Chapter 163: Gravitational Venerable’s Path to Godhood
The brown-haired young girl, always timid and prone to stammering, had been a source of great alarm for Roger since her name appeared in the newspaper.
Later, he consoled himself by thinking that just as one cannot judge a book by its cover, one cannot judge a person by their name.
So, even though he heard that her talent had attracted Galilei’s attention, and that Galilei personally went to the Chapter of Imbalance to ask Frankenstein to bring Aisling to work by his side, Roger didn’t pay too much attention.
Or rather, even if he had paid attention, he couldn’t have changed anything.
The butterfly’s wings had already flapped, and the extent of the storm it would bring was beyond his control.
Moreover, he and this little butterfly were on the same side, and the changes she brought would only benefit him. Thinking this way, it didn’t seem so scary anymore, did it?
Roger comforted himself and decided to wait and see.
However, he never expected the changes to be so drastic. It was as if Pandora’s Box had been opened, and Aisling’s involvement had so greatly accelerated the process of finding the Source Sea.
First, she used her mathematical talent to provide various new mathematical tools, significantly speeding up Galilei’s modeling of that region.
Then, she designed a new analytical magic that could, by analyzing the light projected by different Planes in the Astral Plane through special alchemical products, derive detailed spectra. This allowed for long-distance telemetry of various attributes of a Plane, greatly increasing their speed in scanning relevant areas.
They were already using teleportation channels for movement, and the limiting factor that increased their maximum travel speed was scanning speed.
Now that this problem was also solved, the Sky Sea Tower’s speed limitations were directly removed.
Finally, and most crucially, amidst a vast amount of information and data, Miss Aisling Newton deciphered that there was an attraction between Planes.
All the Planes in this Universe were not at fixed coordinates but interacted with each other through these attractive forces, moving around a point of infinite mass.
However, this movement was very slow, and the relative positions of the Planes remained constant, so beings within these moving Worlds could not perceive it.
Previously, some mages discovered similar patterns but dared not boldly assume that the entire Multiverse was in motion, mistaking it for observation errors. Thus, they missed Aisling’s bold conclusion: the “Law of Intrinsic Gravitational Force of Planes.”
This law provided the missing piece for the Sky Sea Tower’s calculations of the Source Sea’s coordinates, laying the theoretical foundation for locating it.
More and more mages were drawn to the Sky Sea Tower to undertake the final push.
After a series of difficult and tedious computational engineering, the Sky Sea Tower finally announced that they had found a new formula, perfected the Law of Intrinsic Gravitational Force of Planes, and established a new system that could answer many previously unsolved mysteries.
After completing this law, Aisling’s interest quickly shifted from searching for the Source Sea to new directions.
“This may be the beginning of analyzing all magic with mathematics,” Galilei offered her the greatest support.
Of course, the mission assigned by the Empress of Eternal Night for the establishment of this project was also completed.
The Sky Sea Tower updated the latest planar models and calculated the point considered to have infinite mass, the center around which this Multiverse rotated—
That was the Source Sea.
With the theory, the difficulty of guiding specific exploration would decrease linearly.
By calculating the data from tens of thousands of Planes they had acquired, they successfully computed multiple possible coordinates for the Source Sea. After verification, they finally reached the vicinity of the Source Sea.
Aisling went all out this time. Although she was the last and youngest to join, she contributed the most.
From the moment she entered the Sky Sea Tower, she never stopped exceeding expectations.
Her extraordinary mathematical ability combined with her intuitive theoretical insight not only led to the discovery of the Source Sea but also greatly advanced the understanding of the Multiverse by the Empire’s mages.
To reward her contribution, despite her insufficient Magic Power, she was appointed as a consultant to the Arcane Society.
Currently, within the Sky Sea Tower, Aisling’s authority and treatment were second only to Galilei’s.
She was not the youngest consultant in the Arcane Society, but she was indeed the weakest in terms of strength.
However, this also demonstrated how much of a genius she was in theoretical matters.
Concurrently, Aisling also gained the qualification to be recommended as a member of the Imperial Assembly, but she declined.
Her ambition was to continue exploring the mysteries of magic and the Universe. She was not interested in political confrontations, even if they would bring her countless benefits and wealth.
In Aisling’s heart, what truly made her love this World was not wealth, but the shining brilliance of ideas she encountered when she first read “New Arcana.”
