Chapter 325

"Welcome to the Forbidden Knowledge Area, Lecturer Ralph."

The construct's tone became more respectful:

"I hope you can find the answers you seek here. But please remember, some knowledge, once obtained, can never be forgotten."

The moment he crossed that door, Luo En felt as if he had passed through some invisible barrier.

The space here was clearly not constrained by normal physical laws; the ceiling was so high that the top could not be seen, and the ground extended infinitely in four directions.

The bookshelves here, they were composed of some kind of living bone that grew on its own.

These skeletons were wriggling slowly but obviously, with surfaces covered in fine filaments similar to neural networks, changing color according to the visitor's thinking activities.

Eerily, the bookshelves would automatically adjust the arrangement of books according to his thinking needs.

When he thought of the concept "Three-Phase Wizard Techniques," relevant classics immediately appeared in the most conspicuous position;

When he turned his thoughts to "Ancient Techniques," the content on the bookshelves changed accordingly.

"This environment..." Luo En activated "Hermit's Knowledge," attempting to perceive the essence of this space.

The bookshelves were "ribs," the ground was "muscle tissue," and the special energy permeating the air was "blood."

This living library was constantly analyzing, organizing, and reorganizing the knowledge within it, ensuring that the most relevant information always appeared in the easiest position to be found.

The reading area was equipped with mental stabilization devices and emergency medical equipment.

Once dangerous mental fluctuations were detected, it would automatically release sedatives or activate emergency isolation procedures.

Luo En chose a seat near the "Three-Phase Wizard Techniques" bookshelf; as soon as he sat down, the chair immediately began to adjust to the shape most suitable for his body curves.

At the same time, a soft voice sounded in his ear:

"Associate professor-level authorization detected, corresponding content unlocked. Recommended reading time is no more than four hours; exceeding this may cause accumulation of mental fatigue."

Luo En nodded and began to browse through the classics that caught his attention.

The first was "Evolutionary Trajectory of Mainstream Wizard Techniques," a comprehensive research work eight hundred pages thick.

The author was the late Great Wizard Isaac Mendelssohn, who was said to have mastered seven different wizard techniques simultaneously.

When Luo En opened the cover, he immediately felt a subtle mental pressure.

Every page of this book contained a large amount of high-density information, requiring considerable mental power to fully understand.

Mendelssohn's writing style was extremely rigorous, with every conclusion supported by a large number of examples and data.

But within the rigor, it revealed a kind of deep worry and warning:

"The leap in wizard technique levels is by no means a simple accumulation of experience.

Every leap means a change in the essence of knowledge, meaning contact with more dangerous forces.

Many wizards lost themselves on the path of pursuing power, eventually becoming slaves to power rather than masters."

"I once witnessed a talented alchemist, on the third day after successfully promoting to Alchemy Master, transform his own relatives into 'perfect alchemy materials.'

When I questioned him, he replied in a purely rational tone: 'Emotion is the enemy of efficiency; I am just optimizing resource allocation.'"

Continuing to read, he began to learn the specific conditions for various professional advancements.

Mendelssohn used an entire chapter to analyze the advancement path of potion masters:

"Becoming a Potion Professor requires reaching a very high level in theory, practice, and teaching."

Detailed condition descriptions had already appeared in front of him, as if responding to Luo En's inner questions:

【Potion Professor (Three-Star) Advancement Conditions:

1. Job-preceding profession - Potion Master (Two-Star) √

2. Professional core skills reach expert level

3. Must originate at least one potion formula

4. Need to cultivate at least five students at the professional Potion Master level】

Next was the Alchemy Master part, Mendelssohn's tone became heavier:

"Alchemy is the discipline closest to the 'Divine Realm' among all extraordinary techniques.

Alchemy Masters attempt to understand and control the essence of matter, creating life forms that did not originally exist.

This behavior itself is a challenge to the natural order."

【Alchemy Master (Three-Star) Advancement Conditions:

1. Job-preceding profession - Alchemist (Two-Star) √

2. Professional core skills reach expert level

3. Need to successfully refine a 'semi-perpetual motion' alchemy device (self-operating for fifty years or more)

4. Need to complete one 'Life Reconstruction' experiment】

Mendelssohn inserted an unsettling account here:

"I once witnessed the entire process of a 'Life Reconstruction' experiment.

The applicant fused seven different species into a new life form.

That creature was indeed alive, even showing intelligence surpassing the original species, but the pain and confusion in its eyes made me unforgettable for life.

It didn't know what it was, didn't know where it came from, and could only emit a strange sound between various calls.

Eventually, it chose suicide on the third day after the experiment was completed."

Finally, the Rune Expert - the advanced form of Enchanter:

"Rune Expert is the most dangerous advancement choice among the three professions.

They push the power of runes to the extreme, even attempting to combine runes with living creatures.

Masters of this technique often gradually lose their cognition of 'boundaries'."

