Forge a path to success.

Chapter 103: Improving and Implementing a Practical Matchmaking Mechanism (Holiday Break Update)

That night, the world was pure white.

In the boundless, endless, and vast pure white space stood a tiny figure. Chu Hengkong looked at it curiously for a while and said, "Mr. Ji, the rendering isn't keeping up."

"Wait a minute, this is the first time I've used this supernatural power..."

Several trees fell as the man spoke, and then a square gray stone building rose from the ground. An old dragon god statue with a long beard lay on the roof, its eyes as bright as the sun. In the blink of an eye, Chu Hengkong found himself in a courtyard with a strong Xianxia (fantasy martial arts) feel. Ji Qiufeng sat in a grand chair, leisurely fanning himself with a paper fan.

"As the Lord of Huilong City, I can partially utilize the power of Leisure, which is the ancient dragon clan's divine art of Dream Intervention. This art is one of the ancient dragon clan's signature techniques, possessing remarkable power in many aspects, including dream interpretation, divination, attack, and intimidation..."

"The last two applications are a bit strange. Were they developed by Uoyo itself?"

"Dream attacks are a means for the Dragon Gods to fight against the Black Moon, and the use of dream intimidation was indeed her invention." City Lord Ji showed a headache of pride. "This dream space is isolated from the outside world, and the flow of time is faster than outside. Now, Heng Kong, you should understand why I deliberately used this technique?"

Chu Hengkong was incredibly intelligent; he quickly realized what was going on: "Youyou forced you to intimidate me."

Ji Qiufeng picked up his fan and tapped him lightly.

“It’s easier to talk about this here. You brought back the letter from the Divine Tree Clan requesting help.”

“I suppose I should go,” Chu Hengkong nodded.

He had just been suffering from a headache due to the effects of the True Machine, and then he received a letter of appeal for help from the Senluo Divine Tree Clan. If this were merely a coincidence, it would be an extreme one. Without Ji Qiufeng needing to explain further, he knew this must be due to the influence of the so-called "Tide of Destiny" in the Submerged Realm. He would act for some predetermined reason, others would be drawn by his arrival, and more likely, both...

Fate is such an excessive thing; the more you engage with it, the more you become aware of its existence. Ji Qiufeng once said during his cultivation that many people, the more they cultivate, the more they feel their fate is predetermined, thus becoming deeply trapped in delusion and unable to break free; the more they try not to believe, the more obsessed they become. Chu Hengkong, however, had no opinion on this, or rather, he didn't really care at all.

Is this fate's arrangement, that they're not going to rescue their allies?

Is it really fate that's conspiring, so you're not going to get your spine treated?

The things he had to do wouldn't change because of this, and the movement of fate actually saved him time, so why not?

Ji Qiufeng once again revealed that expression he always wore after teaching him advanced techniques.

“Heng Kong, you have such a good mindset.” He sighed. “I know you’ve made up your mind, but there’s something I need to make clear first. This time, Youyou and I can’t help you.”

"Huilong City still needs your care, so of course I'll go." Chu Hengkong felt it was only natural.

Ji Qiufeng's expression turned serious: "This isn't just about Huilong City; it involves the very essence of the tides of destiny. You must remember this carefully."

Chu Hengkong was on high alert. Every time Ji Qiufeng said this, it meant that what he was about to say was extremely important. Forgetting even a single word of these words could be a matter of life and death.

"The tide of fate has a perfect, self-consistent matching mechanism," Ji Qiufeng said seriously.

"……what?"

"Repeat after me, 'matching mechanism'." Ji Qiufeng pronounced clearly, "Why do we use this term? Because it's very similar to the water curtain game you and Huaisu secretly played. The current will force you to face connected objects, but these connections are basically limited to the range of the same particle. The skillful hands of particle 1 often encounter the strange beasts of particle 1, and the worst that particle 2's shadow will encounter is the killing ghost of particle 2. This is the most common encounter in the current. This law has been widely confirmed by many ascendants in the Submerged Realm and can basically be regarded as a law."

"Mr. Ji, I want to clarify one thing first: Ji Huaisu dragged me to play the water screen games. I prefer to play single-player games myself."

"You seem to be having a lot of fun with Vande!" Ji Qiufeng waved his hand. "So far, I've only seen one Ascended user who almost broke the law, and he, as a skilled craftsman, encountered an Immortal Machine..."

"The Immortal Machine is an on-the-spot transformation. In fact, when I first arrived, it was just a soul container," Chu Hengkong said. "It conforms to the laws."

"You understand. This law becomes especially evident when you step into the currents of destiny—especially when using them to travel to other Dust Isles. If you were to leave the Senluo Secret Realm alone this time, the enemies you would face would not exceed a particle level of 3. But if I or Youyou were to go with you..."

Chu Hengkong's eye twitched: "So I'll be able to witness the battle of the 5th point?"

“You’ll be crushed by the aftershocks of the Fifth Mass Point War,” Ji Qiufeng corrected. “At that time, powerful beings of the same mass point will inevitably follow us, and the attraction of the tide of fate is not only based on rank, but also on ‘fate power.’ The skills you control, the relics you possess, the karma you bear, and even your undeveloped talents… all these factors will be taken into account. Do you understand what this means?”

Chu Hengkong realized the problem: "Is it a random match based on overall strength and background? What if you go out and encounter a legendary heretic?" "Or multiple ordinary heretics." Ji Qiufeng said, "That's why we rarely give you relics that exceed your current mass point. If you go out with a mass point of 2 and a mass point of 5, the trend might judge your destiny power as a mass point of 5."

