Free Web NovelChapter 36: Chapter 34: Progress of the Eye of Truth
Lv Mei gave one final nod.
Then, it took a step back.
In that instant, the blossoming plum branches atop the Tree Spirit Wizard’s head suddenly began to emit a faint, ethereal glow.
An incredible sight unfolded.
"POP!"
With a soft sound, as faint as a popping bubble, the Tree Spirit Wizard’s body suddenly burst into a great cloud of plum blossoms.
This wasn’t a metaphor or an exaggeration. It was a true, sky-filling, countless cascade of plum blossoms.
The petals erupted from where it had stood, like a volcanic eruption, like an ocean of flowers flowing in reverse.
Countless petals intertwined, circling, dancing, and scattering above the Lecture Hall.
"WHOOSH~"
A gust of night wind swept through.
The petals were caught by the wind and carried into the distance, drifting away into the dark night sky.
The newcomers were once again dumbfounded.
A flash of amazement crossed Mo Ning’s eyes.
The [Demon-Seeking Net] began to flash wildly again.
A torrent of data on the Magic Power fluctuations surged like a tide, completely recording the moment of transformation into plum blossoms.
A moment later,
the [Eye of Truth] completed its preliminary analysis.
Mo Ning’s eyes flickered. ’Some of the fluctuation data feels very unique. It’s most likely the specific Magic Power spectrum of a Tree Spirit.’
This meant that the next time he detected a similar Magic Power spectrum, he could directly conclude it was Witchcraft cast by Lv Mei.
It also meant that as it accumulated more and more data, the [Eye of Truth]’s ability to analyze Magic Power fluctuations had improved significantly.
For him, this was a reason to be happy.
At this moment,
a clamor of voices suddenly erupted.
"What kind of Witchcraft was that? It was so beautiful!"
"Lord Lv Mei is a Tree Spirit, so that must have been a Tree Spirit’s Talent Witchcraft, right?"
Mo Ning listened to the discussions and answered silently in his heart, ’It’s more than just Talent Witchcraft.’
Within the Magic Power fluctuations, there was a spectrum highly similar to the spatial fluctuations inside the academy.
Based on this, he could infer that Lord Lv Mei had significantly modified their Talent Witchcraft, allowing it to invoke the academy’s Space Magic.
And the modification process must have been based on Secret Divination and Divination.
He couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. ’The tides of the era roll ever forward. Even Alien Races must embrace Secret Divination and Divination, or they’ll be left behind entirely.’
Mo Ning was unconsciously reminded of a phrase he had seen in many books—all things are Divination.
A wave of louder chatter washed over him, interrupting his wandering thoughts.
"Right, what about the standard Meditation Mark?"
"We spent a fortune—20 Black Tower Points—on this class just for the standard Meditation Mark! Don’t tell me the Lord Wizard forgot to imbue us with it?"
"Should we report this to the academy through the Guiding Ring and ask Lord Lv Mei to come back?"
Mo Ning couldn’t help but shake his head.
’What nonsense are these people talking? How could a Lord Wizard forget something so important?’
Soon, someone stepped forward to refute them.
"You lot are absolute idiots!"
"Just try to perceive your Spiritual World! Lord Lv Mei has already planted the mark in everyone’s Spiritual World!"
Hearing this, the corner of Mo Ning’s mouth twitched into a slight smile.
Just as the garden had transformed into a sky full of dancing green light, the [Eye of Truth] had issued an immediate warning—some kind of power was invading his Spiritual World.
At that moment, among all the newcomers in the Lecture Hall, he was the only one who had noticed.
In the vision of his [Insightful Secret Eye], it wasn’t until the green light had almost completely faded that the other students began to react one by one.
The few newcomers with the strongest Spiritual Talent—like serial number 001, Sitt, and serial number 002, Mika—showed expressions of either pleasant surprise or astonishment, clearly having just realized the change in their Spiritual Worlds.
At the same time,
the flames dancing in the braziers atop the stone pillars began to dim.
This was an unmistakable signal—the Lecture Hall was about to close.
More miscellaneous chatter flowed into Mo Ning’s ears from all directions.
"Has it been three hours already? I feel like I barely noticed."
"I thought only an hour had passed!"
"That was way too difficult!"
"I didn’t understand so much of it. This is terrible."
Most of the newcomers were frowning deeply.
During the lecture, the Tree Spirit Wizard had not only explained the theoretical concepts of Spirit Rings, spirit, and soul, but had also focused on the Divination concepts they represented and the connections between them.
This involved incredibly lengthy Divination derivations.
Only from the perspective of Divination could one deeply analyze these intangible things—how spirit flows, how souls resonate, how a Spirit Ring is formed.
These existences, so difficult to describe with words, could be precisely quantified, deconstructed, and reassembled in the Divination Language.
Furthermore, the Wizard, valuing information density, did not explain every step of the derivation process in detail.
