The Thirteen Trials of the Deceptive Monk

-Lü Wenjun: You went through all that trouble to create this level of technique just for a one-off prank?! Senior, are you crazy?!

-Kano E:~

-Lü Wenjun: What am I supposed to learn? I'm desperate. Can someone at the Heterodox level even learn this?

-Kano Ei: Evolve a few levels before you come back!

-Lü Wenjun: [Pointing down][Pointing down]

-Kano E sent you the application formula.

- Kano E: As compensation, here's a mysterious prank camera app for you.

-Lü Wenjun: What is this?

-Kano E: Give it a try if you have time~~

Kano sent a few funny face emojis and then went offline, leaving Lü Wenjun speechless.

Fortunately, he was studying in the library and had the magical artifact for reading the original texts to protect him; otherwise, just one glance at that incredibly complex magic circle would have made him faint on the spot.

What the hell is all this stuff? This alone could easily fill a whole book, and you're using it for a prank?!

Suddenly I understand the professors' contorted expressions when they mentioned Kano. It's like using the skill of a classical masterpiece to draw shit! What irreconcilable hatred do you have for your own talent?!

"Wenjun, why do you suddenly have such a distorted expression?" Linggong asked.

"It's nothing... I was just shocked by the seniors again," Lü Wenjun said. "And could you buy me a bottle of green tea, please?"

Pershka immediately refused: "No way, I'll go myself."

The two girls across the table just got up and started browsing the vending machines. The app Kano sent had just finished installing, and Lü Wenjun stared at the strange pink icon, lost in thought.

Want to give it a try...?

Even someone with a modicum of common sense like Chai Luo would know that this is absolutely not a good thing. But after all, it's an application created by that senior Kano himself… While using it will inevitably lead to bad results, what will the outcome actually be…?

I'm curious! I'm just so curious!

The strange icon resembled a large red button right in front of him, tempting him to press it. Driven by curiosity, Lü Wenjun opened the camera app, and the lens captured the two people next to the vending machine.

"——！！！！！！！"

It's changed! It's changed so fast!!!

Lu Wenjun did his best to suppress the urge to speak. Because the moment they were captured on camera, their appearances underwent a miraculous transformation! And that transformation was precisely the result of an extremely impactful scene he had witnessed in the Water Mirror Court!

Lingyu's figure underwent a significant change; her already top-tier bust size experienced explosive growth. The ribbon that was neatly tied at the front of her sailor uniform could no longer bear the weight and snapped, revealing a deep cleavage between the undone buttons. The change perfectly embodied the true meaning of motherhood, inspiring an urge to raise one's arms and shout in celebration.

And Pershka's upper body... had actually changed a little bit! From that barely effective amplification, one could see just how much effort the spell had put in and how much sweat it had shed!

Perhaps out of a compensatory mentality, the procedure was more focused on the thighs, creating an obvious contact between the originally slender and well-proportioned legs. The fabric accentuated the three-dimensional texture, causing onlookers to involuntarily have fantasies...!

At that moment, the two people in the camera looked at each other, their faces full of confusion: "What are you filming?"

"He's using a camera to observe the price of drinks from a distance!!" Lu Wenjun's voice was shrill.

Driven by the instinct for survival, I did my best to suppress the urge to take pictures. I exited the app. I hid the app in a private folder. I lay down on my desk. I started playing dead!!!

“Wenjun…” Linggong drawled, “Why did you suddenly unleash such a strong evil aura…?”

"Nothing's wrong! It's just a normal stomachache!"

Pershka glanced at him dismissively: "He's probably thinking about some weird thing again."

“Sigh…” Ling Gong expressed deep doubt.

Lu Wenjun buried his face in the book, trying his best to control his muscles to prevent his clothes from being soaked with cold sweat.

This is dangerous. Absolutely too dangerous. This application is to be permanently locked away from today and never to be opened again. And no matter how you are questioned, you must keep this a secret.

He looked up to meet their suspicious gazes and flashed a bright smile.

That's right, there are some things that should never be said.

If discovered...

