Super Body State

Before long, Richard came down from the second floor into the first-floor hall. From afar, he saw a thin, gaunt old man in blue standing there, looking with slight curiosity at the maids operating various complicated instruments on several nearby tables. Knowing full well that the old man held great power, the maids feared bringing trouble upon themselves. They did not even dare breathe loudly as they lowered their heads and worked.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

Richard walked toward him. Hearing the footsteps, the old man turned his head. Upon seeing Richard, he quickly bowed. "Greetings, Prince Richard."

"Mm." Richard nodded, wasting no words as he asked directly, "Butler Delong, why have you come here? What does my esteemed father—King Donald—want?"

"Uh..." The old man spoke, his voice somewhat hoarse and hesitant. "Actually, Prince Richard, this is not an order from His Majesty..."

"Then it seems I have the right to refuse." Richard's voice was calm.

The old man's expression tightened, and he hurriedly said, "Of course. Prince Richard, you are a prince and the King's second heir. Other than His Majesty's orders, you naturally have the right to refuse. It's just... just..."

"Just what?" Richard asked.

"This is what happened." The old man sighed and spoke slowly. "Prince Richard, because His Majesty has been ill for quite some time without improving, the First Prince said... said that he wished to cut back on daily expenses in order to find better physicians to treat His Majesty.

"Although the First Prince merely made a proposal, he has indeed already begun doing so. Starting today, his own palace has cut its expenses by one-third. If Prince Richard does not respond, the First Prince may lose face. And after all, this is for His Majesty's sake, so on the King's side..."

"Cutting expenses to treat the King's illness? Has the Blue Lion Kingdom become this poor already?" Richard spoke, his voice slightly cold.

"Th-this..." The old man trembled, cold sweat appearing on his face. "Naturally, that is not the case. The First Prince may simply wish to show his filial devotion..."

"Butler Delong, there is no need to say more." Richard's cool voice rang out. "I know my dear elder brother—William Austin's—thoughts and intentions. But... he is him, and I am me. If he wishes to show filial devotion, then let him show it properly. If he wants to cut expenses, then let him cut them.

"Butler Delong, I know you came all this way to tell me this out of kindness. However, the expenses on my side cannot be reduced for the time being. As you can see, there are so many people in this hall, and all of them are useful to me. I need them to produce various chemical materials for me. Otherwise, if I had to make everything myself, a single experimental study would exhaust me to death.

"Therefore, things will remain as they are on my side, with no reduction in expenses. That will make an excellent contrast with my dear brother and better display his filial devotion. As for whether my dear brother looks good or not, what everyone else thinks, or what my esteemed father—King Donald—thinks, let them think whatever they want."

"Th-this..." The old man looked at Richard, wanting to speak but stopping himself.

Richard merely made a gesture toward the door, inviting him out.

Left with no choice, the old man bowed once more, withdrew through the door, and left the palace.

Once he reached the square outside the palace, the old man wore a troubled expression and could not help muttering to himself, "Prince Richard, you did not have to reduce your expenses by one-third like the First Prince. Even one-tenth or one-twentieth would have been enough to put on a show. But you cannot even be bothered to put on a show. This... sigh..."

The old man's back vanished into the square. Inside the palace, Edward moved closer to Richard and could not help advising him, "Prince, I think we really could reduce some expenses. There is still a little surplus in the palace funds, and the money earned by those shops you opened in the city has been left outside the royal palace without being used. Leaving it there is a waste, so perhaps..."

"There is no need to bring this up again." Richard waved a hand, stopping Edward from continuing. "I have other uses for the shops' money, and part of the palace funds must be kept for emergencies. There is no room for superficial posturing. I will not cut even a single Copper Cli."

"Uh..."

"Enough. I am going to the laboratory to conduct some research. Continue watching over the palace. Do not disturb me unless it is something urgent." As Richard spoke, he headed toward the Independent Laboratory to one side.

Edward quickly reminded him, "Prince, you have not eaten breakfast yet."

"No need. I will eat after my research has made some progress."

"But you did not eat dinner yesterday either, and today..." Before Edward could finish, Richard had already entered the Independent Laboratory and shut the door with a bang.

Edward could only swallow the rest of his words and let out a sigh. "Sigh, Prince, you really make things difficult for me as Guard Captain..."

Richard entered the Independent Laboratory and found that it had already been cleaned.

The python corpse that had been placed on the central table, as well as the bloodstains left on the floor from yesterday's dissection, had all been cleared away. A faint scent of disinfecting alcohol lingered in the air. It seemed the cleaning regulations he had established had been followed strictly.

Richard gave a slight nod and walked to a wooden rack, taking out numerous bottles, jars, and rubber tubes before beginning to connect them. In the end, he assembled an extremely complicated apparatus.

He placed some pale plant powder into the first container, then began heating it for a reaction.

Richard was attempting to produce an alkaloid anesthetic. The reason was that he wanted to use scientific methods to try to overcome the obstacle of Three Life Reshaping described in the Wizard Book.

According to the records in the "Chapter of Munro," people with wizard talent were born with powerful Mental Strength and could consciously or unconsciously affect certain lightweight objects, such as stopping a scroll from falling.

Only such people could allow their bodies to automatically enter a special Super Body State, establish a connection with the vast universe, absorb the energy projected by celestial bodies, and complete the first reshaping of life.

Afterward, they had to use Mental Strength to place their bodies in a Highly Activated State, allowing Mental Strength to act upon the body and become highly condensed, constructing a special container called a "magic source" to store the absorbed Astral Projection energy for later use and complete the second reshaping of life.

Finally, they had to use Mental Strength to place life in a High Energy State, refining the energy stored in the "magic source" and turning it into true "mana," which could be used to cast real spells and complete the third reshaping of life.

Simply put, the three reshapings of life were the three preparations a person needed to make before casting spells. Only after completing these three preparations could one begin casting a spell. As for how many further steps casting required, that was another matter. But if these three steps could not be completed, then casting spells was a goal that could never be achieved.