Inside the meditation chamber, the glow of the crystal lamp flickered faintly as Lynn slowly opened his eyes. In his gray pupils, it seemed as if a trace of residual light still lingered.
No matter how many times he entered Insight, he was always intoxicated by that wondrous feeling.
During the rapid consumption of his mixed source energy, his entire consciousness seemed to be elevated without limit.
Knowledge that usually appeared abstruse and incomprehensible now unfolded before him, transcending the boundaries of language and symbols, bringing forth a richer, more profound perception.
Unfortunately, with his current 2.5 units of source energy, the time he could sustain Insight was simply too short.
It was as if he were a devout believer suddenly granted divinity, permitted a fleeting step into God's kingdom, yet that divine spark was only enough to linger before the gates, never to walk inside.
Lynn let out a breath that was equal parts satisfied and regretful. Rising to his feet, he fetched pen and paper and began to think.
This time, he had deliberately chosen to focus his Insight solely on the first half of Void White Lightning, the portion Felicity was currently researching.
His goal was simple: to find a way to get hold of that piece of Silver-Crystal Marrow in Felicity's possession as soon as possible.
On one hand, he didn't know how long Felicity intended to keep it.
On the other hand, obtaining the Silver-Crystal Marrow early would directly aid his own practice of Void White Lightning.
Though Felicity had claimed that the marrow could store magic power and speculated that crystalline energy was very similar in nature to magic, the truth could only be known once Lynn tested it with his own hands.
Being able to "store" magic only meant it might be driven by magic.
That was still far from proving that magic could perfectly substitute crystalline energy to drive the marrow and retain the full destructive power of Void White Lightning.
What's more, direct access to the Silver-Crystal Marrow would give him a far greater understanding, which in turn would sharpen the effect of his future Insights.
*"Felicity's translation of the White Crow script contains many mistakes, especially regarding specialized terms, but the overall principles of Void White Lightning are sound.
"Yet, following Felicity's adapted version, it's impossible to successfully split off a fragment of spirit… Where exactly did he go wrong?"
Lynn gripped the pen tightly, painstakingly retracing every word of Felicity's adapted version, testing each against his own understanding.
After a long while, his eyes suddenly lit up. He had found a clue.
*"Felicity's overall reasoning isn't wrong, but because of translation flaws and his lack of familiarity with the White Crow world, he overlooked a crucial detail
"Void White Lightning requires the practitioner's body to reach first-tier strength before cultivation can begin. But that is not the same thing as being a first-tier apprentice!"
Lynn knew very well that the White Crows, like the Guern race, were not born with the ability to naturally shatter the transcendental barrier.
Their transcendents, just like wizards, cultivated their power after birth.
But compared to the wizarding system, the White Crows' extraordinary system was crude and uneven.
Take the primitive White Crow Sword Art, for instance, it could strengthen the body decently, but offered barely any benefit to the mind.
Thus, when Void White Lightning demanded a body at first-tier strength, it did not mean the practitioner's spirit had grown correspondingly strong!
In fact, the latter half of Void White Lightning even included a method to slowly nurture the spirit fragment within the Silver-Crystal Marrow, gradually strengthening it, and only afterward feeding that growth back to enhance the practitioner's own spirit.
Such a method of spiritual growth was undeniably inefficient. If a White Crow's spirit had already been strong enough from the start, they would not need such a roundabout approach.
And that, in turn, confirmed Lynn's deduction.
"Which means… the fragment of spirit split off by Void White Lightning is nothing more than the White Crows' most primitive, raw spirit!"
Lynn muttered to himself.
In theory, the spirit after growth should be no different from the original spirit.
But after his Insight and careful study of Felicity's adapted Void White Lightning, this was the only place he could find where something might have gone wrong!
After pondering for a moment, Lynn didn't rush to contact Felicity. Instead, he headed to the Academy's library.
There, he began searching for information on the differences between "original spirit" and "enhanced spirit."
However, with the limited search permissions available to ordinary apprentices, Lynn found nothing, not even a trace.
All the records he could access stated the same thing: there was no difference at all between original spirit and enhanced spirit.
Inside the towering library, Lynn withdrew his hand from the crystal terminal, frowning deeply.
The Silver Ring Academy's archives were unlikely to be mistaken.
That meant his deduction had some kind of flaw.
*"If there's truly no difference between original and enhanced spirit, then what exactly allows the White Crows to successfully split their spirit while the Guern race cannot?
"Could it really be a matter of race?"*
"Excuse me, senior, are you still using this crystal?"
Lynn snapped out of his thoughts and glanced at the young girl standing before him. Shaking his head, he stepped aside.
"Thank you, senior." The second-rank apprentice bowed politely. Silver Ring Academy was a traditional wizarding institution, where hierarchy was rigidly observed.
Second-rank apprentice… At that moment, a spark of realization struck Lynn!
His logic hadn't been wrong; he had simply misidentified the key factor.
"It's the Spiritual Fog. First-rank apprentices no longer have a Spiritual Fog!"
If there truly was no difference between original and enhanced spirit, then the only major variable left was the Spiritual Fog itself.
"But if that's the case, doesn't it mean… I also won't be able to cultivate Void White Lightning?"
Lynn frowned deeply, caught between hope and dread.
But soon he steadied himself. Leaving the quiet library, he stepped back into the bustling world outside, preparing to contact Felicity.
Originally, Lynn had wanted to figure out the distinction between original and enhanced spirit on his own, successfully split off a fragment of spirit, and then present his results to Felicity.
But now it seemed that no amount of personal speculation would get him anywhere.
It would be better to share his theory with Felicity, whose knowledge and ability far exceeded his own.
...
"Welcome, Lord Lynn. Master Felicity is already waiting in the laboratory."
At the villa's entrance, Unit 006 greeted him with a smile. "Please, follow me."
"Thank you," Lynn replied, striding inside.
006 led him straight down to the familiar underground laboratory.
Felicity was in the middle of an experiment, holding a vial of the same pale-blue liquid he had once used to test them.
When he saw Lynn enter, he set the vial aside and rose to his feet, smiling.
"Your guess was correct, Lynn. It really is a matter of the Spiritual Fog."
Lynn raised his brows slightly. After sending Felicity his message, he had hurried over immediately at the latter's invitation.
It had been barely an hour, yet judging by Felicity's expression, he had already reached preliminary results.
Stepping closer, Lynn asked curiously:
"So, Lord Felicity, what exactly does the Spiritual Fog affect?"
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