He changed Tiwat

"A new experiment? What experiment?" Haidif asked in surprise.

Han Fulai pointed to the faintly glowing "clock tower" in the distance.

"You'll find out when you come with me."

Chapter 251 Belief is My Magic [4k5]

Ye Lan sat cross-legged on the ground, her left hand resting on her right wrist, in a strange posture resembling taking a pulse.

Now, only she and Jiang Xue remain in this former Hilichurl camp.

Perhaps out of sheer boredom, Ye Lan asked, as if trying to make conversation, "What does Mr. Jiang Xue think about this matter?"

"Hmm... I don't know what he's trying to do either." Jiang Xue leaned against the rock wall, staring at the black mud swamp, and shook her head gently.

He was telling the truth. Han Fulai hadn't informed him beforehand, and he genuinely didn't know what the "new experiment" Han Fulai was referring to was. What was even more puzzling was that Han Fulai had taken the rest of the exploration team away, but had asked him and Ye Lan to stay behind, saying they should pay attention to the changes happening here.

Having traveled with this young man for several days, Jiang Xue had gotten to know Han Fulai's style of doing things to some extent, and knew that he never spoke without a reason. Since Han Fulai said there would be changes here, then there definitely would be changes.

As for what kind of changes... well, that's hard to say.

There are many things that can be associated with the black mud—ley lines, monsters, the "Abyss Order," the "Black Serpent Knights"—none of them are pleasant things.

Jiang Xue had some guesses in her mind. Han Fulai took the ordinary people from the exploration team away perhaps for safety reasons. After all, if the Black Mud really changed, such as if monsters suddenly appeared, they couldn't guarantee they could take care of everyone. Evacuating the non-combat personnel first was a wise choice.

With his and Yelan's fighting strength, they are capable of handling most unexpected situations.

Ye Lan smiled and said, "He orders you around like this, and you're not angry?"

"Heh." Jiang Xue shook her head again. "I'm just a 'bodyguard,' doing my duty as a servant. Miss Ye Lan, do you perhaps want to find out something from me? I'm just a fisherman; I wouldn't have anything on me that Miss Ningguang would be interested in."

"Oh dear, you flatter me. We were just chatting."

The two exchanged a glance and fell silent again.

Both Ye Lan and Jiang Xue had the same thought at the same time—this time was so hard to bear.

It's indeed difficult for two people full of secrets to get along in the same space. Fortunately, the awkward silence was quickly broken.

Because the "mysterious wristband" on Ye Lan's right wrist emitted a light.

This means that someone has sent her a message.

Ye Lan gently stroked the jade bracelet on her wrist with her left hand, and a sound suddenly came from the bracelet.

"Hello? Miss Yelan, can you hear me?"

The voice was very faint, like a whisper.

The person who would say "hello" twice before sending a message is naturally Han Fulai, who used to make phone calls in modern society. If it were Inazuma here, he might even say "moshi moshi" twice.

"Yes, get to the point," Ye Lan replied succinctly.

To Han Fulai, Ye Lan's voice sounded equally weak.

Ye Lan's voice was actually quite normal; it was just that because the two sides were several miles apart, the spells attached to the communication device were affected by the distance, and the effect would decrease as the distance increased.

Ye Lan wasn't actually a person who was stingy with words, but the reason they were able to communicate like this was because Ye Lan had been using magic to activate the "Youqi Wanlan" to maintain it, so she wanted to shorten the communication time as much as possible.

To use a phrase Han Fulai was more familiar with, when he called Ye Lan, Ye Lan was essentially paying the phone bill unilaterally. The abyss of towering cliffs was fraught with danger, and no one could predict what might happen, so she naturally wanted to minimize her energy expenditure.

Just like the communication device he used before in front of the black mist barrier, Han Fulai held Ye Lan's dice-shaped magical artifact in his hand. He had asked Ye Lan for it before he left; without this communication artifact, he would have had to ask Jiang Xue, who possessed superb lightness skills, to be his messenger.

Han Fulai left the two of them at the Hilichurl camp because he needed someone to observe his "experimental results." Thanks to Yelan's presence, he now had a means of real-time communication, which saved him a lot of trouble.

