Chapter 75: I, Alchemy Emperor, Send Money!

A group of medical students became even more excited, fervently sharing their opinions.

"Learn Medicine, Save the Otherworld": "According to the microscopic images sent to us by the expert, I've discovered that the molecular structure of phoenix blood is remarkably similar to that of a creature found on Earth—the *Turritopsis dohrnii*, also known as the immortal jellyfish. This is the only immortal animal in nature. Furthermore, its 'rebirth through fire' characteristic could be used to create materials that clear out ineffective gene fragments, allowing for a 'low-cost' version of 'rebirth through fire.' However, this would require various auxiliary medications to alter the molecular structure of the phoenix blood, making it tolerable for humans. Currently, three grams of Purple Wind Grass and one drop of Green Plant Salt are needed..."

"Spend Again, Chop Hand": "Get lost!"

"Haruko Loves Learning": "Get lost! Haruko doesn't love learning either! Just share the potion formula; keep the principles to yourself! As long as it works, that's all that matters!"

Everyone else chimed in, saying that such hardcore knowledge could wait. They were all busy and didn't have time for a lengthy dissertation. The medical students were speechless, tears streaming down their faces. Being a medical student was tough! After all their hard work, couldn't they at least boast a little?

Upon hearing this, Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand immediately declared: "I've given you the microscopic data for phoenix blood, and I've also naturally obtained phoenix blood myself. I once beat it up in the desert. This young god of fire has a very long growth period; it's over two hundred years old and still in its infancy, yet to develop mature intelligence. Currently, its blood is stored in my secret warehouse."

He also stated that as a farming-style player, an old veteran of "My World," he naturally had a hoarding habit. In a super-secret small warehouse, he had frozen seven young witches, along with various stacks of 99 alchemy materials and a vast amount of astonishing wealth. Phoenix blood was, of course, stored there as well.

"Learn Medicine, Save the Otherworld": "That's good, but the problem now is how to wake up."

Everyone discussed animatedly. Although a comeback plan was in place, not waking up was the biggest issue. If he remained unconscious on the roadside, he might already be dead. All their online posts and boasts would be useless.

However, at this point, another highly reputable expert and certified authority from Zhihu, a professor specializing in psychology from a certain university, chimed in: "Your discussions are quite interesting. Well, let this old man join in too. Personally, I believe that since this game you're describing is so realistic, you could certainly try real-world self-rescue methods for 'waking from unconsciousness.' I've seen many cases of comatose and unconscious patients. Some can faintly hear people talking but cannot move. That's why we often have family members chat by their bedside, trying to awaken them, and also encourage the patients themselves to mentally cooperate in waking their bodies. With strong willpower and intense mental repetition, it's possible to awaken. The method is as follows...." This was a self-hypnosis method for awakening.

"Wow, all the bigshots are coming out of the woodwork!" The netizens were even more excited upon seeing this. This was a particularly renowned senior authority in the field of psychology!

Li Shengjiang, seeing this, immediately felt it was possible. He put on his VR headset and entered the game. In complete darkness, he used strong verbal and mental suggestion, frantically urging himself: "Wake up," "Wake up," "Wake up." Before him, it was still pitch black. But gradually, he felt something vaguely, as if he had walked out of a dark maze. In a daze, he saw a ceiling. He was inside a pickling jar, with a few witches talking nearby.

It actually worked! He woke up from a severely injured, comatose, near-death state! "This game is too real! I'm alive!" Li Shengjiang opened his eyes to the world again, feeling an uncontrollable joy of survival. As long as he wasn't on a chopping block upon waking, being a slime in a vegetable jar was perfectly acceptable, right?

Airmine's voice came through: "More than half a month has passed. The three legendary witches guarding Babylon still let those assassins escape. There's no news of the Alchemy Emperor now; no one knows if he's truly dead..."

Li Shengjiang listened in silence. He realized that while he had only been chatting and posting online for a short while, more than half a month had passed in the wizarding world.

