The Demon King is unfathomable

Chapter 369 The Most Core Secret of the Academy

The fireplace flames burned quietly as Luo Yan sat in his office in the Great Sage's Tower, flipping through the magic tomes he had just borrowed.

He has finished reading Arist Thorne's teachings and has recently begun studying Professor Uriel Aclair's "Soul Stitching" spell from the Holy Power School.

Or, to use a more academic term—"Soul Weaving Technique".

Hecajellin's notes previously mentioned the existence of this ritual, and even by Hell's standards, it is quite evil.

It's like sewing one person's eyes onto another person's forehead to increase the weight of the latter's soul.

Of course, Professor Uriel did not share this skill in publicly available magical texts, but instead used "stitching up the wounds of the soul" as a beautiful guise.

Just then, footsteps and knocking came from the door, and soon a familiar guest arrived.

Luo Yan figured he should be here soon.

"...Professor Hector, please have a seat!"

Upon seeing Professor Hector appear at the door, Corgi immediately greeted him with a beaming smile and led him to the sofa in the reception area.

"Mentor! Professor Hector has arrived!" After settling the guests in, Corgi turned to report to Luo Yan behind the desk.

Luo Yan put down his book and said with a smile, "Professor Hector, it's been a long time... Corgi, make the professor a cup of his favorite black tea."

"Yes, mentor!" Without needing to be told, the diligent young man had already done it, moving as swiftly as a messenger owl.

Hector watched the teaching assistant's busy figure with a smile on his lips, but upon reflection, he felt a pang of unease.

So, this kid is nominally one of our own, right? But now he seems to have completely become Prince Colin's personal butler...

However, he was a magnanimous person, and he let it go after thinking about it.

Anyway, he has countless apprentices and teaching assistants under his tutelage, and he can't possibly manage them all under normal circumstances. Otherwise, he wouldn't have put this guy in an administrative position at the Tower of Great Sages.

"Your Highness Colin, how are you settling into life at the Academy?"

Hector thanked Corgi for the black tea, took a sip, and then broke the brief silence with a smile and a friendly tone.

"I heard that your recent 'science class' has caused quite a stir in the Great Sage's Tower, especially the part about mathematics. To be honest, even I was surprised. Many of my teaching assistants told me that their apprentices have been solving problems much faster after figuring out that calculus thing. I have to thank you on their behalf!"

"These are just some unsystematic and superficial opinions; I hope you'll forgive my ignorance."

Hearing the subtle hint of sourness hidden in the flattery, Luo Yan smiled faintly but didn't care. He then changed the subject, his tone now carrying a touch of genuine appreciation.

"To be honest, I only recently discovered that the Northern Wilderness is truly a place of outstanding people and abundant resources. Not only is the speed of cultivation here much faster than in other places, but the people living here are also exceptionally intelligent, and what's even more commendable is their diligence! In this respect, those pleasure-seeking young men in the Holy City are completely incomparable to them."

Faced with such heartfelt praise, Professor Hector's face showed a hint of pride, and he stroked his beard.

"Of course! Our Academy's winter recruitment every year brings together the brightest minds in the entire empire, and those who pass the assessment are one in a hundred! We may be a little inferior in art and culture, but in academics... I dare say that in the entire empire, no one is ahead of us!"

That's absolutely true.

Luo Yan smiled and offered a compliment, then exchanged pleasantries with Professor Hector for a while, waiting for the latter to take the initiative to get to the point.

Perhaps sensing that the time was about right, Hector coughed lightly, his relaxed expression tinged with a hint of seriousness and excitement.

He took out a parchment scroll with a magical seal from his sleeve, a hint of triumph in his eyes, and solemnly placed it on the table.

"Your Highness, let's skip the formalities... Look what I've brought you?" As he spoke, he stared intently at Prince Colin, anticipating an excited expression on his face.

Looking at the parchment scroll on the table, Luo Yan guessed what it was, but seeing Professor Hector's smug look, he couldn't help but pretend to be ignorant and asked a question he already knew the answer to.

"Oh? What's this?"

Having kept everyone in suspense, Professor Hector's eyebrows twitched, and he coughed lightly before speaking hastily.

"...It's the Void Realm! Didn't you want to conduct research on it? The council argued about it for two whole months, but luckily I still have some influence in the council, so I lived up to their expectations and managed to get it for you!"

To be precise, it was secured by Professor Hector and Professor Arist together, and the latter may even have had more influence.

However, the two did not seem to get along well, so Hector clearly selectively ignored the latter's contributions.

Luo Yan smiled knowingly and gave Corgi a look, who then brought him the scroll.

"Thank you for your hard work, Professor Hector. I knew you could handle this!"

