Magic High School.

He didn't mention the divine blood and the specific details.

Yi Lian chimed in, while also trying to persuade the boss to send out red envelopes.

Unexpectedly, the boss actually sent out red envelopes. Yi Lian grabbed one without hesitation and got dozens of points, which made him extremely happy.

Then, he received a private message from the boss.

Dear Boss: Thanks for your roommate's help. I've decided to waive your website rent for six months. Also, I'll try to buy some traffic for your website. I don't think it will be much, but it's my way of showing my appreciation.

Mysterious mutant: Wow, thanks, boss! By the way, did Li Ge go to help too? No wonder I couldn't get in touch with him.

Boss: Yeah, your roommate is pretty tough. I heard he teamed up with his professor to suppress the world's consciousness using their domain. I'll have to go see that professor later; I heard he was seriously injured.

Boss: As for your roommate, please say thank you for me, I owe you a favor.

Mysterious mutant: Boss, you're too kind. But I'll talk to Li Ge about it.

Yi Lian was also completely taken aback. Li Ge, who had only been missing for less than a day, had secretly accomplished something so outrageous that even earned a personal thank you from the boss. At least his contribution to this rescue operation wasn't just a half-hearted effort, was it?

Also, the domain... Didn't Li Ge only learn the domain a short time ago, yet he's already able to use it in actual combat?

He was stunned for a moment, and then he felt the urgency of time even more.

This is about why all my friends are so curly.

……

After having Yilian express his gratitude on his behalf, the adjutant quietly checked the time; it was getting late.

I'll go thank Professor Abaddon and the other teachers who came to the rescue tomorrow...

Though he didn't want to admit it, this was the closest he had ever come to death. In reality, based on their actual strength, Cardinal Jaeger was at most on par with him, perhaps slightly stronger. But with his team, he was confident they could defeat him without a doubt.

But he never expected that with the combined blessing of divine blood and world consciousness, he and his group would almost perish there.

Ultimately, it all comes down to intelligence. If they had been able to find out that the cardinal was a native of that world, and also uncover the divine bloodline, they wouldn't have almost failed this time.

He let out a long sigh. Despite his injuries, he left his private room, saying, "I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back."

He then went to the treasure vault and found Sheen's two treasures.

A knife, and a shield.

A standard sword and shield combination—that was the junior's Noble Phantasm. He had even previously complained that the junior's Noble Phantasm was inferior to his own, Immovable Heavenly Pivot, and the entire Execution Department was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

And now...

He sighed, then left the academy and went to the outer academy city, where he silently knocked on a door.

Footsteps approached from inside the door. The adjutant took a deep breath and held the precious artifact to his chest. The door opened.

"I've come to send Junior Shin's Noble Phantasm... home."

Chapter 149 The Theory of Spiritual and Technique Balance

Time flies, years pass quickly, and before we know it...

It's only been a few days.

The school seemed quiet on the surface during this period, but Li Ge could actually tell from many details that things seemed different from before.

For example, the executive department is starting to experience staff shortages.

For example, recently the academy's training and courses have become more rigorous.

Many details suggest that the academy has entered a state of near-war preparedness. They seem to be preparing for something, and perhaps even trying to deal with something.

However, none of this has much to do with Li Ge; at most, it just means that his training volume has increased during this period.

This includes virtual arenas, which used to be just there for anyone to play, but now it's mandatory to enter and perform simulated tasks.

After a few days, even those who had gotten used to the hectic life at school started to feel the pressure.

To be honest, the school is incredibly demanding. If traditional mages from other worlds saw this level of intensity, they'd probably think these guys were crazy. But this is actually because the school provides ample nutrition and doesn't sacrifice sleep, allowing them to quickly recover from the intense training thanks to sufficient nutrition and sleep.

There won't be a situation where you overwork your body.

Today, it was Abaddon's turn to be discharged from the hospital.

When Li Ge and the others arrived at the entrance of the mental hospital, they saw Abaddon, who had been full of energy, walk out with a sullen face. He was not only not radiant, but also lifeless.

"What's wrong? Is your injury still not healed?" Li Ge asked.

Abaddon rolled his eyes at him, said nothing, and walked slowly, saying, "I have lost myself on the path of life."

Li Ge: "..."

Can't you speak like a normal person?

However, he already knew what kind of person this guy was. Even though he had been a professor for many years, the man's neurotic nature hadn't changed; in fact, one could say that his mental age was probably even younger than his own.

I'm a second-year middle school student, he's a second-year junior high student...

The two walked and bought things as they went.

Abaddon disliked going to the canteen; in his own words, he would rather eat fast food than eat the canteen's pig feed.

Although Li Ge also thought the school cafeteria wasn't great, the nutrition was definitely plentiful. In other worlds, this would be considered a high-nutrition meal consisting of elven fruits, tree spirit rice, and a large amount of monster meat—a treat that many people would probably dream of. It certainly wasn't pig feed.

But Abaddon rolled his eyes at him and said, "Pig feed is also very nutritious."

Li Ge: "..."

That seems to make sense.

In short, while Abaddon was complaining about how the school managed to make such a huge amount of top-quality natural ingredients taste so bad, the two returned to their familiar laboratory.

After making do with a meal there, Abaddon suddenly asked, "Have you been neglecting your spiritual energy training lately?"

"Uh..." Li Ge almost choked on the noodles in the self-heating meal.

Not only recently, but it seems that ever since reaching the second tier, I have gradually slowed down my spiritual energy cultivation and focused my main energy on my domain.

