Free Web NovelChapter 39: Chapter 37: The Extravagant Kid
8:00 PM.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the great river had been completely swallowed by the boundless darkness.
Two cold moons hung alone in the high dome of the sky, casting their chilly, silver glow upon the river’s surface.
The moonlight swayed in the water. The restless surface of the river caused the reflection to shatter and reform, again and again, as if trapped in an endless cycle.
Mo Ning, however, wasn’t paying any attention to the view outside.
He was staring, unblinking, at the blue Crystal Ball before him.
The Crystal Ball was levitating in midair, separated from its base below. It emitted a faint, soft glow, as if gently held aloft by some invisible force.
Inside the sphere, silent ripples spread out, layer upon layer, overlapping and echoing, as if something was brewing, circulating, and settling in its depths.
This was the Magic Power Measuring Device he had requested from the academy under the pretext of improving his Breathing Technique.
A few seconds passed, and the ripples inside the Crystal Ball gradually subsided.
Mo Ning took a step forward and gently touched the Crystal Ball.
An Ice Cold sensation spread from his fingertips.
In the next instant, a stream of information surged into his mind like a bursting dam.
Body data, spiritual fluctuations, Magic Power parameters... A series of Divination data points were precisely listed.
Half an hour ago, he had once again applied the Calming Ointment to his glabella and temples, then began to practice the Snake Sleep Technique.
Throughout the entire process, the Magic Power Measuring Device had been closely monitoring his physical state, faithfully recording his every breath and every flicker of his spiritual fluctuations.
Mo Ning’s gaze swept quickly over the lines of data, finally locking onto one in particular:
[Current Remaining Spiritual Power: 86.45%.]
The corners of his mouth lifted into an irrepressible smile. ’Half an hour, and my Spiritual Power recovered from 48.31% to 86.45%. This seems even more effective than just applying the Magic Potion alone.’
Mo Ning thought cheerfully, ’I’m definitely not doing this because I ran out of Spiritual Power. I’m just gathering data on the Magic Potion.’
His justification was perfectly righteous. ’That’s right! This is for academic research!’
He reached for the Magic Potion, then suddenly realized something.
If he could further improve the Snake Sleep Technique to better synergize with the Magic Potion for restoring Spiritual Power, it seemed like another research topic with practical value.
He was definitely not the only one who needed to "quickly recover Spiritual Power." The entire academy was full of people who did.
And a research topic was as good as cold, hard cash.
Mo Ning even felt the urge to immediately construct a Divination Theory framework and submit it as a new research proposal.
But the thought flickered in his mind for only a moment before he decisively extinguished it.
’Forget it!’
He had already submitted two research proposals in just a few days. If he submitted a third, it would most likely be rejected.
The reviewing Wizards at the academy were generous, but they weren’t fools. He understood the principle of "too much of a good thing."
He shook his head almost imperceptibly. ’Better wait a while.’
Mo Ning collected his thoughts and carefully put away the Magic Potion and the device.
He closed his eyes, directing his focus toward the boundless Spiritual World, preparing to capture the next Demon Seed.
Fifty-two nodes remained on the Divine Statue Model. He still had a lot of work to do.
Mo Ning had already decided—he would work hard until three in the morning.
For him, used Magic Potions could be bought again, but wasted time could never be recovered.
That was why he didn’t hesitate to use the precious Magic Potion to restore his Spiritual Power.
Extravagant? Perhaps! But it was worth it!
*****
「Deep within the Black Tower. Inside the Observation Room.」
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice, Nasha, saw everything Mo Ning was doing with perfect clarity.
She could tell, of course—the kid definitely wasn’t collecting any experimental data.
He was just restoring his Spiritual Power.
Ninety-nine percent of the apprentices in the academy would never dream of using Calming Ointment for something like this.
Why waste a Magic Potion when you could just restore your Spiritual Power with a good night’s sleep?
