Elemental Reversal Experiment

What was mana?

According to [Meditation] and Su Luo's own understanding:

Mana was a primordial energy that existed throughout the universe and formed the foundation of all supernatural phenomena. It had neither form nor substance, yet filled the world and could be perceived, guided, and used.

What were elements?

In Su Luo's understanding, elements were energy transformed from mana and endowed with rules governing specific attributes. When primordial mana was transformed according to certain rules representing the world's fundamental workings, it became elemental energy with distinct properties.

Based on Su Luo's study and understanding of the spell system and his observations of the Land of Darkness, the most basic and abundant elements were earth, wind, water, and fire.

Su Luo's usual casting process was as follows:

He used mental power to construct a precise spell model as a blueprint, driving the mana stored in his body to surge along with elemental energy.

As the spell was released, large amounts of mana transformed into Fire Element. At the same time, the spell spontaneously drew free mana and Fire Element from the surrounding environment to increase its power, ultimately casting the spell.

This process raised a question that needed thought.

The paradox of energy conservation.

First, mana and elements were both forms of energy, and their conversion was itself a conversion of energy.

Take Fireball, for example. Mana transformed into Fire Element, and Fire Element transformed into kinetic energy, light energy, heat energy...

Note that during this process, other forms of energy increased while mana decreased.

From an overall, global perspective, the mana in the environment would only grow scarcer, until the environment became "mana-dead."

But that clearly contradicted observation. The world had existed for endless ages. If mana could not be renewed and was a nonrenewable resource, present-day survivors would have had no access to it at all.

Living beings consumed enormous amounts of mana, and its turnover was so frequent that it was almost equivalent to the conversion of ATP chemical energy in living organisms. To the world, mana was an energy currency.

That meant mana had to be generated and converted in large quantities, frequently, and with little difficulty.

The first thing Su Luo studied carefully was the elements.

He carefully analyzed their composition and the rules governing their conversion, observing how they transformed under different conditions...

Thus, in this temporary base, he set aside his exploration of the outside world for the time being and immersed himself entirely in his search for the source of power.

Su Luo progressed remarkably fast along this path to the truth.

Perhaps Grantham Sylvester, the fellow who called himself a level 20 Morningstar Wizard, was right.

Su Luo should not be bound by rules and restrictions.

But Su Luo would not choose wizard as his class. Who knew how devious that old thing, who might have lived for thousands or tens of thousands of years, was? Su Luo definitely could not outplay Him.

So he had to stay away from the source.

After two days of extensive experiments, observations, and deductions without sleep or rest, Su Luo first confirmed a property common to elements.

Infectivity!

Under certain conditions, highly concentrated elemental energy would spontaneously absorb other forms of energy from the surrounding environment and slowly assimilate them into itself, achieving a slight increase.

At the same time, Su Luo observed another phenomenon.

[Environmental Stabilization Barrier Generator (Fine)]

[Once activated, generates a persistent energy stabilization field in the designated area, suppressing chaotic fluctuations and improving lighting efficiency. Note: This field provides no physical protection]

The octagonal disc was placed on the ground and activated. An invisible force field rapidly expanded, the air within its range slowing to an unusual crawl as the dust hanging in it gradually settled.

He introduced strictly controlled quantities of mana and Fire Element into the barrier to create special conditions, then fed in energy from outside for observation.

Ten hours later, Su Luo checked again and found a large quantity of elements mixed with a small amount of mana. Sensing it with his mental power, he found that the total amount of mana had risen slightly.

Risen!

He conducted painstaking experiments and investigations, pulling up the Skill Book pictures saved in his chat history to consult the relevant theories.

At last, Su Luo confirmed the reversibility of elements.

That was to say: under natural conditions, mana could transform into elements, while elements, upon reaching a certain equilibrium or under specific conditions, were also reversible. Elemental energy could transform back into primordial mana, albeit in small amounts!

There was a glimmer of hope for replenishing mana.

The next breakthrough lay in [Flame Attachment].

Su Luo finished learning it.

The later chapters of [Flame Attachment] mentioned an effect.

Ember Recovery: While the skill is active, killing a target that has been ignited can convert a small amount of flame into mana and stamina.

It could actively convert elements into mana, which was also why [Flame Attachment] was an overpowered skill.

Su Luo modified the relevant model and made numerous attempts. In the end, he constructed a permanent element-to-mana conversion model in his mental world, placing it over the lake like a water pump.

Good. The mana problem was solved, then. His current recovery speed depended only on the rate at which elements spread through assimilation.

Su Luo could already convert earth, wind, and Fire Element. He picked a Skill Book at random and studied the water element for a while, completing a preliminary energy reversal system for the four basic elements.

Stepping out of the room, Su Luo let out a long breath.

Five days later, Su Luo pushed open the door to his temporary laboratory and let out a long breath. Having resolved the greatest crisis, he could finally turn his attention to the world undergoing upheaval.

He took out the phone he had obtained through automatic pickup and checked the news.

Three days earlier, the Great Yong Dynasty had announced the establishment of the "Superpower Management Bureau," seeking to recruit and manage the growing number of awakened people and organize forces to withstand the increasingly frequent beast tides.

On the eve of the bureau's establishment, explosive news had become impossible to suppress worldwide: insiders from various countries had revealed one after another that strategic weapons such as nuclear bombs, missiles, and hydrogen bombs had all ceased functioning, becoming nothing more than scrap metal.

The Great Yong authorities had reacted swiftly, taking the opportunity to issue a series of temporary acts, deploying troops to guard the wilderness and sending them into urban areas to suppress riots caused by the power vacuum...

A day earlier, large-scale mutant beast tides had begun attacking cities. The newly established Superpower Management Bureau had demonstrated astonishing efficiency, deploying superpowered individuals in advance to coordinate the defense with the military.

Was this world changing so fast?

Su Luo suddenly felt somewhat dazed, as though an invisible hand were frantically pushing things forward behind the scenes.

He looked up more information. For unknown reasons, animals had mutated, becoming powerful and bloodthirsty, and had begun attacking human cities.

At the same time, almost all of humanity's advanced weapons systems had been paralyzed, and complex, precision machinery had also stopped working.

Planes and tanks had all been grounded, missiles and rockets had all been rendered useless, and apart from ordinary firearms with relatively simple mechanical structures, humanity had practically been thrown back to the age of cold weapons.

Gunpowder's burning efficiency had also become extremely low, and rifles could no longer kill people outright.

But the funniest thing was that communications had been unaffected.

Machinery far less technologically advanced and complex than phones no longer worked, yet phones, computers, and communications were all unaffected. It was as though someone were directing everything behind the scenes, deliberately keeping human communications functioning normally.

After reading for a long while, Su Luo had a vague idea.

What a strange world setup. I hope it isn't what I think...

He opened a browser and looked up the address of the local prefect's office.

Wang Shouye, in charge of civil administration for the prefecture... This is the place.

After confirming the direction, Su Luo rose into the air, ascended to the clouds, covered his face, and flew straight there.

In any case, this world's air defenses were already effectively useless, so there was no reason not to fly.