Chapter 379 The Laws of Fiction
The light from the teleportation dissipated in the magnificent hall, and Jemin's figure reappeared.
The moment his feet touched solid ground, he clearly felt countless gazes, like invisible probes, all focused on him.
The meaning behind these gazes is quite complex.
There was scrutiny, exploration, disbelief, deep curiosity, and even a touch of indescribable... regret?
The only thing missing was the congratulations or respect due to the person who had just won the final victory in the fierce battle.
Jemin was fully aware of this, but his face remained calm.
He knew that the "methods" he had used in the competition were clearly seen by the sharp-eyed high-ranking wizards in the hall.
Although everyone had different opinions, out of respect for wizards and for the wizard Norren, no one dared to step forward and disturb Jemin.
Only Viola.
Like a thieving crab, she moved silently sideways, sidling up to Jieming.
Then she nudged him lightly with her elbow, lowered her voice, and asked incredulously:
"Hey, Jemin... your laws... are they really related to 'imaginary elements'?"
Looking at Viola's furtive yet inquisitive demeanor, and sensing the wizards around them who seemed to be talking amongst themselves but were actually all listening intently, Jemin couldn't help but laugh.
He didn't lower his voice deliberately; instead, he nodded frankly and admitted it openly:
"Yes, that's right."
He didn't think it was a lie.
In this wizarding universe, the energy form of "reiki" does not exist within their cognitive system.
From their perspective, classifying it as a product of "fantasy elements" or "fictional laws" is perfectly reasonable.
Despite the fact that they had already made some guesses based on previous observations through the light screen and Jemin's own admission of the term "fantasy element," everyone had their own suspicions.
But when he actually confirmed it with his own mouth, a suppressed murmur of surprise and discussion inevitably rang out in the hall.
Viola's eyes widened, and she pressed him directly:
"What were you thinking?! Why did you choose this direction?!"
Jemin had anticipated their reaction.
In the mainstream understanding of the wizarding world, choosing "fantasy elements" or related "fictional laws" as the core research direction is a rather "unconventional" and even considered "irrational" behavior.
All of this stems from the contradictory and trap-filled nature of the "law of fiction" itself.
When Jemin decided to make "spiritual energy" the core principle of his wizarding path, his primary concern was not how to build a sacred path, but a more fundamental question: Does this wizarding universe, which is centered on materialism and the exploration of rules, allow advancement based on a law that "does not exist" in this universe?
To this end, he spent a great deal of time and energy searching for relevant information in the vast knowledge base of the Norren Workshop.
Ultimately, he found information about the "laws of fiction".
The conclusion is simple: yes.
The wizarding civilization has a long history, and its inhabitants include countless intelligent people and those who dare to think outside the box.
Long ago, many top wizards pondered similar questions: the so-called laws are essentially a summary of the regularities and exploration of the truth of certain objective things or laws; they are simply a kind of "knowledge".
So, if a wizard can "set up" something and "set up" a set of rules for its operation, and then study and master it as if studying real laws, wouldn't it theoretically be possible to achieve near "omnipotence"?
This path is known to wizards as the Law of Illusion.
"Imaginary elements" are things generated or associated with these "false" laws that are subjectively "set up".
The word "daydream" already reveals its essence—it originates from imagination, not from objective existence.
In theory, this path is feasible, and there have indeed been wizards who succeeded in it throughout history.
Ultimately, however, the path of "fictional laws" was almost eliminated from the mainstream choices of wizarding civilization.
There are many reasons.
First, although it is theoretically possible to fulfill the "fictional law," very few people can actually do it.
To construct a "fictional law" that can generate "fantasy elements" and be recognized by the wizarding system, the researcher must first set the law he wants to establish rigorously and self-consistently.
After all, apart from the legendary level nine beings, the wizarding world is still quite "materialistic," with various objective laws that are indestructible.
Creating a system of laws out of thin air that can be approved by the fundamental rules of the endless chaotic void is far more difficult than studying an existing law in depth.
For example, when studying the "laws of the fire element," researchers only need to focus on the properties, changes, and interactions of the fire element itself with other elements.
However, if you want to "set" a similar but entirely new "X-element law", you not only need to understand the fire element, but also need to have a deep understanding of other basic elements such as water, earth, and wind.
Even related laws such as the law of conservation of energy and spatial structure are used to ensure that your "settings" do not fundamentally conflict with these cornerstones, while still demonstrating sufficient "novelty".
Simply put, to study a normal law, one might only need to comprehend and absorb a wisp of the relevant dimensional origin to successfully get started.