"Cheng delivered vegetables to Hong Nie." Chu Hengkong felt a deep headache.

“Considering your bad luck, I think there’s a higher probability that it’s Legendary Point 5, or the Think Tank,” Ji Qiufeng laughed. “Now you should understand why Youyou is anxious.”

The matchmaking system makes it difficult for high-quality powerhouses to go out and "escort," and carrying high-quality relics also carries a high probability of being heavily penalized; a single offense of possessing a treasure can land one in the trap of heretics. If he wants to support the Senluo Divine Tree, he must leave the island alone with relics of no higher than quality 2.

The last person from the city to venture out of the island alone was Jie An's father, Jie Wen. Not to mention Youyou's concern, even Chu Hengkong himself felt it was unlikely to be successful.

"Now that this mechanism has been clearly understood, there must be ways to exploit loopholes."

"That's natural. How could you underestimate the wisdom of the beings in the turbulent realm?" Ji Qiufeng said with a smile. "The most exploitable loopholes are those 'without a point of mass'. Some races and strengths do not follow the path of ascension and do not have a point of mass. The current will guide them according to their general destiny, but the effect is naturally weaker than that of normal ascendants."

The three most representative forces among them are the Fallen, the Funeral Procession, and the Illusory Demons, which are also the three great heretical forces that are the root of all evil in the Fallen Realm…

Chu Hengkong became increasingly uneasy as he listened: "Wait, Mr. Ji? How did this loophole fall into the wrong hands?"

"The Abyss is the loophole of the world, and the heretical path is their home turf." Ji Qiufeng shook his fan. "Youyou and I have assessed your bad luck repeatedly, and we both believe that if you act alone this time, you will almost certainly encounter the heretical path of the Abyss. But if you go with that girl Huaisu... you will probably be able to participate in a super melee of the legendary heretical path of the Abyss. Aren't you looking forward to it?"

The assassin, eager to try, said, "To be honest, it is true."

"So you need to prepare quickly to avoid being crushed by heretics as soon as you get off the ship." Ji Qiufeng stood up from the armchair. "We also have ways to exploit loopholes. Highly efficient relics that are restricted to low-quality points, special races that also do not follow the path of ascension, and secret techniques that you are very familiar with, which can only be controlled by high-quality point powerhouses."

He rubbed his fingers together, creating a burst of energy that seemed to break through his body. This energy was originally formless and colorless, but under Ji Qiufeng's will, it condensed and solidified into a fiery red gauntlet.

Ji Qiufeng beckoned with his finger, and a long sword fell to the ground. Chu Hengkong immediately drew his sword and slashed with all his might. The blade shattered the moment it touched the gauntlet, and the red color on the gauntlet, as intense as raging fire, emitted a crimson energy blast!

"The Secret Technique of the Zhengxuan Palace: Zhengxuan Qi Armor".

He casually picked up a piece of scrap iron and severed his right arm. In less than a moment, the muscles and bones in the wound rapidly regenerated, growing a completely new arm. His spirit transformed into a sleeve that spliced ​​with his original clothing, and the new right arm was as agile as the original.

"The secret technique of Yueque Palace: Immortality and Indestructibility."

Ji Qiufeng snapped his fingers one last time, a wisp of spirit flickering at his fingertips like a transparent candle flame. He blew out the flame of spirit and smiled, “There is one more secret technique from Chenjun Palace, which is a bit more difficult. If you have time after learning the first two, I will pass it on to you. Let me make it clear beforehand, although these three secret techniques are not as dangerous as One Qi for a Thousand Autumns, they are by no means less difficult to learn.”

Chu Hengkong rubbed his hands together, eager to try: "Can I learn more?"

"The key to a technique is quality, not quantity. Now that you have become Ganggu, the characteristics of this stage are a strong physique, efficient recovery, and the 'Qi-Breaking Body' technique unique to us martial arts practitioners. These three secret techniques correspond to the three directions you should study in depth now. If you can master them, you can create the other minor techniques yourself. Why bother spending time learning them?"

Ji Qiufeng flicked his fan, which transformed into the crimson halberd "Lifefire," and pointed the blade at Chu Hengkong's forehead.

"The Divine Tree's plea for help means time is running out. This dream space can accelerate time thirty times. In reality, I can only give you two days at most." His demeanor turned cold and stern. "Two days, two months, no matter how much you learn, you must set off then. Jie Anqisu will prepare the rest of your equipment. Are you ready?"

"One last question, are there any side effects?"

"Dying too many times might cause you to dream," Ji Qiufeng said casually. "Let's begin."

The next instant, the halberd pierced Chu Hengkong's forehead. His once magnificent head exploded like a watermelon, and he watched from a third-person perspective as his brains splattered all over the ground, hearing the city lord's gleeful voice:

"Let's begin cultivating the Immortal and Indestructible Technique..."

　During my trip, I heard that not updating for seven consecutive days would cause investments to fail, which made me very anxious. So I rushed to write a chapter to let everyone know that the author is still alive and kicking and has not disappeared.

　　This chapter was written at the Qingshui Stage and was originally supposed to be 23,000 words long. However, considering the inconvenience of typing on the poster, it was changed to 3,000 words, which also satisfies everyone's requests for a quick draft.

　　The next update will still be on the 9th. Please be aware.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)