Chapter 773: What to Do When the Student Stays a Salted Fish? Teacher Fang's Noob Cram School Is Now in Session!

Apart from a select, ambitious few, the vast majority played like utter simpletons.

This truth manifested with particular clarity upon the freshly minted players of Canglan City.

After all, some games were simply too grueling for them; take Dark Souls, for instance—its techniques and combat styles were undeniably formidable, but if they couldn't pull them off, what else were they to do?

Even Saint-tier figures like Kellybel could only lament, "I, too, am utterly despairing!"

Meanwhile, over at the old shop, Su Tianji and her fellow band of slackers echoed the sentiment: "How are we ever supposed to pull off maneuvers like that!"

Back when they played Devil May Cry 3, they had seldom succeeded in executing a Royal Guard 'In-a-Flash' counter, and now, thrust into the shoes of characters far weaker than Dante in strength, speed, and reflexes, they were expected to command nearly identical techniques?

It seemed to Boss Fang that these people were perpetually stuck on one hurdle or another, unable to progress, and a few were even growing dull-witted under the crushing weight of the game's difficulty.

It was precisely like leasing a fish pond only to find that, save for a few exceptions, it was teeming entirely with salted fish.

"Could you lot at least show a shred of ambition..."

The spectacle filled Boss Fang with deep, agonizing vexation.

Perhaps to Boss Fang, such feats were not impossible to master—he possessed the Game Cultivation Room, after all, and was intimately acquainted with these titles.

Yet for these denizens of an alien world, their hours were consumed by the cultivation of raw power; technique was merely an afterthought, cultivated haphazardly along the way.

This was a habit ingrained across millennia; after all, if a single brick could lay an opponent low, why bother practicing such gaudy, convoluted flourishes?

But to Boss Fang's mind, it simply would not do for the very same game to look magnificent in his hands, only to resemble a gathering of lifeless, salted fish in theirs.

Would that not imply the proprietor himself was deceiving the general public? That such feats were inherently unachievable, nothing more than special effects added by the boss?

And it was at this very moment...

"Boss... could you perhaps explain it to us?" The moment Boss Fang removed his virtual reality headset, he was met with Kellybel's crestfallen countenance.

Kellybel had watched Boss Fang's parries with burning envy and desperately wished to learn, but could such a thing truly be mastered merely by watching?

Though she was, by all accounts, one of the apex powerhouses of this world, this proprietor looked no older than herself, yet he was undeniably the superior master.

Thus, this could hardly be deemed a demeaning inquiry; it was a humble quest for knowledge.

Reflecting upon it thus, the lingering awkwardness in her heart dissolved.

Within her eyes flickered the eager, shining light of one thirsting for wisdom.

At that moment, across the livestream screen:

"Su Tianji has gifted Boss Fang 6,666 'Goose Eggs'."

"Nalan Mingxue has gifted Boss Fang 1 Rocket."

"Saint Wilson has gifted Boss Fang 5 Rockets..."

"Luo Piaoling has gifted Boss Fang..."

"..."

"Boss, could you explain this one?" Anyone who had attempted the 'In-a-Flash' counter in Devil May Cry 3 knew exactly how harrowing it was; that counter was beyond the reach of ordinary mortals, but surely this one could be learned?

"Well..." Boss Fang looked upon those humble, yearning faces, all gaping like hungry fledglings, and felt...

'It feels rather inappropriate if I bloody well don't teach them, doesn't it?'

Just then, a crisp chime echoed from the system, and yet another quest was issued.

New Quest: The King's Remedial Class (Elementary)

Quest Description: Conduct a live instructional broadcast of the new game.

Quest Objective: Train the simpleton students until they rise above the average baseline (Average: Advanced), and nurture the outstanding students beyond the Master level.

Quest Reward: League of Legends.

...

Meanwhile, at the distant, opposite end of the continent...

A majestic palace of pure white stood built along the mountainside, enveloped in celestial melodies and soaring auspicious beasts, its towering sect gates bearing three grand characters: "The Haotian Sect."

Beyond the courtyard plaza of the gate, amidst verdant peaks and quiet, secluded pathways deep within the clouds, two Daoists sat conversing upon the Great Dao.