He even slacked off in escape training, physical training, and intelligence training, and reduced his efforts to climb the ranks in the virtual arena. Now his ranking has dropped significantly.

But in his field, his progress was so remarkable that even the vice principal was amazed.

After all, Li Ge has now basically completed the construction of his mental world; all that's left is to learn how to use his domain to erode the real world.

You could say that he used to be a pure-blooded battle mage, a fierce warrior of the Noble Phantasm style, but now he's half Noble Phantasm user and half mystic, even though he hasn't learned any of the rituals and sacrifices of mysticism, only focusing on his field.

However, he already has a nominal position in the Mysterious Academy.

Actually, double degrees like this are not very rare. The most common double degree is the combination of Noble Phantasm and Traditional Studies.

After all, the Noble Phantasm Department itself is a branch of the Traditional Department. While training in combat skills and Noble Phantasms, it is also very necessary to learn some basic Traditional Department spells.

After all, in actual combat, suddenly throwing a flashbang at the enemy can be quite intimidating.

However, mysticism is too detached from both traditional sciences and the science of Noble Phantasms. It can be said that mysticism is a completely different system that is not on the same wavelength.

If Li Ge were to offer her evaluation, both the Traditional Arts and Noble Phantasm Arts are quite materialistic, relying on spiritual energy to be converted into power for combat. Whether it's converting it into temporary enhancements to the body and equipment, or converting it into output power through spells, it's all quite in line with materialistic characteristics.

But the mysticism is something I really think about.

When Li Ge had nothing to do at Abaddon's place, he would sometimes take a look at other books on mysticism and then wonder what they were all about.

Why does setting up this ritual ensure success? What's the underlying principle? Why?

Abaddon said directly, "I don't know, it's none of your business. Anyway, the ritual has to succeed, not a single mistake can be made, not even the slightest crookedness. If you want to get to the bottom of this, I can only say go ask the gods, maybe they really do know why."

Li Ge: "..."

So let's just focus on learning the relevant field; the other rituals are really just abstract and nonsensical.

Although the realm is also very abstract, and it is a world constructed by one's own heart and mind, at least Li Ge can understand it.

The conversation returned to Abaddon asking Li Ge if he had neglected his psychic training.

“Yeah, it seems like after I reached the second tier, I didn’t have time to learn the advanced spiritual energy enhancement. Whenever I had free time, I went back to the Domain Red Stone…” Li Ge sighed.

“Then you should focus on psionic power. I’ve noticed that your generation seems to have gotten one thing wrong,” Abaddon sighed. “Everything is based on psionic power. If your psionic power is insufficient, no matter how exquisite your techniques are, they will be of little use.”

"The power of a mage lies in the strength of their spiritual energy. In other words, whether it is the field of Noble Phantasms, traditional arts, or mysticism, the main focus is on spiritual energy, which is the foundation of everything. Other things, such as Noble Phantasms, spells, or domains, are just icing on the cake."

Abaddon slurped up a mouthful of noodles and lectured.

Then, he seemed to realize that talking wasn't enough, so he used his fork to carve on the table: "A senior once proposed a theory called the Spiritual Magic Balance Theory, which states that a mage's optimal state is when spiritual energy and spells are in balance."

"While I don't entirely agree with this view, there's some truth to it. I've always felt that traditional techniques focus too much on skill, while Noble Phantasm techniques focus too much on spirit. But right now, your skill far surpasses your spirit, which is why, despite learning a bunch of random things, your actual combat strength hasn't improved much."

Abaddon used a fork to carve the characters for "spirit" and "art" on the table, and explained.

"Do you guys even have abstract thinkers who specialize in theoretical research here?" Li Ge complained, thinking that everyone in the school was a pragmatist.

“Yes, there are many. But most of them are just amateur scientists seeking fame and fortune, the kind who don’t dare to publish in journals.” Abaddon smiled dismissively, then pressed on, “Did you understand?”

"I didn't understand everything..."

"To put it simply, your mana bar and skills need to be matched. Right now, you have too many skills, they're too varied, and they consume too much mana, but your mana bar is too low. Do you understand now?" Abaddon continued to explain in even simpler terms.

"I understand..." Li Ge nodded, then asked curiously, "By the way, how many papers have you published?"

"One hundred and eighteen chapters, and I also compiled two systematic magic books."

"Wow!"

Li Ge then realized that although this guy seemed unreliable, he was indeed an academic expert, after all, he was the only one in the entire school who could develop his field.

Then, after searching for Abaddon in the library, Li Ge immediately looked troubled.

One hundred and eighteen papers, all on the subject. Two magic books, also related to domain cultivation…

The number of times it was searched and seen was in the single digits...

It seems that the field of origin is truly an extremely niche field. I guess I wouldn't have studied this field if it weren't for my need to fight against the world's consciousness.

Perhaps another point is that domains are purely techniques, offering virtually no improvement to psionic abilities. Furthermore, the training and improvement of domains are far too abstract, unlike the training in the Noble Phantasm department, where one can tangibly see their own progress. For example, Li Ge can now perform escape and physical training in a six-times gravity field; this improvement is immediately apparent.

Unlike traditional mages, who make significant progress with each new rune they learn, this one doesn't offer the same advantages.

The domain truly represents the pinnacle of techniques, but it's just too extreme...

After finishing his domain training for the day, he was kicked out by Abaddon, who said it would be best if he didn't come to the next few God Sundays and went back to the Noble Phantasm Department to solidify his spiritual energy foundation first.

When she went out, she ran into Mishair and her group. After greeting them, who always left school on time and went home right on time, Li Ge walked back to the student dormitory.