Chapter 409

In the special reading room of the Abyss Observation Station, magic crystal lamps radiated a gentle blue light.

This room, designed specifically for small gatherings, had walls made of special stone that could automatically adjust temperature and humidity.

Occasionally, a few small tentacles would poke out from the wall cracks, cleaning up excess impurities in the air, and then shrink back silently.

Luo En sat in his old spot from last time, stroking an exquisite crystal teacup in his hand.

Inside the cup was "Meditation Tea" produced by Ailan.

The pale green liquid radiated a herbal fragrance, which could effectively relieve the mental fatigue caused by long-term contact with abyss aura.

Opposite him, Chloe still covered her eyes with black silk, her fingers rhythmically stroking the "Celestial Sphere" crystal on her chest.

Compared to a few months ago, the spiritual fluctuations radiating from the blind girl were clearly more stable and profound.

And sitting between the two was Euphemia, whose attire today was more elaborate than usual.

Her long white hair was braided into complex patterns and fixed with ribbons.

That exquisite face full of charm carried a deliberately maintained polite smile.

Anyone with keen perception could detect the tense emotions hidden behind this smile.

"It seems that everyone has gained quite a lot in these few months."

Luo En spoke first, breaking the subtle silence in the room.

"Indeed."

Chloe responded softly, her voice still as light as a feather, but the confidence contained within was something never seen before.

She slowly raised her right hand, and a mass of silver-blue magic light appeared in her palm.

Compared to a few months ago, this light was not only slightly brighter, but the complexity contained within it had also increased.

Observing carefully, one could find that there were energy structures rotating like nebulae inside the light, and the other's spiritual power had clearly improved significantly.

"My spiritual power has improved slightly recently."

Chloe's tone carried undisguised pride:

"And through the study of historian skills, my perception of the flow of time has also improved, allowing some spells I specialize in to be slightly improved."

She stroked the "Celestial Sphere" crystal on her chest, and this heritage item immediately radiated mysterious fluctuations.

Although the amplitude was small, it was enough for the two people present to feel that subtle perceptual misalignment.

"Besides that..." Chloe's voice became more mysterious:

"The combination of astrology and historical research has also opened a brand-new door for me."

Her "gaze," although covered by black gauze, was still accurately "staring" at Luo En:

"I can now not only predict the possibilities of the future but also better view various past memories in divination imagery through historical imprints. Two-way time perception has improved my prophecy accuracy by at least 30%."

Hearing this number, even Luo En, who was well-informed, could not help but raise his eyebrows.

The improvement in prophecy accuracy was exponentially difficult.

Being able to improve by 30% meant that Chloe's prophecy ability was transforming toward some higher level.

"Recently, I have successfully predicted the activity trajectories of abyss apostles several times, as well as some personnel changes within the observation station."

Chloe added:

"These achievements have already been recognized by Professor Yuter, and related academic papers are being written."

Hearing this, Euphemia's teacup trembled slightly.

She certainly understood the meaning of this achievement.

The practical value of prophecy was extremely high, and sufficiently accurate prophecies were enough to make many forces compete to recruit.

"Then what about Euphemia?"

Luo En's gaze turned to her, trying to ease the subtle tension in the atmosphere: "How is your cultivation progress recently?"

"There has been good growth in spiritual power."

Euphemia tried hard to maintain the smile on her face while releasing her magic light.

That was a mass of deep red energy like blood, radiating an alluring and dangerous aura, and the intensity of the light clearly exceeded Chloe's by a lot.

"It has approached the 6.0 scale, only one step away from the critical point of the Morning Star stage."

Her tone carried a hint of pride, but soon became dim again: "However..."

The white-haired witch paused, a look of frustration in her eyes:

"There is still a great deficiency in the mastery of spell construction and radiation fields. In the past few months, I have focused on learning spell reversal, and progress in these basic skills has been relatively slow."

What she didn't mention was that the learning process of spell reversal was far more difficult than imagined.

