Chapter 369: Kelin, who shines and generates heat like the sun

Tower of the Grand Sage, lower library.

The towering bookshelves were like rows of silent giants, guarding tens of thousands of volumes of knowledge. The air was filled with the unique scent of old parchment mixed with ink, and polished floating stone slabs traveled between long, thin cloud ladders, transporting heavy classics.

Here, even the slightest sound of footsteps would be infinitely magnified, and only the rustling sound of a quill pen across paper was the only background sound allowed.

Two months passed in a flash, and the newcomer Finn had completely adapted to life in the Academy.

At this moment, he was studying together with Senior Kuersi at a large oak table, only the latter was clearly a bit absent-minded, as if he was not looking forward to him, but someone else.

Finn put down the book in his hand, sighed lightly, and whispered to Kuersi beside him: "Speaking of which, I have rarely seen Ilana recently. Since entering Mentor Kelin's laboratory, she seems to be soaked in it every day..."

Hearing Ilana's name, Kuersi's ears pricked up, while Finn seemed completely unaware, only looking envious and saying.

"But honestly, I'm really happy for her, being able to find what she is passionate about so quickly, and also being able to participate in frontier magic research."

Kuersi was immediately unhappy when he heard this.

He raised his head from the book, let out a disdainful cold snort, leaned close to Finn's side, and whispered sourly in a voice only the two of them could hear: "Don't be too naive. That Prince Kelin might not have taken a fancy to Ilana's ability; I'm afraid it's something else."

"Something... else?" Finn looked innocent, completely unable to understand the deep meaning, "What else could there be?"

Kuersi looked at his clueless appearance, didn't bother to explain further, just waved his hand impatiently and brushed it off.

"You'll understand later."

Finn tilted his head, indicating he didn't understand.

He was still young, and from the countryside, how could he guess what the Prince from the Shengcheng was thinking.

Very coincidentally, this conversation was heard clearly by Skaiyin, who was flipping through materials not far away.

A playful cold smile curled up on the corner of his mouth, and he looked with contempt at the hopeless and self-righteous fool.

If Prince Kelin were really so easy to corrupt, he wouldn't have had to spend so much effort "preparing lessons." This apprentice who popped out of nowhere was just projecting all his own filthy thoughts onto others.

Such people were everywhere in the Academy, self-important yet eye-high and hand-low, attributing the reason for not getting ahead to no one appreciating them, but in fact, they couldn't even compare to a single hair of Minos, whom he had dealt with... his dear junior brother really just had bad luck.

Buying off such a fool didn't even take a gold coin; an ethereal promise was enough.

But... why buy off a fool?

Giving fools a promise that would never be fulfilled and letting them continue to live in distant dreams was fine; compared to the Void Realm discovered only in the last fifty years, the endless stream of apprentice cannon fodder was the fuel that kept the Tower of the Grand Sage alive until now.

And as fuel, they were not innocent; anyway, if they didn't burn in the Academy, they would burn on the front lines or elsewhere. All the suffering they endured in this life was just the retribution they deserved for the choices they made in their previous lives.

Skaiyin subconsciously clenched the page of the book held in his fingertips, but at this moment he was suddenly startled. He didn't know how, but he had subconsciously defended Prince Kelin in his heart.

Usually, he would never pay attention to such people.

A drop of cold sweat slid down his cheek, and he quickly collected his mind, focusing his gaze back on the assignment in his hand.

In just a few seconds, he quickly found a reasonable explanation for this inexplicable emotion—

That Prince was Professor Alister's target, and also his own target, and a wild dog barking randomly at his target only made him feel noisy.

Well, it must be like this.

Skaiyin continued to immerse himself in the exploration of science; he felt that he had already vaguely penetrated a little of the mystery of this theory.

Science, in fact, is not a sect, nor is it a theory or axiom.

But a kind of thought.

This thought can be used to study light and sound, and of course, it can also be used to explore the mysteries of magic and the spiritual realm.

