Chapter 389 : Chapter 389

Chapter 389: The Summoning Spell That Can't Summon Anything?

I stared blankly at the Academy Head and then at Teacher Ji Niang, somewhat unable to believe what the Academy Head had just said.

Her earlier statement about completing the rune into a full Spellbook was my plan as well, so that didn't surprise me.

The surprise was the Academy Head's next statement: she decided to temporarily join Teacher Ji Niang's laboratory as a member dedicated to researching this rune and its derived spell!

After the shock subsided, I quickly realized that the Academy Head in front of me was a physical avatar.

If Teacher Ji Niang hadn't told me, I might not have even noticed the difference.

To be honest, I didn't know the Academy Head well, and I couldn't possibly use Spirit Vision to examine her closely in a casual setting, right?

Upon realizing this, I accepted the fact.

With the Academy Head's addition, the research progress soared instantly.

I originally thought I would learn many Transcendent-level knowledge concepts by following the Academy Head, but I quickly realized how shallow my thinking was.

I was learning something far more important than mere knowledge!

I was learning the "methodology" for Transcendent research.

For witches, the knowledge is already out there; the key is knowing how to use it.

After all, I might not even finish reading the Witch Academy's library before graduation, but the methodology and approach to exploring the Transcendent—that was more precious than knowledge itself.

These methodologies were the optimal solutions derived from continuous trial and error.

From this alone, it was clear that the Academy Head was far more adept at teaching than Teacher Ji Niang.

But I didn't blame Teacher Ji Niang.

I had heard she was a first-time class counselor.

As time passed, the next half-day quickly elapsed.

With the Academy Head's participation, her knowledge acted as a dimensionality reduction attack on the research here.

The plan that I thought would take me several days, or even many days, of hard work was completed in just this half-day.

The cost was that I felt my sense of participation was low, and Teacher Ji Niang simply opted not to join this in-progress spell derivation experiment, choosing instead to continue systematically struggling with the core [Transcendent Knowledge].

"Watch closely. Although you cannot yet master True Editing, I believe you, possessing Spirit Vision, should be able to understand its operation."

At this moment, the Academy Head held the spell prototype, temporarily named the "Summoning Spell," and spoke to me.

I was already prepared because I knew the Academy Head wanted to demonstrate the True Editing process for me.

Even though I wasn't qualified to learn this technique yet and might not fully understand what I was seeing, it was still a great opportunity to broaden my knowledge.

Seeing that I responded with action rather than words, the Academy Head wasted no further time.

As she gently tapped in front of her, a Compound Rune appeared on her fingertip.

Then, countless runes rapidly shot out from it as a medium.

"True Editing technology is a technique based on True Time. It is also a way to apply the Rune Ritual. What you are seeing now is the operating method of True Editing. You should understand its barrier to entry now, right?"

"...Mhm, Transcendent."

I pondered for a moment and nodded, giving an answer that seemed like a platitude.

However, I saw very clearly that those runes did not appear in False Time (the reality that ordinary people inhabit).

Those runes completely severed their relationship with False Time and appeared fully formed in True Time!

Therefore, even if the Academy Head were to create a Spellbook in front of her students, unless they had fully mastered Foresight-level Spirit Vision, they might not be able to figure out what the Academy Head was doing.

But I was at the Floating World level of Spirit Vision, so I naturally saw many unusual aspects.

Just the "starting move" of her fingertip just now seemed to use the True Sense of Touch from the True Five Senses, which I still didn't fully understand.

The subsequent True Editing to create the Spellbook would likely utilize even more abilities, so the answer that the barrier was Transcendent status was not wrong.

As the Academy Head operated and explained to me simultaneously, I felt powerless, as if listening to gibberish.

The content the Academy Head spoke was simply too difficult to understand.

"If you don't understand, don't force it. I'll just give you a brief popular science explanation now, trying to build a concept and framework you can understand."

The Academy Head said, seeing my furrowed brow.

But she didn't blame me.

Learning also has a threshold, not just for intelligence, but also for cognition, comprehension, and knowledge reserve.

The learning threshold for True Editing is Transcendent status, naturally not just because it requires the cultivation of the True Five Senses, but also because of the elevated life level achieved by advancing to Transcendent.

The enhancement of the life level is comprehensive, naturally including memory, learning ability, comprehension, logical ability, and cognition.

The life level is even the barrier for learning some specific knowledge.

