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Aventurine watched Bailu clearly starting to head in a dangerous direction and cautiously probed Sylvester, "Shopkeeper Sylvester… aren't these methods a bit too—"
But Sylvester cut him off the moment he opened his mouth, wagging a finger as he said, "Too what? Of course not. Every one of these methods has been verified countless times throughout the long river of history."
"Really?" Upon learning that those wild, freewheeling ideas had actually been used by someone before, Bailu not only wasn't disappointed—she became even more interested.
If someone had used them, that meant they really worked!
"Of course!" Sylvester said decisively. "This is all recorded in [Pure Yang Supplementary Manual] and [Romance of the Three Kingdoms]."
"These two books were once Curios themselves—moments where the wisdom of humanoids and humans shone together! And right now, both of them are in the hands of the Astral Express Crew."
Hearing this, Bailu's delight deepened.
"Big Sister March 7th and Mr. Dan Heng?!"
Sylvester replied, "That's right—exactly them."
Bailu was overjoyed.
They were on the Xianzhou Luofu right now! And she was on pretty good terms with Mr. Dan Heng too. If she could borrow those two books…
Bailu felt that she had never, ever been this interested in learning before.
Her little head, sparked by Sylvester's guidance, was already itching to try things out.
Hehehe… killing people is probably still a bit much.But giving those Vidyadhara Elders who keep scolding me a proper lesson is definitely necessary.
For example, controlling the water when the Vidyadhara Elders were drinking, letting them experience tea waging war inside their mouths—liquid splashing like firecrackers exploding!
Make them suffer until they cried, then finish it off by having tea spray straight out of their noses!
Imagining those usually arrogant Vidyadhara Elders reduced to such humiliating states made her happy just thinking about it.
At this thought, Bailu couldn't help covering her mouth and letting out soft giggles. She even started drawing parallels, one "good idea" after another racing through her head.
Like blowing up the kitchen while someone was cooking, blasting someone's mouth with a storm when they talked, or when they went to the restroom—cough cough—uh, th-that one should probably be skipped.
After a thorough bout of wild imagination, countless "great ideas" had her rubbing her hands together in excitement, eager to put them into practice.
"Well? Before you fully grow up, these methods are both effective and satisfying. As long as you don't run into truly vicious Abundance creatures, there won't be any problem at all."
Seeing Bailu's eyes spinning nonstop, Sylvester knew she had reached full enlightenment—and was now sprinting headlong down the path of becoming a true schemer.
"Mhm, mhm, mhm! These are way too useful!" Bailu looked at Sylvester with far more reverence than before. This was knowledge she'd never even heard of previously.
Such great ideas—why had Sister Lingsha and General Jing Yuan never taught her any of this?
So strange.
Still, Bailu wasn't satisfied yet. With curiosity shining in her eyes, she continued to press Sylvester, "Then… what if I really do run into a truly vicious enemy?"
Since she was asking, she might as well ask thoroughly.
Opportunities like this didn't come often—better to understand everything in one go!
"Hmm… if you really encounter a truly vicious enemy."
Faced with Bailu's eagerness to learn, Sylvester pondered for a moment, then looked straight at her. "In that case, I have upper, middle, and lower strategies."
He flicked out his index finger. "The upper strategy is what I call the [Retreat Behind the Crowd, Guard the Crowd in Front] plan."
"Eh? That name's so long?"
Bailu scratched her head in confusion. Most Xianzhou strategies were four characters long, but this one didn't sound like a plan at all—more like the title of a storybook.
"Eh~~ strategies have to keep up with the times too."
Sylvester waved his hand and laughed. "The core of this strategy is using observation and detection abilities to sense danger early, then hiding yourself among the crowd to avoid becoming the nail that gets hammered down. As long as the enemy exposes themselves first, you'll have plenty of time to respond calmly instead of being startled. With your current strength, any enemy can be erased with a snap of your fingers!"
"This strategy allows advance and retreat, offense and defense—it's extremely flexible. Used properly, it's more than enough to keep you undefeated."
Bailu listened carefully, nodding repeatedly. "Oh… yeah, that really is well thought out."
Secretly committing it to memory, she asked again, "Then what about the middle strategy?"
You could never have too many skills—learning one more was always better.
Sylvester flicked out a second finger and continued. "The middle strategy is called the [Running Away Is Shameful but Useful] plan."
With an exceptionally serious expression, he said solemnly, "As the saying goes, a gentleman's revenge can wait ten years. A temporary strategic retreat is to make eliminating the enemy easier in the future. Therefore, when danger is detected, turning tail and retreating without hesitation is never a wrong choice. And with the Xianzhou's strength, as long as you're not killed on the spot, it won't be long before the one getting killed is the other side."
After hearing this, Bailu mulled it over and slowly nodded.
Wasn't this basically saying that when in doubt… just run?
Making retreat the core philosophy? Hmm, it actually wasn't without merit.
She seemed to have been doing that all along.
"And the final lower strategy? What's that one?"
If running away was only the middle strategy, then how cowardly would the lower one be?
Yet unexpectedly, Sylvester didn't support continuing to lie low.
His demeanor relaxed from solemn to casual. Stretching his arm out, he grabbed a teacup from the other side of the counter, refilled it, and then said, "As for the last method… it's—"
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