Chapter 199: line with translation of chapter title

203. Chapter 203 Black-hearted Capitalist (It's really hard to come up with a chapter title)

Are you having trouble over there?

Serlin the sorceress heard the abyss demon's roar and immediately asked, concerned.

It's nothing, don't worry, just a small thing.

Paro the Wise glanced down at his abdomen, torn open with a big hole, and said casually.

It's just that the abyssal demon, unwilling to die like that, burned its soul, sacrificed to the will of the abyss, and gave a desperate strike—just poked it a bit.

Besides seeing the intestines squirm, it's nothing major.

Paro the Wise took another look at the abyssal demon that had been torn limb from limb.

It's really just a small thing.

He wasn't lying.

Really? Don't keep things from me; I'm not that fragile—I used to be the commander of the main force!

Serlin the sorceress spoke with utmost seriousness.

Back then, on the myriad heavens battlefield, she had gone in and out several times, following the legion to cut through several worlds capped at level 5 or 6.

She wasn't some sheltered flower that's never seen blood.

Not so delicate that she can't withstand wind and rain.

She simply couldn't resist Paro's strong demand, gradually stepping down as commander of the main force to focus on potion mastery, shifting to logistics.

She then retreated from the front lines to her homeland and opened a potion shop.

Hmm.

Paro the Wise didn't want to go deeper into this topic.

Waging war across the myriad heavens—can one ever be at peace?

Don't be reckless; having today might mean there's no tomorrow.

Since you have a talent for potions and the potential to become a great potion master, you could stay in the homeland or the academy's main branch; why live a precarious hand-to-mouth existence?

And you're not the type who naturally seeks thrills.

On the contrary, you're weary of cutthroat competition and yearn for a peaceful life.

So, just stay in the homeland.

Wage war across the myriad heavens?

Don't even think about it.

Serlin the sorceress sensed Paro the Wise's inexplicable persistence, fell silent for a moment, and said, "If you're busy over there, let's talk when you have time."

Paro the Wise glanced at the annihilation fortress, meticulously rebuilt from a discarded planet, now emitting an ultimate blinding annihilation beam aimed at the abyss world's portal.

Wherever the annihilation light passed, every spacetime constraint based on universal gravitation was utterly obliterated.

One shot shattered the wormhole-style portal linking the abyss world and the fairy world.

It also interfered with the abyss world's acquisition of spacetime coordinates for the fairy world.

Thus the will of the abyss could only obtain a bunch of garbled code.

He then glanced back at the battlefield where even the elite guard had been sent to clean up, seeing line after line of low-level demons that could be used as fertilizer.

He spoke calmly: "I'm almost done here, not busy—go ahead and speak."

Serlin the sorceress no longer delayed, saying: "Lin Kong just came to me, wanting some materials and documents related to souls, consciousness seas, and meditation methods. I estimate that all the resources he could access with his current permissions have already been read by him, which is why he came to me."

Meditation method?

Paro the sorcerer instantly seized the point: "Give him whatever materials and documents he wants, including all our drafts from when we previously tried to create our own meditation method."

Is that okay?

At this point, Serlin the sorceress hesitated a bit: "This path isn't easy at all; it's prone to problems. If something really goes wrong, that poor little guy could be ruined."

Give it! If he wants it, give it!

Paro the Wise spoke firmly, then explained: "He's not the type whose mind easily overheats; if he could possibly create his own meditation method, that proves he must have undergone a huge change. Moreover, this change is very likely a good thing—an overly good thing."

That's the experience of someone who's been there.

Alright.

Serlin the sorceress agreed hesitantly.

After a pause, she said with concern: "Take good care of yourself, don't..."

She stopped halfway through speaking.

Don't what?

Paro the Wise curled the corners of his mouth into a slight upward arc, narrowed his eyes slightly, and pressed further.

Don't wear out your body!

Serlin the sorceress snorted: "Wise ones are also human; people get tired. Don't think that becoming a wise one means you can stay up all night, obsessively working. Remember to rest!"

Hmm, I will.

The evil attribute damage to Paro the sorcerer's abdominal wound was removed; the wound began to gradually heal, no longer painful, and his tone finally softened.

Alright then, remember to take good care of yourself.

Serlin the sorceress didn't take the opportunity to chat more; she dropped that line and decisively hung up the communication.

She feared that if she kept talking, she'd come across as overbearing and worry about delaying Paro's important business.

After all, he's on the battlefield—how could his saying 'it's fine' actually mean it's fine?

That guy never speaks a truthful word; he just knows how to deceive her.

She wouldn't believe him.

Paro the Wise put down the encrypted communicator.

He withdrew the smile on his face, and the not-so-obvious sense of happiness.

