Forty-nine rules of the end times

Chapter 230 Experimental Problems and Tutoring Controversy

Ye Lianka followed Guan Tong to a room that looked like an indoor pool table. She saw that several tables inside were standing upright against the corner of the wall, which Guan Tong must have made.

"Since what you lack is the proficiency in manipulating the energy of mental power, then you should naturally focus on it in actual combat."

As Guan Tong spoke, he walked to the center of the room, turned to Ye Lianka, and asked, "You've received combat training before, haven't you?"

He felt that if Yelena was indeed of noble birth from Sisyah, then she must have received corresponding combat training.

One of the reasons why the Sisyan nobility is famous worldwide is their "holistic education" model. This means cultivating people into "all-round talents," which in ancient times would mean being proficient in everything from music, chess, calligraphy, painting, archery, horsemanship, and swordsmanship.

Yelena nodded: "I have learned traditional Sisyan unarmed combat."

"That's fine then," Guan Tong said. "You attack me, I'll only defend. During this process, don't use any items or skills other than mental power."

When Guan Tong first met Shi Jingyi, she used her mental power to cover her body in the warehouse of the industrial park, and the martial arts she displayed were simply overwhelming to those living dead.

This is the effect of mental power on the body. Since Yelena has learned combat, having her train in this way is the fastest way to improve her proficiency.

"I'm going to start."

After Ye Lianka finished speaking, she launched an attack, charging forward and delivering a heavy hook punch to Guan Tong.

The action is really fast.

Judging from Ye Lianka's serene appearance alone, you would never guess that she moved so fast. Guan Tong felt as if she had rushed in front of him in the blink of an eye.

He raised his arm to block in front of him, and his fist struck it with a dull thud.

Ye Lianka's eyes narrowed slightly. She felt her fist being blocked by something like a hard membrane, and she didn't even touch Guan Tong's arm.

"This is a 'shield' formed by mental power," Guan Tong said. "Did you forget that I told you to use mental power when you attack?"

He could sense that Yelena's punch was entirely brute force, without any mental energy covering it.

“…something seems off,” Yelena said.

"That's right, it's not coordinated. Normally your movements are in a static state, but you can maintain the flow in motion. That's when you've truly mastered it. Isn't that what you need to practice?"

Guan Tong's tone was somewhat stern, but Ye Lianka didn't say anything and continued to try to attack while circulating her mental energy.

This incoordination immediately made her attacks very sluggish, and she would even stop halfway through a kick, waiting for the flowing mental energy to cover it before kicking it out again.

As he had said before, Guan Tong only defended and did not attack.

In reality, he doesn't have much fighting skill. He never studied it, and he rarely engages in close combat. He mostly fights from mid- to long-range while controlling his shadow and staying in a safe position.

Yelena could also see this.

In her eyes, although Guan Tong only defended, his defensive movements were full of flaws and could be described as clumsy.

However, despite her poor defensive capabilities, the shield formed by her mental power completely neutralized her attack.

Moreover, she keenly noticed that Guan Tong's physical fitness was much better than hers, and many of his defensive moves were achieved through rapid movement.

After more than twenty minutes of this, she was panting heavily, her forehead covered with a fine layer of sweat, and her chest heaving violently.

But Guan Tong in her eyes seemed to have just finished warming up; apart from a slightly flushed face, he didn't even have a drop of sweat.

Seeing that Ye Lianka was almost exhausted, Guan Tong said to her, "Let's stop here for now. Circulating mental energy in dynamic conditions is very taxing on both mind and body. It's good that you were able to persist for so long despite not being very skilled. Go back and think about what you can improve, and practice again next time."

"..."

After Guan Tong finished speaking, he left first. Ye Lianka stayed by herself for a while, recalling the many details of the combat training just now, and thinking about where she could do better.

She then thought of Guan Tong's condition after the battle. Even though Guan Tong was constantly on the defensive, she was also continuously circulating her mental energy to create a protective shield. In this process, she consumed more mental energy than Guan Tong, but she showed no signs of fatigue afterward.

Ye Lianka knew very well that this meant Guan Tong's mental strength limit was probably exceptionally high. She took a deep breath, knowing that such a rare opportunity for further study was one she had to seize and hone her strength to the required level as quickly as possible.

...How exactly is a "mind network" constructed?

After Guan Tong helped Ye Lianka with practical training, he returned to the shelter and began to study the contents mentioned in the hidden rules.

