Chapter 462: Crystals, Professors, and Gods

Early Thursday morning, after checking the progress of the renovations, Xia De set off with Mia for Doctor Shi Nai De's clinic. He had assumed the doctor wouldn't have much work so early in the morning, but to his surprise, he was already conducting consultations at eight o'clock.

Xia De waited for two hours before seeing the yawning doctor. He was wearing a clean white shirt, sitting in a chair behind his desk writing medical records with a fountain pen. When he saw Xia De walk in, both the sound of his greeting and the look in his blue eyes revealed how exhausted he was.

There was a strange scent of burning spices in the room, and a sphere fixed by a wooden frame sat on the desk.

"Doctor, is your work that tiring?"

Compared to him, Xia De was practically the definition of lazy.

"Oh, I'm not sleepy. I just used hypnotic methods for a consultation. Did you smell the scent in the air? This is a spice used to aid sleep. Didn't A Lan give you a bottle when we met him at Chant Square last time?"

The doctor explained briefly, gestured for Xia De to sit down, and then whispered:

"I really like hypnosis as a form of treatment."

"Why?"

Xia De asked curiously, his eyes scanning the psychology books on the desk that were clearly well-thumbed. These weren't Saint Byrons textbooks; they were the doctor's own professional books.

"Because my consultations are billed by the hour."

Doctor Shi Nai De smiled and tapped the alarm clock beside him. The delicate brass mechanism was emitting a pleasant ticking sound:

"Ten minutes costs 1 shilling and 3 pence, so an hour is 7 shillings and 6 pence. In the two and a half hours this morning, I've earned nearly one pound."

Xia De immediately showed an even more admiring expression. The money the doctor earned from a single consultation was more than an ordinary worker made in a month. Just sitting in an office and being able to live a decent life—this was the life Xia De wanted.

"Speaking of which, how do you have time to come here? Is something the matter?"

The doctor capped his fountain pen and asked.

"Yes, I'm learning a new sorcery recently, but I'm missing the casting materials. I wanted to commission you to help me acquire them."

"What are you missing?"

"Mind crystals."

"Hmm?"

The doctor clearly knew what those were, frowning as he thought:

"Alchemical items made from the mind and spirit, involving advanced psychological alchemy—that's not easy to get. Xia De, how much do you need?"

"Two drams (about 3.5 grams) of crystals, one dram each. The spell requires two small crystals."

This type of strange crystal didn't have much density; one dram was only the size of a grain of rice.

The doctor thought for a moment and mused:

"This is tricky. The Academy does have these materials, but the asking price is very high, around 500 pounds—comparable to the price of an ordinary document-level relic. So, if you aren't in a rush, I don't suggest buying them from the Academy. But if you want to acquire them on the black market, you might not even encounter a seller by the end of the year. However, I can make some; I've studied advanced psychological alchemy courses."

"Is there any trouble?"

Xia De asked.

"Yes, and the trouble is that you need to find the raw materials. That is, the subject capable of producing mind crystals."

"What characteristics are needed?"

Xia De took out his notebook to record it.

The doctor extended a finger to list them, and Xia De noticed a blue ink stain on his index finger:

"A powerful spirit, enough to extract mind crystals. A rich imagination, enough for us to explore their dreams. An unstable mind and spirit—only such a person can produce crystals... That's all for now. If you can find a target, I'll need to perform further examinations."

"In other words, we need to find a mentally powerful, insane artist... Should I try my luck at the Delarion Academy of Arts?"

Xia De summarized.

"It's not that simple."

The doctor waved his hand:

"Even if you went looking, you wouldn't recognize one if you saw it. How about this: I'll visit the psychiatric hospitals around Tobesk this weekend. If there's any news, I'll notify you. If there's no news, I'll spend two weeks investigating. If we still haven't found one, you can spend the money to buy them from the Academy. However, I can't do this job for free."

"No problem, Doctor. How much money do you need?"

Xia De wouldn't take advantage of a friend.

"The ritual and alchemy material costs aren't much, 30 pounds will do. But the labor fee... How about this, Xia De: you cover the 30 pounds for materials. Besides that, I heard from Priest Ao Gu Si that you have smuggling routes in Coldwater Port. It just so happens that I need some ritual materials from the New Continent recently to assist in my Sixth-Ring advancement ritual. I'll give you a list; you help me get these things. I'll pay for this batch of materials, and your labor fee for getting them will offset my labor fee for making the mind crystals."

