The harvest from this secret realm was immense.
Because he had slain a massive number of magical beasts, Zhang Ye's physical body managed to break through to the Tier Ten early stage. It was a pity that those drowned by the flood did not count as his personal kills; otherwise, he might have achieved physical sainthood on the spot.
There was also a pile of treasures obtained from exploring the secret realm, as well as the spoils from repelling the beast tide.
Leona and Zhang Ye had made the most immense contributions this time. Zhang Ye's flooding strategy had wiped out hundreds of thousands of magical beasts, while Leona had single-handedly slain several Saint-tier magical beasts, including the Dark Cloud Tiger. Thus, in the distribution of spoils, Zhang Ye received twenty percent, Leona received thirty percent, and the remaining fifty percent was divided among the others based on their contributions.
No one had any objections to this distribution.
Had it not been for the two of them, they likely would have been defeated by the beast tide, let alone obtained any spoils.
After all, although Leona was incredibly powerful, if the main force had collapsed, she would not have been able to fight the entire beast tide alone.
Once the distribution was complete and everyone had received their spoils, they submitted some records of the secret realm to the academy for research.
However, they did not know that that world had already turned into a void, with only a small fragment of the continent still floating in it.
Those records would never be used.
In the afternoon, after the concert, everyone returned to Dorm 233.
Xi Ya had also come.
She had classes in the morning and could not gather with Zhang Ye and the others, so she had arrived early for the afternoon concert.
When the concert ended, she had even presented a bouquet of small blue flowers to Zhang Ye, handing them over with a shy and bashful expression.
Zhang Ye naturally accepted them with joy.
During dinner, Leona handed all of her spoils over to Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye initially refused, but Leona said those spoils were of no use to her. After all, she did not eat magic cores, nor did she lack treasures made from them. Thus, Zhang Ye gladly accepted.
Zhang Ye knew that Leona was looking out for him.
After all, those spoils included high-level magic cores, such as the Dark Cloud Tiger's Four-star Saint-tier magic core, which could be sold for tens of millions of gold coins on the outside.
This warmed Zhang Ye's heart immensely.
These magic cores would be enough to feed Zhang Ye for quite a while.
They cultivated as usual that night. The next day, since they had a five-day break after returning from the secret realm, Zhang Ye dove straight into the library with everyone.
He needed to build up his knowledge so he would have more confidence when facing the research institute's review.
After lunch, he headed to the research institute.
Upon arriving at the research institute, Ke Ling informed Zhang Ye that the review would take place the day after tomorrow.
“Mentor, I have established the emotional research project. Please take a look,” Ke Ling said, handing a magic panel to Zhang Ye.
Zhang Ye glanced at it.
【The Positive and Negative Effects of Emotion on Humans. Sub-branches: Joy, Anger, Sorrow, Pleasure...】
Below that was a series of passages Ke Ling had copied from library books and documents, along with her own views on emotional research.
For example: 【Joy is suspected to be redundant for humans. It cannot make situations more perfect, yet it can cause people to overlook certain situational factors due to excessive happiness, thereby leading to subsequent tragedies or reducing their perception of danger...】
Then, the conclusion Ke Ling arrived at was: Joy seems to be completely useless.
This conclusion left Zhang Ye stuck between laughter and tears.
He pushed the panel aside and said to Ke Ling, “Researching emotions isn't just about records and observations. You also need to practice it yourself. For instance, you need to personally experience things that cause intense emotional fluctuations.”
“I have practiced,” Ke Ling nodded and said. “I conducted an experiment on the sub-branch of 【Pain】. I subjected twelve students to a 【Pseudo-Expulsion】 experiment and found that they indeed felt pain and confusion because of it.”
“However, when I applied the experiment to myself, I did not feel any emotional fluctuations.”
Zhang Ye: “...”
After mourning for those twelve students for three seconds, Zhang Ye asked, “Then do you know why that is?”
“Being expelled from the academy does not make me feel pain because it does not have a major impact on me. With my strength, I could be recruited by any major academy. Therefore, it cannot cause much trouble for my research,” Ke Ling explained matter-of-factly.
Zhang Ye sighed.
Such an experiment was completely inconsequential to Ke Ling, so it was no wonder she felt nothing.
For Ke Ling, she could conduct research in any environment. It was merely a matter of different projects and topics. To her, researching anything was still research; it did not matter.
Zhang Ye waved his hand. “Stop such experiments immediately. Your experiments will cause trouble for other students. From today onward, your experiments can only be conducted on yourself.”
Hearing this, Ke Ling nodded. “Understood. Then what exactly should I do?”
Zhang Ye thought for a moment and said, “Just follow me.”
