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

The moment Lin Ze tested the fourth-order spell, he sensed something was wrong.

That day, after practicing his swordsmanship in the backyard, he suddenly had the urge to try out the newly unlocked Tier 3 peak spell, "Rock Spikes".

He filled the spell model with magic power and chanted the incantation, but the half-meter-long stone spikes did not appear as expected.

It only formed a small mound about the size of a fist at my feet, which collapsed after a couple of shakes.

Its power is less than a third of what is described.

He refused to believe it and tried several more second-tier spells.

The wind blade technique, which was supposed to cut through a tree as thick as a forearm, only left a shallow mark on the bark.

When the Earth Wall spell is summoned, the half-person-high wall becomes loose and crumbling, easily broken with a single kick.

Even the most basic fireball spell was much colder than when we tested it in the demiplane; it took half a day to burn a wooden board.

Only battle qi, spiritual power, and the combined magical power of the two operate without any hindrance.

Physical strength, flight, and close-range qi are all unaffected.

"So that's how it is."

Lin Ze leaned against the courtyard wall, his fingertips twirling a wisp of pale purple magic power, and his mind slowly cleared.

This world is a universe governed by pure physical laws, and it inherently rejects extraordinary energy.

Pure spiritual power is inherent in the soul; it is not considered an anomaly and is not subject to suppression.

Battle Qi is formed from the blood and qi of the physical body; its root lies within the human body and it is not suppressed.

Magic, however, is a supernatural energy that is detached from the physical body and directly interferes with matter. Once released, it will be diluted and dissolved by the rules of the world.

The higher the rank of the spell, the more powerful its interference with reality, and the more severe its suppression.

In the past, when he had less magic power, he struggled to cast a light spell and wouldn't even notice.

Now that I have enough mana to cast mid-level spells, the suppression effect immediately became apparent.

"Trying to artificially inflate magic in reality is a dead end."

Lin Ze frowned, then quickly relaxed.

He already had a solution in mind.

As discussed in the forum, why did the Holy Mage risk his life to open up a demiplane?

Besides serving as a base and storing resources, its most essential use is to build one's own divine kingdom.

In a demiplane, the rules are set by themselves and are not suppressed by the external magic network or the rules of the universe. In their own territory, mages are gods.

"I can do that too."

Lin Ze's eyes lit up.

It doesn't matter if he is suppressed in reality; he slowly transforms the demiplane into reality, creating his own divine kingdom.

Within the divine realm, he was in charge. His magical power and cultivation speed were maximized, and he could gradually infiltrate outwards through the divine realm, slowly altering the rules of reality.

This half-real, half-illusory dream plane is the prototype of the divine kingdom.

Having figured out the approach, the next step is to implement it.

The first step is to upgrade the Dream Entry Talisman.

The old-style talisman only had three layers of array patterns, its function was too limited, and it had to be recycled regularly, which was too troublesome.

The new generation needs to be completed in one step, making it a terminal for long-term internal testing.

Lin Ze went into his study, spread out talisman paper and carving brush, and revised the design while flipping through forum materials.

After two full days of work, the array pattern of the new generation of talismans has finally been finalized, consisting of five layers:

At its core, it's still the Divine Energy Conversion Magic, with the same function: automatically collecting dissipated spiritual energy and converting it into magic power.

The second layer adds an automatic repair spell, which uses the magic stored in the Divine Absorption Array to automatically repair the damage to the talismans.

The third layer retains the dream-entering technique, so there's no need to cancel it. People naturally create dreams when they're asleep, which is perfect for providing sustenance for the demiplane.

The fourth layer is engraved with a demiplane positioning mark. In the future, when a person enters a dream, their consciousness will not remain in their own dream, but will be directly pulled into Lin Ze's demiplane.

At the same time, the mark can also find the other party's original dream through the spiritual connection, pull it over to devour and digest it, and expand the demiplane.

The top layer has a binding rune; it binds to the spirit of whoever it first comes into contact with, and if someone else picks it up, it's just an ordinary wooden plaque.

Moreover, Lin Ze holds the backend access, so even if it's bound, if he doesn't allow it in, the other party can't get in either.

The five-layer array pattern uses four core nodes, which is more fault-tolerant and more stable than the old model.

Once the design is complete, start building it.

Lin Ze didn't make too many; he made five to test the waters first.

The peach wood plaque is still the same as before, about the size of a palm, polished smooth, with cloud patterns carved on the front. It looks like an ordinary peace plaque, unremarkable.

He was extremely careful when carving the array patterns, with five layers of patterns nested one another; even the slightest mistake could result in a game over.

After frying seven blanks and using up almost half a bottle of refining agent, it finally became five pieces.

"It's done."

Lin Ze picked up a piece of spiritual energy, and the recognition rune glowed slightly, indicating that the binding was successful.

When I tried to sever the access, the token instantly lost its function and became no different from an ordinary wooden block.

"It works well."

With the tokens secured, the next step is infrastructure development in the demiplane.

Lin Ze entered the demiplane and called Zero to join him.

Having previously devoured Zhao Hao's dream and accumulated magic power for more than half a month, the demiplane was no longer just a mile in size.

Zero automatically devoured the scattered dream fragments every day, gradually expanding to the size of an ordinary small county town, with mountains and rivers, and the terrain had taken shape.

Lin Ze felt the space was too empty, so he personally took charge of making changes.

A continuous mountain range was marked out to the east and trees were planted on it.

Several plains opened up to the west, providing arable land.

Several rivers were carved out in the middle to divert water.

At the foot of the mountain on the south side, a flat, sheltered spot was chosen, and a small village of a few dozen households was created.

