Elemental affinity and spiritual root
The storm surrounding the "Eastern Wisdom Pill" swept through the Rockefeller College final exam halls, and Finn Liver's name was known to almost every student. He had become the savior of the underachievers, although his own grades in several subjects were still precarious, and he only managed to stay awake during the exams thanks to the "Wisdom Pill."
The shop remained busy, but Finn had gradually adapted from the initial chaos and even figured out an efficient management process. He hired two reliable apprentices to handle most of the daily production and sales, while he himself took on more of the roles of "product manager" and "diplomat," spending his days brainstorming new ideas and managing relationships with various parties.
Ling Yao was happy to have some free time. Apart from occasionally needing her to stabilize the quality of the mass-produced potions, or casually drawing simplified structures of a few new runes to appease Finn, she spent most of her time in the back room, accompanied by the ever-increasing number of magic cores and ores.
Her recovery of strength remained frustratingly slow. The energy rules of this world acted like a tough, invisible barrier, repelling her self-contained system of immortal power. Absorbing demonic core energy was like drinking water through frosted glass; if she could absorb 100% of the energy, she was lucky if she could refine and absorb even 15%.
Her frustration grew daily. She knew this couldn't go on; she needed to understand the underlying rules of this world more deeply, to find the common ground between her divine power and the energy of this world, or a way to transform them.
That day, her gaze fell upon the pile of magic books covered in a thin layer of dust that Finn had gradually acquired in the corner. The books ranged from the most basic "Introduction to Magic" and "A Brief Explanation of the Four Elements" to more advanced works like "Magic Sensing and Guiding" and "Analysis of Basic Spells," a diverse collection of varying quality.
She used to scoff at this, considering it a fallacy and inefficient approach. But now, perhaps these "outdated" theories hold the key to breaking the deadlock?
She randomly picked up the thickest book, "An Introduction to the Grant Magic System," dusted it off, and patiently began to read it.
At first, she frowned as she read. The methods of accumulating magic described in the book seemed clumsy and inefficient to her, the lengthy incantations were an unnecessary waste of energy, and the complex and fragile magic circle structures were like dancing on a knife's edge, where a single mistake could lead to catastrophic consequences.
“Crude… primitive… wasteful…” She kept uttering derogatory words, and if Professor Eleanor heard her, she would probably be so angry that she would have an “academic exchange” with her on the spot.
However, as she read on, skipping over what she saw as fancy superficial techniques and getting straight to the core energy descriptions, some interesting concepts that seemed similar to her understanding of the cultivation system began to attract her attention.
Especially the description of "elemental affinity".
The book mentions that everyone is born with varying degrees of affinity for the four basic elements—earth, water, fire, and wind—as well as some rarer elements (such as light and darkness). The higher the affinity, the easier it is to perceive and guide the corresponding element, and the more efficient it is to learn magic of that type. This is the foundation of magical talent.
This is remarkably similar to the concept of "spiritual root" in the cultivation world!
Cultivators also value spiritual root attributes, such as metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, ice, and darkness. When these attributes align, cultivating the corresponding techniques leads to rapid progress. Ling Yao herself possesses an all-attribute heavenly spiritual root, a rare find; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to rise to become a powerful figure in the cultivation world despite limited resources.
A bold hypothesis gradually took shape in her mind: Is the "elemental affinity" of this world just another manifestation of "spiritual root" under this rule? Only the way of perceiving and utilizing it is completely different?
Magicians perceive elements through their spiritual power, using incantations and magic circles to request, guide, and command them to arrange and combine, forming spells. Cultivators, on the other hand, absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into their bodies, refining it into their own true essence, which they can control with ease. Their spells originate from their hearts, and their words become law.
One involves borrowing from the outside, the other involves refining from within. The paths are different, but do they point to the same source—the fundamental energy particles that constitute the world?
This idea invigorated her. If her conjecture was correct, then perhaps she wouldn't need to forcefully use her magical power to crash into the rules and barriers of this world. Instead, she could try to "imitate" the magician's method, using her magical power to simulate the effect of "elemental affinity," guiding the energy of this world more efficiently, and even... achieving the initial fusion and transformation of the two energy systems?
She immediately began the verification process.
She first tried to perceive the elemental energies around her more precisely. Releasing her spiritual awareness, she no longer forcibly rejected them as before, but instead tried to discern and accept the vibrant fire element, the gently flowing water element, the weighty and stable earth element, the free and unrestrained wind element…
The process didn't go smoothly at first. Her spiritual sense was too powerful, accustomed to overwhelming force, and this kind of precise differentiation and perception felt awkward to her. It was like asking a strong man who was used to chopping wood with a giant axe to embroider.
But what she has in abundance is patience and resilience. If she fails once, she tries again.
Gradually, under her powerful divine control, the chaotic energy field around her began to "clarify." She could "see" energy points of different colors surging like tides, and sense their different "personalities": the restlessness of the fire element, the gentleness of the water element, the stability of the earth element, the agility of the wind element...
She tried to mobilize a tiny bit of her immortal power, no longer forcibly commanding, but instead mimicking the "fire element affinity" state described in the book, letting her immortal power simulate a similar fluctuation frequency, and gently "touching" a free fire element light spot.
