Chapter 371: First exploration of the Void Realm, pastoral wonders!

At noon the next day, thin sunlight sprinkled on a pure white snowfield, and the blizzard that had raged all night finally stopped slightly.

Just at this moment of silence, a carriage pulled by two divine white flying horses suddenly broke through the clouds and landed steadily at the entrance of Kelin Tower.

This solitary five-story mage tower, like a silent lighthouse, stood on the white northern wilderness.

A newly changed flag embroidered with the Kelin family emblem hung at the top of the tower, fluttering in the biting cold wind.

A dozen or so teaching assistants wearing heavy mage robes had been waiting at the door for a long time.

They were a team assigned by the Council to assist Mentor Kelin in his research, and many of them were previously responsible for the research of Void Realm No. 440.

Before this, Void Realm No. 440 was discovered and studied by a mentor of the Academy named Kainis. It is just unfortunate that his research lasted less than half a year before it was accidentally interrupted due to an experimental accident.

According to the rules of the Academy, Void Realms discovered in the Northern Wasteland belong to the discoverer. And if the discoverer voluntarily gives up or cannot continue research due to an accident, the Void Realm will be returned to the Academy and redistributed by the Tower of the Grand Sage to other professors or mentors to inherit its research.

Mentor Kainis belonged to the Source Law Sect, and his research should have been inherited by a professor of the Source Law Sect, and various professors of the Source Law Sect also fought for this resource for a long time.

It is just that no one expected that Prince Kelin would suddenly come to this wilderness, and the many mentors and professors waiting for resources could only sigh lightly that their luck was bad.

Seeing Luo Yan walking down from the carriage, the teaching assistants waiting outside the mage tower bowed in unison, performing a etiquette even more standard than that of the nobles in the Shengcheng.

"It's windy outside, let's go in and talk."

Luo Yan smiled gently, nodded to these teaching assistants who came to assist in his experiment, and then walked straight into this mage tower named after his surname.

Watching Prince Kelin's back enter the mage tower, the teaching assistants waiting at the door straightened up, walking towards the mage tower while whispering to each other.

"As expected of a Prince, young and promising just like the rumors!" A young teaching assistant's eyes were full of envy, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh.

Hearing his voice, another teaching assistant beside him nodded deeply, his eyes full of admiration and appreciation.

"... Yeah, I heard he is only in his twenties, and his strength is already Platinum level! If he reaches Professor Gangte's age, I don't know how strong he will be!"

"Platinum level?! Really or fake?!"

"Genius..."

The whispering sound spread, and all those faces were full of longing.

They, who could stand out from hundreds of thousands of magic apprentices, could be considered the best among ordinary people, but looking at this Platinum-level powerhouse in his twenties, they still couldn't help but show envy, and felt their own halo was as humble as an ant in front of a true powerhouse.

However, the discussion was not all envy, but also mixed with a few hints of jealousy.

"Genius? Just relying on the shade of ancestors," a sour voice said, his face full of indignation at the world, "If I were born in the Kelin family, I would at least be a Diamond at this age!"

Hearing this sentence, the teaching assistant beside him chuckled, his worshipful appearance clearly a supporter of Prince Kelin.

"Diamond? Stop bragging; if you were born in the Kelin family, would you come to the Northern Wasteland to learn magic?"

Seeing that the two young men were about to quarrel, an older teaching assistant scolded in a low voice, interrupting them.

"Alright, both of you shut up, unless you want to get out of here."

Hearing this scolding, the two young teaching assistants immediately shut their mouths and didn't speak.

Whether it was envy or jealousy, the job of being an assistant to Prince Kelin was something they had snatched from their colleagues with great difficulty. If they were kicked out for discussing the mentor behind his back, they would really have nowhere to cry.

As the top resource of the Academy, even the most ordinary Void Realm was a rare opportunity for a teaching assistant. Even a little bit of benefit leaking from it was enough to fish their humble souls out of the dust and change their fate in this life and the next together.

Besides the huge value hidden in the Void Realm itself, they also heard that this Prince Kelin was unusually generous to the people around him.

By then, if they really fished out some benefits from the Void Realm, and that Prince happened to look down on them, who knows, it might end up benefiting them in the end!

Driven by this huge interest, almost every teaching assistant was full of enthusiasm for the job in hand, wishing to perform in front of Prince Kelin immediately.

Of course, having said that, not everyone was optimistic about the research on Void Realm No. 440.

