Chinese professors at the Wizarding Academy

Chapter 78 Practical Training 2

The illusion surrounding Gu Chen shifted again; what was just a muddy, disgusting black swamp instantly transformed into scorching lava.

A wave of heat rolled in, the scorching sensation just like in real life.

A voice inside Gu Chen told him that he should quickly take a few steps back, as such hot wind meant that the environment in front of him was not suitable for human survival.

However, Gu Chen remained expressionless, standing there letting the heat wave hit him.

"This kind of interference is really annoying..."

Gu Chen cursed inwardly, even though his intuition told him that everything in front of him was fake and there was no need to be afraid or worried.

However, since the interference from the mind wizard is directly aimed at the mind, it is equivalent to Gu Chen's intuition and his mind fighting against each other.

The spirit says that there is danger ahead and you should run away immediately.

Intuition and the perception of magic—what are you running away from? He's lying to you.

This feeling of the left and right hemispheres fighting each other is not pleasant...

Fortunately, this is just training. If we encounter a mind wizard in actual combat, dealing with one of them is fine. We can rely on our strong will or other means to fight them, such as pulling the mind wizard into a close-quarters battle from which there is no escape. If the mind wizard we are facing is of a lower level, then we can even do what Gu Chen did before and just rely on our strong will to get through it.

But what if we team up?

As the saying goes, if you can gang up on someone, why fight one-on-one?

If a mind wizard teams up with other wizards, or even knights, then killing a wizard who has been interfered with or even controlled becomes extremely easy...

Gu Chen focused intently, following his intuition and enhancing his perception of magic...

Although my mind was disturbed... the magic doesn't lie, it's still there.

Or rather, Gu Chen wasn't too worried that someone might control that magic in front of him, transferring or hiding it, since it was Isera's doing, and his enhanced magic perception ability after using the Star Gazing Technique was extremely powerful.

"Where...?"

"Found it, it's right there... damn."

Gu Chen sensed the magic, but the situation that followed abruptly interrupted his perception.

Countless whispers rang in his ears, overlapping and echoing in the air, even though this was not a valley or anything like that.

The sounds were jumbled together, making it impossible to distinguish the real from the fake.

It contains Jim's cries, Alyssa's mockery, and Calcosa's sinister grin...

These voices were like disgusting worms, trying to burrow directly into Gu Chen's mind, trying to disturb his mind, arouse fear, and make him feel angry or anxious.

"...I'm fine."

Gu Chen silently recited a few words in his mind, taking the initiative to accept the enormous pressure brought about by the crisis.

He had already done this once in his dream; it wasn't particularly difficult.

Stress is an inevitable part of life. Stress is impartial; it's neither good nor bad. This changeable thing can help you, or it can harm you...

If we have to pinpoint the difference in how stress affects each person, the difference lies solely in how you deal with it.

For example, if you have an exam tomorrow, but you haven't finished reviewing, or you haven't reviewed at all.

This exam is very important to you, but whether you were just slacking off, or something else took up your time, or you were just playing around, the point is you didn't study.

At this time, pressure will naturally come.

The ability to manage stress becomes crucial at this time.

You can let the pressure consume you, and then you'll most likely give up. The pressure is too great, and it's always difficult to solve the problem. But to escape the problem, you just need to turn around and pretend it doesn't exist, play some games, eat something, take a nap... Of course, it's hard to fall asleep directly when you're under pressure.

You'll most likely fail the exam the next day, since you really didn't study.

But there is another option, such as facing your stress, accepting it, reflecting on it, why you have stress, what the source of the stress is, and whether you can solve these stresses.

When you think about these questions and come to the answers, you will realize: Oh, it's because I didn't study hard enough. I'm not confident about tomorrow's exam, and I'm afraid I won't do well.

At this point, you can choose to face the pressure head-on, accept it, and overcome it.

Driven by pressure, your learning efficiency increases several times over. You become more focused and attentive, and it seems that your comprehension speed has improved, making you feel smarter.

You eventually finished reviewing, or maybe you didn't, but at least you learned something...

