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Chapter 027 Mental Enchantment

Aside from the three major regions in the game, there are plenty of places for players to socialize, and the training ground is one of them.

Players can simulate various scenarios and opponents in the training ground for combat training. The advantage is that there’s no pain setting in the training ground, allowing players to test their combat skills without psychological burdens. The downside is that it can’t simulate unexpected events, so players can’t practice relevant experiences.

This can be compensated in the Safe Zone Dungeon, but if they want to grind in the dungeon, there’s no need to go to the Safe Zone.

To put it simply, the greatest convenience of the training ground is that players can join or leave at any time. Besides training combat experience, it’s also a decent choice for warming up before dungeons.

It also allows players to strengthen friendships… kind of.

So the training ground is quite popular.

Each player can use game points to create their own separate training ground, but the requirement for game points is so low that it can be completely ignored. Plus, joining other players’ training grounds is free, so it’s almost like getting something for nothing.

Once she created her own training ground, Xia Xinyan was transported to a realm of white void.

This was the most basic form of the training ground; aside from a white ground, there was nothing else existing. While it was a competent battlefield, staying there too long could feel a bit oppressive.

So Xia Xinyan changed the scene of the training ground to a forest.

She found herself in a clearing in the heart of the forest, large enough to fit several soccer fields, surrounded by trees. Overall, the terrain didn’t differ much from the previous white space, but the scenery was definitely much prettier.

The oppressive atmosphere of the world after the calamity had made her fond of this vibrant forest view. Just being there could lift her spirits, so she’d often focus on these strange aspects—like the scenery of her Private Space.

Perhaps this is what distinguishes her from Ling Mo at this point in time. Even with the same character and experiences for the first twenty years, once they forked off at a certain time, they could no longer be viewed as the same person.

At least, that’s what she thought.

And not just their experiences… now their abilities were different too.

Taking a deep breath, Xia Xinyan awakened her ability.

Beast Transformation · Black Cat.

Two black cat ears suddenly popped up from her head, twitching slightly, and at the same time, a black tail emerged from the base of her spine, extending below her shirt.

Her pupils transformed into slit-like cat eyes for a moment, but quickly returned to round pupils in the light.

Other than that, there were no other changes in appearance.

Switching to her transformation state, she turned around to look at her tail. The length and thickness were similar to those in her Succubus state, also black, but lacking that weird weapon unique to succubi.

But it still had the tendency to perk up.

After a moment of silence, she cautiously reached out and grabbed her tail.

… No feeling.

【It is said that a cat’s sensitive spot is on its neck. The host could try scratching their neck?】

“Shut up.”

【… Suggesting the host change their attitude toward this system; this is not a normal way for hosts and systems to interact.】

“I suggest you change your logic processor instead.” Xia Xinyan impatiently let go of her tail. “Or just stop talking, except when issuing tasks.”

She thought the system was really problematic.

And not a small problem.

【This system is still in factory settings.】

“Then send it back.”

【…】

Ignoring what the system thought, Xia Xinyan then activated her other ability—Succubi.

The end of her tail suddenly sprouted that Succubus weapon, but aside from that, there were no changes.

Xia Xinyan conjured a full-length mirror in front of her to see what she looked like now.

It felt like… just a Succubus tail and a pair of cat ears, which was the coexistence state of both abilities being awakened.

She didn’t pay attention to the changes in her eyes, afraid of becoming narcissistic.

This meant that when players could bring their abilities into reality, she’d look like this.

… Not too bad, better than she expected—she originally thought she’d grow two tails.

However, after awakening both abilities, she realized one problem—both powers couldn’t maintain their peak states at the same time, but instead operated under a master-slave relationship. The power of the primary ability would overshadow the secondary ability. While the latter could still be utilized, its effectiveness would be significantly diminished.

For example… If she mainly used her Beast Transformation ability, then in a non-combat state, she wouldn’t feel anything when she touched her tail. But if she primarily used her Succubus ability, touching her tail would send her straight to the heavens.

Nonetheless, these two abilities could seamlessly switch their master-slave relationship, so the impact on her wasn’t too great. It just added an extra step during battles, which could be a bit troublesome when she wasn’t familiar yet.

Having a rough understanding of her two abilities, it was time for some warm-up.

The training ground supported players in customizing their opponents, including species, size, combat tendencies, fighting styles, etc. But the combat strength couldn’t exceed twice the player’s strength—this was a game setting, and players could only adjust the opponent’s strength percentage.

Having had ample combat experience, Xia Xinyan didn’t hesitate and immediately created a giant wolf standing two meters tall, setting its strength to double hers, then entered combat preparation.

She wanted to first try which combat style suited her current self best, and facing a strong but slow brute was definitely a suitable practice target regarding her Black Cat ability.

As the 3-second countdown ended, the battle officially began, the giant wolf immediately howled and charged at Xia Xinyan.

Xia Xinyan slowly bent down, then dashed towards the giant wolf at incredible speed, targeting its eyes right away—this was the greatest weakness of a ferocious beast.

Then…

【You have been killed, battle failed.】

The scene suddenly rewound, and she was transported back to her original spot, with the giant wolf returning to where it appeared.

Xia Xinyan froze for a moment.

She… got one-shotted?

Killed with a single claw?

… Looks like it’s been too long since she’d fought; her combat skills had gotten rusty.

Let’s try again!

A few seconds later—

【You have been killed, battle failed.】

… Again.

【You have been killed, battle failed.】

……

Ten minutes later.

Xia Xinyan panted, staring at the giant wolf, and finally realized one thing.

She might have misunderstood the inclination of this Beast Transformation ability.

This ability wasn’t ineffective in head-on combat; it couldn’t fight head-on at all.

Although her speed increased significantly after transforming, her resilience and strength decreased. With a fragile body, the giant wolf could easily one-shot her. And now, in a one-on-one scenario where the opponent knew from the start where she was, she simply couldn’t achieve true stealth.

Not sure if this ability would change in the future, but for now, its flaws were enormous.

This meant that if she wanted to go solo in the future, she’d have to see if she had the necessary strength.

After a moment of silence, she looked up at the giant wolf and chose to start the battle again.

The giant wolf charged at her as usual, but this time, she didn’t charge at it; she stood still, waiting for the giant wolf to reach her. Just as it came in front of her, her pupils suddenly turned blood red—

Mental Enchantment!

At the moment their gazes met, the giant wolf suddenly slammed to a halt, collapsing right at her feet, the over two-meter giant acting like a dog begging for attention, looking as if it was about to jump up and lick her.

Xia Xinyan: “…”

Incredible.