Although this Void Realm had low development, the difficulty was not low at all; it was completely possible to be busy until the end and get nothing.

Two experienced teaching assistants walked together, talking in a low voice, their words full of worry about Mentor Kelin's youth.

"Prince Kelin's strength is impeccable, but I feel his qualifications are still too shallow... And, has he engaged in Void Realm research work?"

Another teaching assistant shook his head lightly.

"That Prince has only been in the Academy for less than two months, how could he have studied the Void Realm... Probably this is his first time coming into contact with this thing."

That experienced teaching assistant sighed lightly.

"I hope he is prepared; this Void Realm No. 440 is no laughing matter. The previous Mentor Kainis responsible for here not only didn't make any progress, but also suffered a backlash from the Void Realm due to an experimental error, and he hasn't woken up until now..."

This heavy conversation was not only heard by the surrounding teaching assistants, but the little mother dragon Ta Fu, who was hanging on Luo Yan's shoulder like a scarf, also heard it clearly, and a sound of stealing joy came from her mouth.

This little ghost never missed any opportunity to gloat, so much so that Luo Yan couldn't help but reflect on himself, wondering if he hadn't done well enough somewhere.

It was clearly a punishment, but it made this guy enjoy it.

Shala, who was walking beside Luo Yan, was completely different.

With keen hearing, she took all the discussions into her ears, a hint of worry flashed on her cold face, and she couldn't help but look at the Demon King Majesty beside her.

Luo Yan, who was walking towards the tower, didn't care at all, just smiled faintly and gave Shala a reassuring look.

'I have a plan in my heart.'

The resources allocated to him by the Academy are nothing more than two possibilities: either simple and insignificant, or expensive but a hard bone to chew.

If it were only Professor Gangte, the former situation would be a high-probability event; after all, Gangte himself couldn't get any too good resources.

However, according to Keji, it was not only Professor Gangte who was fighting for him at the Council of Sages, but also a professor named Alister who was pushing this matter, and this professor was a Diamond-level mage, said to be only one step away from the Sage.

Clearly, this "quasi-sage" professor had already determined that he absolutely couldn't penetrate the mystery of Void Realm No. 440, and had already regarded this Void Realm as something in his pocket.

Thinking of this, Luo Yan's mouth curled up with a thought-provoking smile, and he whispered to himself.

"Let's see what this Void Realm is."

In the center of Kelin Tower, in a spacious and solemn circular hall, complex runes were spread all over the ground like spider webs, forming a huge magic array together with the stone pillars supporting the main structure of the building.

The teaching assistants wearing long robes placed magic crystals emitting faint light one by one meticulously at the nodes of the magic array.

With the last magic crystal placed, the dark blue light instantly swept across the ground along the lines drawn by the magic crystal powder, climbed up the magnificent stone pillars, and climbed to the top of the mage tower!

Standing at the edge of the magic array, Luo Yan examined everything happening in front of him with interest and recorded it in the crystal ball in his arms.

Just at this moment, a harsh buzzing sound came from the top of the tower.

The entire space seemed to be frozen, plated with a layer of blue filter, and fell into a strange steady state.

Shala looked around uneasily, her right hand pressing on the hilt of her sword, not understanding what had happened.

That huge magic fluctuation made her feel a hint of unease...

Ta Fu, who had been wandering between half-dream and half-awake, was completely unable to sleep this time, her two eyes staring like copper bells.

"This... how is it possible?!"

"What how is it possible?" Looking at Ta Fu who was taken aback, Luo Yan asked casually.

"Subspace... it's actually subspace!" Ta Fu muttered to herself, with an expression of being unable to accept it, "Don't you know how I came to this world after reading my diary!? Incredible, a group of hairless monkey natives, actually..."

Looking at Ta Fu who was struggling with inexplicable things, Luo Yan couldn't help but feel a bit funny.

"Did you forget what you did in the Jiana Continent?"

"That's different! I borrowed the barrier completed by the lizardmen, and... that's not a subspace in the true sense, just borrowing the characteristics of subspace to separate the Jiana Continent from the main world." Ta Fu argued stubbornly, the tail hanging on Luo Yan's back tense, swaying uneasily from side to side.

"Is that so? But in my opinion, your achievements are even more heaven-defying." Luo Yan replied casually, and reached out his hand forward.

An incredible scene happened.

