A huge thanks to GreenKiTea on Kofi for the support! Enjoy!

━━ 🐈‍⬛ ━━

A question mark slowly appeared above Qiyu’s head. 

If his memory served him correctly, it had been at least a good hour since his friends had messaged him to say that “I Am Domineering” and “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” had fallen out and were arguing.

Why are they still arguing?

Aren’t they supposed to be killing Rain Swifts?

Just as he was wondering, he saw that “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” had actually come out to respond.

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: There’s no such thing in the first place.】

【I Am Domineering: Hah, you bragged about it yourself. Everyone in the small group—me, Xiao Shuai, and Little Old Me—knew about it back then.】

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: If I really had that item,  would you still be alive here spreading rumors?】

【I Am Domineering: Who knows where you used it.】

【I Am Domineering: Cursed Item, Me—The Disaster Rain from Before… You Didn’t Cause That, Did You?】 

To be honest, I Am Domineering had no evidence, and he doesn’t really think the other caused the disaster rain. A disaster on such a massive scale—he doesn’t believe a player could have caused something like that. 

But let’s be honest—he’s no saint either. Now that he’s fallen out with “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens,” and there’s absolutely no chance of reconciliation,

So of course he’ll pin every possible blame on him—he’d love nothing more than to ruin his reputation and ensure he never recovers. 

The more false accusations he can pin on him, the better—what if some top-ranked big shot believes it and decides to “rid the world of a menace”?

He wasn’t even there yet, but this smear campaign actually hit the mark.

“My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” was filled with doubt. Although he was arrogant, he wasn’t hopelessly stupid. When it came to something as private as props, he might brag a bit in a small group chat when he was feeling cocky, but he’d never be foolish enough to demonstrate the specific effects.

Besides, that disaster that day was so severe that even he wasn’t there. How could he possibly know?

【Cockroach Taste Is So Weird: Arguments are one thing, but you shouldn’t just make stuff up like this.】

【The More I Involution The Bitterer My Life Becomes: Right, so many lives were lost—don’t joke about things like this.】

【I Love Survival Game: In Star Forest, there’s a type of enormous, ancient black tree that swifts like to use as their nests; you might want to keep an eye out for them.】

As soon as he appeared, even those who had been quietly watching the melon spectacle could no longer sit still.

【Reaching for the Moon in the Ninth Heaven: Is this the secret to how our top player racks up points?】

【Liver Emperor: Got it! I’ll start looking first thing tomorrow morning.】

【I’m Lily: The top player is so generous.】

【I Am Domineering: @I Love Survival Game, pro, you’d better watch out for “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens”—that guy is really sneaky.】

Of course, “I Am Domineering” didn’t have any fondness for Qiyu—it was purely because he was currently “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens’” biggest enemy. Meanwhile, “I Love Survival Game” was “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens’” biggest rival. 

As the saying goes, “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” He’d love nothing more than for this number-one player to take care of “My Fate Is in My Hands” for him, eliminating a major threat.

【My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens: You f***ing bastard, just you wait. As soon as I get the chance, I’ll definitely kill you!】

The two of them were still arguing, but everyone’s attention had already shifted elsewhere.

【Little Old Me: Now that we’ve found the nest, are there any secrets to dealing with the Swifts? @I Love Survival Game, scoring over 70,000 points in a single day can’t just be about finding the Swifts, right? Don’t the top players have any tricks for taking them down?】

Qiyu：？

He found it puzzling, so of course he asked directly:

【I Love Survival Game:? Are we that close?】

【I Love Survival Game: You’re really pushy.】

【I Love Survival Game: The trick is that I’m number one on the combat power rankings—I fought my way to the top. You should try it too.】

【Irritable Brother: Hahahaha.】

【Irritable Brother: Serves you right! The game expert already told you to look for trees, and you still want more. If points can be transferred, shouldn’t you just ask the game expert to transfer some points to you directly?】

【Little Old Me: I was just asking if there were any useful tips everyone could use. I really didn’t mean any harm this time—I just wanted everyone in the area to get more points to exchange for stuff. Why get so worked up?】

Qiyu just ignored him.

【I Love Survival Game: The black ancient tree might be quite far from the shelter. If searching for it delays your hunt for the swift, I’m not responsible.】

【Liver Emperor: Of course! To gain more, you have to take risks.】

【Reaching for the Moon in the Ninth Heaven: At the usual pace, it’s way too hard to get a Level 3 Shelter blueprint. If I miss this chance, who knows when I’ll get another one. It’s worth taking a little risk.】

Qiyu felt he’d said everything he needed to say and was about to leave the zone chat.

【I Am Domineering: @I Love Survival Game. Gaming guru, I really wasn’t lying to you—I even have screenshots of “My Fate is Determined By Me, Not The Heavens” cursing you behind your back!】

【I Love Survival Game: Oh.】

【I Am Domineering:? Don’t you care? I’ll let you in on one more thing: when he was in first place in the zone at the very beginning, he bought it just to take you down.】

Qiyu glanced out the window at the energy tower, the alchemy puppets, and the mutated plants all diligently killing monsters. He thought to himself, well, he’s pretty brave then.