【Rune Expert (Three-and-a-half-Star) Advancement Conditions:

1. Job-preceding profession - Enchanter (Two-and-a-half-Star) √

2. Enchantment and Runology both reach mastery level

3. Need to create your own special runes

4. Master the 'Flesh Rune' technique】

Regarding the failed examples of Rune Experts, Mendelssohn did not make any annotations, just wrote a simple sentence:

"Enchanters capable of completing the 'Flesh Rune' technique are pitifully few throughout wizard history..."

After seeing these detailed conditions and warnings, Luo En instead felt a strange excitement.

Danger? Of course it exists, but any power worth pursuing comes with corresponding risks.

The key is how to maintain control over oneself while gaining power.

He quickly analyzed these three advancement paths in his heart:

"The conditions for Potion Professor are relatively the easiest to achieve; my current potion level is already close to expert level, and I have accumulated quite a few original formulas. Regarding cultivating students..."

He thought of his elite group, especially Lisi's pure love for potionology:

"The members of the elite group all have a good foundation; given time, they should be able to cultivate qualified Potion Masters, and in a few years, there should be a chance to cultivate more than two."

"The conditions for Alchemy Master are the most demanding, especially the production of a 'semi-perpetual motion' device.

This kind of device requires the use of top-tier technology in multiple fields such as time, space, and energy..."

He thought of the mobile simulation combat device he was currently researching:

"Perhaps I can upgrade the simulation device to a semi-perpetual motion level?

If I can make special materials like soul fragments and heart-eating stones achieve self-connection and maintenance, theoretically it can meet the requirements."

"The 'Flesh Rune' technique of the Rune Expert is the most worrying, but also the most attractive.

If I can safely master this technology, combined with my existing bloodline modulation ability, plus the strange fusion ability of the substitute puppet..."

He looked at his right hand, which had once fused with the substitute puppet:

"Maybe I can start experimenting from 'Ink'? As an alchemy creature I created with my own hands, it has the highest trust in me, and the characteristics of the self-devouring slime make the experimental risk relatively controllable."

However, none of these three professions mentioned attribute value requirements...

Perhaps it's because those who can complete the above conditions are already assumed to have met the attribute requirements?

Closing the first book, Luo En walked to another bookshelf area.

The appearance of these books was clearly older and more dangerous.

Some even grew organs resembling eyes on their spines, which would turn as the visitor moved.

He chose a thick classic titled "Legacy of the Annihilation Era."

The author was a Moon-level wizard named Vasi Gu Gu Gu Erde, also a senior historian.

It is said that he spent his whole life pursuing various ancient secrets, eventually disappearing in an abyss exploration.

The moment he opened the pages, Luo En felt a cold aura emanating from the paper. This book recorded not just knowledge, but the bloody history behind that knowledge.

Gu Gu Gu Erde described the legends and tragedies of ancient alchemists in a near-obsessive tone:

"Lance Hewitt, this name shines in wizard history, but few know the dark truth behind his success."

"He was indeed benevolent, but only relatively speaking. Compared to other alchemists of the same era, Lance's experiments rarely involved unnecessary cruelty.

But between 'relative benevolence' and 'true benevolence,' there exists a chasm paved with blood."

"According to records I found in abandoned laboratories, Lance 'consumed' a total of 1,372 experimental subjects during his research process before becoming an ancient alchemist.

This included two hundred volunteers, nine hundred prisoners of war, and one hundred and seventy-two slaves 'purchased'."

"He would apologize to the subjects before each experiment, mourn for the dead after the experiment, and even record the name and family situation of each subject."

"But this 'benevolence' cannot change one fact: 1,372 living lives were transformed into experimental data by him."

"However, what truly kept me awake at night was a sentence Lance left behind:

'If there is an afterlife, I hope to find a research method that does not require sacrificing others.

But in this life, I must make a breakthrough within a limited time; for the greater good, I can only tolerate lesser evils.'"

Gu Gu Gu Erde's analysis plunged Luo En into deep thought:

"This is the true face of ancient alchemists.

They were not simple madmen or demons, but researchers who made extreme choices in extreme environments.

When the value of life conflicts with the value of knowledge, they chose knowledge."

The book went on to introduce the deeds of several other ancient alchemists, each a combination of miracle and nightmare:

"Alexander King, known as the 'Benevolent Alchemist,' just like his title, Alexander indeed never actively harmed the innocent.

But his 'benevolence' was built on another foundation—he only used his own body for experiments."

"In the last hundred years of his life, Alexander had transformed himself into a mobile laboratory.

His blood was replaced with various potions, organs were modified into alchemy devices, and even bone marrow was converted into energy storage units."

"Witnesses described that Alexander at the last moment looked more like a transparent humanoid container, with liquids of various colors flowing inside his body."

"He could synthesize any known potion directly with his body, but the price was the complete loss of all emotions and consciousness as a 'human'."

"Elena Moonshine, a rare female alchemist in history. Her specialty was emotional alchemy—the technique of transforming emotions into reality."

