Chapter 1544: Psionic Perception, The Origin of the Mage Tower's Spirit

"Teacher, why are you in such a rush?"

"If I said I was worried about Buluode, would you believe me?"

Iolum rarely cracked a joke, then reminded Xia Duo: "Watch my spellcasting carefully. This spell isn't difficult; the key is whether you can think of it."

Xia Duo was bursting with questions, only to be blocked by this remark, but since Iolum had already said so, he could only patiently observe.

The spell was indeed not difficult, and after the first few key Element Units were completed, Xia Duo had already determined that this was a Psionic spell.

The spell continued, and he felt very familiar with almost all the Spell Elements, but until the spell was finished, Xia Duo hadn't discovered anything unusual.

Could this just be for show?

If it were someone else, Xia Duo might have truly thought so, but with Iolum, he couldn't help but find reasons for him—it certainly couldn't be this simple!

Analyzing the Principles of the spell, because it was too simple, it was like holding a convex lens and asking what it was for; besides being a magnifying glass, what else could it do?

This spell didn't even show any external effects; one could only preliminarily judge that it was related to Perception. Could this be a Perception spell within Psionic Magic?

Psionic Perception?

"Did you understand? You try it!"

"Alright."

Xia Duo agreed without hesitation. At least he didn't see any harm in this spell. Although it was an imitation cast after seeing it only once, the spell itself was not complex.

Coupled with the fact that the relevant elements were all very familiar, Xia Duo succeeded on his first try. But what after success? Although it felt like there was a slight effect, in reality, he couldn't discover any effect at all.

"Teacher?"

"Don't be impatient, listen to me explain it slowly."

Although he said he would explain, Iolum still chose an upward diagonal direction and flew off quickly, and Xia Duo could only continue to follow.

……

In the Ether Mist, Xia Duo and Iolum flew higher and higher. It wasn't until they reached an altitude of about one thousand meters that Iolum stopped.

Xia Duo approached, about to ask, but saw Iolum looking up at the Ether Mist above, as well as the random Magic that only gradually decreased at this altitude, and sighed deeply:

"It seems this matter has blown up quite a bit. If I had known, I would have waited a while longer. Sigh!"

Regarding this, Xia Duo felt deeply as well. Even if this matter didn't reach the Northland Alliance, the Seven Towers would certainly want an explanation. After all, causing such an out-of-control incident in Seventon had a terrible impact.

"Teacher—"

Xia Duo wanted to comfort Iolum but didn't know where to start, so he could only sigh along with him.

"You! I'm the one in trouble, why are you sighing!" Iolum said irritably.

"Isn't Teacher's trouble my trouble!"

"Forget it, let's not talk about this."

Iolum put away his worried expression and finally began to explain to Xia Duo: "That spell just now wasn't to tease you. Do you know how much we paid to obtain this spell at the beginning? This is a Psionic Perception spell; its greatest function is to search for the kind of twisted Phantom you encountered before."

"Searching for twisted Phantoms?"

Xia Duo had guessed before that Iolum's sudden inability to go out might be related to that kind of twisted Phantom. He didn't expect it to be true, so he hurriedly asked:

"Then how do we search? And what exactly is the use of that kind of twisted Phantom?"

"How to search?"

Iolum smiled slightly, "Aren't we searching right now? That spell just now can greatly enhance our Perception of that kind of powerful yet unhidden Soul. Alright, there's none in this area, let's go to the next area."

After speaking, Iolum flew away again, but this time he didn't fly diagonally upward, choosing instead to fly level. Combining this with his previous words, Xia Duo immediately had a guess in his heart.

After catching up again, Xia Duo asked: "Does the 'greatly enhance our Perception' that Teacher just mentioned refer to the area below us down to the ground, and even the area above?"

"Yes."

Iolum did not stop flying, but explained to Xia Duo while flying: "That kind of twisted Phantom leaves behind an extremely special core after death. This is the foundation for the existence of a Mage Tower's spirit.

"Although Saville didn't say anything after returning, I could tell he still wanted to rebuild his Mage Tower. Also, the Independent Arcane Fire Device is too delicate and too dangerous; using a Mage Tower's spirit to control it would be more secure."

"The foundation for the existence of a Mage Tower's spirit?"

Xia Duo was suddenly full of question marks, "Does the existence of a Mage Tower's spirit need a carrier? Isn't it said that the spirit is closely connected to the essence of its master, and if the master disappears, the spirit also disappears?"

"You are correct, but can you clearly state what the essence of a Spellcaster is? Of course, what I said isn't entirely accurate; it should be said that that special core is the foundation for a Mage Tower's spirit to exist long-term and be passed down."

"Then what exactly is a Mage Tower's spirit? How is it created?"

Xia Duo had had this question a long time ago, but Saville hadn't left behind any materials related to Mage Tower spirits, and later he never found a suitable opportunity, so he hadn't asked Iolum.

If he didn't ask now, he would be too foolish.

Regarding this, Iolum did not hide it, only saying: "I cannot tell you how a Mage Tower's spirit is created until I have the permission of the Seven Towers. However, you don't need to worry too much; the Seven Towers are very happy to sell relevant Spell Scrolls to any Great Arcanist, and even if you crack it, they won't pursue it."

"They don't pursue it because I don't have their core, so the Mage Tower's spirit I create privately cannot exist long-term, right?"

"Of course, otherwise did you think they wouldn't care about this highly valuable spell?"

"……"

Sure enough, crows are black all over the world. Xia Duo asked again: "Then Teacher still hasn't said what a Mage Tower's spirit actually is?"

"A Mage Tower's spirit is not a concrete and realistic existence, but an existence in a conceptual sense. You can understand it as a collection of one or more device functions, or say it is those one or more devices themselves. Of course, understanding it as a Soul is also fine, but it focuses more on consciousness and mind, yet there is no such 'thing' that exists."

Iolum's explanation was a bit convoluted, but when it came to consciousness, Xia Duo understood almost as soon as he heard it. He was very clear that consciousness was different from a Soul, and about the special nature of consciousness.

In this world, a Soul is a concretely existing "thing," but consciousness is not. Consciousness is just a state of the Soul. Mind and consciousness are similar; they are both related to the concept of self-existence.

It's just that Xia Duo had never thought that a pile of inanimate objects could produce an independently existing consciousness, and even whether his own consciousness could exist independently was a question.

During the process of 【Body Merging with Heaven and Earth】, although his form and even his Soul were dissolved, if Heaven and Earth no longer existed, could his consciousness still exist?

Furthermore, how a pile of inanimate objects could produce consciousness was truly baffling!

Such an unscientific thing immediately made Xia Duo think of Psionic, and at the same time, he remembered why the Multi-faceted Crystal Bead that fell earlier gave him such a familiar feeling.

Actually, it was because those Psionic Magic Items he had brought back from Evereska earlier felt like they shared some kind of indescribable commonality!