Otherworld Bone Dragon Operation Guide

Chapter 171 The Use of the Thorn Whip

After packing them up, Su Ming weighed them in his hands. These crystal cores didn't look very big, but he estimated they weighed about twenty or thirty kilograms.

“Benny Finn doesn’t mind the weight either,” Su Ming complained, adding that he was quite tired from carrying all that stuff last night.

"He certainly didn't mind; the value of these stones was equivalent to most of Whittaker's territory."

"Then wouldn't I be robbing them of this year's tax revenue?" Su Ming said.

"Taxes?" Violet scoffed. "That's the money to buy most of the territory! Magic crystal cores have an extremely low production rate!"

Whittaker Territory is not small; it ranks among the top territories in the North. Su Ming looked surprised; he found it hard to believe that the package in his hand could be compared to a vast territory.

There are indeed legends in other worlds that dragons like valuable things. Previously, when Su Ming saw Zi Jin's disdain for gold coins, he thought the legend was wrong. Now it seems that it wasn't that Zi Jin disliked them, but rather that she simply looked down on things of that caliber, like gold coins.

****
Considering the scholars' health, Su Ming locked away the raw stones. He then went to the library carriage and found several books on the doctrines of the God of Light to browse through. Most of these books were in divine language, but Zi Jin also collected some versions in common language.

The former saintess was clearly puzzled. "Are you going to convert to the God of Light?" she asked doubtfully. "You don't need to rely on these to build your spiritual system."

“I have absolutely no knowledge of the teachings of the God of Light, and I almost gave myself away in front of Iser last night,” Su Ming explained.

“Then I suggest you read the Divine Language version directly, as the Common Language has many unique connotations of Light that cannot be translated,” Violet said. “I have a study notebook on the Divine Language, which is not difficult to learn. Moreover, it is a mechanical language and does not rely on a sense of language.”

Zi Jin actually commented that the complex language with no rules was not difficult, and Su Ming could only sigh that he did not understand the world of academic geniuses.

"No, no, I just want to get a general idea," he immediately declined, then continued studying the general popular version of the document in his hand.

The God of Light, like the Moon Goddess worshipped by unicorns, is categorized as a spiritual deity in this world. Their doctrines do not shy away from the fact that they lack a physical form. On the contrary, they emphasize the spiritual realm.

This is another world, where the mind is power, and there is no boundary between illusion and reality. Any consciousness and cognition can be integrated into spells and combat techniques, exerting a real effect. To take an extreme example, the "evil god" believer that Old Luo's family encountered, his self-deceptive belief in the descent of the evil god could genuinely increase his power for a short period of time.

Different pantheons also have their own strengths. Followers of the Light pantheon excel in light magic and healing, while followers of the Moon Goddess are exceptionally skilled in mental magic. The magic associated with a particular pantheon is often referred to as divine magic. Furthermore, there are specific combat roles, such as Paladins and Watchers in the Light pantheon, and Moon Prayer and Moon Dancer in the Moon Goddess pantheon.

In short, faith in another world is not an illusion, but a real and tangible force.

Su Ming continued reading, and it was precisely these realizations that led him to understand that no spiritual doctrine involved the giving of material things. His response to Iser at the time couldn't even be explained by ignorance; fortunately, he managed to change the subject and get away with it.

"Is Seth will probably not hold it against me too much when he finds out later?" Su Ming wondered.

As he read, Su Xiang pondered a question. He asked the former saint, "The doctrine says that the divinely favored scepter is a gift of divine mercy—doesn't this contradict the concept of the spiritual god?"

Instead, the unicorn interjected to answer the question, "The 'god' mentioned in 'Divine Weapon' refers to the Creator God, not the God of Light." As she spoke, she revealed a mocking expression, looking at Violet, "Their doctrine has been revised countless times over the past thousand years, with version numbers reaching double digits, such as the Founding Version, the Contract Version, the General Version, and so on. The earliest record even states that the God of Light was the mount of the Creator God. Such minor retconning is completely insignificant."

"The doctrine of the Moon Goddess remains consistent," Violet replied sarcastically. "It's just that the Moon Goddess's gender was initially thought to be male?"

Both of them stopped talking at the same time. Qiluo finished the soup in her bowl, and Zijin closed the book on the table.

Su Ming watched helplessly as the two of them pounced on each other and started tearing each other apart. The unicorn, relying on its weight and strength, and Violet, relying on buff spells, fought back and forth in the workshop.