"Haha, you flatter me!"

Upon hearing this sincere gratitude, Professor Hector, though polite in his words, couldn't help but smile.

His earlier embarrassment at being left hanging was immediately lifted, and he became more talkative, sharing many things about exploring the Void Realm with Luo Yan and revealing a lot of valuable clues to the latter.

"...The virtual realm you are in charge of is number 440. Although it is relatively late in the sequence, there are many secrets worth exploring inside! Moreover, compared with other virtual realms that are earlier in the sequence, its exploration difficulty will be lower."

"Is a low exploration rate a good thing?" Luo Yan asked with interest, fiddling with the scroll in his hand.

“Of course! The material exchanges we can have with the Void Realm are limited! Therefore, the higher the exploration level of the Void Realm, the fewer resources we can obtain. The best Void Realm is the one that no one has ever explored!” As he spoke, Hector glanced enviously at the scroll in Prince Colin’s hand and continued, “So I suggest you be careful when exploring… If you are unsure about anything, you can ask me.”

The old man seemed certain that he would soon get tired of it.

Luo Yan smiled, pretended to understand but didn't quite, and nodded, humbly asking for guidance.

"What exactly is the limit of this exchange of matter?"

"There is no fixed standard. Not everything in this world can be calculated, especially something as mysterious and elusive as the Void Realm..."

Hector shook his head, then suddenly winked at someone to the side. The corgi, who had been listening intently, immediately understood and withdrew, gently closing the door behind it.

Once the footsteps had faded into the distance, Hector lowered his voice and continued speaking.

"However, I can secretly tell you a closely guarded secret. There is a saying that... the things we can take from the virtual realm are things that the world behind the virtual realm doesn't care about."

"Something you don't care about?" Luo Yan frowned slightly, a thoughtful expression on his face. "Could you give me an example?"

"For example, if you see a farmer behind the virtual realm and take his hoe, he will immediately realize that something is missing, which will have a huge impact on the stability of the virtual realm. But conversely, if you just carry a sack of wheat from his barn, he may convince himself that he misremembered or that it was stolen by a thief... This will also have an impact on the virtual realm, but to a much lesser extent."

"I see... The more frequently something is observed, the harder it is to steal." Luo Yan nodded thoughtfully, attempting to summarize.

“Observation? That’s a good description, exactly what it means,” Hector looked at him with surprise, then continued, “Let’s use your wording… Also, the influence of observers on the world behind the virtual realm varies, and the impact on the stability of the virtual realm also differs. For example, let’s replace the farmer with a knight, and the lost hoe with a sword—”

"Will it cause the collapse of the virtual realm?"

“Not necessarily,” Hector shook his head and continued, “More likely, we simply can’t get that sword… its presence is too strong, and it will get stuck at the entrance of the passage.”

Luo Yan had basically understood the rules for studying the virtual realm, which, simply put, was to avoid interfering with the other side's timeline as much as possible.

"So we should try to avoid communicating with the observer?"

“Not exactly,” Professor Hector shook his head. “On the contrary, we occasionally try to communicate with the observers, such as entering their dreams or even impersonating their gods to talk to them through specific mediums… As long as they can find a self-consistent explanation for our existence, we can establish communication with the world behind the virtual realm and even get them to offer us tributes!”

"But...won't doing this risk exposing us?" Luo Yan became increasingly interested and asked curiously.

Professor Hector made a helpless expression.

"Of course there are, but... isn't there no other way? Most of our 'viewpoints' behind the virtual realm are fixed, and our physical bodies cannot pass through them. We can only penetrate our spiritual power behind the virtual realm gate. Without exchanging information with the observer, the information we can get by observation alone is far too little."

"I see," Luo Yan said with interest.

“Of course, I don’t recommend that you immediately try those advanced methods—uh, research methods.” Professor Hector wiped the sweat from his brow and continued nervously, “The council attaches great importance to your achievements, and I’m under considerable pressure as well. So… if you have any questions, please be sure to ask me, I’m begging you!”

His cautious tone made it seem as if he were handing over not an object, but his precious daughter.

Seeing the old professor's tense expression, Luo Yan smiled and said gently.

"Rest assured, Professor Hector, I am a responsible prince. I swear on my surname that I will never break this toy—I mean the virtual realm—and then just abandon it."

Hearing this promise, Professor Hector finally breathed a sigh of relief, forced a relaxed smile, and continued.

"With your promise, I can rest assured..."

Although this prince was not quite like a typical scholar of the academic community, one could still believe the oaths that nobles swore to their surnames.

They are people who care about the afterlife, which is different from the people in Xuebang.

If it were another professor swearing on his own name, he would absolutely not believe a single word that guy said.

