The Wizard of Truth: Starting with Analyzing All Things

The air in Field's laboratory was thick with the mingled scents of herbs and pure magic. Lowe lay on a jade table engraved with intricate, stabilizing runes, his face still pale, but more vibrant than when he had just returned from the Shattered Star Mountains. Master Field (a first-circle wizard, an expert in potion-making and energy refining) and an invited elder—Rex the Memory Weaver (a first-circle wizard, specializing in mental domains and memory magic)—were busy around him.

The wizard Rex held a slowly rotating crystal ball that emitted a soft, milky-white halo. Countless rays of light, as thin as hair, emanated from the crystal ball and connected to several key energy nodes on Rowe's head.

"Relax, child, do not resist my spiritual guidance." Wizard Rex's voice was deep and magnetic, carrying a soothing power. "The imprint on your soul is like a stubborn stain; forcibly removing it will damage its foundation. Field and I will try to use a gentler method to 'wrap' and 'isolate' it, and guide your consciousness to actively 'understand' and 'adapt' to its existence, thereby weakening its activity. This process may touch some deep memories; do not panic, just remain an observer."

Following their instructions, Luo Wei relaxed his mind and sank his consciousness into his sea of ​​awareness. Under the guidance of the two masters, he felt the cold, abyssal mark deep within his soul being slowly enveloped by a warm yet resilient energy membrane. The ever-present chill and restlessness emanating from it was indeed greatly diminished. Although the mark itself still existed, it was as if it had been locked in a well-insulated room, its influence greatly reduced.

Immediately afterwards, his consciousness seemed to be led into a bizarre tunnel—a corridor of memories.

Darkmoon Academy World Encyclopedia: The Corridor of Memory

A profound spiritual guidance spell that can visualize the recipient's surface and deep consciousness without harming their soul, like walking through a corridor constructed of memory fragments. It is often used to treat severe psychological trauma, repair damaged memories, or explore specific subconscious information. The spell requires at least one first-level wizard proficient in the spiritual realm to lead the cast, and demands a high level of mental strength and cooperation from the recipient. There is a certain risk involved; if the recipient's subconscious resists strongly or if there is unknown spiritual contamination within the corridor, it may lead to a loss of consciousness.

Luo Wei's "Memory Corridor" wasn't uniform; rather, it appeared somewhat...structured. The two sides weren't simple scenes, but rather a complex network composed of countless tiny "nodes" and "energy lines" shimmering with different lusters. This was clearly related to his unique way of thinking as the "Heart of Analysis." He saw the data streams from the Earth Laboratory, the dimming of the Dark Moon Academy's evaluation crystal, the glowing model of the Moonfire, the optimized sorcery structure, the energy patterns on the gray stone slab, the energy flaws of the Shadow Priest, the terrifying pressure of the Abyss Giant Hand... These memories were stored and linked together, categorized like archives.

Following the wizard Rex's instructions, he tried to "recall" and "touch" the information nodes related to the "Tower of Sleep," the "key," and "memory."

As he focused his mind on the "Tower of Slumber," several dim nodes shrouded in gray mist in the depths of the corridor faintly lit up, conveying an atmosphere of oppression, antiquity, and chaos. However, when he focused on the "key," most of the nodes in the corridor remained unresponsive, except for the area associated with the gray stone slab, which emitted a weak but persistent resonance!

"The key...is it related to the stone slab?" A jolt went through Luo Wei. He tried to guide his consciousness closer to that area. Instantly, a vast, boundless feeling, containing endless mysteries of knowledge, washed over him. He saw the phantom of the stone slab emerge in the corridor; the previously blurry runes on it seemed to become a little clearer, especially several runes related to "stability," "structure," and "sealing," which emitted a unique light.

At the same time, a fragmented and extremely vague memory, not belonging to him personally, drifted down from the phantom of the stone slab like dust and merged into his consciousness:

...It was an endless void, where a colossal metal city, composed of countless gears, pipes, and glowing runes, was slowly collapsing and falling silent...A sigh filled with despair and resentment, as if traversing countless ages, softly echoed: "...The 'Origin Codex'...the lost 'Origin Codex'...is the 'key' to restarting everything..."

The fragments ended abruptly there, the information extremely incomplete, yet it sent a jolt through Luo Wei's soul!

The Source Codex? What is that? It sounds like a book that records ultimate knowledge? And what is this collapsed metal city? Whose memories are these fragments? Did they belong to the original owner of the stone slab?

The "key" points to the "Source Codex," which seems to be related to the stone tablet? The clue is still vague, but at least there is a direction—completely cracking the secret of the gray stone tablet might lead to the so-called "key"!

The treatment lasted a full day. At the end, although Luo Wei was mentally exhausted, he felt much lighter in his soul, and the nagging, corrosive feeling had significantly lessened. The abyssal mark hadn't disappeared, but it had been effectively isolated. As long as he didn't actively and recklessly use excessive mental energy to stimulate it, there shouldn't be any risk of it going out of control in the short term.