But people really can die from this!

Chapter 75 Why Look Back and Forth?

Thursday morning at 9:00 AM, training ground on the 17th floor of the teaching building.

A flash of white light streaked past, tracing an arc of blade energy. Vilsa raised his arm, bracing his iron hand against the strike. Using the momentum, the swordsman spun sideways to Vilsa's side, his second blade aimed at his ribs like a viper's hiss.

A jolt of electric shock shot through Vilsa's mind; the previous strike had stolen his magic. This sudden effect was enough to disrupt even the most elite warrior, yet his movements remained perfectly fluid.

With a downward elbow strike and a rising left knee, the blade was attacked from both above and below. The white blade was caught in the powerful blow, and the wielder was immediately exposed. Versa clenched his right fist and delivered a powerful punch!

The knife-wielder dropped his weapon and leaped backward, narrowly dodging the powerful punch. Vilsa raised his hand to seize the knife, but a beam of light suddenly shot towards him. In a split second, the knife-wielder shifted his position, the white blade drawn by the beam, its edge slashing towards Vilsa's chest.

Versa stepped back to dodge the sudden attack, and his single blade returned to its rightful owner, causing his opponent to exhale a long breath.

"Impressive, Versa." Lü Wenjun sheathed his twin swords. "I still have a long way to go."

A flash of light appeared above the circular training arena, projecting a replay of a practice match. This is a popular review feature among students; many skilled players apply for the training area to practice against each other, allowing them to better understand their current abilities.

Lu Wenjun, still shaken by his recent weight loss, decided to resume exercising. Coupled with his newly acquired Divine Weapon, which he needed to familiarize himself with, he asked Virsa for practical guidance every week. After all, in terms of martial arts skills, he was probably the most capable fighter among the first-year students; the others were basically fragile little guys.

“Your evasion technique has almost become instinctive, but your offensive capabilities are still insufficient.” Vilsa replayed the video, pointing to the moment when his sword was taken away. “Here, you realized something was wrong, but you still attacked.”

“Subconsciously I felt I could still give it a try…” Lu Wenjun sighed. “I honestly admit I couldn’t think of a better way, and it seems the effect is even worse when I hit other parts of the body.”

Vilsa pointed the tip of his knife and thrust it diagonally upwards, narrowly avoiding the pincer attack and aiming straight for his neck.

"so."

"Oh, right..."

Vilsa laughed: "That's talent. You have the talent for battle, but you lack the talent for martial arts."

What do you mean?

"You lack inspiration in the variations of individual moves, but you have always been ahead of the curve in the overall control of the battle. The final surprise attack with the 'Bewitching Light' was a brilliant move, something I didn't expect."

Lu Wenjun scratched his head: "Those of us without talent can only resort to a little trickery."

"Does martial arts require a high level of talent?" Velsa asked.

"Don't you need it?" Lü Wenjun retorted. "If my magic talent is 90 points..."

“100 points,” Virsa corrected.

"Okay, thank you for your support. So, what's my martial arts score?"

Versa said thoughtfully, "Judging from defense and evasion alone, it's at least 70 points. If you add the potential driven by the survival instinct ingrained in their bones, it's undoubtedly 95 points."

Lu Wenjun smiled upon hearing this: "And what about the attack aspect?"

He manipulated the training field, popping out a training dummy. After a brief moment of charging, he leaped out and delivered a lightning-fast uppercut to the dummy!

The dummy's head swayed wildly after that blow, like a roly-poly toy with a broken screw. Lu Wenjun stood behind the dummy and laughed, "If Vilsa's punch is 100 points, then how many points would I get for this all-out attack? 80 points? 70 points?"

After a moment of silence, Virsa walked up to the dummy and threw a punch with the exact same force as Lü Wenjun.

His fist struck the dummy, and the sturdy dummy instantly exploded into dust!

“Not even 50 points!” Vilsa said truthfully.

The difference in results achieved with the same force stems from a gap in technique and talent, unrelated to innate abilities. Lü Wenjun's fist was that of a seasoned veteran, while Virsa's fist was that of a genius who had mastered the art. The superiority of one over the other is immediately apparent.

