Dimensional Codex System: I'm really not a cultist!

Chapter 200: Chapter 199: Fang Zheng’s After-school Tutoring

“Sigh…”

Closing her eyes, feeling the warm water flow, Shana felt her originally anxious heart begin to calm down.

Perhaps this had become her habit. Recalling how she was beaten by Fang Zheng during their morning training each day, she would end up crawling on the ground. Then, taking a hot bath to cleanse her body, and during this time, she would carefully think about the mistakes she had made that day, why she had failed, how to change her shortcomings, and then… she would beat Fang Zheng down!

At first, it was out of frustration, but later it gradually became a habit. Because of this, Shana now found herself no longer resisting what she once considered a waste of time, bathing. Previously, she would only use the Fire of Purification to eliminate dirt on her body and restore her spirit and strength, as she had always thought bathing was a useless and time-consuming act.

But now, she no longer saw it that way. As the water ran over her body, Shana could feel the inner restlessness and the frustration and trouble brought by failure seemed to wash away with the water, replaced by a refreshing feeling as if reborn.

It was incredible, why would she feel this way?

...

“You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

While Shana was immersed in thought, Aralastel in the living room also asked Fang Zheng. As a Contractor, he could certainly feel the changes in Shana’s emotions, which surprised Aralastel. He knew that his Contractor was not a weak person, but the fact that she could gather her feelings and recover her spirit in such a short time had exceeded Aralastel’s expectations.

Of course, having lived for centuries, Aralastel wasn’t completely unable to see through Fang Zheng’s thoughts. Initially, when Fang Zheng forcibly asked Shana to bathe, Aralastel thought he was merely teasing the child. But now, it seemed that this had been cultivated into one of Shana’s habits without realizing it.

“Exactly.”

While fiddling with a box in his hands, Fang Zheng looked toward the pendant thrown onto the table by Shana.

“Humans need something to relax, the little girl is just too tense, winding herself up like a spring all the time, which isn’t good for physical or mental health. There should be a balance of work and rest, and living normally involves eating, drinking, playing, and sleeping in moderation.”

“But, that child is a Fire Mist Warrior.”

“I don’t see any difference from humans.”

When Aralastel countered, Fang Zheng just shrugged his shoulders.

“If you say so, then does Shana not cry? Not laugh? Not get angry? Not get nervous? Even a robot, if left alone for a long time, will start to think about ‘who am I’ in a death logic loop. Even heroes who save the world need to dance with a princess, relaxing a bit won’t destroy the world.”

“Hmm…”

Hearing Fang Zheng’s counterarguments, Aralastel did not know what to say for a moment.

“A human is a human, I remember according to your terms, Fire Mist Warriors are just humans who have contracted with the Demon King of the Crimson Realm, but in the end, they are still human, right? They get angry, annoyed, and sad, and having great power doesn’t turn a person into a stone impervious to all poisons… Are you like that, Aralastel?”

“…”

This time Aralastel truly had nothing to say. As a Demon God, and one of the three most powerful beings among the Demon Kings of the Crimson Realm, he also had his own emotions. However, the long years had made him accustomed to containing his emotions, but even so, Aralastel couldn’t assert that he was an emotionless stone.

But…

If Fang Zheng were just an ordinary human, then Aralastel would certainly have a hundred arguments to counter him. But Fang Zheng was not, being as powerful as even the strongest Fire Mist Warriors changed everything.

Could it be that we were wrong?

Thinking this, Aralastel couldn’t help but recall the days he spent raising the girl at Heavenly Dao Palace. Back then, their ideas seemed correct, but now, Aralastel wasn’t so sure anymore. Although somewhat different, Fang Zheng was educating Shana in a completely different way than they had expected, and more importantly, with remarkable results.

She was becoming more and more like a strong and courageous warrior, increasingly matching Aralastel and the others’ expectations. However, unlike before, she had not become an emotionless machine; on the contrary, during this period, the girl had shown far more emotional response than she ever had while wandering elsewhere. She would sulk, get angry, and complain—things Aralastel once thought would hinder the girl’s progress toward her goals—but now, under Fang Zheng’s guidance, these seemed to become her sources of motivation.

“Click.”

As Aralastel was deep in thought, the bathroom door opened again, and the freshly bathed girl walked out.