It was the courage to explore all the unsolved mysteries of the World that guided her forward, opening up a broader Universe.
After determining the Source Sea’s coordinates, the task of exploration was primarily taken over by the Chapter of Imbalance.
For practical exploration, new alchemical tools would undoubtedly be needed.
However, the limited exploration, solely focused on intelligence gathering, was already enough for the Empire to recognize the terror of the Source Sea.
Hardly any life could survive directly in the Source Sea. Even a legendary mage would have their Magic Power depleted within half a minute, assimilating into the clear waters of the Source Sea.
This was the result of merely floating above the Source Sea, not entering it.
The mists that seemed to exist since time immemorial and the peculiar properties of the place itself were malevolent to all life.
Because the conversion between matter and energy in this Multiverse was far easier than in the World Earth belonged to, the Source Sea, as the origin of all things, was naturally more terrifying than an ordinary black hole.
According to calculations by the Empire’s mages, even most deities would risk direct demise if they entered the Source Sea.
After initial explorations, it was discovered that the Source Sea Ark, provided by the Empress of Eternal Night, was the only alchemical item capable of carrying a limited number of life forms into the Source Sea and ensuring a safe retreat.
The Imperial Capital was currently unable to replicate more Source Sea Arks. Even the special energy it used was not fully understood by the Empress of Eternal Night herself.
The exploration limitation of the Source Sea Ark was its limited energy capacity, allowing for only about four hours of safe exploration time before its energy was depleted.
Furthermore, the Source Sea Ark’s recharging was not automatic. Currently, it could only be manually recharged by mages of Rank 8 or higher, who had to expend their Magic Power.
It required a human power bank that could drain the Magic Power equivalent to thousands of legendary mages to drive the Source Sea Ark again.
This resulted in Source Sea exploration becoming a cyclical activity limited by recharge efficiency.
However, they were already very fortunate.
The Seven Gods’ faction had paid a heavy price: their God King was trapped there, and they had to expend a massive amount of Faith Power, causing Nalinel to harbor resentment and be on the verge of despair at any moment, just to obtain limited information from within the Source Sea.
After witnessing the Source Sea firsthand, renowned mages like Galilei determined that only Roger and the Empress of Eternal Night, a fixed duo, were qualified to enter the Source Sea Ark for subsequent explorations.
Roger also possessed the Source Sea Telescope and the Source Sea Anchor, which could more efficiently determine the direction of exploration and also help with saving/loading progress, further increasing exploration efficiency.
The Empress of Eternal Night had the highest perception, the pinnacle of Magic Power in this World, and could also serve as a temporary power bank for the Source Sea Ark, extending each exploration session.
Thus, the two of them together formed the most efficient team for exploring the Source Sea.
There was also a crucial point: the Source Sea Ark consumed an astounding amount of Magic Power, and even the Empress of Eternal Night risked being completely drained.
In that weakened state, she didn’t trust anyone to be by her side except Roger, which was why they were a fixed exploration team.
The continuous Source Sea, the birthplace of this Multiverse, offered only a single type of harvest:
Information.
Anything that could be considered information could surface from the Source Sea.
From the moment this Universe was born, all historical traces, images, consciousnesses, Skills, and technologies that had ever existed were stored in a chaotic state beneath the surface of the Source Sea.
To the Source Sea, no living being held any secrets.
Even the most fundamental laws of this Universe and the principles of its operation were hidden in its deepest reaches.
However, the Source Sea was too vast, and information storage was completely devoid of pattern.
Furthermore, the limited exploration time and lack of navigation resulted in uncertain harvests.
It was possible to gain a large number of world-altering new technologies from a single exploration, or to spend multiple explorations seeing only useless history—
History that was scattered, its context often hidden in thick fog, making it impossible to even determine which World it belonged to.
Roger felt that the water of the Source Sea, existing between energy and matter, was like a cup of intensely dark liquid made by uniformly mixing all the World’s vegetables and fruits.
Taking a sip was already perilous;
Trying to only drink the orange juice component within it was absolutely impossible!
So now, they were doing their best to travel to new sea regions, casting their nets like fishermen along the way to gather information, and then hauling it back to analyze slowly.
Due to the efficiency of the Arcane Society in recharging the Source Sea Ark, they could explore the Source Sea approximately once a week, with each session lasting about five hours before they had to drop the Source Sea Anchor and prepare to return.
Captain Roger’s job was to throw a “shoe” to determine the next direction of advancement.
