Chapter 169 : Chapter 169

Chapter 169: What Follows is the Academy Exchange

At this time.

In the laboratory, I was studying the first hundred-point consumption spellbook I obtained, "Protection of the Elemental Spirit."

After this spell was cast, it didn't have the terrifying aura or cause the massive destruction that Tan Han's Flame Lord did.

But the consumption of a hundred points of magic power was also terrifying.

Both the layer of protection currently on me and the semi-transparent, humanoid little sprite in front of me were condensed from the powerful energy of that terrifying magic power.

If I did nothing, this spell could last for a long time.

The elemental spirit I summoned was a fire elemental spirit.

Her appearance caused the temperature in the laboratory to rise quite a bit.

And it seemed I could communicate with this spirit, and she was very obedient to my commands.

But if I were to judge whether this elemental spirit was a life form, a life with self-awareness and cognition, I think not.

It lacked the aura of life.

This is a very subjective judgment, but this spirit was indeed the effect of a spell, merely possessing the "cooperative behavior logic" stipulated within the spellbook, similar to a transcendent form of an Artificial Idiot.

In short, that's roughly what it means.

And the protection on my body was also of the fire element.

I even felt the bonus to the spell's power from my fire element affinity!

After all, my mental power is considered pan-affinity.

I had never experienced what it felt like to have an affinity for a certain element, but now I knew.

That feeling of it being like an arm controlling a finger was simply amazing.

It was really like the difference between using a real arm and a prosthesis!

It seems the consumption of these one hundred points of magic power was well worth it.

Just increasing the corresponding elemental affinity directly boosted my combat power by a large margin.

And this elemental spirit would also cooperate with me in battle, and could even die without hesitation to protect me.

But in a simple comparison with Tan Han's Flame Lord, its combat power was probably still inferior.

But looking at its overall capabilities, it was much more comprehensive than a simple Flame Lord summon.

After all, this was just a spell effect.

After witnessing the effect of this spellbook, I directly pulled up the panel of the Earth Vein system on the side.

I needed to perform external virtual modeling on the results of this spellbook, and then use that to deduce a modding plan.

It's called deduction, but in reality, before figuring out the various structural functions of a spellbook, it was all just a brute-force method.

A slow exploration.

Summarizing the corresponding functions through the feedback after using the spell.

This was the normal procedure for researching a spellbook.

But I have Spirit Vision, which allows me to skip a large number of meaningless steps and get straight to the crucial parts.

For this spellbook, Protection of the Elemental Spirit, the only thing I wanted to mod was the "random" summoning of the elemental spirit.

If I could specify the summon, its value would increase countless times!

Don't think that with something random, as long as the base number is large enough, you can get whatever you want.

Do you really think that as long as you have enough Magic Power Sources, you can always roll the element you want?

In fact, under certain circumstances, some probabilities are locked.

For example, when I was frantically using Fireball in the arena, it caused the environment to be filled with the fire element, which would then make it extremely probable to summon a fire elemental spirit.

Looking at it this way, this spell is quite reliable, but to put it bluntly, doesn't this spell only work in favorable situations?

When you are trapped in the opponent's home ground, the random elemental spirit might be more suitable for your enemy.

Fortunately, one's own spell cannot help the enemy, otherwise the value of this spell might be even lower.

But no matter what, it is still a high-consumption spellbook, it can't be that useless.

And just from a structural point of view, the development prospects are still very broad.

And there are many parts for which I have no information, so I really don't know what they are.

I looked at the library permission card Teacher Ji Niang gave me.

The high-level permission for the library should be enough for me to find the corresponding information.

And this thing can also be linked with a mobile phone and the Earth Vein system, somewhat similar to a student card.

After all, there is also a surge of Earth Vein energy within it.

“Found it… Protection of the Elemental Spirit, there are even analysis papers on this spell in the academy.”

After I opened these materials, I found that there were many requirements on them.

