My stats are higher than yours!!

"It's been resolved."

"Oh?"

The old village chief raised an eyebrow, then flipped his hand and took out a crystal ball. A bright blue light rippled from the crystal ball, which then reflected the terrifying scene inside the bandit stronghold of Nanshan.

Blood and corpses covered half the mountain, and crows circled in the air, making "cawing" sounds.

"..."

The old village chief fell silent, then looked at Bai Shuodong again and asked, "This, did you do this? How did you do it?"

"Hmm... He encountered his enemy and was then murdered."

Bai Shuodong thought for a moment and then answered.

"..."

The old village chief looked at him, then sighed deeply and said, "The waters of this world are indeed very deep; it's truly astonishing."

"I'll give you the map to the Holy Mountain of the Royal City later."

"Furthermore, regarding the powerful beings in this world, those who are publicly known are the Demon King and his seven vanguard demon generals. These demons possess strength far exceeding that of humans and often manage to defeat humans repeatedly on the battlefield."

"Even a human hero might not be able to defeat the Demon King of the Demon Race."

"I see..."

Bai Shuodong nodded slightly, then asked, "What about the strong people on the human side?"

"There are more strong humans, but their raw strength is generally inferior to that of the demons. The strongest are called Sword Saints and Archmages... The situation here is quite complex, and even I am not entirely clear about it."

The old village chief sighed and then continued, "Once, I was also a magician with exceptional talent, with the potential to reach the level of a Grand Magus. However, resources were limited that year, and at the same time, a nobleman's son happened to need those resources."

"so..."

"I was essentially crippled. Even after years of recuperation, I can only use a small amount of spiritual energy now. If I use too much spiritual energy..."

The old village chief didn't finish his sentence, but the sorrow on his face told the whole story.

He will be seriously injured.

They might even die.

Under normal trial procedures, he should first become familiar with the villagers, and then fight desperately against the bandits the next day, but in the end he still couldn't defeat them.

Finally, his and the villagers' will and faith moved the old village chief, so the old village chief used all his remaining magic to kill the bandits.

Now that the bandits are dead, the old village chief no longer needs to use magic at the cost of his own life.

"What is that nobleman's name?"

Bai Shuodong asked.

“Jayton Brando, the Brando family is very powerful and has a lot of influence in the kingdom. Just make sure you are safe and don’t worry about avenging me.”

The old village chief lowered his head, sighed deeply, and said, "Many years ago, I was filled with anger and hatred, but gradually, time has worn away the turmoil in my heart. Now I am just an ordinary village chief."

"Can you teach me magic? I want to try and see if I can learn it," Bai Shuodong asked.

"Teach you?"

The old village chief looked at him with a puzzled expression, and then continued, "It's not that I don't want to teach you, but learning magic requires talent, and a very strong spiritual talent at that. Not everyone can learn it."

“I think I have this talent.”

Bai Shuodong said with a smile.

At this moment, all his attributes have increased fivefold, and his mental attribute has reached 19 points.

The stronger one's mental attribute, the higher the probability of mastering psionic energy and the easier it is to learn skills. Under normal circumstances, Bai Shuodong only has a mental attribute of 3.8, which makes it virtually impossible for him to master the use of psionic energy, let alone learn basic spells.

But now he has 19 points of energy!

While my mental attribute is high, I should quickly learn some psychic control and basic spells. This will make it much easier to master psychic powers later.

"..."

The old village chief looked at him for a long time, and finally sighed deeply, saying, "Then give it a try. If you can become stronger, you'll have more security in the future."

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me. Ultimately, learning magic depends on your talent. If you don't have a strong enough talent, there's no need for me to teach you."

The old village chief leaned back slightly and then said, "So-called psionic energy is a kind of energy that lies dormant within our bodies."

"However, not everyone can discover and master this energy. It is a skill that is not easily acquired by all."

"There are also tricks and techniques to using mental energy. You can't feel it just by closing your eyes and concentrating. You have to first get yourself into the best condition, and then activate your mind in the way that suits you best."

"The more active your mind is, the higher the probability of sensing psychic energy. Of course, simply being active is not enough; you also need to forcefully control your mind while being active to sense the energy within your body."

"I know it's difficult, but it's the necessary path to becoming a magician. Alright, you can try it for a few days first..."

Is that so?

A ray of azure light emanated from Bai Shuodong's raised hand. He looked at the old village chief and said admiringly, "As expected of the old village chief, I succeeded on my first try by following your method. I had never felt this kind of energy before. So this is how it was accomplished?"

"...Is it finished?"

The old village chief's lips twitched, his heart filled with shock. However, he quickly coughed lightly twice and said, "Not bad. Your spiritual talent is not bad. I can teach you a little."

Chapter 43 He! He didn't even leave the starting village!

Evening

Bai Shuodong lay in the small house, savoring the knowledge he had learned during the day.

He then asked the spirit realm, "Is there a time limit for how long I can stay in the trial?"

