In the name of the true god

Does this mean that the abilities of sorcerers are limited to fortune telling and divination?

Jude did not believe that the power Edmund called "enough to overturn the world" would be so insignificant in its manifestation.

Before he could ask any more questions, Edmund continued, "To improve your mastery of the Law of Contact, one aspect is the intentional training of your mental strength. This is not much different from fitness training; the more you use it, the more you will gradually improve. However, you still need to pay attention to the intensity; frequently overloading yourself will not do you any good. The other aspect is your level of understanding of contact and connection, which is directly related to your upper limit..."

Edmund explained in great detail, and many of his conclusions coincided with Jude's conjectures.

For example, the fundamental logic of the law of contact is to form an "entanglement" with the target object through "contact".

Contact takes many forms and is not limited to the physical realm.

A connection can be created through direct contact or indirectly through a medium. It can also be based on blood ties, grudges, or debts—as long as it involves cause and effect and as long as they influence each other, it is contact and connection.

However, the strength of the contact and the power that the "entanglement" can ultimately exert are directly proportional; trying to use minimal force to achieve maximum effect is simply a pipe dream.

Aside from the way of establishing "connections", its final presentation, like the "resonance" of the similarity law, is divided into three major levels, each of which is further subdivided into three stages.

Unfortunately, Edmund is still a novice young man, far from being as omniscient as he will be when he becomes a top-tier entanglement wizard.

He only knew that the first two levels of the law of contact were "tracking" and "transmission", and the first level of the law of similarity was "imitation".

"...You can be considered a first-tier entanglement wizard for now, able to vaguely perceive the location of a target and simply use entanglement to obtain some basic information." Edmund slowed down his speech as much as possible, giving Jude room to digest the information. "When you can reconstruct the target's experience in your mind through a medium, that will be considered an advancement to the second tier."

"The experience of reconstructing the target?"

"To give you an example," Edmund used a straightforward example to deepen Jude's understanding, "if you were a detective, you could 'see' the process of the murderer killing the victim simply by touching the murder weapon."

That strong?!

For the wizards involved, this world offers absolutely no privacy...

Jude recalled how he had disposed of the fat wizard's corpse. Although no priest had bothered him so far, he still couldn't help but ask, "Do priests possess such abilities?"

Edmund immediately understood Jude's meaning: "Are you worried that the priests will discover your existence while investigating the fat wizard's corpse?"

"Yes."

"The priests themselves do not possess such abilities, but some of the implicated wizards have defected to the Holy Church. When necessary, the priests will arrange for the implicated wizards to assist in the investigation."

"Then I..." Jude immediately had a bad feeling.

Edmund chuckled reassuringly, "Even a second-tier Entanglement Wizard isn't strong enough to see through everything. Besides, when gathering information through direct contact, one must consider the time frame, the target, and the integrity of the medium. Didn't you say you burned down the basement before you left? Then unless the Church arranges for an extremely powerful Entanglement Wizard to intervene, it's impossible for them to find you."

Was it a lucky accident?

He had set the fire only to make the fat wizard's death look like an accident, but he never expected that it would also prevent the Holy Church from conducting a thorough investigation.

Jude breathed a sigh of relief, then realized the key point: "Wait, I have a new question."

"you say."

"Let's take your previous example again. If I want to reconstruct the events of the crime and the process of the murder, why can't I directly touch the victim? Or all the suspects? The amount of information we could obtain by touching them would far exceed that of the murder weapon, wouldn't it?"

Edmund was pleased with Jude's insightful observation: "You actually mentioned the reason why we don't do it that way. The amount of information in living beings is enormous, and because they have their own consciousness, we can't just access information at will through direct contact. Imagine you only want to find a short story of a few hundred words in a library, but millions of books are thrown at you... what would be the consequences?"

"Where's the body?"

"As I just mentioned, when trying to extract information through direct contact, one must consider the time frame, the target, and the integrity of the medium. After a person dies, the amount of information they contain diminishes over time, but compared to inanimate objects like murder weapons, the amount of information they contain is still enormous. If the body is damaged, the information will become fragmented and chaotic... In short, even with a dead person in perfect condition, obtaining the information one wants through direct contact is an extremely, extremely, extremely troublesome matter."

Jude understood the general idea.

Limited by their own mental capacity, although the information that can be obtained by directly contacting "living things" is extremely high, it is at least not applicable to low-level entanglement wizards.

Conversely, indirect media and inanimate objects provide less information, but it is just within the range that can be carried.

It's like a dagger and a forty-meter-long sword.

While a forty-meter-long sword is certainly formidable, a dagger is the first choice when you can't lift it.

As for how the fat wizard learned he had a brother who had been out of contact for eight years just by shaking his hand, either the fat wizard was of a high rank, or he already knew all about him.