"Um, Elisa, are you still a follower of the God of Light?" Su Ming asked, puzzled. She had demolished the St. Lan Cathedral, and now the Evangelist Father was stuck on the front of the Youth Civilization train doing hard labor.

“Of course it counts. The God of Light is the God of Light, and the Church is the Church. It doesn’t matter,” Violet said breathlessly. She grabbed one of the unicorn’s hooves, clamped it with her legs, and pulled with both hands. The unicorn immediately howled and pounded the floor.

"Where did you learn the armbar?" Su Ming felt a chill run down his spine; the scholar hadn't used it on him during training.

Thanks to my buddy Unicorn for stepping in the foot for him!
“There’s a folder called ‘Unzipped Videos’ on the new computer you gave me,” Violet explained, glancing at the hoof in her arms. “There are a lot of interesting videos in there, like cleaning carpets, wrestling, poking at slime and stuff.”

"Is there also a process of cutting the horseshoes?" Su Ming asked quickly.

"Don't you dare touch my beautiful fingernails!" the unicorn cried out anxiously.

"Will you still speak ill of the God of Light next time?" Violet conjured a sharp scimitar with magic in her hand and threatened.

"I was just stating the facts... Ah no... Waaah, I know!"

The devout followers of the God of Light released the Moon People with satisfaction, who then ran off to find Hanster, sobbing.

****
Zijin stretched her arms and looked at Su Ming, "It's our turn?"

Su Ming assessed his condition; his magic power had recovered by about half, enough for combat training. "Alright."

This time, the scholar didn't push the limits; the two of them dissected the strategies they had recently devised. There were melee attacks and long-range combination spells.

"Zijin, what methods do you have when facing enemies with exceptionally good equipment and extremely strong defenses?" Su Ming asked.

He created some distance, used a few spells, then charged forward, switched his thorn staff to longsword form, and unleashed an enchanted slash that he wasn't yet very familiar with.

Violet used her shield to take the hit and felt the power, then shook her head at him.

"You want to deal with Iser?" She was somewhat surprised by Su Ming's question. "That girl has top-tier equipment; she'll be very difficult to obtain."

“Not entirely.” Su Ming briefly described last night’s battle. “Things like that thief’s leather armor and old man Benny Fein’s protective robe could both cause me trouble.”

"That's what armor is for. Yeshia wore armor the second time she fought us, didn't she?" The scholar used a combination of minor spells to bait out Su Ming's movement and defensive skills, then closed in and placed her hand on his shoulder. Then the girl released him, raising her hand to indicate that she needed to rest.

Zi Jin picked up a towel and wiped the light sweat from her body. Although as a spellcaster she didn't need to rely on physical skills to kill, she had to understand how she would be beaten by physical combatants, especially in terms of close-range reaction training.

You may not be able to utilize your strengths, but your weaknesses will certainly be exploited by your enemies.

“You’ve only been practicing for a little over three months. With their level of defense, you’ll be able to crush them in a while.” She picked up her water glass and took a sip. “Study more, increase your understanding of the characteristics of different defensive spells or items, and choose targeted strategies when fighting.” She finished her glass in one gulp as she spoke. “That burrito this morning was really salty.” It seems she needs time to build up her skills. Su Ming nodded; he was indeed a little impatient. “It was a bit salty. I’ll make you something lighter for lunch.”

"It's been a while since I've had anything you made." Zi Jin suddenly thought of something and clapped her hands. She looked at Su Ming happily, "I want to eat clear soup meatballs."

Su Ming thought she had come up with a tactic that suited him, but his excitement was short-lived. "Alright, I'll go check the refrigerator."

The girl suddenly grabbed his clothes and pulled him back to where he was. "Now let's get down to business. I've thought of a shortcut that's perfect for you."

"A shortcut?" Su Ming immediately perked up his ears.

"Yes, didn't you use 'Elemental Fading' before?" The scholar, who had come up with a clever solution, was in a good mood. "The 'Mourning Words' magic can directly dismantle all kinds of shields, barriers, and armor. Your magic has special penetrating power, making this dismantling style perfect for you!"

In addition to 'Elemental Fading' which removes magical shields, the 'Arcane Collapse' which disintegrates barriers, and 'Wonderful Disintegration' which destroys armor.

“No, all the spells in this series must be cast at close range.” Su Ming shook his head and said, “The limitations in actual combat are too great. Either I’m not agile enough, or I can’t keep up with the speed, or if I get close, I’ll die first.”

Therefore, he only studied 'Elemental Fading' to dispel magical effects.

“That’s what makes it so special.” The girl took the thorny longsword from his hand and unfolded it into the shape of a whip. “The holy-grade weapon in your hand is one of the very few that can transmit spells, and it’s the best among them.”