He contemptuously glanced at the abyssal demon that thought it could pull off a dying counterattack, ignored the shattered corpse, and let the fairy world's barrier swallow it clean.

Henceforth, the fairy world will bear the Paragon Sage's mark; does it still care about the profit from a fourth‑tier abyssal demon corpse?

Even the corpses of low‑level demons on the battlefield and the captured low‑level demons will be used to feed the fairy world.

To help the fairy world develop properly and make up for some of its foundation.

That way, if no suitable newly‑born world is found later, using the fairy world as one's native realm to prepare for advancement to Great Sage would not be too bad.

Villa, study.

"Come in."

Serlin the sorceress broke off her anti‑eavesdropping and shouted.

Lin Ke, waiting outside the study, heard the voice and pushed the door open.

"Sit, wait a moment; there's a lot of material."

She gestured for Lin Ke to retake his previous seat, and Serlin the sorceress, following her memory, began searching the study.

Soon she summoned four offline smart brains for storing data and documents from several corners of the study, stacked them, and handed them to Lin Ke.

"The top two hold related data and documents; the bottom two contain some of Paragon's and my old research drafts, also about the self‑created meditation method."

Serlin the sorceress emphasized, "Much of the content here—whether data, documents, or our drafts—is for reference only, not to be taken superstitiously, understand?"

"Mm, I understand."

Lin Ke nodded, replied in a low voice, then sincerely thanked, "Thank you, Serlin sorceress; please convey my thanks to Paragon Sage as well, sorry for the trouble."

Serlin the sorceress curled her lip and said, "You tell him yourself; I'm too lazy to contact that annoying guy unless it's nothing."

Lin Ke remained silent.

The big shot's woman can complain about the big shot however she likes.

But one must never casually reply.

"Alright, go back on your own; drive that vehicle I somewhat envy." Serlin the sorceress, unwilling to adjust her mood, waved her hand, complaining, "Hurry up, hurry up, just looking at you annoys me! Instead of being like anyone decent, you insist on being like that annoying Paragon guy. One by one, you won't take the safe path; you insist on inventing your own meditation method."

"Goodbye, Serlin sorceress."

Lin Ke didn't want to hear more, immediately rose to say goodbye, turned and left.

Afraid that after leaving he'd have to hear more complaints.

After leaving Serlin sorceress's villa, Lin Ke took out his Phantom Coupe and proceeded at a relatively safe speed.

His clearance isn't as high as Serlin sorceress's, so he dare not speed recklessly.

From the northern district's Shanghuan City Avenue, he made a half‑circle detour, then sped toward the academy.

The process went smoothly, with no melodramatic incidents.

After returning to the academy, Lin Ke began devoting his time and energy to two matters:

studying the data and documents obtained from Serlin sorceress, especially Paragon Sage's old research drafts;

the two core and elective courses of advanced study at the higher academy.

True transmission is a single sentence; false transmission fills ten thousand volumes.

"What is the essence of a sorceress?"

"What is the essence of a meditation method?"

"What is the essence of mental power?"

"What is the essence of runes?"

The few self‑questions at the beginning of Paragon Sage's research drafts already pierced a layer of window paper.

This made Lin Ke instantly understand how he should explore the direction for creating his own meditation method.

To create a meditation method suited to oneself, one must begin by understanding the origins and essence of sorceresses, sorcery, runes, and meditation methods—their origins, essence, and development.

Thereafter, the main work is learning runes and continual trial and error.

The main content of Paragon Sage's research drafts is a detailed record of repeated trial and error.

It includes the hypotheses jointly proposed by Paragon Sage and Serlin sorceress, why they were made that way, how to verify them, the specific verification process, the results, and analysis of the causes of failure.

Yes, only the failures are recorded; success is mentioned in a single sentence.

That is, after continuous trial and error lasting three years, they finally arrived at a special meditation method suited to Paragon Sage's particular circumstances.

With a successful precedent, Lin Ke's confidence grew even stronger.

Especially since he can stand on the shoulders of giants and see farther.

However, no matter how far he can see, Lin Ke must still walk step by step and learn bit by bit.

Starting from the origin of sorceresses.

What is the origin of sorceresses?

It is briefly mentioned in the first‑year "Brief History of Sorceress Civilization," but not accurately or in detail.

The origin of sorceresses lies in how ancient sages, seeking to free themselves from the rule of powerful magical beasts, employed "learning the barbarians' techniques to control the barbarians," suffering heavy casualties in capturing and killing weak magical beasts, then conducting various studies on those beasts.

Including but not limited to dissection, consumption, and weapon crafting.

