Chapter 53

In the real world.

At this moment, Zhou Xian was standing on an open ground.

In front of him were several makeshift scarecrows.

Zhou Xian stood opposite the scarecrows, holding a sword in his hand, his gaze fixed on the scarecrows in front of him.

Suddenly, Zhou Xian moved.

He cast two Soul Talismans, then charged forward.

The talismans fiercely knocked two scarecrows away, and the charging Zhou Xian quickly approached another scarecrow. After a series of slashes, the makeshift scarecrow was also cut down by Zhou Xian.

After eliminating this "monster," Zhou Xian panted heavily.

The ground was now a mess, and Zhou Xian had been training here for some time.

"Mental recovery can't keep up..."

Zhou Xian looked at his empty MP bar and then sat down to rest.

Unlike in the game where mental energy could be restored at any time, in the real world, Zhou Xian had no way to quickly recover his MP.

After his MP was drained, Zhou Xian also felt a wave of fatigue.

However, Zhou Xian had roughly figured out some effects of his skills.

First was the Soul Talisman.

This skill could be considered the core offensive ability of a Taoist, not only dealing sufficient damage but also providing additional damage against undead and evil entities. Zhou Xian had also allocated talent points to "Triple Shot," allowing him to cast three Soul Talismans at once. This was similar to a Mage's fireball or ice spike.

However, the Triple Shot, which was very useful in the game, encountered some awkwardness in the real world.

The power of the Soul Talisman was indeed impressive, capable of creating a dent in a stone and causing injury to a person. However, using the Triple Shot drained Zhou Xian's MP, making it difficult for him to sustain. The reason was simple: in the real world, there was no way to recover MP, and Zhou Xian could only wait for it to recover naturally.

This was similar to the arena mode, but in the arena, Zhou Xian didn't need to consider the possibility of facing powerful entities like the mastermind behind Li Zheng.

The mastermind clearly hadn't given up and might cause trouble again at any time.

The next skill, Poison, was quite useful. In the game, this skill turned enemies green, while in the real world, it made people feel extremely uncomfortable, causing dizziness and confusion during the skill's duration.

How did Zhou Xian know this?

Well, in the real world, this skill seemed to lack enemy identification, and Zhou Xian accidentally affected himself when using it...

The next skill, Ghost Fire Talisman, was a major MP consumer. This skill had the power of a grenade, but Zhou Xian could only use it three times in a row before his MP was drained.

The Taoist skill Lion Roar, which caused non-voluntary displacement, seemed to not only push people away but also affect objects in the real world, with slightly more damage than in the game. Compared to other weakened skills, Lion Roar was "enhanced."

Besides these offensive skills, the supportive skill Healing was a pleasant surprise.

This skill was very useful, and Zhou Xian could heal all the abrasions caused by blacksmithing with it, even removing calluses from his body.

The Taoist's signature skill, Invisibility, was another pleasant surprise. This skill allowed Zhou Xian to become invisible. During practice, Zhou Xian tried to use Invisibility to sneak into someone's house. Later, he discovered that maintenance robots with thermal sensors also couldn't detect him!

Invisibility not only hid Zhou Xian's appearance but also allowed him to evade modern technology's tracking, which was incredibly useful.

However, the Taoist's summoning skills, such as Summon Skeleton and Summon Divine Beast, were completely unusable in the real world, as were other skills like Mind Summon.

As for skills to remove negative statuses, like Divine Light and mental combat techniques, Zhou Xian's current conditions didn't allow him to test them. Skills like Corpse Control seemed usable, but... Zhou Xian felt a bit reluctant to use such abilities in the real world.

While waiting for his MP to recover, Zhou Xian re-tied the broken scarecrows.

Picking up the scarecrow he had cut down with his sword, Zhou Xian suddenly felt some doubt.

"Indeed, the real world and the game world are different."

Zhou Xian looked at the iron sword in his hand, feeling very awkward.