He initially believed that this mental network needed one person to act as the "host," and then others would use their mental power to connect to this host and form the network.

But no matter how he tried to build this "host", he failed.

This made him feel like he might be going in the wrong direction.

"If there's no host, or rather, everyone is a host, how do we connect with each other? Through telepathic contact? But..."

During Guan Tong's previous sparring session with Ye Lianka, their mental energies had already come into contact, but no "mental connection" effect was achieved.

Does it mean that both parties must have this subjective idea before it can happen?

Guan Tong wanted to conduct an experiment, but unfortunately found that she didn't know who to ask.

He had no acquaintances in Pinglu. To be precise, if he really wanted to find someone to conduct experiments with, the only person he could turn to was Shi Jingyi.

Because only Shi Jingyi knew his identity.

If you ask someone else, you have to tell them the contents of the hidden rules first. Then they will naturally think, "Why do you know? Isn't it the stationmaster of the House of Ascendants who knows the hidden information about the rules?"

Unless it's officially announced, everyone will know, and there's no problem with trying it out on each other.

The problem is that Guan Tong can't access computers and therefore can't log into the Ascended's Home website to sell or publish information. Given this, what are the chances that officials will suddenly have a flash of inspiration and realize the existence of the Mind Network?
"Should I go find Shi Jingyi? But her current situation isn't very convenient." Guan Tong thought, "Or maybe I should use the shadow to reveal the hidden rules to the authorities, and then the authorities can make them public."

He felt that if he didn't reveal it, it would be difficult for anyone to accidentally discover this hidden rule.

After all, the most common way for people to make mental contact is during combat, when their mental weapons collide. But at that moment, both people must simultaneously have the thought of "mental connection" in order to successfully establish a mental network.

The problem is that when the two of them are fighting, they are thinking about how to defeat their opponent and how to protect themselves. How could they inexplicably think about the connection between their minds?
You can imagine how low the probability of this happening is.

However, Guan Tong did not expect that, in addition to this problem, a new problem would soon come his way.

The next morning, when he arrived at the college, he found Dean Zhou Qinfeng waiting for him outside the classroom, asking him to come to his office after class to talk, without saying what it was about.

Guan Tong initially didn't know what was going on, but the students' behavior during class was also somewhat strange. The way they looked at him and Ye Lianka seemed off made him vaguely guess what was happening.

Sure enough, after class, when he went to the dean's office, Zhou Qinfeng asked him directly if he had given Ye Lianka individual tutoring.

"I'd like to know which rule this violates?" Guan Tong asked after admitting it.

Zhou Qinfeng smiled wryly: "I didn't say that you, Teacher Guan, violated the rules. It's just that other students will inevitably have opinions after they find out. They will feel that you, as a teacher, should treat everyone equally and shouldn't give extra lessons to individual students."

“This isn’t tutoring; it’s that Yelena Stasia is ahead of everyone else, and what she learns in regular classes is no longer of any help to her.”

“Sigh, the point isn’t whether there’s extra tutoring or not, but rather individual tutoring.” Zhou Qinfeng sighed. “Teacher Guan, you’re still young and don’t pay much attention to these things. Sometimes you should consider what most people think.”

"Moreover, students like to spread and create rumors, which may harm you and that student. Even if you don't care, Teacher Guan, you have to think about that student."

Guan Tong felt annoyed. He had never liked rules and constraints. Even if he were to become a lecturer, as long as he didn't break the rules, he had no intention of accepting all the unspoken rules regarding interpersonal relationships.

"That's the student who asked for my help. Dean Zhou, you should talk to her. I have other things to do, so I won't keep you company any longer." After he finished speaking, he went out and left, leaving Zhou Qinfeng completely dumbfounded. It took him a while to come back to his senses.

"This kid is really..."

Zhou Qinfeng hadn't expected it to be so difficult to persuade him.

However, he could tell from the first interview that Guan Tong was unwilling to suffer any loss. Moreover, she seemed to lack cunning; if she was unhappy, regardless of the other person's status, she would immediately show it on her face and in her words, easily embarrassing the other person on the spot.

Just like when he was interviewing Zhang Linliang, a senior lecturer at the academy, he directly said that he would only use one-fifth of the other's mental power to spar with him. After winning, he didn't even say a word of politeness, which made Zhang Linliang lose face.

Zhou Qinfeng shook his head after thinking for a moment: "Forget it, this isn't the university it used to be. We can't control it even if we want to. If there's any trouble, let him suffer the consequences himself."

(End of this chapter)