For example, some materials had clear Spirit Vision level restrictions, otherwise it would lead to a situation where the content description was incomprehensible, and even impossible to reproduce.

After all, the mind cannot imagine things it has never seen, let alone conduct experiments based on this information.

But I just briefly browsed through it, and it seemed the highest requirement was only the second stage, "Imaging," which was really no restriction for me at all.

As time went on, I gradually came to understand the internal structure, but it would probably still be some time before I could fully grasp it like the Fireball spell.

After all, the structural complexity of this kind of spellbook cannot be compared to Fireball.

The reason I said it would take several days to fully grasp it was because, with the experience of the Fireball spell, I was already experienced in researching spellbooks to be able to reach this level.

And the first restriction to be broken was naturally the so-called "randomness."

The spellbook for Protection of the Elemental Spirit could now be used to specify the element.

I tried to cast this spell again.

The protection of a water elemental spirit appeared on my body, and a light blue phantom appeared in front of me.

“It seems I can really specify it now.”

I wiped the sweat from my brow.

It wasn't in vain after all.

This was much more difficult than modding the shape of the Fireball, and there were many things to consider.

Especially in terms of the summoning ritual.

“Wait.”

I soon realized a problem, which was that the original fire element protection had not dissipated, and the clash of water and fire elements caused an elemental conflict.

The point wasn't the conflict between the elemental protections, but the coexistence of two elemental spirits now!

I remember that this spellbook didn't seem to have the ability to summon multiple elemental spirits, right?

Which part did I change that led to this error?

Although this error, as it seems now, is actually a good bug.

A useful loophole is no longer a loophole, but a carefully designed feature!

But this doesn't mean I don't want to figure out which structure caused this effect.

This was a result of a happy accident!

I naturally have to master this technique well.

Maybe it can be applied to similar architectures.

And what if I want to mod this spell again, and accidentally change it so that the ability to summon multiple spirits disappears?

Just as I was eagerly preparing to go at it again, the door of 8401 was pushed open.

“Hmm?”

I raised my head and looked at the opened door.

There shouldn't be any students on this floor.

It wasn't until I saw Teacher Ji Niang that I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Teacher Ji Niang, you're back?”

I subconsciously looked at the time, only to realize that time had passed so quickly.

It was already night.

The thought of night made my stomach start to growl.

“I guess I’m back.”

After Ji Niang came in, the worried expression she had before quickly changed.

Then she looked curiously at the spellbook I had spread out and asked, “Oh? You’ve started working on a spellbook of this level? How's the progress?”

“Er… the progress is slow, I guess…”

I said modestly, but it was also true.

After all, in half a day, I had only managed to handle one requirement and one benign bug.

I hadn't even had time to test for unknown hidden dangers.

“Slow? Slow is right.”

Ji Niang briefly glanced at it and nodded.

This was the progress a newcomer should have.

The way it was before was a bit scary.

However, she leaned over to look, mainly to see if I had started on rune editing.

Now it seems I was still adjusting and modding the spellbook structure, so there was no need to be too worried.

In fact, modding a spellbook was not that unattainable.

Once the Spirit Vision level reached the second stage, Imaging, one would be qualified to learn the techniques of disassembling a spellbook, and could even adjust the structure to a certain extent.

This was "micro-modding."

Also known as spell attunement.

This kind of micro-modding doesn't change the form of the spellbook much, but it can make it more user-friendly and better suited to the user's habits.

Ji Niang looked back at me, then at my unfolded spellbook.

This level of structural adjustment had far exceeded the scope of "micro-modding."

This was the advantage of having a high level of Spirit Vision.

Mental power is the first power that life masters, and it is also the most terrifying tool that life masters.

What Spirit Vision sees is where mental power can reach.

Coupled with the Witch Meditation Method that refines mental power into threads, it further strengthens the upper limit of controllability of this tool, mental power.