Instead, they frequently glossed over them with phrases like "it is derivable" or "it is easily proven."
And in the eyes of the newcomers, these derivation processes were—
"’Derivable’ my ass!"
"’Easily proven’ my foot!"
For everyone, this class was a brutal show of force.
It was a higher-level, more demoralizing kind of crushing defeat—you knew the knowledge was important, yet you found yourself completely unable to keep up.
The rookies all realized a harsh truth: they had to put far more effort into studying Secret Divination and Divination from now on.
Otherwise, they would have absolutely no chance of staying at the academy.
Mo Ning, however, was in a pleasant mood as he began to nimbly clear his desk.
He quickly organized the thick stack of manuscripts, straightening them into a neat pile, a look of satisfaction in his eyes.
Every sheet of scale pattern paper was densely packed with Secret Spirit Text, with numerous Divination symbols and various freehand sketches filling the margins.
These sketches were like a kind of code only he could decipher, recording the fleeting thoughts he’d had during class.
It had to be said, Lv Mei was truly worthy of being a First Level Wizard.
This Lord Wizard had a profound understanding of the Spiritual Domain. Many of the concepts discussed in class, as well as the interpretations of Divination, were things Mo Ning had never encountered in the Royal Library.
Sometimes, a single casual remark from the Tree Spirit Wizard would trigger an epiphany, making him think, ’So that’s how it is!’
Not only had he completely understood all the content of the class, but he had also jotted down every spark of inspiration that had quietly ignited while he listened.
Those fleeting thoughts during the lecture, the associations triggered by a certain phrase, the fragments that suddenly connected—he had captured them all in time, solidifying them into words on paper.
All in all, today’s gains were immense!
He truly felt that the meager fee of 20 Black Tower Points was more than worth it!
Before long, the crowd began to leave.
Following the default "rule," Mo Ning lagged behind the crowd.
The instant the last newcomer’s boot touched the first step of the descending staircase,
"WHOOSH—"
all the braziers, as if on some signal, extinguished in unison.
The Lecture Hall plunged into deep darkness. Only the silhouettes of the distant mountains were faintly visible against the night sky, like slumbering behemoths.
A Magic Torch to the right of the descending stairs lit up, guiding the way out with its warm light.
When Mo Ning stepped back into the Mysterious Secret Hall of the Quiet Forest, he glanced over at the location of the other Secret Gate.
No halo of light appeared on the [Demon-Seeking Net].
This meant that no Magic Power fluctuations were detected.
He thought to himself, ’Does the Secret Gate close once the lecture is over?’
A closed Secret Gate meant there was no chance to open it; he could only wait for it to open again next time.
After three hours of intense mental exertion, the newcomers were all exhausted.
Their young faces were filled with the dazed helplessness that comes from being crushed by knowledge.
They only wanted to hurry back and rest.
The stream of people didn’t stop, flowing directly toward the dormitory area.
Although Mo Ning felt quite relaxed, he still chose to go with the flow.
After returning to apartment 804,
he closed the door, sat down at his desk, and took a moment to review the [Insightful Secret Eye]’s record on Kanda.
The analysis results appeared immediately:
[Serial number 186, Kanda. Remained in a state of high concentration during the observation period. No abnormal behavior detected.]
Mo Ning’s brow furrowed slightly.
’No abnormalities?’
’Could the analysis from the dining hall that day have been wrong?’
He quickly dismissed the thought. ’It’s unlikely my cheat system made a mistake. I’ll just observe him for a while longer.’
Finally,
with a faint sense of joy, Mo Ning began to inspect his greatest gain from today’s class—the standard Meditation Mark.
He closed his eyes and began to focus all his effort on perceiving his Spiritual World.
This was a realm that could only be touched by the soul, perceived by consciousness.
There was no color, no shape, no sound—only a pure sense of existence that transcended the senses.
One minute later,
the "bitter fruit" of his low Spiritual Strength became immediately apparent.
No matter how hard Mo Ning tried, he could only "see" a void in his Spiritual World.
He couldn’t sense the mark’s existence at all.
But this was normal.
The books he had read in the Royal Library stated clearly:
"After the first imbuement of a standard Meditation Mark, the recipient can only sense the mark after it has fused with their soul to a certain degree."
The Tree Spirit Wizard had also explicitly said in class:
"The stronger your Spiritual Talent, the sooner you will be able to sense the mark.
"Those with a Spiritual Strength of 0.85 or higher can sense it on the same day. Those with a Spiritual Strength above 0.7 can usually sense it the next day. Those with a Spiritual Strength below 0.6 will need to wait at least four days."
The current situation merely proved the Tree Spirit Wizard’s words.
Mo Ning wasn’t the least bit discouraged. Instead, his fighting spirit soared. ’This is forcing me to pull out my ultimate move.’