In other words, Xia De only needed to pay 30 pounds.

"No problem, Doctor."

"That's good."

The blue-eyed doctor nodded and then asked curiously:

"By the way, what sorcery are you learning?"

"Mind Blast. I've already prepared the learning materials. Now I'm just missing the casting materials."

"Mind Blast, huh? That's the most primitive mind attack ability. It's not bad; at least it gives you one more way to deal with enemies."

Only then did Xia De realize that this ability was his third purely active attack ability after 【Moonlight Slash】 and 【Moonlight Greatsword】.

"Since that's the case, I have a notebook here you can take back to read. It contains tips on using mind-type abilities; it should be helpful to you."

The doctor stood up, pulled a book from the shelf, and handed it to Xia De. Borrowing notes within the group didn't cost money.

For the next two days, Xia De didn't engage in any adventurous activities. He spent the rest of Thursday with Professor Manning. Although Xia De was very reluctant to visit the professor with Little Mia, he couldn't leave Mia at his home, which was under construction.

The professor still remembered his archaeological experience in Hekiers Town decades ago. After receiving those photos of Mrs. Yilaer from Xia De, he was very excited and kept Xia De telling stories until noon, even inviting Xia De to have lunch at his home.

Although Professor Manning had strange ideas about cats, his archaeological skills were top-notch, and his storytelling ability was even better. Xia De was captivated by those archaeological stories.

In the afternoon, hearing that Xia De had nothing to do, Professor Manning took him for a tour of the archaeology department at the Delarion King's College where he worked.

Although it was still summer, it was hard to see people wearing short sleeves in such a serious place as the college. And although women had gained the right to education decades ago, it was still rare to see female students in the college.

Walking on the stone path of the college, dappled light projected through the gaps in the leaves overhead. Watching the young people holding books and scholars wearing glasses walking and chatting, Xia De had a smile on his face; he really liked this atmosphere.

It was a pity he didn't have time to be a proper student in this era. If this world didn't have true mysticism and was just a world of ordinary people, he would have been very willing to spend the rest of his life in school like Professor Manning.

Professor Manning had his own separate office and a group of students waiting to graduate. He showed Xia De the artifacts collected during the archaeological excavation in Hekiers Town a dozen years ago with great interest, and then called his students to move more artifacts piled up related to the ruins in the eastern part of Hekiers Town from the warehouse.

Although the professor and his party hadn't discovered the underground temple at the time, they had confirmed that the ruins were built by believers of the Old God 【Earth-Shaking Worm】.

Talking about his professional content, and seeing that Xia De was very interested, Professor Manning talked on and on. He sat behind a desk by the grid window, tilting his chair to talk to Xia De, who was sitting at the short end of the desk. There were some flower pots on the windowsill behind the professor, and those students of the professor could only stand behind Xia De, listening to their teacher tell stories.

The professor talked for an hour. Xia De admired the students behind him for being able to hold on. You know, even the orange cat lying on his lap had flipped back and forth at least 23 times during this period because it felt bored.

Xia De's attention wasn't just on the cat. He also observed the flower pots behind Professor Manning, the drafts of papers waiting to be graded piled on the professor's desk, and the literature materials almost overflowing from behind the glass doors in the bookcase on the east wall.

Professor Manning's office wasn't dirty, but it was messy. Various documents and artifacts were placed in every corner that could be seen, and the cardboard boxes piled on top of the bookcase felt like they were about to fall down at any moment. But it wasn't too chaotic here either. Looking closely, Xia De felt that this simple, chaotic environment with a bit of old-era decoration style was the only thing that fit the office atmosphere of busy scholars.

"Maybe I should renovate the second floor again to make myself look more professional."

Xia De thought to himself.

Professor Manning talked on and on to Xia De about the connection between the Old God 【Earth-Shaking Worm】 and the Old God 【World-Snake】, and used the mythological system described by the Orthodox Churches to link the Orthodox God 【Lantern Old Man】, also known as the 【God of Sun and Earth】, who possessed the 【Earth】 divine position.

"Actually, there are quite a few gods with divine positions related to land, but each god's focus is different."