It is like a lens.

Through it, one can not only see the world clearly but also see oneself clearly...

At this very moment, Skaiyin did not realize that a ray of light called "rationality" had already shone through the barrier he built with his own hands into his heart, which had been painted black by shadows.

And that Prince was the sun emitting that light...

In the past two months, it was not just the preparatory students who had just joined the Tower of the Grand Sage who were on the right track, but also Prince Kelin and his apprentices.

Although most professors felt that this Prince was just playing around, those who had truly listened to his lectures didn't think so, and more and more teaching assistants and even lower-middle-level mentors began to realize the importance of "science."

Especially after he talked about calculus and geometric principles, some mentors engaged in magic theory research and enchantment technology research felt like they had found a treasure, and one after another sent invitations for academic exchange to this "unprofessional" Prince.

Of course, it didn't exclude some people just wanting to get close to the Prince; after all, everyone knew he was about to obtain the Void Realm resources approved by the Council.

With two professors supporting him, this matter almost had no suspense; it was just a matter of when this resource could be spared.

It is very difficult for a mentor without his own team to eat a Void Realm resource alone. Getting on good terms with Prince Kelin now, who knows, maybe one could get a share of the pie later.

For the incoming academic exchange invitations, Luo Yan naturally agreed happily. Regardless of whether the other party had other purposes, it was exactly what he wanted.

He came to the Academy itself to absorb the magic knowledge here.

And this knowledge is not just stored in the books in the library, but more is stored in the brains of those professors.

Exchanging some superficial scientific principles for the core theory of the Source Law Sect, this deal is simply too cost-effective.

Moreover, in this process, he can also sow the seeds of thought in the minds of the Academy's mages while exploring the application of scientific theory in magic research.

Because he won three times, it is simply called a win-win.

Due to focusing his work on the classroom and academic exchanges, Luo Yan adopted a free-range mode for the laboratory side.

Except for checking the topics, he handed over most of the daily management work to the apprentices to handle by themselves.

And these young men and women from ordinary backgrounds really didn't let him down; with solid hands-on ability, they were more creative than he imagined, worthy of being the true "roll kings" who could stand out from the assessment of tens of thousands of people.

Of course, things were not always smooth sailing.

For example, at this moment, they encountered a little "small trouble."

The dim sunset gradually sank into the snowfield, and the busy "Magic-Guided Science" laboratory had been running in busyness for a whole day.

Jiemi, Ramu, and several other apprentices were surrounding an experimental table, sighing at a miniature gear removed from the wreckage of a magic doll, unable to figure it out.

"It won't work," Ramu frowned her delicate eyebrows, put down the magnifying glass in her hand, and sighed, saying, "The inscriptions on it can't be seen clearly at all; I really don't know how that Mr. James engraved them on it..."

In order to continue the task Mentor Kelin gave them, they had to identify the inscriptions on the gear before they could unfold the subsequent analysis.

However, I don't know if that gentleman borrowed the power of magic or hired skilled dwarf craftsmen, but he was actually able to carve the inscriptions on the inner wall of the gear, so much so that they couldn't see what was written on it at all.

"I remember Mentor Kelin said in class," Jiemi scratched his head and said in a low voice, "This seems to be caused by the fact that when light passes through a lens, light of different colors cannot converge at the same point. But... we all understand the principle, how to solve it?"

Everyone fell into silence for a while.

Coincidentally, at this time, Ilana, who was passing by, heard their discussion and suddenly spoke after thinking for a moment.

"I... have an immature idea."

The moment she heard this sentence, everyone's gaze focused on her.

Ilana hesitated for a moment and continued in an uncertain tone: "Mentor said, the problem lies in when light 'passes through' the lens. Then... what if we don't let the light pass through?"

"Don't... pass through?" Jiemi looked at her blankly and asked in confusion, "Then how do we see the inscriptions on it?"

Prince Kelin had already popularized it for them in the classroom that the reason they could see objects was precisely because the light reflected by the objects shone into their eyes.