"We have arrived at the 'pool,' and the experiment will begin soon. Miss Yelan, please continue to maintain communication and observe the changes in the black mud with Senior Jiang Xue."

Han Fulai ended the communication after he finished speaking.

"Sigh, this kid... he should at least explain what he's going to do so we can be mentally prepared." Jiang Xue sighed helplessly; this feeling of "the unknown" was really unpleasant.

It's like a horror movie, the atmosphere of not knowing where ghosts or monsters might suddenly appear is even scarier than if they actually appeared in front of you.

Ye Lan looked thoughtful: "Perhaps he himself didn't know what changes would occur in the black mud, which is why he didn't say anything. I think we should still be more careful..."

The two stared solemnly at the black mud swamp, falling silent once more.

One minute passed, two minutes passed... and the black mud swamp remained unchanged.

Perhaps feeling that staring at the black mud was too foolish, Jiang Xue couldn't help but strike up a conversation with Ye Lan: "Miss Ye Lan's bracelet seems to have a similar effect to Miss Ningguang's Jade Pavilion magic array?"

The small jade bracelet on Ye Lan's wrist had such magical communication capabilities that it reminded him of Ning Guang's Jade Pavilion.

Rumors circulate in Liyue that Ningguang is omniscient about everything happening in Liyue Harbor. Savvy merchants understand that this is because Ningguang has a vast intelligence network. Jiang Xue, also a Star Seven, knows that the Jade Pavilion is equipped with a large number of magic arrays, some of which even have effects such as "seeing and hearing from afar".

However, such a "rumor array" requires a huge amount of resources to support it, and Ningguang will not activate it casually.

“Mr. Jiang Xue, you flatter me.” Ye Lan slightly raised her hand and showed the “Youqi Bracelet” to Jiang Xue. “The bracelet is engraved with my family’s magic, the same as the one in that die. It can only be used for simple communication. As you can see, this distance is already the limit of communication. The effect is far inferior to the magic array of Qunyu Pavilion.”

When Ningguang activated the magic circle, it could transmit her voice throughout Liyue Harbor, making the effect of "Ghostly Armguard" far inferior.

Since Jiang Xue asked, Ye Lan didn't try to hide anything. In any case, she had already demonstrated the bracelet's effects to Han Fulai and Jiang Xue, so there was no need to conceal it.

"What's rare is the jade itself. The jade was once owned by the Liyue Immortal Clan's 'Minghai Qixia Zhenjun,' and by chance, it was given to my ancestor to be crafted into a pair of jade bracelets, named 'Youqi Wanlan.' In a way, this can be considered a family heirloom."

"Actually, the magic passed down in my family was originally taught by the immortals. It complements the immortals' collection perfectly. Even if the two 'mysterious wristbands' are thousands of miles apart, they can communicate with each other... Ha, it's much better than the gadgets I made myself later."

"The immortal's collection is indeed extraordinary." Jiang Xue nodded, then asked with a puzzled look, "But you said there was a pair, why is the other one missing?"

Ye Lan gently touched the "White Silk Flying Robe" on her shoulder and replied, "The other one was damaged... so I used this robe to settle the debt."

In Ye Lan's intelligence career, there was one special experience that is worth remembering, which was both a failure and a success.

It was a failure because she lost an ancestral "Mysterious Wristband" during that operation. It was a success because her opponents also failed to gain any advantage over her.

This opponent was an old acquaintance to her, Ningguang, and even Han Fulai: the ninth seat of the Fools' Executive Officers—"The Rich" Pantalone.

Pantarone had long established numerous hidden trade routes in Liyue, used to transport goods and deliver intelligence. Liyue was a nation built on commerce, with countless merchants whose routes were so extensive that even Yelan couldn't keep track of them all. In fact, Pantarone's ability to suddenly appear in Liyue Harbor during the Lantern Festival and then safely retreat to winter was largely due to these hidden trade routes he had laid.

One of the hidden trade routes was infiltrated by Yelan a few years ago, and Pantalone's goods were intercepted. The rarest item among those goods was taken by Yelan as compensation for the jade bracelet.

This item is a cloak made from the pelts of ancient, exotic magical beasts.

