Chapter 161: 165. Chapter 165: Accelerate, Accelerate Again, Accelerate

165. Chapter 165: Accelerate, Accelerate Again, Accelerate

Paro Wizard left.

The day after completing the promotion ceremony.

First go to the Academy Headquarters to report duties, then accept a new appointment, and finally command a newly organized wizard legion to develop a small world.

These are the plans long arranged by the academy's high-ranking officials.

As soon as Paro Wizard finishes the promotion, they will depart immediately.

Why did Paro Wizard angrily curse those old‑fashioned high‑ranking officials of the academy?

It lies in their view that only the academy's overall interests, their own factional interests, and family interests matter, with no regard for the interests of their subordinates.

I heard you're preparing to promote to Sage?

⊙￠〇

Encouragement!

Apart from resource support, everything is fully supported!

Then he turned and pulled out a battle plan: "After you promote, you'll immediately go work like an ox and horse for the academy!"

With such cold‑hearted tactics, how could one not curse?

Lin Ke did not go to see him off.

He heard this news from Selin Wizard.

From that day on, Lin Ke kept a completely low profile.

Besides studying and researching, he ignored everything else.

When the time came, he activated the "Multi‑thread Thinking" state card and practiced the dozens of 0‑ring witchcraft he had mastered.

Originally he feared limited energy, lest he bite off more than he could chew.

Thus those dozens of 0‑ring witchcraft remained at the introductory level.

Now every four days he can transform into a humanoid supercomputer equipped with top‑tier AI.

Using each 10‑second limit of the super‑computing state, he enhances his understanding of witchcraft.

Thus, no matter how much he greedily takes, as long as he has enough time he can digest it completely.

Lin Ke does this not for anything else, but to fully grasp the 0‑level rule runes involved in those 0‑ring witchcraft, paving the way for future study of more 1‑ring witchcraft.

So he won't have to go back later to study those 0‑level rule runes.

The Do Anything Free team almost completely handed over management to Mo Li.

Lin Ke only needs to oversee the general direction of R&D.

The licensing fees and dividends for the patents of the five toiletry items are directly handled by Mo Li and the Selin Wizard Pharmacy.

The distribution to the Benevolent Brother Group and the Social Anxiety Group is likewise handled by Mo Li.

Daily management and finances—both major powers—are firmly in Mo Li's hands.

Mo Li became the de facto second‑in‑command of the Do Anything Free team.

Everyone accepted this.

There was no objection.

Internally peaceful, and the same externally.

Peter Leonnel was stimulated and delayed his promotion to Sage, but he did not specifically target Lin Ke.

Soren Lukiya for some unknown reason suddenly vanished without a trace.

Thus, amid internal and external calm, the remaining time of the spring semester quietly passed.

The vacation is approaching.

Discussions about vacation part‑time work heated up again on the academy's forum.

For safety reasons, Mo Li, the Benevolent Brother Group, and the Social Anxiety Group will not go out for part‑time work; instead they will stay peacefully at the academy to study, research, and experiment.

Magic Stone?

Let alone the licensing fees and dividends from the patents of the five bath products, the Benevolent Brother Group and the Social Anxiety Group already have enough to eat their fill.

Later, Lin Ke oversaw the development of the lipstick and lip gloss series, which sold out immediately upon release and became a bestseller.

Magic Stone flowed in like water into the Selin Wizard Pharmacy, and then 40 % of the profits were given to the Do Anything Free team.

Even though Lin Ke and Mo Li took the lion's share, the Benevolent Brother Group and the Social Anxiety Group also received a considerable amount.

Even if they were just freshmen in the Storm Sea Newblood cohort, or even if placed in the second or third year, the Benevolent Brother Group and the Social Anxiety Group would still be outright tycoons.

After arranging the Do Anything Free team's vacation R&D project, Lin Ke waited peacefully for the vacation to arrive, then entered the Apprentice‑level Cultivation Secret Realm.

Over the past month and a half, Mo Li's emotions have remained very stable.

She devoted herself wholeheartedly to study, research, and the daily management of the Do Anything Free team.

Until the vacation was about to arrive.

Mo Li's emotions suddenly became uncontrollable.

For two days straight she didn't want to bother with Lin Ke, finished her own business, then frantically studied knowledge and frantically practiced witchcraft.

Lin Ke saw this but didn't know what to say.

What else could he say?

His reason for agreeing to form the Do Anything Free team was to dump it on Mo Li to manage, to distract her mind.

So she wouldn't overthink.

But it still didn't help.

What else could he do?

Stay put, wait for her to catch up, then walk side by side?

Childish! Naive!

In everyone's different thoughts.

The vacation finally arrived.

Some chose to stay on campus, some surged toward Ruowosisuo City, and some headed far away.

Lin Ke glanced at the 'seed' in his sea of consciousness, confirmed that Fulan Duo was still asleep, and the seed's first evolution was not yet complete; he then ignored everything else and applied to the academy to enter the Apprentice-level Cultivation Secret Realm.