It not only required a deep understanding of various spell principles but also constant attempts and failures in actual combat.

And every failure brought slight trauma to the soul level, which accumulated and made her overall state unstable.

What made her even more frustrated was that Aiden's recent silence had caused her to lose her most important source of guidance.

Those control imprints implanted deep in her bloodline were like silent mockery, constantly reminding her that she was just a canary in an exquisite cage.

Luo En keenly detected the fluctuations in her emotions and activated "Hermit's Knowledge" for deeper analysis.

In his perception, although Euphemia's spiritual power was powerful, it existed with obvious instability.

That instability was not caused by insufficient talent, but by the deviation in the direction of cultivation.

Over-focusing on high-end skills like spell reversal while ignoring the consolidation of basic abilities was like building a high-rise on a beach—seemingly magnificent but actually fragile.

"Spell construction requires a lot of practical accumulation; don't be impatient."

Luo En gave pertinent advice:

"And spell reversal itself is an extremely complex skill; being able to master the basic theory is already very remarkable."

"Yeah..." Chloe also echoed softly, but her tone carried a subtle sense of superiority:

"Everyone's development path is different; what's important is finding a direction that suits you."

The girl's seemingly well-intentioned comfort actually contained subtle showing off.

Although she was humble on the surface, she was quite satisfied with her rapid progress deep down.

Especially in the comparison with Euphemia, Chloe felt that sense of confidence from strength for the first time.

Euphemia certainly heard this subtext, and the frustration in her heart became even more intense.

She clearly realized that the strength gap between her and the other party was narrowing rapidly, and even being surpassed in some aspects.

"Speaking of which, I do have some good news to tell you."

Luo En detected the subtle change in the atmosphere and shifted the topic at the right time:

"According to reliable information, Tower Master Cassandra might return to the main world in the near future. Although the specific time is not yet certain, it should be within this month or two."

This news made both women look up.

Cassandra's return undoubtedly meant changes in some trends in the Central Land and also represented more opportunities.

Chloe activated her prophecy talent, trying to capture relevant clues, but the result made her frown.

The fate line was deliberately blurred by some force, making it impossible to predict accurately.

"What is the reason for her return?" Chloe asked cautiously: "Isn't the otherworld expedition still ongoing?"

"The specific reason involves some private matters, so I'm not at liberty to disclose."

Luo En shook his head:

"But what is certain is that her return is temporary, and she will return to the front line after handling the matters."

Of course, he couldn't tell them that Cassandra was returning to preside over Eve's treatment plan.

This information involving the core secrets of the Crown Clan had to be kept confidential even from allies.

"In addition, the quarterly settlement of the Nova Project is also coming soon."

Luo En continued: "According to the time calculation, there will be a new round of ranking updates in at most two weeks."

Mentioning this topic, the atmosphere in the room immediately became tense.

The ranking system of the Nova Project was extremely cruel.

Each quarterly settlement would conduct a comprehensive evaluation based on multiple dimensions such as academic achievements, actual combat performance, and influence growth.

A drop in ranking meant a reduction in resources, while an increase in ranking could obtain more privileges and support.

"Regarding this settlement..." Chloe's voice carried undisguised expectation:

"I have considerable confidence that I can achieve a significant improvement."

She explained:

"The prophecy achievements of these few months have already attracted the attention of multiple academic institutions, especially the detailed reports of those few successful prophecies. I am organizing these achievements into a paper, preparing to submit it to the 'Journal of Divination'."

The "Journal of Divination," because it was not published by the seven major schools of the Crystal Spire, could only be ranked as a second-tier journal according to classification.

But the extremely high threshold of the study of astrology made the papers that could be published on it have a gold content close to many first-tier journals.

"If the paper can be published smoothly, plus my few prophecy records that have been confirmed accurate..."

Chloe's voice became more confident: "Entering the top ten of the Nova Project should not be a problem."