I won't be so scared of tomorrow's exam.

That's exactly what Gu Chen is doing now.

Instead of being overwhelmed by pressure, face it directly and overcome it.

What Gu Chen did went a step further: he directly brought out the pressure that was originally hidden in his heart, especially the pressure that was deeply hidden in his heart!

Let's see what it's really like!

This startup method is different from Jim's; Jim was forced to do it, and he was passive.

Gu Chen is different; he prefers to take the initiative.

"Finally, I can see a little clearer..."

Once his innate talent for unwavering willpower was activated, his mental processing speed surged once again.

Although external interference still exists, its impact on his judgment has been forcibly reduced!

"Where……"

"Leaves, leaves..."

Although he knew that what was in front of him was fake, it was his intuition at work. In reality, Gu Chen's heart and his spirit kept telling him that it was all real.

Even with unwavering determination, the situation remains far from optimistic.

Gu Chen jumped up, dodging a rock that was still spewing fire and flowing lava.

This feeling was very unpleasant because his intuition told him it was fake, but his heart couldn't convince him.

Then Gu Chen turned his body and dodged a large number of flying stones.

"This is not good..."

Gu Chen could sense that his consciousness was becoming increasingly chaotic, while Isera, watching from the sidelines, had a look of expectation in her eyes.

After all, it is still a low-level first-ring cultivator with no mental protection. Even if it is outstanding among its kind and can even kill opponents of higher ranks, it will not be able to withstand prolonged battles when encountering unorthodox or unorthodox methods.

This is why Gu Chen was made to fuse three types of death magic.

After all, talent and strength cannot be acquired overnight. To improve one's strength in a short period of time, one needs to come up with some unique methods.

"You can't solve this by just trying to tough it out on your own. Give it a try."

Gu Chen frowned and extended his right hand.

This time, he tried to switch to "Terminator" mode, to feel and call upon the pure dark power within him.

Moreover, Gu Chen also attempted to add a touch of "corrosive" properties.

This process was significantly more difficult than before... especially since any contact with dark forces would instinctively evoke a bone-deep sense of dread...

Gu Chen was already covered in sweat when only the faintest trace of black appeared on his palm.

Then, a dark golden mist began to emerge from his right arm, attempting to merge with the darkness.

Under the dual interference of illusions and whispers, maintaining a clear perception of the transformation network became extremely difficult, and the black energy gathered in the palm nearly collapsed several times, while the added corrosive properties were also extremely unstable.

"ha!"

He took a sudden step forward, ignoring the burning sensation of the lava beneath his feet, and slammed his right hand heavily into the ground!

The instant the fist made contact with the ground, a terrifying black aura instantly invaded this lava field.

The originally fiery red lava turned completely black. The black and dark gold mixed together, like a large black ink being poured into a palette of colors, constantly eroding the other colors until they all turned black.

As the environment changed, his body's perception of the outside world gradually returned to normal. His mind and intuition no longer fought each other, and Gu Chen's thinking was becoming clearer...

Finally, amidst the ever-dissolving illusions of lava, he broke free from the interference of those sounds and locked onto his next gold leaf target.

It's on a rock a little further away!

"Found it!"

Immediately afterwards, a slightly dim black beam of light, with unstable dark gold ripples at the edges, shot out!

It's faster than Dark Gold Touch, but its trajectory is somewhat unpredictable.

The beam struck the target rock, but not the center.

The black, annihilating force blasted a small crater in the rock's surface, allowing its corrosive properties to slowly take effect.

"Sizzle..."

The rock emitted a faint melting sound from within, then slowly crumbled into powder.

"Your precision is inaccurate, and your power is inconsistent..."

Ysera spoke slowly, her tone devoid of accusation, yet her words carried a stern undertone.

"Your consciousness understands, but your body doesn't."

"While it's already quite impressive that you came up with such a combination to escape mental interference, it's not enough. You need to adapt more to your abilities."

"Ken, increase the interference, disrupt his sense of space."

"yes!"