This powerful beast, though dead for hundreds of years, has remained incorruptible, its fur emitting a unique fragrance. A cloak made from its hide is worth a fortune, and due to its scarcity, it is always in high demand but rarely available.

The cloak was originally a gift from Pantalone to Queen Winter, but it was intercepted by Nightlan. Not only that, Nightlan also rejected the style that Winter had carefully chosen for Her Majesty.

She directly removed the animal hide from her cloak, mixed it with Liyue ramie, and made a new style of sleeved shawl, which is the "White Silk Flying Robe" that she never parted with.

Exchanging an ancestral treasure for a precious item belonging to the Winter Queen is hard to say whether it's a loss or a gain. In Ye Lan's view, it's just an "exchange".

To gain something, you must lose something else; the people of Liyue have always believed in the principle of equal exchange.

Everything has its gains and losses; life is like that, a constant cycle of coming together and going.

Just as she gained stimulation from the darkness, she also lost the peace of an ordinary person.

But Ye Lan found joy in it.

Unlike Jiang Xue, Ye Lan was very much looking forward to the results of Han Fulai's "experiment".

Like gambling, the unknown outcome is also a kind of fun for her.

Han Fulai had no interest in gambling, and his exploration of the unknown was usually something he did out of necessity.

If possible, he would like all the questions on the exam paper to be questions he has already answered, and he would get at least one gold card in every ten-pull gacha.

He preferred a more stable life. Compared to gambling or getting rich overnight by buying lottery tickets, he felt that earning money through honest promotions and raises was a more reliable way to make money.

Unfortunately, this world is never quite what we want. It was like this before I transmigrated, and it's like this now.

For example, right now, he feels like he's become a charlatan.

Because he had just made a request to the exploration team—"Now, please make a wish to me. The wish is... to remove the black mud from this ancient civilization's ruins."

To be honest, doing this kind of thing is really embarrassing. Even though Han Fulai has a thick skin, he still felt a little awkward. But in this world where there are gods, pretending to be a charlatan is the fastest way to gain faith—or rather, "willpower."

He was looking up at the pool, his hands clasped together and raised above his head, as if in prayer.

In such a strange ruin, under such a strange pool, making such a strange request and doing such strange things, it's no wonder that you have to endure strange looks.

Beneath the "inverted pool," the members of the exploration team displayed a variety of expressions.

Zhiqiong's big eyes blinked, and it was unclear what she was thinking. However, judging from the way she clasped her hands together, she was probably making a wish to Han Fulai.

For Zhiqiong, a storytelling enthusiast, this was a strange new character setting added to Han Daxia's persona—but in storytelling, heroes are usually omnipotent, so it wouldn't be surprising if Han Daxia really had such abilities; after all, trying it wouldn't hurt. If Han Daxia truly possessed these abilities, then her journey to the ruins would be even more legendary, and Tian Tiezui would likely be very interested in hearing about it.

Old Tuahao and the other miners were somewhat skeptical.

They all knew about the "Wishing Stone," and although judging from Qi Ding's previous behavior, it wasn't necessarily a good thing. But they still held a sliver of hope for the legend that it could grant wishes. In Liyue's lore, the "Wishing Stone" wasn't even considered a means of fulfilling wishes—Liyue had immortals!

For the native people of Liyue, visiting the mountains to seek out immortals is the shortcut to fulfilling their wishes. For example, Shenhe was once a legendary "fairy," and there were immortal seekers who made wishes to her—of course, all those immortal seekers who were eager for fame and fortune and disturbed her peaceful cultivation were driven away by Shenhe.

Old Tu had witnessed Han Fulai's method of dispelling the Seven Star Formation and immediately regarded him as an immortal sent by the Emperor, boasting about it extensively at the banquet. However, he was used to exaggerating, and most people didn't really believe him.

But now that Han Fulai himself suddenly asked them to make a wish, they remembered what Lao Tu had said before. Combined with Han Fulai's amazing performance of constantly "digging people out" since he went down to the Lower Rock Abyss, Han Fulai's "immortal identity" seemed to become believable again.

