Chapter 370: A first look at the virtual world, a pastoral wonder!

At noon the next day, sparse sunlight sprinkled on the pure white snowfield, and the blizzard that had raged all night finally stopped a little.

At this moment of complete silence, a carriage pulled by two majestic white flying horses suddenly broke through the clouds and landed smoothly at the gate of Corinth Tower.

This lonely five-story wizard tower stands like a silent lighthouse above the white northern wilderness.

A newly replaced flag embroidered with the Colin family emblem was hung on the top of the tower, fluttering in the biting cold wind.

More than a dozen teaching assistants wearing heavy wizard robes had been waiting at the door for a long time.

They were the team assigned by the Council to assist Mentor Colin in his research, and many of them were previously responsible for the research on Virtual Realm No. 440.

Prior to this, the 440th Void Realm was discovered and studied by a schoolmaster named Keynes. Unfortunately, his research lasted less than half a year before it was unexpectedly interrupted due to a research accident.

According to the rules of the academy, the virtual realms discovered in the northern wasteland belong to the discoverer. If the discoverer voluntarily gives up or is unable to continue research due to an accident, the virtual realm will be taken back by the academy, and the Great Sage Tower will reallocate other professors or mentors to inherit their research.

Professor Keynes belongs to the Source Law School, and his research should be inherited by the professors of the Source Law School. The professors of the Source Law School have also been competing for this resource for a long time.

But no one expected that Prince Colin would suddenly appear in this wasteland, and the many mentors and professors who had been waiting for resources could only sigh and say that they were unlucky.

Seeing Luo Yan getting off the carriage, the assistants standing at the entrance of the Mage Tower bowed in unison, performing a more standard etiquette than that of the Holy City nobles.

"It's windy outside, let's go inside and talk."

Luo Yan smiled warmly, nodded to the teaching assistants who came to assist him in the experiment, and then walked straight into the mage tower named after his surname.

After watching His Highness Colin enter the Mage Tower, the teaching assistants waiting outside the door stood up and walked towards the Mage Tower while whispering to each other.

"As expected of His Royal Highness the Prince, he is as young and promising as the rumors say!" A young teaching assistant couldn't help but sigh with envy in his eyes.

Hearing his voice, another teaching assistant standing next to him nodded in agreement, his eyes filled with admiration and appreciation.

"...Yeah, I heard that he's only in his early twenties, but his strength is already at the platinum level! When he reaches Professor Hector's age, I wonder how strong he will be!"

"Platinum level?! Is that true?!"

"genius……"

The sound of whispers spread out, and every face was filled with fascination.

Being able to stand out from hundreds of thousands of magic apprentices, they were considered the best among ordinary people. However, looking at this platinum-level expert in his twenties, they could not help but reveal envious expressions, and lamented that their own halos were still as humble as ants in front of a true expert.

However, the discussions were not all filled with envy, there was also a hint of jealousy mixed in.

"Genius? He just relied on the protection of his ancestors," a voice said sourly, with indignation towards the world written on his face, feeling that his talent was not appreciated. "If I were born in the Colin family, I would at least be a diamond at this age!"

Hearing this, the teaching assistant next to him chuckled, and his admiring look clearly showed that he was a fan of His Highness Colin.

"Diamond? Stop bragging. If you were born in the Corrin family, would you come to the northern wasteland to learn magic?"

Just as the two young men were about to quarrel, an older teaching assistant interrupted them by whispering a scolding.

"Okay, keep quiet, unless you want to get out of here."

After hearing this scolding, the two young teaching assistants immediately shut up.

Regardless of whether they were envious or jealous, the job of assisting His Highness Colin was something they had snatched from their colleagues with great difficulty. If they were kicked out for talking about their mentor behind his back, they would have no place to cry.

As the top resource of the school, even the most ordinary virtual realm is a rare opportunity for an assistant teacher. Even a little bit of benefit leaked from it is enough to pull their humble souls out of the dust and rewrite their fate in this life and the next.

In addition to the enormous value contained in the virtual realm itself, they also heard that His Highness Colin was extremely generous to those around him.

If I really get some benefits from the virtual world by then, and that prince happens not to look down on them, I might end up getting the benefit!

Driven by such huge benefits, almost every teaching assistant is full of enthusiasm for the job at hand and can't wait to show off in front of His Highness Colin.

