Chapter 234 : Time Flies Like a White Horse Passing a Crevice, Time Flies Like an Arrow, the Sun and Moon Like a Shuttle

Money isn't everything, but without money, you can't do anything.

When Lin Li returned home and saw the several packages placed at his door, he couldn't help but sigh with such emotion.

It hadn't even been 24 hours, and some of the orders he placed last night had already arrived today. They were even delivered right to his door, so he didn't even need to go to the post station to pick them up.

Is this the power of money?

He decided that he wouldn't save the cardboard boxes to sell as scrap later. He would just throw them away with the trash. Let someone else earn this money. The rich should help the poor get rich. Lin Li's greatness needed no further explanation.

After rejoicing for a while, Lin Li opened the packages. They were the ranged weapons he had equipped himself with.

—A steel slingshot and a regular slingshot.

The former wasn't a slingshot, but a compound bow used to shoot steel balls, or simply a steel ball bow.

The main body was made of alloy, shaped like a bow. In the middle, a long tube that looked like an arrow but was actually a "magazine" was mechanically connected. It could hold up to sixty steel balls at a time. Every time the bowstring, made of rubber bands and steel wire at both ends, was pulled and released, it would automatically fire a steel ball.

A laser sight could also be installed on the front end to increase accuracy.

Although this kind of compound bow also fired "steel balls," its power, accuracy, and ease of operation far exceeded those of a slingshot.

The reason Lin Li also bought a slingshot was naturally because it was small and portable, and could be kept as a backup for emergencies.

After all the accessories were installed, Lin Li weighed it in his hand. It was quite heavy, but fortunately, his physical fitness had improved a lot, so it was acceptable.

Taking advantage of the night, Lin Li went downstairs. He first looked around to confirm that the mother and son he had met before weren't taking a walk tonight, and then began to test its power.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Within forty meters, it could pierce through an unopened soda can, but beyond forty meters, it could only tear a hole.

If this power was used to hit a person, if it hit the head, it would definitely raise a small bump.

—However, the above was on the premise of hitting the target.

In reality, although the price wasn't cheap at 1,700 yuan each, the accuracy still wasn't very high. At a distance of forty meters, because the soda can was too small, even with the sight, the hit rate barely exceeded half, and the trajectory spread was about forty centimeters.

Moreover, after holding it with one hand for a long time, it would feel strenuous, and it was difficult for the left hand to continue holding it steady.

But it was understandable. If he bought a cheaper one, the range, accuracy, and feel would only be worse.

Training ended here.

The old man who collected trash tonight would be secretly happy. There were several cardboard boxes and a pile of soda cans next to the trash can, all neatly arranged.

After cleaning up the trash and retrieving all the small steel balls he could find, Lin Li took the compound bow back upstairs.

The power barely met Lin Li's expectations.

"If only it could be modified, using better materials and workmanship, reducing the weight while increasing the power and accuracy," Lin Li muttered to himself, weighing the steel ball bow in his hand. "But modifying it is also troublesome. Who should I find? I can't possibly do everything myself, right?"

Modify plastic to iron, glue to welding, three small prison meals a day; you provide the saltpeter, I provide the charcoal, at least eight and a half years tomorrow; you make the gun, I make the bullets, someone will accompany you to eat your last meal before execution...

These jingles weren't just empty talk.

After all, Lin Li lived in a place with the strictest gun control.

Why do Americans have bad grades? Because only those who skip class survive.

When that American classmate who is usually bullied, quiet, only listens to music with an MP3 or MP4 player, but has a pretty good relationship with you, suddenly says to you one day, "Don't come to class tomorrow," you'd better really not go to class.

—Because tomorrow he'll be using an MP5 to listen to music.

"However, just because I can't touch them in reality doesn't mean I can't touch them in that world. It's best to experience it in advance," Lin Li continued to mutter to himself.

It was necessary to legally experience firearms.

He might not be unable to get similar weapons in that world.

The encounter the day before yesterday clearly meant that there were still survivors in that world, and at least one was near him.

Who knows if one of them had this kind of weapon in their hands, or even if the thing that person pointed at him was a gun.

Getting hands-on experience in advance would definitely be beneficial.

However, Lin Li then checked and found that let alone Xiling, there wasn't a single gun experience center in all of Nansang. The nearest place where he could legally experience live-fire shooting was a shooting club in another county in Pingjiang City.

And the cheapest gun was 220 yuan for ten rounds. To shoot to his heart's content, it would probably cost nearly a thousand.

But money wasn't a big problem. It was just the price of a bracelet. For something as meaningful as shooting a handgun, Lin Li would sell everything he owned to afford it.

