it can 'identify' the direction of Mental Power? Channel type, not storage type.]

After posting, he set his phone on the table and squatted back down in front of the pile of fragments.

Buzz.

The phone vibrated.

This time it was actually a private message. Su Bai took a look; it was actually Researcher Yun Zhi. But that made sense; he hadn't asked in the group chat of the big shots in the Sanctuary, but on the forum, so naturally, anyone could see it.

[Researcher Yun Zhi]: [I have the kind of material you're talking about in my lab. It's an extract from the pith core of Abyss Soul-Eating Wood, Tier 3, and not expensive. Its characteristic is single-direction spiritual conduction—Mental Power entering from end A and exiting from end B is smooth, but the reverse direction encounters near-infinite impedance.]

[Researcher Yun Zhi]: [Wait. You asked for bidirectional just now. Do you want a material that can automatically identify the flow direction of Mental Power?]

[Su Bai]: [Right. Smooth forward, low impedance reverse, inert at room temperature.]

There was a pause of about five seconds from the other side.

[Researcher Yun Zhi]: [...]

[Researcher Yun Zhi]: [This kind of thing doesn't exist in nature. Low-impedance channels for both forward and reverse directions are physically contradictory.]

[Researcher Yun Zhi]: [Give me forty minutes, I'll make it now.]

[Su Bai]: [Make it now?]

[Researcher Yun Zhi]: [Mix the Abyss Soul-Eating pith core extract with Tier 9 crystal core fragment powder in a certain ratio, and use nano-scale formless spirit sand as an interface layer while in a liquid state. Theoretically, it can form a 'flow-sensing membrane' only a few molecules thick on the contact surface of the two materials. This membrane will automatically flip its molecular arrangement when it senses a change in the direction of Mental Power—one impedance value for forward, another for reverse.]

[Researcher Yun Zhi]: [I'm going to the lab.]

[Su Bai]: [It's the middle of the night.]

[Researcher Yun Zhi]: [Even better, I won't have to queue for the equipment.]

Then her avatar went gray. Su Bai stared at the line [Even better, I won't have to queue for the equipment] for two seconds, rubbed his chin, and clicked his tongue:

"...This person is crazier than me, but it feels like she's putting a lot of effort into this. Is she interested in this too?"

[Based on behavioral pattern analysis.] Kyubey tilted its head. [Researcher Yun Zhi's assessment of your academic value is at least ranked above sleep. Incidentally, also ranked above sleep are caffeine intake and thesis deadlines.]

"How do you know her thesis deadline—"

[The last time she discussed parameters with you in the database, there were four empty coffee cups on the table. Each cup was pressing down on a page of a thesis draft. The title was 'Energy Loss Control Model for Space Folding Circuits Based on Nano-scale formless spirit sand'.]

"You just glanced at it and remembered all that."

[I am Kyubey.]

"...Fine."

Su Bai squatted back down in front of the pile of materials. His fingers moved rapidly across the draft paper, adding the flow-sensing membrane logic that Researcher Yun Zhi had just mentioned into the retraction phase of the circuit architecture. If this membrane could really distinguish the direction of Mental Power, then the last knot in the bidirectional mass-energy conversion would be untied.

However, this meant the material list for the Stand Card would have to be recalculated.

He picked up his pen and wrote a new number at the bottom of the draft paper. Kyubey leaned over to take a look.

[It's about twice as much as the entire budget you spent at the Convention Center last time.]

"No need to remind me."

[Understood. But the number of days until you go bankrupt has changed from three to two.]

"You reminded me anyway."

[I apologize. I am merely stating objective facts.]

Su Bai set the pen down on the table. Outside the window, the headlights of a small white car were speeding up the Zijin Mountain road at a speed that completely violated traffic laws. Before the car had even come to a complete stop, a figure in a white lab coat had already jumped out of the driver's seat, clutching an incubator. Half of a pair of pajama pants with cartoon cat patterns peeked out from under the lab coat.

Kyubey's tail swished.

[It seems the material problem will be solved soon. However, there is one more thing—someone has replied to the question you just posted on the Sanctuary forum.]

Su Bai looked down at his phone screen. Sanctuary forum. Under his question post, the first reply's ID sported a glittering gold verification badge.

[Qi Yuan · Senior Material Master of Truth Sanctuary · Tier 9 Venerable]

The reply content consisted of only three words.

[Well asked!]

It was followed by a long string of material science parameter analysis, deducing everything from the extraction process of the Abyss Soul-Eating pith core to the theoretical feasibility of the nano-interface layer. The wording was professional, the logic was rigorous, and the writing exuded an excitement that made it seem like he couldn't wait to step in and help prepare the reagents himself.

Su Bai scrolled down. Qi Yuan had replied five times in one breath, the last one ending with a question mark full of academic expectation.

[Which card do you intend to use this on? What system is it for?]

Kyubey's red eyes shifted.

[Su Bai. Your heart rate has increased.]

"...No need to mention that."

[Understood.]

Su Bai flipped the phone over, face down on the table. He looked up at the ceiling. The charred hole blasted out by the last Explosion Magic had not yet been repaired.

Researcher Yun Zhi was already ringing the doorbell.

And over at the Truth Sanctuary, a certain senior master who had just finished scolding someone less than half an hour ago was rubbing his hands, waiting for a reply from a Tier 2 disciple.

He had absolutely no idea that the idiot fraudster whose license he had just threatened to revoke, and the questioner who now had him so excited he couldn't sleep... were the same person.