And the reason why True Editing can only be mastered by the transcendent is partly because the quality of mental power at the transcendent level can support the operations of that level of True Editing.

“Don't be in a hurry. You've been busy all afternoon, right? Why not relax a bit, combine work and rest.”

Ji Niang pulled over a chair from the side and sat down herself.

“It’s okay, I haven't been busy all afternoon. I just discovered a problem and was just thinking about where the problem was.”

“A problem? Tell me about it. Actually, if you encounter a problem, you don't have to force yourself to find the answer. That doesn't prove you're amazing, it's just a waste of your time.”

When Ji Niang heard that I had encountered a problem, she immediately spoke up.

In fact, she wasn't too fond of this behavior of insisting on finding the problem on one's own.

Solving a problem is still a learning process.

You can try it yourself, but there's no need to stubbornly grind away at it.

Even if you grind out a result, it only brings a momentary sense of accomplishment, but wastes a lot of time.

With this time, you can ask others, look up information, and get many different methods.

Before reaching the frontier that no one has ever broken through, one should learn one thing, and that is to seek help from the outside world.

To stubbornly grind away at a problem when you encounter one is disrespectful to the predecessors who have already paved the way.

What?

You want to prove that you are more remarkable than the great ones?

Instead of finding a sense of superiority here, why not pick up their paths, walk to their side, and compete with them at the frontier of knowledge.

“Mhm, I've encountered a problem now. This spellbook is Protection of the Elemental Spirit. I changed the internal structure to make it summon a designated elemental spirit instead of a random one. Although the modification was successful, it can now summon multiple elemental spirits to coexist. Originally, this spellbook couldn't do this.”

I moved aside and pushed the spellbook in front of Teacher Ji Niang to explain to her.

“Isn't this a good thing? Why does it sound like a bad thing coming from your mouth?”

Ji Niang looked at the internal structure of this spellbook, but hearing my description, she couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth, expressing her inability to understand this line of thought.

“Although subjectively speaking, that is true, I don't know how I did it, so I can't preserve this feature. If I don't know the principle, then if I mod it again, I might make this feature disappear.”

“So that's what you're thinking. What a greedy thought. Indeed, if it were me, I would think the same way.”

Ji Niang skillfully took over my spellbook, and then, just like me, opened the online library on the Earth Vein system and started searching for information…

Alright, it seems that even a Transcendent Witch needs to look up information for verification.

I didn't feel anything was wrong.

I even moved closer to learn what keywords Teacher Ji Niang used to search for information, or through what channels she searched.

This was very important to me, otherwise, with just a search box, I wouldn't know how to search for the content I want in a field I don't know.

It could be said that this series of actions by Ji Niang directly benefited me greatly.

After waiting for a while, Ji Niang combined the information and explained it to me.

It solved one of my problems, and she also helped me download all the information she had just searched for.

I was so impressed by this efficiency that I couldn't help but admire her.

“Thank you, teacher.”

“It’s nothing, it's all things that can be found. You can play with it yourself.”

Teacher Ji Niang pushed the spellbook towards me, which was also handing over the control to me.

“By the way, it’s getting late, you should go back, right? Before you go back, there are some things I need to tell you. Actually, it doesn't matter if I tell you or not, the academy will send out a school-wide notice eventually.”

“Huh? What is it?”

I asked subconsciously, but I also had a rough guess.

It should be related to the matter that made Teacher Ji Niang leave in a hurry in the afternoon.

“After the top ten are selected in the newcomer competition, Witch Academy will also welcome an exchange competition between multiple academies. The main purpose is the exchange between newcomers, to understand the gap between different transcendent academies. Of course, this is all just polite talk. In reality, the other academies are coming with ill intentions. When the time comes for the exchange competition, you can just go all out and be ruthless.”

Teacher Ji Niang said very casually, even the last part about telling me to be ruthless was very casual, as if she had just said something insignificant.