Of course, having said that, not everyone is optimistic about the research on Virtual Realm No. 440.

Although this virtual world is not very developed, the difficulty is not low at all. It is entirely possible to work hard but gain nothing in the end.

Two teaching assistants who looked experienced walked together and talked in low voices, and there was a hint of worry in their words about the youth of tutor Colin.

"His Highness Colin's abilities are impeccable, but I feel like his qualifications are still too shallow... Also, has he ever done research on the Void Realm?"

Another teaching assistant shook his head slightly.

"That prince has only been in Xuebang for less than two months, how could he have studied the Void Realm... I'm afraid this is his first time to come into contact with this thing."

The experienced teaching assistant sighed.

"I hope he is well prepared. This 440th virtual realm is no joke. The last instructor Keynes who was in charge of this place not only failed to make any progress, but also suffered a backlash from the virtual realm due to an experimental error. He has not woken up yet..."

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over the heads of those hot-blooded young men, calming their restless mood a little.

That heavy conversation was not only heard by the teaching assistants around him, but also by the little female dragon Tafu, who was hanging on Luo Yan's shoulders like a scarf, and she heard it clearly, and immediately let out a chuckle of laughter.

This kid never misses any opportunity to gloat over other people's misfortunes, so much so that Luo Yan couldn't help but reflect on himself and wonder if he had done something wrong.

It was clearly a punishment, but this guy felt great about it.

Sarah, who was walking next to Luo Yan, was completely different.

With her keen hearing, she caught all the discussions. A trace of worry flashed across her cold face, and she couldn't help but glance at the Demon King next to her.

Luo Yan, who was walking towards the tower, didn't care at all. He just smiled faintly and gave Sarah a reassuring look.

'I know what I'm doing.'

There are only two possibilities for the resources Xuebang allocated to him: either they are simple and insignificant, or they are expensive but a tough nut to crack.

If there is only Professor Hector, the former situation is more likely to happen, after all, Hector himself cannot get any good resources.

However, according to Corgi, Professor Hector is not the only one on the Sage Council who is fighting for him. There is also a professor named Ariste who is pushing this matter. This professor is a diamond-level magician and is said to be only one step away from becoming a sage.

It was obvious that this "quasi-sage" professor had already determined that he would never be able to comprehend the mystery of Virtual Realm No. 440, and had already regarded this Virtual Realm as something in his pocket.

Thinking of this, Luo Yan raised an intriguing smile and whispered to himself.

"Let's take a look at what this virtual world is."

…

In the center of the Corin Tower, in a wide and solemn circular hall, complex runes spread across the entire ground like a spider web, forming a huge magic circle together with the stone pillars supporting the main structure of the building.

The teaching assistant in a long robe meticulously placed the glowing magic crystals on the nodes of the magic circle.

As the last magic crystal was placed, a faint blue light instantly swept across the ground along the lines drawn by the magic crystal powder, climbed up the magnificent stone pillars, and climbed up to the top of the Mage Tower!

Standing at the edge of the magic circle, Luo Yan watched with great interest everything that happened before his eyes and recorded it in the crystal ball in his arms.

Just at this moment, a shrill buzzing sound came from the top of the tower.

The entire space seemed to be frozen, coated with a layer of blue filter, and fell into a strange steady state.

Sarah glanced around uneasily, her right hand on the hilt of her sword, not understanding what was happening.

The huge fluctuation of magic power made her feel a little uneasy...

Tafu, who had been wandering between half asleep and half awake, could not fall asleep at all this time, and her eyes were as big as bells.

“How…is this possible?!”

"How is that possible?" Luo Yan asked casually, looking at the shocked Tafu.

"Subspace... It's actually the Subspace!" Tafu muttered to herself, with an expression of disbelief. "Haven't you read my diary? Do you know how I came to this world? It's incredible. A group of hairless monkeys actually..."

Looking at Tafu who was struggling with something inexplicable, Luo Yan couldn't help but find it a little funny.

"Have you forgotten what you did in the Janna continent?"

"That's different! I used the Lizardmen to complete the barrier, and... that's not the real subspace. I just used the characteristics of the subspace to separate the Janna continent from the main world." Tafu argued stubbornly, her tail hanging on Luo Yan's back tense and shaking from side to side uneasily.

