Chapter 320 — Master and Disciple

The old mage snatched the papers from Mary's hands and read them through carefully from beginning to end.

In that instant—whether it was her imagination or not—Mary seemed to glimpse a trace of a smile on her master's ever-gloomy face.

"Hm... passable," the old mage's change of expression was fleeting; the next second he had already put on a stern face again. "Far worse than when I did it—you took twice the time."

But Mary heard something else in that remark: weren't these problems set by her master himself? Had he also done them once when he set them?

Obviously, the old mage would not explain his own words, and Mary had not the courage to ask about such details. She only lowered her head and listened as the old mage went on: "Though you took a long time, you've more or less passed. Take these materials back and study them carefully. Learn them all, then teach them to those useless fools and idiots hiding at the bottom of the tower. Tell them I will test them in three days. Those who fail to learn—let them wait to be made into living dead by me."

Mary shrank her neck, and at last could not resist asking: "Master, these things... what are they for?"

"These are great knowledge!" The old mage spread his hands and spoke with great excitement. Clearly he was in a fine mood at the moment, and patient enough to explain to his apprentice. "Knowledge bestowed upon me by my great master! You must study it well. Once you have learned it, I will teach you how to construct the magic net, how to simplify magic arrays. This is your greatest honor—to serve the master is your greatest honor!"

Mary nodded hastily. She was beginning to suspect that her earlier optimistic assessment of her mentor had been far too generous—the old man was probably still stark raving mad.

After making contact with a horrifying entity and striking a bargain with it, he really had gone completely insane.

Just then the old mage suddenly furrowed his brow, then waved his hand impatiently: "Out you go. That's all I can teach you today. My master is summoning me—I must answer at once."

Mary knew that the "master" the old mage spoke of was a terrifying mythical creature, or some similar mysterious being, so she dared not linger a single moment; she nodded quickly and backed away.

Before she left the laboratory, she heard the old mage call out from afar: "You did well—you can have meat tonight!"

Mary bowed: "Thank you, Mentor."

Once the young apprentice had departed, the old mage muttered a few indistinct words under his breath, then hurriedly stepped onto a magic circle in the corner of the laboratory. After activating the surrounding warning and protection runes, his mind swiftly emptied, and his neural cords began helping him establish a connection with the runes around him.

The next second, the world around him was turned upside down, and that space—with its high, distant blue sky, endless expanse of water, and multitude of metal platforms—appeared before his eyes once more.

As expected, whenever he connected to the psychic network, he was inevitably brought to this place. The Outlander's control was absolute; there was simply no loophole to exploit.

The old mage had long since given up resisting. He bowed respectfully toward the golden-haired figure before him: "Master, what are your commands?"

"Let's start with some exercises," Gao Lan said, conjuring two sets of problems. "I want to see how well you've grasped things."

The old mage: "...I obey your command."

A moment later, Gao Song's scolding began to ring out:

"Where's your brain? Have you forgotten the basic definition of address mapping?!"

"Whoever told you open ports can't be disguised!"

"Do you still not understand what a unique valid code means? It must always match the psychic frequency! I told you to design an index—at this rate you'll burn your own brain out!"

...

"And finally... did you check it or not?!"

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