In the end, Lao Tu clapped his hands and said casually, "Let's give it a try," and then took the lead in putting his hands together and raising them above his head to make a wish to Han Fulai.

The expressions on Haidif and Hosseini's faces were quite interesting, as if they had been forced by their tutor to come up with some outrageous assignment.

As for whether they believed Han Fulai or not... they didn't believe him at all.

As scholars from the Academy of Education, their way of thinking is actually very similar to that of small-town test-takers like Han Fulai.

Scientific researchers are very logical and firmly believe that everything has a cause and effect. For example, when they discover fossils on the walls of ancient ruins, they don't wonder what kind of miracle it is, but rather investigate the biological types of the fossils to conclude that the area was once an ocean. Then they consider the geological history of the abyss, speculating that the area underwent massive geological changes—but they don't think that it was created by some "celestial object" falling from the sky.

What Han Fulai is doing now is clearly illogical.

If he had that ability, what would be the point of having the "Pursina Light Nail"? Everyone could have made a wish upon him long ago.

But since they had agreed to help Han Fulai with his "experiment," they had to consider that this might be part of the experiment, and what special significance this behavior might have. As for what that significance might be, they would have to wait and see the results of the experiment.

In short, although they were reluctant, they eventually followed the example set by others.

Just as everyone present finished making their wishes to Han Fulai, a burst of golden light suddenly shone before their eyes.

A beam of light shot from Han Fulai's hand, directly hitting the inverted pool. Unlike the "purification ritual," this beam of light was white—or perhaps a white formed from a mixture of many colors.

The water in the pool began to ripple, and this time the ripples were much more violent than during the "purification ritual," as if a huge rock had been thrown into the water, causing the water to spray outwards.

The overflowing water flowed down the eight pillars of the "bell tower," circulating through the entire tower layer by layer, finally converging at the inverted spire, transforming into a bright sphere of light. The sphere of light existed for only a few seconds before scattering and shattering, flying to every corner of the ruins.

The ripples in the pool stopped, and Han Fulai also released his prayer posture—mainly because he couldn't maintain it any longer.

He had just connected with the pool through the collective "wishes" of the crowd, borrowing its power. The whole process was like a small horse pulling a heavy cart; just creating the commotion he was making had taken a tremendous amount of effort. His back was already soaked with sweat, and if he continued, he might faint on the spot.

The immortal power and the power of the demon god's remnants within his body were almost depleted in just a few seconds, equivalent to unleashing "Heavenly Movement" twice in a row.

But the experiment was undoubtedly a success.

The die hanging around his neck lit up slightly. Han Fulai reached out and pressed the die, connecting to Ye Lan's communication.

Yelan's voice came from the dice: "The Black Mud Swamp has disappeared, and... a tree has grown. What did you just do?"

"I used magic." Han Fulai rarely joked with her.

"What kind of magic?" Yelan asked, her tone surprisingly serious.

Han Fulai paused for a moment, then replied, "My magic is the heart that believes."

Chapter 252 The Path to Becoming the Salt King Emperor

The success of this "experiment" was actually within Han Fulai's expectations.

If you were to ask Han Fulai how confident he was in mobilizing the pool's water to remove the black mud, he would answer that he was at least 80% confident—the information he had gathered over this period was sufficient for him to make that judgment.

As for the essential item for activating the pool's energy, or rather... "authority," Han Fulai speculated that it was "willpower."

His speculation has now been confirmed.

He finally understood this matter after hearing Haidif and others put forward the concept of the "Six Root Sins".

Han Fulai's "experiment" involved collecting the "willpower" of the people in the exploration team and attempting to use it to leverage the power of the heavens in the pool.

Daines Reeb had told him before that this place was a special place where three different forces converged.

The struggle between the first two forces is already evident here.

The power of the pool is a kind of power that comes from the "Governing Authority of Life" on Sky Island, representing "heaven";

The abyssal power of black mud is one kind; black mud comes from the mutation of the earth's veins and represents "earth".

So... what is the third power?

Daines Reeb actually gave him the answer:

“I know you don’t have the ‘Eye of God,’ and neither do I. But that doesn’t matter, because we humans inherently possess the power to create history and weave destiny. So, I have another piece of advice for you.”