A: There is no time limit, but the improvements gained during the trial do not apply to reality.

"Tch! Is that really how it is?"

Bai Shuodong was not discouraged.

Although the improvement is fake, the knowledge you learn is real, and there's no problem with learning more.

Then he asked again, "So when can I go to the holy mountain? Is there any restriction?"

Answer: No restrictions.

Bai Shuodong lowered his head.

Bai Shuodong pondered.

Bai Shuodong suddenly realized!

He exclaimed, "I've grasped it! The core of the trial! Hahaha! It's so easy!"

...

Three days later

"flame."

Bai Shuodong opened his hands, and his spiritual energy transformed into a blazing flame.

He has already learned the basics of psionic attribute conversion, but the conversion efficiency is relatively low. If his mental attribute were not high enough, he probably wouldn't have been able to complete it so quickly.

He frowned and muttered to himself, "No, if it's only this level, I'm afraid I'll still have a hard time mastering psionic power after I get out. I must try to use psionic power with as little mental attribute as possible to improve its efficiency."

So Bai Shuodong found the old village chief and asked very seriously, "Village chief, I feel that my spiritual energy conversion efficiency is still too low, and the power of my spells is not high enough. What should I do? Is there any way to improve it?"

"This...?"

The old village chief smiled and said, "This is a problem that all monks will encounter, and the solution is very simple: enlightenment."

"Insights?"

“Go and gather some firewood, light a natural fire with it, and then observe and feel it up close. The closer you are, the better, but don’t hurt yourself. As your understanding of fire improves, your spiritual energy conversion efficiency will naturally increase,” the old village chief said.

"Is that so?"

Bai Shuodong understood.

...

The next day

Bai Shuodong went to the distant mountains, punched a hole in the mountain, piled firewood in a large circle, then took off his clothes, sat in the middle, lit a fire with a match, and the firewood immediately burned brightly.

He sat in the fire, the burning sensation of the flames causing him a slight stinging pain, but he could still bear it.

[Note: Fire elemental damage detected in the surrounding area, triggering a short-term adaptation]

[Hint: Fire resistance increased]

Bai Shuodong sat by the fire, reflecting on his thoughts.

The flames burned fiercely.

...

One month later

The front lines of the Kingdom of Heckler are in dire straits. The vanguard demon generals are wreaking havoc on the front lines, and the soldiers at the very front are on the verge of collapse. They have repeatedly requested reinforcements from the royal family.

The king sat on the highest throne, which symbolized his royal status, and casually waved his hand, saying, "It's alright. When a hero dies, a new hero will be born. The new hero will deal with the demons for us. During this time, you should all be a little careful and not be discovered like before."

"I will obey the king's command."

"Yes."

One response was written by a person named "蟪嫉皖^".

The previous generation's hero was Hecas, known as the Sword of Benevolence and Righteousness. He possessed immense strength and once single-handedly routed the entire demon race, but ultimately died tragically in the battle against the demons.

His cause of death was being killed by demons, but it wasn't solely due to demons.

The core reason was that Hecas discovered that the royal nobles were engaged in large-scale human trafficking and various shady industries. He repeatedly advised the king and took action against the nobles' businesses.

Ultimately, the nobility lived in constant fear.

So they sent someone to poison Hecas's food, and at the same time, they joined forces with the demons, causing Hecas to be defeated in the battle against the demons and killed by several demon generals. Hecas died with his eyes wide open in anger.

...

On the other side

Bai Shuodong is still cultivating.

After a month of being engulfed in flames, his fire resistance increased significantly, his understanding of fire deepened, and his overall strength improved considerably.

Inside the cave, sitting in the fire, he could no longer feel the pain. He frowned and muttered to himself, "No, there's too little fire element here. Continuing to cultivate like this will still improve my skills, but the improvement is too slow. I must find a more valuable path."

So he went to find a volcano.

Bai Shuodong stood at the crater, looking down at the bubbling lava, his eyes filled with joy and excitement. The concentration of fire element here was extremely high, and it was all-natural, so even chopping wood could be saved.

This is amazing!

He laughed loudly, took off his clothes, tossed them aside, and then made an incredibly elegant diving motion, jumping directly into the crater.

"Thump!"

[Note: High intensity of fire element detected in the surrounding area, triggering short-term adaptation]

[Hint: Fire resistance increased]

"Hiss... Ah... Hiss..."

"This! This is awesome! This, this lava bath is so amazing! Ah! Holy crap! Ah..."

"What a powerful fire element!"

"It's so comfortable!"

...

Another month later

Bai Shuodong returned to the village with many tattered clothes, but his eyes became incredibly bright. After a month of soaking in lava, his understanding of the fire element had improved further, and his elemental transformation efficiency had increased rapidly.

The old village chief sat quietly at the entrance of the village, and when he saw Bai Shuodong, he finally showed a relieved smile.

He began by asking, "Child, where have you been this month? Did you run into trouble?"