"Is that so? But in my opinion, your great achievements are more amazing." Luo Yan replied casually and stretched his hand forward.

A surprising scene happened.

The air flowing in front of him seemed to turn into a sticky gel, enveloping the entire space inside the mage tower.

What surprised Luo Yan even more was that even though the air turned into a sticky colloid, it did not seem to hinder the people in it from breathing?

This incredible question did not confuse him for long. As time went by, Luo Yan quickly understood the reason.

It was not the air that turned into a sticky gel, but the entire space, along with everything in it, turned into this sticky and soft existence.

The physical rules of the classical universe seem to be invalid in this small wizard tower...

Taffy, who was lying on his shoulder, swallowed and whispered the shock in his heart.

“…This is too incredible.”

The magic circle was finally set up, and Miller, the leader of the entire virtual world research team, walked towards Luo Yan and said respectfully.

"Teacher, everything is ready and can be started at any time."

Luo Yan nodded, suppressed his excitement, and gave the order calmly.

"Let's get started."

"yes."

Miller responded, respectfully took the magic scroll given by the Council from His Highness Colin, walked into the magic circle and began to chant the spell.

The entire hall seemed to have turned into a concert scene. As Miller sang, many magicians began to chant spells.

With the combined efforts of everyone, a vast magical power like a flood emerged in this sticky space, and flowed around the stone pillars like a whirlpool!

Suddenly, the surging magic power began to gather towards the center of the magic circle.

Under Tafu's astonished gaze, the complete and continuous space and time was torn into a crack two meters high!

At the moment the crack was torn open, the buzzing sound from top to bottom suddenly disappeared, and the twisted space-time crack suddenly stabilized.

The mages standing on the magic circle changed the rhythm of their spellcasting. Arcs of magic were like networks woven in the air, polishing the unstable cracks into a lens with a regular shape that rippled gently like water waves.

Through the mirror-like surface that looked like lake water, everyone saw the scene behind Virtual Realm No. 440 - it was a pastoral landscape with a sunny day.

The sky is azure blue, with floating green clouds. The interconnected ridges of fields divide the farmland covered with lush grass and sparse seedlings. Windmills and smoke from cooking fires can be seen in the distance.

Everyone's "viewpoint" was located on a tall boulder, which was as tall as a five-story wizard tower and was high enough to overlook the entire field.

Seeing this scene, all the magicians breathed a sigh of relief, with joy of success revealed on their faces.

"Is this... successful?" Luo Yan walked into the magic circle and cast an inquiring look at Miller standing beside him.

The latter nodded excitedly and spoke in an excited voice.

"Yes, mentor! Not only did we succeed, but we were even more successful than expected!"

Luo Yan asked with interest.

"What do you mean by more successful than expected?"

Miller smiled shyly and answered quickly.

"The last time Professor Keynes opened the crack, our viewpoint happened to fall on the windmill blades... You can't imagine what we went through. Almost all the researchers who participated in the observation vomited when they returned!"

Luo Yan had never heard of this, but he still keenly captured the information contained in this sentence.

"Is the 'viewpoint' different every time you open the virtual world?"

Miller hesitated for a moment and then answered.

"Well, that's not the case. Sometimes it's the same, and sometimes it's different. Also, as we interfere with the virtual world, or wait for the natural evolution of the environment in the virtual world, our perspective will change accordingly... There's a lot of luck involved."

Luo Yan thought for a moment and said.

"Won't the change in viewpoint have an impact on research? Take the continent of Oss as an example... this time we opened the gate in the countryside of the Holy City, and the next time we open the rift it will become the northern wasteland."

Miller said with a smile.

"No, the change in space is actually a good thing for us. After all, the amount of information that can be collected from each viewpoint is limited. The refresh of the viewpoint can help us obtain more information about the world behind the virtual world from other perspectives."

Luo Yan nodded in understanding and continued to ask.

"But what if the viewpoint is refreshed in a place where there are no living things?"

Miller said, shaking his head.

"That situation has not happened yet. The view of the Source Law School is that the existence of the 'viewpoint' is inextricably linked to living things - or souls. Only a 'token' that houses a huge spiritual power can serve as a medium to establish a connection with the virtual world. And in a deserted place, it is almost impossible for such a medium to exist."

Having said this, he paused for a moment and then added another sentence.