Whether by chance or necessity, the ancient sages eventually discovered the source of the magical beasts' strength, finding the existence of runes and rune‑combined structures on their corpses.

And long‑term consumption of magical beast flesh made the ancient sages' mental power no longer illusory and intangible.

The earliest sorceresses were thus born.

They did not meditate, had no sorcery, and relied on using their own mental power to stimulate primitive, crude rune objects made from magical beast hide, bone, eyes, and horns, thereby eliciting the beasts' innate abilities for combat and survival.

Until the discovery of the first will‑rune usable for increasing mental power did the sorceress sages begin to meditate, embarking on the path where great power returns to oneself rather than relying solely on external objects for self‑strengthening.

And only when the first complete sorcery was peeled from a magical beast hide did the sorceresses truly come into being.

So, what is the essence of a sorceress?

In Lin Ke's view, the essence of a wizard is the "scientist" who cognizes the world, influences the world, and transforms the world.

Wizardry is the feedback these "scientists" gain from cognizing the world, the strongest tool for influencing and transforming the world.

Next are wizard tools.

Understanding the origin and development of wizards and wizardry makes it easy to grasp what the essence of meditation method is.

The essence of meditation method is a method that uses runes, mainly will runes, to increase and condense mental power.

To create one's own meditation method, one must deeply understand mental power and runes.

What is the essence of mental power?

Apart from all philosophical, psychological, and cultural definitions and explanations, mental power can be regarded as a substance, a highly special "electromagnetic wave," possessing the concepts of "frequency" and "wavelength."

Frequency can be adjusted, wavelength can be adjusted.

The manifestation of this is the differences between people, and the differences between meditation methods.

Runes are the superficial manifestation of the world's underlying rules.

Meditation method, without departing from the world's underlying rules, stimulates different rune combinations and characteristics to adjust the "frequency" and "wavelength" of mental power, performing cycle after cycle of reciprocation, thereby achieving the goal of increasing quantity and improving quality.

Understanding these, Lin Ke has a clearer direction on how to create a meditation method suitable for himself.

Will runes, especially those that increase mental power quantity and enhance mental power quality, should be learned first regardless of whether they are useful or needed.

As for rule runes and element runes, any that frequently appear in various meditation methods should also be learned first.

These are the basics.

Afterwards, one must target one's two special points,

one being all-element affinity, the other being the "small world",

to attempt to construct the framework of a meditation method layer by layer.

Take the first layer of the apprentice chapter of the Water-Wood Mutual Growth Meditation Method as an example.

It requires only three runes: the "Derivation" rune that increases mental power quantity, the "Water Element Aggregation" rune that condenses and absorbs water element into the body, and the "Wood Element Aggregation" rune that condenses and absorbs wood element into the body.

This matches Lin Ke's initial water-element affinity and wood-element affinity.

Lin Ke later acquired all-element affinity postnatally, so the apprentice chapter's first layer must possess the all-element aggregation rune.

Thereafter, how to combine with will runes, how to layout, and how they interconnect are technical work.

It requires bold hypotheses and careful verification.

It requires constant trial and error.

As for the fact that the capacity of the "small world" is vastly greater than that of the sea of consciousness, Lin Ke also has a targeted idea.

The origin of the world has birth, growth, and also destruction.

Its state is not immutable; it can be changed.

Then, can we refer to the form of rune barriers and advanced wizard equipment, engraving the structure layout of the meditation method into the origin of the "small world"?

Rune barriers are composed of rune arrays, advanced wizard equipment is engraved with rune arrays, and the structure layout of the meditation method itself is a rune array.

In this way, when the "small world" grows up and matures, it can fully learn autonomous meditation to relieve the master's worries.

Even if the "small world" does not meditate autonomously, there is still the spirit Flan Duo, is there not?

She can fully drive the "small world" to meditate.

The inspiration for Lin Ke's idea comes from the planet's rotation and revolution, tidal phenomena, and the planet's perpetual state of motion.

It is that a world above a certain level possesses world will!

Activate the "multi-thread thinking" state, repeatedly verify one's gains, ideas, and brainstorms to confirm they possess a certain feasibility.

Lin Ke then adjusted his state, not being overly distracted by meditation method matters, and devoted a certain amount of time and energy to the advanced studies courses of the advanced academy.

Not to mention the upcoming first monthly exam; if one does not do well, wouldn't that be embarrassing?

Speaking solely of the advanced studies courses themselves, the major element wizard course and the minor true spirit wizard course have high value, greatly boosting Lin Ke's strength.

One cannot neglect one for the other, showing favoritism.

One must grasp both, and both must be strong!

Adding supplementary settings, perhaps dull, but it should allow Lin Ke's strength to surge, becoming more reasonable.