No one saw him off.

This was Lin Ke's own request.

He alone went to the place designated by the academy, boarded the hovercraft that came to pick him up, and drove away from the academy.

In the distance, Mo Li watched the hovercraft speed off until it disappeared.

"I'm ready, Serlin Wizard."

Mo Li turned, bowed respectfully to Serlin Wizard, and made her request: "Please allow me to join your experiment!"

"Have you decided?"

Serlin Wizard asked softly, "Is it worth it?"

"Worth it!"

Mo Li said firmly: "Not just for him, but also for myself."

After a pause, Mo Li's expression grew complex, and she sighed: "Perhaps it's even more for myself."

After all, from the very beginning, she had approached Linke Grand with ulterior motives.

But later many things happened, causing her to become entangled.

Even if she found it hard to extricate herself, the blame lies solely with her.

What she is preparing to do now is also her own decision, made without consulting Lin Ke.

Nor was it Lin Ke's request.

So, if we really want to nitpick,

she is truly doing this for herself, not for Lin Ke.

"I suggest you reconsider."

Serlin Wizard patiently advised, "This experiment's design is not rigorous enough; conditions in all aspects are lacking, making failure highly likely. Or other mistakes could arise, causing the experiment results to deviate. Most importantly, the results are irreversible—if you regret it later, nothing can be undone."

"You've warned me many times about these, and I know the risks."

Mo Li lamented, "But if I don't do this, how can I catch up to him? If I can't walk beside him, how do I have a chance to win his heart?"

Serlin Wizard gave Mo Li a serious look, then asked curiously, "Based on what I know of you, you're not the type to disregard everything for a man. Why would you go to such lengths to sacrifice yourself for Linke Grand?"

Mo Li remained silent, not knowing how to answer Serlin Wizard.

◆c〇

Upon reflection, there actually haven't been many events between her and Lin Ke.

Apart from the Lifusi and Enrike incident being somewhat complicated, everything else was peaceful. Even during the Two Districts Grand Comparison, the few battles Lin Ke went through received less help from Mo Li than Airis did.

They merely spent two semesters in relative calm—less than a year of peaceful academy life.

But love arises unknown and grows deep.

Who needs so many reasons?

Having thought this through clearly, having clarified her own feelings, Mo Li's will became ever more resolute.

She bowed again to Serlin Wizard and pleaded, "I ask for your blessing. I no longer wish to be a 'trumpet creeper'; I wish to be a 'kapok'!"

Serlin Wizard stared at Mo Li for a long time.

It seemed she saw herself from decades ago.

She saw the little girl who, for her beloved, desperately studied pharmacy and alchemy knowledge;

She saw the girl who, ignoring explosion dangers, insisted on brewing a life-saving potion and then personally fed it to her beloved;

She saw the woman who, at a shout, retreated from a limitless frontline logistics post, returned to the rear, and became a foolish woman running an unchallenging potion shop.

"Youth! Love!"

Serlin Wizard sighed, made up her mind, and agreed: "I agree! Get ready soon; the preparatory work for this experiment here is done—just let me know whenever."

"Thank you, Serlin Wizard."

Mo Li felt a sigh of relief in her heart, then bowed deeply again, her tone full of gratitude.

"Alas!"

Serlin Wizard let out a long sigh, then turned and left with a complex mood.

She also didn't know whether her decision today was right or wrong.

She only hoped for a good outcome.

Mo Li watched Serlin Wizard depart, feeling neither joy nor sorrow, her heart utterly calm.

She knew that Luoken Wizard, bypassing everyone, had privately told her that Serlin Wizard was preparing an experiment to improve wizard aptitude, with impure motives.

She also knew that Serlin Wizard had not directly agreed to take her as a 'volunteer' for her own good.

But she still stepped into this 'trap' without hesitation, making this 'sacrifice'.

The third-rank wizard aptitude is truly too mediocre!

When will she ever catch up to Lin Ke, whose cultivation speed is like flying?

Just like this.

There will be hope.

It's better than before, when she couldn't see a glimmer of hope.

Lin Ke didn't know that someone was thinking of him.

He only knew he stood at a crossroads of fate.

One step forward, and it was the apprentice-level cultivation secret realm, a chance to get far ahead of his peers.

There was nothing to hesitate about.

According to the instructions at the secret realm's entrance, Lin Ke took off all his rune items and magical devices and placed them in the designated safe.

Even the 2-ring defensive magical device given by the Paro wizard was no exception.

If accidents could happen even in the cultivation secret realm that the academy focused on, then whether Lin Ke brought the 2-ring defensive magical device or not made no difference.

Changing into loose, comfortable cotton clothes, Lin Ke entered the secret realm calmly.

Though called a secret realm, it was actually just like the space formed by light walls where rewards were handed out after the Two Districts Grand Comparison ended.