Keeping Ke Ling by his side should allow her to experience some emotional changes.
Hearing this, Ke Ling's pupils dilated and contracted for a moment, and she nodded. “Understood.”
“Alright, let's conduct the experiment for the 【Individual Omni-directional Mobility Magic Device】 first.”
“Okay.”
By the afternoon, the research ended, and everyone emerged from their respective studies.
Lina was conducting research on light and time magic, Samanra on wind magic, Nan on lightning magic...
After this research session, they all felt that being a magic researcher was truly difficult. They had no clue how to start many of their projects and had to rely on Zhang Ye's guidance to even begin.
Stepping out of the research institute, Zhang Ye stretched his back. Seeing this, everyone followed suit, stretching like a pack of lazy cats.
“Let's go. Time to head back for dinner,” Zhang Ye said to everyone. They returned to the dorm together, and Zhang Ye began preparing dinner.
However, just as dinner was ready and everyone was about to eat, the doorbell rang.
Zhang Ye ran to open the door, only to see Ke Ling standing there stiffly.
“Ke Ling, what are you doing here?” Zhang Ye asked in confusion.
As someone who prioritized efficiency above all else, Zhang Ye did not think Ke Ling would drop by just to chat.
“I came to inform my mentor that, starting today, I will be moving into Dorm 235.”
“Dorm 235?” Zhang Ye was taken aback, then remembered that it was just two doors down from his.
Furthermore, Zhang Ye remembered that it was clearly the dorm of the leopard-eared girl, Kaya. How did it become Ke Ling's dorm?
“Did you kick Kaya and the others out?” Zhang Ye asked, raising an eyebrow at Ke Ling.
Ke Ling shook her head. “I did not kick Kaya out. I merely paid some points to have Kaya's roommate, Galetti, change dorms.”
“She agreed?” Zhang Ye asked.
“Yes.”
Zhang Ye nodded. If it was voluntary, then there was no issue.
Then, Zhang Ye asked with some confusion, “Why did you suddenly want to move here?”
“You told me to follow you,” Ke Ling said.
Zhang Ye: “...”
Was that what I meant at the time...?
But since things had already turned out this way, Zhang Ye could hardly tell her to move back.
“Alright then, come in and have dinner with us.”
“I do not need to eat. Consuming a small amount of nutrient fluid is sufficient to sustain my bodily needs for a long time, and it saves the time wasted on eating,” Ke Ling replied.
Zhang Ye waved his hand. “Starting now, you have to come here for dinner every night. This will help you acquire emotions.”
“Is that so?” Ke Ling tilted her head and looked at Zhang Ye, appearing somewhat ditzy.
Seeing her like this, it was truly hard to imagine that this cute, dorky girl was an emotionless magic researcher.
Zhang Ye smiled and nodded. “Yes, it is. You can't go wrong listening to me.”
Ke Ling nodded. “The magic concepts and magic formulas proposed by my teacher currently have a one-hundred-percent accuracy rate. It is indeed trustworthy.”
With that, she followed Zhang Ye into the house.
“Let me introduce her. You all know her, Researcher Ke Ling. We'll be neighbors from now on.”
Everyone exchanged glances. Talia, who was gnawing on a large chicken drumstick, suddenly stood up. “It's you!”
Zhang Ye was startled, then asked in confusion, “What's wrong?”
Talia immediately looked resentful. “She said she wanted to take my gauntlets for research, but when she returned them, only the middle finger was left!”
Zhang Ye: “...”
Ke Ling said expressionlessly, “That was an experimental accident. Furthermore, I offered to compensate you with points worth twice the value of the gauntlets, but you did not accept.”
“Who cares about your points! That was a birthday present from my father!” Talia said, gritting her teeth.
“The actual value of identical objects given by anyone at any time remains the same. I cannot understand why you would not accept double points as compensation,” Ke Ling said.
Zhang Ye clutched his forehead and hurriedly tried to smooth things over. “Alright, alright, let's eat first. Senior, I'll make you a pair of gauntlets as a birthday gift when the time comes. How about that?”
Hearing this, Talia's angry expression instantly cleared up like a sunny day, and she beamed with joy. “Deal!”
Then, Zhang Ye looked at Ke Ling. “It's true that the actual value of identical objects given by anyone at any time remains the same, but you have to consider the non-actual value and indirect benefits.”
“For example?” Ke Ling tilted her head and looked at Zhang Ye.
“Expanding networks, maintaining relationships, reciprocal benefits, future cooperation, situational impact, and most importantly—emotional attachment!”
Ke Ling's pupils dilated and contracted again. However, before she could finish thinking, Zhang Ye pushed her down into a seat at the dining table.
“Don't think too much for now. Eat!”
...
...
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