Chapter 466: Nesting Dolls, Meditation Methods

The advanced series for Arcanists was not hard to find, and of course, they were not all gathered together in one place as Xia Duo had imagined, but he still found this set of books very quickly.

Since he already had the Main Plane's fourteen-course version in his Personal Space, after finding the Arcane Empire version, Xia Duo did not flip through them for a detailed comparison, but instead flipped through them one by one, browsing roughly.

It was only when he flipped to "Arcane Principles" that Xia Duo could not help but have a question: it was true that Arcane Energy was produced by Arcane Fire, but at its core, it was a composite product of elements and energy from the Inner Plane.

A new, real energy source, refined through Arcane Fire, that was more in line with the essence of Magic.

A long time ago, at the beginning of his transmigration, Xia Duo had very much wanted to know if there was truly magic in this world; after learning that magic was merely a feedback effect produced by Spellcasters manipulating the Magic Net, he had slowly forgotten about this matter.

Later, when he learned of Arcane Energy, he discovered that Arcane Energy should be the magic he had imagined—a truly existing energy source.

But the problem arose: since there were Arcanists in the Projection Plane and there was Arcane Energy, did the Inner Plane exist here too? Or was it just a Projection-Inner Plane?

And were there Projection-Projection Planes?

Although Xia Duo had never heard of any Plane Exploration Array in the Arcane Empire, he really wanted to know if he could discover a Projection Plane if he set up a Plane Exploration Array here.

If one could truly nest them infinitely, that would be interesting! Guiding them layer by layer, it might even be possible to cause a qualitative change in a bottom-layer plane with extremely fast time flow, eventually breaking through the virtual layer by layer to reach Reality.

Thinking of this, Xia Duo wished he could immediately return to the Tower of Time on the Main Plane, learn the method for setting up a Plane Exploration Array, and then project over again to see if it would actually work!

Fortunately, he was just having a hot-headed moment and did not actually go back.

The problems he could think of, other Mages could think of too; there might be some limitations here, or perhaps the Projection Plane itself contained certain flaws.

Having calmed down, Xia Duo continued to browse the advanced series.

"Huh—also fourteen courses?"

Xia Duo did not discover any new knowledge, which was easy to understand; after all, fourteen courses were enough for advancement, and there was no need to add more, but it was strange that there were no fewer.

After all, the threshold for advancement should be getting lower and lower as technology progresses.

Of course, from Xia Duo's perspective, he truly could not see which of these fourteen courses could be removed. It seemed that whether it was Netheril on the Main Plane or the Arcane Empire of the Projection Plane, the conditions for advancement could only be streamlined to this extent.

It was just that there might still be something to be said about the specific courses.

For instance, in Xia Duo's hometown, the birth of any course textbook had to go through the research of countless experts, perfectly unifying the internal logic of knowledge and teaching methods, while balancing ease of understanding and continuity.

Achieving the ultimate in every aspect, and even that was only the ultimate at the time; if there were improvements later, the content of the tutorials would continue to be adjusted.

Although the knowledge itself did not change, for the students, the difficulty of learning dropped significantly. Cultivating talent in various disciplines like an assembly line—this was the power of Modern Education.

Although Modern Education had not appeared in the Arcane Empire of the Projection Plane, the advancement of Arcanists concerned the very foundation of the Arcane Empire's survival; in nearly a thousand years, the advancement courses should have been adjusted somehow!

The only thing Xia Duo had applied for previously was "Arcane Geometry." Besides the main textbook, there was also an Application and Clarification manual similar to a workbook. As Xia Duo felt it himself, it was indeed different from the Main Plane.

But if forced to say where it was different, he could not say. After all, he had already finished learning "Arcane Geometry," much like a university student looking at a primary school textbook; unless one happened to be an education major, it was hard to see the pros and cons between different textbooks.

As for the other courses, Xia Duo did not have much of a problem. Having studied step-by-step until now, most of the courses were almost finished. If there was a problem, it was probably "Soul Studies."

This course combined theory and practice. Xia Duo had no problems with the theory; it was the practice that was troublesome, requiring Focus Training to condense his will and reach the level of Perception of the soul.

Xia Duo was relatively behind in this aspect, and he was most concerned about it.

After a rough browse, the first thing he looked for was Focus Training. Skipping the theoretical overview, he went straight to the training method. After reading less than a page, Xia Duo felt the sentiment of "why must heaven create both Yu and Liang."

Although there was no mention of "demons" or "Elves" anywhere in the book, Xia Duo noticed the word "Meditation" at a glance; this was clearly translated from Elvish.

It seemed that the Arcanists of the Arcane Empire were not only at war with the Elves but were also studying them.

Xia Duo had more than once researched methods similar to Elf Meditation to utilize his sleeping time. When he was on the Main Plane, he tried to imitate it almost every night before sleeping and would record it upon waking up.

He still had a pile of meditation records in his Personal Space right now!

It was just that most of Xia Duo's records were—dazed, fell asleep, forgot!

With different bodies, it was truly difficult for humans to meditate like Elves, let alone maintain a clear self-consciousness during meditation.

But he had not expected that the Arcane Empire of the Projection Plane already had results regarding Elf Meditation!

Continuing to read, Xia Duo discovered that the meditation researched by the Arcanists of the Projection Plane was not about maintaining consciousness during sleep, but rather treating meditation as a method of Focus Training.

"Meditation Method?" Xia Duo suddenly felt a sense of temporal displacement, as if what he was reading was not some Arcane Empire magic treatise, but some web novel.

Meditation methods, breathing techniques, and the like—weren't those the standard equipment for a protagonist?

Xia Duo did not dare to claim to be a protagonist, but he also felt that this world was truly too wonderful; even meditation methods had appeared!

Just as he was about to continue reading, the book in his hand suddenly slipped out and flew back to the bookshelf. Xia Duo subconsciously reached out to grab it, but he quickly realized that time was up.

The Library was closing.

There was no such thing as staying open all night; the Library closed at the same time as the Judgment Division, which made things bitter for Xia Duo.

Having just arrived at the Judgment Division and doing the work of an assistant, he was truly too busy. Not only were there no days off, but arriving early and leaving late on regular workdays was a common occurrence.

Today, having finally managed to leave work a little early, he had just discovered the so-called "Meditation Method," only to watch it fly away helplessly. One could imagine Xia Duo's mood at this moment.

But there was no help for it; when one is under the eaves, one must bow one's head.

Since the library was closed, he could only leave, but after returning, he immediately applied to visit the Second Magic Academy Library, and he decided to apply once every day, coming over whenever he had free time.

He did not believe that the Judgment Division truly had no days of rest!