The Thirteen Trials of the Deceptive Monk

Lü Wenjun: At that time, I had my own brilliant plan, so let's solve it step by step according to the order of action. Next question…

Velsa: How did we get into a direct confrontation? Even with the range deduced from the divine realm, we couldn't start a fight if we couldn't find the true god.

Lü Wenjun: Yes, so go and cut down the trees.

Versa: Me?

Lü Wenjun: You guys.

·

On the 7th day after the appearance of the god of the otherworld, the logging team (also known as the frontal assault team) led by Velsa began cutting down trees.

"Muscles! The muscles are gleaming!"

"It feels like a spring outing, I'm so happy!"

"Want to have a race to see who can chop the fastest?" "I won't lose a strength contest!"

One by one, the trees fell, and the muscular men sweated profusely. The monsters were already incredibly strong, and with the aid of their transformation techniques, felling trees was a piece of cake. The student council members maintaining order warmly welcomed this, as the arrival of the new students relieved a great deal of the pressure.

The expansion of the forest was slowed down thanks to the logging team's efforts, and the expansion of the divine realm was also suppressed, intentionally or unintentionally.

The felled logs were piled up like mountains.

·

Lü Wenjun: From now on, this is the key to the battle.

Lü Wenjun: Even when we ventured deep into the forest, we failed to find the gods because they hid in an invisible "temple." Unless the gods opened the door themselves, outsiders could not approach.

Lü Wenjun: Therefore, we must change our approach. Since the gods are unwilling to open the door, we will manually create the "path" to the temple.

Faris: But there are no paths in the woods.

Lü Wenjun: Fazhong has hit the nail on the head. There are no roads in the forest! Monsters and their retinues don't need roads, nor do birds, beasts, and insects. Apart from us outsiders, there is only one being in the forest who travels on the roads, and that is the "god" who rules the forest.

Lü Wenjun: If we can create a stable and existing path, then it will effectively become a "path of worship" for the gods. And at the end of that path lies the temple!

Pershka: A trick of putting cause and effect backwards. Not bad.

Tia: But the plants keep growing, and the path I painstakingly created will soon disappear. Even a tree spirit like me starts sprouting as soon as I enter the forest…

Reiko: The logging team is working on this. Please look closely, we're going to process the timber into this shape.

Blue Ghost: Oh, this is the kind of gate you often see around shrines in Japan.

Red Oni: That's called Torii, you idiot!

·

Torii gates are iconic structures of Shintoism, typically painted vermilion and shaped like the Chinese character "开" (kāi). They are often placed around shrines dedicated to deities and have a dual meaning in Shintoism.

Firstly, it stands at the starting point and in the middle of the path.

The so-called "Sando" is the core passage connecting the secular world and the divine realm. It is the road leading to the shrine, and also the road through which the gods travel.

If you want to build a walking trail in the forest, you don't actually need to undertake a large-scale construction project.

If hundreds of torii gates are arranged in an orderly manner, they can be conceptually regarded as a path for the gods to pass through.

·

Reiyumi: We will be making and setting up 99 torii gates within this week, which is also one of the rituals to respond to the gods.

Versa: Then I'll have to cut down a lot of trees.

Faris: No, no, no, this isn't a materials problem! Who would make that kind of thing? You expect a bunch of slacker college students to become carpenters in a week?

Lü Wenjun: We know an expert, right? Let's ask him for guidance.

·

"Instructions for making torii gates?" Chai Luo scoffed. "I refuse! This monotonous, repetitive labor has no artistic value whatsoever. How can I waste my precious time on this—"

Lu Wenjun's face darkened: "You're pretty arrogant, aren't you? You've been abandoned by everyone, president."

"Has he already forgotten the kindness shown to him by Frostmourne Lake in less than half a month?!" Faris uttered a string of retroflex consonants.

Chai Luo was shocked: "You bastard, how dare you speak to the president like that!"

"If it weren't for our chivalrous intervention, you'd have 13 wooden stakes stuck in your crotch, you bastard! Are you trying to be ungrateful, you bastard!"

"My God, you two are practically gangsters... Can't you just put your wooden stake away and I'll help you?!"

Under the brutal coercion of the underworld magicians, the artist finally yielded. The logistics team received helpful guidance from the president of the Magic Art Studio, and as a result—

"It's actually very simple."

"Senior Chai Luo's method is incredibly effective! He really is an artist!"

"What's so special about this? Watch closely, as long as we use wood-attribute magic here..."

Chai Luo, who was being praised to the point of arrogance, was also very interested, and the work was progressing quite well.

On the 8th day after the appearance of the otherworldly god, the first torii gate was completed.

·

This concludes the first half of the meeting.

Starting from the conclusion of the operational meeting on the morning of the 5th, the freshmen began a vigorous preparation phase. The logging team provided materials, the logistics team crafted potions and torii gates, and the mobile team was responsible for transportation and setup.

Some people suffered terribly from mosquito bites, some were injured by falling trees, and some were unexpectedly attacked by their relatives... The Lacey bus still came and went every day, and the school hospital was filled with complaints every day.

Despite numerous unexpected events, all tasks proceeded smoothly. This was due to luck, chance, coincidence…

No, that's not the case.

This is because everyone is a magician.

With nearly two months of school having passed, every freshman has mastered at least one spell. Even if it's only at the Extraordinary level, even if it's just simple introductory magic, that still amounts to a total of 128 extraordinary ability users.

