Having learned this skill, Fang Zhen's mind immediately started racing, imagining all sorts of applications for it.

The scenarios were pretty outrageous, some even bordering on hentai plots.

After fantasizing for a moment, he coughed and reined in his thoughts.

'Discipline when alone, discipline when alone.'

'Judge actions, not thoughts. If you judged by thoughts alone, there wouldn't be a single good person in the world.'

'It's fine to imagine it, just don't actually do it.'

Besides, he was decent-looking, had a good physique, and was rich. He didn't have to worry about that sort of thing.

After getting his mindset straight, Fang Zhen looked at the screen and thought that this Forging ability was actually pretty useful. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Essence Forging... wasn't this basically just high-dimensional tech plus some hardcore stuff?

Strictly speaking, it was the tech, but with the side effects of the "hardcore stuff" eliminated. It was more like technology plus alchemy.

It sounded like it had a lot of potential.

There were plenty of drugs with special effects in the real world, and the Skill Trees developed in different instance worlds were all unique.

Fang Zhen's special status allowed him to travel between different instance worlds. By clashing different tech trees together, he might be able to create his own bizarre and unique advantages.

Technology plus alchemy, and later, maybe add some theology, Cthulhu, and what-not.

If he continued down this path, would he end up turning himself into some kind of old-school traditional medicine practitioner?

The thought was actually pretty exciting.

Of course, there were some things Fang Zhen wouldn't touch even if it killed him. He would only look for real-world special drugs with particularly potent effects to test his tech-alchemy formulas.

Fang Zhen chuckled. He wasn't sure if it was the potion's effect, but his mind was crystal clear, his thoughts sharp and efficient.

'I shouldn't waste the potion's effects. While my mind is sharp, I should practice my Guidance technique and other skills to rack up some experience. It'll save me merit points on future upgrades,' Fang Zhen thought.

「Two days later.」

Fang Zhen saw Wen Ziyu and Song Yawen off.

The two girls got their wish and still went to the exhibition. The only difference was that Fang Zhen went with them, and he also brought along that young man named Li Da.

Li Da really was a good student, that much was true.

After clearing up the misunderstanding and chatting with Li Da, Fang Zhen managed to probe out that the young man's parents were both in the system. Their positions definitely weren't low; one of them was likely a department-level official with real power and potential for further promotion.

The thing was, Li Da was a bit of a rebel. He found his family's rule-abiding lifestyle incredibly boring and didn't listen to them much. Instead, he envied the freedom of people out in the working world, and his hobbies didn't align with the mainstream tastes his parents approved of.

Fang Zhen didn't press for more details.

As for Li Da, Fang Zhen wasn't sure if it was a case of Stockholm syndrome, but after being taught a lesson, the kid didn't hold a grudge at all. Instead, he started acting like a little follower, looking up to Fang Zhen as a big brother with a strange sort of admiration.

Fang Zhen's intuition told him that Li Da wasn't faking it; the admiration was genuine.

He couldn't help but sigh. Sometimes, people were just... something else. It seemed Li Da had been genuinely beaten into submission. Combined with the fact that Fang Zhen was young, rich, and had a good image, he fulfilled all of a teenager's fantasies about successful adults—or perhaps, their future selves. He thought Fang Zhen was amazing and, drawn to his strength, wanted to acknowledge him as his big brother.

He added Li Da on WeTalk and also took the opportunity to conduct an experiment.

When Fang Zhen was speaking with Li Da alone, he used Forceful Hypnosis to implant an idea into the young man's mind.

The hypnotic suggestion was that if Li Da ever got his hands on another potion similar to the "smart drug," he would immediately send Fang Zhen a message on WeTalk.

Fang Zhen felt no guilt about experimenting on Li Da. The kid had a prior record, and monitoring him was also a way to protect Wen Ziyu.

The actual effect of Forceful Hypnosis was that Li Da simply paused for a second, and the thought was implanted in his brain.

Fang Zhen knew it had succeeded. In that instant, he could clearly perceive the thought being stuffed into Li Da's mind.

The human brain has a strange operating mechanism. If a belief is held firmly enough, the brain will self-organize to find reasons and evidence for that belief's existence.

Fang Zhen was now confident that if Li Da ever acquired a smart drug in the future, he would definitely message him about it. He wouldn't even know why. If someone were to ask Li Da, the kid would surely pause for a moment and then hastily invent a reason to explain his actions.

Forceful Hypnosis had to be used carefully in the instances, but in the real world, it was a god-tier skill.

If he could upgrade it a few more times, Fang Zhen couldn't even imagine what level he could reach in the real world. Becoming some behind-the-scenes boss of a city would be child's play.

It's just that he only wanted to become Extraordinary and achieve immortality; he wasn't that keen on power.

After seeing Wen Ziyu off on the high-speed train and finding an excuse to get rid of the clingy Li Da, Fang Zhen parked his car in a temporary spot on the side of the road. There, he fired up his VPN, opened the messaging app, and started chatting with someone.

The person he contacted on the app was Li Zoyi, whom he'd met when he bought the Desert Viper.

It was still a while before the next instance, and now that Fang Zhen had the King's Belt, the fastest way to increase his power was to get his hands on some high-caliber firearms. Assault rifles, machine guns, sniper rifles—things like that would be best.

If possible, he'd also like to get some grenades and anti-personnel mines.

There was a lot of fun stuff among military-grade firearms.

Not to mention, the now-commonplace smart vacuum cleaners were originally developed as mine-sweeping robots. There was a lot of gear you just couldn't find on the commercial market.

Li Zoyi had talked a big game, so she should have some connections. Besides, when it came to channels like this, if one worked well, you tended to stick with it. If Li Zoyi could get Fang Zhen the gear he wanted, he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of finding someone else.

In any case, he wasn't short on cash. For the sake of security and stability, he was willing to go through a familiar channel even if it cost ten or even twenty percent more.

Fang Zhen's mindset was becoming more and more like that of a rich person. His main consideration was whether his needs could be met; the price itself was becoming less of a concern.