Fine beads of sweat appeared on Ken's bald head; clearly, maintaining this intensity of illusion was a burden for him as well.

However, when he thought about the enemies he might face next and their enormous power, he gritted his teeth and unleashed his full mental strength!

There was also a strange sense of competition in my heart.

That was a sneak attack last time!

This head-on showdown will let me show you my strength!

As Ken intensified his mental interference, Gu Chen suddenly felt dizzy and disoriented!

"I am car sick……"

Gu Chen felt a churning in his stomach. The space in front of him seemed to have changed, but at the same time, nothing seemed to have changed.

Is the problem with me? Or is the problem with what's in front of me?

Not only were his vision, hearing, and touch disturbed, but his perception of distance and direction also became disordered.

It's like wanting to move forward, but feeling like your body is drifting backward; aiming at a target on the left, but the trajectory of your attack deviates to the right.

"Damn it!"

Gu Chen felt dizzy and nauseous. This was the most troublesome aspect of mind wizards; if they wanted to, they could directly interfere with your perception of the world.

In reality, nothing has changed; what has changed is you.

The problem is, sometimes you can't tell if it's a mind control wizard attacking you, or if you've just gone mad...

Gu Chen knelt on the ground, struggling to resist the attack that originated from the level of perception.

"Unwavering Will" seems to be useless now. Although this talent can enhance his abilities, the problem is that even if this sensory interference can trigger the talent, it's not a solution...

At that moment, a brilliant idea flashed in Gu Chen's mind!

"The reason I was able to find the first golden oak leaf was because I sensed the life magic it contained."

Ultimately, it all comes down to finding a coordinate system...

Gu Chen seized the moment of inspiration and activated the Star Gazing Technique at full power.

He recalled the laws governing the movement of the stars and tried to find unchanging "coordinates" amidst the chaos. Although the starry sky cannot be said to be eternally unchanging, it can be considered an eternal reference point for people under the starry sky.

"My body is a coordinate, my arm is a coordinate, and the golden oak leaf is also a coordinate..."

"Similarly, the balance point of the three death forces in the grip of life and death... is also a coordinate."

This sudden realization broke through Gu Chen's predicament. He stopped trying to see with his eyes and hear with his ears, and instead focused all his attention on the depths of his right arm, feeling the subtle and stable triangular balance between the soul-corroding death energy, necromantic magic, and dark fragments.

This balance point does not change with illusions!

"Found it!"

"Next, we'll work backwards using these coordinates..."

"It's like shooting the arrow first and then drawing the target..."

Despite the immense pressure, Gu Chen still had the energy to vent a couple of times.

The balance point in his arm had become the core of this chaotic sense of self, and he used it as a starting point to reconstruct his perception of the outside world.

"Although it's still blurry, distorted, and hard to pinpoint, at least we have an anchor point..."

He stood up unsteadily, then took a step to the left, but actually took a step to the right.

However, Gu Chen did not rely on his own senses to determine his location, but instead used the coordinates in the Grip of Life and Death to determine his location.

"Damn it, I was walking towards the back..."

After determining his location using the coordinates of the Grip of Life and Death, Gu Chen walked step by step, constantly analyzing and deducing from the coordinates provided by the Grip of Life and Death...

This process was extremely taxing on his mental energy, and veins bulged on Gu Chen's forehead. Under the spatial illusion created by Ken, he could barely feel the precise position of his arm in three-dimensional space.

"Now!"

Finally, after walking upside down for more than ten steps, he finally managed to pinpoint the location of the golden oak leaf that contained the magic of life!

With his absolute perception of the energy balance inside his right arm, Gu Chen suddenly waved his hand!

A dark gray arrow shot out crookedly! Inside, dark gold flames flickered, and on the outside, fine black threads were wrapped around it!

Its trajectory was completely contrary to visual judgment, and even defied common sense by making several turns.

Finally, it hit a piece of... empty air?

Did it fail?

Gu Chen smiled slightly, and suddenly a golden oak leaf appeared in the previously empty space.

It miraculously hit the target in the end!