In the game, a Taoist using a weapon to slash was nothing unusual, especially in close combat.

But why did it feel strange in the real world?

"But in the game world, I wouldn't often use such attacks, mostly relying on the Divine Beast and Skeleton for combat."

At this point, Zhou Xian understood.

Because he couldn't summon the Divine Beast in the real world, and his skills seemed less powerful here, his tactics had changed.

"Ordinary iron weapons can't match the power of the Wu Jin Tian Kui Sword, which could easily defeat opponents with a single strike. So, I need a... hmm... matching sword technique?"

The Wu Jin Tian Kui Sword could overpower with brute force, so Zhou Xian hadn't felt the need for technique in close combat. But now, using a regular weapon, he realized the importance of a matching technique.

During practice, he had been blindly slashing, which is why he felt awkward.

"Am I going to have to learn martial arts or something...?"

Is there a need for this in the real world?

However, since the game could affect the real world, could the skills he learned in the real world also affect the game? Would this feedback be effective?

This doubt lingered in Zhou Xian's mind.

"Right, I also posted a thread before."

Zhou Xian suddenly remembered the thread he posted online before the Emperor's Conference, asking about powerful weapon forging skills in the real world.

He immediately logged into the internet with his personal terminal and entered the forum.

"Real-world weapons? Compared to game weapons, real-world weapons are nothing. The OP must think that real-world weapons can match game weapons, which is impossible!"

"My great Dragon Slaying Sword can conquer the heavens and the earth. Can real-world weapons compare to my Dragon Slaying Sword?"

"OP, your mom is calling you for dinner!"

"Dragon Slaying? That thing is just a bit rarer. There are many weapons with higher ratings than the Dragon Slaying Sword!"

Zhou Xian shook his head. The forum quickly deviated into the game, and in the game, who could know more about weapons than Zhou Xian, who was about to become a Master Blacksmith?

In the real world, however, Zhou Xian wasn't very familiar with weapons.

Don't misunderstand; it's not that Zhou Xian's forging techniques were flawed, but the materials he used in the game were entirely different from those in the real world, making them incompatible. In the game, ordinary iron weapons were only used at the beginning, and he wasn't particularly skilled with them.

Zhou Xian continued browsing and found some useful information.

"The above posters underestimate modern technology. Weapon manufacturing isn't limited to steel; there are materials like titanium alloys. Do you know that the hardest alloy in the real world is tungsten carbide, with a hardness close to diamond? If a layer of this alloy could be applied to a weapon, it would match some average game equipment."

Zhou Xian, who originally knew little about real-world materials, found this post quite profound. He noted that there were some special materials available in the real world.

However, what caught Zhou Xian's eye even more was another post:

"The best weapon in the real world is the Longquan Sword. I'm an ancient weapon enthusiast and know a lot about this. However, these weapons are very expensive, and a good-quality one might cost thousands. But the quality of these weapons is excellent, as they are based on ancient techniques passed down for over a thousand years. If the OP is interested, he can look it up."

Longquan Sword.

Zhou Xian had certainly heard of this impressive weapon.

In ancient history, it was one of the ten famous swords. It was also one of the few sword forging techniques that had been passed down to modern times.

"Longquan Sword. Hmm, it seems I should look into this. This should be the focus now."

Zhou Xian didn't want to think about equipment; he didn't want to wear a bizarre set of armor in the real world. As for Taoist robes, without the special materials from the game, they would just be "ordinary clothes" in the real world.

In terms of equipment, the most important thing was the weapon.

After reading this post, Zhou Xian realized that the Longquan Sword's forging techniques could be useful to him.

"But if I just go there, they probably won't teach me. How much could I learn just by watching?"

Using Invisibility, Zhou Xian could sneak in, but without someone to guide him, he wouldn't learn much.

Just then, another call came in, interrupting Zhou Xian's thoughts.

"A call from Chuyu?"

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