“Your observation point is located fifty kilometers from the Great Sage’s Tower, marked on the map in the scroll you hold,” Hector replied. “There used to be a five-story mage tower there, which you will surely see when you go. In addition, the Council has decided to name it Corin Tower, and you can hang your family banner or… your school’s banner on the top. The magic arrays needed for exploring the Void Realm have already been set up there, and you can begin your research at any time.”

This is undoubtedly a very generous and sincere gift.

Luo Yan smiled and expressed his gratitude, then accepted the generous gift with a smile.

At this point, the most crucial secrets of the Academy Magicians were finally revealed to him.

Although he was a little disappointed that he couldn't choose for himself, he was still quite satisfied to have a completely new virtual realm as a starting point. Having finished explaining the most important things, Hector got up to leave.

But just then, he suddenly remembered something and gave another instruction.

"By the way, I have a personal suggestion: you should purchase a flying magical beast or a magical device as a means of transportation. After all, you are aware of the drawbacks of teleportation arrays. Even for short-distance use, the burden of frequent subspace transfers is considerable... This is for your health."

Speaking of transportation on the snowfield, Luo Yan had an idea in mind, but it would take time to put it into practice.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly smiled.

"Thank you for your suggestion, I am indeed planning to do that... However, before I resolve this issue, could you please lend me something?"

A bad feeling suddenly arose in Hector's heart, and he asked cautiously.

"……what?"

"Your carriage, the one that flies," Luo Yan gestured with his index finger, smiling sheepishly, "since you don't use it every day, could you... lend it to me for a while when you're not using it? Just for academic purposes."

Hector's lips twitched, but thinking of the illusory realm in Prince Colin's hands, he gritted his teeth and finally nodded with a forced smile.

"……it is good."

……

In the afternoon, after finishing his class, Luo Yan returned to his dormitory, took off the scholar's robe that symbolized his status as a mentor, and put on an ordinary cold-weather robe that was enough to protect him from the wind and snow of the North. Then he went alone to the neighborhood near the Great Sage's Tower.

This is an adjoining town established for the magnificent tower complex. The streets are sparsely populated, covered in snow, but if you get close to the lights, you can still smell a bit of life.

The streets are lined with shops selling all kinds of magical materials, as well as cheap taverns for the staff and adventurers of the Great Sage's Tower.

Besides these, the most important facilities here are the numerous artisan workshops, large and small.

They repaired and customized various tools for the mages, and also processed the "junk" discarded from the mage tower that was still considered a rare treasure by outsiders.

Not only adventurers order equipment from them, but sometimes even the mages from the mage tower come here to "hunt for treasure".

Luo Yan's goal was clear—he needed to find a highly skilled craftsman who was not too rigid in his thinking to build his "vehicle".

Although an enchanted broom could solve his travel problem, is Prince Colin a man who takes the conventional route?

As the leader of the "scientific school," Roxie Collins naturally had to deliver a major performance to those who doubted him.

Before leaving this snowfield, he would prove to his apprentices, who believed in him and even admired him, the point he made in the very first lesson—

"What extraordinary power can do, ordinary people can also do!"

He walked through several bustling streets, finally stopping in front of a shop with a sign that read "Alberto's Workshop".

Unlike the surrounding shops that sold enchanted weapons and armor, this shop's window displayed exquisite puppets and gear-like constructs. These included dolls that made sounds, and pocket watches and clocks that could wind up automatically.

Perhaps due to his lack of skill in using magic, this craftsman boldly adopted "dwarven techniques" extensively in his designs.

Of course, "dwarven technology" is just a euphemism. After all, within the empire, the blatant use of non-magical precision machinery easily evokes images of the Machine God, considered heretical by the Church. He's currently just an ordinary mage; there's no need for him to get involved in such trouble.

To be honest, the Vatican isn't really that sensitive.

Luo Yan pushed open the door and entered, and the wind chimes made a tinkling sound.

Inside the workshop, a man who looked to be nearly forty years old was engrossed in his workbench, using a pair of delicate tweezers to adjust a complex part.

He heard the sound, looked up, and saw a face etched with the marks of time and labor, but with bright eyes, like a raccoon in the grass.

Luo Yan noticed that his hands were covered with thick calluses, and his body faintly emitted magical fluctuations, even though the fluctuations were very weak.

“Sir, please feel free to look around.” Alberto put down his tools and wiped his hands with an oilcloth. “Are you looking to buy something, or is there something you need repaired?”

“My name is Colin, a magician,” Luo Yan replied with a smile, pointing to the moving star chart in the shop window, and said with interest, “Your work is very interesting.”

"It's just a little cooking skill, nothing to mention, sir."

