[Thorn in the Side] (One-time Use): Can be used to ignore distance and "pin" any item you can see, locking one of its attributes at random. Once an attribute is chosen to be permanently locked, the Curio disappears, and the effect becomes permanent.
This was the effect of the Curio Chen Li had just used. But it had one drawback: it was truly random.
After Chen Li touched Sirin with the Longbow of Peace and successfully triggered the "Eradicate by the Roots" effect, a massive cocoon appeared in his vision—the Cocoon of Finality. But the first time he used [Thorn in the Side], the thing it locked was a bit strange.
"The XP of the Cocoon of Finality? The Cocoon of Finality has XP?" Chen Li couldn't comprehend it and was utterly shocked. What kind of useless crap is it locking onto?
But thankfully, before being permanently fixed, [Thorn in the Side] could be used to reroll the random lock repeatedly.
"It's just rerolling for stats, right? I'm familiar with this. Back in the day, I farmed over 100 resin just for a perfect Pyro damage goblet!"
Chen Li sat down on the floor nonchalantly, watching Cheng Lixue demonstrate the Sword of Taixu while simultaneously using [Thorn in the Side] on the Cocoon of Finality.
[So how did that turn out?]
"Miracle, please don't ask such pointed questions next time, okay? It's very rude of you."
[It seems the result wasn't very good.]
"It's not my fault. Everyone knows there are no Pyro goblets in the Crimson Witch domain," Chen Li replied casually, then heard the notification for another successful lock.
[Lock-on successful][Locked content: Gender of the Cocoon of Finality]
"The Cocoon of Finality has a gender? Again!"
Before him now was essentially a "refresh button." With a single click, the locked attribute of the Cocoon of Finality would change. In order to solve the problem of the Herrscher birth order as quickly as possible, Chen Li was frantically mashing the refresh button.
[Height], [Weight], [Energy Limit], [Reaction Speed], [Mental Maturity], [Expectations], [Hobbies], [Three Sizes], [3D Dimensions], [Interests], [Age]...
Chen Li had no idea how many times he had hit the "refresh button." He only knew that the things popping up were getting progressively weirder. He felt he might have overestimated his own patience. He decided that the next time he forged something like [Thorn in the Side], he would absolutely not be lazy; it couldn't be truly random.
[Master, you're refreshing so quickly. What if you actually get the 'Herrscher birth order' and then refresh it again by accident?][Don't count on me. There's a delay on my comment barrage.]
The reminder from the Miracle spirit made Chen Li's actions pause. The spirit had a point.
"Aha, I have a plan!"
But after a short while, a genius idea suddenly struck Chen Li. He then used all the knowledge he had ever learned to write a few words of Source Text on his arm with a Miracle Crystal.
[If I miss the 'Herrscher of Finality birth order' option, self-destruct.]
[...]
"Don't I have a Miracle Card that can stop me when I'm courting death? Looking at it from another angle, if I miss the 'Herrscher birth order' option, the miracle power in my body will make me explode. Doesn't that mean that if I get the 'Herrscher birth order' option and then try to refresh again, someone will pop up to stop me?"
[Haji-Li, you bastard... your family must have hired an expert!]
Even Miracle hadn't expected Chen Li to have such an absurd idea. But hey, what can you say... it actually worked.
In fact, when Chen Li first arrived in this world and used his body to block Taixu Sword God for Sirin in a "death-courting" attempt, Sirin had stopped him once, and the Miracle Card had already taken effect then. But this also exposed a problem: the card would indeed have a lucky bystander warn you that you're about to die, but the intervention wasn't very strong. If you were meant to die, you'd still die.
But right now, all Chen Li needed was for someone to remind him, "You've rolled the 'Herrscher birth order' option."
"So, even the most useless Miracle Card has its moment to shine." Chen Li felt like he was playing Yu-Gi-Oh!, because in that game, a card's effect is what truly matters, and its attack power is secondary.
[You're right, but I'd like to ask, why didn't you just write: "The moment I roll the 'Herrscher birth order' option, I will be frozen for three seconds"? Wouldn't the effect be the same?]
"..." Chen Li's hand, which was mashing the refresh button, suddenly froze.
[You didn't forget, did you?]
"How could I? What do you know? I'm experimenting with my Miracle Card's effects!" Chen Li insisted, craning his neck.
How could the affairs of a Curio Forger be called "forgetting"?
[...LMAO!]
"You have the nerve to laugh? Shouldn't you be perfecting the functions of the [Friends Circle]? Have you implemented the features I requested? Have you fixed the bugs I found? The request for online Star Stone transactions is simple, right? It should be able to go live today, right? The current Friends Circle interface is so plain. Can't you add some dynamic effects to make it look cooler?"
[...]
The Miracle spirit was no longer laughing.
After the [Friends Circle] was upgraded to a 1-Star Curio, and with the spirit now able to show Chen Li the Source Text, it had been inexplicably assigned the job of adding internal functions to the Curio by Chen Li. The spirit couldn't directly interfere with the Curio, but it could write the necessary Source Text in the Guide's memo. When Chen Li had a moment, he could just copy and paste it into the [Friends Circle].