Zijin swung her long whip and wrapped it around the door handle at the other end of the carriage.

Frosty Touch!

This is also a contact-type spell, requiring the caster to touch the target. However, in Violet's hands, blue runes flowed along the whip, instantly covering the carriage door.

Frost formed on the door and spread outwards from the handle, accompanied by Qiluo's screams from outside, "Waaaaah, my hands, my hands, they're frozen!"

The girl put away the whip and returned it to Su Ming, "So this weapon is also known as the Dark Tentacle. Back when it was in the hands of the Holy Mage Russell, it struck fear into the hearts of enemies."

Su Ming was dumbfounded. "So the whip is actually the strongest form of the thorn weapon?"

Zijin was somewhat puzzled. "Yes, its original form is naturally the strongest. The sword and staff forms are only for dealing with emergencies—is there something you don't understand?"

Su Ming shook his head. He had always thought that this Saint-level weapon was not powerful. It was not very smooth to spin the top, and it was only quite easy to use when slashing in sword form. Now he realized that it was simply because he, the user, was too bad.

This is a weapon capable of changing the rules of the battlefield; it truly deserves the title of Saint-level!

Next came the instruction. Su Ming had only ever attached dark energy to his whip to corrode enemies; now, he was to deliver the complete technique, a world of difference in difficulty.

He studied diligently all morning and memorized the method, but his success rate was abysmal. However, this kind of thing requires a gradual approach and cannot be accomplished overnight.

****
It was almost time, so Su Ming stopped practicing and went to make lunch. He chopped the meat, mixed it with egg whites and water, and beat it until smooth.

Hansster also came to help.

"Did you take me back to my room last night?" Su Ming asked him.

“It wasn’t me. Lord Chestnut Owl contacted us last night before you returned to preheat the boilers, and you set off immediately upon your return,” Hanster replied. “Eunice and I were in the locomotive cab the whole time.”

Su Ming was somewhat surprised to hear this; he had assumed that the glass of water was prepared by Hanster or Eunice.

"I understand." He nodded, but couldn't help but smile slightly.

Because it was traveling on a river, the train was very smooth and moved forward without incident. After the meal, Su Ming unfolded the map, checked the gyroscope, and corrected the current position.

After that, he spent his time learning the spells 'Artifact Disintegration' and 'Arcane Disintegration'. Su Ming's ability to disassemble and memorize runes was relatively quick, after all, his years of school training on Earth were truly helpful.

Su Ming was in a good mood and quickly began to build his spellcasting system. However, he encountered a major obstacle at this step; the spells would collapse as soon as he started, and he couldn't get it right no matter how many times he tried.

When asked for help, Zijin said she couldn't help either. The "Mourning Words" series is somewhat niche, and she herself doesn't know how to do it.

“Many spells have inexplicable compatibility and some hidden elements,” Zi Jin explained to Su Ming. “How did you learn ‘Elemental Fading’ back then?”

Su Ming thought back carefully, and realized that the spell "Death Words - Elemental Fading" could be traced back to the night when Zi Jin first got drunk. After calming Zi Jin down and putting her back in her room, he saw that it was still early, so he spent the night alone flipping through spellbooks and mastering the basics.

After much thought, Su Ming still couldn't find anything special. He had no choice but to continue trying, while diligently taking notes and observing.

Zijin also studied natural rhythms diligently, and by evening, neither of them wanted to touch a book anymore.

The scholar turned on her computer and opened a decompression video; this time it was a compilation of hydraulic press videos.

Su Ming thought for a moment, "Zi Jin, how about we play a game?"

“Okay!” Violet quickly agreed, “but it can’t be that Tetris game from last time.”
-
Unable to find a suitable one in his notebook, Su Ming turned his attention back to Earth.

It was daytime there, and Miao Xin had just received a delivery and was riding her electric scooter on the street.

"Good morning," Su Ming said casually, since he hadn't paid attention to what time it was on Earth. A day in this other world is about two hours longer than on Earth, so Su Ming had to check his watch to know the time there.

"Good morning," Miao Xin replied. She stopped in front of a trash can, unpacked the item she had just received, and found many tiny chips and a small memory card inside. "My dad gave it to me. He said his friend helped him set up the drone firmware and open-source flight controller. You can use it normally after you install it; it integrates common hardware types."

"Your dad has impressive connections," Su Ming said.

Things happened too fast and too smoothly. He didn't know much about drones and was a little unsure.

(End of this chapter)