"Phew. That was some hard work," Chen Li sighed, lying on the sofa and holding a teacup.
Although the pain of training gradually became illusory after leaving the training space, the training itself was real, leaving behind a subtle sense of exhaustion.
It was like waking up feeling tired after having a very long dream, even though your body hadn't moved.
"Even though the Knight's Trial certificates don't specify a cooldown time, it seems they aren't suitable for frequent use," Chen Li said slowly.
"Now that you have learned my swordplay, as long as you practice diligently, you will have no trouble protecting yourself. There is no need to be hasty," Jingliu said, sitting on the sofa opposite him.
That's right. Chen Li had used Pale Justice to summon Jingliu again, and they had already been chatting for a while.
Summoning a knight required undergoing a "Knight's Trial" as payment, but neither Argenti nor Jingliu would propose anything unreasonable. Furthermore, only their projections were summoned, so it didn't affect their real activities. So why not summon them a few more times to get more trial certificates?
However, since the Curio he had intended for Argenti was currently on loan to Tonghua, Chen Li felt a bit too embarrassed to summon Argenti, leaving Jingliu as his only option.
"Why have you summoned me here? I see no ferocious beasts or powerful enemies in this place," Jingliu finally asked after sitting for a while.
"I have already found a way to travel to your world. It won't be long before we can meet in person. I summoned you to inform you of this."
Of course, Chen Li couldn't admit he was summoning her just to farm trial certificates, so he came up with a proper reason.
"..." Jingliu seemed lost in thought.
"Also, I've forged more Curios, which can prove their quality. Teacher Jingliu, how do you find the restraint bracelet? Are you satisfied?" Chen Li asked.
Jingliu hadn't objected to the title "Teacher" after learning that Chen Li had studied her swordplay.
But she hadn't acknowledged it, either.
"The Mara-Struck state has indeed shown no signs of acting up. Is this the Curio you forged for me to suppress it?" Jingliu asked, raising her left hand to look at the delicate, thin golden bracelet on her wrist.
This time, Chen Li had summoned the complete version of Jingliu's projection, so there was a real possibility of her Mara-Struck state flaring up.
"Ahem, this item can prove that I can forge a Curio to suppress the Mara-Struck, but it is not suitable for you," Chen Li said, waving his hands frantically, startled by her words.
That was right. The Mara-Struck state was also considered an "ability" by the bracelet.
It wasn't that Chen Li was reluctant to part with the bracelet, but its effect was to restrain an ability, only for its next use to be even stronger.
Jingliu was already walking on the edge of succumbing to the Mara-Struck. If she wore this bracelet for a long time, constantly strengthening the effect of her next outbreak, the day she took it off, she would likely be beyond saving.
The only reason he let her try it on now was because she was just a projection.
"I look forward to the Curio you will forge for me."
"Unfortunately, this Pale Justice cannot summon flight-capable knights, so I will indeed need an 'Eidolonic' Entry to create a Curio that can summon Baiheng," Chen Li continued.
"Understood. I will keep an eye out for such items," Jingliu nodded.
"Also, I have a suggestion. Teacher Jingliu, you could try learning the erhu. I've heard that music can help one relax."
"Truly?"
"Would I lie to you?" Chen Li promised, patting his chest.
"Very well, I will try. I did learn the erhu once before, but it has been a long time since I've played."
But Jingliu didn't understand why it had to be the erhu specifically.
"Since you're here, would you like to take a look around this other world?" Chen Li asked, standing up and extending an invitation to Jingliu.
"Not interested."
"And protect me while you're at it."
That was the main point.
"...Very well."
"Let's go, then. Time to meet up with my dear gaming partner!"
Chen Li had chosen a time-flow ratio of 10,000:1 when using the trial certificates.
The two training sessions combined had taken him about two and a half years of in-trial time, equivalent to over 20,000 hours, but only a little over two hours had passed in reality. It wasn't even lunchtime yet.
Since it was still early, Chen Li was more interested in figuring out if his gaming partner was the real Kaguya Houraisan than in forging another Curio.
If she really was Kaguya Houraisan, he might be able to find other ways to travel to genuine other worlds.
And, in that case, Chen Li also had to be careful not to cause trouble in her world, lest she trace his IP address and come to his world to beat him up.
So, this was very important.
"But before that... what is this?" Jingliu asked, showing Chen Li a translucent data screen that had appeared in front of her for some reason.
"What the f... a personal panel?" When Chen Li saw the panel, he was utterly shocked.
"And also, 'Guardian'... what does that mean?"
"Huh? You have a Guardian? Who?"
"You."
"???"
---o---
"Wangcai, be a good boy and watch the house," Chen Li said, giving the dog's head a vigorous rub.
"Alright, let's go. By the way, are you feeling alright? Nothing strange?" Chen Li turned to ask Jingliu, who was behind him, with concern.
The restraint bracelet was now back on Chen Li's wrist, but this "Jingliu" was the same one who had been wearing it moments ago; he hadn't re-summoned her.
To repeatedly summon someone, he first had to complete their "Knight's Trial." While this wasn't difficult for Chen Li with his blessing from Abundance, he was more interested in testing the effects of his Guardian authority.
It was strange, but similar to the situation with Tonghua, Jingliu had also been brought into this world by him. So it seemed somewhat logical that he would become her Guardian...
...if one were to ignore the fact that she was a real projection.
"I feel... fine. There are no signs of losing control," Jingliu nodded.
"It seems the enforcement power of this Guardian authority is quite high," Chen Li said, quite satisfied with the practical result of his experiment.
The restraint bracelet had suppressed Jingliu's Mara-Struck state for over ten minutes, but there was no backlash. This was because of an experiment by Chen Li, or rather, a single sentence—You're still a child, you are not allowed to be Mara-Struck!
Thus, when Jingliu took off the bracelet and found herself unaffected by her condition, she showed a rare expression of "That actually works?"
Chen Li's home world had given Jingliu a small, but potent, shock to her worldview.
"It seems the 'Guardian' from The Guide to Forging Curios and the Guardian authority of this world are slightly different," Chen Li mused, flipping through the Guide.
The Guardian authority in his home world had never been this convenient; his parents had certainly never told him things like "You are not allowed to transmigrate."
After Jingliu had been in this world for fifteen minutes and the world had registered her information and generated a personal panel, an extra page had been added to Chen Li's Guide to Forging Curios—Wards.
However, he couldn't find Tonghua's name on this page.
Furthermore, the information on his wards that he could view in the Guide was more detailed than what was on his own original personal panel.
[Cloud Knight Sword Champion] Jingliu: Lv0 (0/1)
Negative Status: Mara-Struck (Forbidden)
Profession Trait: None
Intimacy: Friendly
Psychological Profile: Obsessive.
Suggestion: Please spend more time with the child and give her a happy childhood.
"???"