"The effect is quite good." Wizard Rex put away the crystal ball, fine beads of sweat on his forehead. "This child's spiritual power is very peculiar, resilient and rich in... 'a sense of order,' which is very helpful in resisting the corruption of the abyss. However, the mark deep in his soul has an extremely high origin, and our method is only a temporary measure. The real solution will probably have to be found by him."

Master Field thanked Rex sincerely and saw him off. Then he said to Rowe, "Did you hear that? You can now resume most of your daily activities and research, but remember, do what you can. I will keep an eye out for clues about the 'Source Codex' and the stone tablet in the Academy's ancient records, but your own safety is paramount."

Lowe nodded gratefully. He was finally out of the most dangerous situation and could resume his operations.

Upon leaving the lab, he immediately found Lilith and Barton, sharing the results of the treatment and clues about the "Key" and the "Source Codex".

"The Source Codex? Never heard of it." Barton shook his head. "It sounds like something out of legend."

Lilith pondered: "I think I glimpsed this word in a fragment of an extremely old travelogue in my family, but it was vague, only saying that it was 'the beginning of knowledge, the foundation of all things,' and was considered a product of the mythological era."

The clues seemed to point in an even more distant direction. But Luo Wei was not discouraged; at least now he had a clear goal—to decipher the stone tablet with all his might.

Meanwhile, he did not abandon his research on starlight moss. With Master Field's permission, he and Lilith visited Harald, the rune instructor (a first-circle wizard, an expert in basic runes and ancient runes).

Mentor Haral was a somewhat old-fashioned man with thick crystal glasses, but his eyes would light up when he talked about runes. After carefully listening to Rowe and Lilith's speculations about the properties of Starlight Moss and "Starlight Communication" (their true purpose for tracking the Gray Tower was concealed, only that they were interested in ancient communication technology), he showed great interest.

"An interesting idea! Starlight moss, as a natural resonator... well, it could indeed simplify traditional starlight communication arrays." Instructor Haral held a magnifying glass and carefully observed the starlight moss sample. "However, to achieve stable information encoding and reception, extremely fine energy etching of the moss's microstructure is required. This necessitates very high rune manipulation precision and a special 'Dexterous Hand' meditation technique."

He looked at Rowe and Lilith: "Do you two have a foundation in rune etching?"

Luo Wei and Lilith exchanged a glance and shook their heads. One of them excelled at macroscopic fields, and the other at potion preparation; they were indeed not good at microscopic, precise operations.

"That's a bit troublesome." Instructor Haral stroked his chin. "However, I can help you design a basic resonance rune template. If you can find an apprentice skilled in fine manipulation to help you, you might be able to try making the simplest 'resonance beacon'—which can only sense whether the homologous moss is activated and cannot transmit complex information."

That's enough! For tracking, being able to sense something is the greatest success!

Under Harald's guidance, Rowe and Lilith began learning the basics of micro-runes and tried to find a suitable helper. A few days later, through her connections in potion-making, Lilith found a highly skilled apprentice known for his exquisite craftsmanship in creating magic scrolls—the Silent Ivy.

Ivy is introverted and not good with words, but she has exceptionally dexterous fingers and a keen ability to manipulate energy. After understanding the basic requirements, she said she could give it a try.

In the days that followed, the Rowe team divided the work: Rowe focused on deciphering the stone tablets while learning about runes; Lilith was responsible for providing potion support and communicating with mentor Haral and Ivy; Barton continued to hone his combat skills and was responsible for the team's safety and vigilance; and Ivy buried herself in the tedious micro-etching experiments.

Time passed day by day. With the help of the "Heart of Analysis" and continuous research, the synchronization rate between Lovi and the stone tablet slowly and laboriously increased to 23%, and he gained some fragmented knowledge about energy cycles and the stability of basic structures, but he still had no clue about the "Source Codex".

Meanwhile, after several failures, Ivy finally succeeded in etching the simple resonance rune designed by her mentor Harald onto a small piece of specially treated starlight moss, creating the first starlight resonance beacon.

The beacon was only the size of a fingernail, looking like an ordinary, faintly glowing piece of moss. But when Lilith activated it by shining a specific frequency of faint light on another piece of the same source, untreated starlight moss, from a distance, the beacon indeed emitted an extremely faint, yet clearly discernible, resonant vibration!

It worked!

Although the beacon has a limited sensing range (estimated to be no more than ten miles) and a single function, this means that their technical approach is feasible!

Just as the team was celebrating this breakthrough, during a routine meditation, Lowe once again sensed the faint, dreamlike pull from the north. This time, the starlight pleading for help was so faint it was almost extinguished, while the evil and greedy consciousness emanating from the direction of the Tower of Slumber was like a volcano about to erupt, filled with unsettling restlessness.

The ceremony at the Grey Tower has clearly reached its final, crucial moment.

They had to act.

Luo Wei stared intently at the small starlight beacon in his hand. Deciphering the stone tablets to find the "key" was a long-term task, but stopping the impending disaster was of paramount importance.

"Get ready," he said to his gathered companions. "We need to devise a plan to go to the outer perimeter of the Tower of Slumber. At the very least, we need to get this 'eye' there first."