Chapter 81 - 75: A Minor Realm Breakthrough
If she had, her mentor would value her more, instead of treating her like Mo Ning’s "babysitter."
"Sigh!"
Nasha sighed.
She sat back down in the animal-hide chair and once again propped her long, fair legs up on the low table.
The Female Apprentice glanced at the ball of light a few times, then belatedly realized something. ’My mentor actually said so much today.’
All of Yi Lin’s apprentices knew that most of the time, she wouldn’t say a single word all day.
On the few occasions she did speak, she would only say a sentence or two a day.
A situation like today’s was so rare you might not see it even once in four or five years.
And all those words had been about Mo Ning.
’I’m not jealous!’
’Nope, not jealous at all!’
Deep down, the Female Apprentice gritted her teeth and gave the little personification of "Jealousy" a savage beating.
Nasha took a deep breath and shoved all those chaotic thoughts into the depths of her mind.
She tore her gaze away from Mo Ning’s ball of light.
’I can’t understand it anyway. Continuing to watch will only frustrate me.’
The Female Apprentice turned to monitor the other miserable-looking newcomers instead.
Nasha watched for a while, and her mood gradually improved.
Her eyes curved into crescents as she smiled. ’Happiness really is built on the suffering of others.’
*****
「Apartment 804.」
The heavy curtain of night slowly descended, like a colossal stage curtain being drawn, gradually blanketing the boundless Nu Ti Grassland.
"Phew..."
Mo Ning let out a long sigh of relief and gently set down the Ink Tube Pen that had been his companion across countless sheets of draft paper.
Solving the "system of equations," which was composed of sixteen Divination formulas, was by far the most difficult calculation he had ever undertaken.
Despite the powerful assistance from his [Eye of Truth], it had still been an ordeal.
He had gotten stuck several times during the calculation process.
Every time he got stuck, it meant he had hit a dead end, and it was hard not to feel a little discouraged.
The ’cheat’ was just an auxiliary tool, after all.
It could offer suggestions, eliminate errors, and provide hints when he hit a wall—but many parts still required his own decisions.
Fortunately, the half-year he had spent with the "Cyan Lamp Ancient Books" for company in the Royal Library had bestowed upon him exceptional patience.
He didn’t rest for even a second, immediately starting to search for the next path toward the light—re-examining overlooked details, and adjusting parameters he had previously dismissed.
Finally, after a long time fumbling in the dark, his deep contemplation sparked a wondrous flash of Spiritual Light.
In a stroke of creativity, he introduced a seventeenth Divination Formula.
Like the final puzzle piece gently clicking into its empty slot, the entire maze suddenly became clear.
This difficult battle of wits had finally drawn to a close.
But the rewards were immense.
Mo Ning had a peculiar intuition; it felt as if his understanding of Secret Divination and Divination had taken a quantum leap.
To put it in terms of the cultivation novels from his past life, his Cultivation had broken through a minor realm.
This filled him with even greater joy.
Mo Ning gazed at the thick stack of draft paper on his desk and suddenly had a new idea. ’Maybe I should write a couple of papers and rake in some more Black Tower Points.’
The process of solving the system of Divination equations was nothing short of brilliant; every single step was worth documenting and could easily be spun into another journal article.
And someone with the discerning eye of the society’s Reviewing Editor-in-Chief would certainly recognize its value.
Besides.
He would hardly be the first to do so. Wizards who spun off journal articles from their main research papers were a dime a dozen.
But there was no rush to write that paper.
Mo Ning glanced at the light screen and thought, ’Deduce Divination Model.’
A torrent of data surged once more.
The greatest hurdle had been overcome. The rest would naturally fall into place.
While the model was being deduced, Mo Ning pulled out a blank sheet of scale pattern paper and started on another task: answering Anya’s questions.
The Knowledge of Divination taught in the *Epic of Witchcraft* class was incredibly dense, with a staggering amount of information packed into it.
Although the Noble Lady had taken notes furiously in class and repeatedly pored over them afterward, she was still stuck on eleven difficult points.
For Mo Ning, answering these questions was a good way to let his brain cool down.
It was all too easy.
The Ink Tube Pen in his hand moved so fast it was a blur, neat lines of Divination Formulas pouring from its nib at incredible speed.
「A quarter of an hour later.」
Nine sheets of scale pattern paper were now covered in various Divination symbols, formulas, and derivations.
He spread the manuscripts out on his desk, aimed the face of his [Secret Technique Whisper] ring at the nine pages, and gently activated the Spirit Seal with his Spiritual Power.
The wondrous force of Magic Power instantly converted the two-dimensional pages into "three-dimensional images" before transmitting them to their destination.
Anya was an excellent teammate, so he was more than happy to help with something that was, for him, a trivial effort.
*****
Another half hour passed by in a flash.
The hour hand of the clock quietly crept toward eleven at night.
The torrent of Divination data gradually subsided.
A shimmering Divination Model, containing nine simplified Spirit Seals, appeared clearly on the light screen.
If it were entered into the Mysteries Hall’s witchcraft database, it would absolutely be among the most structurally complex of all the Sub-zero Level Tricks.
A wide smile spread across Mo Ning’s face, his heart swelling with an immense sense of accomplishment.
Completing a high-difficulty project—improving a technique bordering on Level Zero Witchcraft—in just half a day was, for him, a true milestone achievement.
The next moment, however, Mo Ning’s smile faded slightly.
Because his [Eye of Truth] had suddenly displayed a notification:
[According to the analysis, this Witchcraft requires a Spiritual Strength of 0.72 points.]