After all, [Knowledge] has many classifications.

Some knowledge can be disseminated (like the ordinary knowledge taught by the academy); some knowledge cannot be disseminated, or the knowledge itself is power (this is [Transcendent Knowledge]); and some knowledge can pose unpredictable harm or benefit to life even just by observing, comprehending, or hearing about it (this is [Forbidden Knowledge]).

The more one knows, the more one realizes that many things cannot be forced, and Mei Linde clearly understood this.

The concept of "learning ability" had already become an attribute directly linked to one's strength in the Transcendent World.

It was just that some people would firmly grasp it, while others would continuously let it waste away.

Especially many naturally Transcendent beings or people who obtain power too easily will not cherish what they gain effortlessly, and this includes cognition.

Power naturally inflates one's desires and makes one arrogant.

At this moment, the Academy Head also entered a tedious stage.

Creating something is much harder than destroying it.

Although I found dismantling a Spellbook easy, I knew very well the internal structure of a Spellbook.

The Spellbook structure and those runes inside had to be hand-crafted!

The sheer difficulty of this made my scalp tingle just by thinking about it.

I took this time to test the spell myself.

I had watched the derivation and completion of this spell from start to finish, so I also learned the spell the moment it was announced complete.

In fact... I could now hand-craft this spell and rune ritual.

This was not a joke.

The reason this was one of Witch Academy's most secret laboratories was not just that there was no phone signal here.

The main reason was that this independently existing space managed to ignore the spell effect of the Great Weakening Spell!

Actually, it was more like exploiting a loophole.

The only means capable of countering the effect of a Grand Spellbook is another Grand Spellbook.

Ordinary methods or spells can only slowly wear it down.

And the fact that the effect of this Grand Spellbook has persisted to this day, even though the major Transcendent Academies had initially agreed not to break its effect, who knows what happens in private?

The fact that this Grand Spellbook's effect has held up until now is a testament to the absolute suppressive power of a Grand Spellbook over ordinary spells.

At this moment, I was slowly constructing the spell ritual by hand.

Although the Academy Head had already determined this spell was a summoning type, no one knew the specific effect until an actual test was conducted.

As for why we were so eager to construct a Spellbook for an untested spell, the Academy Head explained that the Spellbook form provides a platform for the spell to be easily derived and modified.

This answer truly struck a chord with me.

Among my fellow students, no one knew better than I how convenient having a Spellbook platform was for modding a spell!

I almost forgot this point.

However, the hand-crafted spell, when used... felt a bit sluggish.

But soon, I successfully cast the spell.

The spell ran smoothly, the runes flowed, and the ritual flashed.

The flashing ritual runes expanded outwards, centered on me, in the lab's testing area.

Clearly, the spell cast was complete.

This was the spell effect.

According to the usage procedure for a Summoning Spell, something should have been summoned here.

I instinctively walked out of the center of the spell and moved back a little.

After waiting for a while, I found no movement at all.

"Strange... no movement at all? Is this even a Summoning Spell?"

I looked at the spell ritual curiously, thoroughly confused.

This Summoning Spell, according to Teacher Ji Niang, had spatial characteristics.

That meant its spell effect wasn't direct creation of a summon but rather the teleportation of real objects or entities.

Was it a Contract Summoning?

Was it unable to summon anything because the spell had no contract target?

I thought of using the Permission Teacher Ji Niang gave me to search the Earth Vein System for the source of the problem, primarily to check the category of this Summoning Spell.

I hoped it wasn't what I had just guessed.

Furthermore, a spell system built on the foundation of that earlier rune—a rune that allowed me to see the beautiful girl—shouldn't be ineffective.

I even jokingly called the previous rune effect the "Beautiful Girl Summoning Spell."

How could it have no effect now?

Or was it because there was no guidance?

I could see that girl earlier because the thread of Destiny served as guidance, or rather, an "anchor"?

In short, I guessed that this spell couldn't summon anything out of thin air.

It felt just like my Teleportation Spell, which required pre-marking a location.

At this moment, I subconsciously looked at the thread of Destiny on my hand, but it showed no movement at all in the presence of this spell.

I wondered if I should directly use this thread of Destiny as an anchor?

But I decided against it for now.

I might not be able to bear the cost of failure.

I would wait until the Academy Head finished constructing the Spellbook for this spell and tested it before touching the thread of Destiny.

