After the internet was disconnected, I connected to the magic world.

After three days of hard work, Lin Ze finally managed to carve out the first piece of alchemically refined metal with three layers of array patterns.

He used to go to the hospital every day for almost two weeks, and the nurses at the nurses' station all remembered him.

Yesterday, as he passed by the nurses' station, he clearly heard several young girls whispering together.

They say this person has no illness whatsoever, never visits patients, and just wanders around aimlessly from floor to floor. They wonder if he's a thief scouting the place, or if he has mental problems.

Lin Ze felt embarrassed and immediately ran away.

Even the thickest skin can't withstand being treated like a mental patient, so going to the hospital is definitely out of the question.

Fortunately, he had accumulated a lot of magic power beforehand, enough to last him for a while. So he simply stayed at home, focusing on studying alchemy tutorials and researching the superposition of three layers of runes.

The three-layer array pattern is neither particularly difficult nor particularly simple.

At the very bottom is the transformation array for absorbing divine magic, which is responsible for converting scattered spiritual energy into magical energy and storing it.

The middle layer is the dream array; getting close to it automatically triggers light sleep, inducing dreams.

The outermost layer is a mental connection array, bound to his mental power, which can remotely control the switch and transmit perception.

The most difficult part is that the three layers of array patterns cannot fight each other and must share three core nodes. Even a difference of one millimeter can result in a card being destroyed.

After blowing up twelve wooden plaques and wasting almost half a bottle of refining agent, it was finally possible to make one plaque.

Lin Ze held the finished product in his hand and weighed it in his hand.

The peach wood plaque is about the size of a palm, with its edges rounded off so it won't scratch your hands.

The front is covered with fine silver patterns, which are barely visible unless you get very close.

He casually carved a few circles of cloud patterns in the blank space, making it look antique, like the kind of peace charms sold in tourist attractions. It would be inconspicuous if thrown into a crowd, but it would feel quite exquisite if picked up.

He channeled a wisp of his spiritual energy into it, and the wooden plaque warmed slightly as an invisible connection was established within his sea of ​​consciousness.

With a thought, the Divine Absorption Array on the wooden plaque slowly began to rotate, and the scattered spiritual energy floating around slowly drilled into the plaque.

"It's done."

Lin Ze breathed a sigh of relief.

Once activated, this thing can maintain its operation by absorbing spiritual energy, making it essentially a fully automatic magic energy collector.

He doesn't need to squat on the street every day; he can just be thrown into a crowded place and lie down to collect magic.

Whether it works well or not, we'll have to have someone try it out.

He can't ask people around him; Su Ziqing and Zhang Lei both know him, and it would be troublesome if he gave himself away.

You need to find a stranger, preferably a young person with strong emotional fluctuations and high mental activity, so that the test will be effective.

Lin Ze put the wooden sign in his pocket and went out, driving towards the middle school in the city.

High school students are best; they are young, have rich imaginations, and their emotions come and go quickly.

There are many cases of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), and the amount of mental energy dissipation in dreams is definitely greater than that of ordinary people.

It was a little after 5 p.m., just as school was letting out.

The middle school gate was packed with students in school uniforms, who walked out in groups of three or five, making a lot of noise.

Lin Ze parked his car on the side of the road, leaned against the car door to smoke, and glanced at the passing students.

I glanced around and a boy caught my eye.

He looked about sixteen or seventeen years old, not very tall, carrying a large black backpack, muttering to himself, and gesturing something to the classmate next to him.

He was spitting so hard his saliva was almost hitting people's faces, gesturing wildly as he spoke, his emotions running high.

Even from a great distance, you could feel the vibrant spiritual energy emanating from him.

He's the one.

Lin Ze stubbed out his cigarette and slowly walked over.

The boy just turned into a roadside convenience store, put his backpack on the counter, and bent down to get an iced cola.

In just those two seconds, Lin Ze flicked his finger, and the wooden sign slid silently into the side pocket of his backpack without making a sound.

The boy took the Coke, paid for it, and sauntered away with his backpack, humming something like "The Heavenly Emperor is going to war."

Lin Ze returned to the car and could clearly feel the wooden sign on the other end of the mental connection slowly moving, steadily following him.

He curled the corners of his mouth slightly.

The first tester is in position.

On his drive home, Lin Ze was quite looking forward to it.

Whether it works out or not depends on tonight.

If it works well, we can mass-produce them and distribute them to schools, internet cafes, and night markets. The magic will come pouring in.

Will we still need to go to the hospital every day then? We can replenish our magic power while lying down.

Back home, he first practiced two sets of sword techniques to familiarize himself with his magic power, then took out the remaining blank wooden plaques and began carving basic array patterns while waiting for nightfall.

Around 8 o'clock, he figured the high school students should be asleep, so he put down his carving pen and wiped his hands.

"Let's give it a try."

Lin Ze sat in the chair, and with a thought, activated the dream array on the wooden plaque.

I waited for three seconds, but there was no response.

The other end of the mental connection was completely silent, offering no feedback whatsoever regarding entering the dream.

"Um?"

Lin Ze frowned.

The array pattern was engraved incorrectly? Impossible! He checked it three times before leaving home, and all three layers of array patterns were correct.

He activated it again, but still nothing happened.

That's strange.

Lin Ze wondered, could it be that this kid hasn't gone to sleep yet?

It's already 8:40. Do high school students have that much homework?

Still doing homework, not asleep yet?

He didn't think much of it and decided to wait.

Zhao Hao was indeed not asleep at the moment.

He had just finished his homework and was hiding under the covers, his phone brightness turned down to the lowest setting, scrolling through a newly updated novel.

He was caught by his dad as soon as he walked in the door after school.

"Haohao is back?"

"Just now, your homeroom teacher called me this afternoon and said you're always sneaking peeks at extracurricular books during class, even during Chinese class, is that right?"

Zhao Hao tossed his schoolbag onto the sofa and laughed it off: "How could that be, Dad? Our teacher just loves to exaggerate. I only glance at her during breaks; I wouldn't dare during class."

Stop joking with me.

His dad glared at him and said, "You're going to be a senior in high school soon, and you're still reading those useless novels every day. Can they feed you?"

If you let the teacher tell on you again, I'll confiscate your phone.

"Okay, okay." Zhao Hao pouted and slipped into the kitchen to ask his mother for food.

The dinner table wasn't peaceful either. His parents took turns nagging him about studying, while he shoveled rice into his mouth, mumbling and humming in response, letting it go in one ear and out the other.

After finally finishing my meal, I escaped back to my room, closed the door, and the world was finally quiet.

He threw his schoolbag onto the chair, and when he took out his notebook, his fingertips touched something hard.

When I took it out, I saw that it was a peach wood plaque.

"Um?"

Zhao Hao looked at it over and over again.

The wooden plaque is smooth and polished, with fine lines and cloud patterns carved on it. It looks antique and exquisite, unlike the cheap goods sold at street stalls.

"Where did it come from?"

He scratched his head, having absolutely no recollection of having such a thing.

He picked it up on his way home from school? No, that doesn't make sense, he didn't bend down to pick it up.