Have you had enough, Miss Vampire? It's time to get down to business.

However, he did remember the name of the old man who sold talismans.

"I remember his name was 'Van'... I can make a deal with him. If anyone asks, I can say that I bought the 'Location Spell' talisman from him, and ask him to help me investigate the words on the silver coin."

Anyway, go meet this Vann first and see if he is trustworthy.

Since he's working so hard to sell the runes, he must be in great need of money... If I can pay him some money to get him to help me and keep it a secret, then things will be much easier.

28. Just one step away!

Judging from its appearance alone, the Gordon City branch of the Mystic Association is not very eye-catching.

It was a rather old four-story building. It was said that it had once been the castle of a small lord. However, after several renovations, the outer walls, watchtowers, battlements and other structures were all gone, and now it looked completely devoid of any personality.

Although the exterior is not as imposing as the Holy Light Cathedral, the available space inside is quite large.

This is the style of those mystics who pursue "rationality". They don't want any fancy things, and the main focus is economy and practicality.

"I'm a member of the church's exorcism team, and I'm looking for a mystic named 'Van'."

Luo Er showed his silver cross and said to the receptionist in the entrance hall, "...There are some things I need to ask him about."

"I see. Mr. Vann would certainly be happy to see you."

The receptionist understood. "After last night's... uh, 'accident'... he must have lost a lot of research materials. He's short on cash right now."

I guess he thought that Vann had business again.

It seems that the fact that this guy sells talismans privately is almost known to everyone.

Neither the church nor the occult association cared about it, probably because they condoned the existence of this gray channel... After all, Vann himself was a formal occultist, and he only did business as a church exorcist, so it was relatively safe and controllable.

But what does "accident" mean?

Lor couldn't help but feel a little confused.

"Please go up to the second floor using the stairs on the left, and then walk along the corridor to the end," the receptionist instructed.

Lor nodded and walked towards the stairs as instructed.

Before coming in, he had considered changing his appearance and disguising himself as someone else, but after thinking about it, he gave up.

First of all, in order to clear the source of the "positioning spell", he himself has to come forward.

Secondly, the Mystic Association is a supernatural organization after all, and ordinary citizens cannot contact it whenever they want. The identity of "Church Exorcist" can provide himself with many conveniences.

In fact, as long as Lore formally applies as a church member, he can have limited access to the information in the association's "big library".

But Lor didn't want to leave any records, so he had to ask members of the association to help him investigate the meaning of the words on the silver coins.

...Huh, that's strange.

After stepping onto the stairs, Lor was surprised to find that the stairs only led to the second floor and did not extend further upwards.

From the perspective of architectural design, this is obviously unreasonable.

What was even more bizarre was that after reaching the second floor, the "corridor" that appeared in front of Lor was actually a straight corridor, about 20 to 30 meters long, with neither windows nor doors on both sides.

Luo suddenly felt doubtful, but he still took a step forward.

Halfway through the journey, a door suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor without any warning, with a nameplate with "Van'en" hanging on it.

It turned out to be the case.

Lor, who visited the Mystic Arts Association for the first time, finally understood the mechanism behind it and was amazed.

It was obvious that the inner space of the Mystic Association had been transformed by some supernatural power to ensure that visitors could not wander around at will and could only go to places where they were "allowed to go"... Such a powerful space barrier was probably constructed by a demigod-level powerful person.

He can actually do such an incredible thing.

The world of supernatural powers is truly unfathomable.

While sighing, Lor couldn't help but feel longing.

……

At the same time, inside the laboratory.

The second-level mystic Vann was holding his hair, which had become curly and smelled of burnt due to the explosion, with one hand, while his other hand was writing swiftly, frantically deducing formulas and data on the paper.

"It shouldn't have failed... What exactly is the problem?" he muttered to himself. "Could it be because I didn't inject enough spiritual energy into the magic circle? ...Yes, that must be it!"

In that case, next time I just need to inject more spiritual power!

But the problem is, I only have so much spiritual power. Where can I find the remaining part?

Ask other mystics for help? No, there's too much intrigue in our Mystic Association... My colleagues are all competitors, and they might secretly trip me up or even steal my research!

Can't do it!

Without the support of a mentor, I relied on selling talismans privately to subsidize my research funds. I persevered for three years and finally saw the final dawn. How could I let other mystics come in and interfere?

"Damn it, just one step, just one step!"

Vann rubbed his scalp back and forth in distress, and a few curly hairs fell off.

Just then, someone knocked gently on the door.

"Mr. Vann, are you there? I'm an exorcist from the church..."

"Are you here to buy talismans? Sorry, because of the experimental accident last night, all my talismans were burned. I'm closed today!" Vann answered loudly while getting up and walking towards the door. "...Wait, an exorcist from the church? You came just in time!"

Fanen's eyes suddenly lit up.

Yes, I just need to find extraordinary people outside the association to help!

I've sold them so many talismans at a low price, so it's not too much to ask them to do a small favor now, right? If that doesn't work, I can just make a few talismans as payment!

But when he opened the door, he saw a stranger standing outside.

"You're... oh, I remember now. You're the new guy who just arrived not long ago, right?" Fan En thought for a long time, then slapped his forehead. "I spent so much time talking to you before, and I didn't even buy a single talisman from you. How come you finally figured it out now?"

"So you still remember me... But, it seems like I came at a bad time?"

Lor walked in and looked around.

The room was in a mess, with charred marks everywhere, and the tables and chairs were in pieces... On the floor, an extremely complex magic circle was drawn, as if it was obscured by the debris.