Lü Wenjun laughed heartily and sat down against the wall in a corner of the training field.

"Thanks, buddy. I didn't mean to make things difficult for you. I just..." He shrugged, "...can't quite accept what you said earlier."

"A story?" Virsa tossed him a bottle of ice water.

He took the water and took a sip, then smiled wryly and said, "I used to have expectations for myself! When it comes to martial arts, hard work always outweighs talent. With my skills, I could barely be considered a specialist, and dealing with regular experts shouldn't be a problem. So after training with my dad for a few years, I confidently went to sign up to participate in the family's arena."

Lu Wenjun looked up and said nostalgically, "I never expected to win first place...that would be a lie. Of course I hoped to win first place. I put in a lot of effort, and my training intensity was higher than all the young people of my generation. I felt that my efforts and sweat were worth the victory."

“I understand,” Velsa said. He also practiced martial arts and naturally knew how much hard work Lü Wenjun, who was not naturally gifted, had to go through to achieve his current level of skill.

“Of course you understand.” Lü Wenjun screwed the bottle cap on. “Then I confidently stepped onto the ring. Back then, my skills weren’t much worse than they are now. And my opponent was my cousin, who was two years younger than me. Before going on stage, she had to call me Brother Wenjun!”

Vilsa almost immediately guessed the outcome, but he still asked, "The outcome?"

Lu Wenjun laughed even louder, his laughter tinged with bitterness.

“My cousin practices hard qigong, and I couldn’t even scratch her,” Lü Wenjun said. “In front of a real martial artist, my fancy moves are nothing more than a tickle. And she couldn’t hit me. I’m fast enough to dodge! So that fight was quite funny. I was jumping around like a flea, while my cousin would occasionally defend herself without getting hurt.”

"I was determined to win. After all, it was my first match in the ring. I was willing to risk everything to wear her down... But then my cousin raised her hand and said I was forfeiting. She looked at me with concern and said, 'Brother Wenjun, you're not in good health. This is just a friendly spar. Please don't break yourself...'"

"What else can I say?" Lü Wenjun covered his face and laughed. "I said, forget it, you have martial virtue, this round is yours, Brother Wenjun, who lost. Then I forfeited and left the game, sitting with the adults watching the kids fight."

Wilsa didn't know what to say, so she patted his shoulder and asked, "What was your cousin's final ranking?"

"She ranked 7th," said Lü Wenjun. "Out of 24 participants, she made it into the top few, which is pretty good."

After hearing this, Velsa understood him even better. If that kid came in first place, Lü Wenjun could at least calm himself down and say that losing to the top student of his generation wasn't shameful. If the kid ranked very low, he could at least admit that he wasn't cut out for it and simply give up the idea.

The worst situation is precisely this limbo. The person who defeated you wasn't the strongest, and you seem to have a chance to beat them. So, if you had a different opponent, could you have gotten a better ranking? Eighth or ninth? But what's the point? Nobody cares who's eighth or ninth; everyone only looks at the top three, or even just the first place.

But all he wanted was to be number one.

This is the most realistic outcome. You did try very hard, but this is all you're capable of.

“From then on, I lost all interest in martial arts,” Lü Wenjun concluded. “Practicing a little can improve my skills, but that’s about it. It’s better to study.”

After thinking for a moment, Velsa asked, "Is your cousin's kick stronger now, or your kick after you transform?"

Lu Wenjun almost choked: "Dude, what nonsense are you talking about... My cousin isn't a magician, so of course I'm stronger after I activate my cultivation."

“So, it can be said that after activating the transformation, your martial arts talent is higher than your cousin’s,” Velsa said.

Lü Wenjun sighed helplessly: "How can you compare things like that!"

“Why can’t it be calculated this way?” Velsa said seriously. “What people need for close combat is nothing more than strength, speed, and reflexes, all of which you already possess after your transformation. And you are a mage, not a pure warrior. You train to defeat enemies, not to engage in fair duels in the arena. If that’s the case, why single out magic?”

