Free Web NovelChapter 43: Chapter 41: A Genius Leaves Others in the Dust
Anya subconsciously glanced at the clock hanging by her bed.
Only eight minutes had passed since she sent the message.
Eight minutes!!
Just a moment ago, it had taken her nearly ten minutes to organize her questions, describe them as concisely as possible, and then transmit them using the [Secret Technique Whisper].
The time he took to answer was even shorter than the time she took to ask!
How was that possible?!
Anya instinctively felt a flicker of doubt. ’Does he not even need to think? He couldn’t have just scribbled down nonsense, could he?’
But the neat and elegant lines of Secret Spirit Text on the scale pattern paper made her think that wasn’t likely.
The Noble Lady sat up straight and began to read carefully.
She was only halfway through the first answer when she felt a sense of sudden enlightenment.
The explanation was profound yet simple, the logic rigorous, and the reasoning clear. There wasn’t a single wasted word.
Anya could faintly perceive a unique kind of beauty within it.
This was the beauty of Divination!
After finishing the first answer, Anya felt as if she’d been enlightened. ’So that’s how it is.’
A pang of shame pricked at her heart. To have suspected him of "scribbling down nonsense" was far too rude.
An hour and a half slipped by without her noticing.
Anya finished reading the extended sections, feeling deeply inspired.
The Noble Lady had never imagined that these Divination Formulas and theorems could be interpreted from such an angle, or that they held such profound meanings.
These five thin sheets of paper had truly deepened her understanding of the standard Meditation Mark and the Basic Meditation Technique.
This made it even more difficult for her to believe that this was something Mo Ning had written in just eight minutes.
Anya finally confirmed one thing: ’The Rose Council was right. Mo Ning is a Divination genius!’
These five pages of manuscript felt as if someone who had researched Secret Divination and Divination for decades was personally answering her questions.
Who could believe that the author of this manuscript was not yet seventeen years old?
Anya glanced out the window, her red lips slowly curving into a smile.
"This investment..."
Her voice was so low that only she could hear it:
"It was more than worth it!"
Anya stared at the [Secret Technique Whisper] on her left index finger and began to ponder a question—how should she thank him?
The Noble Lady considered many approaches: the shy type, the ambiguous type, the worshipful type, and even the seductive type.
Against those young noblemen whose eyes were filled with various desires, these little tricks worked every time.
But with Mo Ning—
Anya recalled his perpetually calm face in the dining hall and couldn’t help but shake her head.
Sir Rent had said that Mo Ning was a true believer in knowledge. Such tricks would be useless on a person like him.
She activated the [Secret Technique Whisper] with her Spiritual Power and sent a simple message:
[Thank you very much.]
She thought for a moment, then added another line:
[If there is anything I can help with, please don’t hesitate to tell me!]
This was no empty pleasantry.
Anya genuinely wanted to help.
Because she remembered what a family elder once said: "Friendship is nurtured through repeated interactions, and the friendship of certain people is more precious than wealth."
The young woman was completely convinced that Mo Ning’s friendship belonged to the latter category.
As expected, Anya waited for a while but received no reply.
The young woman sighed. ’Is he so busy researching the Basic Meditation Technique that he can’t be bothered to reply to me?’
The Noble Lady walked with light steps to the full-length mirror set in the corner of the wall.
The mirror was large, reflecting nearly her entire body.
She reached out with a slender, pale hand and gently brushed back the long hair falling over her shoulder. Her fingers slid from root to tip, smoothing the raven lock until it was like satin.
Then, she slightly puffed out her chest.
The two "apples" became even fuller, even more breathtaking.
Anya smiled, her face full of charm. "No need to rush. We can take it slow."
She spun around gracefully.
The hem of her dress fanned out like petals, the light purple gauze tracing a gentle arc through the air.
In the instant her skirt flared, she grabbed its side with her left hand and slowly lifted it.
It revealed a whiteness so brilliant it was almost dazzling, like the finest suet jade soaked in moonlight for a thousand years.
Anya tilted her head slightly, her gaze falling upon her reflection in the mirror—the light purple dress, the long black hair, the slender waist, and that pair of dazzlingly white legs.
Her voice was as low as a murmur, as if she were swearing an oath to her own reflection: "I will make you fall for me."
*****
Apartment 804.
[If there is anything I can help with, please don’t hesitate to tell me!]
When Anya’s message came through, Mo Ning was already lying on his couch, preparing to take a short nap.
He couldn’t help but complain inwardly, ’Why does this feel like I’ve been added to a work group chat?’
But despite his grumbling, he closed his eyes and reached out to touch the face of the ring.
The next moment.
Mo Ning’s eyes snapped open—he had suddenly thought of something he could indeed use the Noble Lady’s help with.
He sat up with a RUSTLE, his gaze falling on the envelope placed on the corner of his desk.
It was the letter for Sir Rent.
He had originally planned to mail the letter this afternoon, but now an idea struck him. ’If I ask Anya to help deliver the letter, it might be much faster.’
A round trip for a Kingdom messenger would take too long, significantly slowing down his progress on improving the Basic Meditation Technique.
But Anya was a noble of the Kingdom and seemed to have deep connections within the academy. Perhaps she had a faster channel for contacting the Kingdom.
Mo Ning made up his mind. His thumb gently brushed across the emerald-green face of the ring, and with a slight stir of his will, he sent the message.
The Noble Lady’s reply was almost instantaneous:
[Leave this to me! I can ask a family elder to contact the Royal Capital directly and have the letter delivered to Sir Rent.]
A smile immediately appeared on Mo Ning’s face.
He suddenly felt that this teammate who had offered her services—was actually quite useful.
