Lu Mingfei, why are you slaying dragons if you're not involved!

Chapter 84 Chemistry LV1! (45)

In the past seventeen years of Lu Mingfei's life, he had countless fantasies.

He fantasized about a mysterious man in black descending from the sky to ask him to save the world, about successfully confessing his feelings to Chen Wenwen and living happily ever after, and about his parents suddenly appearing before him one day, telling him, "We've finally finished our work, we've come to take you home"...

But I never imagined such a scene would happen—

He and a much prettier, icy girl than Chen Wenwen would run to school together, study together at school, have breakfast together, and then return to the classroom to continue studying.

On one hand, he wouldn't work that hard in his imagination; on the other hand... who would be willing to accompany him like this? Especially a super beautiful girl who has no flaws except for her icy face and inability to detect emotional fluctuations!
But now, something he never even dared to dream of has come true.

Lu Mingfei thought he would feel very uncomfortable, but when all the processes were over and he sat in the classroom with Ling to study again... the truth was laid bare before him.

There was no sense of maladjustment; everything was so natural and logical, as if it were the way it should be.

but……

Lu Mingfei was still somewhat doubtful.

Zero's kindness to him was beyond question. If someone had treated him like that before, he would have been following him around like a puppy. She was the kind of person who would give his life for him.

But now, Lu Mingfei feels that he has a knot in his heart.

I don't know where this lump is. It disappears when I look for it carefully, but it reappears when I stop looking for it. It's always there, bothering me.

[Warning, electric shock countdown...]

Lu Mingfei shuddered in fright.

Even though he had experienced various forms of death in his dreams, he was still genuinely afraid of electric shocks!

The deaths in my dreams were undeniably gruesome, but extremely brief. And whether it was because I was dreaming or some kind of protective mechanism, I didn't retain any particularly detailed memories of them.

But electric shocks are different. Every time he was shocked, the excruciating pain that pierced his soul was deeply imprinted in his memory, causing Lu Mingfei to never want to experience it again, and he even seemed to be suffering from PTSD.

"Why think so much? Studying is the most important thing! You'll figure it out eventually."

Lu Mingfei thought to himself that he should devote himself wholeheartedly to studying chemistry.

Flow, start!
Through diligent study, your [Chemistry] skills have improved, gaining 2 proficiency points.

【go through……】

……

The sky was finally beginning to lighten, and the fluorescent lights in the classroom were humming softly. Lu Mingfei was engrossed in his book, his pen scratching lightly on the paper. Ling Ze sat upright, her head slightly bowed, turning the pages of her book like a leaf swaying in a gentle breeze.

They didn't look up or exchange words; each was doing their own thing, yet they were as harmonious as if they were in the same painting.

Even their heartbeats are synchronized.

This tranquil scene continued until the morning light broke through the clouds and climbed up the windowsill, enveloping the two desks and the students sitting side by side.

The third student entered the classroom.

Unsurprisingly, he saw Lu Mingfei.

Since the first day of winter break tutoring six days ago, he has no longer been the first one to arrive at the classroom as usual.

He habitually took out his phone, ready to secretly take a picture of the "study god" studying and post it on the campus forum.

He paused just as he was about to press the shutter.

Wait, why are there two people?

He finally realized what was happening, and his pupils dilated in shock. He could barely hold his phone... It wouldn't have been a problem if it were anyone else, but this was a transfer student who had just joined the class yesterday, Lu Mingfei's deskmate!
After recovering and taking photos, he posted them with the caption: "The transfer student's attack, the road god seems to have fallen!"

During the winter break make-up classes, the campus forum at 7 a.m. was even more lively than at night.

This post immediately caused a huge stir.

Comments such as "They've already become inseparable after just one day? If it were me, I could last at least an hour longer" and "If this were true, I would immediately trip over a 10,000 yuan bill and be confessed to by a beautiful girl" are popping up everywhere.

Some busybodies tagged the piano prodigy Liu Miaomiao, but Liu Miaomiao herself was naturally unaware of this. She's currently keeping her phone off, eager to see how "anxious" Su Xiaoqiang will be.

However, many of her fans jumped out to defend their goddess, shouting, "Our Liu Miaomiao would never be interested in Lu Shenren!" Then they were refuted by others, "Then what about the gossip between the two of them before? She clearly couldn't win!"

After a while, they started arguing.

That's actually not so bad, but there are always some people in the crowd who just want to watch the drama unfold.

They then tagged Su Xiaoqiang and Chen Wenwen respectively, and started a debate on the topics of "two and a half years of enemies turning against each other, did they secretly date?" and "two and a half years of 'secret love' turned into betrayal, is Chen Wenwen less charming than xx?"

Now things have really gotten out of hand. Countless fans of Shilan Sanmei have joined the fray, and the entire Shilan Middle School campus forum has somehow turned into a complete mess!

A senior student surnamed Chu who was diving said he thoroughly enjoyed watching it.

Lu Mingfei was unaware of this online war.

He now spends less time on electronic devices than some elderly people, and he simply doesn't have the mind to think about these things.

Instead of wasting time, you'd be better off doing a couple more practice problems to improve your skills!
After all, he only needs 12 more skill points to upgrade his chemistry.

Finally, around eight o'clock, after more than three hours of self-study—

Through diligent study, your [Chemistry] skills have improved, gaining 2 proficiency points.

[Congratulations! Through diligent study, your [Chemistry] level has been raised to LV1!] [You have acquired the keyword "Synesthesia"!]

[Entry: Synesthesia]
Effect: You will gain elemental perception for ten seconds. After use, you can perceive the distribution of elements within a ten-meter radius.