And this also meant that Ilana's proposal was completely self-contradictory... they had to let the light pass through the magnifying glass to see the inscriptions carved on the gear.

However—

Just as he thought this, the cognition that had formed for less than a few seconds was subverted.

"Use reflection!" Ilana said earnestly, looking at the stunned Jiemi and Ramu, and continued with shining eyes, "Look, when light shines on this polished brass instrument, won't it reflect back? If... we can find a concave arc surface polished as smooth as a mirror, let it converge the light, and then use a very small, flat mirror to reflect the converged light into our eyes... wouldn't the problem be solved?"

This idea was like a bolt of lightning, splitting everyone's fixed thinking. They had never thought that "magnification" could also be achieved through "reflection."

"Arc mirror..." Ramu muttered to herself, "My father made similar decorations, but polishing it to the degree you said is probably not an easy thing."

"But I think this method is worth a try!" Jiemi looked at Ramu, his expression excited, and said, "And... I think this can also be used in subsequent research; who knows, maybe we can also borrow this tool to achieve carving at the microscopic level!"

"Yeah... I still have a pile of gears where I can't see the inscriptions clearly!"

"Do it, brothers!"

"Oooo!"

The apprentices discussed in a jumble. Even Ramu, who was skeptical at first, gradually loosened her suspicion and joined in with the idea of giving it a try.

With a clear direction to solve the problem, these children from craftsman families immediately burst into huge enthusiasm.

They found suitable materials and started working with a clatter.

Hard work pays off.

After several failures, a simple "reflective observation instrument" was really made by them!

When everyone saw every inscription as fine as a hair on the miniature gear clearly for the first time, everyone let out a joyful cheer.

And at this very moment, they didn't realize that besides seeing the inscriptions on the gear clearly, they had also unintentionally done something amazing—

The thinking they used when solving the problem was precisely the technical principle of more precise optical instruments such as reflective telescopes and microscopes.

These magic apprentices almost made these two epoch-making tools!

"Ilana, you are really... too smart!" Jiemi admired genuinely, "If it were me, I certainly wouldn't have thought that a lens could be used like this!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ramu's face was also full of worship, and her cheeks were rosy like apples, "I thought it certainly couldn't be done, but I didn't expect it wouldn't be that difficult to actually do it..."

Facing the praise of her companions, a rare hint of embarrassment appeared on Ilana's slightly cold face, and she said in a very low voice.

"I just happened to remember what Mentor taught us. And... thanks to everyone's persistence, this is not my credit alone."

After finishing, she hurried back to her workbench, panicked to continue the work she had fallen behind on, and hid the red clouds that climbed to her earlobes.

Looking at Ilana's back, Ramu's eyes were full of longing, and she couldn't help but sigh to Jiemi beside her: "I didn't expect Sister Ilana to look cold, but actually have a shy time..."

Jiemi nodded woodenly but didn't speak. And the young men standing beside were the same, their faces blushing subconsciously...

The next morning.

When Luo Yan learned that his apprentices had actually made the prototype of a reflective telescope, he was shocked and even more gratified.

Besides commending these smart and hardworking young men and women, he immediately set up a brand-new project in his laboratory—encouraging his apprentices to design a telescope that could see further.

This thing has a great effect in both navigation and astronomy fields; who knows, the Imperial Naval Academy might even be interested.

At that time, the sect named "Science" might even be able to gain the support of the Imperial Officer Sect, shining even more intensely on this barren snowfield!

But this matter is still very far away.

The research on improving the telescope is currently being handled by Jiemi and Ramu; as for Ilana, she is still tirelessly burying her head in that notebook belonging to James Wali.

By the way, setting aside the important role she played in inventing the "reflective observation instrument," the progress she has made in the past two months can simply be described as "advancing by leaps and bounds."

Especially after mastering the powerful mathematical tool of "calculus"!