He quickly opened the envelope, spread the letter out on his desk, and activated the "scan" function of the [Secret Technique Whisper].
A faint light flashed, and the entire content of the letter was converted into an image and transmitted to Anya.
The letter didn’t contain any confidential information.
The request regarding the statue and the promise of a Magic Potion exchange were things Anya could know about without issue.
Half a minute later.
The Noble Lady’s reply arrived:
[The contents of this letter will be transmitted to the Royal Capital in ten minutes. Someone will personally deliver it to Sir Rent’s home this morning.]
A promise of "delivery this morning"—wasn’t that hundreds of times faster than a Kingdom messenger?
On the other hand, it showed just how much importance Anya placed on this matter.
Mo Ning wasn’t surprised in the least.
On the contrary, he had a feeling of ’as I expected’:
’The academy does indeed possess long-range communication Witchcraft. They’ve probably even established a communication network covering the sphere of influence of the Seven Great Kingdoms.’
He had only been at the academy for a few days, but he had already seen so many new things—from the remote shopping on [Dawa’s Grocery List] to the ubiquitous information pushes from the Witch Spirit.
He was already forming a preliminary understanding of the developmental level of the Wizard Civilization.
Reaching this conclusion wasn’t difficult.
The sophistication of communication technology is directly related to the developmental ceiling of a civilization.
In his past life, on ancient Blue Star, communication methods were primitive, and information transmission relied entirely on human and animal power.
If a territory was too vast, the time it took to transmit information would become unbearably long. By the time news reached the Emperor’s desk, the situation would have changed completely.
To give a simple example: if a rebellion broke out on the frontier, it would take a messenger a full month of frantic riding to deliver the urgent report to the capital. Deliberating on a countermeasure in the imperial court, dispatching generals, and mobilizing the army would take another two or three months.
By then, the rebel army would have already grown powerful and seized territory. The cost of suppressing them would have more than doubled.
Therefore, the territory of ancient nations had a limit—a limit measured by the hooves of a messenger’s horse.
But the Black Tower Academy had maintained deep control over the Seven Great Kingdoms for over a thousand years.
According to what he’d read in books, the largest, the Canglang Kingdom, had a territory of over four million square kilometers, while the smallest, the Black Banner Kingdom, was no less than two million square kilometers.
The total area of the Seven Great Kingdoms combined was nearly twenty million square kilometers.
And across this vast expanse of land, not a single Kingdom, not a single noble, dared to defy the will of the Black Tower Academy.
This was proof enough—the academy possessed advanced long-range communication Witchcraft.
Those invisible streams of information silently traversed the ocean of Magic Power, crossing thousands of mountains and rivers, faster than any messenger, more reliable than any dispatch.
The will of the Wizards could descend upon any corner of the Seven Great Kingdoms at any time.
The Noble Lady’s reply was the perfect proof.
Mo Ning lay down again and began to circulate the [Snake Sleep Technique]. Before long, his breathing became even and steady.
*****
Apartment 722.
Anya, wearing a light, pale purple dress, sat at her desk, flipping through a thick Divination Scripture while cross-referencing it with the explanation Mo Ning had sent.
Her brows would occasionally furrow, then smooth out again.
Some parts of Mo Ning’s explanation were too concise for her to understand, so she had to open the scripture and work backward from more fundamental knowledge.
It wasn’t just her.
All the new apprentices were doing the same thing today.
The Tree Spirit Wizard’s class yesterday had been like a blunt blow, knocking sense into everyone—behind those phrases like "it can be obtained" and "easily proven" lay a high mountain that required a desperate climb.
From Sitt, serial number 001, to Remi, serial number 156, there were no exceptions.
Remi was already widely recognized as the most knowledgeable among the new apprentices. Yesterday in class, he had correctly answered 16 questions, raking in 16 Black Tower Points in one go and becoming the object of everyone’s envy.
Of course, the "new apprentices" in that statement did not include Mo Ning.
After a good while.
After digesting a particularly difficult Divination Formula, Anya found a moment of free time and sent a message to her Auntie Nasha:
[Dearest Auntie, regarding the Life Potion Mo Ning is using to trade for the statue, I can cover the cost.]
Having decided to invest in the Divination genius, the young woman planned to go all in.
She had already given him the [Secret Technique Whisper], so she didn’t mind throwing in another Magic Potion.
Soon.
The ring vibrated, and a teasing message appeared in her consciousness:
[Oh, my! The poor girl is worrying about the rich man, and even plans to gift all her pathetic little assets to him—I must say, that’s the funniest joke I’ve heard all year.]
The Noble Lady was a bit stunned.
What did she mean?
I’m the "poor girl," and Mo Ning is the "rich man"?
The young woman couldn’t understand the statement.
On her first day at the academy, she had received 83 Black Tower Points in funding, which was clearly 8 more than Mo Ning.
Nasha’s second message arrived quickly, revealing a secret that solved her niece’s confusion:
[I’ll just tell you directly. That crazy kid has already successfully applied for two research projects and received a total of 900 Black Tower Points in massive funding from the academy.]
For a Third Level Apprentice, 900 Black Tower Points was indeed enough to be called "massive."
Anya was instantly stunned.
How could a new apprentice apply for two research projects? That’s just absurd, isn’t it?!
If she didn’t know that Auntie Nasha never joked by telling lies and hated it when others did, she would have assumed her aunt was teasing her.
The Noble Lady took a good while to barely accept this shocking fact.
She had heard "Mo Ning is a genius" many times over the past two days, but only at this moment did she gain the deepest understanding of the meaning of the word "genius."
A genius, it turned out, was truly an existence one could only gaze at from afar.