To create one's own law requires absorbing the origins of multiple different planes, resulting in an exponential increase in resource consumption and knowledge barriers.
This single requirement alone is enough to eliminate 99% of applicants.
However, this alone is not enough to stump the true geniuses of the wizarding civilization.
After all, resources can be accumulated, and knowledge can be learned.
The key point is the second issue: the setting of fictional rules should not be "too" rigorous.
This sounds exactly the opposite of the first requirement.
However, according to the information that Jieming found, if the setting is too rigorous and perfect, the logical loop is impeccable.
Therefore, it is highly likely that this law is not entirely "fictional," but rather a "real" law that does exist but has not yet been discovered and recorded by the wizarding civilization!
Behind it lies some kind of matter, energy, or law that the wizards have not yet discovered.
Ironically, the era when research into "imaginary elements" was at its peak became one of the periods when wizarding civilizations discovered new elements and laws at the fastest pace.
Many seemingly perfect rules, painstakingly "fabricated" by geniuses, have ultimately been proven to be some kind of unorthodox, obscure, but real rules.
If this happens, it would undoubtedly be a huge blow to those self-proclaimed genius wizards who have spent enormous resources.
After all, this is tantamount to declaring that all their "creation" and "setting" was nothing more than a lucky "discovery".
For those who pursue the pinnacle of knowledge and truth, the result of "doing the work for others" is far more unacceptable than failure.
After another round of eliminations, only a very few lucky individuals, or rather, wise people who grasped that delicate balance, finally succeeded in "fabricating" their own rules and using them to advance in rank.
Then, a third problem arises: the individual combat power of the fictional laws is generally not strong.
According to statistics, regardless of the level, the individual combat power of a wizard who controls the laws of fiction is usually only at the average level of that level.
Sounds alright?
The problem is that the wizards who can pass the first two cruel selections and finally succeed in mastering the fictional laws are all geniuses among geniuses, prodigies among prodigies.
For them, "reaching the average" is a failure in itself!
They should have far surpassed their peers.
There are many reasons why an individual's combat effectiveness is weak.
For example, each person's imagined rules are unique, with no predecessors' experience to draw upon, and all paths must be explored by oneself, resulting in extremely high trial-and-error costs.
At the same time, because fictional laws must conform to some underlying laws of the world to a certain extent, otherwise they cannot be recognized by the system, they cannot achieve the all-powerful effect of "doing whatever they want" and "subverting conventions" that was originally envisioned, and are subject to many limitations.
Of course, fictional rules are not entirely without merit.
Its greatest advantage is that it can generate "fantasy elements".
Things that do not exist in theory can be created out of thin air by wizards who have mastered the corresponding fictional laws.
Furthermore, depending on the depth and perspective of the creator's understanding of its own laws at the time, the resulting imaginary elements will possess various unique attributes or effects that are difficult for conventional elements to achieve.
Simply put, they may not be good at combat, but they are very good at "producing special materials" and "making money".
The fantastical elements they create are often rare catalysts or core materials produced by high-end alchemy or special magical artifacts.
But that's all.
For geniuses who have the ability to master the laws of fiction, "making money" is really not a difficult thing; they have too many ways to acquire resources.
Using such high barriers and costs to obtain the status of a "high-end materials supplier" is undoubtedly a choice with extremely low cost-effectiveness in the eyes of most top wizards.
That is why it caused so much surprise and confusion when Jemin himself admitted that his laws were related to "fantasy elements".
In everyone's eyes, given the potential and intelligence that Jieming has shown, any of the existing rules with a bright future would have been limitless. Why would he choose this seemingly difficult and "bleak" path?
However, for Jemin, using the "law of fiction" and "fantasy element" is just the right way to perfectly whitewash and rationalize his true foundation—"spiritual energy".
At least, if his Purgatory Sulfur Plane is found to be abnormal in the future, it will not cause excessive panic and investigation, but will only be regarded as some kind of special "fantasy element" environment.
Just as he was making his calculations, the wizard Norren, who had been sitting in the main seat, stood up with a smile.
His movement instantly silenced the entire hall, and all whispers ceased abruptly.
Wizard Norren walked slowly to Jemin, his eyes, which seemed to contain endless wisdom, carefully examined him, and a satisfied expression appeared on his face.
“Well done, little one.” Wizard Norren’s voice was gentle yet powerful. “Very thoughtful and very promising. Since you have won, this reward is yours.”
As he spoke, he reached out and handed the seemingly simple "surrogate doll," which represented a second life, to Jemin.
Jemin took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and respectfully accepted it with both hands: "Lord Sherren!"
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
