Ye Chui currently has 842 points remaining, most of which were earned from previously taking down those lone wolves in one fell swoop. Long Bao and Tang Laoda are Ye Chui’s summoned creatures, so the dead lone wolves were all credited to him, numbering at least a hundred.
Each of these fearsome beasts could bring Ye Chui more than five points!
He had already witnessed the power of the new version of [Security Guard]. Now, he wanted to test the new abilities of [WeChat Curse].
So, he eagerly unlocked the “Beginner Curse Emoji Pack”, which required 500 points to unlock. After unlocking it, Ye Chui found he could use various emojis, similar to the emoji expressions in his memory, all related to emotions: smile, laugh, maniacal laugh, sadness, tears, sobbing, depression, anger, frustration, and so on.
“So, the beginner curse is just like this. I wonder how effective it is? It seems these curses aren’t lethal…” Ye Chui thought to himself. The so-called curse could be understood as “forcibly imposing a state on someone else”, which could be resentment, bad luck, or various emotions. The beginner curse emoji pack could only impose emotional curses.
Ye Chui checked his contact list, only to realise it currently had just one person: Old Merlin.
Feeling a bit down, he recalled the upgrade notification he had seen earlier. He quickly searched through [WeChat] and finally found the “Scan” option (which didn’t exist before). He hurriedly opened it and aimed the camera at his stunned companions around him.
When the camera scanned them, a red box would frame their faces, scanning them like a QR code. Then Ye Chui received a prompt: New friend detected, add them?
Add!
This was the camera’s new [QR Face Scan] function.
Soon, Debbie, Green, Leisha, Cass, Windsor, and even Jirga and Jiji appeared in Ye Chui’s contact list.
Ye Chui chuckled, opened a chat window with Debbie, and prepared to test sending her a curse. By now, Debbie and the others had come to their senses, realising that the issue Ye Chui mentioned about his “magic book malfunction” had been resolved, and he seemed to have gained new powers.
Debbie eagerly asked, “Ye Chui, what’s going on? What was that armoured swordsman just now…”
As she was speaking, a slight smile appeared on Debbie’s face. She paused, touching her face, “Why did I suddenly smile? That’s weird…” Then she grinned widely, “Haha, haha.” She burst into laughter twice, startling herself. Looking around nervously, she said, “Damn, this is creepy. I think I’ve been cursed…”
Just after saying that, she burst into maniacal laughter again, gasping for breath, “Hahaha, hahahaha…” Clutching her stomach, she doubled over, looking pained, “I don’t know why, I just can’t stop laughing… Damn, hahaha, this curse is terrifying!”
Seeing Debbie’s strange behaviour, the others became wary.
Ye Chui quickly waved his hands, signalling everyone to stay calm, “It’s me. I just happened to comprehend curse magic. This is just a simple curse.”
The others: “…”
What the hell? You just *happened* to comprehend curse magic?
Could you not say something so earth-shattering in such a casual tone!
Ye Chui has the talent for all types of magic. In theory, upon reaching the intermediate mage level, he could comprehend any magic attribute that ever existed. But, leaving aside how Ye Chui suddenly reached the intermediate mage level, comprehending curse magic isn’t something just anyone can do!
“So, my uncontrollable laughter was because you cursed me?” Debbie wasn’t upset about being cursed. Instead, she excitedly leaned her little head closer to Ye Chui, “That’s an amazing curse.”
Cass, wiping sweat from his brow, said, “What’s the use of making someone laugh?”
“When fighting someone, making them laugh so hard they can’t breathe. Isn’t that powerful?” Debbie, having experienced the effects of [Smile], [Laugh], and [Maniacal Laugh], was the most qualified to speak. In a real fight, this kind of curse would absolutely be deadly!
Cass thought about it and had to agree with Debbie. This curse seemed quite effective…
The beginner curse emoji pack Ye Chui unlocked wasn’t just about making people laugh. It could also make people cry, get angry, or feel so depressed they’d want to give up in the heat of battle. However, sending curse emojis required points: [Smile] cost 2 points, [Laugh] cost 5 points, and [Maniacal Laugh] cost 10 points. Considering that unlocking a beginner magic spell only costs 10 points, this was a significant expense, and each curse lasted only about five seconds.