"Elena created a vast 'Emotional Treasury,' which stored the love, hate, fear, despair, and other emotions of tens of thousands of people."

"She claimed these emotions were all 'voluntarily donated,' but according to survivors' recollections, her 'donation ceremonies' were often accompanied by strong mental control."

"Eventually, Elena was backlashed by her own creation.

Those extracted negative emotions aggregated into a giant entity of hatred, trapping her deep in the treasury."

"It is said that she is still alive today, but has merged with that entity of hatred, becoming the incarnation of pure malice."

Reading this, Luo En couldn't help but think of the scene when he created "Ink."

Although he only modified some abyss creature tissues, the feeling of creating life was indeed fascinating.

Without sufficient self-control, it is indeed easy to go further and further on this path.

Gu Gu Gu Erde's account also included some darker examples:

"Aegis Lacru, completely degenerated in the pursuit of the Philosopher's Stone.

He claimed to have found the method for making the Philosopher's Stone, but I only saw in the records that Aegis stored the innocent souls of tens of thousands of children of different races at once."

"Damian Puchi, when his laboratory was discovered, there were over five thousand corpses in various states inside.

Some were modified into living organ culture dishes, some were fused into multi-headed monsters, and others were made into tools with partial consciousness."

"The most terrifying thing is that many of the experimental subjects were still alive when discovered and maintained clear consciousness."

These records allowed Luo En to deeply understand why modern wizards were both in awe and afraid of ancient alchemists.

Their achievements were indeed great, but the means to achieve these achievements were heinous.

However, Gu Gu Gu Erde put forward a thought-provoking point in the last part of the book:

"What right do we have to condemn them? The advancement of modern wizards is also built on the sacrifice of countless lives.

Countless explorers 'disappear' every year in the Great Abyss, the underground laboratories of the Crystal Spire are filled with a large number of experimental subjects of various races, and the alien lives slaughtered in conquest wars are countless."

"The only difference between us and ancient alchemists is that we are better at hiding our sins and better at finding moral excuses for atrocities."

"We say it's 'for the progress of civilization,' they say it's 'for the breakthrough of knowledge,' is there any essential difference?"

"Perhaps the real problem is not what they did, but whether we have the courage to admit that on the path of pursuing power, pure and flawless hands do not exist."

This point of view left Luo En a bit speechless for a while.

As a researcher pursuing power, he certainly understood the impulse to do whatever it takes for a breakthrough.

But on the other hand, rationality told him that the result of completely abandoning the bottom line is often self-destruction.

"The key is to find a balance point."

He summarized in his heart:

"Not to completely reject special means, but to ensure that these means serve a greater goal, rather than becoming the goal itself."

As he read deeper, Luo En began to feel increasingly heavy mental pressure.

This forbidden knowledge was like a living parasite, attempting to take root in his consciousness.

The headache began to intensify, and sharp pains came from his temples;

His vision would occasionally blur, seeing some non-existent images, those were countless twisted creatures wriggling in glass containers in ancient alchemy laboratories;

Faint whispers began to be heard in his ears, those were ancient scholars who had long since died but whose souls were still trapped in knowledge;

His fingers began to tremble slightly, and he needed to be extra careful when turning pages, fearing to trigger mental traps hidden in the pages.

But what surprised him was that this burden was much lighter than expected.

The pressure endured during the interaction with the King of Phantasms last night indeed provided valuable training for his mental structure.

This level of knowledge impact, although still uncomfortable, was already within his tolerance.

"It seems that although the pressure from higher-dimensional existences is painful, it can indeed train mental resilience,"

Luo En evaluated his state in his heart:

"This 'vaccine-style' training method might be worth further research."

When the afternoon sun began to slant westward, he closed the last classic.

Long hours of reading made him feel exhausted, and the pain in his temples was also reminding him that his mental load was approaching its limit.

But the harvest was also huge.

He now had a clear understanding of his future development path and also understood which goals were realistic and which required long-term effort.

On the other hand, he also had a deeper understanding of the "price of power."

Mastering every technique requires paying a corresponding price; the key is to ensure that this price is within an acceptable range.

He originally wanted to look up some information about the deep layers of the abyss, but at this time, the mental burden brought by reading forbidden knowledge had reached a dangerous critical point.

Continuing to force reading would only increase the risk of mental pollution, which is not worth the loss.

Moreover, in the Abyss Observation Station, there were actually quite a few materials more detailed and practical than the library.

When returning to work next week, using the authorization Cassandra gave him to apply for consultation should allow him to obtain more valuable information.

When walking out of the forbidden area, that crystal construct scanned him again.

"Moderate mental fatigue detected, it is recommended to rest for 72 hours before entering the forbidden area again."

The construct's voice carried concern: "I hope you can make good use of the knowledge you have obtained."

"I will." Luo En responded briefly, but in his heart, he was thinking about how to transform today's harvest into an actual development plan.

As the sun set, the towers of the Central Land shone in the afterglow.

(End of chapter)