The air flowing in front of him seemed to have turned into a viscous gel, wrapping the entire interior of the mage tower.

And what made Luo Yan feel even more surprised was that even if the air turned into a viscous gel, it didn't seem to hinder the people in it from breathing?

This incredible question didn't puzzle him for long; as time passed, Luo Yan soon understood the reason.

It wasn't that the air turned into a viscous gel, but that the entire space, together with everything in the space, had turned into this viscous and soft existence.

The physical rules in the classical universe seemed to have failed in this narrow mage tower...

Ta Fu, who was lying on his shoulder, swallowed a mouthful of saliva and whispered the shock in his heart.

"... This is too incredible."

Finally completing the deployment of the magic array, Miller, the person in charge of the entire Void Realm research team, walked towards Luo Yan and said respectfully.

"Mentor, everything is ready, we can start at any time."

Luo Yan nodded, suppressing the excitement in his heart, and ordered calmly.

"Start."

"Yes."

Miller responded, respectfully took the magic scroll bestowed by the Council from Prince Kelin's hand, walked into the magic array, and began to chant the spell.

The entire hall had become the scene of a concert; with Miller's chanting, many mages also began to recite spells one after another.

Under the joint efforts of everyone, a vast magic power like a flood surged in this viscous space, and flowed around the stone pillars like a whirlpool!

Suddenly, that surging magic power began to gather towards the center of the magic array.

Under the gaze of Ta Fu's astonished eyes, that complete and continuous space-time was actually torn open with a crack two meters high!

The moment this crack was torn open, the buzzing sound from top to bottom suddenly disappeared, and the twisted space-time crack abruptly stabilized.

The mages standing on the magic array changed the rhythm of casting spells, and the arc of magic power, like a network woven in the air, polished the unstable crack into a regular-shaped lens that swayed gently like water waves.

Through the mirror surface that was like a lake, everyone saw the scene behind Void Realm No. 440—it was a pastoral scenery with sunny weather.

The sky was blue, the clouds were leisurely, the crisscrossing field ridges divided the farmland with lush grass and sparse seedlings, and windmills and cooking smoke could be seen in the distance.

Everyone's "viewpoint" was located on a tall boulder, that was a boulder as tall as a five-story mage tower, enough to overlook the entire field.

Seeing this scene, all the mages breathed a sigh of relief, their faces showing the joy of accomplishment.

"This is... success?" Luo Yan stepped into the magic array and cast an inquiring look at Miller beside him.

The latter nodded excitedly and said in an excited voice.

"Yes, Mentor! We not only succeeded, but it was even more successful than expected!"

Luo Yan asked with interest.

"What does more successful than expected refer to?"

Miller smiled shyly and answered at a fast speed.

"Last time when Mentor Kainis opened the crack, our viewpoint happened to fall on the blades of the windmill... You simply can't imagine what we experienced; almost all the research personnel who participated in the observation vomited quite miserably when they went back!"

Luo Yan hadn't heard of this, but he still keenly captured the information contained in this sentence.

"Is the 'viewpoint' of opening the Void Realm different every time?"

Miller hesitated for a moment before answering.

"Uh, that's not necessarily the case; sometimes it's the same, and sometimes it's different. And, with our interference in the Void Realm, or waiting for the natural evolution of the environment inside the Void Realm, our viewpoint will also change accordingly... There is a large component of luck in this."

Luo Yan pondered for a moment and said.

"Won't the change of viewpoint have an impact on the research? For example, taking the Ao Si Continent as an example... we opened the door in the countryside of the Shengcheng this time, and the next time we open the crack, it becomes the Northern Wasteland."

Miller smiled and said.

"That won't happen; the change of space is actually a good thing for us. After all, the amount of information we can collect from each viewpoint is limited, and the refreshing of the viewpoint can facilitate us to obtain more information about the world behind the Void Realm from other perspectives."

Luo Yan nodded knowingly and continued to ask.

"But what if the viewpoint is refreshed in a place where there are no living creatures?"

Miller shook his head and said.

"That situation hasn't happened yet. The view of the Source Law Sect is that the existence of the 'viewpoint' is inextricably linked to living creatures—or souls. Only 'tokens' harboring huge spiritual power can serve as media for establishing connections to the Void Realm. And in places where there are no people, it is almost impossible for such media to exist."

When he said this, he paused for a moment and added another sentence.