One bottle cost 68 Black Tower Points. Every use depleted it, and if you used it sparingly, it could last for several months.
For a kid like him to casually use it as a "supplement" was an outrageous waste.
The Female Apprentice couldn’t help but shake her head, letting out a comment that was three parts helplessness, three parts envy, and four parts an indescribable mix of feelings:
"What an extravagant kid."
Her tone held the disdain of disapproval, as well as the sourness of envy.
Nasha stared at the profile in the glowing orb, at the face with its eyes closed once more, and wondered, ’What on earth is this kid so busy with?’
"But..." Her emerald eyes flashed with a hint of admiration as she murmured to herself, "Extravagant or not, this kid is just too diligent."
The Sharp-eared Female Apprentice felt that if anyone from this batch of new recruits were to one day be promoted to Wizard, it would undoubtedly be Mo Ning.
*****
「A quarter past six the next morning.」
A ray of golden morning light slanted through a gap in the curtains, landing right beside his pillow.
Mo Ning opened his eyes right on time.
Not a minute late, not a minute early.
The reason for his punctuality was an "alarm clock" he had set in his own mind.
To be precise, in version 1.5 of the Snake Sleep Technique, he had added a "timed reminder" function to the Secret Technique.
At the predetermined time, his consciousness would rapidly activate, and he would awaken from his deep sleep.
Yesterday, he had worked straight through until three-thirty in the morning, half an hour later than planned.
To restore his Spiritual Power, he had applied the Calming Ointment one more time.
But the results were very gratifying.
His progress on the Divine Statue Model had advanced to the 41st node. With only 25 nodes left, he could finish them all today.
Mo Ning stretched, sat up in bed, and his gaze habitually drifted to the window.
Just as he’d expected, the scenery had changed again.
Yesterday, it had been a river with rolling waves; today, it was a boundless prairie.
The ground was so flat that it showed almost no undulation, stretching from beneath his window all the way to the horizon, to a distant point his eyes could no longer reach.
The dew-kissed green grass was half a person’s height in the tall spots and just covered the ankles in the short ones, rippling in layered green waves in the morning breeze.
The glow of the rising sun spread upward from the horizon, graduating from the deepest orange-red to a pale pink, finally melting into the clear, light blue sky overhead.
He had to admit, seeing such a scene first thing in the morning made him feel much more refreshed.
A slight smile touched his lips. Just as he was about to turn and wash up, his gaze was suddenly captivated by an object several thousand meters away.
It was a massive, gray creature.
It was meandering through the waist-high grass, leisurely munching on it, its enormous body partially hidden in the sea of green.
A thought flickered in Mo Ning’s mind.
The Thread of Truth silently unfurled, crossing several thousand meters in an instant to measure the great beast from head to tail.
The data came back instantly:
[Length: 8.4 meters.]
[Height: 4.2 meters.]
This was, without a doubt, a giant beast.
Mo Ning roughly estimated that the creature probably weighed over fifteen tons.
Its shape resembled a rhinoceros, but many details were completely different.
Its skin was covered in many dark green patterns, especially on the sides of its round belly, where the markings were dense and intertwined into a strange design, like an ancient tribal totem.
The patterns seemed to breathe, rising and falling slightly with each respiration, as if they were alive.
Most striking of all was the two-meter-tall black horn on its head.
The black horn was not a smooth cone like a rhino’s, but was covered in countless branches, resembling an ancient, leafless tree.
Mo Ning quickly searched his memories and came to a conclusion. ’It must be an Earth-Shaking Gray-Horned Rhinoceros.’
He had once read a book in the Royal Library, a tome dedicated to introducing various Spiritual Creatures, which contained a brief description of a Magical Beast called the "Earth-Shaking Gray-Horned Rhinoceros."
The description in the book was a perfect match for the massive creature he was seeing now.
An adult Earth-Shaking Gray-Horned Rhinoceros was skilled in a First Level Witchcraft—the Earthquake Technique.