“Huh?”

At this moment, I felt it was very strange.

What kind of development was this?

So I still couldn't hold back my complaint, “Is it necessary for newcomers to have such frequent exchanges? How long has it been since the start of school? What's there to exchange?”

“Hehe, you think? What's exchanged among newcomers is never the newcomers, it's the exchange of destiny. The newcomer exchange competition is just a form of expression. If we don't exchange now, we won't even get to eat the exhaust fumes later.”

Ji Niang also complained about this.

Some things are just like that.

You know it's unreasonable, but you shouldn't ask why things develop this way.

Instead, you should ask what caused this development, who benefited in the end, and by the way, go and see what kind of face those who benefited used to distort the facts.

“By the way, tomorrow, at the earliest, tomorrow, other academies will visit our Witch Academy. The first to arrive tomorrow will most likely be Aphrodite Academy, so don't be surprised. By the way, also mention this in the class group chat. Inform them in advance to save them from making a fuss tomorrow.”

“Mhm, okay.”

I nodded and said.

Afterward, I packed up all the various utensils here.

The problem with the spellbook has been solved, so I naturally have no reason to stay here today.

I should go back.

By the way, I'll mention the matter of the exchange with other academies in the class group chat.

After all, the newcomers, who are still ignorant about the transcendent, are still very curious about other transcendent academies.

But every transcendent academy has its own hardships that only its students know.

What others envy is always just the beautiful and glamorous exterior.

I don't know how many harsh lessons the newcomers will have to go through before they understand this matter.

On the way back, I told everyone about this matter in the class group chat.

Actually, it won't be long before the academy also sends out a notice, but not all students will read the notice.

As I bubbled up in the group, the classmates who were still lurking immediately popped up.

And in the mutual aid group, they were still talking about today's newcomer competition.

Perhaps for this kind of event that they experienced firsthand for the first time, they might be more invested than me, a participant?

But soon, they were attracted by the notice I suddenly posted.

After all, this was an exchange competition of many academies!

Although other transcendent magic academies may not be comparable to Witch Academy, there are also many things that will attract them, such as the novelty brought by different races.

And many students said that in Witch Academy, surrounded by beautiful girls, they were about to be bent straight or something.

This time, for the exchange, it is estimated that Witch Academy will have a breakthrough with the arrival of males.

Although Witch Academy originally had students who were formerly male.

For example, aren't all the people in my dorm like that?

I feel that once this news spreads, it might become an even hotter topic of discussion than the newcomer competition.

The direction on the academy network will probably be all about this.

But this is also a good thing for me.

After all, I don't particularly like being discussed by so many people on the internet.

And after I sent out the message, the class immediately sparked a heated discussion.

I also received private messages from many people, asking me all sorts of questions, so busy that I couldn't even reply.

It wasn't until I returned to the villa that the dark night sky didn't cause the lights inside the villa to turn on.

“No one's here?”

I curiously pushed open the door.

It seems there really was no one…

Just yesterday they were all watching TV in the living room.

Tonight they went out to have fun?

And they didn't even take me with them!

As expected, our feelings have faded!

I immediately took out my phone and contacted Hong Chenyi.

This was the person I felt the least burdened to disturb.

“Hong Chenyi, where are you guys?”

“Huh? Big Sis Xiao Han? We're out having fun. I didn't expect it to be so lively here at night. Does Big Sis Xiao Han want to come over? We might not be back for a while.”

“You went out? Who suggested it, and none of you thought of me?”

“Huh? We thought Big Sis Xiao Han was busy with a myriad of affairs every day, so we didn't want to disturb you. But with your words, Big Sis Xiao Han, if we have any activities in the future, we will definitely contact you first!”

“Alright then, I'm hanging up first.”

“By the way, Big Sis Xiao Han, do you want us to bring something back? The snacks here are very good.”

“Forget it, you guys eat. I already ate when I came back.”