A vast white expanse stretched out, with no visible end, unknown how high the "sky" was or how thick the "ground".

The biggest feature was that as soon as Lin Ke entered, he felt neither hungry nor thirsty, and his mental power and magic were in a state of extreme excitement.

Without pondering the nature of the so-called cultivation secret realm, Lin Ke followed his instinct's call, found a spot, sat cross-legged, and began deep meditation.

The third layer of the Water-Wood Mutual Growth Meditation Method ran smoothly.

Mental power and magic rose at a visible speed, creeping up bit by bit toward the limit of a third-rank witch apprentice, 99.

In terms of the concentration of mental power and the purity of magic, Lin Ke had first undergone a "touching and insight" (see Chapter 29 of Volume 1), then experienced a minor transformation of the Sea of Consciousness, and also received the world's will "blessing," making him no worse than an ordinary first-rank witch.

So, in only a short time (even though Lin Ke, inside the cultivation secret realm, could not perceive the exact flow of time), he reached the limit of mental power quantity for a third-rank witch apprentice, 99 points.

Afterward, Lin Ke immediately switched to cultivating the fourth layer of the Water-Wood Mutual Growth Meditation Method.

He transformed the rune structure of the meditation method in his Sea of Consciousness into a smooth spherical structure.

Once the transformation was complete, he could select a suitable patch on the sphere's surface and imprint his natal spell.

After not much time, the fourth layer was completed, and the meditation method's rune structure became a smooth sphere.

All the runes previously constructed were now contained within the sphere.

"How much time do I have left?"

Suppressing the urge to imprint his natal spell, Lin Ke forcibly broke out of his meditative state and called out to the white expanse of the secret realm.

"Ten days."

A mechanical voice devoid of emotional fluctuation gave the answer.

Lin Ke estimated the time, felt it was enough to imprint his natal spell, and made a decision.

If not now, when?

He first rested a bit, reviewed several times the process and precautions for imprinting his natal spell, and also recalled many details of the first-ring spell "Armored Lan Battle Armor."

After having it down pat, Lin Ke still felt it wasn't quite secure enough.

He intended to use a saved-up "Multithreaded Thinking" state card.

The cultivation secret realm's characteristic of replenishing expended mental power at any time made Lin Ke unable to resist conjuring the idea of "shearing" the academy for wool.

Think of it, then do it.

After setting a warning point for himself,

Lin Ke gritted his teeth and fully activated the Brain Seal Technique and Multithreaded Thinking.

No limit!

If within 20 seconds, the replenishment of mental power could sustain the burning of Multithreaded Thinking!

In his Sea of Consciousness, the surface of the smooth, clear sphere began to "etch" the magical model of the first-ring spell "Armored Lan Battle Armor."

With the support of the supercomputing state, the magical model completed the etching without any delay.

For an ordinary third-rank witch apprentice, the natal spell, extremely complex and possibly requiring slow, bit-by-bit chewing, Lin Ke completed the imprint so easily.

It took less than two hours.

And his mental power remained full.

However much Multithreaded Thinking burned, the secret realm replenished Lin Ke's mental power by that amount.

Since that was the case, Lin Ke was not polite about it.

He strove to restrain his thoughts, directing a large amount of computing power toward a feasible scheme for casting the "Armored Lan Battle Armor" spell based on the "seed" characteristic.

Perhaps stimulated by something, the "seed" had already completed its first sublimation.

Fu Lan Duo woke from her slumber, her body growing a little larger.

After receiving Lin Ke's reminder, she immediately gathered much greater source power, cooperated with Lin Ke, and launched the "calculation."

Outside the secret realm, a Paro wizard's "Old Undying" noticed that one of the secret realms he was responsible for guarding had seen a sudden surge in consumption over a short time, so he released a bit of mental power to investigate and immediately found the cause.

"Little guy, you've got plenty of secrets."

"Old Undying" amusedly watched Lin Ke and Fu Lan Duo, one big and one small, the two cooperating tacitly, frantically "shearing" the secret realm for wool, constantly high-speed calculating some plan, yet not lifting a hand to stop them.

Moreover, he even increased the power of the life force being transmitted into the secret realm.

So that Lin Ke's body could receive timely nourishment to support his brain's frantic operation.

After about half an hour, based on the characteristic of the "seed" devouring the Armored Lan seed, the scheme for casting the natal spell "Armored Lan Battle Armor" using the "seed" as a basis was thoroughly perfected.

At least, given Lin Ke's current knowledge structure, it was already perfected.

Lin Ke voluntarily ended the Multithreaded Thinking state, told Fu Lan Duo to rest well, himself not meditating, and simply collapsed onto the ground, snoring loudly as he fell asleep.

After the brain had run at high speed for too long, even though mental and life power were supplied promptly and sufficiently, it still produced an unavoidable fatigue.

Other matters, such as implementing the scheme based on the "seed" to cast the natal spell "Armored Lan Battle Armor."

We'll talk about it after waking up.