Hearing the praise, Alberto smiled with pride and continued in a casual tone, "To tell you the truth, I used to be a magic apprentice in the tower next door. It's just a pity that I wasn't talented enough to graduate before I turned thirty-five. My mentor even felt sorry for me."

He spoke of it casually, as if he were discussing a past event unrelated to himself.

As for why he didn't go home but stayed in this harsh and cold place, the reason is quite simple.

In most parts of the continent of Os, the life expectancy of ordinary people is under sixty years old, and for someone like him who is nearly forty, there are probably not many relatives left in his family, and there is no place in his hometown for him to return to.

In addition, given the long journey and the unknown risks involved, staying at the foot of the mage tower in the Academy is actually a better choice.

The mages of the Academy are no good, but the knights of the Kingdom of Rhodes are no pushovers either.

Who is your advisor?

"James Wally, if you ever run into him, please give him my regards!" Alberto grinned, thinking the customer didn't believe his resume, and said frankly.

James Wally...

Luo Yan looked somewhat surprised; this world was far too small.

Noticing that the guest's expression was a little strange, Alberto asked in confusion.

"You know him?"

"It's nothing, I just happened to have heard of this name... Speaking of which, I'm curious. I heard that Xuebang's apprentice recruitment can be attended by even seventy-year-olds, so why is there a saying that you have to graduate before the age of thirty-five?"

Alberto grinned, as if he had heard a funny joke.

“Sir, those are rules written for outsiders. How many people can live to be seventy and still be able to walk to the snowfield to participate in the assessment? But I don’t think it’s a big deal. Don’t pity me. Seeing those young men, I feel that even if I try my best, I can’t compete with them… Let’s give them the opportunity.”

His voice carried a hint of self-deprecation, but more so a sense of detached nonchalance.

Luo Yan could clearly sense that he didn't really envy the mages of the Great Sage's Tower, which might be related to his mentor's bumpy academic experience.

Unlike Hecajelline, who left the mage tower with resentment and pointed his wand at the commoners, he did not receive the status of a graduate, but he truly graduated from the tower.

To Luo Yan's surprise, this was the best ending he had ever seen on his journey.

“Sir, let’s not talk about the past. I don’t think you’re that interested in my inner world. Tell me what you need me to do for you.”

Although he still wanted to inquire about his mentor James Wally, Luo Yan thought that an apprentice who had left the mage tower a few years ago might not know anything, so he gladly accepted Alberto's pragmatic suggestion.

He smiled and took out a rolled-up parchment drawing from his pocket, unfolding it on the workbench piled with parts and tools.

“Can you do it?”

It was a design drawing made with fine charcoal pencil, the main subject of which was a huge, almost spherical canvas bag. A wicker basket large enough to hold four or five people was suspended from the bottom of the canvas bag by a thick rope, and directly below the opening of the canvas bag, a burning brazier was drawn.

Alberto leaned closer, studying the blueprint with curiosity.

A hint of approval for the drawing skills flashed in his bright eyes, but then his brows furrowed more and more tightly.

“Mr. Colin, if I may be so bold,” he pointed to the center of the drawing and asked with a puzzled look, “Is there any deeper meaning to your design? Placing a burning brazier directly under a sealed canvas bag—if it’s for warmth, I don’t recommend you trap the heat…it’s simply impossible.”

Although he could read the blueprint, he couldn't understand the meaning of the design at all.

Luo Yan smiled slightly, without explaining the underlying principle of buoyancy, and simply spoke calmly as a "client".

"You just need to make sure the canvas is strong enough, the seams are absolutely sealed, and the openings are fireproofed with enchanted materials. As for the rest, that's my job."

Despite his doubts, Alberto, as a professional craftsman, was still confident in his skills.

Moreover, this drawing is very professional, with all parameters clearly marked, clearly the work of an expert.

With blueprints as a reference, it's not difficult to make.

"No problem!" He patted his chest and readily accepted the task. "Since you insist on this design, then we'll do it your way. Although I don't know what you're going to do, it's not a big problem; I can handle it!"

He paused, then lowered his voice and tentatively whispered.

"As for the price... how about 8 gold coins? You can pay a small deposit, that's how it is on this street."

He had never made one of these before, so he could only give a conservative estimate of the price.

“No problem, this is the deposit,” Luo Yan nodded readily, placed a gold coin on the table, and continued, “If that’s enough, tell me approximately when you can get it done?”

"Enough! That's enough, sir!"

Alberto accepted the gold coin with delight, then quickly estimated the materials and time required by gesturing on the blueprint with his finger.

"Twenty days if it's fast, next month at the latest! I guarantee you a sturdy and beautiful 'big guy'!"

(End of this chapter)