Still, if used properly, its power was immense.
Next, Ye Chui began exploring the other abilities of his iPad. He was most intrigued by the [Camera]’s ability to detect an individual’s point level.
He exited [WeChat], opened the camera, and scanned his companions. To his delight, he could see their corresponding point values through the camera.
The point level represented the points Ye Chui would gain if he defeated them.
Debbie’s point value was 95.
Cass’s point value was 65.
Leisha’s point value was 50.
Green’s point value was 30.
Windsor’s point value was 15.
Spirits also had point values. Jirga’s point value was 95.
(Jirga is Debbie’s spirit, so Debbie’s point value includes Jirga’s. Debbie’s strongest moment is when she summons Jirga, so their point values are equal.)
Jiji (juvenile form) had a point value of 20.
If an individual has a hidden form, the [Camera] cannot detect the point value of that form, such as Jiji’s adult form.
“This point value can be seen as combat strength! But I wonder how many points I have?” Ye Chui thought to himself. Unfortunately, he couldn’t check his own point value, but he should at least be stronger than Debbie, likely over 100 points.
The others watched Ye Chui study his iPad magic book, feeling an indescribable sense of oddity. Ordinary people need immense effort and battle to gain great power, but for Ye Chui, it seemed… just like that.
Is this what talent is?
They had long noticed that Ye Chui’s magic book wasn’t ordinary and likely held some grand secret. But as his companions, they wouldn’t pry into these matters. After the initial excitement, Leisha suddenly remembered something important and hurriedly said, “Little brother, someone’s still chasing Guni. What do we do?”
“Huh?” Ye Chui paused, then quickly said, “Guni might not be able to handle those people. We need to help her!”
The others had no objections to Ye Chui’s suggestion, so they quickly decided to follow the Liangshui River downstream to chase after her.
Meanwhile, Ye Chui continued exploring the new functions of his upgraded iPad magic book.
The upgraded iPad magic book officially brought Ye Chui into the realm of an intermediate mage.
The difference between an intermediate mage and a beginner mage lies in their deeper understanding of magical elements.
Dual-element, tri-element, or multi-element mages will fuse their magical elements to form new, more powerful magical element attributes, such as fire and lightning becoming explosion, or wind and water becoming ice.
Single-element mages also become stronger due to a deeper understanding of their own magical elements.
However, for single-element mages, their growth comes in two forms.
The first is simply enhancing the power of their magical element.
For example, with water magic, a beginner mage can only conjure a small amount of water, perhaps a water snake as thick as a person’s waist. But an intermediate water mage, with a deeper understanding of water elements, can easily conjure a river or a great stream.
The second is advancing their magical element, transforming it into a more advanced attribute.
Water advances to life magic.
Lightning advances to electromagnetic magic.
Earth advances to gravity magic.
Wind advances to sonic magic.
Fire advances to destruction magic.
Space advances to domain magic.
Darkness advances to clone magic.
Mental advances to dream magic.
In the magic book, most mages are single-element, and when transitioning from beginner to intermediate, most only enhance their magical element. Only a few advance their element. The intermediate and advanced mages Ye Chui had encountered before mostly chose to enhance their magic without advancing. Life mages, electromagnetic mages, and gravity mages with advanced attributes are extremely rare.
Advanced magical attributes are naturally much stronger than enhanced ones.
At the same time, dual-element, tri-element, or multi-element mages, when entering the intermediate mage realm, can choose not to fuse their magical attributes but instead enhance or advance a single magical attribute.
Ye Chui possesses all magical attributes, so in theory, upon entering the intermediate mage realm, he can use any fused or advanced magical attribute. However, to access fused, advanced, or enhanced magical attributes, he needs to unlock them through [Insight]!
[Insight] refers to the experiences and understanding of magical elements from senior mages.
When Ye Chui was cursed by Baka, Baka turned himself into an evil spirit and entangled with Ye Chui, attempting to drag him into hell. This direct experience even caused Ye Chui and Baka’s memories to intersect, allowing Ye Chui to gain Baka’s [Insight] into curse magic, thus unlocking the fused magical attribute: curse.
Only after unlocking a magical attribute can Ye Chui unlock corresponding magic spells through the app store.