Using this item will consume a lot of energy, and you will fall into a state of extreme fatigue after use. This state cannot be corrected or removed by [Vitality Micro-Management]. Please use it with caution.

"This entry..."

Lu Mingfei examined the description of the effect of the entry and fell into thought.

At first, he couldn't understand it.

Why does the term "synesthesia" have such a significant negative impact?
The description clearly indicates that the effect isn't very strong, and it even has limitations on time and range, yet the side effects are on par with [Burst Dash]!
The exhaustion state after the [Explosive Sprint] cannot be erased or corrected by [Vitality Micro-Management], as Lu Mingfei had already tested in the dream.

As for the underlying principle... Lu Mingfei guessed that the stamina consumed by the entries was not physical stamina in the conventional sense, but rather a kind of "blue bar" unique to the schedule.
"Wait, being able to sense elements... fire must be considered an element, right?"

Lu Mingfei suddenly realized what it was and then understood its important use.

Putting aside other things, [Elemental Synesthesia] can at least play a supporting role in the process of "comprehending the true meaning of fire"!
This alone was enough to surprise and delight Lu Mingfei.

In his dream, the greatest threat to the desert where he was stuck was not the long journey or the scorching quicksand, but an invisible and intangible "hot wind" that was completely unobservable!
Each time, Lu Mingfei's speed would inevitably slow down whenever he was hit by that extremely hot "wind".

Because the "micro-exercise of vital signs" requires the body to regulate its temperature and prevent overheating in order for the body to function normally, and high-speed exercise is a major heat generator!
Heat dissipation is always much more difficult than heat preservation.

Without external assistance, the human body's physiological mechanisms can only dissipate heat through three pathways: sweat evaporation, skin vasodilation, and respiration. Even with high efficiency, the heat dissipation rate is limited.

If he slows down, Lu Mingfei will definitely not be able to reach his destination within the allotted time.

In this way, once the time is over and the "scorching sun" arrives, he will be dried out.

Literally, it means to dry!

Therefore, he cannot be exposed to these "hot winds," not even once!

However, the closer you get to your destination, the more numerous and dense these invisible "hot winds" become.

The only reason Lu Mingfei persisted and didn't give up was that he discovered the trajectory of the "hot wind" was fixed.

This means there is still a theoretical possibility that it could pass.

It's nothing more than a hellishly difficult memorization game where you can't see the obstacles, but if you touch them you die.

But now he can see... Ten seconds is too short, and ten meters is too small. Compared to the several hours and more than ten kilometers of sand he needs to trek, even with the help of [Explosive Sprint], it's not enough.

But Lu Mingfei instantly gained confidence that he could pass.

Because, in the past, through countless deaths and rebirths, he had actually pushed the progress to the final stage.

The oasis is right in front of us, no more than a kilometer away!

This superhumanly difficult memorization game, which stretches for over ten kilometers and requires players to memorize the entire course without any reference points, has already been pushed through by Lu Mingfei by 90%.

"I'm definitely good at playing games... I'll beat that level tonight before I go to sleep!"

Lu Mingfei leaned back in his chair with amusement. If the classroom hadn't been so crowded, he would have almost started humming a song.

"Speaking of which, it's my turn to practice Tai Chi with Senior Brother Chu tonight. He'll be quite surprised when he sees how much my Tai Chi has improved, won't he?"
I wonder if that Taoist priest Zhang from Wudang Mountain has arrived yet? Even if he really did step into the Dragon Tomb when he jumped off the cliff, he should have come out by now. I wonder if he could bring back some local specialties...

The school bell rang, interrupting Lu Mingfei's reverie.

[Warning, it's time for the scheduled [class]...]

……

The mountains stretch endlessly, filled with the sounds of birdsong.

"boom!"

Like a thunderclap from a clear sky, a section of the cliff face suddenly split open from the inside out!

Amidst flying pebbles and billowing dust, a figure emerged.

He was a middle-aged man dressed in casual sportswear. He had a square face, and his deliberately grown beard was mottled and gray, but his face was completely wrinkle-free, making it difficult to determine his exact age.

His face was somewhat pale. Strictly speaking, his current situation could be described as "miserable"—not only were his clothes tattered, but his entire left arm was also missing. The wound had only been roughly bandaged, and the bloodstains had already congealed.

The middle-aged man struggled to re-tie the long, three-and-a-half-meter-long object, completely wrapped in thick cloth, that he had just used to pierce the stone wall, back onto his back.

He was about to walk out, but then he turned around as if sensing something, facing the long corridor he had come from.

The deep passage was pitch black, yet a powerful aura was rapidly awakening and rising!
The middle-aged man's eyes turned serious. He subconsciously reached for the long object behind him, but stopped just before touching it.

"If you've got the guts, then wait here. I'll go get my men and we'll have a one-on-one duel!"

He uttered those harsh words, then turned away again, his back to the cave entrance. With a muffled groan, his heart pounded like a drum, and his previously gentle eyes suddenly blazed with a fiery golden light!
Wind blows.

Words of Power: Yin Flow.

The caster controls the direction of wind over a large area, centered on themselves, and can create extremely fine but powerful airflow channels at will. It is generally used to manipulate miniature blades as concealed weapons.

However, the Yin energy released by the middle-aged man was completely different from that described in the written records. These air currents were extremely thick and powerful, and for a moment they almost made people think that it was the ability of the Word of Power: Eye of the Wind King to control tornadoes. But the precise control method could only belong to Yin energy!

Propelled by the airflow, the middle-aged man floated up and quickly flew in one direction.

(End of this chapter)