Their work efficiency far surpasses that of ordinary people; such simple tasks are nothing to them. Moreover, everyone is full of enthusiasm for participation.

"It's progressing little by little according to plan, and I feel like it's going to work!"

"After all, it's Boss Lü who's fighting with full confidence..."

"If we work harder, maybe we can get into the top ten."

Few people questioned it, or rather, everyone basically assumed that "this operation can work."

Because this was Lü Wenjun's suggestion.

He showed his talent from the entrance exam, flooded the Thousand-Year Cave in the first week of school, demonstrated his extensive knowledge through countless classroom Q&A sessions, and stole the show at the ball with his practical skills... In just two months, this person has proven his abilities countless times. He is undoubtedly a genius magician.

Since this is a midterm exam that requires everyone's joint effort, listening to Master Lü's advice is definitely the right thing to do.

Moreover, even the witch who always argued with him didn't object, which only proves that the plan is feasible.

"Thank you for giving me face by not exposing this wishful thinking plan in front of everyone."

Pershka snorted: "I owe you a favor before, so I'll reluctantly help you out this time."

To put it bluntly, it's basically gambling.

What if the torii gate is destroyed along the way? What if everyone's production capacity is actually insufficient? What if someone sabotages the process? What if, after all the hard work of setting it up, the symbolic meaning fails to translate into reality? What if this approach to the temple doesn't serve its purpose at all?

So many concerns can be found even with a casual thought. Nevertheless, Lü Wenjun still insisted on this plan.

Because he has a way to cheat.

(The 17th version of the operation has been submitted; please help verify it.)

The prophet Sheen made a vomiting sound: (You... are really incredibly enthusiastic... I've fully come to understand your workaholic nature...)

The advantage of being a secret agent is that when you're faced with an insurmountable mess, you can make your organization suffer along with you.

The frontline agents have worked hard to conduct investigations and draft plans, and now they need some data support. It's only right that the support staff at headquarters work a little harder, right? In fact, if they don't support them after going to all this, it will be very demoralizing.

So keep it up, Miss Sheen! Put your boastful claims about the mainframe computing power to good use!

(Calculation complete... The foundation of Torii Gate No. 47 is unstable and may collapse in a couple of days. Please deal with it quickly...)

(receive.)

(Also, their current combat strength is still too weak...and I haven't seen the deciding factor in the game...)

(I will prepare.)

Lu Wenjun shamelessly asked Cabone for a week's leave, and then spent half a day pestering Professor Ji in the teachers' lounge, finally getting Professor Ji to agree to a three-day break for the first-year students, freeing up the last few days for their final sprint.

But no matter how thorough the preparations are beforehand, the final outcome will depend on the battle.

We need unexpected surprise attacks.

"Hey third brother, that god is so rampant in your territory, Big Lacey must be pretty unhappy about it too..."

"You want to drag your old man down with you, huh...?"

“We outsiders are all working so hard, how can a man like Dad just stand by and watch?”

"Aaaaaah!"

A targeted, lethal weapon is needed.

"The technique has been improved!" Ling Gong pushed up her glasses. "Referring to the Taoist talisman system, we have finally successfully constructed the technique we discussed earlier!"

"That's amazing, Reiko-san! You're a genius!"

Furthermore, a decisive tactical approach is needed to make a final decision.

No matter how weakened it may be, it is still a god. Its existence is fundamentally superior to that of ordinary people. With the abilities of a mere heretic mage, it would be extremely difficult to harm it unless the activation conditions of the spell are extremely demanding.

Magic specifically designed to counter powerful enemies. Magic for defeating behemoths. Magic for defeating the strong.

What they need is a story of "the weak defeating the strong".

While textbooks often contain practical survival tips, Lü Wenjun's own original copy of "Urban Legends" tells stories of "the strong bullying the weak." The protagonists of these ghost stories are always ordinary people, because powerful people are not afraid of mere urban legends.

He took on this crucial task, but despite having divine tears, he lacked the material to analyze it.

"Hmph~ How's Wenjun's progress?"

"I'm preparing..."

Should I ask a senior student for help? Or should I shamelessly pester the teacher? Or should I ask an organization for original reference materials?

Time was running out. Busy refining his plans, Lü Wenjun had no more room for hesitation. At this moment—

Pershka placed a book in front of him.

The book has a pristine white cover made of animal hide, decorated with snowflakes, villages, and charming country girls, with the title written in gold German lettering.

Miss Holler's Bedtime Stories

fairy tales.

Children defeat giants. Knights slay evil dragons. A collection of stories where the protagonist always triumphs through wisdom and courage, a tale of the weak overcoming the strong.

"you--"

Lu Wenjun stared at her in surprise. The witch returned a proud smile.

"You can only look at it for three days, and you're not allowed to get it dirty, do you hear me?"

"You've already joined the battle..."

"Don't get me wrong, I joined because I agree with your strategy." She turned and walked away. "This is how I repay the favor you've done me!"

For the first time since they met, he thought Pershka was actually a cute guy.

He quickly found the ideal prototype. It was a story tailor-made for this operation. All that remained was the way to express it; he needed a design that would maximize the prototype's potential, a definitive formula that, in a literal sense, sealed the deal.

“No way,” Mingxiao shook his head. “The activation conditions are too simple right now. If you want to defeat a god with a heretical technique, then give me more demanding conditions.”

"Add conditions that only apply to specific objects."

"not enough."

"Add conditions that allow activation only under specific circumstances."

"Think about it again."

"Add stricter limits on the number of attempts!"

"Go a little deeper!"