"Back to the main point." Edmund hadn't forgotten what Jude really wanted to know. "Training one's mental strength isn't difficult, but truly understanding the Law of Contact is a hurdle that many may never overcome in their lifetime. What do you think is the essence of this grand concept of 'tracking'?"

The essence of tracking...

Jude's logical thinking skills were quite good, and after deep thought, he vaguely came to an answer: "The first two stages under 'tracking' seem to mainly involve a qualitative change in information acquisition, like a point moving to form a line, and a line moving to form a surface in geometry. So... the third stage might be about seeing what it sees, hearing what it hears, and feeling what it feels, right?"

A point moving creates a line, and a line moving creates a surface.

First, use the first two levels of the Influence Wizard to align with geometry, and then use geometry to deduce the Influence Wizard's third level of ability.

This unconventional approach to reasoning was refreshing for Edmund.

"...Yes." He was once again secretly amazed by Jude's comprehension. "And what about the essence?"

"Perception," Jude blurted out.

Edmund nodded in agreement: "That's right. The saying 'A point moving forms a line, a line moving forms a surface' is very insightful, and the connection to the first three levels of wizardry is to continuously enhance your perception, thereby enabling you to fully acquire the information you want."

Making sure he was keeping up with Edmund's 'lecture,' Jude smiled slightly: "And then?"

"That's all." Edmund spread his hands. "You're very clever. You've already figured out the advancement path involving the first three levels of wizards. From now on, just train your mental strength while strengthening your understanding."

"Generally speaking, how long does it take to advance to the third tier?"

"With your talent, you should be able to achieve it within six months. However, aside from mental strength and comprehension, you'll need a third, rare condition to advance, a condition called..." Edmund slowed his speech, emphasizing, "opportunity."

"The opportunity..." Jude vaguely understood, "Edmund, what rank are you at right now?"

"Second tier," Edmund replied truthfully. "My father was a fourth-tier entanglement wizard. Under his influence, I began to train my mental strength at a very young age and learned about 'contact' and 'entanglement,' so my speed is much faster than that of ordinary people."

Jude followed up by asking about the ability to apply the law of similarity: "How is the law of similarity applied? Or rather, how is it applied safely?"

Edmund shook his head: "I know very little about resonance sorcerers."

"All right……"

Jude felt a headache coming on.

To this day, any implicated wizards or resonance sorcerers who have not been caught by the Holy Church are either extremely shrewd individuals who would never reveal their identities for no reason, or they have just gained extraordinary abilities through 'awakening' or 'inheritance' and know nothing about how to control the Law of Similarity.

We can only try to find a solution gradually.

"Jude." After spending considerable time unraveling some of Jude's doubts, Edmund finally revealed his own plan, "Could you do me a favor?"

"What kind of help?"

Edmund said, "I would like to ask you to gather as much information as possible about me, as well as about the major events that have occurred throughout the world from July of the Catholic calendar 419 to the Catholic calendar 448."

Unsurprisingly.

She valued Edmund's understanding of the law of contact, while Edmund similarly recognized her own worth.

Jude was caught in a dilemma.

Telling Edmund about future events could potentially alter the past. If the timeline becomes disordered, one could very well be affected.

But Edmund had been completely open with him, so how could he help him if he didn't reveal information about the future?

"...I'll give it a try." Since there was no perfect solution for the time being, Jude could only agree ambiguously.

"Thank you," Edmund said with genuine gratitude.

Not long after he finished speaking, the black and white world began to tremble without warning.

The pale dome, like glass, was gradually covered with cracks, while the black mist beneath our feet stirred and rose on its own.

Edmund realized the mysterious space was about to close, and gave Jude one last piece of advice: "Don't be discouraged about your brother's situation. Don't forget, prison isn't just for criminals."

Jude assumed Edmund was just trying to comfort him, and forced a smile, replying, "I understand. See you in a week."

"...See you in a month." Edmund nodded.

The next moment, the gaze shifted.

On a train traveling from the capital city of the Nordonia Kingdom, the City of Giantwood, to the southern border, Edmund sat in a crowded carriage, slowly rotating his left hand to observe the black and gold ring shaped like an ouroboros from multiple angles.

Strange and bizarre.

With information from the future, he believed he had the ability to turn the world upside down.

"Whoosh..."

The passenger sitting opposite shook his newspaper and began flipping through the various reports on the back.

The last rays of the setting sun shone through the car window onto the masthead of the newspaper, and Edmund looked up—

Nordonia Observer

【神教历419年6月1日星期四｜第34卷第156期｜售价：8铜克】

[Headline: The College of Cardinals of the Holy Earth Church issues encyclical "Rituals of the Earth Gods"]

A fire at the University of Clock City in the Principality of Alsani has claimed the lives of one professor and 36 students.

[Priests of the Church of Earth raided an illegal assembly in South Thermo, Kingdom of Nordonia, arresting over twenty heretics.]

……

Nanreshi.

As the reports flashed by, Edmund's pupils contracted slightly, and he found his direction for his first stop.