"Huh? This slime was unconscious for half a month and woke up?" Airmine noticed Li Shengjiang peeking around, her face filled with pity. "The poor little creature must have been stunned by the vibrations from the battle in the sky. Those were legendary witches, after all!" After the rise of evil witches, slimes, being cute creatures, often became pets and were even used as alchemical energy engines. The Alchemy Emperor particularly loved them, keeping a large number of slimes, so finding one by the roadside was no big deal.

After confirming his safety, Li Shengjiang secretly logged off again.

Online, Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand, soon to evolve into a Kun, posted: "Wow! That psychology expert is amazing! This awakening method really works! I actually woke up and saw this scene! Turns out I was rescued by a passing witch. Good thing I didn't die. So, what should I do next?" He attached seven screenshots: four images of witch faces, two of the surrounding environment of the house, and one of himself currently in a jar.

Netizens clicked open each exquisite, exotic-style image. "Holy cow, this game is too real, isn't it? The real-world self-hypnosis awakening method actually worked in the otherworld!"

The elderly psychology professor himself was astonished. "I just said it offhand, and it actually works? This is full simulation; to achieve such detail is incredible. This is an astonishing research topic." Sitting in front of his computer, he immediately felt a jolt and quickly called a few of his old friends.

In the forum post, players continued their lively discussion. They simply found it incredibly interesting that it was actually possible to wake up. This was likely another major event in gaming history.

"The expert only put on his VR headset and went in for a few seconds before coming out. To us, it was just a blink, but so much happened in there! He even successfully tested the 'self-awakening method' and explored for several hours? That's terrifying!"

"He even took screenshots for us! I'm increasingly convinced that this isn't just a game; it's a real alternate world. The time dilation is terrifying! And that witch named Airmine is so pretty, so beautiful, so aloof—she's practically my anime goddess! According to physiognomy, she's a kind witch, trustworthy!"

"Above commenter, you're too superstitious! My mom told me, the prettier the girl, the easier it is for her to deceive you."

Countless people grew more excited. Each of their choices and acts of help would affect the Alchemy Emperor's life or death. This was like the recently popular text-based games online such as 'Lifeline' or 'Another Dimension Communication,' where players, with just a mobile phone, inadvertently connected with a distressed person in a distant or alternate world. Their help and every choice would determine the plot's direction and the character's fate. It was also similar to recent popular text-adventure games online like 'The Invisible Guardian' or 'Detroit: Become Human,' where every choice could lead to vastly different developments for the protagonist and various multi-line endings.

Adding to this was the time dilation issue: players would make a story choice one second, and 'Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand' would provide feedback in the forum post the next, complete with numerous screenshots after their decision. It was truly identical!

"Help the Alchemy Emperor online."

"Hahahaha! Tears! Tears! Mom and Dad, you won't have to scold your son for being useless anymore! I can finally play this 'love-to-learn' game too, even if it's just a text-and-image narrative game (wry smile)."

Immediately, many people offered advice, and their opinions were surprisingly unified. They suggested that the plot choice at this moment should naturally be to seek out the three legendary witches guarding Babylon's capital. They could protect his severely injured self, help him return to the palace, regain control of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, and then proceed to the secret vault to retrieve the phoenix blood.

At this moment, another renowned and certified authority, a history expert from the TV program 'Lectures from One Hundred Schools,' presented a different viewpoint: "Since even Professor Li, the psychology expert, has just weighed in, I, too, will join the discussion. I've observed the entire process, and your suggestion to seek help from the three Level Six witches guarding Babylon's capital is clearly a dead end. At this very moment, we must consider the people involved as cunning adversaries. Learning from history, and based on various historical acts of rebellion and usurpation, if you had prepared for countless years to assassinate the Alchemy Emperor, wouldn't you have multiple contingencies? Wouldn't you have a fallback plan in case the assassination failed and the Alchemy Emperor escaped, severely wounded? If I were them, I would definitely have placed an insider among the three guarding witches. On the surface, this insider would be fiercely pursuing rebellious enemies alongside the other two, ostensibly protecting the severely injured and missing Alchemy Emperor. In reality, they would be waiting for the Alchemy Emperor to seek their help, thus willingly falling into a trap..."