“Aralastel… Fang Zheng, what are you doing?”

“Discussing some philosophy of life.”

Looking at the girl before him, Fang Zheng smiled and then held up the box in his hands.

“Alright, since you’ve finished bathing, come here, young lady. Do you want to play a round of Gwent with me?”

“…?”

Facing Fang Zheng’s invitation, Shana tilted her head, showing a puzzled expression.

“Does this have any meaning?”

“Everything in the world has meaning, playing cards is the same. Don’t think it’s just ordinary entertainment; if used well, you can also gain battle experience from it.”

“Really?”

Sure enough, hearing this, Shana immediately perked up and sat down opposite Fang Zheng.

“Well, I want to try!”

“Come on, just don’t cry if you lose.”

Looking at the smiling young girl in front of him, Aralastel remained silent. Although he thought Fang Zheng was just blurting out nonsense, he soon discovered that what the other party was saying was not an excuse.

“Playing cards is like battle.”

Fang Zheng, waving the cards in his hand, looked at the pondering girl with a proud smile.

“Like this, before the battle begins, we don’t know what cards the other holds or how they will play, so… the first thing we need to do is to test.”

While speaking, Fang Zheng played a card.

“Going to follow?”

“Of course!”

Shana glared at Fang Zheng and immediately followed suit without hesitation.

“This is the process of both sides clashing and the beginning of testing each other, just like a battle. I made a move, and you have to choose to defend or to follow… so let’s go again…”

While speaking, Fang Zheng drew and played another card. Shana bit her lip and followed with another card. Fang Zheng continued to play cards, and Shana kept up with him.

“Just like this, the intensity of the battle increases.”

Fang Zheng played another card and smiled proudly.

“So, are you going to follow again?”

“………”

This time, Shana fell silent, frowning deeply as she stared at the cards in her hand. After a moment, she couldn’t help but pout.

“PASS.”

“Okay, then I win.”

While speaking, Fang Zheng spread out the cards in his hand, and upon seeing his cards, Shana’s eyes widened in astonishment.

“Wait, how come the cards you have left are so weak?”

“I never said they were strong cards.”

Face to face with the girl’s frustrated questioning, Fang Zheng’s smile remained unchanged.

“If you had continued to follow, then I would have lost, but you chose to give up. Why? Think about it. It’s because I scared you. You thought my cards were endlessly strong and would keep overpowering you, so you chose to surrender… Isn’t battle the same? Perceiving your own strength as less than the enemy’s, you chose to retreat. So, how can you be sure whether the opponent really is at ease, or just bluffing?”

“………”

At this point, not only was Shana stunned, even Aralastel was so surprised that he couldn’t speak.

They originally didn’t think they could gain any insights from mere entertainment, but now, having listened to Fang Zheng’s explanation, they realized that even a leisure activity could contain such deep knowledge of battle.

“As the saying goes, all roads lead to Rome. Getting stronger isn’t just about fighting. Entertainment, cooking, even painting contain similar experiences. The key is whether you can apply these experiences creatively, rather than just memorizing and mimicking them rigidly. Battle is not just a clash of strength but also a collision of wits. Having strength without brains is no good.”

While speaking, Fang Zheng started packing up the cards on the table and waved his hand.

“Alright, that’s enough of today’s tutorial, you should head home and sleep. When you have time, go out and play with your classmates. Even though they might seem so weak you could defeat them with one finger, if it’s a game with specific rules, they might just beat you senseless. ‘Read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles.’ The best way to improve yourself is to interact with others; that’s how you truly gain something.”

“The same for you, Fang Zheng?”

Upon hearing this, Shana frowned and looked at the man in front of her.

“Of course, I have a lot to learn… just like the other teachers in the school. To you, they seem quite poor, but to the average student, they are quite formidable, aren’t they? There’s always a higher mountain. Admitting someone is better than you is not shameful; it’s a motivation to become stronger.”

“Of course I know that.”

Facing Fang Zheng’s response, Shana blushed, then stood up and pushed open the glass door to the balcony.

“I’m going back!”

Having said that, Shana turned away, not looking back as she left with Aralastel, leaving Fang Zheng alone on the living room sofa, enjoying the cold evening breeze coming his way…

“When will this kid learn to use the door.”