Seeing that I Love Survival Game didn’t seem to react at all, I Am Domineering couldn’t help but get annoyed: “He’s number one on the leaderboard, for crying out loud! What kind of wimp is he? Even a dough ball is tougher than you!” 

【I Am Domineering:! Do you even understand what “he’ll kill you” means?】

【I Love Survival Game: So what if I get it? Can I crawl into the survival interface and take him out?】

I Am Domineering: …

He can’t even see this player—and he’s no different. Whether he hates himself or kills himself, he still won’t get anything done, will he?

【Dare Not Open My Eyes: Some people’s motives are just too shallow—don’t drag others into being your pawns.】

【Irritable Brother: Don’t say I’m afraid to speak my mind. If I had the power to take someone out right now, I’d bet there’s a 90% chance it’d be you, @I Am Domineering.】

Qiyu left the zone channel. Suddenly, he noticed the screams in his ears had stopped. 

What’s going on?

He walked to the door.

The swifts were still there, and the demon vine was enthusiastically battling the energy tower for control. Did something happen to screaming lily of the valley?

He hurried over to the screaming lily of the valley.

He saw the little lily of the valley hanging its head, looking as if it had no strength left. But above it, tiny specks of golden light had appeared. Qiyu recognized this well—it was a sign that the plant was mutating. 

【Screaming Lily of the Valley · Mutating: Overusing its voice has made this lily of the valley realize that meaningless screams serve no purpose; it needs to become a little smarter.】

It had indeed worked hard today. 

Qiyu secretly gave his model employee, the lily of the valley, a Life Blessing, and cast a wide-area Blessing spell over the entire territory.

Back in the hall, he sat in front of the fireplace and opened *Fundamentals of Magic Circles*. 

As soon as he opened his eyes, he was back in that familiar room.

The difference this time was that the blurry figure had become clear. It was Magister Karen, a middle-aged man with a kind expression. 

“Welcome to my course on magic circles,” he said gently. “Now, let’s move on to the next lesson.” 

In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed.

“Qiyu, is there anything you don’t understand?”

Qiyu shook his head. 

The magic circle class was really interesting.

Magister Karen: “…Do you really understand everything?” 

“Yes, Teacher Karen.” 

“All right. Now, following the path I just taught you, set up a small plant formation.”

Qiyu stood up and, applying what he had just learned, arranged the formation with great fluidity. A flowerpot appeared in Magister Karen’s hand out of nowhere; he placed it within the formation.

The tiny sapling grew rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye, sprouting new leaves and flower buds. A delicate fragrance filled the air.

Magister Karen praised him: “That’s impressive. You managed to draw a perfect magic circle on your very first lesson. Today’s lesson…” The man, who had been smiling, suddenly paused.

Qiyu, who was curiously examining the flowerpot, didn’t notice. 

“Qiyu?”

He realized the magister was calling his name, and the tone seemed slightly different from when he’d been teaching just a moment ago.

Qiyu quickly sat up straight: “Teacher Karen.” 

The man with golden hair smiled warmly at him: “Is this your first time taking a magic circle class?” 

Qiyu found this a bit odd; this magister had previously limited himself to teaching the course material and hadn’t engaged in any unnecessary small talk with him. Perhaps paying extra would make the learning experience a little better?

He nodded: “Yes.”

“You’re very talented,” the magister asked. “Why did you buy this book?”

Oh, so it was for market research.

Qiyu answered honestly, “I have a small fiefdom. The weather’s been bad lately, so I’m trying to improve the climate there.” 

He explained, “Individual magic arrays are too expensive, and I need to buy a lot of them. So, I was wondering if I could learn to make them myself.”

Magister Karen nodded.

Once he was certain that Qiyu had mastered this mini-life-creation array, he resumed his lesson. During the rest of the class, Qiyu clearly sensed that something was off.

The teaching method was exactly the same, and the process was nearly identical: Karen would first explain the material; after Qiyu had learned the relevant knowledge, he would ask Karen any questions he had; and then Karen would guide him through the practical application once more.

Yet Qiyu felt that “Teacher Karen,” after conducting the market research, seemed to be teaching even better. 

It seemed as though he had noticed Qiyu’s distraction.

“Is there anything you don’t understand?” asked the magister standing beside him, guiding Qiyu as he drew the constant-temperature magic array.

Qiyu shook his head: “No, I just feel like your lessons seem easier to understand now.”  

The Gold-ranked magister smiled and looked at him with satisfaction. 

He cleared his throat: “You’re a very talented young man, Qiyu. Would you be willing to—” His words trailed off, and his expression froze. 

Qiyu looked up at him in confusion. 

Before he knew it, the magister’s face began to blur again. 

The next moment, everything went black before his eyes; when he came to, his consciousness had already returned. 

The fireplace had warmed him all over, and it was now midnight. Qiyu wasn’t sleeping at all; his mind was completely occupied with the magic formation he had just learned. 

He took a magic crystal out of his backpack and, following the steps he’d just learned, began setting up the magic array bit by bit. 

Ten minutes later.

A message popped up on the Survival Panel:

【Basic Constant-Temperature Magic Array detected. Do you wish to bind it to your territory?】

Success! 

Qiyu’s eyes lit up: “Bind.” 

Soon, a new icon appeared in the Lord Module.