Otherwise, if this thread of Destiny accidentally dispersed completely, it would be gone for good.

I stood by the side of the spell ritual for a long time.

The spell dissipated without summoning anything, which truly left me embarrassed.

Even the busy Teacher Ji Niang took a moment to glance at my situation.

In the end, she just shook her head.

I wasn't discouraged.

After all, testing is testing.

Even if it succeeded on the first try, multiple tests are needed to gather more experimental information.

A laboratory is not a battlefield.

It does not fear failure.

There are only attempts, and then attempts made in a different way.

There are only success and failure here, but fundamentally, they are no different.

Time passed until late at night.

Since even the Academy Head wasn't resting, I naturally stayed here.

It was just one night without sleep, wasn't it?

I could certainly manage staying up this late.

And I also wanted to witness the Academy Head complete the construction of the Spellbook.

Moreover... just recently, the Academy Head said it would be finished soon.

So, I put down the work I was doing and went to stand beside the Academy Head.

Since the first spell attempt, I hadn't been idle.

I immediately used Teacher Ji Niang's data literature query permission to organize and analyze the spell.

This included some of the drafts and notes the Academy Head used while completing the spell, as well as my own notes recorded in the Memory Bookshelf.

However, I still hadn't found much.

With the Academy Head's final action, the initial structure of the Spellbook was completely finished.

After adding the Spellbook's unique protective layer, the Spellbook was truly complete.

"It's finished. Give it a try."

The Academy Head subconsciously narrowed her eyes, throwing the Spellbook to me.

Clearly, the Academy Head had exerted a lot of energy to create this Spellbook and was resting her eyes slightly after completing everything.

"Should I... start the trial immediately?"

I asked, confused.

"Mhm. You can start the trial immediately. We are your greatest insurance. What? Don't you trust us?"

The Academy Head opened her eyes and asked with a smile.

"No, no. I just feel it's a bit fast..."

"Fast is normal. Research is all about efficiency. More theoretical analysis is not as good as an actual attempt. Witches are not afraid of trying, wasting resources, or taking risks."

"I... suppose so."

I nodded hesitantly.

After all, when attempting spells, a witch with a Magic Power Source can make infinite mistakes.

How much does a Spellbook cost?

As for the experimental risk... a witch's own strength is the best guarantee against risk.

Just as I was about to use the Spellbook to cast the spell, the Academy Head suddenly interrupted me.

"Wait a moment."

"What's wrong?"

I looked at the Academy Head confusedly, wondering what the problem was.

"I almost forgot. This is another Spellbook sponsored by me personally, as a gift for so abruptly joining your lab."

"Ah? A gift?"

I stared blankly at the Academy Head.

What kind of strange words was she saying?

Was there any essential difference between this action and paying to work?

But I looked at the new Spellbook that was handed to me, and I was instantly curious.

What spell had the Academy Head given me this time?

The last ones she gave me seemed to be the Resurrection Spell and Teleportation.

"Yes, take it."

The Academy Head smiled.

"Didn't you say that the girl you met had a language barrier with you? This spell can bypass the language level and allow for a more direct conscious communication with the other party. However, the drawback is... only the caster and the connected party can communicate."

"Thank you, Academy Head."

My eyes widened slightly in surprise.

I hadn't expected the Academy Head to be so thoughtful and even have a Spellbook like this, which she gave directly to me.

It seemed the Academy Head's spell repertoire... was very deep...

I was truly envious, but I believed that if I were given time, I could reach this level, too.

"You're welcome. Go ahead and start trying it out."

The Academy Head urged.

"Mhm."

I didn't refuse.

I immediately inserted the Spellbook into the Memory Bookshelf Spellbook and began my first casting attempt.

As the spell ritual rose, this time, the spell was cast very smoothly.

I have to say, it felt so much better compared to hand-crafting the spell!

But to my disappointment, even so, the summoning ritual still showed no sign of summoning anything.

I observed carefully with Spirit Vision, but there wasn't even a trace of anomalous information.

"It's still the same. Nothing is being summoned... Is there something wrong with this Summoning Spell?"

"Perhaps we can try a different approach and method to cast this spell. After all, the spell ran successfully and stably, so it must have an effect that we haven't discovered yet."

"A different approach? How should I change it?"

I couldn't just cast it upside down, could I?

This was a gap in my knowledge.

"Perhaps... you should try standing in the center of the spell ritual?"

The Academy Head suggested.