But this weekend only had one day off due to the adjusted schedule. School ended on Saturday afternoon, and there was evening self-study on Sunday night. If he didn't stay overnight there, the schedule would be too tight. But if he stayed, it wasn't necessary.

It seemed that tonight he could only settle for the next best thing and practice shooting other handguns first.

The bathroom is also a shooting range, and the pervert is the target!

Finished shooting.

Sleep.

...

For the rest of the week, Lin Li's schedule was quite full.

Every morning, he continued to practice the Eight-Section Body Forging Art, and the exercise time was extended from one hour to eighty minutes, because this was the limit time Lin Li thought he could maintain 100% efficiency. Practicing for an extra twenty minutes would help him achieve the task requirements sooner.

—He had been practicing the Spiritual Energy Chapter these past few days and had successfully gone through it once, but the task, as expected, still wasn't completed.

So Lin Li decided to deduce the entire cultivation method again. Now that his comprehension had increased by 40%, he might have new insights.

During class, he honestly acted as a student.

He continued to sing during morning reading, continued to cultivate (physically) during Chinese class, continued to be asked to stand at the back of the classroom with Bai Bufan during English class, and continued to team up with Wang Ze to beat up Bai Bufan and Zhou Baowei during PE class...

What a hearty and fulfilling student life.

However, it wasn't that Lin Li started slacking off after having no exam tasks. It was just that as a member of a regular class, the content the teachers taught was often broken down and explained in great detail to accommodate low-IQ individuals like Bai Bufan who couldn't take care of themselves.

It was taught very basically.

Although the basics were important, with the assistance of Photographic Memory and his increased comprehension, Lin Li's foundation was already as solid as a rock. Listening to these things was indeed meaningless.

These past few days, when Lin Li studied and previewed after class, he was actually more serious than during class.

Of course, Lin Li still had basic respect for science subjects.

After all, math was a terrifying subject where you might think it's unnecessary to listen when they start explaining "1+1," but after glancing out the window at sparrows kissing on a utility pole and looking back, you'd find the blackboard covered in formulas and Xue Jian muttering like an ancient god.

Even though he focused on a balance of work and rest, he was, after all, using cheats. Lin Li believed that scoring higher than 51st in the next midterm exam shouldn't be difficult.

After school in the afternoon, he would go practice the fun events he was participating in during the big break.

Because Lin Li was simply too versatile, Chen Yuying selected him for most of the fun events on the final list. Lin Li didn't mind; it didn't take much effort, and no one cared if he messed up. Ultimately, they were fun events, primarily for entertainment.

After evening self-study, he continued to arrange runs with the others to prepare for the sports meeting.

However, Lin Li started choosing to run in the outer lanes instead of the inner lanes. Every time he passed Ding, Chen, and Qu, if there was no one else around, he would pervertedly say something like "I passed you" or "It feels so good to pass you."

It could only be said that Lin Li being able to survive being so annoying was all thanks to their "pervert threshold" for him being too high.

He didn't even need to bring tissues; they had them anyway, and Lin Li just happened to be shameless.

There were more and more people on the sports field. Now, after school, more people from Class 4 walked towards the sports field than towards the dorms. Lin Li could even see Wang Yuezhi running on the field.

Working hard for your father's errand task, Haji Zhi, you guy... truly an admirable son.

Besides Wang Yuezhi, Lin Li's sharp eyes didn't miss any young or old couples in the spectator stands this time either.

Plus, since he happened to be running in the outer lane, if he saw an old couple, nothing happened. If he saw a young couple, Lin Li would shout as he passed by, "Hello Teacher, are you here to catch people dating again?"

Then he could happily enjoy the sight of the young couple fleeing in panic.

Thanks to Lin Li's efforts, the night-time Nansang sports field gradually lost the sour stench of romance.

Damn it, there's still the sour stench of sweat.

It only smelled a bit better when passing by pretty girls.

After simply adjusting his running posture and breathing rhythm, Lin Li's best time for the 3000 meters also improved to eight minutes and forty seconds within a few days, reaching the level of a quasi-first-class athlete.

Every night after exercising and returning home, besides practicing with the slingshot and steel ball bow to improve his shooting accuracy, he continued to cultivate, modifying his "Pure Righteous Lightning Controlling Body" while continuing to refine the "Death-Substituting Jade-Faced Buddha" and the "Flask of Hidden Passions."

Now, the things stored in the resurrection armor should be enough for him to recover a large amount when he "died."