"Actually, compared to the change of space, what interferes with our research most seriously is time. I don't know if Professor Gangte mentioned it to you, but the time flow inside and outside the Void Realm is uneven; only when the Void Realm passage is open will the time on both sides flow synchronously!"

"And once the connection is broken, the time on both sides will immediately deviate from the parallel track. By the time we reconnect, maybe a few days have passed on our side, and only a few minutes have passed in the world behind the Void Realm. Of course, it is also possible that only a few seconds have passed on our side, and years, or even hundreds of years, have passed on that side, or even impossible to count... because even the races active behind the Void Realm have undergone huge changes!"

When he said this, Miller's tone suddenly became heavy.

"Previously, Mentor Kainis, who was responsible for this project, tried to use 'Source Power' to create a 'container' behind the Void Realm that could accommodate souls, and sneaked into the Void Realm to explore, but ended up suddenly breaking the connection during deep exploration, so that part of his soul was completely lost behind the Void Realm and banished outside the time we know."

Luo Yan looked at him in surprise.

"He stayed in the Void Realm?"

"To be precise, part of his soul stayed in the Void Realm," Miller said in a low voice, "Actually, we are not sure what his situation is now... I heard that his physical body is currently sleeping in the recuperation facility of the Tower of the Grand Sage; perhaps one day he can wake up."

When saying this, the teaching assistant named Miller obviously didn't hold a very optimistic view; after all, who would spend that effort to save a mage who had crippled himself?

His "legacy" was almost divided up; letting him wake up would not bring any benefits, only endless trouble.

As for mentor-student feelings...

That was even more of a joke.

This is the Academy, the coldest and most ruthless place on the entire Ao Si Continent. In front of that cold rationality, even the howling wind and snow seemed affectionate.

"So our main goal is to explore the mysteries of this Void Realm. The secondary goal is to find Mentor Kainis's soul fragments... if he is still alive." Luo Yan tried to summarize, his face showing an eager expression.

Miller froze slightly and nodded, saying.

"That is the case..."

Just as he was speaking, the scene in the Void Realm changed.

I saw groups of farmers appearing one after another on the crisscrossing field ridges. They looked pious, walked slowly, and were walking towards that huge rock from all directions.

Looking at the farmers walking towards the boulder, Miller's spirit suddenly lifted, and he said excitedly to Mentor Kelin beside him.

"It seems that the time span between our connection this time and the last connection is not large! It is still those people on this field, and even the culture and tradition have not changed much... The daily worship time has arrived!"

It seems that the interval between the two openings of the Void Realm gate is not small.

Luo Yan nodded slightly, but pondered in his heart.

In extreme cases, the mages of the Academy can even witness the rise and fall of a civilization, and even the evolution of species.

Even if they cannot always interpret anything from that fragmented information.

The farmers in front of the boulder gathered more and more. They seemed to regard this boulder as some kind of spiritual totem, prostrating on the ground and praying in an unknown language.

And as these people walked to the near distance, the images in the Void Realm gradually became clear, and Luo Yan finally saw these residents suspected of living in another universe with his own eyes.

They have outlines similar to humans, slender bodies, but seem to have no bones, and their whole bodies are tightly woven from countless slender, octopus-like biological tentacles.

The outermost tentacles on their faces hang down like veils, and one can vaguely see a pair of pupil-less eyes hidden in the depths.

Those are fish-like eyes, opened round, and dead, as if staring at the bottomless abyss with all their strength.

"Solipsi people! Humanoid octopuses walking on the earth! According to the clues studied by Mentor Kainis, the local residents seem to regard this boulder as some kind of spiritual totem... It's really surprising, I didn't expect us to meet again, and this time we actually attached directly to the 'Holy Stone' they pray to!"

Miller said excitedly. He stared at those pairs of lifeless and fanatical eyes, as if wanting to carve the scene of the pilgrimage into his mind.

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The mages beside were the same, their faces were full of excitement, and they whispered and communicated with their colleagues beside them.

Being able to meet the same batch of people in the same Void Realm, and even the space didn't have a big shift, this is undoubtedly the best situation for mages studying the Void Realm.

This means their previous research can be inherited, and there is no need to start over from the initial place.

Staring at those faces covered with tentacles, Luo Yan touched his chin thoughtfully, but his attention was on the point that no one cared about.

"... They don't seem to be good at farming, no wonder there are not many seedlings alive in the land."

Miller froze slightly, obviously not expecting Prince Kelin's attention to be on such an insignificant matter.