It was a complete explosion scene.

So this is what they call an "accident"... an experimental accident?

"This lucky customer has been caught by you today!"

Fan En said excitedly, "Although I don't have any talismans on hand right now, I can make them for you later! As long as I can make them, you can have whatever you want! You don't have to pay, you just need to temporarily act as my experimental assistant and contribute a little spiritual power!"

"Spiritual power?" Lor frowned.

"I don't want much, just a little bit. It's absolutely safe and harmless!"

...safe and harmless?

Lor's eyelids began to twitch slightly, and he thought, Brother, it's totally unconvincing for you to say such things while standing at the explosion scene of a failed experiment!

"Sorry to bother you, goodbye." Lor turned and was about to leave.

"No, don't go!"

Fan En immediately fell to his knees and hugged Lor's thighs tightly.

"I've painstakingly studied this for three years, all for this day! If the experiment succeeds, our understanding of 'supernatural powers' will be completely rewritten! This is the moment that changes history!... Don't make me kneel down and beg you!"

Ah, this...

You seem to have knelt down.

"Tell me what you are researching first." Lor couldn't resist him and sighed softly.

To be honest, I am somewhat interested.

29. Just treat me as a newcomer

When asked about his research, Vann immediately became excited.

"It's okay to tell you, but you have to swear to the Holy Light first that you will never reveal any details of the experiment to others!" Although he said so, the old man looked impatient and eager to talk.

Vann's research direction was scoffed at by almost all his fellow mystics.

Most people say that he is a dreamer.

Now that someone has expressed interest, it’s no exaggeration to say I’m “touched”.

"Okay, I swear to the Holy Light." Lor raised two fingers.

"Well, since you're so curious, let me explain my brilliant idea to you!"

Vann pondered for a moment, then composed his words before speaking passionately, "As we all know, there are many kinds of extraordinary powers in this world, each originating from a different 'source'... just like many roads that never intersect, each extending in a different direction."

Ah, this...

Is it necessary to start with such a basic topic? Do you really think that all the people in our church are uneducated?

Lor muttered in his mind but did not interrupt him.

"But, will these 'roads' truly never intersect? I don't think so! At least in my opinion, all individuals with extraordinary powers share the same commonality... that is, the spiritual power contained within their bodies!"

As he spoke, Vann raised one hand and gestured to Lor, "Don't talk."

"I know what you want to say—but teacher, 'spiritual power' is just a commonly accepted term. In reality, the spiritual power possessed by each extraordinary person is different, and depending on the different 'sources' of their abilities, sometimes they are even incompatible!

"To use colors as an analogy, some people's spiritual power is black, some's is white, and of course there are also red, green, blue, and yellow... But my friend, did you know that occasionally in this world, there appears an extremely pure 'pure spiritual power' that is not tainted by any source color?

"This does sound incredible, but in rare cases, certain creatures with extraordinary powers do leave behind crystals condensed from pure spiritual energy after death!"

Ok, I know.

I just absorbed a piece last night.

Lor still didn't speak.

"Theoretically, this 'pure spiritual power' can be safely absorbed by any extraordinary being, thereby increasing their own spiritual power limit! This is a shortcut to improving strength!"

Indeed, I can attest to that.

Lor nodded and asked:

"So your experiment is to try to extract spiritual energy from extraordinary creatures and artificially create this crystal?"

"Alas, you amateurs... learn to walk first and then run. You can't get fat overnight. Research must start with the basics!"

Vann rolled his eyes at Lor:

"What you just said is indeed my ultimate goal, but I haven't figured out the principle and mechanism of the phenomenon of 'condensation' yet, so I plan to first select two extraordinary creatures with different 'origins' and then completely transfer the spiritual power of one into the body of the other!

"Just achieving this feat is enough to overturn our basic understanding of supernatural powers!"

Listening to Vann's impassioned speech, Lor couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

The transfer of spiritual power between extraordinary individuals with different "origins"... I think I experienced this last night.

Isn't this the process of Isabella sucking my blood?

I am a transcendent being with the source of holy light, and the spiritual power in my blood naturally carries the characteristics of "holy light"... But Isabella can replenish her strength by sucking my blood, and there is no rejection in the process.

Is it because the vampires’ extraordinary powers are special?

Lore was indeed curious about this question.

If we can figure out the principle behind this, maybe we can allow Isabella to absorb spiritual power through methods other than "sucking blood", and thus recover to her peak state sooner?

No, it's not just her... If I can also safely and stably absorb spiritual power from other extraordinary creatures, it will undoubtedly greatly increase the speed of my strength growth!

"I'm really interested in your research."

After listening to Vann's explanation, Lor said, "But let me confirm... When you said 'transferring spiritual energy between two extraordinary creatures', you weren't referring to us, right?"

"No, no, of course not. We haven't even reached the stage of human testing yet."

Fan En quickly shook his head. "I will prepare two low-level extraordinary creatures as experimental materials... However, in order to successfully promote this phenomenon, I need to inject a lot of spiritual power into the magic circle I designed for the experiment. My spiritual power alone is simply not enough."

"I understand." Luo Er nodded, showing his understanding. "Then, how much spiritual power do you need me to provide?"

"Uh, well... let me check it again." Fan En grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and calculated for a while. "In addition to my own spiritual power, I will need another 5,000 units of spiritual power, which is roughly equivalent to the average level of a second-level extraordinary person."

After saying this, the laboratory fell into silence.