It would be best if he could resurrect with full health. Anyway, Lin Li would continue to "feed" it.

As for the driver's license, he had memorized everything he needed to. He was just waiting to sign up after he came of age. Lin Li was confident he could easily pass the written test.

Sunday.

"Phew—"

Lin Li exhaled a breath of stale air and put the "High-Grade Spirit Stone," which still had more than half of its energy left, back on the "Spirit Spring" to continue charging.

The "Pure Righteous Lightning Controlling Body" had already progressed from initial mastery to minor mastery.

He tested it out.

The mobile power supply he bought for his home, even when turned to maximum power and with Lin Li's internal power fully charged, could no longer make Lin Li feel uncomfortable. It was as if his body had become completely immune to this level of electrical current.

Lin Li believed that even if he licked a live wire now—he would probably still get hurt.

But it definitely wouldn't be fatal.

His control over electricity had also become much more proficient. Previously, when using his finger to charge his phone, he had to constantly test the range, and even after finding it, he couldn't stabilize it. But now, Lin Li could fix his output power and method at the effective node.

This also applied to the body parts outputting the electricity. He could now control the area very precisely.

Although it required full concentration, he could at least achieve absolute control.

The discharge distance had grown to one meter. And when Lin Li dug a hole in the insulating protective layer at the bottom of his newly bought steel rod, which was originally meant for easy gripping, powerful electric arcs could completely emerge from the top of the steel rod.

Although using this as a medium weakened the manipulation of its direction and output distance, it undoubtedly added a surprise attack method against enemies.

The electric arc, which initially could only make paper crackle and couldn't even move it a bit, now had enough power to scorch paper with the Maillard reaction beloved by Michelin three-star chefs. If Lin Li concentrated all his stored electricity into one strike, he could electrocute through several layers of paper.

After cultivating for nearly a month and a half, he finally had a somewhat powerful spell.

Unfortunately, when Lin Li tried to absorb the "Lightning Nurturing Seed" in his [Inventory], he still couldn't handle it.

Waiting.

Midnight, October 14th, Monday.

[Update Complete.]

Clicking on the textless interface, the prompt text he had been longing for still hadn't appeared. This damn system really specialized in squeezing toothpaste-style updates.

Don't let Lin Li know who the updater behind this is, otherwise Lin Li will go up and stab him with a white knife and pull it out red, peeling a premium blood orange for him, then give his mom a beautiful blessing of good fortune as vast as the Eastern Sea and a life as long as the Southern Mountains, and finally wish his whole family happiness and good health...

[You have obtained "Repair Crystal"  1.]

After bringing the inventory of "Repair Crystals" to 2, Lin Li chose to replace slot 4.

[You have refreshed "Bigu Pill (Bottle)": 20 System Currency. Do you want to replace it?]

[Bigu Pill (Bottle): The bottle contains five pills. After being taken by low-level cultivators or mortals, depending on the intensity of their subsequent actions, they will not have the need to eat for one week to thirty days after taking it. The body will not suffer any negative effects from not eating, and during the Bigu period, it will continuously and slightly condition the user's body.]

Lin Li raised his eyebrows slightly. Like the "Body Strengthening and Disease Curing Pill," it was for low-level cultivators or mortals, belonging to the most useless category of pills.

However, the price was affordable, four System Currency per pill, and there wasn't even a purchase limit.

But as for its use... it was very useless for Lin Li.

Some people eat to live, but some people eat to eat.

This matter is also recorded in history:

"Give me food, or give me death," this is a famous quote by the American Patrick Baowei in 1775.

"How can a sparrow know the stomach of a swan," from "Records of the Grand Historian: The House of Baowei."

Lin Li still quite approved of the desire for good food.

Eating delicious food makes people very happy.

If he could still eat, drink, poop, and pee normally after taking this Bigu Pill, it wouldn't be a problem. But if he didn't feel hungry at all or even couldn't eat anything during the duration, Lin Li felt the disadvantages outweighed the advantages.

Because this would easily be noticed as abnormal by the people around him.

The efficacy of this Bigu Pill was probably determined by the amount of activity during the Bigu period. If he fasted for a month, it would be too easily discovered.

He could only hope that he could eat and drink normally after taking it.

[You have obtained "Bigu Pill (Bottle)"  1.]

He'd buy a bottle first anyway.

Firstly, Lin Li had a hoarder attribute; if it appeared, he would save it in his [Inventory] first. Secondly, although there was no need for Lin Li to take it, it should still be very valuable in the apocalyptic world. Exchanging for a bottle wouldn't be a loss; he might be able to use it.