Lu Wenjun was speechless for a moment. Velsa continued, "Although your talent is lacking, it is not so bad that it is beyond redemption. In my opinion, you are fully capable of becoming an excellent martial artist. Although you may not reach the pinnacle, if you put the same perseverance you have in practicing dodging and survival, it is not impossible for you to master one or two 'ultimate skills' in the future."

"I……"

Lu Wenjun wanted to retort, but didn't know what to say. Wilsa patted him on the back: "More practice won't hurt, keep it up."

“Sometimes I do want to give up…” Lu Wenjun said with a wry smile.

He thanked them and left the training ground. The corridor reeked of sweat, and the physically strong mages were demonstrating their moves from their previous exchanges, chatting animatedly. Walking among these overly excited giants, he felt a long-lost sense of detachment.

He understood what Virsa meant: it was not only to comfort him about his terrible past, but also to remind him of his recent low mood.

He'd become a bit lax in the two weeks following the midterms. He wasn't as eager to get good grades in class anymore, and after class, he only did practice once or twice a week to make sure he didn't fall behind. Although he had to work and take care of Jiu Jiu Mu, and had a lot of other things to do, he could always find the time if he really wanted to work hard.

There are many more people at the school who know martial arts than just Versa. For example, Teacher Lingge is an extremely skilled fighter. If the teacher is too busy, you can ask a senior student for help. You can always find the time if you want to, and there's always a way if you're determined to improve.

But he wasn't very ambitious in this area.

Once upon a time, he was quite ambitious, picking and choosing weapons in the armory back home, hoping to hone his martial arts skills and inherit his father's reputation. However, reality was never quite what he imagined. He lacked the strength to wield the heavier weapons, and his use of light weapons was always clumsy. He seemed to be able to learn the moves and techniques after being taught, but his execution was always off, making the local children laugh.

He had always harbored a侥幸心理 (a gambler's mentality), hoping to achieve great success after years of hard training. It wasn't until he was defeated by his cousin in the ring and came in last place that Lü Wenjun's dream of becoming a martial arts master was completely extinguished.

My father said it wasn't a lack of diligence, it was a lack of talent; he was just not cut out for this line of work, there was no need to force it. He said, "If you can't handle the martial arts, then use your literary skills to balance it out!"

However, his performance in academic subjects seemed mediocre. His grades in high school weren't bad, but they were just average. The truly talented students were already accumulating dazzling awards and getting special admissions and guaranteed admissions, while he was still flipping through textbooks and doing practice problems, paying attention to the rise and fall of his rankings just like other students.

He was too ambitious, and as a result, he didn't make a single friend during his three years of high school. In the end, a car accident shattered his dream of attending a prestigious university, sending him to Trista, who knows how many kilometers away.

Now he's become a magical genius, though mostly through cheating. He's having a good time at school, but...

Is this really a good thing?

He had a secret agent mission and a mortal identity; he could never live a peaceful life here forever. But deep down, Lü Wenjun knew he loved his current life. Learning magic in the Great Secret Realm was far more interesting and rewarding than studying hard in the outside world. If everyone has a stage that suits them, then the spotlight that best shines on him is undoubtedly here.

But should I really become a magician? Should I find a job in the secret realm afterward? Or should I cultivate good relationships with the teachers at school and stay on as a faculty member after graduation? What about my family outside? What about our original lives?

Let's suppose that one day all the crises that worried him will miraculously disappear... no unexpected missions will arise, and no one will suspect his identity...

Should I just back down and return to a mediocre but safe life?

Lu Wenjun was unaware that, as he walked in the sunlight, he felt a vast emptiness before his eyes, as if he were in a fog.

After the midterm exams ended and the letter was sent, he suddenly felt unsteady on his feet. Having lost his immediate goal, he felt lost and adrift, like a lonely wanderer.

He walked silently down the avenue, his fluctuating thoughts suddenly awakened by the shout.

"Are you sleepwalking, kid?" Old Fa called out from afar. "If you don't want this letter again, I'll lose it."