Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 173 Paper Assessment: Creation and Subversion
Alayeh, the lounge on the top floor of the Mage Tower in the Sky Realm.

Kemo Salas and Soren Dawson sat on their respective single sofas, each lost in thought.

A full-length mirror inlaid with silver carvings stood aside. Suddenly, ripples appeared on the mirror surface, and the figure of a middle-aged man in a black robe emerged.

It was Wes Gallagher, one of the three chiefs of the Federation, who was in the Evil Moon Mountains at this moment.

Gallagher coughed lightly, awakening his two old friends from their deep thoughts.

"I have received your message. I really want to return to Alayeh and see the results of this experiment myself..."

Salas shook his head slightly, interrupting Gallagher's subsequent comments on the experiment.

"Let's not talk about this experiment for now. Gallagher, what is the current situation in Black Rock City?"

The black-robed wizard rubbed a pitch-black ring in his hand and said calmly, "After clearing out the church's cancer in the Evil Moon Mine, the Federation has already dispatched spellcasters to begin moving the believers who lingered there, unsure of where to go, back to the city one by one..."

Dawson asked doubtfully, "What about the remaining Inquisition troops? Did they just let you take over the mine? Did they not react drastically?"

Sarath scoffed. "They're now convinced that this incident is the result of a corrupted believer, tempted by the devil, among the faithful. They've completely lost trust in the believers in the mines... They're eager for us to take over this mess, while they evacuate the mines before the Federation arrives."

According to Gallagher's description, the church army, which had lost the High Inquisitor and a group of Inquisition Knight officers, has now returned to Blackrock City. It has neither taken the initiative to negotiate with the Federation nor mentioned the demon summoning incident that occurred in the mining area. It seems that it should have swallowed this loss and does not want to have too much involvement with other forces.

Dawson nodded in agreement, exchanged glances with Sarath, and said slowly, "If that's the case, should we still make the contents of this anonymous paper public?"

The implication contained in his words was obvious - since the physical blow to the church had already taken effect, was there any need to actively provoke public opinion disputes through this paper?
After all, no matter how fierce the struggle and game between the two sides in secret, the alliance agreement between the Federation and the Church has not been truly broken. As the number one enemy, the demons are still watching covetously. If the Federation takes the initiative to overturn the table at this time, it may lead to a series of uncontrollable consequences...

The room fell into a brief silence...

Sarath stood up as usual and walked to the window. He spoke in a low voice, "This paper not only directly exposes the hypocrisy and deception of the church's faith... it also, in a simple way, points out a completely new research direction for all spellcasters dedicated to magical research. This is an area of knowledge that we have actively ignored in the past due to our arrogance and conceit."

Since the strengthening potions that the demons use to improve the quality of their ordinary members are made in the same way as the church's way of transforming bloodline knights, it undoubtedly proves that the ubiquitous magic energy in the magic network can not only be absorbed and utilized by spellcasters through meditation, but can also be indirectly transformed and extracted from various magical substances in the real world, directly acting on ordinary people who do not have the talent for spellcasting, so that they can also transcend the mundane and advance to the extraordinary.

All of this follows the world's most primitive natural will and laws of reality, and has nothing to do with the so-called gifts from the gods.

Salas smiled and said, "After this paper is published, the truly important impact it will have is to tell all spellcasters who can understand its contents that the path we take forward is not a blasphemous attempt to seize the authority of the gods, but rather a path of wisdom that explores the essence of the world and the laws of nature." Across the seven wizarding kingdoms, there are many spellcasting organizations and ancient wizarding families who study magic while believing in the God of Light. They firmly believe that the extraordinary power brought by magic must involve the authority and domain of the gods. Only in this way can they find an identity beyond the mundane for the spellcasting talent passed down from generation to generation in their families.

This group is also an important link in bridging the alliance between the Church and the Federation's spellcasters. They are the faction that least wants to see the alliance between the two fall apart.

Gallagher chuckled disdainfully. "This paper will indeed shake the fragile spiritual beliefs of those diehards. Humph... it merely shatters the lie of the Bloodline Divine Gift. It's like giving a hard kick to the very door of the divine realm they preach. It's a relief, after all. I really want to see the expressions of Pope Thirteen and his cardinals when they learn the results of this experiment. It's sure to be fascinating."

Dawson shook his head and said, "Don't forget the soul realm. That's the ultimate anchor for them to consolidate their faith in God. This is also an area that our current research has been unable to explore. They can completely push the power of the gods to the soul level. If we want to completely undermine their public opinion in the secular world, we still have a long way to go..."

Of course, as long as we can shake the faith of some of the caster's shallow believers, let them sow a seed of doubt in their hearts through the core theory vaguely revealed in this paper, and lead them to verify it through experiments themselves, the desired result will be achieved.

The three chiefs quickly reached a consensus on the matter - bypassing the paper review committee, unanimously passing the review of the paper, and arranging it directly for publication in the Federation Bulletin next month.

Dawson rubbed his red rosacea and muttered, "How are we supposed to comment on anonymously signed papers? Do we need to contact the forum administrator, Mr. Turing, to learn the author's true identity?"

Gallagher glared at the little old man, Dawson, and complained, "No! Even if it's published anonymously, it's better than revealing your identity! I don't want this anonymous forum member to be hounded and bitten by those mad dogs of the church. That would completely defeat our original purpose and would very likely directly anger Mr. Turing."

Sarath also nodded in agreement, picked up a piece of white paper and a feather pen from the desk, released the magician's hand and began to write quickly.

"Haha, since you both feel that writing a review for an anonymous author is beneath your dignity and fairness, then I will do a separate review for this unknown genius. Without the need for the three co-signers, this will avoid a lot of controversy and save the person in charge of publishing the bulletin a lot of subsequent trouble..."

Dawson and Gallagher turned away slightly embarrassedly, but their eyes couldn't help but glance at the words Salas was writing quickly.

"This paper is highly insightful and inquisitive...it is worth using as a reference for further in-depth analysis and research..."

Dawson muttered a few words as he followed Sarath's writing. He felt something was familiar. After a pause, he complained dissatisfiedly, "Saras! You let Enzo eavesdrop on my conversation with others again!"

Sarath laughed heartily. "Your casual comment is quite pertinent! What's the harm in borrowing it?"

"From magical minerals and organisms derived from nature, we have accurately discovered the three concrete forms of magical energy in reality... Combining bold conjecture with meticulous experimentation, we have perfectly replicated and cracked the secrets of the alien bloodline strengthening method. This has also provided important reference for the research of magical energy manifestation and broadened the understanding and vision of spellcasters regarding the practical application of magical energy..."

"Thesis assessor—Kymo Salas."

(End of this chapter)