After all, this place was incredibly vast, with 99.999% of its area unexplored. Wherever they sailed, they would find something new.
Most of the salvaged information was trash, even dangerous.
There were many terrifying evil gods in this World, and information about them, even without any accompanying Magic Power, possessed a considerable corrupting influence. It could lead to the mental degradation of the knower and terrifying mutations in their bodies.
This mutation even had the potential to spread further.
Initially unaware of this, the Arcane Society rashly assigned ordinary mages to decipher and organize the information, which led to considerable chaos.
Subsequently, the interpretation of information from the Source Sea established fixed safety protocols. Although less efficient, it greatly increased safety.
Convenience and safety were always contradictory attributes.
Overall, the Empire’s initiation of Source Sea exploration was akin to psionic ascension; the benefits were immense compared to the past.
Even with occasional negative side effects, the allure of discovering ancient technologies and understanding strange information was so great that the Empire could not refuse to continue exploring.
Some underperformance was only apparent when compared to other paths. The Empire currently had no other choice.
Their ability to enter the Source Sea was already a result of relying on the system’s assistance, which solved the most difficult step.
Discovering the location of a volcano versus entering it for a bath—the difference in difficulty was evident.
So, in reality, the Empire lacked the qualifications to enter the Source Sea, but with the system’s boost, they managed to sneak in.
As a stowaway, the Empire was lacking in many prerequisite technologies. Naturally, they found much of the information in the Source Sea to be highly practical, and copied a lot of “assignments” from there.
Especially with the Empire currently expanding its magical industrialization, various new technologies were being applied, and the strength of mages was rapidly advancing.
With the Source Sea as a new source of technology, it significantly compensated for the Empire’s talent shortage.
The difficulty between researching a technology from scratch and restoring and copying ancient technology was enormous.
It was also a matter of chance and inevitability. Due to the vastness of the Source Sea, Roger and the Empress had not encountered the permanently stationed God King in the Source Sea despite numerous explorations.
Without this sole variable, apart from the countless flowing information, all they saw was the same cockpit and similar scenery.
No matter how peculiar or magnificent the sights were, they would eventually become tiresome after seeing them too many times.
Especially after several updates from the Arcane Society, the work of collecting information was fully automated, and Roger had long since lost the motivation to choose directions.
“Xuan cannot save the unlucky, and氪 cannot change destiny.” No matter how bizarre the exploration route, even if they gave the Source Sea a middle finger, it wouldn’t change their harvest.
So, Roger, who had long foreseen the boredom, cleverly suggested that the Empress of Eternal Night bring Afu along.
Of course, it wasn’t to find a light bulb to illuminate the cabin, but rather for them to use the travel time to fill the “Fearless Space.”
The Mage Camp had a message board and the Infinite Tower, but for the “Fearless Space” aimed at ordinary people this time, neither of these areas held much appeal.
Simply put, the Empire’s illiteracy rate was as high as 90%. What could ordinary people do on the message board where mages were hotly discussing?
They would at most be able to look at lewd pictures… this appeal was still quite sufficient.
But was the establishment of the internet solely for people to look at lewd pictures? That couldn’t be right!
Shouldn’t videos be added as well?
*Ahem*, perverts might have such thoughts, but they wouldn’t dare expose them in front of the Empress, lest they be subjected to a “Meteor Shower” warning.
The proposal Roger submitted was for two “virtual games” he had conceptualized.
The first game involved a hundred “veterans” being dropped onto a deserted island, where they would find weapons, equipment, items, and various mounts.
The safe zone on the island would gradually shrink, and in the end, only one person could survive.
The second game was based on five-person squads. Two teams of adventurers would battle around their respective bases. During the game, characters could level up, buy equipment, and various items. The ultimate goal would be to destroy the opponent’s defensive towers and crystals…
Yes, that’s right, this was the magical world version of PUBG and MOBA. Someone was again copying assignments.
Compared to RPGs and open-world games with long development cycles, these two types of games, relying on rule-based gameplay, were simpler and quicker to develop.
They were also sufficiently stimulating, and the interaction with other players would add an endless sense of novelty.
Once players got hooked, these games would undoubtedly attract enough users to stay in the Fearless Space.
“At the same time, these two games will also serve as a shortcut for training the Empire’s reserve soldiers,” Roger said with a smile, informing the Empress of Eternal Night of the other intention behind these games.