As soon as this conspiracy theory emerged, exclamations like "Holy cow," "So brilliant," "As expected of a history expert," and "I grew up watching Lectures from One Hundred Schools, learning history from the expert" flooded the screen.

Hunyuan Thunderbolt Hand was also bewildered: "So, I can't go to the three witches guarding Babylon anymore? It might be a dead end if I go back? Even though I thought they were quite loyal... Ah! Am I that miserable? I, the esteemed Alchemy Emperor, after being assassinated in the Babylonian palace, can't return to the palace. I can only sneak out of Babylon's capital and go to a hidden secret base by myself. But I'm a severely injured slime; how can I go alone? There will likely be many ambushes and pursuits along the way." After tasting the sweetness of attention, this player had completely gotten used to playing the victim and acting cute, losing all sense of dignity.

Everyone debated. This was indeed a desperate situation, too difficult! A comeback was almost impossible. Having prepared their conspiracy for so many years, they would surely seal his fate with one decisive blow, instantly pinning him down and leaving no chance for him to recover. Even with ample online support—a psychology expert helping to awaken him from severe injury, and a history expert helping to expose traps—this was still just a difficult first step.

However, someone else suggested: "You can only seek help from the four witches who rescued you. Didn't you say one of them has great potential? Ripple Witchcraft, using sound waves, is very promising and could possibly open up a new school of wizardry. Plus, she's the academy exchange competition champion who was supposed to meet you, your fan girl! Although she's only a Level Five witch, you could guide her along the way, helping her avoid dangers and protect you on your journey to the vault..."

"Wow! Are we finally starting the 'old man in the ring' otherworld adventure genre?" The onlookers cheered. They admitted they didn't understand all the technical knowledge, but simply watching the experts participate and offer various opinions and strategies was incredibly entertaining.

"But how will you make her believe that the cute, dazed slime she picked up is the exalted Alchemy Emperor? Aren't you afraid she'll laugh until her stomach hurts? (wry smile)"

"No problem, just tell her directly! I am Qin Shi Huang (crossed out)... I am the Alchemy Emperor, I'm not dead, but I'm currently down on my luck. I have a huge treasury filled with countless treasures somewhere, but these 10 billion assets are frozen. All you need to do is send me 198 (currency) to unfreeze them, then personally protect me while I recover from my injuries. When I rule the world again, I will appoint you as the next monarch and emperor. A king's word is law!"

"To sum it up in one sentence: I, the Alchemy Emperor, need money!"

"Hey, above commenter, I've received that exact text message before! Isn't that the 'I am Qin Shi Huang, send money!' scam circulating online? Are you also running an SMS scam? Or are you trying to make me die laughing so you can inherit my Ant Huabei account?"

"This bunch of guys is unreliable," Xu Zhi muttered, instantly speechless. He was, however, quite interested in the current developments. It was surprising that medical, psychological, and historical experts were all intrigued by the post and came to the Alchemy Emperor's aid. This was because the commotion from the third beta test earlier had been so significant that bigshots from various industries wanted to see how realistic this game could be, and if their respective fields could find genuine applications within it.

Xu Zhi didn't bother much with the chatter; he just wanted to see if the phoenix blood would truly work. So, he quietly logged into his old alternate account and posted a relatively balanced suggestion.

Note Down Everyone Who Curses Me: "Doesn't the Alchemy Emperor keep a group of slimes? You could say you're the Alchemy Emperor's pet, the King of Slimes, and ask her to help save your master, the Alchemy Emperor. That should be more believable."

As soon as this suggestion was made, people immediately nodded in agreement, wondering why they hadn't thought of it themselves.