He hesitated for a moment and opened his mouth.

"Does this have any problem?"

Luo Yan smiled faintly and said in a tone of small talk.

"Nothing, just feel strange. A race not good at farming actually developed into a standard farming civilization, and also invented a windmill, such a convenient grinding tool. I really can't imagine they have so much wheat to grind, and looking at their shape, I even feel they are more suitable for living in the sea than on land."

Miller had high comprehension; the moment he heard this sentence, he reacted keenly, and a hint of realization floated in his eyes.

"Your meaning is... they were put here?"

Luo Yan nodded.

"Just a guess. You guys, haven't you studied along this line of thought before?"

If they were put here, it means that behind this picturesque pastoral scenery, there is actually another scenery they haven't seen.

Miller scratched the back of his head and said embarrassedly.

"Uh, we generally tend to conduct research on the extraordinary power system behind the Void Realm and the Void Realm itself; it is rare to understand the life that appears in the Void Realm in depth... After all, the interaction we can have with the Void Realm is limited, and maybe the next time the door opens, they will turn into other things; even if we figure out their history, it might not have any meaning."

That might not be the case.

Luo Yan smiled meaningfully, but didn't explain further, just lightly skipped this topic, looked at him and continued.

"Then what about now? Besides watching them pray to a broken stone, is there anything else we can do?"

Miller said cautiously.

"Of course not; in the process of these natives praying, the Source Power wandering in the Void Realm will gather towards the stone; according to the view of the Source Law Sect, it is... this spontaneous prayer behavior might be one of the reasons why the Void Realm passage can be established."

This sounds a bit like the power of faith.

Luo Yan glanced at the side, You You nodded lightly towards him, obviously approving of the guess in his heart—the energy attached to the boulder is neither magic power nor any Source Power, but the purest and most primitive power of faith!

The reason why the mages of the Academy can use this power to improve their soul level is actually a path with the promotion of believers I grant through divinity.

It is just that the two have different ways of calling the power of faith; these mages of the Academy seem not to realize that they are actually playing another god in the world.

"Do you have any good suggestions?" Luo Yan cast his gaze on Miller, looking at this researcher with rich experience in Void Realm exploration and asking.

The latter hesitated and opened his mouth.

"According to the general practice of professors, we will extract some items attached with 'Void Realm matter' that are not very noticeable from the Void Realm. These Void Realm matters often contain things that can break through the bottleneck of soul level... Taking this Void Realm as an example, the tributes offered by those villagers meet the conditions."

Even rotten tributes contain a certain degree of the power of faith. Luo Yan let You You estimate roughly, and that rotten vegetable and fruit filling a back basket could probably raise the soul of an ordinary person to the Black Iron level.

To be honest, this is too little.

He could scare a few more advanced adventurers and gather enough power of faith.

Looking at Prince Kelin who was not interested, Miller paused for a moment and continued in a low voice.

"Of course, there is another way, which is the method adopted by Mentor Kainis... that is to conduct exploration on the Void Realm itself. Whether it is making containers to accommodate souls and putting them behind the Void Realm, or communicating with gifted natives through dreaming, these are all means that can be adopted. But forgive me for being blunt, this world doesn't seem to have much worth us learning. Just talking about farming skills, they are not even as good as the farmers of the Kingdom of Luo De."

"Understood." Luo Yan nodded, his gaze still locked on the scene in the Void Realm, "It seems we have to do something."

"Yes," Miller nodded, and asked nervously in a low voice, "If you have no ideas, you don't have to make a decision immediately; we can be cautious and start with observation and recording..."

Although this Void Realm is not his thing, he is after all a stakeholder. If you compare this Void Realm to a bicycle, then he is the passenger sitting on this bike.

However, Luo Yan would not be polite to them; as a Demon King from Hell, he not only wants to ride hard, but also wants to stand up and pedal!

Anyway, it is the shared bicycle of the Academy.

"No ideas? Who said I have no ideas? I just happen to have a..."

Ignoring Miller who became nervous instantly, Luo Yan issued his first instruction in an unquestionable tone.

"Use the Source Power accumulated on the stone tablet to bestow them a harvest!" ===== CHAPTER 372 =====

Ignoring Miller, who had tensed up in an instant, Luo Yan issued his first command in an unquestionable tone.

"Use the Source Power accumulated on the stone tablet to bestow upon them a harvest!"