Research Council

"Hm? Why aren't you going in?" Kevin had just stepped into the Magic Forest when he discovered in surprise that all the Magic Apprentices had gathered in the main hall.

"Mr. Asheff told us to wait here. He has something to announce," Kevin's friend replied.

Kevin gave an "oh" and said nothing more, obediently standing among the crowd.

The hall was filled with buzzing chatter. Almost everyone was discussing the recent Internet sensation surrounding Non-Toxic Winter Mallow, as well as the announcement Erin had posted last night.

"Did you see Erin's announcement?"

"I did, I did. At least she knew better than to take all the credit. Otherwise, when the truth came out later, she'd be in for it!"

"Exactly!"

"Still, even so, Erin made a killing. Go outside and ask around now—who doesn't know her name?"

"Sigh, if I'd known this would happen, I would've written an opinion paper no matter what!"

"What a regret!"

"Don't mention it. My heart hurts just thinking about it!"

"Hey, did you see Mr. Asheff's personal page? One hundred and twenty thousand followers, thirteen thousand comments—my god! There's absolutely no one else like that on the entire Internet. I checked. Even Lord Dendall only has a little over ten thousand fans!"

"I'm telling you, when I got up this morning to go to the Washroom, I casually opened the Internet and—whoa—more than a hundred people wanted to chat with me. A lot of them were girls. I got so excited that I thought my luck had finally turned around. Then I opened the messages and—ha! They were all asking about Mr. Asheff. Some even wanted to know whether Mr. Asheff was still accepting students for Wood Spirit magic!"

"Damn! I had the exact same experience."

"Me too!"

"You have no idea. I just mentioned on the Forum that I took part in Mr. Asheff's magic experiment, and holy hell, I gained over a thousand fans overnight. Quite a few were from other places, too!"

What a coincidence, same here!

Their shared experiences made the atmosphere in the hall even livelier.

Some were consumed by envy, jealousy, and hatred toward Erin;

Others mocked her with veiled sarcasm;

Still others spoke of Mr. Asheff with pride and smugness, as though basking in reflected glory.

The emergence of the Internet magnified social connections, and naturally, it magnified attention as well.

No one had ever experienced this kind of attention before. Having suddenly gained it, the vanity of Youth naturally swelled to the brim!

No one knew how much time passed before the hall suddenly fell silent.

Quite a few Magic Apprentices who had been chatting animatedly lifted their heads in surprise, only then noticing that Mr. Asheff had arrived.

Everyone hurriedly straightened up and wiped the playful smiles from their faces.

"Is everyone here? Have each group check," Asheff asked from the high platform at the front of the hall.

"Everyone's here," the group leaders answered one after another.

"I'm announcing something. The number of participants in this magic experiment will be reduced to twenty, and all of them will become my assistants. They will receive a salary and be given priority for retention after graduation."

"Those interested may stay and sign up. The best candidates will be selected! Think it over. If you wish to remain, go ask Erin for details."

The moment his words fell, the enormous Magic Forest hall went silent for a moment. Once everyone processed what they had heard, an uproar immediately erupted!

The Magic Apprentices stared at one another!

No one had expected that they had only just gained social recognition and prestige from being participants in Asheff's experiment, and now that identity was about to be taken from them!

No, it was not being taken away. It was becoming even scarcer and more valuable.

Never mind the salary—even without it, the title of "Asheff's assistant" alone was enough to drive them mad!

Because Erin was the best example!

For a moment, everyone's eyes burned with fervor.

When they looked at one another, their gazes immediately filled with hostility.

Selecting twenty people from three hundred and seventy-four Magic Apprentices—the competition would be brutal!

While everyone was fired up and sharpening their knives for the coming contest, Yu Sheng'an stepped down from the platform and strode out of the hall.

Today was the day of the Felix Magic Research Council. Any interested Magic Mentor could attend freely and discuss magical problems together.

It had to be admitted that there was a reason the Kevil Empire had built its nation upon Magic.

Yu Sheng'an had decided to attend the Research Council.

The Internet's Flashlight Function had stumped him. He had already learned Inch Light magic, but it was difficult to integrate that spell into the Internet.

The reason was simple: all Magic essentially released power through Magic Runes.