The mud-brick houses, the grain-drying ground, and the old locust tree at the village entrance are exactly like those in real mountain villages.

He didn't need to pinch each villager individually.

The demiplane is essentially derived from dreams. With a scene and basic rules, it will gradually generate its own native inhabitants.

Lin Ze only needed to implant a unified set of background memories into them and set the basic world rules, then let them evolve on their own.

He'd already decided on a name for the world: Kyushu (Nine Provinces).

The villagers are all descendants of ancient ancestors, and the legends passed down from their ancestors are as follows:

The great war between immortals and gods created a new world and brought peace to the people. In the future, an extraordinary person wielding the "Nine Provinces Unified Order" will descend to earth, bringing immortal magic and restarting the path to immortality.

It's simple, easy to remember, and convenient for guiding new beta testers.

Finally, he scattered a batch of common herb seeds on the plains and at the foot of the mountains. These were not bought from the magic network, but were made up based on the appearance of real herbs.

The demiplane is imbued with magic, and over time these herbs will evolve on their own, slowly developing spirituality and becoming a low-grade version of spiritual herbs.

No need to worry about it, just let it fend for itself.

After all that work was done, the demiplane finally looked somewhat presentable.

With mountains, water, villages, indigenous people, and basic ecology, it is no longer an empty gray space.

Lin Ze also specially set aside a small, pure white space at the entrance to the dream, and placed a bronze door as the reception desk.

From now on, everyone who comes in will first settle here, and only after pushing open the door will they be officially considered to have entered Kyushu.

It's essentially a beginner's guide area.

Everything is ready; all that's left is to send out the token.

Lin Ze already had his mind on the five beta test slots.

The first one is naturally Zhao Hao.

I'm a veteran beta tester, full of energy, and while I'm a bit of a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), my magic production efficiency is truly high.

The old brand needs to be replaced with a new one.

That night, Lin Ze put on a coat, cast an invisibility spell, and used a lightness spell on his feet to fly towards the city.

The speed wasn't fast, only about 100 kilometers per hour, and it took a little over half an hour to reach Zhao Hao's residential area.

Squeezing through the crack in the window, Zhao Hao was fast asleep, muttering "The Heavenly Emperor is going to war."

The old peach wood plaque was right next to his pillow. Lin Ze flicked his finger, put the old plaque into his pocket, and gently placed the new one back in its place.

Unknowingly.

The second is Master Xuanqing of Taisu Palace on Yunqi Mountain.

The old Taoist priest understands meridians, has a stable temperament, and pure spiritual power. He is a good candidate for the Taoist path and is perfect for testing the compatibility of the practice.

Lin Ze flew to Yunqi Mountain overnight, sneaked into Xuan Qing's guest room, and gently placed the token next to the Tao Te Ching on his desk.

The old Taoist priest would naturally discover this when he got up in the morning to read.

The third is my old classmate Zhang Lei.

The test represents ordinary people, such as real estate agents who are constantly on the go, down-to-earth, and whose mental strength is at the level of an average office worker. This test can assess the compatibility of ordinary people.

Moreover, having known each other for so many years, I know his character inside and out.

The next morning, Lin Ze went to Zhang Lei's real estate agency on his way.

Zhang Lei happened to be out with a client, so when no one was around, he slipped the token into the bottom drawer of Zhang Lei's desk, under a pile of contracts.

Fourth, Buddhists.

Since Taoism has been established, Buddhism should also be established to see how people with different paths of cultivation react when they enter.

Lin Ze went to Jing'an Temple on the outskirts of the city, took a walk around, and chose Master Shi Mingyuan who was meditating in a meditation room.

In his forties, he possessed profound meditation skills, and his mental strength was as steady as a still pool, free from distracting thoughts.

He placed the token beside the prayer mat in front of Shi Mingyuan's shrine, making it look like it had been dropped by a pilgrim.

The last one is chosen randomly.

Lin Ze wandered around the streets for a while before picking out an ordinary office worker named Zhou Ming.

Twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, a programmer, works overtime every day, has an introverted personality, and is cautious in his work.

While he was squeezing onto the subway, Lin Ze flicked his finger, and the token slid into the side pocket of his backpack.

All five tokens are in place.

Taoists, Buddhists, chuunibyou teenagers, ordinary office workers, and working professionals—they come from all walks of life and have different mental traits, making them a perfect match for the first wave of closed beta testers.

After delivering the token, Lin Ze returned home.

He didn't rush into the demiplane, but instead sat cross-legged on the bed, examining his own magical power.

After fusing his battle qi and magic power, he named this realm Foundation Establishment Realm.

Having established a foundation for immortality, one can embark on the true path of cultivation.

But he always felt something was wrong.

According to the orthodox Taoist path, refining essence into qi is the acquired and innate, while refining qi into spirit is the foundation building.

He essentially didn't reach the end of his innate potential; he fused with magic power ahead of time and took a half-step leap.

The potential of the physical body has not yet been fully explored. The Innate Realm should be able to be pushed to another level, tempering the tendons, bones, skin, membranes, and internal organs to the extreme of the mortal realm, truly achieving Innate Perfection, and then transitioning to Foundation Establishment will be the most stable.

He skipped a grade.

The practice must start from the most basic level, and only by taking it one step at a time can the foundation be solid.

This is also why he is so eager to recruit beta testers.

We need a lot of cultivation data from ordinary people to complete the most basic chapter on refining essence into qi, paving the way for ourselves and those who come after us.

"No rush, take your time."

Lin Ze opened his eyes; it was getting dark outside the window.

It's about time the five of them went to sleep.

The first round of closed beta testing has officially begun.