The professor said, holding his teacup:

"The Orthodox Churches are tight-lipped about this, but there is a saying that the power of all gods related to the earth comes from a more ancient Earth God."

"Professor!"

Xia De hurriedly stopped Professor Manning from continuing. Although the Orthodox Churches looked like the good guys, the Inquisition wasn't a legend; it was real.

Professor Manning smiled and shook his head:

"When it comes to things I'm interested in, I often can't control my mouth. Xia De, just pretend you didn't hear anything."

"Of course."

"And you all?"

The professor changed his tone and asked the young people behind Xia De in a very serious tone. The latter answered in unison:

"We didn't hear anything."

It seemed this wasn't the first time this had happened.

"But why not think that it was the Orthodox God 【Lantern Old Man】 who shared his authority with other Old Gods related to 【Earth】 and 【Sun】? The Orthodox Gods are stronger than the Old Gods, so this speculation is also possible."

Miss Aphra on the train had mentioned the relationship between Ancient Gods and Old Gods, so Xia De asked curiously, putting forward other conjectures. Professor Manning smiled:

"If the Orthodox Gods had bestowed power upon the Old Gods, the Orthodox Churches would certainly mention it to show the greatness of the gods they worship. But I can tell you for sure, Xia De, there isn't a single book in the Five Orthodox Churches—yes, not a single book—that mentions that the power of the Old Gods comes from the Orthodox Gods. In fact, when Orthodox books mention Old Gods, they place them on the same level as the Orthodox Gods."

Xia De nodded in understanding and didn't continue asking. If he kept asking, he would run into sensitive topics again.

However, if the power of the Old Gods didn't come from themselves but was truly obtained from elsewhere, then it was highly likely that all Old Gods related to the earth, and even the Orthodox God 【Lantern Old Man】's power over the earth, came from that Ancient God related to the earth, the 【Earth Mother God】.

Ancient Gods were the original gods; this had already been confirmed.

"When the 【Darkness Box】 went out of control, it seemed like a voice was saying that the Old Gods were thieves..."

Xia De pondered in his heart.

It seemed that talking about religion and history with ordinary people could also be of great help to him. Xia De thought he could communicate more with Professor Manning in the future. Of course, it would be best for Mia to stay further away from him.

Professor Manning's students were mostly young people about the same physical age as Xia De. When the professor introduced Xia De to them, they immediately knew that this was the legendary "Hamilton of Rejiede."

Therefore, although Xia De could only be considered an "illiterate" compared to them, he still received the respect of the crowd. Before Xia De left the college that evening, he even exchanged business cards with the professor's students.

Most of them had business cards; people who could study archaeology at higher colleges in this era generally didn't come from ordinary families. Xia De wanted to further expand his detective business recently, wanting more clients to come to him rather than relying on running into things when he went out, so getting to know more people was still very necessary.

The only thing that troubled him most was that the spread of Hamilton of Rejiede's reputation and the spread of the relationship between Xia De and Miss Galina were almost synchronized.

Although the professor's students didn't mention Miss Galina, when Xia De chatted with the professor and mentioned that he had recently obtained a large sum of money from the Duchess and therefore wanted to obtain an honorary degree, there was still a coughing sound of someone choking behind him.

【So, what you are troubled by is whether you have a bad reputation, or whether you have a bad reputation despite having done nothing?】

"Is there a difference?"

【Outsider, you certainly understand the difference.】

Xia De didn't answer this question. Carrying the cat that had slept all afternoon and was now looking forward to dinner, he walked along the stone path of the Delarion King's College to the main street.

The sunset was faintly visible on the horizon, so it looked like dusk had just arrived. Carriages drove from his left to his right, and squads of students walked past behind him. Brushing past him were men in a hurry clutching briefcases, looking like they were going to an appointment. And two workers with bare arms squatted under the gas street lamp on the side of the road, as if they were repairing a faulty underground gas pipeline.

In this rapidly changing picture, it seemed that only Xia De was strolling down the street, not in a hurry for time at all.

He put his hands in his pockets, kicked the pebbles at his feet aside in boredom, then touched the cat, thought about how to solve dinner, and walked slowly toward the direction of the sunset.

Before there was news from Dac Nisi, he had plenty of time to manage his life in this era of steam waves.