The fire elemental light that had initially ignored her and even seemed somewhat repulsed by her appeared to hesitate for a moment before slowly and tentatively approaching her wisp of immortal power, as if attracted by its own kind!
There's a chance!
Ling Yao's heart stirred. She maintained the simulated fluctuation and carefully "guided" the fire element light into her body.
The light entered her body, still bearing the imprint of this world's rules, incompatible with her immortal power, causing a slight burning sensation. But this time, the repulsion was significantly less!
She immediately circulated her cultivation technique and attempted to refine it.
The process was still slow, but the efficiency was slightly higher than the previous crude absorption of magic core energy! Moreover, the refined energy seemed to be more "docile" and easier to assimilate.
Although the improvement was minimal, it undoubtedly confirmed that her hypothesis was correct!
A surge of immense excitement welled up inside me. The bottleneck that had plagued me for so long was finally seeing a glimmer of hope!
She couldn't wait to start experimenting with other elements. Water, earth, wind... With her foundation of all-attribute celestial spiritual roots and powerful control over her divine sense, she was like a top-notch imitation master, constantly adjusting the fluctuation frequency of her immortal power to simulate a "friendly" state to different elements.
The results were better each time.
She even tried to simulate the affinity between two elements at the same time, which resulted in a small-scale elemental disorder that almost set the table in the back room on fire, scaring her into quickly stopping.
It seems that simulating multiple elements simultaneously is beyond her current capabilities and understanding of the world. But this is already remarkable enough!
She was immersed in the joy of this new discovery, constantly experimenting and optimizing the accuracy of the simulation and the efficiency of the refining process. She discovered that magic cores of different qualities contained different levels of elemental energy purity, and the effects of absorbing them using this "simulated affinity" method varied even more.
She also tried injecting a wisp of fairy power, simulating the affinity of earth element, into an ordinary rock. The surface of the rock actually shimmered slightly and became a little harder. When she injected fairy power, simulating the affinity of water element, into clear water, the water's activity seemed to increase slightly as well.
These discoveries opened her eyes. Perhaps it wasn't limited to absorbing energy? Could this power of simulated affinity be used to improve materials? Or even… to refine "elixirs" and "magical artifacts" more suitable for this world?
A brand new path of cultivation, which integrates the advantages of two world systems, slowly unfolded before her eyes—a narrow but hopeful path.
She was no longer satisfied with the basic books Finn had acquired. She demanded that Finn find a way to obtain more advanced magical books, about the nature of elements, the transformation of energy forms, and even theories of rules, no matter how expensive.
Although Finn didn't understand why Miss Ling was suddenly so interested in magical theory, he naturally went all out when the big boss spoke. He used all the connections and wealth he had recently accumulated, and even secretly borrowed copies of some introductory books from the restricted library, which were only accessible to upperclassmen, through his student council connections.
Ling Yao read voraciously, and by combining her own verification, many previously obscure and difficult parts suddenly became clear. Her understanding of the energy rules of this world deepened at an unprecedented rate.
She no longer found the magical system crude and outdated; instead, she began to appreciate some of its ingenious ideas about the precise manipulation of energy. Like a giant sponge, she frantically absorbed the knowledge from two different worlds, which then collided and merged intensely in her mind.
Occasionally, she would offer Finn some pointers. No longer would she just casually draw a rune to get rid of him, but would point out subtle flaws in his energy channeling process that did not conform to the characteristics of the elements when he was drawing runes.
"For a fireball talisman, it's not enough to just have a lot of magic power. You need to sense the 'explosive' and 'rising' nature of fire, and when you guide it, it should have an impact, but it shouldn't dissipate."
"For the Clear Water Talisman, you must feel the 'flow' and 'penetration' of water; the magic should be gentle and continuous."
She spoke in a very mysterious way, and Finn was completely confused, but after trying to do it, he was surprised to find that the success rate of drawing actually improved a little!
His admiration for Ling Yao reached an unparalleled level, feeling that the big shot was indeed unfathomable, even so proficient in magic theory.
The back room of the small shop seemed to have transformed into a peculiar cross-disciplinary research institute. One side was piled with magic cores, medicinal herbs, and rune papers, while the other side was spread out with various profound magic books. Ling Yao was immersed in them, sometimes flipping through the pages in deep thought, sometimes experimenting with different attribute-based faint lights swirling around her fingertips, her expression focused and excited.
She felt that a door to a new world was slowly opening for her.
All of this was meticulously recorded by those cold eyes in the shadows outside the window, through a specially made spying crystal.
Judge Silas stared at the image emanating from the crystal—the otherworldly creature with its alternating shimmering elemental light and the increasingly profound magical books before her—her face turning terrifyingly grim.
Manipulate multiple elements! Study advanced magical theories!
This is no ordinary otherworldly creature! She is learning! Studying the rules of this world! Does she want to conceal herself even more deeply? Or does she want to acquire greater power to carry out her evil plans?
Neither of them can be tolerated!
His fingers gripped the cold, icy tribunal tightly.
The catalyst plan must be implemented immediately! We can't wait any longer!
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