"In fact, compared to the changes in space, the most serious interference to our research is time. I don't know if Professor Hector has mentioned to you that the flow of time inside and outside the virtual realm is uneven. Only when the virtual realm channel is opened, the time on both sides will flow synchronously!"

"And if the connection is broken, the time on both sides will immediately deviate from the parallel track. When the connection is reconnected next time, maybe a few days have passed on our side, while only a few minutes have passed in the world behind the virtual world. Of course, it is also possible that only a few seconds have passed on our side, while several years or even hundreds of years have passed on the other side, to the point where it is impossible to count... because even the races active behind the virtual world have undergone tremendous changes!"

When he said this, Miller's tone suddenly became heavy.

"Professor Keynes, who was in charge of this project before, tried to use the 'source power' to create a 'container' for himself behind the virtual world that could hold his soul. He then dived into the virtual world to explore. However, when he was exploring deeply, the connection was suddenly disconnected, and part of his soul was completely lost behind the virtual world, and was exiled outside of the time we know."

Luo Yan looked at him in surprise.

"He stayed in the virtual world?"

"To be precise, part of his soul remained in the virtual world," Miller whispered, "In fact, we are not sure what his current situation is... I heard that his body is currently sleeping in the convalescent facility of the Great Sage Tower. Maybe he will wake up one day."

When he said this, the assistant coach named Miller was obviously not very optimistic. After all, who would go to the trouble of saving a magician who had crippled himself?

His "inheritance" has almost been divided up. There is no benefit in waking him up, and it will only bring about complicated troubles.

As for the relationship between master and apprentice...

That's even more of a joke.

This is Xuebang, the most ruthless place in the entire Aos continent. In front of that cold rationality, even the howling wind and snow seem to be affectionate.

"So our main goal is to explore the mysteries of this virtual world. Our secondary goal is to find the soul fragments of Professor Keynes...if he is still alive." Luo Yan tried to summarize, with an eager expression on his face.

Miller was slightly stunned and nodded.

"It's like this..."

As he spoke, the scene in the virtual world changed.

Groups of farmers appeared one after another between the ridges of the fields, with pious faces and slow steps, coming from all directions towards the huge rock.

Looking at the farmers walking towards the boulder, Miller's spirits suddenly perked up, and he looked at mentor Colin beside him and said excitedly.

"It seems that the time span between our last connection and this one is not that long! The people living in this field are still the same people from the past, and even the culture and traditions haven't changed much... It's time for the daily pilgrimage!"

It seems that there is a long time interval between the two openings of this virtual door.

Luo Yan nodded slightly, but was thinking in his heart.

In extreme cases, the magicians of Xuebang can even witness the rise and fall of a civilization, or even the changes of species.

Even if they can't always interpret anything from the fragmented information.

More and more farmers gathered in front of the boulder. They seemed to regard the boulder as some kind of spiritual totem. They prostrated themselves on the ground and prayed in an unknown language.

As these people came closer, the images in the virtual world gradually became clearer, and Luo Yan finally saw with his own eyes these residents who were suspected to be living in another universe.

They have a similar outline to humans and are slender, but seem to have no bones. Their bodies are tightly woven with countless slender, octopus-like tentacles.

The outermost tentacles on their faces hung down like a veil, and a pair of pupil-less eyes could be vaguely seen hidden deep inside.

Those were fish-like eyes, wide open yet lifeless, as if staring at the bottomless abyss with all its strength.

"The Solipsis! A humanoid octopus walking on the land! According to the clues from Professor Keynes' research, the local residents seem to regard this huge stone as some kind of spiritual totem... It's really surprising that we actually encountered it again, and this time it was directly attached to the 'holy stone' they prayed to!"

Miller said excitedly. He looked into those lifeless yet fanatical eyes, as if he wanted to engrave the scene of the pilgrimage in his mind.

The magician next to him was the same, his face was full of excitement, and he was whispering with his colleagues next to him.

Being able to meet the same group of people in the same virtual world, without even a major shift in space, is undoubtedly the best situation for magicians who study the virtual world.

This meant that their previous research could be carried forward rather than having to start over from scratch.

Gazing at those pairs of faces covered with tentacles, Luo Yan touched his chin thoughtfully, but his attention was focused on a point that no one paid attention to.

