Oh no!

The mission failed!

Lin Qiubai's reaction sent a shiver through 98725's entire body.

If not for the rules Ma Ran had established becoming almost instinctual, it nearly disabled its invisibility on the spot.

"You don't need to be afraid."

Lin Qiubai's thoughts were transmitted once more: "Killing you would be of no benefit to me."

This level of comfort had no effect on 98725.

Little Walnut was now in a state of confusion, fear causing it to tremble all over, almost unable to convey a coherent thought.

Was it afraid of Lin Qiubai?

No!

Clearly not!

The one it feared like a tiger was Ma Ran!

At this moment, 98725 was completely disinterested in communicating with Lin Qiubai.

It was contemplating whether it would be killed upon returning after the failed surveillance mission.

Probably not, right?

After all, it still had many other uses, and up until now, its mission completion rate was very high, with no record of rebellion or escape…

"Are you Ma Ran's pet?"

Lin Qiubai looked curiously at the area where 98725 was located: "You've been monitoring me these past few days."

Pet?

98725 understood the meaning of these two words combined.

Instantly, the words "master cat" and "litter scooper" flashed in its mind.

This Lin Qiubai had obviously misunderstood the relationship between the two!

98725 fed according to Ma Ran's list, and most of the food (spiritual power) it acquired was given to Ma Ran.

So, logically speaking…

Lin Qiubai not only guessed wrongly, he arrived at a completely opposite conclusion!

In fact, Ma Ran was 98725's pet instead!

Although the relationship between the two was not particularly close, aren't many master cats and litter scoopers like this as well?

Litter scoopers change cat litter every day, work hard to earn money to buy cat food, but in the end, they don't even have the right to pet the cats, and if they're not careful, they'll get scratched!

Oh dear!

It was spacing out!

Little Walnut was in turmoil, but driven by a strong survival instinct, it had a eureka moment and replied: "Yes, yes… sorry! I'm just a lost alien!"

"Goodbye!"

98725 was sure that if the relationship between it and Ma Ran was known by others…

It would definitely die an unsatisfactory death!

Using a random excuse, Little Walnut made its escape.

To avoid arousing Lin Qiubai's suspicion, 98725 deliberately avoided the route Ma Ran had taken.

It stayed outside the Grass Hut Academy until deep into the night before stealthily contacting Ma Ran.

...

In the dead of night, the bright moon hung high in the sky.

Moonlight, like silver sand, shone through the window, falling in front of Ma Ran.

At this moment, Ma Ran was sitting on the bed, holding a phone, swiping his fingers on the screen, occasionally tapping quickly a few times.

He seemed to be diligently responding to other users' questions on the DJI app.

In reality, while Ma Ran was replying to posts, he was also splitting his attention to communicate with 98725 hovering above the dormitory building.

With the [Academic Demon] badge and a surge of spiritual power, multitasking wasn't difficult.

Ma Ran frequently multitasked with three different things now and didn't find it taxing at all.

"So, Lin Qiubai discovered your presence but didn't harm you."

98725 was hovering above the dormitory building, remaining invisible.

The reinforced concrete, glass windows, and security doors couldn't block its communication with Ma Ran.

At this moment, Little Walnut was trembling, shivering uncontrollably, almost unable to respond normally: "Y-Yes!"

Ma Ran remained expressionless: "Lin Qiubai is very strong, you can't be blamed for being discovered by him."

"This is my mistake."

His calm response stopped Little Walnut's trembling.

It wanted to slap itself to see if it was dreaming.

Unfortunately, it had no hands.

Moreover…

Manipulating dreams was 98725's instinct, it knew very well that it was conscious and not in a dream.

Ma Ran didn't blame it!

Nor did he punish it!

At this moment, in 98725's eyes, there probably wasn't a more understanding pet than Ma Ran in the world!

It had to admit, it was touched.

Thinking back, Ma Ran didn't seem like a heartless villain either.

Although his temper was a bit irritable, he gave out a few more tasks, and often threatened to get rid of it, but…

He really is a good person!

"I'll give you half a day's leave."

After conveying this message, Ma Ran broke off his communication with 98725 with a complex mood.

During the exchange just now, he clearly sensed the other's gratitude and emotion.

Gratitude was completely understandable.

98725 must be grateful for sparing its life.

What was the emotion about?

Stockholm syndrome? Captivity complex?

Ma Ran took a deep breath, tapping the phone's screen with his fingers to post the edited message, switched off the light, and his mind was filled with thoughts.

In today's Seven Vortex Swordsmanship teaching, Lin Qiubai's performance was essentially a scenario show jointly woven by the Youwen Text Illusion and Mental Shock.

From start to end, not a single person was hurt.

Including Wu Di.

The experience of being pummeled by the Spirit Sword and then healed was so realistic that the person involved wouldn't have a shadow of doubt.

Yet the illusion was just an illusion after all, the Enclosure Text could distort perceptions but couldn't change reality.

If Wu Di was just as stubborn, refusing to shed a tear even at the brink of death, it would be Ma Ran's headache.

In essence, Lin Qiubai was nothing more than an illusion created by the Enclosure Text!

Every move, every line, was meticulously designed by Ma Ran.

From the character Lin Qiubai debuted until now, Ma Ran had successfully crafted the image of the "Sword Dao Giant."

Almost everyone aware of Lin Qiubai's existence believed this Sword Master possessed combat power beyond human limits.

As an experienced thespian, Ma Ran was very well aware that when acting, the biggest taboo was getting too caught up in the role, deceiving oneself and unable to snap out of it.

He was very well aware that at this stage, unless the illusion of Lin Qiubai was near him, Lin Qiubai wouldn't have any actual combat power.

As for Lin Qiubai "discovering" 98725…

This was just a small experiment orchestrated by Ma Ran.

When he conversed with 98725 using Lin Qiubai's identity, he masked his own spiritual power characteristics with the help of the Enclosure Text.

Let alone the ever-exploited 98725, even the more familiar Su Qiangwei couldn't associate him with the character he played based on spiritual fluctuations.

Ma Ran's eyelids twitched, gathering his wandering thoughts.

In his view, fiery red metal droplets abruptly formed, gathered, and gradually cast into a bronze badge.

Focusing on this badge, Ma Ran immediately knew its name—[Lin Qiubai's Sword Spirit]!

After the [Fragment Prophet], the play ability finally granted a new Reproduction Medal!

In the dark of night, a smile spread in Ma Ran's eyes.

The experiment results proved that in the decision system of the [play] ability, the Nightmare Mother 98725 was also considered an audience.

Moreover, its value as an audience was not low.

[Lin Qiubai's Sword Spirit], as the name implies, this medal represents power in the Second Realm of Seven Vortex Swordsmanship.

Yet it wasn't limited to just that.

Ma Ran crafted the character setting and started performing, which was his controllable part.

What the audience would fill in mentally after watching his portrayal, whether there would be cognitive biases, was the difficult-to-fine-tune part.

Within the Reproduction Medal [Lin Qiubai's Sword Spirit], the power stored exceeded ordinary Second Realm of Swordsmanship!

Not everyone cultivating the Seven Vortex Swordsmanship to the Second Realm would exhibit the same level of might.

In the audiences' understanding and imagination, those who could match Lin Qiubai at the same level were perhaps one in a billion, not necessarily appearing once in an era.

The appearance of this medal signified…

The character Lin Qiubai was no longer merely a shell constructed by the Enclosure Text.

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