When this Witchcraft was cast, the ground within a radius of several hundred meters would tremble violently, and sharp earthen spikes would erupt from it.
In a very distant age, Ancient Wizards created the first forms of Witchcraft by studying and imitating Magic Creatures.
They watched the Earth-Shaking Gray-Horned Rhinoceros cast its Earthquake Technique, watched the Flame Bird spew fire, and watched the Frost Snake breathe ice, deconstructing, imitating, and recreating it all, piece by piece.
This was the origin of Witchcraft.
Mo Ning stared at the huge beast, a guess forming in his mind. ’The Earth-Shaking Gray-Horned Rhinoceros on this prairie is most likely a Magic Creature raised by the Black Tower Academy.’
In ancient times, a First Level Wizard would have found it difficult to defeat a First Level Magic Creature of the same rank.
But in the Era of Secret Divination, the situation was completely reversed; a First Level Wizard could easily defeat a First Level Magic Creature.
With the power of the Black Tower Academy, raising even a hundred Earth-Shaking Gray-Horned Rhinoceroses would be a simple matter.
And raising them was far more valuable than killing them.
Take the Earth-Shaking Gray-Horned Rhinoceros, for example. Its blood was rich in Spirituality and could be used to concoct Magic Potions, its black horn could be ground into powder for drawing Magic Patterns, and even its dung was useful.
By raising a herd of Earth-Shaking Gray-Horned Rhinoceroses, one could periodically harvest from them and gain a continuous stream of profit.
Mo Ning withdrew his gaze, got up, and walked to the washstand, a thought flashing through his mind. ’I wonder if I’ll ever get the chance to ride a Gray-Horned Rhino and run wild across the prairie.’
In his past life, the most he could do was ride a horse at a tourist spot—an old nag that had been trained to be so docile it would only walk at a leisurely pace.
But here in the Wizard World, there was a chance to ride a true behemoth, a beast whose gallop could make the very earth tremble.
Just thinking about it was thrilling.
In a way, this was one of the perks of being a Transmigrator.
Mo Ning quickly washed up, pushed open the door, and walked out.
*****
「6:30 AM. The cafeteria.」
The breakfast crowd had already dispersed, leaving only a few scattered figures still chewing slowly.
Mo Ning popped the last bite of bread into his mouth and was about to get up and leave.
A pleasant female voice, deliberately lowered, drifted over from his side. "Mo Ning, right?"
Mo Ning turned instinctively.
An exceptionally gentle face came into view.
He froze for a second.
Compared to the "star" of the new recruits, Princess Phoebe, this girl’s beauty was in no way inferior.
But their temperaments were entirely different.
Phoebe’s beauty was sharp and proud, like a drawn sword that one dared not look at directly.
This girl, however, was something else entirely.
Her eyes were as clear as lake water, and their every glance carried a natural gentleness, as if they could dissolve any sharpness into their clear depths.
Her nose was elegant but not sharp, its lines perfectly soft. The corners of her mouth were naturally turned up slightly, lending her a warm expression even when she wasn’t smiling.
Her long, black hair was loosely tied back with a plain ribbon, a few stray strands falling beside her ears. They swayed gently as she tilted her head, like willow branches in a spring breeze.
Her beauty was gentle and restrained, making one feel an immediate sense of closeness.
But Mo Ning’s gaze didn’t linger on her face for long.
He noticed a detail.
On the girl’s left earlobe was a very conspicuous feature: a small, vermilion mole, like a drop of cinnabar on white jade.
Mo Ning’s pupils contracted almost imperceptibly.
’It’s her!!’
’It’s definitely her!!’
Over the past few days, he had repeatedly sensed prying eyes on him.
Especially this morning in the Secret Hall. He had glanced back once, and this very girl had been in the crowd behind him.
He had firmly committed that small, vermilion mole to memory.
And now, she had approached him of her own accord.
This was clearly no coincidence.