"...They don't seem to be good at farming. No wonder there are so few seedlings surviving in the land."

Miller was slightly stunned, obviously not expecting that His Highness Colin would focus on such an insignificant matter.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"Is there anything wrong with that?"

Luo Yan smiled faintly and spoke in a chatty tone.

"Nothing, but don't you find it strange? A race that is not good at farming has developed into a standard farming civilization and even invented a convenient grinding tool like the windmill. I really can't imagine that they have so much wheat to grind, and looking at their shape, I even think that they are more suitable for living in the sea than on land."

Miller was very quick to understand. The moment he heard this, he reacted sharply and a hint of enlightenment appeared in his eyes.

"You mean... they were put here?"

Luo Yan nodded.

"It's just a guess. Haven't you done research along this line of thought before?"

If they were placed here, it means that behind this picturesque pastoral idyll, there is actually another scenery that they have not seen.

Miller scratched the back of his head and said sheepishly.

"Well, we usually prefer to study the supernatural power system behind the virtual world and the virtual world itself, but rarely have a deep understanding of the life that appears in the virtual world... After all, our ability to interact with the virtual world is limited, and maybe they will become something else the next time we open the door. Even if we understand their history, it will be meaningless."

That may not be the case.

Luo Yan smiled meaningfully, but did not give any further explanation. He just brushed aside the topic and looked at him before continuing.

"So what now? Is there anything else we can do besides watching them pray over a broken rock?"

Miller said carefully.

"Of course not. When these natives prayed, the source power floating in the virtual world gathered towards the stone. According to the speculation of the Source Law School... this spontaneous prayer behavior may be one of the reasons why the virtual world channel can be established."

"Let's put aside these complicated theories. The source power they attached to the stone can be used by us, especially when they don't know how to use this power!"

This sounds a bit like the power of faith.

Luo Yan glanced at the side and nodded slowly at him, obviously agreeing with his guess - the energy attached to the boulder was neither magic power nor source power, but the purest and most original power of faith!

The reason why Xuebang's magicians can use this power to improve their soul levels is actually the same way he bestows promotion on believers through divine power.

It’s just that the two have different ways of invoking the power of faith, and the magicians of these academic states don’t seem to realize that they are actually acting as gods from another world.

"Do you have any good suggestions?" Luo Yan turned his gaze to Miller and asked the researcher who had rich experience in exploring the virtual world.

The latter hesitated and spoke.

"According to the general practice of professors, we will extract some items with 'virtual realm materials' attached but not too noticeable from the virtual realm. These virtual realm materials often contain things that can break through the bottleneck of soul level... Taking this virtual realm as an example, the ones that meet the conditions are the tributes offered by the villagers."

Even rotten tributes contain a certain degree of faith power. Luo Yan asked Youyou to make a rough estimate that a basket full of rotten fruits and vegetables could probably raise an ordinary person's soul to the Black Iron level.

To be honest, this is too little.

He could gather enough power of faith by simply scaring a few higher-level adventurers.

Looking at Prince Colin who was not interested, Miller paused for a moment and continued in a low voice.

"Of course, there is another way, which is the method that Teacher Keynes used... that is to explore the virtual world itself. Whether it is making a container to hold souls and placing it behind the virtual world, or communicating with the gifted natives through dreams, these are all possible methods. But if I may be frank, this world does not seem to have much worth learning. In terms of farming skills alone, they are not even as good as the farmers in the Kingdom of Rhodes."

"I see." Luo Yan nodded, his eyes still fixed on the scene in the lens, "It seems we have to do something."

"Yes," Miller nodded and asked nervously in a low voice, "If you don't have any ideas, you don't have to make a decision immediately. We can be cautious and start with observation and recording..."

Although this virtual world is not his, he is still a stakeholder. If this virtual world is compared to a bicycle, then he is the passenger sitting on this bicycle.

However, Luo Yan would not be polite to them. As a devil from hell, he not only had to ride hard, but also had to stand up and pedal!

Anyway, it’s Xuebang’s shared bicycles.

"No ideas? Who said I don't have any ideas? I just happen to have one..."

Ignoring Miller who instantly became nervous, Luo Yan issued his first order in an unquestionable tone.

"Use the energy accumulated on the stone tablet to grant them a good harvest!"

(End of this chapter)