Many complex calculations in the notebook that were originally obscure and difficult to understand and required taking a big detour to solve, she can now easily solve.

Even, she can also turn around and use simpler formulas to optimize Mr. James's derivation process, and corrected several flaws caused by backward calculation methods.

However—

Just as Jiemi and Ramu would encounter their own bottlenecks, when she walked to the end of the road along the footprints of her predecessors, difficulties finally descended on her head.

Especially when her research gradually deepened into areas that even Mr. James hadn't conquered, she felt unprecedented strain.

Every problem she faced had no experience from predecessors to borrow from; every step of exploration was like walking alone in thick fog.

Putting down the quill pen in her hand, she gently rubbed her swollen temples, and a deep fatigue appeared on her cold face.

And just at this moment, a gentle voice sounded behind her.

"Encountered trouble?"

Ilana turned back in surprise, finding that Prince Kelin had stood behind her at some point, looking at the formulas spread out on the table with interest.

"Mentor..." she stood up embarrassedly, blushing and saying reservedly, "Yes, Mr. James encountered a problem about the limit of multivariable functions here; although you mentioned it in class, you didn't expand on it. I tried it... but still couldn't calculate it."

Luo Yan nodded knowingly, thought for a moment, took a brand-new book from his storage ring, and handed it to her.

This was copied for him by You You; as for how it was copied, he didn't ask, thinking that the players must have played some role.

Ilana took it suspiciously, only to see a few words she had never seen before written on the cover of the book in the Imperial common language—

Higher Algebra?

Looking at the bewildered Ilana, Luo Yan said with a smile.

"Calculus is just the foundation of higher mathematics; what I talked about in the classroom is just the tip of the iceberg; after all, I have to take care of those who don't understand. But you are unexpectedly talented in mathematics; I think it is time to hand this book to you... perhaps it can bring you some help."

Hearing this sentence, Ilana froze.

The expression on her face was first surprise, then excitement and emotion. She stretched out her trembling hand, took the heavy book, and held it in her arms.

For her, that is not only new knowledge, but even more a heavy recognition!

Feeling the lingering warmth on the cover of the book, Ilana looked up at Prince Kelin's face and said in an unprecedentedly earnest tone.

"Mentor... I will definitely keep it well!"

She swore!

She would defend the mentor's "science" with her life!

Looking at this overly excited magic apprentice, Luo Yan laughed, waved his hand, and signaled her not to be so nervous.

"It's just a book; I have plenty here. Compared to offering it on the bookshelf, I would rather you flip it until it's worn out."

When he said this, he paused for a moment, changed to a slightly solemn tone, and continued.

"... Work hard; I hope that after you understand it, you can teach it to the other apprentices in the laboratory for me."

"If I'm not here one day, I'll have to rely on you to spread the theory I left behind."

The spark of enlightenment has been ignited; as for when it can turn into a prairie fire, that depends on the fortune of the people here themselves.

As the Demon King, he is only responsible for lighting the fire.

But they are lucky, because Demon King Majesty does not only light fires in one place, but is fanning the flames all over the world.

When that fire rises into the sky, their era will come.

"Hmm!"

I hope that day can come a little later...

Holding that "Higher Algebra" tightly, Ilana felt excitement, reluctance, surging heart, and various other things in her heart.

After hesitating for a long time, she finally couldn't help but ask the biggest doubt in her heart.

"Mentor, where did you learn those profound knowledge... Is it the Jiana Continent? Or the Shengcheng?"

Compared to a mage who had already given up his theory, she actually longed to follow in the footsteps of this Prince even more!

That longing was like a sunflower longing to face the sun.

Facing that gaze full of curiosity, admiration, and even a hint of faint longing, Luo Yan did not answer directly.

"I am not as great as you think."

He turned and looked at the mage towers standing in the clouds outside the window, and said softly in a distant and humble tone.

"I am just standing on the shoulders of giants."

He had long wanted to act cool like this.

Finally, he caught the opportunity. ===== CHAPTER 370 =====