Seeing the Miracle spirit's laughter die, Chen Li became quite happy. He even started humming cheerfully while mashing the "refresh button."
His happiness truly needed to be built on the suffering of others.
---o---
Fifteen minutes later, Chen Li had successfully mastered the basics of the Sword of Taixu.
Sword of Taixu: Lv1 (8/100)
With Chen Li's speed of comprehension, mastering the basics of a sword style shouldn't have been this difficult. But Cheng Lixue only demonstrated the forms without offering any guidance. Chen Li had merely learned the "form" of the Sword of Taixu, not its "intent." In truth, the sword intent was the most important part.
But it wasn't a big problem.
The Sword of Taixu? It was just a Taixu Sword God launcher, anyway!
Chen Li snapped his fingers, and the Fenghuang Down feather gifted to him by Sirin was recalled. Cheng Lixue, who had been practicing ceaselessly, instantly regained her senses.
"Alright, you can go now," Chen Li said suddenly, just as Cheng Lixue quickly assessed the situation and prepared for a life-or-death battle.
Cheng Lixue froze, suspecting some kind of trick.
"I won't stop you if you want to die, but your master has it rough. 500 years ago, she was betrayed and dismembered by her seven disciples. Her power was greatly diminished, and she lost all her memories. She finally managed to get them back, only to burn them all away again just now when she used Taixu Sword God. If you can bear to let your master wander this world alone, shouldering her responsibilities without anyone to rely on, then go ahead and draw your sword on me," Chen Li said with a heavy sigh.
"Who... are you?" Cheng Lixue's face was filled with confusion.
At first, she had thought this drab yellow doll was just some strange Honkai Beast created by the Herrscher of the Void on a whim. But hearing Chen Li so easily recount details about her master's past that even she didn't know, she was filled with doubt. Although she didn't know if what he said was true or not, but...
Decades ago, after a family tragedy left her with nothing, Cheng Lixue was taken in by Fu Hua. Fu Hua brought her to Mount Taixu, taught her to read, write, play the zither, and practice martial arts. They were often apart, but on every one of Lixue's birthdays, Fu Hua would cook her a bowl of wonton noodles. However, just as Cheng Lixue was thinking of deepening their bond and calling Fu Hua "Master," Fu Hua accepted, only to leave without a word the very next day. They didn't meet again until Lixue became a Valkyrie.
It was Fu Hua's unannounced departure that had left Cheng Lixue confused and created a mental block, preventing her from ever reaching the "dustless state" of the Sword of Taixu.
Thinking about it now, if it was because her master had "master PTSD," then everything made sense! Oh, so it wasn't that my master didn't want me, it was because she was afraid of me calling her 'Master'? I get it now!
Cheng Lixue's confusion vanished. She cupped her fists towards Chen Li and asked, "How should I address you?"
"You can call me... the Golden Homu King," Chen Li said in a deep voice.
"..."
"Of course, you can also call me the Fictional Historian," Chen Li said, looking up.
[Fictional Historian] Entry extraction complete.
During Chen Li's brief absence from the Previous Era, the higher-ups had indeed been meticulously carrying out his plan—to ensure the fabricated civilization was remembered by the next. Thus, the Entry was successfully extracted.
"Then what is it that you truly want?" Cheng Lixue asked, confused now that Chen Li hadn't reiterated his position as a retainer of the Herrscher of the Void.
"I am crafting history (Gòu Shǐ)."
"Ugh..." Cheng Lixue's expression instantly turned sour.
"...I think you've misunderstood something. The pronunciation of those two words can easily cause a misunderstanding. But you should leave now. Cheng Lixue, you wouldn't want your master to be alone and helpless for the rest of her life, would you?"
"Farewell, Senior."
"Do you need me to see you off?"
"If you would be so kind, I would be grateful for your help, Senior," Cheng Lixue said with a nod after a moment's hesitation.
And just like that, Cheng Lixue left the Tower of Babylon. But she didn't take the stairs, nor the elevator.
"Hope she's alright." Chen Li leaned over the edge of the tower, watching Cheng Lixue fly down.
He didn't know how tall the Tower of Babylon was, but... during her escape from Schicksal with her father, Kiana was hit in the head by an aircraft and fell from a height of several thousand meters onto a snowy mountain, and she didn't die. Cheng Lixue should be fine, right?
But just to be safe, Chen Li temporarily lent her the [Friends Circle]. It would be a shame if he saved her life only for her to fall to her death.
But just as Chen Li sat back down to continue mashing the refresh button, a hand grabbed him before he could press it more than a few times.
"Come with me. I can't handle this dream alone!" Sirin said, grabbing his costume.
"Huh? Oh..."
But just as Chen Li was about to use Fenghuang Down to follow Sirin into the illusion, he suddenly realized something.
He looked again at the Cocoon of Finality and [Thorn in the Side].
[Lock-on successful][Locked content: The Herrscher birth order of the Cocoon of Finality for all cycles]
---o---