Having confirmed the system update, Lin Li prepared to set off.

The equipment he was carrying had been organized and placed nearby during the day when he wasn't at school. Lin Li quickly got dressed.

With his previous experience, he discarded some supplies and replaced others. After confirming that the time flow was different, this time, Lin Li wanted to see how long he could stay in that world at his limit.

[Lin Li: I'm feeling a bit unwell. If I don't go to school tomorrow, please ask the teacher for leave for me.]

Lin Li sent a message to Bai Bufan.

After all, his deduction didn't have enough practical support yet, so Lin Li still had to take precautions and make a Plan B in case he didn't return in time.

[Bai Bufan: ?]

[Bai Bufan: Then what about my breakfast?]

Lin Li laughed out of anger.

Bai Bufan was like the kind of person whose girlfriend asks him, "Guess who I saw at the hospital," and Bai Bufan would reply, "Never mind who you saw, look at this polar bear, it looks like an AirPods."

Your fucking focus is on breakfast, huh.

[Bai Bufan: Can you not be so selfish? Can you deliver the breakfast first before asking for leave?]

[Lin Li: Bai Bufan, do you know how disgusting you are? The first time your real, non-virtual mom sensed you, she was so disgusted she wanted to throw up, and for the next few months, she wanted to throw up countless times.]

[Bai Bufan: ?]

[Bai Bufan: Anyone's mom would want to throw up, right? And we agreed to only involve virtual moms. You broke the rule, you're fined two hundred yuan!]

[Lin Li: "Picture of Wu Bai" (Five Hundred), give me three hundred back.]

[Bai Bufan: "Picture of Wu Bai" (just stole it), give me two hundred back.]

[...]

[Lin Li: Not talking anymore, feeling sick, resting, remember tomorrow.]

[Bai Bufan: Alright, hope you're okay [Praying hands] [Praying hands] [Praying hands]]

[Bai Bufan: But why are you suddenly unwell? Weren't you perfectly healthy during evening self-study? There hasn't been a swine flu outbreak recently, has there?]

Bastards always act human at the very end. But Lin Li didn't reply to this message.

After all, according to his deduction, no matter how long he stayed there, only a dozen minutes would pass when he returned to reality. It wouldn't be too late to reply when he got back.

If his deduction was wrong, and Bai Bufan saw that he hadn't replied to messages or gone to school, he would definitely ask for leave for him tomorrow.

With all preparations complete, Lin Li clicked "Depart."

A white light flashed. The moment the scene before him became clear, Lin Li raised the steel ball bow in his hand and aimed it forward.

There was nothing there.

Looking around, the figure he met when he left last time was gone. David Tao was nowhere to be seen, and the "Landlord" player's head and body were separated; she seemed a bit dead.

It seemed that during the time he was away, a battle might have taken place here.

The steel rod Lin Li left behind last time had probably been taken too.

That guy also assumes that whatever is left on the ground is unwanted, huh.

Opening a timer and adjusting the body camera on his chest, Lin Li began to check the results of this experiment.

Confirming new information: One of the conditions for the things he carried was roughly that the main force supporting them needed to come from his own body.

When Lin Li came, he used the top of his shoe to support one leg of a chair, letting it "rest" on him, but the chair wasn't brought over because of this.

—Because the main force supporting it came from the ground.

He took out a small plastic box from his pocket again.

Inside was a dead ant and a detached ant leg.

What was packed in reality had now been brought over.

Lin Li reached into the side pocket of his backpack and grabbed a packet of pork jerky he had just put in.

—Because this expedition wouldn't be short, Lin Li had prepared some food and drinking water. Not only that, but there were even some ingredients prepared for the beautiful lady task.

Whether it was the ant in the box or the pork jerky, they were all dead things that were once living.

Now, reality could bring these things to this world, but the zombie flesh and blood of this world couldn't be brought to reality?

The carrying conditions seemed a bit double-standard. Were the two worlds different?

However, Lin Li didn't dwell on this problem for too long. After all, just thinking about it was meaningless; he needed more experimental samples. And for Lin Li, it was good news, so it didn't matter if he was a bit careless.

What he needed to do now was complete Task Two and find gold at the same time. So Lin Li took out a friction-resistant, thickened snakeskin bag with a friction layer at the bottom.

—The beautiful lady's body was too heavy. Lin Li couldn't possibly carry her all the time, so he brought this bag to make it easier to drag her later.

One carrying one in the apocalypse, verifiable combat record.

Then Lin Li looked around.

Wait.

There was a small problem.

"Who the fuck stole the head again?!"

(End of Chapter)