# 471
**Chapter 471 – You’re Such a Sore Loser**
Two months later.
Heavy-duty warehouse.
Lin Qiye slowly closed the book in his hands and exhaled.
He glanced around. Everyone else was still lost in their own stories, so he didn’t disturb them. Silently, he returned the book to the cardboard box and headed for the kitchen.
In these two months, he had read every novel in the box. From skimming ten lines at a glance to savoring each paragraph, he had learned to sink into the pages, to feel every character’s joy and sorrow…
He still couldn’t learn any techniques from the books, but the quiet reading had transformed his state of mind.
For two whole months, “mysteries,” the Believers, the Church of the Ancient Gods, foreign gods—all the things that had haunted him—seemed to have vanished from his world. No more missions, no more looking over his shoulder. The taut string in his mind finally loosened, and the last traces of restlessness settled.
If one word could describe Lin Qiye’s life lately, it was “quiet.”
Quiet enough to read, to cook, to clean, to train…
Whether because of his calmer mind or the “sword-qi tide” training, he could feel the bottleneck inside his body beginning to crack.
Yet he wasn’t the one who had improved the most.
An Qingyu had broken through a week ago, becoming the second member—after Baili Pangpang—whose mental power stepped into the “Sea” realm.
Of course, that was thanks to Zhou Ping, who often went out and brought back all sorts of bizarre “mystery” corpses for dissection. An Qingyu didn’t need much conventional training; as long as he kept using [Only True Answer] to solve puzzles, his mental power skyrocketed.
According to Zhou Ping, Jialan had already broken through the “Sea” realm long ago. So now, the only ones left were Lin Qiye and Cao Yuan.
While Lin Qiye tidied the kitchen, An Qingyu walked in.
“Qiye.” He pulled a palm-sized specimen from his pocket and placed it in Lin Qiye’s hand. “I’ve finished analyzing [Bell Cranel]. Take it.”
Lin Qiye accepted the corpse. “What ability did you get?”
“The method to create that mind-controlling fog.” An Qingyu adjusted his glasses and produced a test tube; inside, a few drops of purple liquid shimmered under the light. “A concentrated version of the mental contaminant. Same effect as Bell Cranel’s fog, just condensed into liquid.”
Lin Qiye swirled the tube. “So you can control other creatures with it?”
“No.” An Qingyu sighed. “Bell Cranel could command the polluted because the fog was part of its body; victims formed a psychic link with it. I’m not a ‘mystery’—I can’t replicate its physiology. This fluid is only a scientific imitation. It can erode minds, but it won’t forge any link.”
Lin Qiye nodded. “Still amazing.”
An Qingyu smiled shyly. “Keep this vial for protection. Just smash it when you need it—but don’t breathe it in, or you’ll be affected too.”
“Got it.”
Lin Qiye served lunch. After the meal and a short rest, afternoon combat training began.
Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan sat facing each other over a giant tic-tac-toe board, a twig beside each of them, expressions deadly serious.
“Ready?” Cao Yuan drew a deep breath.
“Ready.” Baili Pangpang clutched a jade thumb-ring like it was a matter of life and death. “Bring it!”
“Here I come…”
Cao Yuan rested his thumb on his Straight Blade’s hilt and slowly pushed it out. A flash of blade-light erupted, black fiend-fire gushing forth!
Shrouded in that fire, Cao Yuan raised his head; crimson eyes glinted coldly as terrifying killing intent swept out.
Then his body shuddered. The crimson in his eyes dimmed, clarity returning. The Buddhist beads at his wrist glowed softly; his grip on the hilt loosened…
“Heh-heh-heh… you… heh-heh… go first.”
Slurred words spilled from the mad Cao Yuan’s mouth. Trembling, every muscle fought the Black King’s will for control of his body.
Baili Pangpang exhaled, grabbed his twig, and quickly drew a circle in a corner of the board.
“Your turn.”
The mad Cao Yuan moved his hand from the blade to the twig, lifted it shakily, and scratched a crooked “X” in the center.
Baili Pangpang drew another circle in the opposite corner.
Moves passed until Baili added a third circle—three in a row. Victory.
“I win.” He grinned—then froze.
The mad Cao Yuan stared at the board, then at Baili Pangpang. Seemingly enraged, he snapped the twig in two.
Crack—!
In the same instant, the clarity in his eyes drained away; the Buddhist light at his wrist was swallowed by black fiend-energy. A burst of black flame exploded outward.
“Damn it, Old Cao! You’re such a sore loser!!”
Baili Pangpang’s jade ring flashed into full armor; several forbidden artifacts hovered around him as his “Sea”-realm power poured into them.
“Heh-heh-heh… the hell… heh-heh… would it kill you to let me win once?”
Mad Cao Yuan spoke, Straight Blade in hand, black blade-light swirling as he hacked wildly at Baili Pangpang!
“What do you know? This is called sportsmanship!”
Baili Pangpang shot back. A giant Taiji Eight-Trigram diagram spread beneath his feet, covering the entire clearing in an instant.
…
In a quiet corner, Lin Qiye glanced toward the warehouse now echoing with explosions and sighed.
“Looks like Cao Yuan lost again…”
He turned to the blue-robed girl opposite him, tossing a white long-sword in his hand.
“Shall we start?”
Jialan looked away, cheeks puffed in a sulk.
“Hmph—who’s ‘we’?”