Ordinary beginner mages, to become intermediate mages and fuse, enhance, or advance their magical attributes, also need to gain insight. They do so through the experiences of predecessors or teachers. In some large cities, magic bookshops sell insight books or notes from intermediate or advanced mages, which can be studied to gain insight. Green, for example, obtained a “Detailed Space” insight book from Old Merlin.
However, Ye Chui’s path to gaining [Insight] doesn’t seem limited to these books…
He discovered he could extract [Insight] from movies and anime in the video library. He doesn’t need to unlock the movies or anime, only spending relatively few points to extract [Insight]. For example, Ye Chui could spend 3000 points to extract electromagnetic [Insight] from a certain cannon-wielding anime character, thus comprehending the electromagnetic magic attribute. Through this [Insight], his app store would also offer the [Super Electromagnetic Cannon] spell for unlocking and learning.
The different forms of power, whether superpowers, mutant abilities, divine power, or inner strength, can all be adapted into magical power in Ye Chui’s iPad.
Of course, with only a little over 300 points left, Ye Chui is far from the points needed to extract [Insight]. Gaining all magical attributes at once is currently impossible.
Ye Chui and his group travelled along the Liangshui River, chasing Guni.
After about half a day, Ye Chui had roughly figured out the functions of the upgraded iPad. The only thing still puzzling him was the newly unlocked game library.
When he eagerly opened the game library, he found it empty, with no games available to unlock, which felt strange.
After a short rest, they continued their journey. Not long after, they spotted a corpse lying by the Liangshui River.
It was a swordsman, somewhat familiar, with one eye injured and bandaged. His chest armour was shattered, blood oozing out, and one arm was missing, the wound looking like it was caused by some animal’s bite.
“He’s one of the adventurers,” Cass said after inspecting, “likely one of those with the curse mage who went after Guni. I don’t know what happened to him… Judging by his state, it looks like he was attacked by a pack of beasts.”
“It wasn’t Guni who injured him. Something happened here not long ago,” Ye Chui said, puzzled. Just then, he heard a “ding” notification from his magic book.
He quickly looked at the iPad screen, where a prompt appeared: Detected unlockable game, proceed to unlock?
“An unlockable game?” Ye Chui hurriedly opened the game library again. Sure enough, the previously empty interface now showed a game icon, depicting a swordsman. Below it were the words: Ancestor’s Remains.
“Ancestor’s Remains?” Ye Chui paused, a realisation dawning, “This ‘Ancestor’s Remains’ is what Guni mentioned! We’re chasing Guni, so we’ve been drawn into her trial of worshipping the Ancestor’s Remains. So, the games in the game library turn the events I encounter into games!”
A spark of excitement flashed through Ye Chui. He quickly chose to unlock it.
Fortunately, unlocking [Ancestor’s Remains] only required 300 points, which Ye Chui just had enough to cover.
As the unlock completed, the game began downloading and installing. The game icon appeared on the iPad’s desktop. When Ye Chui clicked it, a game-like interface appeared on the screen, showing a simplified pixel-style map. Ye Chui, Debbie, and the others’ simplified pixel avatars were clearly visible, as was the corpse of the one-eyed swordsman.
A scrolling text prompt appeared.
“Welcome to the [Ancestor’s Remains] game.
You and your companions have discovered a swordsman’s corpse, killed by evil beasts. What happened here? What truth lies hidden beneath the wild grass? Your hearts are filled with doubt and caution…
The game has begun!
Objective: Uncover the secret of the Ancestor’s Remains.
Rewards: Based on your performance, earn 1500 to 2500 points and one random draw.
Enjoy the game!”
Ye Chui stared at his iPad screen in amazement. This was the modified [Game] magic!?
As the text prompt disappeared, before he could think further, he noticed a flashing icon at the bottom of the game interface, labelled… VIP Membership Recharge Service?
VIP?
What the hell, [Game] magic even has a VIP option?
He quickly clicked the VIP icon, and a dialogue box appeared on the screen: Spend 10,000 points to purchase VIP membership (for this game only). One-shot kill for 666, plus a starting gift of ultimate gear. What are you waiting for?
Ye Chui: “…”
What the hell, this modified [Game] magic even comes with the vibe of a pay-to-win mobile game?