His magic version of the Internet was essentially a Virtual Screen. It could not carry Magic Runes at all, so naturally, it was difficult to add functions beyond the authority of his Godhead.

In a sense, his personal Internet terminal was remarkably similar to the concept of a Cloud Phone on Blue Star.

A Cloud Phone, put simply, retained only a screen and network connection. All software was placed on a Cloud Server, and ultra-high network speeds enabled all phone functions.

The advantage of a Cloud Phone was that personal terminals would no longer need frequent upgrades and iterations, while purchase costs would be lower.

Of course, its drawback was equally obvious: it required enormous computing power and extremely high network speeds.

The magic version of the Internet Yu Sheng'an had created was built with the authority of his Godhead, so it had no issues with computing power or network speed at all.

Yet precisely because of that, it was difficult to add any functions beyond the authority of the Godhead.

Even something as simple as Inch Light, the most basic Light Element spell.

Yu Sheng'an had a feeling that this problem would have milestone significance.

Once he solved it, adding other functions in the future would become much easier.

When Yu Sheng'an arrived at the Magic River, where the Research Council was being held, he heard a deafening uproar from within before even entering.

However, the moment he pushed open the doors and stepped inside, the noisy Council Chamber abruptly fell silent.

Everyone turned to look at him in unison. Their eyes flickered, their expressions uncertain and suspicious.

If everyone had previously been deeply dissatisfied with Yu Sheng'an monopolizing all the Wood Spirit Magic Apprentices, even believing him to be Lord Dendall's mouthpiece and lackey,

Then after the battle outside Willis City, all such resentment came to an abrupt halt.

In this Magic Kingdom, whoever possessed absolute magical power possessed absolute authority and status!

Given the power Yu Sheng'an had displayed, no matter who it was, they had to offer him the respect he deserved!

Not to mention that he had presided over a magic experiment that had shaken the Empire?

He had now become the most precious person in the Empire. At least until all the results of his crop research were released, no one could touch him.

Thus, when Yu Sheng'an entered, most of the mages greeted him with smiles and gestures of goodwill.

Yu Sheng'an returned their smiles.

He still needed these brilliant minds to help him solve the Internet's problems!

The spacious Council Chamber was circular, higher on the outside and lower in the center, with a tiered structure paved in granite. This allowed anyone seated anywhere inside to see everyone else.

It looked remarkably like the stands of an Arena.

Of course, it was countless times smaller.

Yu Sheng'an swept his gaze across the Council Chamber and immediately spotted Dendall. He then walked over.

"What brings you here?" Dendall asked with a strange look when Yu Sheng'an approached.

"Of course I'm here for the Research Council. I have some questions and wish to draw upon the wisdom of the Empire's brightest minds!"

"There are things you don't understand too?"

"Even a god cannot be omniscient and omnipotent. Wouldn't you agree?"

Dendall said nothing more and waited quietly.

As the hourglass placed in the center of the Council Chamber ran out and automatically flipped over, the Research Council fell silent.

Magic Runes lit up one after another, preventing the discussions held here from leaking outside.

After the brief silence, a mage immediately stood up and began asking about a problem he had recently encountered.

As he posed his question, the gathering gradually became lively again.

In the Kevil Empire, although almost all mages mastered the Seven Conventional Magic Systems, and even one Special System,

After becoming official mages, most would choose a single system to specialize in. Only a tiny number of geniuses chose to cultivate multiple systems at once.

In the end, human energy was limited, while magical knowledge was limitless.

If one could not reach a higher realm within a limited lifespan, then once one's life ran out, it would be too late for regrets.

For that reason, in their later cultivation—especially when practicing combination magic with strange and formidable effects—they easily encountered fields they were not skilled in.

That was the original purpose of the Research Council!

Yu Sheng'an listened with great interest, silently committing any particularly interesting points to memory.

This kind of high-level brainstorming was not a privilege ordinary mages could enjoy.

Since he had been allowed in, he naturally could not waste the opportunity.

Halfway through the discussion, Stanford, an Archmage of the Thunder Element, stood and said, "Everyone, I wish to incorporate Light Burst magic into Thunder Element magic. Does anyone have research or suggestions regarding combination magic of the Thunder Element and Light Element?"