A middle-aged man with snow-white hair spoke serenely, "The Founder once left us a maxim... 'The seeker of the Dao has a limit, yet the Dao itself is limitless.' The Dao pursued by cultivators possesses a boundary; hence, we can never attain the flawless, transcendent realm of the True Gods. Yet the Dao itself knows no bounds."

"'Therefore, immortals are merely those who have arrived; both you and I may be called immortals.' Rather than seeking a Dao that will one day be exhausted, is it not far grander to live as I do—consuming spiritual herbs, slumbering upon celestial parasol trees, and dissolving gracefully into this limitless Dao?"

In short, even if one could transcend mortal limits, the boundary of a human's cultivation still possessed a ceiling; this view was evidently rather lazy.

The other man, clad in black robes with a broad forehead, square face, and dark hair, sat with a sword strapped to his back: "The Founder's true intent was that one day, cultivators of our generation would break through that ultimate boundary of the Dao and immerse ourselves entirely within the limitless expanse. Senior Brother, your interpretation is somewhat flawed!"

This perspective was considerably more progressive.

Right at that moment.

The white-haired man seemed to sense something; a jade amulet flew from his sleeve, promptly projecting a phantom image.

"The formation is finally complete..." Near the City of Yuanyang branch, two cultivators dressed in emissary robes spoke in haste, "Greetings, Elders."

"How fare things?" the white-haired man asked indifferently. "On this expedition to the Relic Realm, have you discovered the inheritance left behind by our sect?"

"We found it, but..."

"But what?" The two elders frowned.

The two emissaries—one stout, one lean—produced a communication jade, which proceeded to play various snippets of the Legend of Sword and Fairy, Dungeon Fighter Online, and more.

"What is the meaning of this!?" The two elders stared wide-eyed at the spectacles unfolding before them, noting declarations like 'My fate is commanded by me, not by heaven,' and scenes of a grand battle against the Demon Lord Chonglou...

"This is a mystic realm for cultivation..." the lean emissary reminded them with utmost caution. "The Western Continent has already adopted it; we are the only ones left without it..."

"We have heard that one can now petition the shop owner to expand this 'Internet Cafe' franchise to our Heavenly Ruins Continent, so we have come to seek your counsel, Elders."

"Oh?" The two exchanged a glance.

With that, they began to recount the circumstances of the Western Continent.

"...Let us summon the council of elders to deliberate upon this matter." The expressions of the two men turned solemn.

...

At this time, Boss Fang was still conducting his lecture.

"As for this 'Parry,' if you ask me how to execute it or if there is a method of practice, I can tell you with certainty that there absolutely is." At this moment, the vast majority of people across the Yuanyang City shop, the Half-City shop, the Jiuhua City shop, and the new Canglan City shop were gathered to watch Instructor Fang's livestream.

"However, relying on conventional methods will undoubtedly fail," Boss Fang explained while demonstrating. "Because the enemy is stronger than us, outmatching us in both speed and reflexes. If you rely solely on raw reaction, by the time it lunges, you are already finished."

On the screen, Boss Fang demonstrated exactly that; attempting to parry only when the enemy thrust forward resulted in his arm being promptly impaled by a sword.

"We must rely on anticipation," Boss Fang said. "This encompasses nearly every variety of weapon. We can take each weapon and every single attacking motion, and analyze them frame by frame. Of course, sometimes standard frames are not enough; we can subdivide each individual frame even further."

Boss Fang recorded Pontiff Sulyvahn's moves, slowing down the time and subdividing a single frame yet again until the motions finally began to clear.

(Due to the realistic recreation of strength, the system-level attack speeds were naturally much swifter than the original version.)

"Between this fraction of a frame and that fraction of a frame is the window where we can initiate our counter. When you first begin to learn, memorize it. Commit it perfectly to memory, and that will suffice..."

Boss Fang took a sip of water: "Once you have achieved this, you can be considered to have grasped the basics. What follows is the stage of practical, fluid application..."

Everyone froze dead in their tracks: "..."

Completely petrified.

.

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ps: So this game is, well... a bit mesmerizing, because certain masters memorize parrying exactly like this. Though it is ultimately about using intuition to find the frames, rather than being quite that precise.

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